Like the soldiers of World War I, who had had to set aside their heroic visions of war, he insisted that revolutionaries must come to terms with a new, disenchanted vision of historical progress: ‘The revolution is not a pleasure trip! The path of revolution leads over thorns and briars. Wade up to the knees in filth, if need be, crawling on our bellies through dirt and dung to communism, then in this fight we will win. .