Comrades, before closing the Third Congress of Soviets, it is necessary to establish with complete impartiality the historical role that this congress has played in the history of international revolution, in the history of mankind. It can be said with irrefutable foundation that the Third Congress of Soviets has opened a new epoch in world history, and now, in the conditions of world revolution, the full significance of this congress is beginning to be understood more and more. This congress, which consolidated the organization of the new state power created by the October Revolution, has marked the milestones of the future socialist construction for the entire world, for the working people of all countries.

In Russia, in the sphere of internal policy, the new state system of the socialist Soviet republic, as a federation of free republics of different nations inhabiting Russia, is now definitively recognized. And now everyone, I am convinced, even our enemies, can see that the new system, the power of the Soviets, is not an invention, not a party maneuver, but a result of the development of life itself, a result of the spontaneously unfolding world revolution. Remember that all great revolutions have always sought to sweep away the old capitalist system down to its foundations, sought not only to win political rights, but to wrest the very management of the state from the hands of the ruling classes, from all exploiters and oppressors of the working people, in order to put an end once and for all to all exploitation and all oppression. Great revolutions have precisely sought to smash this old exploitative state apparatus, but until now this has not been accomplished to the end. And so Russia, by virtue of the peculiarities of its economic and political position, is now the first to achieve this transition of state rule into the hands of the working people themselves. Now we, on a path cleared of historical rubbish, shall build a mighty, radiant edifice of socialist society. A new type of state power is being created, unprecedented in history, summoned by revolution to cleanse the earth of all exploitation, violence, and slavery.

Now let us see what the new socialist principle of state management has given in the sphere of our internal policy. Comrades, you remember how, not long ago, the bourgeois press never ceased to cry out that we are destroying the Russian state, that we do not know how to govern, which is why all nationalities are leaving us—Finland, Ukraine, and so forth. The bourgeois press, choking with malicious glee, reported almost daily about such "defections." We, comrades, understood the fundamental causes of this phenomenon better than they did, causes rooted in the lack of confidence of the working masses toward the conciliationist-imperialist government of Messrs. Kerensky and Company. We kept silent, firmly believing that our just principles, our own governance would prove to all working people our true aims and aspirations far better than words.

And we were right. We see now that our ideas have triumphed in Finland, in Ukraine, and are triumphing on the Don, awakening class consciousness in the working people and organizing them into a firm union. We acted without diplomats, without the old methods applied by imperialists, but the greatest result is evident—the victory of revolution and the union with us of those who have conquered in a single mighty revolutionary federation. We rule not by dividing, according to the cruel law of ancient Rome, but by uniting all working people with unbreakable chains of living interests, of class consciousness. And our union, our new state, is more durable than the violent power that unites through lies and iron into artificial state formations required by imperialists. As soon as, for example, the Finnish workers and peasants seized power into their own hands, they turned to us with expressions of devotion to the world proletarian revolution, with words of greeting in which one sees their unshakeable determination to march together with us along the path of the International{110}. Here is the foundation of our federation, and I am deeply convinced that around revolutionary Russia individual different federations of free nations will increasingly group themselves. Entirely voluntarily, without lies and iron, this federation will grow, and it is invincible. The best guarantee of its invincibility is the laws, the state system that we are creating here. Just now you have heard the law on the socialization of land{111}. Does not this law guarantee that the unity of workers and peasants is now indissoluble, that with such unity we shall be able to overcome all obstacles on the path to socialism?

And these obstacles, I do not hide, are enormous. The bourgeoisie will resort to every means, will play for broke, to shatter our unity. There will be found liars, provocateurs, traitors, perhaps there will be found unconscious people, but now nothing frightens us, for we have created our own new state power, for we have state self-governance in our hands. With all the weight of our strength we shall crush any counter-revolutionary attempt. But the main foundation of the durability of the new system is those organizational measures which we shall carry out in the name of socialism. We have enormous work before us in this respect. Remember, comrades, that the world's robber imperialists, having drawn nations into war, have thoroughly disrupted all economic life in the world. They have left us a heavy legacy—the work of restoring what they have destroyed.

Of course, the working people had no experience in governance, but this does not frighten us. Before the victorious proletariat lies the land, now become the common property of all people, and it will know how to organize new production and consumption on socialist principles. Before, all human intelligence, all human genius was devoted only to giving some all the blessings of technology and culture, while depriving others of the most necessary—enlightenment and development. Now all the wonders of technology, all the conquests of culture will become the common property of all people, and henceforth human intelligence and genius will never again be turned into means of violence, into means of exploitation. We know this—and is it not worth working, is it not worth devoting all our strength for the sake of this greatest historical task? And the working people will accomplish this titanic historical work, for within them lie dormant the great forces of revolution, regeneration, and renewal.

We are no longer alone. In recent days remarkable events have occurred not only in Ukraine and on the Don, not only in the realm of our Kaledinys and Kerenskys, but also in Western Europe. You are already familiar with the telegrams about the position of revolution in Germany. The fiery tongues of revolutionary spontaneity are bursting forth ever more powerfully over the entire putrefied old world order. This was not a theory abstracted from life, was not a fantasy of armchair people, that we, having created Soviet power, called forth such attempts in other countries as well. For, I repeat, there is no other way out for the working people from this bloody slaughter. Now these attempts are already becoming consolidated conquests of the international revolution[32]. And we close this historic Congress of Soviets under the sign of the ever-growing world revolution, and the time is not far off when the working people of all countries will merge into one universal human state, to build by mutual effort the new socialist edifice. The path of this construction lies through the Soviets, as one of the forms of the beginning world revolution. (Stormy applause.)

In greeting you, I call upon you to the construction of this new edifice. You will disperse to your places and apply all your strength to the organization and consolidation of our greatest victory. (The delegates rise and greet Comrade Lenin with stormy applause.)