Date: 1921-11-07
Source: ru:PSS/v44

SPEECH AT A MEETING OF WORKERS, WORKING WOMEN, RED ARMY SOLDIERS, AND YOUTH FROM THE KHAMOVNICHESKY DISTRICT,
DEDICATED TO THE CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION,

NOVEMBER 7, 1921
(The orchestra plays “The Internationale.” Warm, unanimous applause.) Comrades, I cannot share with you memories that would be as instructive and as engaging for you as the recollections of comrades who were present in Moscow and personally took part in one struggle or another. I was not in Moscow at that time, and I intend to limit myself to a brief greeting.
One of the preceding speakers concluded his address with a call for workers themselves to redouble their efforts within trade union and Soviet bodies, to devote every ounce of their strength to this cause—and I wish to lend my full support to that call.
Comrades, over these four years we have endured an unprecedented struggle. If someone had told us four years ago that the foreign worker was not as close to the world revolution as we had hoped, that we would be forced to wage a brutal civil war for three long years—no one would have believed that we could withstand such a conflict. Yet despite being attacked from all sides, we held firm against this onslaught. And if we succeeded in doing so, it was not because some miracle had occurred—after all, wise men do not believe in miracles—we endured because the troops sent against us were unreliable. Had the British not withdrawn from Arkhangelsk, had the French sailors not left Odessa, and had the foreign worker, clad in soldier’s uniform and dispatched against us, not begun to grow sympathetic toward Soviet power—then even now we would not be safe from the threat of renewed aggression. But this does not frighten us, for we know that in every country there are many of our allies. The comrade who urged you here to work together in unity was right, and I wholeheartedly endorse his call, for you know that famine struck us at the very moment when we were facing our greatest trials, and the capitalists of the entire world are striving to exploit this crisis in order to enslave us once more. Yet there are vast numbers of workers who are providing us with the means to fight back against them.
Take, for example, seed assistance to the peasantry. You know that the grain requisitioning system has been replaced by the grain tax, and you can now closely monitor how effectively the grain tax and seed loans are being administered.
Just recently, we were discussing ways to help farmers in famine‑stricken regions reseed their spring crops—and we realized that the quantity of seed at the state’s disposal is far from sufficient to sow even a fraction of what was sown in 1921. To meet this need, the state requires 30 million poods of grain; yet under the grain tax, we can expect to receive only 15 million poods—leaving us with the remaining 15 million poods that must be purchased abroad. In recent times, we have seen the English bourgeoisie launching a campaign to terminate the trade agreement with Soviet Russia—but the workers of England stand firmly opposed to this. We know that negotiations are underway with other nations, and however difficult it may be to procure 15 million poods of grain, we will succeed in doing so.
In every foreign country, we are witnessing industrial crises and staggering levels of unemployment. Germany, crushed by the brazen terms of the Treaty of Versailles, has been cast out of the international arena for a long time to come. The Versailles Peace has so thoroughly stifled her that she is unable to engage in normal trade. The Allied powers concluded an unprecedented peace at Versailles—and yet, even in the midst of this treaty, they themselves are falling into ruin.
Our economic situation is improving with each passing day.

SPEECH AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REVOLUTION
My plea is that we heed the call of the previous comrade and intensify our work within our own country. We must fully grasp the urgency of this task, for we are working to improve peasant agriculture—and to achieve this, we require far more energy than ever before. We are confident that we will succeed in this endeavor. (Applause. The orchestra plays “The Internationale.”)
First published in 1950
in the fourth edition of the Collected Works
of V. I. Lenin, Volume 33

Printed from a typewritten copy of the official record.