Our second question was: Is the ultimate good aimed at by the
Bolsheviks sufficiently great to be worth the price that, according to
their own theory, will have to be paid for achieving it?

If anything human were absolutely certain, we might answer this
question affirmatively with some confidence. The benefits of
Communism, if it were once achieved, might be expected to be lasting;
we might legitimately hope that further change would be towards
something still better, not towards a revival of ancient evils. But if
we admit, as we must do, that the outcome of the Communist revolution
is in some degree uncertain, it becomes necessary to count the cost;
for a great part of the cost is all but certain.

Since the revolution of October, 1917, the Soviet Government has been
at war with almost all the world, and has had at the same time to face
civil war at home. This is not to be regarded as accidental, or as a
misfortune which could not be foreseen. According to Marxian theory,
what has happened was bound to happen. Indeed, Russia has been
wonderfully fortunate in not having to face an even more desperate
situation. First and foremost, the world was exhausted by the war, and
in no mood for military adventures. Next, the Tsarist régime was the
worst in Europe, and therefore rallied less support than would be
secured by any other capitalist Government. Again, Russia is vast and
agricultural, making it capable of resisting both invasion and
blockade better than Great Britain or France or Germany. The only
other country that could have resisted with equal success is the
United States, which is at present very far removed from a proletarian
revolution, and likely long to remain the chief bulwark of the
capitalist system. It is evident that Great Britain, attempting a