“A state arises, a special force is created in the form of special bodies of armed men, and every revolution, by destroying the state apparatus, demonstrates to us how the ruling class strives to restore the special bodies of armed men which serve it, and how the oppressed class strives to create a new organization of this kind, capable of serving not the exploiters but the exploited.”

1.2, Essential Works of Lenin (1966)
The State and Revolution (1917)

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Vladimir Lenin 336
Russian politician, led the October Revolution 1870–1924

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