_They understand that
the defeat of Germany would be a defeat of the principles of
monarchism, so dear to all our European reactionaries_.
Our people will never forget _the failure of the Czar's government
to defend Russia_. But if the progressive, the politically
conscious people will not take part in the struggle against
Germany, the Czar's government will have an excuse for saying: "It
is not our fault that Germany defeats us; it is the fault of the
revolutionists who have betrayed their country," and this will
vindicate the government in the eyes of the people.
The political situation in Russia is such that only across the
bridge of national defense can we reach freedom. Remember, _we do
not tell you, first victory against the external enemy and then
revolution against the internal, the Czar's government_.
In the course of events the defeat of the Czar's government may
serve as a necessary preliminary condition for, and even as a
guaranty of, the elimination of the German danger. The French
revolutionists of the end of the eighteenth century would never
have been able to have overcome the enemy, attacking France on all
sides, had they not adopted such tactics only when the popular
movement against the old regime became mature enough to render
their efforts effective.
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