Lenin begins by claiming that the outbreak of the First World War has forced the socialist movement to take the question of the state more seriously. The warring powers have concentrated enormous wealth and power into their hands and are using that power to inflict untold horrors on working people. This terrible situation is “making the people's position unbearable and increasing their anger” (Preface), bringing a revolutionary situation closer to reality.

Lenin accuses the leaders of European socialist parties as being part of the problem. He argues that they have championed the right policies at home but have favored imperialism abroad, thinking they could gain advantages for their workers at the expense of other nations. Instead, they just enhanced the power of the state to chew up all working people. Thus, true socialists must reestablish the true nature of the state under capitalism.

Lenin states that he will clarify the proper Marxist position on the state, redressing the errors that have popped up from some socialist corners. Now that Russia is in a potentially revolutionary state, with the Tsar having been deposed six months before, clarifying the relationship between state and socialism is not just a theoretical question, but one of immediate practical importance.