The speech delivered at the opening of the March 8 Congress
(Long, sustained applause.) Comrades, allow me to declare the X Congress of the Russian Communist Party officially open. We have just emerged from a year that was extraordinarily rich in events—both on the international stage and within our own national history. To begin with the international situation, I must say that we are now gathering under conditions in which the Communist International has ceased to be merely a slogan; it has truly become a powerful organizational structure, one that rests upon a solid foundation—a genuine foundation—in the largest, most advanced capitalist countries. What had been little more than resolutions at the Second Congress of the Comintern has, over the past year, been brought to fruition, finding expression, confirmation, and consolidation in nations such as Germany, France, and Italy. It suffices to name these three countries to see that, in every one of the leading European powers, the Communist International has, since the Second Congress held last summer in Moscow, become an integral part of the workers’ movement in each of those countries—and moreover, it has emerged as a central factor in international politics. This is a colossal achievement, comrades—and no matter how arduous or daunting the trials that lie ahead may be—and we must never, nor should we ever— lose sight of them—no one will ever be able to take this victory away from us!
Furthermore, comrades, for the first time we are convening a congress under conditions in which there are no enemy forces—backed by capitalists and imperialists from around the globe—on the territory of the Soviet Republic. For the first time, thanks to the victories of the Red Army over the past year, we are opening a party congress under such circumstances. Three and a half years of unprecedentedly fierce struggle—but the absence of enemy armies on our soil—that is something we have won! Of course, we are far from having achieved everything through this, and in no way have we yet secured what we must secure: the true liberation from imperialist aggression and intervention. On the contrary, their military operations against us have taken on a less overtly militaristic form, yet in certain respects they have become even more burdensome and more dangerous for us. The transition from war to peace—the very transition we hailed at the previous party congress three years ago and had already begun to implement, striving to establish order in this regard—is still far from complete. Even now, our party faces formidable challenges that extend beyond the economic plan—where we have made numerous mistakes—not only concerning the fundamental principles of economic development, but also concerning the very foundations of class relations that persist in our society, in our Soviet Republic. The relationships between classes themselves have undergone profound transformation, and I believe you will all agree that this question must be among the most crucial issues you are called upon to examine and resolve here.
Comrades, we have endured an extraordinary year—we have allowed ourselves the luxury of engaging in heated debates and disputes within our own party. For a party that is surrounded by enemies—powerful, formidable foes who unite the entire capitalist world—for a party bearing an unprecedented burden, this luxury was nothing short of astonishing!

X CONGRESS OF THE RCP(b)
I do not know how you will assess this today. Do you believe that this luxury was truly commensurate with our material and spiritual resources? The judgment rests with you. But in any case, I must say this: here, at this congress, we must make it our guiding principle, our paramount goal and task—something we must accomplish at all costs—that we emerge from our discussions and debates stronger than when we began them. (Applause.) You, comrades, surely know that all our enemies—of whom there are countless numbers—reiterate and amplify, in their myriad foreign publications, the same age-old, thousand‑tongued rumor that our bourgeois and petty-bourgeois adversaries spread right here, within the Soviet Republic: if there is debate, then there must be strife; if there is strife, then there must be discord; if there is discord, then the communists have grown weak—press your advantage, seize the moment, exploit their weakening! This has become the rallying cry of the hostile world. We must never forget this for a single moment. Our task now is to demonstrate that, whether rightly or wrongly, we may have indulged in this luxury in the past—but we must emerge from this situation in such a way that, despite the extraordinary abundance of platforms, nuances, shades, almost subtleties, formulated and debated, we can, after carefully reviewing them at our party congress, say to ourselves: in any case, however much debate may have characterized our interactions thus far, however fiercely we may have quarreled among ourselves—and with so many enemies arrayed against us—the tasks facing the dictatorship of the proletariat in a peasant country are so immense and so daunting that it is not enough merely to maintain formal unity—your very presence here at this congress already proves that this is so—but we must ensure that our work is not only formally more cohesive, more fraternal than before, that there remain not the slightest traces of factionalism—no matter where or how it may have manifested itself in the past—and that, under no circumstances, should any vestiges of it survive. Only on this condition can we fulfill the enormous tasks that lie before us. And I am confident that I speak for the shared intention and firm resolve of us all when I say: with even stronger, even more united and sincere party solidarity, we must emerge from this very congress—without fail! (Applause.)
“Pravda,” No. 52, March 9, 1921