V. I.   Lenin

Plan of a Speech at the Trade Union Congress^[3]

Written: Written in May, not later than 25th, 1921
Published: First published in 1945 in Lenin Miscellany XXXV. Printed from the manuscript.
Source: Lenin Collected Works, 3nd English Printing, Progress Publishers, 1977, Moscow, Volume 42, pages 307^b-308^a.
Translated: Bernard Isaacs
Transcription\Markup: D. Walters
Public Domain: Lenin Internet Archive (2003). You may freely copy, distribute, display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet Archive” as your source.
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1. Passing examination from 3rd to 4th course.

2. From Narodnaya Volya^[4] to Social-Democracy in Russia, from the Second to the Third International in the world.

3. 1st course: 1886-1903. ((17))

4. 2nd course: 1903-1917. ((14))

5. 3rd course: 1917-1921. ((4))

6. 4th course: 19214 (1931)

7. “Not” our last and decisive fight. But ... near (years).

8. Victory on world scale difficult (bis. ter), but a dead certainty.

9. For capitalism, the capitalists—checkmate.

10. Alias^[1] : the cause of communism in Russia will be secure.

11. Discord arising from private property. Labour united against property.

12. India “does not count” Doch!

13. “Treaty of Versailles,”?^[5]

13. b i s. International trade.

14. Difficulties on economic front.

15. Proletariat becoming declassed? Yes! Inferences? Ideology of small property owners.

16. Large-scale production and machines—proletariat’s material and psychological base. Inde^[2] declassing.

17. Politics plus, economics minus.

18. Self-discipline, partyism.

19. Economic front.

Passing examinations: grain, fuel. 1917
(tax in kind) 1918 }
1919 }
1920
versus 1921

20. We already have economic experience-go on building systematically, steadily, firmly.

21. Work discipline, higher labour productivity, work organisation, increased output, relentless fight against slipshod work and red tape.

22. By this sign shall ye conquer.

Notes

[1] —Otherwise.—Ed.

[2] —Hence.—Ed.

[3] Lenin prepared this plan of a speech for the Fourth All-Russia Trade Union Congress held from May 17 to 25, 1921. The Institute of Marxism-Leninism, of the C.C. of the C.P.S.U. however, has no information of Lenin having delivered this speech at the congress.

[4] Narodnayn Volya-a secret political organisation of Narodnik terrorists, came into being in August 1879. While subscribing to views of the Narocinik utopian socialism, its members engaged in political struggle, and considered the most important goal to be the overthrow of the autocracy and the winning of political freedom. They figured on achieving a reorganisation of society without the participation of the people, by means of individual terrorism. “llio Narodiiaya Volya members,” wrote Lenin, “made a step forward when they took up the political struggle but they failed to connect it with socialism.” (see present edition, Vol. 8, p. 72). The organisation was smashed up by the tsarist govern-ment after the assassination of Alexander if on March 1, 1881.

[5] The Peace Treaty of Versailles was drawn up at the Paris Con-ference in 1919 at the end of the imperialist world war of 1914-8. between Germany and her adversaries-the U.S.A., the British Empire, France, Italy, Japan and other Allied powers.

Describing this treaty in a speech on October 15,.1920, Lenin said, “It is an unparalleled and predatory peace, which has made slaves of tens of millions of people, including the most civilised” (see present edition, Vol. 31, p. 326). The Versailles Peace Treaty was designed to perpetuate the repartition of the capitalist world in favour of the victor countries, and to establish a system of relationships between countries aimed at strangling Soviet Russia and suppressing the revolutionary movement throughout the world.