“Lenin's reaction to this defence of what he called the 'predatory treaties concluded by the tsarist clique and the "Allied" bankers was predictable.

'The cards are on the table...[he wrote]. Short and clear. War to a decisive victory. The alliance with the British and French bankers is sacred...The new Note of the Provisional Government will pour oil on the flames. It can only arouse a bellicose spirit in Germany. It will help Wilhelm the Brigand to go on deceiving "his own" workers and soldiers and drag them into a war "to a finish". Fight- because we want to plunder. Die in your tens of thousands every day - because "we"... have not yet got our share of the spoils.”