During
interruption of the sessions, which continued for about ten days, a
considerable disturbance took place in Austria-Hungary; strikes of
masses of workers broke out, and these strikes were the first
recognition of our methods of conducting peace negotiations that we met
with from the proletariat of the Central Empires, as against the
annexationist demands of the German militarism. We promised here no
miracles but we did say that the road we were pursuing was the only road
remaining to the revolutionary democracy for securing the possibility of
its further development.
There is room for complaint that the proletariat of the other countries,
and particularly of the Central Empires, is too slow to enter the road
of open revolutionary struggle, yes, it must be admitted that the pace
of its development is all too slow--but, nevertheless, there could be
observed a movement in Austria-Hungary which swept the entire state and
which was a direct echo of the Brest-Litovsk negotiations.
Leaving for Brest-Litovsk, it was our common opinion that there was no
ground to believe that just this wave would sweep away the Austro-German
militarism. If we had been convinced that this could be expected, we
would gladly have given the promise that several persons demanded from
us, namely, that under no circumstances would we sign a separate peace
with Germany. I said at that very time, that we could not make such a
promise, for it would amount to taking upon ourselves the obligation of
vanquishing the German militarism.
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