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Fractures in the state, divisions in the ruling class and indecision on the part of the intermediate classes pave the way for dual power, which, in Russia, led to the creation of new institutions and later, in China, Vietnam, and Cuba, rested on revolutionary armies with varying class compositions that were locked in battle against their respective state machines.

— Tariq Ali The Dilemmas of Lenin: Terrorism, War, Empire, Love, Revolution (2017)

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