Saturday, May 3, 1919 THE REVOLUTIONARY AGE After One Year in Soviet Russia energy would be OMRADES: The composition of this convenBy Lenin that all forces and extraordinary efforts must be tion in itself indicates, in my opinion, the conTranslated by HANSEN exercised in order to get rid of this inheritance of siderable change and the big step forward that dddress to the Convention of Delegates of the damned war, that has brought us on the brink of has been made by us, the Soviet Republic, in the field the Committees of Agricultural Laborers utter exaustion and misery. It has become impossible of Socialist reconstruction; and particularly in adjustto continue to live as we did before the war, it (Poor Peasants) and Agricultural Communes ing our agricultural relations, the most important for has our country. In this convention are united represent(December, 1918. become impossible to continue the wastage of human energy in primitive production on a small individual atives from the Land Committees, from the Commit The forming of Committees of the Poor (agricult basis. The results of human labor would be doubled tees of the Poor Peasants, and from the agricultural ural laborers, hired farm workers) in the villages sig or trebled, the conservation of human communes; and this unity shows that during a brief nalized that the fight against the nobility was compdoubled or trebled if communistic production could be period just a year our Revolution has gone very leted and that the working class had begun the much put in place of individual private production.
far in reconstructing those relations which are the harder and historically much more important struggle The devastation that we inherited from the war does liardest to change, which in previous revolutions were for Socialism. It was an immense task to awaken the not permit us to restore this system of small agricultthe most difficult obstacles to Socialism, and which class consciousness of the agricultural laborers and ural production. More than that. The majority of require fundamental reconstruction in order to insure poorest peasants, and to weld them into one class with the peasants not only have been awakened by the war, the victory of Socialism.
the city proletariat. Without this, the decree socializ not only are they aware of the wonders of technique our Revolution was characterised mainly by the victory agricultural laborers and the poorest peasants, together marvelous technique must be applied in the most necesThe first period, the first link in the developnient of ing the land would have been a paper decree. The for purposes of destruction of men and goods, but over the common enemy of the peasantry, the victory with all those who do not exploit other men and do not over the pomieschicks (land owning nobility. live upon the toil of others, constitute the vast major sary and most backward branch of human economies All of you contrades know very well that the Marchity of the people. They are not interested in the conagriculture. This applies to science which has (1917) Revolution the Revolution of the bourgeoisie tinuance of exploitation, and were capable of going been utilized for sinister purposes of Capitalism, from and the compromisers promised this victory over the beyond the abolition of the feudal land owners. They now on must serve humanity. Our duty is to turn land owners, but did not fulfill the promise. Only did the November Revolution and the victory of the pro letarian struggle against Capitalism and for the estab methods and base production on the very last conquest go beyond this, emerging definitely into the pro agriculture to new roads, to abolish the old primitive letariat in the cities, only the power of the Soviets lishment of Socialism.
of science and the achievements of modern technique.
made it possible in reality to clean up all Russia from The consciousness of this necessity has been awakened This was the difficult task. Everybody who doubted end end of the disease of serfdom, to deliver the the possibility of a Socialist revolution in our country Besides this awakening, the war also made a return by the war in higher degree than we really appreciate.
peasantry from the old feudal exploitation, from feud prophesied inevitable failure in this task. Upon it al land ownership, and generally from the yoke of the depends our success in the future. The formation of to old methods quite impossible.
pomieschicks.
Those people who cherished the hopes of restorcommittees of the agricultural laborers and poorest In this struggle against the land owners, the peas peasants, that soon covered the whole country like a ation of the old, are compelled to realize their blunder ants rose in mass. They couldn do otherwise. In net, the growth and transformation of these committees more and more with every passing day. The destthis struggle were united all the poor peasants, those into actual and powerful Soviets, was destined to ruction brought about by the war was so monstrous, that our small individual farms do not have either who did not live by hiring and exploiting other men. assume control of the proletarian constructive work in In this struggle, also, were united the most prosperous rural Russia. This is the distinctive feature of our cattle or implements or tools. The limit was reachand richest of the peasantry, who cannot exist without Revolution, that differs so profoundly from the usual ed. The poorest toiling peasantry, which gave highest hired labor.
bourgeois democratic revolutions of western Europe.
number of martyrs for the revolution, which were While our Revolution had this task on its hands, most terribly victimized by the war did not take the No doubt, in a country so dominantly agricultural while it had to use all the efforts of the united poor as Russia, Socialist reconstruction is hampered by very land from the nobility for the purpose of turning it peasantry and the city proletariat in order to annihil large obstacles. It was comparatively an easy job to over to the speculators from their own class to the ate the power of the land owners, the Revolution had depose the Czar, to abolish the power of the nobility. itself puts the problem of communism in agriculture, rich peasants. Before this poor peasantry life to remain a peasant s, agrarian revolution, and This was accomplished in a few days in the larger couldn break through its bourgeois limits.
as the only means of restoring the civilization that centres, in a few weeks all over the country. But the The Revolution as yet didn touch the more power problem we are facing now can be solved only through darkness, the misery and the oppression these blesswas annihilated by war, as the only way out of the ful and more modern eneny of the toilers Capital.
There was danger that it would end half way, as did the revolutions of western Europe, where the united Socialism, to cultivate land on a communistic basis.
step by step, inch by inch, to conquer Russia for actual ings of Capitalism for the peasants which gave to the capitalists the possibility of torturing humanity efforts of the peasantry and the proletariat destroyed And it is obvious that the transition from individual toilers have decided to liberate themselves all over line the war for four years, and from which the the monarchies, and more or less completely annihil small farming to communistic production will require the world.
ated the remnants of feudalism and feudal land ownera long period. It cannot be done in a day.
ship. but where the fundamentals of the power of Comrades, when we adopted the law of socialization We know very well that in countries where small Capitalism were not affected.
of the land there was no full unity of opinion between And this much more important and most difficult requires many preliminary measures and gradual steps. Social Revolutionists, who suported the Soviets, did farming is predominant, the transition to Socialismı Communists and other parties. The left wing of task we started to accomplish at the end of the summer Being aware of this during the November Revolution not believe in communism in agriculture. And neverof 1918 and in the fall, by means of our Revolution.
we put forward only the demand for the confiscation The counter revolutionary movement, which began in theless the vote was unanimous. And this communistof the lands of the nobility we made every effort to the suinmer of 1977, became very strong. The invadic law prevails and is gaining ground. The struggle sweep away the power of the pomieschicks. Later in cities was simple. There we got a thousand workers ing armies of the imperialists of western Europe were on March 1918) the new law of the socialization of against one capitalist. In rural districts the struggle re inforced by the hireling Czecho Slovaks and by all land was introduced unanimously, by the represent became more complicated. The first onrush against the forces of exploitation and oppression still existent atives of the communist workers as well as by the the noble land owners was crowned with complete and.
in Russia. This counter revolutionary movement developed new currents and a new life in the rural distpeasants delegates to the Soviets, who were not as easy victory. Then the struggle among the peasantry yet communists. This law is the embodiment of the itself took root.
ricts.
The speculators and exploiters of The desperate counter revolts against the Soviets and it shows at the same time that the proletariat and spoils and from the sufferings of the hungry, indust, will and aspirations of the majority of the peasants, the peasant class set out to get fortunes out of the brought together all the European imperialists. the the Communist Party (Bolsheviki. being aware of rial proletariat of the cities. number of riots and Czecho Slovaks and everyone in Russia who stood for their duties, are relentlessly and patiently pursuing revolts occured during the feudal land owners and Capitalism. The rich peas the path of Socialist reconstruction, taking systematic summer of 1918. Later ants joined the counter revolutionary movement.
on we had to adjust the relations between the poorest The rural districts ceased to be united. The peas forward is based upon this awakening and organization steps to awaken the poorer peasantry. Every step and the medium, small peasantry. And our policy was ants who had fought as one man against the landto unite these two groups. The medium, small peasants the peasantry.
owners (pomieschicks) were split into two antagon We know very well that such a reconstruction in istic groups, the rich and the poor peasants. the life of tens of millions of people, which is transtariat, nor do they oppose Socialism. Certainly they The poorest toiling peasants went hand in hand with forming the deepest foundations of everyday relations on practical grounds, that socialization is a measure of the proletariat toward Socialism, continuing the strugby theoretical gle against Capitalism. The feudal nobility being duction to communist agriculture is to be accomp discussion or by propaganda. We don have illusions eliminated they now had to fight against the power of lished only by prolonged and insistent efforts, can on that score But they are being converted by the money, against the speculators and the rich peasants, who tried to use the great change in land ownership be accomplished only when necessity compels the example set by the determined unity of the toiling peasantry with the city proletariat. Gradually during for their own personal profit. In tliis struggle all the people to reconstruct their life.
And after the long and terrible world war we can a longer period, by a number of transitory measures bourgeois and exploiting classes were swept aside, and perceive the beginning of the social revolution all over the unity of the communists with the medium, smali our revolution started as a whole on the march toward the world. Even in the most backward countries there peasantry can be accomplished successfully.
Socialism, which the city proletariat had initiated in now exists a necessity that independent of all theo The policy of the Soviets in agriculture is the introNovember, 1917; but which did not become general, ries or Socialistic teachings speaks authoritatively to duction of communism all over the country. In this and never could until the rural population, the peas. each and everyone that life cannot go on as before. direction they are working systematically. For this antry, gave the proletariat united and deterinined sup When a country has suffered such a gigantic dest purpose the Soviets are organizing land communes port.
ruction and has been thrown into chaos, when we see under their own management. To this end are made There we have the tremendously important link of that this chaos is being spread all over the world, that the provisions that the priority of the utilization of our Revolution forged during the last summer and autum. The Revolution penetrated the most back: acquired by humanity during ages of unrelenting toil next to agricultural comminunes. These provisions are ward and isolated sections of Russia, spreading all when we see all this wantonly destroyed in four years necessary for the transition to complete Communism.
through the rural districts. It was not quite so spect of a capitalistic of plunder and conquest, when The Soviets unrelenting efforts to this acular and conspicuous a movement as the coup etat all of Europe has been brought back to barbarisn end. They asigned a billion rubbles for improvements, of November 1917, but of much more importance and then the broad masses and especially the peasants, who provided that this sum is spent for transition to comdeeper significance.
suffered most of all from this war, begin to realize munal production.
of are