peasants. Can we possibly renounce our principles now that the moment of action has arrived?
We have always said that the dictatorship of the proletariat in any one country creates immense changes in the international situation, in its economy, in the situation and state of mind of the army—shall we then "forget" all this now and allow ourselves to be frightened by the difficulties of the revolution?
"… The masses, according to general opinion, have no ardent desire to fight. Amongst the signs which justify pessimism we must also place the growing circulation of the ultra-reactionary Press. …"
All things appear naturally yellow to those who are afraid of the bourgeoisie. In the first place they substitute for the Marxian criterion an intellectual-impressionist criterion. They replace the political estimation of the development of the class struggle and of the general march of events on an international scale, with subjective impressions on the state of mind of the masses; but they forget that the firm line of the Party, its unshakable decision, is also a factor in forming this state of mind; especially at the decisive moment of the revolution. It is sometimes very convenient for responsible leaders to forget that, by their vacillation and their propensity to burn what they worshipped yesterday, they are themselves creating hesitations in certain sections of the masses.
In the second place—and this is most important at the present moment—people without character forget to add, when mentioning the state of mind of the masses, that, "according to general opinion," this state of mind is concentrated and anxious.
That, "according to general opinion," the workers would rise as one man on the appeal and for the defence of the soviets.
That, "according to general opinion," the state of mind of the masses is only confined to despair and that the growth of anarchy is nothing but the result of this state of mind.
That, "according to general opinion," there exists amongst the class-conscious workers a marked aversion to going out into the streets only for demonstrations, for a partial struggle—because the feeling is in the air that a general battle is approaching and not a
