Speech at the Yan’an Party for Cadres
in Celebration of the October
Revolution
(November 6, 1943)
Today we are holding a party in Yan’an to celebrate the twenty-sixth anniversary
of the October Revolution of the Soviet Union. When we had the celebration last
year, the Red Army was still struggling to defend Stalingrad. Within only one
year, however, the victory of the Red Army has already changed the overall
picture of the war. With the battlefront moving forward from the Volga to the
Dnieper, the Red Army will score an even greater victory in the forthcoming
winter offensive. Without the Red Army, the situation in the war today would be
inconceivable. The truth has long been self-evident that the victory of the Red
Army has a bearing on the destiny of all humanity. During the past year,
meanwhile, the Anglo-American-French allies have mopped up the enemy in
North Africa, Sicily, and southern Italy, and their air forces have undertaken
offensive operations. These actions have complemented the fighting of the Red
Army. In the East, the Chinese armies and the Anglo-American forces have also
struck heavy blows against the Japanese Fascists.
One week ago, the conference among Britain, the United States, and the Soviet
Union in Moscow achieved its goals successfully; this is worthy of great
celebration. Having solved many military and political questions, the conference
on November 1 issued a tripartite communiqué and issued several historically
important declarations. Among the issues discussed and settled at the conference,
according to the joint communiqué, the most important one was the decision on
definite plans for military operations to shorten the war. There have already been

preparations for these operations. Thus, we can imagine that, in the near future,
we will witness the opening of a second front, which will create an East-West
pincer attack on Hitler and ultimately defeat him. This will decisively solve
Europe’s problem. The solution of Europe’s problem, in turn, will mean breaking
the backbone and right hand of the entire Fascist movement. It will not be
difficult to break the remaining left hand of Japanese imperialism.
Among the resolutions of the Moscow Conference was a declaration of the
four countries with the participation of China. In this document, the four
countries, united in their determination to resist the enemy to the end,
established a comprehensive set of essential guiding principles to ensure postwar
peace and security. Among these principles, the most important one stipulates
that the four nations continue their wartime cooperation with one another after
the war. In this way, the plot to drive a wedge between Britain, the United States,
the Soviet Union, and China by Fascist Germany and Japan and by internal
capitulationists has been thwarted. The four countries have united even more
closely, and postwar peace and security have been ensured. To guarantee peace
and security, the declaration also stipulates the creation of a new League of
Nations which includes all states, large and small, and is based on the principle of
sovereign equality. We can imagine that the new League of Nations will be
significantly different from the old prewar League of Nations (although the
Soviet Union took part in it during the latter period, it was never allowed to play
a significant role). It will be a united organization genuinely capable of ensuring
peace and security.
The Moscow Conference decided on the fundamental principle and specific
policies concerning Italy. The fundamental principle states that “fascism and all
its evil influence and emanations will be utterly destroyed, and the Italian people
will be given every opportunity to establish government and other institutions
based upon democratic principles.” The first clause of the specific policies states
that “the Italian government should comprise representatives of associations of
the Italian people who have always opposed fascism in order to make the
government more democratic.” Second, “the people of Italy should completely
restore freedom of speech, religious worship, political beliefs, the press, and
public gatherings and must form anti-Fascist political groups.” In addition to
these are a number of measures concerning the complete destruction of Fascist

remnants. One of them concerns the creation of democratic local government.
According to these articles, the principles of eliminating all Fascist remnants and
creating a broadly inclusive new democratic Italy with the participation of the
Communist Party have been determined. The declaration regarding Italy
concludes with a statement proclaiming that “nothing in this resolution is to
operate against the right of the Italian people ultimately to choose their own form
of government.” This is a principled statement. It means that in the future the
people of Italy have the right to choose democracy or other more progressive
systems. The Moscow Conference’s declaration on Italy thus sets an example for
the treatment of all Fascist countries in the future. This constitutes a clear
distinction from things during World War I. The spirit of imperialism in the
history of Versailles has been swept clean, and this opens up the bright road of
emancipation through freedom to the people of the defeated countries. This is the
collective expression of the great internationalism on the part of the people of the
Soviet Union, Britain, America, and other countries of the world.
The Moscow Conference declared that Austria will be separated from
Germany. At the same time, the conference also directed the Austrian people to
contribute to the prosecution of the war against Hitler. This is also a model. All
countries and regions annexed by the Fascists will be emancipated.
The Tripartite Conference issued a declaration by President Roosevelt, Prime
Minister Churchill, and Chairman Stalin, which provides the principle of
thoroughly and severely punishing the Fascist murderers. None of the Fascist
murderers will be spared. At the same time, for the purpose of destroying the
Fascist camp, the declaration warns: “Those who have hitherto not sullied their
hands with innocent blood should beware not to join the ranks of the murderers,
for most assuredly the three Allied powers will pursue them to the uttermost
ends of the earth and will bring them to justice according to the law.” A
declaration of such profoundly revolutionary significance was also inconceivable
at the time of World War I.
In short, the success of the Tripartite Conference is indeed epoch making. It
will profoundly affect both the present war and the postwar life of humanity. The
dawn of human emancipation is already in sight. Those who have a pessimistic
view of the future of the Chinese people and the people of the world and those
who yield to capitulation and unprincipled compromises have already been

proven totally wrong.
We celebrate the twenty-sixth anniversary of the birth of the Soviet Union; we
hail the great victory of the Soviet Red Army; we salute the wise leadership of
Marshal Stalin; we acclaim the epoch-making accomplishments of the tripartite
Moscow Conference; we celebrate China’s participation in the great Four Nation
Declaration! We, the Communists, our Eighth Route Army and New Fourth
Army, and our patriotic compatriots throughout the country, both military and
civilian, should work hard together, stand firmly by the Four-Nation Declaration,
and stem the still-existing dangers of capitulation and civil war. We will unite all
the patriotic forces of China, defeat Japanese imperialism, create a new country
of freedom and equality, and, in the capacity of such a new country, take part in
the new international cooperation and international reconstruction. These are our
expectations.
Note
Our source for this document is Mao Zedong ji, Vol. 9, pp. 81–84, where it is reproduced from the November
7, 1943, issue of Jiefang ribao. The entire text can also be found in the 1944 edition of Xuanji, Vol. 2, and in
the 1947 edition of Xuanji, Vol. 3.