ABSTRACT
This chapter compares the quotation with the extracts from Lenin's works concerning the dictatorship of the proletariat, in order to understand the depth of the abyss which separates Lenin's theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat from Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution. One of the peculiarities of the October revolution was that it was a typical application of Lenin's theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Lenin maintains that the revolution draws all its forces from among the workers and peasants of Russia itself. But Trotsky contends that the indispensable forces are to be found "in the arena of a worldwide proletarian revolution". Lack of faith in the strength and capacity of our revolution, lack of faith in the strength and capacity of the Russian proletariat—these are the foundations of the theory of "permanent revolution".
