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of the townships, all the conscious leading elements of the working class and the peasantry were united in the Soviets.
The Soviets were elected without any restrictions whatever. The Soviets were the real organization of the masses of the nation, of the workers and of the peasants. The Soviets were the real organizations of the enormous majority, of the people. The workmen and peasants, in military uniform were under arms.
It is manifest that the Soviets both could and must take over the entire governing power. Indeed there could and should have been no other government but that of the Soviets until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly. Only then would our revolution securely occupy the position of a really popular, really democratic revolution. Only then would the toiling masses, who really crave peace, who really are not interested in wars of annexation, be able resolutely and unflinchingly to enter upon a course of action which would immediately put an end to the war of annexations and bring about peace. Only then could the workers and peasants check and bridle the capitalists who pile up collossal war profits, having brought the country to the verge of collapse and famine. But within the Soviets only the minority of the delegates were on the side of the revolutionary party of the workers—the Bolsheviks, who demanded the transfer of all the ruling power to the Soviets. The majority of the
