Page:The Proletarian Revolution in Russia - Lenin, Trotsky and Chicherin - ed. Louis C. Fraina (1918).djvu/52

 you have displayed marvels of proletarian heroism in the civil war against Czarism; you must now display marvels of proletarian organization and international action in order to secure your victory in the second stage of the revolution."

The specific task of (the present period is to organize the proletariat, not according to the old standards of organization with which the betrayers of Socialism, the pro-war social-patriots and opportunists in all countries, are satisfied, but into a revolutionary organization. This organization, in the first place, must be general; and, in the second place, it must combine the functions of the army and the state. The Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Delegates is developing precisely this revolutionary organization.

If we scrutinize the Council of Workers and Soldiers we find that it represents three groups:

The first group is the one nearest to the social-patriots, the betrayers of Socialism. They trust Kerensky, the master of hollow words, a tool in the hands of Guchkov and Milyukov. In harmony with the social-patriots of the western European countries, Kerensky mouths plenty of fine phrases. Actually he reconciles the workers with the continuation of the imperialistic war of conquest. Through Kerensky, the imperialistic bourgeoisie addresses the workers as follows: "We give you the republic, the eight-hour day (which actually exists in Petrograd), we promise you this and that liberty, but only because we want you to help us take away the booty from German Imperialism and turn it over to English and French Imperialism."

The second group is represented by our party of the "Central Committee of the S. D. P." in Russia, the Bolsheviki. On March 18th the Central Committee issued a Manifesto which contains the following demands: Democratic republic; eight hour day; confiscation of the landed estates of the nobility in favor of the peasants; confiscation of stocks of grain; immediate preparations for peace negotiations,—not through the government of Guchkov and Milyukov, but through the Council of Workers and Soldiers. This Council, according to the Manifesto, constitutes the actual revolutionary government. Peace negotiations should not be carried on by and with bourgeois governments, but with the proletariat in each of the warring countries. The Manifesto appeals to all workers and peasants to send delegates to the Council.