Letter to the Petrograd Committee and to the Moscow Committee of the Social Democratic Labour Party of Russia (Bolshevik)
Dear Comrades,—
Events show us our duty so clearly that waiting becomes a crime.
The agrarian movement is developing, and the government is repressing it more and more savagely. The sympathy of the troops towards us is increasing (at Moscow, we have 99 per cent of the soldiers' votes for us; the Finnish troops and the fleet are against the government; and Doubassov's declaration shows that the army will have no more of the war).
In Germany, especially since the execution of the sailors, the beginning of the revolution is doubtless at hand. The elections at Moscow have given 47 per cent. of the votes to the Bolsheviks; it is a great victory. With the Left Social Revolutionaries we have obviously a majority in the country.
The railwaymen and postal workers are in conflict with the government. As for the All-Russia Congress of Soviets, due to meet on October 20, the Dan Liber is already speaking of its meeting "about the 20th," &c. …
In these conditions, to wait is a crime.
The Bolsheviks have no right to wait for the Congress of Soviets. They must take power immediately. In so doing they will save the world revolution (for it is to be feared, especially after the executions in Germany, that the capitalists of all countries will compose their differences and unite against us). They will also save the Russian revolution (for if we delay perhaps the rising wave of real anarchy will be too strong for us); and they will save the lives of hundreds of thousands of men at the front.
To wait is a crime. To wait for the Congress of Soviets is to show signs of a standing on ceremony which is childish as well as dishonourable. It is to betray the revolution.
If insurrection is necessary to seize power, it must be begun immediately. It is very possible that precisely at this moment a seizure of power could take place without insurrection; it would be sufficient, perhaps, for the Moscow soviet to proclaim itself (with
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