Date: 1917
Source: ru:PSS/v39

Comrades! Allow me to extend a warm welcome to your non‑party workers’ and Red Army conference, as well as to the graduation of the artillery course’s red commanders. This gathering has been convened to discuss matters pertaining to the consolidation of our state system and our state apparatus.

In every country, the working masses are oppressed. They do not partake in the fruits of capitalist culture—yet it is precisely the toiling masses that must form the foundation of all state life. Comrades, in our Soviet Republic, the toiling masses constitute both the bedrock and the soil from which the entire edifice of Soviet power arises. Following the victory of the working people in February 1917, Soviets sprang up across Russia almost overnight. The idea of the Soviets did not first emerge in 1917; it had its origins back in 1905. Even then, Soviets of Workers’ Deputies already existed. After the October Revolution, workers throughout the world greeted Soviet power with deep sympathy—and this was no accident, but rather the result of profound internal forces at work.

Allow me, comrades, to pause briefly on the fundamental principles underlying the political life of Soviet Russia. I do not possess precise data to illuminate the economic situation of our republic; most likely, other speakers will address that topic—especially the food policy of the worker‑peasant government. For my part, I shall confine myself to the political dimension of this question.

To better grasp the core tenets of Soviet power, we must look back—to trace the course of our revolution, beginning in 1917. Our revolution unfolded along two distinct trajectories: one marked by the Kerensky–Kornilov period, which preceded Soviet power; and the other, characterized by the Kaledin–Kolchak–Denikin era, which sought to undermine and ultimately destroy Soviet power. To the non‑party worker—not merely the worker, but the toiling masses—it is imperative to ask: Why did these two distinct phases arise within our revolution? And why were they so closely intertwined?

Comrades! Every worker, every Red Army soldier, every toiling person must reflect upon why our Soviet power is often accused of terror, why some claim that the Bolsheviks are dictators, that the Bolsheviks are mere thugs. Yet at the same time, every toiling person must also ask themselves: Why did the governments of Kerensky, Kaledin, and Kolchak fall so swiftly? You all know that during Kerensky’s rule, all of Russia was crisscrossed by networks of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies—and yet, alongside these Soviets, the bourgeoisie held absolute power in its own hands. The bourgeoisie was backed by the Allies, who sought to keep Russia engaged in the war; meanwhile, the Russian bourgeoisie itself hoped to prolong the conflict in order to secure the Dardanelles. It was for this reason that Kerensky’s bourgeois government—supported by the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries—neither wished nor dared to make public the treaties that Nicholas the Bloody’s government had signed with the Allies. In this way, through the duplicitous machinations of the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, the bourgeoisie managed to keep the toiling masses under its control.

You all remember that at the outset of the 1917 revolution, there were few Bolsheviks in the Soviets. I recall that in June, during the First Congress of Soviets{63}, Bolsheviks made up less than one-seventh of the total membership. “The Bolsheviks can only act to undermine the working masses,” the bourgeoisie—and even certain so‑called socialist parties like the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries—would say about us. But what, in the meantime, was Kerensky’s bourgeois government doing? It fed the toiling masses nothing but empty promises—promises that were never fulfilled. The Land Decree remained unenacted. When land committees attempted to seize landed estates in order to distribute the land among poor peasants, those very land committees were arrested. It became clear to the working masses that this government would give them nothing. They began to understand that the only power capable of truly delivering for them was their own power—the power of the workers and the poorest peasants.

It was at this very moment that Kornilov’s march on Petrograd came to pass. Kornilov’s campaign was no mere fluke; it arose out of the deceptive policies of Kerensky’s government, which constantly sought to reconcile landlords with peasants, workers with exploiters, labor with capital. It was then that the landlords, officers, and capitalists resolved to seize complete control of power into their own hands. Thus Kornilov’s march took shape. The Soviets recognized the danger and united against Kornilov. Even after that, when Kerensky’s bourgeois government persisted in its policy of deception, the consciousness of the working masses began to grow rapidly—and with it, the number of Bolsheviks in the Soviets increased steadily, long before the October Revolution. When we seized power in October, the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, strolling through Smolny, threatened us that the front lines would soon sweep us from the face of the earth. We merely smiled in their faces, for we knew that the toiling masses would understand our explanations—that they stood for the power of the workers, and therefore for the power of the Soviets. And indeed, when numerous delegations arrived in Petrograd from the front lines and we explained the true state of affairs to them, they all turned to our side. For the workers—those who were non‑party—a lesson was clearly at hand. Every toiling person, every worker, every Red Army soldier must learn from the history of Kerensky’s government—which, I repeat, sought to harmonize the interests of landlords and peasants, of workers and masters, of labor and capital.

It seemed that Kerensky’s government ought to have been strong, for it had been promised support by the bourgeois Allied governments—but it collapsed. Kerensky’s government collapsed because it rested on deceit and lacked any real foundation beneath its feet. Kerensky’s government promised the working masses universal elections, but only in order to blind the eyes of the toiling masses, to distract them from the true state of affairs. That is why, after the October Revolution, when the proletariat itself seized power into its own hands, it first set about organizing its own governing bodies—the Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies.

The worker‑peasant government immediately cast off the false policies of Kerensky’s bourgeois government. The very first act of the Council of People’s Commissars was to publish the secret treaties that Nicholas the Bloody’s government had concluded with our former allies. The worker‑peasant government declared outright that it no longer wished to wage war in defense of bourgeois interests—and despite all the slander heaped upon it by the bourgeoisie’s hired agents, the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, it proposed that all warring nations begin peace negotiations. At that point, workers throughout the world saw that Soviet power had no desire to continue the war. The predatory Treaty of Brest‑Litovsk was imposed upon a defenseless Russia by German predators. Among the conscious working masses of every country, sympathy for Soviet power grew ever stronger. When the bourgeois governments of the Entente forced the German plunderers to sign an even more onerous and even more predatory peace treaty, the workers of every nation realized how they had been deceived all along. Voices rose up, swelling and multiplying in opposition to those who had continually deceived them. Workers began to demand the power of the toiling masses—the power of workers and peasants—the power of the Soviets.

This, then, is why the bourgeois regimes of Kerensky and Kolchak—supported by the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries—collapsed so quickly. (You all know that the Menshevik Maysky served on the Siberian government{64}.) Both the Mensheviks, the Socialist Revolutionaries, and the Czechoslovaks—backed by foreign bourgeois interests—all initially united in their struggle against the Bolsheviks, and later in their efforts to establish a genuinely popular, democratic form of power. But what do we see? Officers of the Kolchak type dissolved the Constituent Assembly in Siberia and established a regime ruled by officers, capitalists, and landlords. Thus, the toiling masses of Siberia learned through experience that they had been deceived—and that is why the Red Army was able to capture all of Siberia in such a short span of time, for now the Siberian workers and peasants themselves were coming forward to aid the Red Army.

Comrades, we must now reflect on why it is said that the Bolsheviks resort to violence, that the Bolsheviks are dictators. Why did those who once marched alongside the Mensheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries, the Czechoslovaks, and Kolchak soon turn away from them? Why did the landlords, capitalists, and officers of the Siberian government, as soon as they seized power in Siberia, expel the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries and install Kolchak in their place? Why did this government—supported on all sides—collapse so quickly? Because all their words, all their deeds, were nothing but deception and falsehood. Because they failed to keep their promises—they gave the people neither a Constituent Assembly, nor popular power, nor any other form of democratic governance; instead, they established a dictatorship of landlords and officers.

Comrades, driven by their class interests, the bourgeoisie was bound to lie and deceive the toiling masses. The workers and peasants understood this all too well. They realized that only when power belongs to the toiling masses will there be no lies, no deceit—and no longer will the horrors that the proletariat and the poorest peasantry have endured, and continue to endure, after four years of war, be repeated. When the bourgeoisie holds power, the proletariat understands that there is but one path: the overthrow of capitalist rule. There can be no reconciliation between labor and capital—as the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries endlessly preach. Indeed, at a heavy cost—tens of thousands of workers and peasants in Siberia were shot or hacked to death—Siberian workers and peasants paid for their trust. We have borne the bitter experience of bloodletting inflicted upon Siberian workers and peasants, but we know that this experience will serve as a lesson for them. This experience is the best teacher of Bolshevism for workers and peasants. After it, the toiling masses will come to understand that there is no middle ground. There is no alternative: either the power of workers and peasants—the power of the Soviets—or the power of capitalists and landlords. The bourgeoisie seeks to obscure the consciousness of the toiling masses through force and deception—but all its efforts crumble like a house of cards before the rising consciousness of the proletariat and the poorest peasantry.

Denikin’s adventure, as he repeats Kolchak’s lesson in Ukraine, will compel Ukrainian workers and peasants to recognize the mistake they are now making—by failing to engage with sufficient vigor in the struggle against him. We know that after Denikin’s reign in Ukraine, Ukrainian workers and peasants will emerge strengthened, no longer contenting themselves with mere words but actively defending the power of workers and peasants—just as our Siberian brothers are doing today. The worker‑peasant government says to the peasants and to all toiling people: “Join us—build your proletarian state. Look to the experiences of Kolchak and Denikin, and you will see what life is like outside the realm of Soviet power.” For us, this experience is the finest form of agitation.

A strong worker‑peasant government crushes every White Guard conspiracy hatched against it. With an iron broom, it sweeps traitors from its ranks. The worker‑peasant government built the Red Army, filling it with specialists while surrounding them with a cadre of Communist commissars. Dozens of specialists who proved to be traitors have been expelled from the ranks of the Red Army, while thousands—tens of thousands—of military specialists faithfully fulfilling their duties remain within the ranks of the worker‑peasant Red Army. This is the central, foundational experience of political emancipation and liberation for the toiling masses.

All that I have spoken of to you today, comrades, is already becoming clear to the toiling masses of other countries. Everywhere, the movement of working masses demanding Soviet power is growing and spreading. You know that in Germany, the Mensheviks now stand at the head of the government—and though they are backed by the armed might of the Entente, even so, German workers are demanding Soviet power. Just recently, the German government was compelled to enshrine in its constitution a provision establishing Soviets of Workers’ Deputies throughout Germany. However, these Soviets are not authorized to debate the political issues of national life. According to the constitution, the German Soviets—socially treacherous though they may be—are permitted to discuss only the economic conditions of the country. Very little information reaches us from other Western European states, for we are surrounded on all sides by enemies—but the reports that do reach us indicate that the movement in favor of the Bolsheviks is increasing and gaining strength. Let me tell you of a small incident that occurred in France—a story that speaks more eloquently than any words could about the validity of my arguments and reveals much to us. In France, two Bolshevik newspapers are published. One of them sought to call itself “The Bolshevik,” but censorship—in democratic France, censorship still exists!—forbade this name. So the newspaper rechristened itself “The Forbidden Name”{65}. When a worker buys this paper and sees that title, he himself adds: “The Bolshevik.” (Loud applause.)

In closing, comrades, allow me to share with you the news I received today from Comrade Zinoviev, Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Red Army Deputies. Comrade Zinoviev informs me that one hundred Estonian prisoners of war have been landed in Petrograd—and they conveyed the following message to him. In White Guard Estonia, a non‑party conference of workers’ trade unions was held. The conference was attended by 417 delegates, of whom only 33 were Mensheviks; the rest were all Bolsheviks! (Loud applause.) The conference demanded peace with Russia. When the British learned of this, a British representative appeared at the conference and proposed that the White Guard government of Estonia be overthrown—but the workers, in response, drove him away and demanded peace with Russia and a return to peaceful life. The conference was then dispersed. One hundred men were sent back to Russia “to seek out Bolshevism”; 26 of them were detained, and the White Guard authorities intend to execute them. In response to this action by White Guard Estonia, we issued a call to the workers and the people of that country—and we informed their government that we would execute all hostages currently held by us{66}. (Applause.) And yet, that government was supported by the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries!

Little Estonia, in its non‑party trade union conference, gave a fitting reply to mighty England—the England that had threatened us with an alliance of fourteen nations{67}.

As I conclude my speech, let me express my confidence that Soviet Russia, which has triumphed within its own borders over the past two years, will soon defeat bourgeois power throughout the world. (Loud applause.)

“Pravda,” No. 201, September 11, 1919

Printed according to the text of the newspaper “Pravda.”