V. I. Lenin

Speech At A Meeting Of The Land Committee
Congress And The Peasant Section
Of The Third Congress Of Soviets

January 28 (February 10), 1918 [1]

Newspaper Report

We are now engaged in the great task of consolidating the gains
of the working masses, the great task of uniting the workers,
soldiers and peasants. At the Peasant Congress where the Rights
had a majority I said that if the peasants recognised all our
demands we in turn would support all the peasant demands, the
chief of which is socialisation of land.
We have now done this. We have passed the world's first law
abolishing all private ownership of land. We now have power, the
power of the Soviets. This power, brought to the fore by the
people themselves, lays a sound foundation for the great cause
of world peace. The war has been stopped, and demobilisation has
been ordered on every front. There is still the war against the
bourgeoisie which is mobilising all its forces to against Soviet
power. We have almost put an end to the Russian counter-revolution. We are gaining the upper hand in almost
every battle fought on all the fronts. There is still another
enemy; it is international capital; the fight against this enemy
will be a long one and we shall win by getting organised and
obtaining support for our revolution from the international
proletariat. We are still faced with a big fight, the class
struggle at home. This is an economic struggle against the
bourgeoisie, who, directly or indirectly, support our enemies
and who will try to establish economic domination over the
working masses.

One thing that we suffer from, that makes our country weak, is
the lack of money. The big kulaks in town and country still have
lots of money, which is evidence of their exploitation of the
people's labour, and which must belong to the people. We are
sure that the working peasants will declare a ruthless war
against the kulaks, their oppressors, and will help us in our
struggle for the people's better future and for socialism.

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Notes:
[1]
Lenin delivered his speech at the closing sitting of the Land
Conimittee Congress and the peasant section of the Third
Congress of Soviets.

The Land Committee Congress opened in Petrograd on January 17
(30), 1918. Its first sitting was attended by 472 delegates from
43 gubernias and 243 uyezds. The Congress subsequently worked together with the peasant section of the
Third All-Russia Congress of Soviets which ended on January 18
(31). It was then attended by more than 1,000 delegates. The
various sections of the Congress worked out the details of the
Basic Law on the Socialisation of Land.