At
this earlier period he was, as Tseretelli repeatedly reminded the workers,
without any sense of responsibility for the practical results of his
propaganda. And that was equally true of the Bolsheviki as a whole. They
talked about sending "ultimatums" to the Allies, while the whole system of
national defense was falling to pieces. Tseretelli made the only reply it
was possible for a sane man to make:
"It is proposed that we speak to the Allies with ultimatums, but did those
who made this silly proposal think that this road might lead to the
breaking of diplomatic relations with the Allies, and to that very separate
peace which is condemned by all factions among us? Did Lenine think of the
actual consequences of his proposal to arrest several dozen capitalists at
this time? Can the Bolsheviki guarantee that their road will lead us to the
correct solution of the crisis? No. If they guarantee this they do not know
what they are doing and their guaranty is worthless. The Bolshevik road can
lead us only to one end, civil war."
Once more the good sense of the working class prevailed. By an
overwhelming majority of votes the Congress decided to uphold the Coalition
Government and rejected the Bolshevik proposals.
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