V. I.

Lenin

HOW TO END THE WAR

Everyone is thinking and talking about how to end the war.

Practically all the workers and peasants are agreed that the war
was started by the capitalists and that it is the capitalists of
all countries who need it. And that is what the resolutions of the Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’, and
Peasants’ Deputies say.

This is the undoubted truth.

Opinion differs when we come to the question of what way to end the war ( everyone realises that it
cannot be ended abruptly ). Are we to go about it by way
of a deal with the capitalists, and if so, what kind of deal? Or
are we to go by way of a workers’ revolution, i.e., by overthrowing the capitalists? That is the basic, cardinal issue.

On this question our Party disagrees with the Petrograd Soviet
of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies and with the All-Russia
Soviet of Peasants’ Deputies, both of which incline towards deciding this question in favour of the capitalists and through the capitalists.

This has been strikingly confirmed by the resolution on the war
adopted by the All-Russia Soviet of Peasants’ Deputies. In
keeping with the notorious—and no less muddled—appeal to the nations of the world (dated March 14), this resolution
demands:

“ peace without annexations and indemnities, with the right of
every nation, in whatever state boundaries It may be living, to
decide its own destiny.”

The question of annexations is formulated differently here
compared with the way it was recently put in Izvestia of the Petrograd Soviet and in Dyelo Naroda (see
Pravda No. 60 for
May 18  [1]

)

The two latter newspapers, controlled by the Narodnik Menshevik
bloc, are in a hopeless muddle when they declare that peace
“without annexations” means returning to the state of things
that existed before the war (the Latin phrase used for this is
status quo ante bellum).

Such a solution of the problem—let us not blink the truth—means making a deal with the capitalists and between
the capitalists. It means: Let us keep the old annexations (made
before the war), but let us have no new ones.

For one thing, no socialist who does not wish to betray
socialism can accept such a solution. It is not a socialist’s
job to make peace between the capitalists on the basis of the
old division of spoils, that is, annexations. That is obvious. Secondly, such a solution, in any event, is
impracticable unless there is a revolution against capital , at least against Anglo-Japanese capital, since no
man in his right senses can doubt that without a revolution Japan will never give up Kiaochow, nor Britain
Baghdad and her African colonies.

The peasant resolution gives a different definition to annexations. It proclaims the right of every nation
(meaning also those annexed before the war) to be free and “to decide its own destiny”.

This is the only correct solution of the problem as far as any
really consistent democrat, not to mention a socialist, is
concerned. No true socialist can put the question of annexations
in any other way or deny any nation the right to selfdetermination and secession.

Let us not deceive ourselves, however. Such a demand implies a
revolution against the capitalists. And the first to turn down
such a demand (unless there is a revolution) will be the British
capitalists, who have more annexed territories than any other
nation in the world.

Neither of these demands, these wishes, either that of renouncing annexations in the sense of restoring status quo, or
renouncing all annexations, both old and new, are realisable
without a revolution against capital, without the overthrow of
the capitalists. We must not deceive ourselves or the people on
this score.

Either we advocate and look forward to a deal with the capitalists—and that would amount to inspiring the people
with faith in their worst enemies—or we place our faith
solely in the workers’ revolution and concentrate all our
efforts on overthrowing the capitalists.

We must make our choice between these two ways of ending the war.

---
Notes:
[1]
See pp. 433–35

[ See Muddleheadedness ] of this volume.— Ed .