Therefore, go deeply into the situation. You make a great mistake
if you imagine that it is not to the interests of the
working-people to defend our country. In reality, nobody's
interests suffer more terribly from the invasion of an enemy than
the interests of the working-population.
Take, for instance, the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. When the
Germans besieged Paris and the cost of all the necessaries of life
rose enormously, it was clear that the poor suffered much more
than the rich. In the same way, when Germany exacted five billions
of contribution from vanquished France, this same, in the final
count, was paid by the poor; for paying that contribution indirect
taxation was greatly raised, the burden of which nearly entirely
falls on the lower classes.
More than that. The most dangerous consequence to France, due to
her defeat in 1870-71, was the retardation of her economic
development. In other words, the defeat of France badly reflected
upon the contemporary interests of her people, and, even more,
upon her entire subsequent development.
The defeat of Russia by Germany will much more injure our people
than the defeat of France injured the French people.
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