Page:Vladimir Ilyich Lenin - The Chief Task of Our Times.djvu/4

 hurled. The clearer our realisation of this, the firmer will be our will to free ourselves, our endeavour to rise again from servitude to independence, and our unconquerable determination to secure that, in spite of everything, Russia shall be no more wretched and powerless, but truly mighty and prosperous.

It is possible for her to become so, for we still retain enough in territory, in natural wealth, in reserves of man power, and in the magnificent impetus given to national creativeness by the Revolution, to make Russia truly great and to provide everyone with sufficient, if not lavish, means of existence.

Russia will accomplish all that we desire for her, if she will but shake off all despondency and all empty phrases; if with set teeth she will gather all her strength, will strain every nerve and muscle, and will understand that the only path to salvation is the international Socialistic Revolution upon which we have entered. To go forward on this path, undiscouraged by defeat; to lay gradually the sound foundation of a Socialist Society; to work unceasingly for the creation of discipline and self-discipline, for the strengthening everywhere of organisation, order, and businesslike methods; the harmonious co-operation of the national forces; general co-ordination and control of production and distribution; such is the path to military and Socialist power.

It is unworthy of present-day Socialists, in time of heavy defeat, either to make a fuss, or to give way to despair. It is not true, that (from the point of view of a "gentleman") there is no way out for us, save the choice between an inglorious death in the shape of the harshest of all peace treaties; and a glorious death in a hopeless fight. It is not true that we have betrayed our ideals, or our friends, in signing the "Tilsit" peace. We have betrayed nothing and no one; we have not condoned, but have exposed every lie. We have not refused to help, as far as it was in our power to help, any comrade in misfortune.

The General who retires with the remnants of a beaten and panic-stricken army, and who defends this retirement in the case of extreme necessity by a harsh and humiliating peace, does not betray those sections of the army which he is unable to help and which are cut off by the enemy. Such a general fulfils his duty in selecting the only way of saving what can still be saved; refusing to embark on adventures; not glossing over the bitter truth before the people; but ceding ground in order to gain time; taking advantage of even the smallest respite in order to gather up strength and opportunity to recuperate for the army which was suffering from disintegration and demoralisation.

We have signed a "Tilsit" peace. When Napoleon in 1807 forced the "Tilsit" peace on Prussia, the conqueror had beaten all the forces of the Germans, had occupied the capital and all the large towns, had introduced his police, had forced the conquered to supply auxiliary troops for the prosecution of more wars of conquest for the conqueror, had dismembered Germany by making an alliance with one German power against other German powers. Nevertheless, the German people withstood even such a peace, and were able to rise again, and to acquire the right to freedom and independence.

To all those who desire to think, and know how to think, the example of the "Tilsit" peace (which was only one of the many harsh and humiliating peace treaties forced upon Germany) shows clearly how childish is the idea that, under all circumstances, a humiliating peace leads to irretrievable ruin, and a war to glory and salvation.

The history of wars teaches us that a peace not infrequently provides breathing time and allows of the gathering up of strength. The "Tilsit" peace was Germany's greatest humiliation, and, at the same time, the turning-point towards the greatest of national revivals. In those days the historical circumstances did not offer any other outlet for this revival than the formation of a bourgeois power. Then, but little more than a hundred years ago, history was made by a handful of nobles and a group of bourgeois intelligents; the masses of workmen and peasants were as yet hardly awake. In those days, therefore, history could only crawl along with exasperating slowness.

In our day Capitalism has raised the general standard of culture, but that of the masses only partially. The war has aroused the masses, it has