V. I.

Lenin

(1) Our Deputy must be unconditionally opposed to the present
predatory imperialist war. This war is waged by the capitalists
of all countries—Russia, Germany, Britain, etc.—for profits, and the subjugation of the weak nations.

(2) So long as a capitalist government is at the head of the
Russian nation, there must be no support for the government,
which is carrying on a predatory war—not by a single kopek!

(3) Our Deputy must stand for the immediate publication of the
secret predatory treaties (relating to the subjugation of
Persia, the partition of Turkey, Austria, etc.), which ex
Tsar Nicholas concluded with the capitalists of Britain,
France, etc.

(4) Our Deputy must stand for the immediate abrogation of all
these treaties. The Russian people, the workers and the
peasants, do not wish to oppress and will not oppress any
nation; they do not wish to and will not hold by force within the boundaries of Russia a single non-Russian
(non-Great-Russian) nation. Freedom for all the peoples, a
fraternal union of the workers and peasants of all nationalities!

(5) Our Deputy must stand for the Russian Government offering
openly, immediately and unconditionally, without equivocation and without the least delay, terms of peace to
all the belligerent countries on the basis of freedom for all the oppressed or underprivileged
nationalities without exception.

This means that the Great Russians shall not forcibly retain
either Poland, or Kurland, or Ukraine, or Finland, or Armenia,
or any other nation. The Great Russians offer a fraternal union
to all the nations and propose the formation of a common state
by voluntary consent of each individual people, and under no
circumstances by means of violence, direct or indirect. The
Great Russians, under the terms of such a peace, undertake
immediately to withdraw their troops from Galicia, from Armenia,
and from Persia, and to allow these nations and all other nations without exception freely to decide whether they
wish to live as a separate state, or in union with whomsoever
they please.

Germany, by the terms of such a peace, must not only relinquish
all the territories she has seized since the beginning of the war, but also release the peoples she is keeping by force
within the boundaries of Germany, namely, the Danes (Schleswig),
the French (part of Alsace and Lorraine), the Poles (Poznan),
etc. Germany must undertake immediately, and simultaneously with
Russia, to withdraw her troops from all the regions she has
seized, as well as from all the regions mentioned above, and
allow each nation to decide freely, by a popular vote, whether
it wishes to live as a separate state, or in union with whomsoever, it pleases. Germany must unconditionally and
unequivocally relinquish all her colonies, for colonies are
oppressed peoples.

Britain, by the terms of such a peace, must relinquish,
immediately and unconditionally, not only the territories she
has seized from others (the German colonies in Africa, etc., the
Turkish lands, Mesopotamia, etc.), but all her own colonies as well. Britain, like Russia and Germany, must
immediately withdraw her troops from all the territories she has
seized, from her colonies, and also from Ireland, and let each
nation decide by a free vote whether it wants to live as a
separate state, or in union with whomsoever it wishes.

And so on: all the belligerent countries, without exception,
must receive an offer to conclude an immediate peace on these
clearly defined terms. The capitalists of all countries
should no longer deceive the peoples by promising “peace without
annexations” while holding on to their own annexed territories and continuing the war in order to wrest from the
enemy “his own” annexed territories.

(6) Our Deputy must not give any support, or vote for any loan,
or give a kopek of the people’s money to any government that does not solemnly undertake immediately to
offer to all the nations these terms for an immediate peace
and to publish this offer within two days for everybody’s information.

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