Page:The Proletarian Revolution in Russia - Lenin, Trotsky and Chicherin - ed. Louis C. Fraina (1918).djvu/113

 by the alliances of capitalists, the dominant economic force in modern society, by the imperialistic character of international Capitalism, by Russia's financial and diplomatic dependence upon England and France, etc. It requires skill to make these changes clear to the masses, and none of us could do that at a stroke, without somewhat blundering in the attempt.

But such should be the trend or, rather, the real import of our propaganda, and it should not deviate a jot from it. The slightest concession we make to "revolutionary defense" is an act of treason to Socialism, an abandonment of the internationalist position, regardless of the beautiful phrases and the "practical" considerations by which we may try to justify it.

The slogan "down with the war" is fine, but just now there are other duties to assume and the masses must be approached in a different way. That slogan reminds me of another slogan, "down with the Czar," which in other days indiscreet agitators would shout in some village, after which they got thrashed.

The rank and file of the "revolutionary defense" are good, conscientious people; not as individuals, but as a group, they belong to the very class of workers and pauperized peasants which would not gain anything from annexations or the strangling of other races. They are quite different from the bourgeoisie and the intellectuals who know quite well that it is impossible to give up the idea of annexations as long as capital is allowed to rule, and who, devoid of conscience, fool the masses with high-sounding speeches and immediate promises.

The rank and file of the "revolutionary defense" looks upon the whole thing in a simple matter-of-fact way: "I, for one, have no use for annexations, I have nothing against the Germans, I am just fighting for a good cause, not for any imperialistic interests."

That is the type of man to whom we must repeat ad nauseam that it is not a question of his own personal desires, but that what is at stake is the position of the masses, their class or political position, that the important thing is the connection between the war and capitalistic interests, with their international system of banks, etc. This is the only adequate way of fighting the "revolutionary defense" group, the only way which promises results, not quick results, but actual and durable results.