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J. V. Stalin

ON THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR OF THE SOVIET UNION

FOREIGN LANGUAGES PUBLISHING HOUSE,
MOSCOW, 1946

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Prepared © for the Internet by David J. Romagnolo, djr@marx2mao.org (May 2003)

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RADIO ADDRESS

JULY 3, 1941

  Comrades! Citizens!
Brothers and sisters!
Men of our army and navy!

    My words are addressed to you, dear friends!
    The perfidious military attack by Hitler Germany on our motherland, begun on June 22, is continuing. In spite of the heroic resistance of the Red Army and although the enemy's finest divisions and finest air units have already been shattered and have met their doom on the battlefield, the enemy continues to push forward, hurling fresh forces into the fray. Hitler's troops have succeeded in capturing Lithuania, a considerable part of Latvia, the western part of Byelorussia and part of Western Ukraine. The fascist aircraft are extending the range of their operations, bombing Murmansk, Orsha, Moghilev, Smolensk, Kiev, Odessa, Sevastopol. Grave danger over-hangs our country.
    How could it have happened that our glorious Red Army surrendered a number of our cities and districts to the fascist troops? Are the German fascist troops really invincible as the braggart fascist propagandists are ceaselessly trumpeting?
    Of course not! History shows that there are no invincible armies and that there never have been. Napo-

leon's army was considered invincible, but it was beaten successively by the troops of Russia, England and Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm's German army in the period of the first imperialist war was also considered an invincible army, but it was defeated several times by Russian and Anglo-French troops, and was finally routed by the Anglo-French troops. The same must be said of Hitler's German fascist army today. This army has not yet met with serious resistance on the continent of Europe. Only on our territory has it met with serious resistance. And if as a result of this the finest divisions of the German fascist army have been defeated by our Red Army, it shows that Hitler's fascist army can also be and will be defeated as were the armies of Napoleon and Wilhelm.
    That part of our territory has nevertheless been seized by the German fascist troops is explained chiefly by the fact that the war of fascist Germany against the U.S.S.R. began under conditions that were favourable for the German troops and unfavourable for the Soviet troops. The point is that the troops of Germany, a country at war, were already fully mobilized, and the 170 divisions which Germany hurled against the U.S.S.R. and brought up to the frontiers of the U.S.S.R. were in a state of complete readiness, only awaiting the signal to move into action, whereas the Soviet troops had still to be mobilized and moved up to the frontiers. Of no little importance in this respect was also the fact that fascist Germany suddenly and treacherously violated the non-aggression pact she had concluded in 1939 with the U.S.S.R., ignoring the fact that the whole world would regard her as the aggressor. Naturally, our peace-loving country, not wishing to

take the initiative in breaking a pact, could not resort to perfidy.
    It may be asked: How could the Soviet Government have consented to conclude a non-aggression pact with such perfidious people, and such fiends as Hitler and Ribbentrop? Was this not an error on the part of the Soviet Government? Of course not! A non-aggression pact is a pact of peace between two states. It was precisely such a pact that Germany proposed to us in 1939. Could the Soviet Government decline such a proposal? I think that not a single peace-loving state could decline a peace treaty with a neighbouring country even if that country is headed by such monsters and cannibals as Hitler and Ribbentrop. But that, of course, only on the one indispensable condition that this peace treaty did not jeopardize, either directly or indirectly, the territorial integrity, independence and honour of the peace-loving state. As is well known, the non-aggression pact between Germany and the U.S.S.R. was precisely such a pact.
    What did we gain by concluding the non-aggression pact with Germany? We secured our country peace for a year and a half and the opportunity of preparing our forces to repulse fascist Germany should she risk an attack on our country despite the pact. This was a definite advantage for us and a disadvantage for fascist Germany.
    What has fascist Germany gained and what has she lost by perfidiously tearing up the pact and attacking the U.S.S.R.? She has gained a certain advantageous position for her troops for a short period of time, but she has lost politically by exposing herself in the eyes of the entire world as a bloodthirsty aggressor. There can be no doubt

that this short-lived military gain for Germany is only episode, while the tremendous political gain of the U.S.S.R. is a weighty and lasting factor that is bound to form the basis for the development of decisive military success of the Red Army in the war with fascist Germany.
    That is why the whole of our valiant Red Army, the whole of our valiant Navy, all the falcons of our Air Force, all the peoples of our country, all the finest men and women of Europe, America and Asia, and, lastly, all the finest men and women of Germany -- denounce the treacherous acts of the German fascists, sympathize with the Soviet Government, approve its conduct, and see that ours is a just cause, that the enemy will be defeated and that victory will be ours.
    In consequence of this war which has been forced upon us, our country has come to death grips with its bitterest and most cunning enemy -- German fascism. Our troops are fighting heroically against an enemy heavily armed with tanks and aircraft. Overcoming numerous difficulties, the Red Army and Red Navy are self-sacrificingly fighting for every inch of Soviet soil. The main forces of the Red Army are coming into action armed with thousands of tanks and aeroplanes. The men of the Red Army are displaying unexampled valour. Our resistance to the enemy is growing in strength and power. Side by side with the Red Army, the entire Soviet people is rising in defence of our native land.
    What is required to put an end to the danger which overhangs our country, and what measures must be taken to crush the enemy?
    Above all it is essential that our people, the Soviet people, should appreciate the full immensity of the dan-

ger that threatens our country and cast off complacency, carelessness and the mentality of peaceful constructive work that was so natural before the war, but which is fatal today, when war has radically changed the situation. The enemy is cruel and implacable. He is out to seize our lands which have been watered by the sweat of our brow, to seize our grain and oil which have been obtained by the labour of our hands. He is out to restore the rule of the landlords, to restore tsarism, to destroy the national culture and the national existence as states of the Russians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Uzbeks, Tatars, Moldavians, Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanians and the other free peoples of the Soviet Union, to Germanize them, to convert them into the slaves of German princes and barons. Thus, the issue is one of life and death for the Soviet State, of life and death for the peoples of the U.S.S.R., of whether the peoples of the Soviet Union shall be free or fall into slavery. The Soviet people must realize this and cease to be careless; they must mobilize themselves and reorganize all their work on a new, war footing, where there can be no mercy for the enemy.
    Further, there must be no room in our ranks for whimperers and cowards, for panic-mongers and deserters; our people must know no fear in the fight and must selflessly join our Patriotic War of liberation against the fascist enslavers. Lenin, the great founder of our state, used to say that the chief virtues of Soviet men and women must be courage, valour, fearlessness in struggle, readiness to fight together with the people against the enemies of our country. These splendid Bolshevik virtues must be acquired by the millions and millions of men of

the Red Army and of the Red Navy, by all the peoples of the Soviet Union.
    All our work must be immediately reorganized on a war footing, everything must be subordinated to the interests of the front and the task of organizing the rout of the enemy. The peoples of the Soviet Union now see that German fascism is untamable in its savage fury and hatred of our country, which has ensured for all its working people free labour and prosperity. The peoples of the Soviet Union must rise to defend their rights and their land against the enemy.
    The Red Army, the Red Navy and all citizens of the Soviet Union must defend every inch of Soviet soil, must fight to the last drop of blood for our towns and villages, must display the daring, initiative and mental alertness that are characteristic of our people.
    We must organize all-round assistance to the Red Army, ensure powerful reinforcements for its ranks, ensure the supply of everything it requires, organize the rapid transport of troops and military freight and extensive aid to the wounded.
    We must strengthen the Red Army's rear, subordinating all our work to this end; all our factories must work with greater intensity, produce more rifles, machine guns, guns, cartridges, shells and aircraft; we must organize the guarding of factories, power stations, telephone and telegraph communications, and organize effective air-raid protection in all localities.
    We must wage a ruthless fight against all disorganizers of the rear, deserters, panic-mongers and rumour-mongers; we must exterminate spies, sabotage agents and enemy parachutists, rendering rapid aid in all this to our

destroyer battalions. We must bear in mind that the enemy is crafty, cunning, experienced in deception and in the dissemination of false rumours. We must reckon with all this and not allow ourselves to be deceived by provocateurs. All who by their panic-mongering and cowardice hinder the work of defence, no matter who they are, must be immediately haled before a Military Tribunal.
    In case of a forced retreat of Red Army units, all rolling stock must be evacuated; not a single engine, a single railway car, a single pound of grain or gallon of fuel must be left for the enemy. The collective farmers must drive off all their cattle and turn over their grain to the safekeeping of the state authorities for transportation to the rear. All valuable property, including non-ferrous metals, grain and fuel that cannot be withdrawn, must be destroyed without fail.
    In areas occupied by the enemy, guerilla units, mounted and foot, must be formed, sabotage groups must be organized to combat enemy units, to foment guerilla warfare everywhere, to blow up bridges and roads, damage telephone and telegraph lines and set fire to forests, stores and transports. In occupied regions conditions must be made unbearable for the enemy and all his accomplices. They must be hounded and annihilated at every step, and all their measures frustrated.
    The war with fascist Germany cannot be considered an ordinary war. It is not only a war between two armies; it is also a great war of the entire Soviet people against a German fascist army. The aim of this people's Patriotic War against the fascist oppressors is not only to avert the danger that is hanging over our country, but also to aid all the European peoples who are groaning under the

yoke of German fascism. In this war of liberation we shall not be alone. In this great war we shall have true allies in the peoples of Europe and America, including the German people which is enslaved by the Hitlerite misrulers. Our war for the freedom of our motherland will merge with the struggle of the peoples of Europe and America for their independence, for democratic liberties. It will be a united front of the peoples who stand for freedom and against enslavement and threats of enslavement by Hitler's fascist armies. In this connection the historic utterances of the British Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, regarding aid to the Soviet Union, and the declaration of the United States Government signifying readiness to render aid to our country, which can only evoke a feeling of gratitude in the hearts of the people of the Soviet Union, are fully comprehensible and symptomatic.
    Comrades! Our forces are countless. The overweening enemy will soon be convinced of this. Side by side with the Red Army many thousands of workers, collective farmers and intellectuals are rising to fight the enemy aggressor. The masses of our people will rise up in their millions. The working people of Moscow and Leningrad have already begun to form a people's volunteer guard of many thousands to support the Red Army. Such a people's volunteer guard must be raised in every city which is in danger of enemy invasion; all the working people must be roused to defend with their lives their freedom, their honour, their country in our Patriotic War against German fascism.
    To ensure the rapid mobilization of all the forces of the peoples of the U.S.S.R. and to repulse the enemy who

has treacherously attacked our country, a State Committee of Defense has been formed in whose hands all power in the state has now been concentrated. The State Committee of Defence has entered on the performance of its functions anal calls upon all our people to rally around the Party of Lenin and Stalin, around the Soviet Government, to render self-sacrificing support to the Red Army and Red Navy, to crush the enemy and achieve victory.
    All forces for the support of our heroic Red Army and our glorious Red Navy!
    All forces of the people for routing the enemy!
    Forward to victory!

24TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT OCTOBER
SOCIALIST REVOLUTION

SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE JOINT CELEBRATION MEETING
OF THE MOSCOW SOVIET OF WORKING PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES
AND REPRESENTATIVES OF MOSCOW PARTY
AND PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS

NOVEMBER 6, 1941

Comrades!

    Twenty-four years have elapsed since the victory of the October Socialist Revolution and the establishment of the Soviet system in our country. We are now on the threshold of the next, the twenty-fifth, year of existence of the Soviet system.
    It is customary at meetings in celebration of the anniversary of the October Revolution to review our achievements in the realm of peaceful construction for the past year. And we are indeed in a position to make such reviews, for our achievements in the realm of peaceful construction grow not only from year to year, but from month to month. These achievements and their magnitude are known to all, both friends and foes.
    But the past year has not only been one of peaceful construction. It has also been a year of war with the German invaders who perfidiously attacked our peace-loving country. It was only in the first six months of the past year that we were able to continue our peaceful,

 
constructive work. The second half of the year, more than four months of it, has been marked by fierce warfare against the German imperialists. The war thus marked a turning point in the development of our country in this past year. The war has considerably diminished, and in some branches has altogether suspended our peaceful constructive work. It has compelled us to place all our work on a war footing. It has converted our country into one all-inclusive rear, which serves the front, our Red Army and our Navy.
    The period of peaceful construction has come to an end. A period of war of liberation from the German invaders has begun.
    It is therefore quite appropriate to discuss the results of the war in the second half of the past year, or rather the period of a little over four months of the second half of the year, and the aims we have set ourselves in this war of liberation.

THE COURSE OF THE WAR FOR FOUR MONTHS

    I have already said in one of my public speeches at the beginning of the war that the war has created a grave menace for our country, that serious danger threatens our country, that we must understand and realize this danger and place all our work on a war footing. Today, after four months of war, I must emphatically state that far from having abated, this danger is greater than ever. The enemy has seized a large part of the Ukraine, Byelorussia, Moldavia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and a number of other regions; he has forced his way into the

Donetz Basin, hangs like a black cloud over Leningrad and is threatening our glorious capital, Moscow. The German fascist invaders are despoiling our country, destroying the towns and villages created by the efforts of the workers, peasants and intellectuals. Hitler's hordes are slaughtering and outraging the civilian population of our country, showing no mercy to women, children or the aged. Our brothers in those regions of our country which the Germans have seized are groaning beneath the yoke of the German oppressors.
    Rivers of enemy blood have been shed by the men of our Army and Navy, who are defending the honour and liberty of their native land, manfully repulsing the attacks of a bestial enemy and setting examples of valour and heroism. But the enemy stops at no sacrifice, he does not care one iota for the blood of his soldiers, he keeps hurling fresh detachments into the field to replace those that have been shattered, and is exerting every effort to capture Leningrad and Moscow before the advent of winters for he knows that winter bodes him no good.
    During the four months of war we lost 350,000 in killed and 378,000 missing; our wounded number 1,020,000. In the same period the enemy lost over 4,500,000 men killed, wounded and taken prisoner.
    There can be no doubt that as a result of the four months of war Germany, whose reserves of manpower are already giving out, has been far more weakened than the Soviet Union, whose reserves are only just beginning to come into full play.

FAILURE OF THE "BLITZKRIEG"

    In launching their attack on our country the German fascist invaders calculated that they would be able to "finish off'' the Soviet Union for certain in one and a half or two months, and in this short period would succeed in reaching the Urals. It must be said that the Germans did not conceal this plan for a "lightning" victory. On the Contrary, they gave it the utmost publicity. The facts, however, have revealed the utter folly and groundlessness of this "lightning" plan. Today this crazy plan must be regarded as having definitely failed. (A p p l a u s e.)
    How is it to be explained that the "blitzkrieg" which succeeded in Western Europe, failed and collapsed in the East?
    What did the German fascist strategists count on when they asserted that they would finish off the Soviet Union in two months and reach the Urals in this short period ?
    They seriously counted in the first place on creating a universal coalition against the U.S.S.R., on enlisting Great Britain and the U.S.A. in this coalition, after frightening the ruling circles of these countries with the spectre of revolution, and thus completely isolating our country from other powers. The Germans knew that their policy of playing on the class antagonisms in the different countries and the antagonisms between these countries and the Land of Soviets had already produced results in France, the rulers of which, after allowing themselves to be scared by the spectre of revolution, in their fright laid their country at the feet of Hitler and renounced all resistance. The German fascist strategists thought that

the same thing would happen in the case of Great Britain and the United States. The notorious Hess was in fact sent to England by the German fascists precisely to persuade the English statesmen to join in a universal campaign against the U.S.S.R. But the Germans sadly miscalculated. (A p p l a u s e.) Not withstanding all Hess's efforts, Great Britain and the United States, far from joining the campaign of the German fascist invaders against the U.S.S.R., proved to be in one camp with the U.S.S.R. against Hitler Germany. Far from being isolated, the U.S.S.R. acquired new allies in the shape of Great Britain, the United States and countries occupied by the Germans. It turns out that the German policy of playing on antagonisms and using the spectre of revolution has lost its efficacy and is unsuitable in the new situation. Not only is it unsuitable, it is even, fraught with grave danger for the German invaders, for under the new conditions of the war it leads to diametrically opposite results.
    Secondly, the Germans counted on the Soviet system being unstable, on the Soviet rear being unstable, and believed that after the very first serious blow and the first reverses suffered by the Red Army conflicts would break out between the workers and peasants, that squabbling would begin among the peoples of the U.S.S.R., that uprisings would occur, and the country would break up into its component parts, and this, it was expected, would facilitate the advance of the German invaders right up to the Urals. But here, too, the Germans sadly miscalculated. Far from weakening, the reverses of the Red Army only served still further to strengthen both the alliance of the workers and peasants and the friendship of the peoples 'of the U.S.S.R. (A p p l a u s e.) More, they

converted the family of peoples of the U.S.S.R. into a single and unshakeable camp, selflessly supporting their Red Army and their Red Navy. Never has the Soviet rear been so firm as it is today. (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.) It is quite likely that if any other country had lost as much territory as we have lost now it would not have stood the test and would have fallen into decline. If the Soviet system has stood the test so well and has even strengthened its rear, it must mean that the Soviet system is now a most stable one. (L o u d  a p l a u s e.)
    Lastly, the German invaders counted on the weakness of the Red Army and Red Navy, believing that the German army and German navy would succeed at the very first blow in overwhelming and scattering our Army and Navy and opening the way for an unhindered advance into the depths of our country. But here, too, the Germans sadly miscalculated, overrating their own strength and underrating our Army and Navy. Of course, our Army and Navy are still young, they have been fighting for only four months, they have not yet succeeded in becoming a thoroughly seasoned army and navy, whereas they are confronted by the seasoned navy and seasoned army of the Germans, who have already been at war for two years. But, in the first place, the morale of our Army is higher than that of the German, for it is defending its native land against alien invaders and believes in the justice of its cause, whereas the German army is waging a war of annexation, is plundering a foreign country, and is unable to believe even for a moment in the justice of its vile cause. There can be no doubt that the idea of defending their native land, which is what our people are fighting for, is hound to breed, and actually is breeding

in our Army heroes who cement the Red Army, whereas the idea of seizing and plundering a foreign country, which is what the Germans are in fact waging the war for, is bound to breed, and actually is breeding in the German army professional looters, devoid of all moral principles and corrupting the German army. Secondly, as it advances into the interior of our country, the German army is moving farther and farther away from its own German rear, is forced to operate in hostile surroundings, is forced to create a new rear in an alien country, a rear, moreover, that is being disrupted by our guerillas -- all of which is radically disorganizing the supply of the German army, causes it to fear its own rear and destroys its faith in the stability of its position, whereas our Army is operating in its own native surroundings, enjoys the constant support of its rear, is assured of supplies of men, munitions and food, and has a profound faith in its rear. That is why our Army has proved to be stronger than the Germans anticipated and the German army weaker than might have been expected, judging by the boastful self-advertisement of the German invaders. The defence of Leningrad and Moscow, where our divisions lately wiped out about thirty seasoned German divisions, shows that in the fire of our Patriotic War there are being forged, and already have been forged, new Soviet men and commanders, airmen, artillerymen, mortar men, tankmen, infantrymen, and sailors, who tomorrow will become the terror of the German army. (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    There can be no doubt that all these factors, taken together, predetermined the inevitable collapse of the "Blitzkrieg" in the East.

REASONS FOR THE TEMPORARY REVERSES
OF OUR ARMY

    All that, of course, is true. But it is likewise true that alongside these favourable factors, there are a number of factors that are unfavourable for the Red Army, as a result of which our Army is suffering temporary reverses, is obliged to retreat and to surrender a number of regions of our country to the enemy.
    What are these unfavourable factors? What are the reasons for the temporary military reverses of the Red Army?
    One of the reasons for the reverses of the Red Army is the absence of a second front in Europe against the German fascist troops. The fact of the matter is that at the present time there are no armies of Great Britain or the United States of America on the European continent to savage war against the German fascist troops, with the result that the Germans are not compelled to divide their forces and to wage war on two fronts, in the West and in the East. Well, the effect of this is that the Germans, considering their rear in the West secure, are able to send all their troops and the troops of their allies in Europe against our country. The situation at present is such that our country is waging a war of liberation single-handed, without military help from any one against the combined forces of the Germans, Finns, Rumanians, Italians and Hungarians. The Germans preen themselves on their temporary successes and are lavish in their praises of their army, claiming that it can always defeat the Red Army in single combat. The Germans' claims are nothing but empty boasting, for it is

incomprehensible why in that case the Germans have resorted to the aid of the Finns, Rumanians, Italians and the Hungarians against the Red Army, which is fighting absolutely single-handed without any military help from outside. There can be no doubt that the absence of a second front in Europe against the Germans greatly eases the position of the German army. But neither can there be any doubt that the appearance of a second front on the European continent -- and it must unquestionably appear in the near future (l o u d  a p p l a u s e) -- will materially ease the position of our Army to the detriment of the German army.
    Another reason for the temporary reverses of our Army is our lack of an adequate number of tanks and partly of aircraft. In modern warfare it is very hard for infantry to fight without tanks and without adequate aircraft protection. Our aircraft are superior in quality to the German, and our splendid airmen have covered themselves with glory as dauntless fighters. (A p p l a u s e.) But we still have fewer aeroplanes than the Germans. Our tanks are superior in quality to the German, and our splendid tankmen and artillerymen have on more than one occasion put the vaunted troops of the Germans, with their numerous tanks, to flight. (A p p l a u s e.) But we still have several times less tanks than the Germans. Therein lies the secret of the temporary successes of the German army. It cannot be said that our tank-building industry is working badly and is supplying our front with few tanks. No, it is working very well and is producing quite a number of splendid tanks. But the Germans are producing far more tanks, for they now have at their disposal not only their own tank-building industry, but

also the industry of Czechoslovakia, Belgium, the Netherlands and France. Were it not for this the Red Army would long ago have smashed the German army, which never ventures into action without tanks and cannot withstand the onslaught of our troops if it has not a superiority in tanks. (A p p l a u s e.)
    There is only one way of nullifying the Germans' superiority in tanks and thus radically improving the position of our Army, and that is, not only to increase the output of tanks in our country several times over, but also sharply to increase the production of anti-tank aircraft, anti-tank rifles and guns, and anti-tank grenades and mortars, and to build as large a number as possible of anti-tank traps and every other kind of tank obstacle.
    This is the task now.
    We can accomplish this task, and we must accomplish it at all costs!

WHAT ARE THE "NATIONAL-SOCIALISTS"?

    In our country the German invaders, i.e., the Hitlerites, are usually called fascists. The Hitlerites, it appears, consider this wrong and obstinately persist in calling themselves "National-Socialists." Hence, the Germans are trying to assure us that the Hitler party, the party of German invaders, which is plundering Europe and has engineered this dastardly attack on our socialist country, is a socialist party. Is this possible? What can there be in common between socialism and the bestial Hitlerite invaders who are plundering and oppressing the nations of Europe?

    Can the Hitlerites be regarded as nationalists ? No, they cannot. Actually, the Hitlerites are now not nationalists but imperialists. As long as the Hitlerites were engaged in assembling the German lands and reuniting the Rhine district, Austria, etc., there might have been some ground for calling them nationalists. But after they seized foreign territories and enslaved European nations -- the Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Norwegians, Danes, Netherlanders, Belgians, the French, Serbs, Greeks, Ukrainians, Belorussians, the inhabitants of the Baltic countries etc. -- and began to reach out for world domination, the Hitlerite party ceased to be a nationalist partly for from that moment it became an imperialist, predatory, oppressor party.
    The Hitlerite party is a party of imperialists, and of the most rapacious and predatory imperialists in the world at that.
    Can the Hitlerites be regarded as socialists ? No, they cannot. Actually the Hitlerites are the sworn enemies of socialism, arrant reactionaries and Black-Hundreds who have robbed the working class and the peoples of Europe of the most elementary democratic liberties. In order to cover up their reactionary, Black-Hundred nature, the Hitlerites denounce the internal regime of England and America as a plutocratic regime. But in England and the United States there are elementary democratic liberties, there are trade unions of workers and salaried employees, there are workers' parties, there are parliaments; whereas in Germany, under the Hitler regime, all these institutions have been destroyed. One need but compare these two sets of facts to perceive the reactionary nature of the Hitler regime and the utter hypocrisy of the German fascist

buncombe about a plutocratic regime in England and in America. In point of fact the Hitler regime is a copy of the reactionary regime which existed in Russia under tsarism. As we know, the Hitlerites suppress the rights of the workers, the rights of the intellectuals and the rights of nations as readily as the tsarist regime suppressed them; they organize mediaeval pogroms against the Jews as readily as the tsarist regime did.
    The Hitlerite party is a party of enemies of democratic liberties, a Party of medieval reaction and Black-Hundred pogroms.
    And if these brazen imperialists and arrant reactionaries still continue to don the toga of "nationalists" and "socialists," they do so for the purpose of deceiving the people, of hoodwinking the credulous and of using the flag of "nationalism" and "socialism" to cover up their predatory imperialist nature.
    Crows decked in peacocks' feathers. . . . But no matter how much crows may deck themselves in peacocks' feathers they will not cease to be crows.
    "We must resort to all means," says Hitler, "to bring about the conquest of the world by the Germans. If our hearts are set on establishing our great German Reich we must above all things force out and exterminate the Slavonic nations -- the Russians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians. There is no reason why this should not be done."
    "Man," says Hitler, "is a born sinner; he can be ruled only by force. In dealing with him all means are permissible. When policy requires it we should lie, betray and even kill."

    "Kill everyone who is opposed to us," says Goring. "Kill, kill! Not you will answer for this, but I! Hence, kill!"
    "I emancipate man," says Hitler, "from the humiliating chimera which is called conscience. Conscience, like education, cripples men. My advantage is that I am not deterred by any considerations, theoretical or moral."
    In an order of the day dated September 25, issued by the German command to the 489th Infantry Regiment, found on a dead German non-commissioned officer, it is stated:
    "I order fire to be opened upon every Russian as soon as he appears within a distance of 600 metres. The Russians must know that they are faced by a resolute foe from whom they cannot expect any mercy."
    In one of the appeals of the German command to the soldiers, found on the dead body of Lieutenant Gustav Ziegel, a native of Frankfort-on-Main, we read:
    "You have no heart or nerves; they are not needed in war. Eradicate every trace of pity and sympathy from your heart -- kill every Russian, every Soviet person. Do not hesitate, whether you have an old man or a woman, a girl or boy before you, kill! Thereby you will save your own life, ensure the future of your family and win eternal glory."
    There you have the program and instructions of the leaders of the Hitlerite party and of the Hitlerite command, the program and instructions of men who have lost all semblance of humanity and have sunk to the level of wild beasts.
    And these men, destitute of conscience and honour, these men with the morals of beasts, have the insolence to call for the extermination of the great Russian nation,

the nation of Plekhanov and Lenin, Belinsky and Chernyshevsky, Pushkin and Tolstoy, Glinka and Chaikovsky, Gorky and Chekhov, Sechenov and Pavlov, Repin and Surikov, Suvorov and Kutuzov! . . .
    The German invaders want a war of extermination against the peoples of the U.S.S.R. Well, if the Germans want a war of extermination, they will get it. (L o u d  a n d  p r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.)
    From now on our task, the task of the peoples of the U.S.S.R., the task of the men, commanders and the political personnel of our Army and our Navy is to exterminate to a man all the Germans who have intruded into the territory of our country as invaders. (L o u d  a p p l a u s e. "H e a r,  h e a r !  C h e e r s.)
    No mercy should be shown the German invaders!
    Death to the German invaders! (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)

THE DEFEAT OF THE GERMAN IMPERIALISTS
AND THEIR ARMIES IS INEVITABLE

    The very fact that in their moral degradation the German invaders, who have lost all semblance of humanity, have long ago sunk to the level of wild beasts, tells us that they have doomed themselves to inevitable destruction.
    But the inevitable destruction of the Hitlerite invaders and their armies is not determined by moral factors alone.
    There are three other basic factors, which are operating more powerfully with each day that passes, and which are bound to lead in the not distant future to

the inevitable defeat of Hitler's robber imperialism. (A p p l a u s e.)
    Firstly, there is the instability of the European rear of imperialist Germany, the instability of the "new order" in Europe. The German invaders have enslaved the peoples of the European continent -- from France to the Soviet Baltic countries, from Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Soviet Byelorussia to the Balkans and the Soviet Ukraine; they have robbed them of their elementary democratic liberties; they have deprived them of the right to order their own destiny; they have taken away their grain, meat and raw materials; they have converted them into their slaves; they have crucified the Poles, Czechs, Serbs, and have decided that after achieving supremacy in Europe, they can now use it as a basis for building up Germany's world supremacy. That is what they call the "new order in Europe." But what is this "basis," what is this "new order"? Only the self-admiring Hitlerite fools fail to see that the "new order" in Europe and the infamous "basis" of this order represent a volcano which is ready to erupt at any moment and overwhelm the German imperialist house of cards. Reference is made to Napoleon and it is said that Hitler is acting like him, that he resembles Napoleon in every way. But, firstly, Napoleon's fate must not be forgotten. And, secondly, Hitler no more resembles Napoleon than a kitten resembles a lion. (L a u g h t e r,  a p p l a u s e.) For Napoleon fought against the forces of reaction and relied on progressive forces, whereas Hitler, on the contrary, relies on the forces of reaction and fights the forces of progress. Only the Hitlerite fools in Berlin fail to realize that the enslaved peoples of Europe will fight

and revolt against Hitler's tyranny. Who can doubt that the U.S.S.R., Great Britain and the U.S.A. will give every support to the peoples of Europe in their struggle for liberation against Hitler's tyranny? (A p p l a u s e.)
    Secondly, there is the instability of the German rear of the Hitlerite invaders. So long as the Hitlerites were engaged in uniting Germany, which had been carved up by the Versailles Treaty, they could enjoy the support of the German people, who were inspired by the ideal or the restoration of Germany. But after this aim had been achieved and the Hitlerites took the road of imperialism, of seizing foreign lands and of subjugating foreign nations, thereby converting the peoples of Europe and the peoples of the U.S.S.R. into sworn enemies of present-day Germany, a profound change of heart took place among the German people against the continuation of the war, in favour of ending the war. Over two years of sanguinary war, the end of which is not yet in sight; the millions of human lives sacrificed; starvation, impoverishment; epidemics; the atmosphere of hostility to the Germans all around them; Hitler's stupid policy which has turned the peoples of the U.S.S.R. into sworn enemies of present-day Germany -- all this could not but set the German people against the unnecessary and ruinous war. Only the Hitlerite fools fail to see that not only the European rear but also the German rear of the German troops represents a volcano which is ready to erupt and overwhelm the Hitler adventurers.
    Lastly, there is the coalition of the U.S.S.R., Great Britain and the United States of America against the German fascist imperialists. It is a fact that Great Britain, the United States of America and the Soviet Union have

united in a single camp, which has set itself the aim of defeating the Hitler imperialists and their robber armies. Modern war is a war of engines. The war will be won by the side that has an overwhelming preponderance in the output of engines. The combined engine output of the U.S.A., Great Britain and the U.S.S.R. is at least three times as large as that of Germany. That is one of the grounds for the inevitable doom of Hitler's robber imperialism.
    The recent three-power conference in Moscow, attended by Lord Beaverbrook as representative of Great Britain and by Mr. Harriman as representative of the United States, decided to give our country systematic aid in the way of tanks and aircraft. As you know, we have already begun to receive tanks and aeroplanes in accordance with that decision. Even prior to that England undertook to supply our country with such materials as we are deficient in, as aluminium, lead, tin, nickel and rubber. If we add the fact that a few days ago the United States of America decided to grant the Soviet Union a loan of 1,000,000,000 dollars, we can confidently state that the coalition of the United States of America, Great Britain and the U.S.S.R. is something real (l o u d  a p p l a u s e), and that it is growing and will continue to grow to the benefit of our common cause of liberation.
    Such are the factors which determine the inevitable doom of German fascist imperialism.

OUR TASKS

    Lenin distinguished between two kinds of war -- predatory, and therefore unjust wars, and wars of liberation, just wars.
    The Germans are now waging a predatory war, an unjust war, for the purpose of seizing foreign territory and subjugating foreign peoples. That is why all honest people must rise against the German invaders, as enemies.
    Unlike Hitler Germany, the Soviet Union and its allies are waging a war of liberation, a just war, for the purpose of liberating the enslaved peoples of Europe and the U.S.S.R. from Hitler's tyranny. That is why all honest people must support the armies of the U.S.S.R., Great Britain and the other Allies, as armies of liberation.
    We have not, and cannot have, any such war aims as the seizure of foreign territories and the subjugation of foreign peoples -- whether it be the peoples and territories of Europe or the peoples and territories of Asia including Iran. Our First aim is to liberate our territories and our peoples from the German fascist yoke.
    We have not, and cannot have, any such war aims as that of imposing our will and our regime upon the Slavonic or other enslaved nations of Europe, who are expecting our help. Our aim is to help these nations in the struggle for liberation they are waging against Hitler's tyranny and then to leave it to them quite freely to arrange their lives on their lands as they think fit. There must be no interference whatever in the internal affairs of other nations!
    But if these aims are to be achieved, we must crush the military might of the German invaders, we must

 

destroy to the last man the German forces of occupation who have intruded into our country for the purpose of enslaving it. (L o u d  a n d  p r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.)
    But to achieve this our Army and Navy must receive active and effective support from our entire country; all our workers and office employees, men and women, must work with might and main in the factories and supply the front with ever greater quantities of tanks, anti-tank rifles and guns, aircraft, artillery, mortars, machine guns, rifles and ammunition; our collective farmers, men and women, must work with might and main in their fields and supply the front and the country with ever greater quantities of grain, meat, raw materials for the industries; our entire country and all the peoples of the U.S.S.R. must organize in a single fighting camp, waging, together with our Army and Navy, the great war of liberation for the honour and freedom of our country, for the rout of the German armies. (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    This is the task now.
    We can and must accomplish this task.
    Only when we have accomplished this task and have routed the German invaders can we achieve a lasting and just peace.
    Fight until the German invaders are utterly routed! (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    Fight for the liberation of all the oppressed peoples who are groaning under the yoke of Hitler's tyranny! (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    Long live the unshakeable friendship of the peoples of the Soviet Union! (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    Long live our Red Army and our Red Navy! (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)

    Long live our glorious motherland (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    Ours is a just cause victory will be ours! (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.  A l l  r i s e.  S h o u t s:  "C h e e r s  f o r  t h e  g r e a t  S t a l i n!"  "L o n g  l i v e  C o m r a d e  S t a l i n!"  E n t h u s i a s t i c,  p r o l o n g e d  o v a t i o n.  T h e  I n t e r n a t i o n a l e  i s  s u n g.)

 <"s3">

SPEECH

DELIVERED AT THE RED ARMY PARADE
ON THE RED SQUARE

 MOSCOW, NOVEMBER 7, 1941

 

    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, Commanders and political instructors, working men and working women, collective farmers -- men and women, workers engaged in intellectual pursuits, brothers and sisters in the rear of our enemy who have temporarily fallen under the yoke of the German brigands, and our valiant partisans, men and women, who are destroying the rear of the German invaders!
    On behalf of the Soviet Government and our Bolshevik Party, I greet and congratulate you on the 24th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.
    Comrades! It is in strenuous circumstances that we are today celebrating the 24th Anniversary of the October Revolution. The perfidious attack of the German brigands and the war which has been forced upon us have placed our country in jeopardy. We have temporarily lost a number of regions, the enemy has appeared at the gates of Leningrad and Moscow. The enemy calculated that after the very first blow our Army would be dispersed, and our country would be forced to her knees. But the enemy sadly miscalculated. In spite of temporary reverses, our Army and our Navy are heroic-

ally repulsing the enemy's attacks along the whole front and inflicting heavy losses upon him, while our country -- our entire country -- has formed itself into a single fighting camp in order, together with our Army and our Navy, to encompass the defeat of the German invaders.
    There have been times when our country was in even more difficult straits than it is today. Recall the year of 1918, when we celebrated the first anniversary of the October Revolution. Three-fourths of our country was at that time in the hands of foreign invaders. The Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East were temporarily lost to us. We had no allies, we had no Red Army -- we had only just begun to form it; there was a shortage of bread, of armaments, of clothing for the Army. Fourteen states were encroaching on our country. But we were not dismayed, we did not lose heart. In the fire of war we forged the Red Army and converted our country into a military camp. Then the spirit of the great Lenin inspired us in the war against the invaders. And what happened? We routed the invaders, recovered all our lost territory, and achieved victory.
    Today the position of our country is far better than it was twenty-three years ago. Our country is now ever so much richer than it was twenty-three years ago as regards industry, food and raw materials. We now have allies, who together with us are maintaining a united front against the German invaders. We now enjoy the sympathy and support of all the nations of Europe who have fallen under the yoke of Hitler's tyranny. We now have a splendid Army and a splendid Navy, which are staunchly defending the liberty and independence of our

 

country. We experience no serious shortage of food, or of armaments, or of army clothing. Our entire country all the peoples of our country, support our Army and our Navy and are helping them to smash the invading hordes of German fascists. Our reserves of manpower are inexhaustible. The spirit of the great Lenin and his victorious banner now inspire us in this Patriotic War just as they did twenty-three years ago.
    Can there be any doubt that we can and are bound to defeat the German invaders?
    The enemy is not so strong as some frightened little intellectuals imagine. The devil is not so terrible as he is painted. Who can deny that our Red Army has time and again compelled the vaunted German troops to flee in panic? If we judge, not by the boastful utterances of the German propagandists, but by the actual position of Germany, it will be easily seen that the German fascist invaders are now on the brink of disaster. Hunger and poverty reign in Germany today; in the four months of war Germany has lost 4,500,000 men; Germany is bleeding at every pore, her reserves of manpower are giving out, the spirit of indignation is spreading not only among the peoples of Europe who have fallen under the yoke of German invaders, but also among the German people themselves, who can see no end to the war. The German invaders are exerting their last efforts. There can be no doubt that Germany will he unable to stand such a strain for long. Another few months, a half-year, a year, perhaps, and Hitler Germany is bound to collapse beneath the weight of its crimes.
    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, commanders and political instructors, men and women parti-

sans, the whole world is looking to you as the force capable of destroying the plundering hordes of German invaders. The enslaved peoples of Europe who have fallen under the yoke of the German invaders look to you as their liberators. A great liberating mission has fallen to your lot. Be worthy of this mission! The war you are waging is a war of liberation, a just war. Let the heroic images of our great forebears -- Alexander Nevsky, Dimitri Donskoi, Kuzma Minin, Dimitri Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov and Mikhail Kutuzov -- inspire you in this war! May you be inspired by the victorious banner of the great Lenin!
    Fight until the German invaders are utterly routed!
    Death to the German invaders!
    Long live our glorious motherland, her liberty and her independence!
    Under the banner of Lenin -- forward to victory!

 <"s4">

ORDER OF THE DAY

OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR OF DEFENCE
OF THE U.S.S.R.

No. 55<"s4">

MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 23, 1942

    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, commanders and political instructors, partisans, men and women!
    The peoples of our country are celebrating the 24th Anniversary of the Red Army amidst the stern conditions of our Patriotic War against fascist Germany, which is brazenly and despicably encroaching upon the life and freedom of our country. Along a vast front, stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, the men of the Red Army and Navy are waging a bitter fight to drive the German fascist invaders from our country and to uphold the honour and independence of our motherland.
    This is not the first time that the Red Army has had to defend our native land against enemy attack. The Red Army was formed twenty-four years ago to combat the troops of the foreign interventionists and invaders who were endeavouring to dismember our country and destroy its independence. Though going into battle for the, first time, the newly formed units of the Red Army

 
page 43

utterly crushed the German invaders at Pskov and Narva in February 23, 1918. It was for this reason that February 23, 1918 was proclaimed the birthday of the Red Army. From then on the Red Army grew and gained strength in the struggle with the foreign interventionists and invaders. It successfully defended our country in the battles with the German invaders in 1918 and drove them beyond the borders of the Ukraine and Byelorussia. It successfully defended our country in the battles with the foreign troops of the Entente in 1919-1921 and drove them too beyond the borders of our country.
    The rout of the foreign interventionists and aggressors during the Civil War secured for the peoples of the Soviet Union a long period of peace and the opportunity of engaging in peaceful construction. During these two decades of peaceful construction socialist industry and collective farming arose in our country, science and culture flourished, and the ties of friendship between the peoples of our country were strengthened. But the Soviet people always bore in mind the possibility of another enemy attack on our country. Therefore, simultaneously with the growth of industry and agriculture, of science and culture the military might of the Soviet Union grew too. Some of those who covet the lands of others, have already felt the weight of this might. The vaunted German fascist army is feeling it now.
    Eight months ago fascist Germany wantonly attacked our country, grossly and basely violating the non-aggression pact. The enemy calculated that the Red Army would be shattered at the very first blow and would lose its power of resistance. But the enemy sadly miscalculated. He failed to take into account the strength of the Red

 

Army, failed to take into account the stability of the Soviet rear, failed to take into account the determination of the peoples of our country to achieve victory, failed to take into account the unreliability of the Europe rear of fascist Germany, and, lastly, he failed to take into account the inherent weakness of fascist Germany and her army.
    Owing to the surprise and suddenness of the German fascist attack, the Red Army, during the first months of the war, found itself compelled to retreat, to withdraw from a part of our Soviet territory. But while retreating the Red Army wore down the forces of the enemy and inflicted severe blows upon him. Neither the men of the Red Army nor the peoples of our country doubted that the withdrawal was but temporary, that the enemy would be checked and then routed.
    In the course of the war the Red Army was infused with new vital forces; it received replenishments of men and equipment; new reserve divisions came to its aid and the time came when the Red Army was able to assume the offensive on the main sectors of the vast front. In a brief space of time the Red Army dealt successive blows at the German fascist troops -- at Rostov-on-Don and Tikhvin, in the Crimea and near Moscow. In the fierce battles near Moscow the Red Army routed the German fascist troops which threatened to surround the Soviet capital. The Red Army threw back the enemy from Moscow and is still continuing to push him westward. The Moscow and Tula regions, as well as dozens of towns and hundreds of villages of other regions temporarily captured by the enemy have been completely freed of German invaders.

    The Germans now no longer have the military advantage they possessed during the first months of the war as a result of their treacherous and sudden attack. The element of surprise and suddenness, as a reserve of the German fascist troops, is completely spent. This removes the inequality in fighting conditions created by the suddenness of the German fascist attack. Now the outcome of the war will be decided not by such a fortuitous element as surprise, but by permanently operating factors: stability of the rear, morale of the army, quantity and quality of divisions, equipment of the army and organizing ability of the commanding personnel of the army. At this point one circumstance ought to be noted: the element of surprise had only to disappear from the Germans' stock-in-trade for the German fascist army to find itself faced with disaster.
    The German fascists consider their army invincible; they assert that in single combat it would unquestionably smash the Red Army. At the present time the Red Army and the German fascist army are engaged in single combat. Moreover, the German fascist army has the direct support at the front of Italian, Rumanian, and Finnish troops. So far the Red Army has had no support of this kind. And what do we find? The vaunted German army is suffering defeat while the Red Army has major successes to its credit. Under the sledge-hammer blows of the Red Army the German troops are reeling back to the West, sustaining huge losses in men and equipment. They cling to every line of defence, trying to defer the day of their rout. But the enemy's efforts are in vain. The initiative is now in our hands, and no matter how much Hitler's rusty, ramshackle machine may exeert itself, it

 

cannot withstand the pressure of the Red Army. The day is not far distant when the Red Army, with a mighty blow, will hurl back the brutal enemy from Leningrad, clear him out of our towns and villages in Byelorussia and the Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia, Estonia and Karelia and free Soviet Crimea, and when the Red Flag will wave triumphantly again all over our Soviet land.
    It would be unpardonable shortsightedness, however; to rest content with the successes we have achieved and to think that the German troops are already done for. That would be empty boasting and conceit unworthy of Soviet people. It should not be forgotten that many difficulties still lie ahead. The enemy is suffering defeat, but he is not yet defeated, let alone crushed. The enemy is still strong. He will strain his last efforts to attain success. And the more he suffers defeat, the more ferocious will he become. Therefore, it is essential that in our country the training of reserves in aid of the front should not be relaxed for a moment. It is essential that more and more units should march to the front to forge victory over the infuriated enemy. It is essential that our industry, particularly our war industry, should work with redoubled energy. It is essential that with every passing day the front should receive ever more tanks, aircraft, guns, mortars, machine guns, rifles, automatics and ammunition.
    This is one of the main sources of the strength and power of the Red Army.
    But the strength of the Red Army lies not only in this.
    The strength of the Red Army lies, primarily, in the fact that it is waging, not a predatory, not an imperialist war, but a Patriotic War, a war of liberation, a just

war. The Red Army's task is to free our Soviet territory of the German invaders; to liberate from the yoke of the German invaders the people of our villages and towns who were free and lived like human beings before the war, but are now oppressed and suffering from rapine, pillage and famine; and, finally, to liberate our women from the outrage and violence to which they are being subjected by the German fascist monsters. What could be more noble, more lofty, than such a task? No German soldier can say that he is waging a just war, because he cannot fail to see that he is forced to fight for the plunder and oppression of other peoples. The German soldier has no lofty and noble aim in the war to inspire him and rouse his pride. Every Red Armyman, however, can proudly say that he is waging a just war for liberation, a war for the freedom and independence of his country. The Red Army has a noble and lofty aim in the war, which inspires it to perform great deeds. This is why the Patriotic War we are waging gives rise to thousands of heroes and heroines who are ready to lay down their lives for the freedom of their country.
    Herein lies the strength of the Red Army.
    And herein lies the weakness of the German fascist army.
    Sometimes the foreign press publishes twaddle to the effect that the Red Army's aim is to exterminate the German people and to destroy the German state. This, of course, is a silly fable and stupid calumny against the Red Army. The Red Army has not and cannot have such idiotic aims. The Red Army's aim is to drive the German invaders from our country, and to clear our Soviet soil of the German fascist aggressors. It is highly probable

 

that the war for the liberation of our Soviet soil will lead to the expulsion or destruction of Hitler's clique. We would welcome such an outcome. But it would be ludicrous to identify Hitler's clique with the German people, with the German state. The experience of history shows that Hitlers come and go, but the German people and the German state live on.
    The strength of the Red Army lies, finally, in that it does not and cannot feel racial hatred for other peoples, including the German people; that it has been trained to recognize the equality of all peoples and races, and to respect the rights of other peoples. The Germans' racial theory and their practice of racial hatred have led all freedom-loving peoples to become enemies of fascist Germany. The U.S.S.R.'s theory of racial equality and its practice of respecting the rights of other peoples have led all freedom-loving peoples to become the friends of the Soviet Union.
    Herein lies the strength of the Red Army.
<"s4">
    And herein lies the weakness of the German fascist army.
    Sometimes the foreign press publishes twaddle to the effect that the Soviet people hate the Germans as Germans, that the Red Army exterminates German soldiers as Germans, out of hatred for everything German, and that, therefore, the Red Army does not take German soldiers prisoner. This, of course, is another silly fable and stupid calumny against the Red Army. The Red Army is free of such sentiments as racial hatred. It is free of such degrading sentiments because it has been trained in the spirit of racial equality and respect for the rights of other people. Nor should it be forgotten that in our

country any manifeslation of racial hatred is punishable by law.
    Of course, the Red Army has to destroy the German fascist invaders inasmuch as they are out to enslave our country; or when, on being surrounded by our troops, they refuse to lay down their arms and surrender. The Red Army annihilates them, not because of their German origin, but because they want to enslave our country. The Red Army, like the army of any other people, has the right and is in duty bound to annihilate those who want to enslave its country, irrespective of their nationality. Not long ago the German garrisons in the towns of Kalinin, Klin, Sukhinichi, Andreapol and Toropets were surrounded by our troops. They were called upon to surrender, and promised that their lives would be spared if they did. The German garrisons refused to lay down their arms and be made prisoners of war. Obviously, they had to be forcibly dislodged, in the course of which quite a few Germans were killed. War is war. The Red Army takes German soldiers and officers prisoner if they surrender, and spares their lives. The Red Army annihilates German soldiers and officers if they refuse to lay down their arms and try to enslave our country by force of arms. Remember the words of Maxim Gorki, the great Russian writer: "If the enemy does not surrender he must be annihilated."
    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, commanders and political instructors, partisans, men and women! I congratulate you on the 24th Anniversary of the Red Army! I wish you complete victory over the German fascist invaders.
    Long live the Red Army and Navy!

 

    Long live the men and women partisans!
    Long live our glorious motherland, her freedom and her independence!
    Long live the great Bolshevik Party which is leading us to victory!
    Long live the invincible banner of the great Lenin!
    Under the banner of Lenin -- forward to the defeat the German fascist invaders!

J. Stalin
People's Commissar of Defence
of the U.S.S.R.

<"s5">

ORDER OF THE DAY

OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR OF DEFENCE
OF THE U.S.S.R.

No. 130

MOSCOW, MAY 1, 1942

 

    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, commanders and political instructors, partisans, men and women, working men and working women, peasants, men and women, men and women engaged in intellectual pursuits, brothers and sisters on the other side of the front, in the rear of the German fascist troops, who have temporarily fallen under the yoke of the German oppressors!
    On behalf of the Soviet Government and of our Bolshevik Party, I greet and congratulate you on the occasion of the First of May!
    Comrades! This year the peoples of our country are celebrating International May Day amidst our Patriotic War against the German fascist invaders. The war has laid its impress on every phase of our life. It has laid its impress also on this day, the May First holiday. In view of the fact that we are at war, the working people of our country have waived their holiday in order to spend the day in intensive work for the defence of our country.

Living at one with our fighters at the front, they have made the May First holiday a day of toil and struggle in order to render the front the greatest possible assistance and to supply it with the largest possible quantities of rifles, machine guns, artillery, mortars, tanks and aircraft, ammunition, grain, meat, fish and vegetables.
    This means that in our country front and rear constitute a single, indivisible fighting camp, ready to overcome all obstacles on the road to victory over the enemy.
    Comrades! More than two years have elapsed since the German fascist invaders plunged Europe into the abyss of war, subjugated the freedom-loving countries of the European continent -- France, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Greece and began to suck their blood for the enrichment of the German bankers. More than ten months have elapsed since the German fascist invaders wantonly and perfidiously attacked our country and began to pillage and lay waste to our villages and cities, to outrage and murder the peaceful population of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Byelorussia, the Ukraine and Moldavia. For more than ten months the peoples of our country have been waging a Patriotic War against a brutal enemy, defending the honour and freedom of their country. During this period we have been able to take a good look at the German fascists, to discern their real intentions, to ascertain what they really are, not from verbal declarations, but from the experience of the war, from commonly known facts.
    What are these enemies of ours, the German fascists? What kind of people are they? What has the experience of the war taught us about them?

    It is said that the German fascists are nationalists who are defending the integrity and independence of Germany against the encroachments of other states. This is a lie, of course. Only swindlers can assert that Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, the Soviet Union or other freedom-loving countries had encroached on the integrity and independence of Germany. In actual fact the German fascists are not nationalists but imperialists, who seize foreign countries and drain them of their blood in order to enrich the German bankers and plutocrats. It is common knowledge that Goring, the head of the German fascists, is himself one of the leading bankers and plutocrats, who exploits dozens of factories and mills. Hitler, Goebbels, Ribbentrop, Himmler and the other rulers of present-day Germany are the watchdogs of the German bankers, and place the interests of the latter far above all others. In the hands of these gentlemen the German army is a blind tool for the purpose of shedding its own blood and that of others and of crippling itself and others not in the interests of Germany, but for the enrichment of the German bankers and plutocrats.
    This is what the experience of the war tells us.
    It is said that the German fascists are socialists who seek to defend the interests of the workers and peasants against the plutocrats. This is a lie, of course. Only swindlers can assert that the German fascists, who have instituted slave labour in factory and mill and have restored serfdom in the villages of Germany and in the subjugated countries, champion the interests of the workers and peasants. Only brazen-faced swindlers can deny that the system of slavery and serfdom which the German fascists have established benefits the German plutocrats

and bankers and not the workers and peasants. In actual fact the German fascists are feudal reactionaries, and the German army a feudal army which is shedding blood for the enrichment of the German barons and for the restoration of the power of the landlords. This is what the experience of the war tells us.
    It is said that the German fascists are vehicles of European culture who are waging war to spread this culture to other countries. This is a lie, of course. Only professional swindlers can assert that the German fascists, who have covered Europe with gallows, who are plundering and outraging the peaceful population, who are setting fire to and blowing up cities and villages and destroying the cultural treasures of the peoples of Europe, can be vehicles of European culture. In actual fact the German fascists are enemies of European culture, and the German army is an army of mediaeval obscurantism, whose function it is to destroy European culture for the sake of implanting the slaveholders' "culture" of the German bankers and barons.
    This is what the experience of the war tells us.
    Such is the face of our enemy, unmasked and exposed to the light by the experience of the war.
    But these are not the only conclusions to be drawn from the experience of the war. The experience of the war also shows that during the war important changes have taken place both in the state of fascist Germany and its army, and in the state of our country and the Red Army.
    What are these changes?
    It is undoubtedly true, in the first place, that during this period fascist Germany and its army have become

weaker than they were ten months ago. The war has brought the German people great disillusionment, the loss of millions of human lives, starvation and impoverishment. The end of the war is not in sight, yet the reserves of manpower are giving out, oil is giving out, raw materials are giving out. The German people are becoming more and more aware of the inevitability of Germany's defeat. It is becoming ever clearer to the German people that the only way of escape from the situation that has arisen is the liberation of Germany from the adventurist Hitler-Göring clique.
    The Hitler imperialists have occupied extensive territories in Europe, but they have not broken the will to resistance of the European peoples. The struggle the enslaved peoples are waging against the regime of the German fascist brigands is beginning to assume a universal character. Sabotage at war plants, the blowing up of German ammunition stores, the wrecking of German troop trains and the killing of German soldiers and officers have become everyday occurrences in all the occupied countries. All Yugoslavia and the German-occupied Soviet areas are enveloped in the flames of guerilla warfare.
    All these circumstances have led to a weakening of the German rear, which means a weakening of fascist Germany as a whole.
    As regards the German army, it has grown much weaker than it was ten months ago, despite the stubbornness of its defence. Its old and experienced generals, such as Reichenau, Brauchitsch, Todt and others, have either been killed by the Red Army or cashiered by the German fascist higher clique. Its seasoned officers

 

have in part been exterminated by the Red Army and in part demoralized by the looting and violence which they practised on the civilian population. Its rank and file, seriously weakened in the course of military operations, is receiving fewer and fewer reinforcements.
    It is undoubtedly true, in the second place, that during the period of the war our country has grown stronger than it was at the beginning of the war. Not only is this admitted by our friends, but even our enemies are compelled to recognize the fact that our country is today more united and more solidly behind its Government than ever before, that the rear and the front of our country are united in a single fighting camp which is aiming at a single objective, that the Soviet people in the rear are supplying our front with steadily increasing quantities of rifles and machine guns, mortars and artillery, tanks and aircraft, foodstuffs and ammunition.
    As regards the international ties of our country, they have grown stronger and have expanded more than ever of late. All the freedom-loving peoples have united against German imperialism. Their gaze is turned towards the Soviet Union. The heroic fight which the peoples of, our country are waging for their freedom, honour and independence evokes the admiration of all progressive mankind. The peoples of all freedom-loving countries regard the Soviet Union as the force that is capable of delivering the world from the Hitlerite plague. First among these freedom-loving countries stand Great Britain and the United States of America, to which we are linked by bonds of friendship and alliance, and which are affording our country ever increasing military assistance against the German fascist invaders.

    All these circumstances indicate that our country has become much stronger.
    It is undoubtedly true, finally, that during the period which has elapsed the Red Army has become more organized and stronger than it was at the beginning of the war. It is common knowledge that after the temporary retreat called forth by the perfidious attack of the German imperialists, the Red Army managed to bring about a decisive change in the course of the war and went over from active defence to a successful offensive against the enemy troops. This must not be attributed to mere accident. The fact of the matter is that thanks to the successes of the Red Army the Patriotic War has entered a new period -- the period of liberation of Soviet territory from the Hitlerite scum. True, the Red Army began to accomplish this historic task under the difficult conditions of a grim winter with heavy snowfalls; nevertheless it achieved great success. Taking the initiative in military operations into its own hands, the Red Army inflicted a number of severe defeats on the German fascist troops and compelled them to withdraw from a considerable area of Soviet territory. The invaders' expectations that the winter would afford them a respite in which to entrench themselves in their defence line came to naught. In the course of its offensive the Red Army has destroyed a vast amount of enemy man power and material, has captured no small quantity of the enemy's material and has compelled him to expend prematurely reserves brought up from the rear and intended for spring and summer operations.
    All this indicates that the Red Army has become more organized and stronger, that its officers have become

steeled in battle and that its generals have become more experienced and farsighted.
    A radical change has also been effected in the rank and file of the Red Army.
    The complacence and carelessness towards the enemy that could be observed among the men during the first months of the Patriotic War have disappeared. The atrocities, the robberies and acts of violence perpetrated by the German fascist invaders against the civilian population and Soviet war prisoners have cured our men of this ailment. The men have become more embittered and more ruthless. They have learnt to hate the German fascist invaders in earnest. They have realized that you cannot defeat an enemy without having learnt to hate him from the bottom of your heart.
    All the idle talk about the invincibility of the German troops that could be heard at the beginning of the war and that served to screen fear of the Germans is now a thing of the past. The famous battles of Rostov and Kerch, of Moscow and Kalinin, of Tikhvin and Leningrad, in which the Red Army put the German fascist invaders to flight, have convinced our men that this talk about the invincibility of the German troops is a fable concocted by the fascist propagandists. The experience of the war has convinced our men that the so-called bravery of the German officer is quite a relative matter, that the German officer is brave when dealing with unarmed war prisoners and civilians; but his bravery oozes out when he comes face to face with the organized might of the Red Army. Recall the popular saving: "Brave before a lamb, but a lamb before the brave."

    Such are the conclusions to be drawn from the experience of the war with the German fascist invaders.
    What do they imply?
    They imply that we can beat and must go on beating the German fascist invaders until they are completely exterminated, until all our Soviet territory has been completely cleared of the Hitlerite scoundrels.
    Comrades! We are waging a just war for our country and our freedom. It is not our aim to seize foreign lands or to subjugate foreign peoples. Our aim is clear and noble. We want to free our Soviet land of the German fascist scoundrels. We want to free our Ukrainian, Moldavian, Byelorussian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian and Karelian brothers from the outrage and violence to which they are being subjected by the German fascist scoundrels. To achieve this aim we must rout the German fascist army and exterminate the German invaders to the last man, except for such of them as may surrender. There is no other alternative.
    We can and must do this at all costs.
    The Red Army possesses all that is needed to accomplish this lofty task. It lacks only one thing -- the ability to utilize to the full against the enemy the first-class material with which our country supplies it. Hence, it is the task of the Red Army, of its men, of its machine-gunners, its artillerymen, its mortar men, its tankmen, its airmen and its cavalrymen to study the art of war, to study assiduously, to study the mechanism of their weapons to perfection, to become expert at their jobs and thus learn to strike the enemy with unerring aim. Only thus can the art of defeating the enemy be learnt.
    Comrades, men of the Red Army and Red Navy,

commanders and political instructors, partisans, men and women!
    Greeting you and congratulating you on the occasion of this First of May, I hereby order:
    1. That the rank and file study the mechanism of their rifles to perfection, become expert in handling their weapons, hit the enemy with unerring aim as our valiant snipers, the destroyers of the German invaders, hit them!
    2. That the machine-gunners, artillerymen, mortar men, tankmen and airmen study the mechanism of their weapons to perfection, become experts at their jobs, hit the fascist German invaders point-blank until they are completely exterminated!
    3. That general commanders learn to perfection the art of co-ordinating the operations of the various arms of the service, become expert in the leadership of troops, and show the whole world that the Red Army is capable of fulfilling its great mission of liberation!
    4. That the entire Red Army make 1942 the year of the final defeat of the German fascist troops and the liberation of our Soviet soil from the Hitler scoundrels!
    5. That the men and women partisans intensify their partisan warfare in the rear of the German invaders, destroy the enemy's communications and transport facilities, destroy his headquarters and equipment and spare no bullets against the oppressors of our motherland!
    Under the invincible banner of the great Lenin -- forward to victory!

J. Stalin
People's Commissar of Defence
of the U.S.S.R.

REPLIES TO QUESTIONS
SUBMITTED BY THE CORRESPONDENT
OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

    Mr. Cassidy, the Moscow correspondent of the Associated Press, wrote to J. Stalin, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the U.S.S.R., requesting him to reply verbally or in writing to three questions which interested American public opinion.
    Comrade Stalin sent Mr. Cassidy the following reply:

 
Dear Mr. Cassidy,

    Owing to pressure of work and consequent inability to grant you an interview I shall confine myself to a brief written answer to your questions.
    1. What place does the possibility of a second front occupy in Soviet estimates of the current situation?
    ANSWER. A very important place, one might say, a place of first-rate importance.
    2. To what extent is Allied aid to the Soviet Union proving effective and what could be done to amplify and improve this aid?
    ANSWER. As compared with the aid which the Soviet Union is giving to the Allies by drawing upon itself the main forces of the German fascist armies, the aid of the Allies to the Soviet Union has so far been little effective. In order to amplify and improve this aid only

one thing is required: that the Allies fulfil their obligations fully and on time.
    3. What remains the Soviet capacity for resistance?
    ANSWER. I think that the Soviet capacity of resisting the German brigands is in strength not less, if not greater, than the capacity of fascist Germany or of any other aggressive power to secure for itself world domination.

With respect,           
J. Stalin

October 3, 1942

 

25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT OCTOBER
SOCIALIST REVOLUTION

SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE JOINT CELEBRATION MEETING
OF THE MOSCOW SOVIET OF WORKING PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES
AND REPRESENTATIVES OF MOSCOW PARTY
AND PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS

NOVEMBER 6, 1942

  Comrades!

    We are today celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Revolution in our country. Twenty-five years have elapsed since the Soviet system was established here. We are now on the threshold of the next, the twenty-sixth, year of the existence of the Soviet system.
    At meetings in celebration of the anniversary of the October Soviet Revolution it is customary to review the work of the Government and Party organs in the preceding year. I have been instructed to make such a review for the past year -- from November of last year to November of the current year.
    The activities of our Government and Party organs during the past period proceeded in two directions: in the direction of peaceful construction and the organization of a strong rear for our front, on the one hand; and in the direction of conducting the defensive and offensive operations of the Red Army, on the other.

1.  ORGANIZATIONAL WORK IN THE REAR

    The peaceful constructive work of our administrative bodies in this period consisted in shifting the base of our industry, both war and civil, to the Eastern regions of our country, in evacuating and installing in their new places industrial workers and plants, in extending crop areas and enlarging the winter crop area in the East and, lastly, in radically improving the operations of our industries which produce supplies for the front and in strengthening labour discipline in the rear, both in the factories and on the collective and state farms. It must be said that this was an extremely difficult and complex large-scale task of organization for all our economic and administrative People's Commissariats, including our railways. Nevertheless, we succeeded in overcoming the obstacles; and now, in spite of all the wartime difficulties, our factories, collective farms and state farms are undoubtedly working satisfactorily. Our munition factories and allied enterprises are conscientiously and punctually supplying the Red Army with guns, mortars, aircraft, tanks, machine guns, rifles and ammunition. Our collective farms and state farms are likewise conscientiously and punctually supplying the population and the Red Army with foodstuffs and our industry with raw materials. It must he admitted that never before has our country had such a strong and well-organized rear.
    As a result of all this complex organizational and constructive effort, not only our country, but the people themselves in the rear, have been transformed. They have become more efficient, less slipshod, more disci-

plined; they have learnt to work in wartime fashion, have become conscious of their duty to our motherland and to her defenders at the front -- the Red Army. Bunglers and slackers with no sense of civic duty are becoming fewer and fewer in the rear. The organized and disciplined, those who are imbued with a sense of civic duty, are becoming more and more numerous.
    But, as I have said, the past year was not only one of peaceful construction. It was also a year of our Patriotic War against the German invaders, who vilely and treacherously attacked our peaceful country.

2.  HOSTILITIES ON THE SOVIET-GERMAN FRONT

    As regards the military activities of our administrative bodies during the past year, they consisted in providing for the offensive and defensive operations of the Red Army against the German fascist troops. The hostilities on the Soviet-German front during the past year may be divided into two periods. The first period was chiefly the winter period, when the Red Army, after repelling the German attack on Moscow, took the initiative, passed to the offensive, drove back the German troops, and in the space of four months advanced, in places, over 400 kilometres. The second period was the summer period, when the German fascist troops, taking advantage of the absence of a second front in Europe, mustered all their available reserves, pierced the front in the southwestern direction and taking the initiative, advanced, in places, as much as 500 kilometres in the space of five months.

    The hostilities in the first period, especially the Red Army's successful operations in the region of Rostov, Tula and Kaluga, and at Moscow, Tikhvin and Leningrad, disclosed two signiflcant facts. They showed, firstly, that the Red Army and its combatant cadres have become an effective force, not only capable of withstand ing the onslaught of the German fascist troops, but also of defeating them in open battle and driving them back. They showed, secondly, that for all their staunchness, the German fascist troops super from grave organic defects, which, given certain favourable conditions for the Red Army, may lead to their defeat. It is not by mere chance that the German troops, after marching in triumph through all Europe and at one blow smashing the French troops, which had been regarded as first-class troops, met with effective military resistance only in our country; and not only did they meet with resistance, but they were compelled by the blows of the Red Army to retreat from their positions over 400 kilometres, abandoning on their line of retreat an immense quantity of guns, machines and ammunition. This fact cannot be attributed exclusively to the winter conditions of fighting.
    The second period of hostilities on the Soviet-German front was marked by a turn in favour of the Germans, by the initiative passing to the Germans, by the piercing of our front in the southwestern direction, by the advance of the German troops and their reaching the areas of Voronezh, Stalingrad, Novorossiisk, Pyatigorsk and Mozdok. Taking advantage of the absence of a second front in Europe, the Germans and their allies transferred all their available reserves to the front and, massing them in one direction -- the southwestern direction -- created a

big superiority of forces here, and achieved substantial tactical gains.
    Apparently the Germans are no longer strong enough to conduct a simultaneous offensive in all three directions, in the South, North and Centre, as was the case in the early months of the German offensive in the summer of last year; but they are still strong enough to organize a serious offensive in some one direction.
    What was the main objective of the German fascist strategists when they launched their summer offensive on our front? Judging by the comments of the foreign press, including the German, one might think that the main objective of the offensive was to capture the oil districts of Grozny and Baku. But facts decidedly refute this assumption. Facts show that the German advance towards the oil districts of the U.S.S.R. is not the main, but an auxiliary objective.
    What, then, was the main objective of the German offensive? It was to outflank Moscow from the East; to cut if off from its Volga and Urals rear and then to strike at the city. The German advance southwards, towards the oil districts, had an auxiliary purpose; not only, and not so much, to capture the oil districts as to divert our main reserves to the South and to weaken the Moscow front, and thereby facilitate the success of the blow at Moscow. This, in fact, explains why the main group of the German forces are now in the Orel and the Stalingrad areas, and not in the South.
    Recently, an officer of the German General Staff fell into the hands of our men. On this officer a map was found showing the plan and schedule of the German troops' advance. From this document it is evident that

the Germans intended to be in Borisoglebsk on July 10, this year, in Stalingrad on July 25, in Saratov on August 10, in Kuibyshev on August 15, in Arzamas on September 10, and in Baku on September 25.
    This document fully confirms the information in our possession that the main objective of the German summer offensive was to outflank Moscow from the East and to strike at Moscow; while the object of the advance to the South was, apart from everything else, to divert our reserves as far as possible from Moscow and to weaken the Moscow front so as to facilitate the blow at Moscow.
    In short, the main objective of the German summer offensive was to surround Moscow and end the war this year.
    In November last year the Germans counted on capturing Moscow by a frontal attack, on compelling the Red Army to capitulate and thus bringing the war in the East to a close. These were the illusions they sustained their soldiers with. As we know, however, these calculations of the Germans miscarried. Having burnt their fingers in their attempt at a frontal attack on Moscow last year, the Germans planned to capture Moscow this year by a flanking movement and to end the war in the East in that way. These are the illusions with which they are sustaining their duped soldiers now. As we know, these calculations of the Germans also proved unsound. Their attempt to chase two hares at ones oil and the encirclement of Moscow -- landed the German fascist strategists in difficulties.
    Thus, the tactical successes of the German summer offensive were not consummated owing to the obvious unfeasibility of their strategical plans.

3.  THE QUESTION OF THE SECOND FRONT IN EUROPE

    How are we to explain the fact that the Germans were nevertheless able to take the initiative in military operations this year and achieve substantial tactical successes on our front?
    It is to he explained by the fact that the Germans and their allies were able to muster all their available reserves, transfer them to the Eastern front and create a big superiority of forces in one of the directions. There can be no doubt that but for these measures the Germans could not have achieved any success on our front.
    But why were they able to muster all their reserves and transfer them to the Eastern front? Because the absence of a second front in Europe enabled them to carry out this operation without any risk.
    Hence, the chief reason for the Germans' tactical successes on our front this year is that the absence of a second front in Europe enabled them to transfer to our front all their available reserves and to create a big superiority of forces in the southwestern direction.
    Let us assume that there was a second front in Europe as there was in the first World War, and that this second front diverted, let us say, 60 German divisions and 20 divisions of Germany's allies. What would have been the position of the German troops on our front today? It is not difficult to guess that their position would have been deplorable. More than that, it would have been the beginning of the end of the German fascist troops, for in that case the Red Army would not be where it is now, but somewhere near Pskov, Minsk, Zhitomir and Odessa.

    That means that already in the summer of this year the German fascist army would have been on the verge of disaster; and if this did not occur, it was because the Germans were saved by the absence of a second front in Europe.
    Let us examine the question of a second front in Europe in its historical aspect.
    In the first World War Germany had to fight on two fronts: in the West, chiefly against Great Britain and France, and in the East, against the Russian troops. Thus, in the first World War there was a second front against Germany. Of the 220 divisions which Germany then had, not more than 85 were stationed on the Russian front. If to this we add the troops of Germany's allies then facing the Russian front, namely, 37 Austro-Hungarian divisions, 2 Bulgarian divisions and 3 Turkish divisions, we get a total of 127 divisions facing the Russian troops. Most of the remaining divisions of Germany and her allies held the front against the Anglo-French troops while some of them performed garrison duty in the occupied territories of Europe.
    Such was the position in the first World War.
    What is the position today, in the second World War in September this year, let us say?
    According to authentic information, which is beyond all doubt, of the 256 divisions which Germany now has no fewer than 179 are on our front. If to this we add 22 Rumanian divisions, 14 Finnish divisions, 10 Italian divisions, 13 Hungarian divisions, 1 Slovak division and 1 Spanish division, we get a total of 240 divisions now fighting on our front. The remaining divisions of Germany and her allies are performing garrison duty in the

occupied countries (France, Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, etc.), while part of them are fighting in Libya for the possession of Egypt against Great Britain. In all, the Libyan front is diverting 4 German divisions and 11 Italian divisions.
    Hence, instead of 127 divisions as was the case in the first World War, we, today, are facing on our front no less than 240 divisions, and instead of 85 German divisions we have 179 German divisions fighting the Red Army.
    This is the chief reason and grounds for the tactical successes the German fascist troops gained on our front this summer.
    The German invasion of our country is often compared to Napoleon's invasion of Russia. But this comparison will not bear criticism. Of the 600,000 troops which started out on the march against Russia, Napoleon brought to Borodino barely 130,000, or 140,000. That was all he had at his disposal at Moscow. Well, we now have facing the Red Army over 3,000,000 troops, and troops armed with all the implements of modern warfare. What comparison can there be here?
    The German invasion of our country is sometimes also compared to the German invasion of Russia during the first World War. But neither will this comparison bear criticism. Firstly, in the first World War there was a second front in Europe, which made the Germans' position very difficult, whereas in this war there is no second front in Europe. Secondly, in this war, twice as many troops are facing our front as faced it during the first World War. Obviously, the comparison is inappropriate.

    You can now imagine how grave and extraordinary are the difficulties that confront the Red Army, and how great is the heroism displayed by the Red Army in its war of liberation against the German fascist invaders.
    I think that no other country and no other army could have withstood this onslaught of the savage gangs of German fascist brigands and their allies. Only our Soviet country and only our Red Army are capable of withstanding such an onslaught. (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.) And not only withstanding it, but also overpowering it.
    It is often asked: But will there be a second front in Europe after all? Yes, there will be; sooner or later, there will be. And there will be one not only because we need it, but above all because our Allies need it no less than we. Our Allies cannot fail to realize that since France has been put out of action, the absence of a second front against fascist Germany may end badly for all the freedom-loving countries, including the Allies themselves.

4.  THE FIGHTING ALLIANCE OF THE U.S.S.R.,
GREAT BRITAIN AND THE U.S.A. AGAINST
HITLERITE GERMANY AND HER ALLIES IN EUROPE

    It may now be regarded as beyond dispute that in the course of the war imposed upon the nations by Hitlerite Germany, a radical demarcation of forces and the formation of two opposite camps have taken place: the camp of the Italo-German coalition, and the camp of the Anglo-Soviet-American coalition.

 
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    It is equally beyond dispute that these two opposite coalitions are guided by two different and opposite programs of action.
    The program of action of the Italo-German coalition may be characterized by the following points: race hatred; domination of the "chosen" nations; subjugation of other nations and seizure of their territories; economic enslavement of the subjugated nations and spoliation of their national wealth; destruction of democratic liberties; universal institution of the Hitler regime.
    The program of action of the Anglo-Soviet-American coalition is: abolition of racial exclusiveness; equality of nations and inviolability of their territories; liberation of the enslaved nations and the restoration of their sovereign rights; the right of every nation to manage its affairs in its own way; economic aid to nations that have suffered and assistance in establishing their material welfare; restoration of democratic liberties; destruction of the Hitler regime.
    The effect of the program of action of the Italo-German coalition has been that the people in all the occupied countries of Europe -- Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Greece and the occupied regions of the U.S.S.R. -- are seething with hatred for the Italo-German tyranny, are causing the Germans and their allies all the damage they can, and are waiting for a favourable opportunity to take revenge on their conquerors for the outrage and violence to which they are being subjected.
    In this connection, one of the characteristic features the present situation is the steadily growing isolation the Italo-German coalition and the depletion of its

moral and political reserves in Europe, its growing weakness and disintegration.
    The effect of the program of action of the Anglo-Soviet-American coalition has been that the people in all the occupied countries in Europe fully sympathize with the members of this coalition and are prepared to render them all the help of which they are capable.
    In this connection, another characteristic feature of the present situation must be noted, namely, that the moral and political reserves of this coalition are growing from day to day in Europe -- and not only in Europe -- and that this coalition is steadily winning millions of sympathizers who are ready to join in the light against Hitler's tyranny.
    If the relative strength of these two coalitions is examined from the standpoint of human and material resources, the conclusion one will be forced to arrive at is that the Anglo-Soviet-American coalition has the unquestionable advantage.
    But the question is: Is this advantage alone sufficient for victory? As we know, cases occur when resources are abundant, hut they are expended so inefficiently that the advantage is lost. Obviously, what is needed in addition to resources is ability to mobilize and skill in expending them properly. Is there any reason to doubt that the men of the Anglo-Soviet-American coalition possess this ability and skill? Some people do doubt this. But what grounds have they for their doubts? In the past the men of this coalition have displayed ability and skill in mobilizing the resources of their countries and expending them rationally for the purpose of economic, cultural and political development. What grounds are there, then, for

doubting that the men who have displayed skill and ability in mobilizing and distributing resources for economic, cultural and political purposes will prove capable of doing the same for the purpose of prosecuting the war? I think there are no such grounds.
    It is said that the Anglo-Soviet-American coalition has every chance of winning, and would certainly win if it did not suffer from an organic defect which might weaken and disintegrate it. This defect, in the opinion of these people, is that this coalition consists of heterogeneous elements having different ideologies, and that this circumstance will prevent them from organizing joint action against the common enemy.
    I think that this assertion is wrong.
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    It would be ridiculous to deny the difference in the ideologies and social systems of the various countries that constitute the Anglo-Soviet-American coalition. But does this preclude the possibility, and the expediency, of joint action on the part of the members of this coalition against the common enemy who threatens to enslave them? Certainly not. More than that. The very existence of this threat imperatively dictates the necessity of joint action among the members of the coalition in order to save mankind from reversion to savagery and mediaeval brutality. Is not the program of action of the Anglo-Soviet-American coalition a sufficient basis upon which to organize a joint struggle against Hitler tyranny and to vanquish it? I think it is quite sufficient.
    These people's assumption is unsound also because it has been utterly refuted by the events of the past year. Indeed, if these people were right, we should be observing the steady mutual estrangement of the members of

 
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the Anglo-Soviet-American coalition. Far from this being the case, however, facts and events point to the steadily growing friendship among the members of the Anglo-Soviet-American coalition and to their amalgamation into a united fighting alliance. Events of the past year supply direct proof of this. In July 1941, several weeks after Germany attacked the U.S.S.R., Great Britain concluded with us an agreement "On Joint Action in the War Against Germany." At that time we had not yet any agreement with the United States of America on this subject. Ten months later, on May 26, 1942, during Comrade Molotov's visit to Great Britain, the latter concluded with us a "Treaty of Alliance in the War Against Hitlerite Germany and Her Associates in Europe and on Collaboration and Mutual Aid Thereafter." This treaty was concluded for a period of twenty years. It marks a historic turning point in the relations between our country and Great Britain. In June 1942, during Comrade Molotov's visit to the U.S.A., the United States of America concluded with us an "Agreement on the Principles Applicable to Mutual Aid in the Conduct of the War Against Aggression," which represented a substantial advance in the relations between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A. Lastly, mention must be made of so important a fact as the visit to Moscow of the British Prime Minister Mr. Churchill, during which complete mutual understanding was reached between the leaders of the two countries. There can be no doubt that all these facts point to the steadily growing friendship between the U.S.S.R., Great Britain and the United States of America and to their amalgamation in a fighting alliance against the Italo-German coalition.

 
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    It follows that the logic of facts is stronger than any other logic.
    The only conclusion to be drawn is that the Anglo-Soviet-American coalition has every chance of vanquishing the Italo-German coalition, and that it certainly will do so.

5.  OUR TASKS

    The war has torn aside all veils and has laid bare all relationships. The situation has become so clear that nothing is easier than to define our tasks in this war.
    In an interview with the Turkish General Erkilet, published in the Turkish newspaper Gumhuriet, that cannibal Hitler said: "We shall destroy Russia, so that she will never be able to rise again." This is clear enough, one would think, although it is rather silly. (L a u g h t e r.) We do not pursue the aim of destroying Germany, for it is impossible to destroy Germany, just as it is impossible to destroy Russia. But we can and must destroy the Hitler state. (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    Our first task is, in fact, to destroy the Hitler state and its inspirers. (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    In the same interview with the same general, that cannibal Hitler went on to say: "We shall continue the war as long as there is an organized military force in Russia." This is clear enough one would think, although illiterate. (L a u g h t e r.) We do not pursue the aim of destroying Germany's entire organized military force, for every literate person will understand that this is not only impossible as regards Germany, just as it is in regard to Russia, but also inadvisable from the point of view of

 
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the victor. But eve can and must destroy Hitler's army (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    Our second task is, in fact, to destroy Hitler's army and its leaders. (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    The Hitler scoundrels have made it their rule to torture Soviet war prisoners, to slay them in hundreds, and to condemn thousands of them to death by starvation. They outrage and slaughter the civil population of the occupied territories of our country, men and women, children and the aged, our brothers and sisters. They have set out to enslave or exterminate the population of the Ukraine, Byelorussia, the Baltic Republics, Moldavia, the Crimea and the Caucasus. Only villains and scoundrels destitute of all honour, who have sunk to the level of brutes, can commit such outrages against innocent and unarmed people. But that is not all. They have covered Europe with gallows and concentration camps. They have introduced the vile "hostage system." They shoot and hang absolutely innocent citizens whom they take as "hostages" because some German beast was prevented from raping women or robbing civilians. They have converted Europe into a prison of nations. And this they call the "new order in Europe." We know the men who are guilty of these outrages, the builders of this "new order in Europe," all those upstart governor-generals, or just ordinary governors, commandants and sub-commandants. Their names are known to tens of thousands of tormented people. Let these butchers know that they will not escape responsibility for their crimes or elude the hand of retribution of the tormented nations.
    Our third task is to destroy the detestable "new order in Europe" and to punish its builders.

 
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    Such are our tasks. (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    Comrades! We are waging a great war of liberation. We are not waging it alone, but in conjunction with our Allies. It will end in our victory over the vile foes of mankind, over the German fascist imperialists. On its standard is inscribed:
    Hail the victory of the Anglo-Soviet-American fighting alliance!  (A p p l a u s e.)
    Hail the liberation of the nations of Europe from Hitler's tyranny!  (A p p l a u s e.)
    Hail the liberty and independence of our glorious Soviet motherland!  (A p p l a u s e.)
    Damnation and death to the German fascist invaders, to their state, their army, their "new order in Europe"!  (A p p l a u s e.)
    Glory to our Red Army!  (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    Glory to out Navy!  (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    Glory to our men and women partisans!  (L o u d  a n d  p r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.  A l l  r i s e.  O v a t i o n.)

 

 
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ORDER OF THE DAY

OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR OF DEFENCE
OF THE U.S.S.R.

No. 345

MOSCOW, NOVEMBER 7, 1942

    Comrades, Red Armymen, commanders and political instructors, partisans, men and women! Working people of the Soviet Union!
    On behalf of the Soviet Government and of our Bolshevik Party, I greet and congratulate you on the 26th Anniversary of the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution.
    A quarter of a century ago, under the leadership of the Bolshevik Party and our great Lenin, the workers and peasants established the Soviet regime in our country. Since then the peoples of the Soviet Union have traversed a glorious road. In the course of these twenty-five years our country grew into a mighty socialist industrial and collective-farm power. After winning their freedom and independence, the peoples of the Soviet State united in an indestructible, fraternal commonwealth. The Soviet peoples freed themselves from all oppression, and by their persevering labours secured for themselves a prosperous and cultured existence.

 
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    Today, the peoples of our country are celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution amidst the conflagration of a fierce struggle against the German fascist invaders and their associates in Europe.
    At the beginning of this year, in the winter, the Red Army inflicted severe blows on the German fascist troops. After repelling the German attack on Moscow, it took the initiative, passed to the offensive, and drove the German troops to the West, liberating a number of regions of our country from German slavery. By this the Red Army proved that, given certain favourable conditions, it can vanquish the German fascist troops.
    In the summer, however, the situation at the front changed for the worse. Taking advantage of the absence of a second front in Europe, the Germans and their allies scraped together all their reserves, hurled them at our Ukrainian front, and broke through it. At the price of enormous losses the German fascist troops succeeded in advancing on the South, threatening Stalingrad, the Black Sea coast, Grozny and the approaches to Transcaucasia.
    True, the staunchness and courage of the Red Army has thwarted the German plan to outflank Moscow on the East and strike at the capital of our country from the rear. The enemy has been checked at Stalingrad. But although checked at Stalingrad, and having already lost there tens of thousands of men and officers, the enemy is hurling new divisions into the battle and exerting his last efforts. The struggle on the Soviet-German front is becoming increasingly intense. On the outcome of this struggle depend the fate of the Soviet State, the freedom and independence of our country.

 
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    Our Soviet people have passed the test to which they have been subjected with flying colours and are imbued with unshakeable confidence in victory. This war has served as a stern test of the strength and stability of the Soviet system. The calculations of the German imperialists that the Soviet State would collapse proved to be utterly groundless. Socialist industry, the collective farm system, the friendship among the peoples of our country and the Soviet State have proved to be firm and indestructible. The workers and peasants and the entire intelligentsia of our country, everybody in the rear, is working conscientiously and self-sacrificingly to supply the needs of our armed forces.
    The Red Army is bearing the brunt of the war against Hitler Germany and its associates. By its self-sacrificing struggle against the fascist armies it has won the love and respect of all the freedom-loving nations of the world. The men and commanders of the Red Army -- who had not had sufficient military experience before -- have learnt to strike the enemy unerring blows; to destroy his man power and material, to thwart the enemy's designs and staunchly to defend our towns and villages against the alien invaders. The heroic defenders of Moscow and Tula, of Odessa and Sevastopol, of Leningrad and Stalingrad have set an example of boundless courage, iron discipline, staunchness and ability to win. Our entire Red Army is following their heroic example. The enemy has already had a taste of the Red Army's power of resistance. It will yet learn the power of the Red Army's crushing blows.
    There can be no doubt that the German invaders will plunge into new adventures. But the enemy's strength is

 
page 83

already sapped and is now reaching its limit. During the course of the war, the Red Army has put out of action over 8,000,000 enemy men and officers. The Hitler army is now diluted with Rumanians, Hungarians, Italians and Finns and is much weaker than it was in the summer and autumn of 1941.
    Comrades, Red Armymen, commanders and political instructors, partisans, men and women!
    The defeat of the German fascist army and the clearing of our Soviet soil of the Hitler invaders depends upon your tenacity and staunchness, your military skill and readiness to perform your duty to your country;
    We can and must clear our Soviet soil of the Hitler scum!
    To achieve this we must:
    1. Staunchly and stubbornly defend the line of our front, prevent the enemy from advancing any further, do everything to wear the enemy down, exterminate his man power and destroy his material;
    2. In every way reinforce iron discipline, the strictest order and individual responsibility in our Army, perfect the military training of our troops and perseveringly and persistently prepare for a crushing blow at the enemy;
    3. Fan the flames of popular guerilla warfare in the enemy's rear, destroy the enemy's bases and exterminate the German fascist scoundrels.
    Comrades!
    The enemy has already felt the weight of the Red Army's blows at Rostov, Moscow and Tikhvin. The day is not far distant when the enemy will again feel the weight of the Red Army's blows. Our turn will come!

 
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    Hail the 25th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution!
    Long live our Red Army!
    Long live our Navy!
    Long live our brave men and women guerilla fighters!
    Death to the German fascist invaders!

J. Stalin
People's Commissar of Defence
of the U.S.S.R.

 

REPLIES TO QUESTIONS

SUBMITTED BY THE CORRESPONDENT
OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

    On November 12, Mr. Cassidy, the Moscow correspondent of the Associated Press, wrote to J. Stalin, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the U.S.S.R., requesting him to reply to three questions which interested American public opinion.
    Comrade Stalin sent Mr. Cassidy the following reply:

 
Dear Mr. Cassidy,     I am answering your questions which reached me on November 12.
    1. What is the Soviet view of the Allied campaign in Africa?
    ANSWER., The Soviet view of this campaign is that it represents an outstanding fact of major importance demonstrating the growing might of the armed forces of the Allies and opening the prospect of disintegration of the Italo-German coalition in the nearest future.
    The campaign in Africa refutes once more the sceptics who affirm that the Anglo-American leaders are not capable of organizing a serious war campaign. There can be no doubt that no one but first-rate organizers could

carry out such serious war operations as the successful landings in North Africa across the ocean, as the quick occupation of harbours and wide territories from Casablanca to Bougie and as the smashing of the Italo-German armies in the Western Desert, effected with such mastery.
    2. How effective has this campaign been in relieving pressure on the Soviet Union and what further aid does the Soviet Union await?
    ANSWER. It is yet too soon to say to what an extent this campaign has been effective in relieving immediate pressure on the Soviet Union. But it may be confidently said that the effect will not be a small one and that a certain relief in pressure on the Soviet Union will result in the nearest future.
    But that is not the only thing that matters. What matters first of all is that since the campaign in Africa means that the initiative has passed into the hands of our Allies the campaign changes radically the political and war situation in Europe in favour of the Anglo-Soviet-American coalition. That campaign undermines the prestige of Hitlerite Germany as the leading force in the system of Axis powers and demoralizes Hitler's allies in Europe. That campaign releases France from her state of lethargy, mobilizes the anti-Hitler forces of France and provides a basis for building up an anti-Hitler French army. That campaign creates conditions for putting Italy out of commission and for isolating Hitlerite Germany. Finally, that campaign creates prerequisites for the establishment of the second front in Europe nearer to Germany's vital centres which will be of decisive importance for organizing victory over Hitlerite tyranny,

    3. What possibility is there of Soviet offensive power in the East joining the Allies in the West to hasten final victory?
    ANSWER. There need be no doubt that the Red Army will fulfil its task with honour as it has been fulfilling it throughout the war.

With respect,           
J. Stalin

November 13, 1942

ORDER OF THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
TO THE TROOPS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN,
SOUTHERN, DON, NORTH CAUCASIAN,
VORONEZH, KALININ, VOLKHOV, AND
LENINGRAD FRONTS

     As a result of two month's offensive operations, the Red Army has breached the defences of the German fascist troops on a broad front, has demolished 102 enemy divisions, has captured over 200,000 prisoners, 13,000 guns and a large quantity of other material and has advanced as much as 400 kilometres. Our troops have won a major victory. The offensive of our troops is continuing.
    I congratulate the men, commanders and political personnel of the Southwestern, Southern, Don, North Caucasian, Voronezh, Kalinin, Volkhov and Leningrad fronts on their victory over the German fascist invaders and their allies -- the Rumanians, Italians and Hungarians -- at Stalingrad, on the Don, in the North Caucasus, at Voronezh, in the region of Velikiye Luki and south of Lake Ladoga.
    I express thanks to the commanders and the valiant troops who routed the Hitler armies at the approaches to Stalingrad, who broke the blockade of Leningrad, and who liberated from the German invaders the towns of

Kantemirovka, Belovodsk, Morozovsky, Millerovo, Starobelsk, Kotelnikovo, Zimovniki, Elista, Salsk, Mozdok, Nalchik, Mineralniye Vody, Pyatigorsk, Stavropol, Armavir, Valuiki, Rossosh, Ostrogozhsk, Velikiye Luki, Schlüsselburg, Voronezh and many other towns and thousands of inhabited centres.
    Forward, to the rout of the German invaders and their expulsion from our country!

J. Stalin
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

Moscow, Kremlin. January 25,1943

 <"s11">

ORDER OF THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
TO THE TROOPS OF THE DON FRONT

 DON FRONT To Marshal of Artillery, Comrade VORONOV, Representative of General Headquarters of the Supreme Command.

Colonel-General, Comrade ROKOSSOVSKY, Commander-in-Chief of the Troops of the Don Front.

    I congratulate you and the troops of the Don Front on the successful liquidation of the enemy forces which were surrounded at Stalingrad.
    I express thanks to all the men, commanders and political personnel of the Don Front for their excellent fighting services.

J. Stalin
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

Moscow, Kremlin. February 2,1943

ORDER OF THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

No. 95

MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 23,1943

 

    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, commanders and political instructors, partisans, men and women. Today we are celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Red Army.
    A quarter of a century has passed since the Red Army was formed. It was formed to fight the foreign invaders who wanted to subjugate our country. February 23,1918, the day on which the Red Army routed the forces of the German invaders at Pskov and Narva, was proclaimed the birthday of the Red Army.
    In the period of 1918-21, the Red Army, in stubborn fighting against foreign invaders, upheld the honour, freedom and independence of our Soviet Motherland and the right of the peoples of our country to build up their lives in the way they were taught to do by our great Lenin.
    For a period of two decades the Red Army protected the peaceful, constructive labours of the Soviet people. The peoples of our country never forgot the encroachments of the foreign aggressors upon our soil and took constant care to strengthen the Red Army, to equip it

with first-class weapons and, with a loving hand, reared our cadres of Soviet warriors.
    The Red Army is an army for the protection of peace and friendship among the peoples of all countries. It was created not for the purpose of conquering other countries, but of protecting the frontiers of the Land of Soviets. The Red Army has always respected the rights and the independence of all nations.
    In June 1941, however, Hitler Germany wantonly attacked our country, in gross and despicable violation of the pact of non-aggression. The Red Army was therefore obliged to take the field to defend its motherland from the German invaders and to drive them beyond the borders of our country. From that moment the Red Army became an army for the purpose of waging a mortal struggle against the Hitler troops, an army of avengers of the outrage and violence to which the German fascist scoundrels have subjected our brothers and sisters in the occupied regions of our country.
    The Red Army is celebrating its 25th Anniversary at a decisive moment in our Patriotic War against Hitler Germany and its servitors -- the Italians, Hungarians, Rumanians and Finns.
    Twenty months have passed since the Red Army started its heroic struggle, unprecedented in history, against the invading German fascist hordes. Owing to the absence of a second front in Europe the Red Army is bearing the entire burden of this struggle alone. Nevertheless, it has not only withstood the onslaught of the German fascist hordes, but in the course of the war has become a terror to the fascist armies. During the heavy fighting in the summer and autumn

 

of 1942 the Red Army barred the road to the fascist monster. Our people will forever remember the heroic defence of Sevastopol and Odessa, the stubborn battles near Moscow and in the foothills of the Caucasus, in the region of Rzhev and near Leningrad, and the greatest battle ever fought in history at the walls of Stalingrad. In these great battles our gallant men, commanders and political instructors covered the banners of the Red Army with unfading glory and laid a firm foundation for victory over the German fascist armies.
    Three months ago the troops of the Red Army launched an offensive at the approaches to Stalingrad. Since then we have retained the initiative in military operations, while the tempo and striking power of the Red Army's offensive operations continue unabated. Today, amidst severe winter conditions, the Red Army is waging an offensive on a front 1,500 kilometres long, and almost everywhere is achieving success. In the North, near Leningrad, on the Central front, at the approaches to Kharkov, in the Donetz Basin, at Rostov and on the shores of the Azov and Black Seas, the Red Army is striking blow after blow at the Hitler forces. In the course of three months the Red Army has liberated from the enemy the territory of the Voronezh and Stalingrad Regions, the Chechen-Ingush, North Ossetian, Kabardino-Balkarian and Kalmyk Autonomous Republics, the Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories, the Cherkess, Karachai and Adygei Autonomous Regions, and almost the entire Rostov, Kharkov and Kursk Regions.
    The wholesale expulsion of the enemy from the Land of Soviets has commenced.
    What has changed during these last three months?

Why are the Germans suffering these grave reverses? What are they due to?
    The relation of forces has changed on the Soviet German front. The fact is that fascist Germany is becoming more and more exhausted and enfeebled, whereas the Soviet Union is more and more developing her reserves and is becoming stronger. Time is working against fascist German.
    Until recently, Hitler Germany, which has harnessed the war industry of Europe to her needs, enjoyed superiority over the Soviet Union in war material, primarily in tanks and aircraft. This was her advantage. But during the twenty months of the war the situation has changed. Thanks to the self-sacrificing efforts of the working men and working women, the engineers and technicians in the war industries of the U.S.S.R., the production of tanks, aircraft and guns has increased during the course of the war. During this period the enemy sustained on the Soviet-German front enormous losses in war material, particularly in tanks, aircraft and artillery. In the three months of the Red Army's offensive in the winter of 1942-43 alone the Germans lost over 7,000 tanks, 4,000 aeroplanes, 17,000 guns and large quantities of other material.
    Of course, the Germans will try to make good these losses, but that will not be an easy matter; the enemy will need considerable time to make good these enormous losses in war material. But time does not wait.
    Hitler Germany commenced hostilities against the U.S.S.R. with a numerical superiority over the Red Army in troops mobilized and ready for action. This was her advantage. During the twenty months of the war, how- ever, the situation has changed in this respect too. In the course of the war the Red Army, in defensive and offensive battles, has put out of action as many as 9,000,000 German fascist men and officers, of whom no less than 4,000,000 were killed on the battlefield. The Rumanian, Italian and Hungarian armies which Hitler drove to the Soviet-German front have been completely routed. During the past three months alone the Red Army has routed 112 enemy divisions, of which over 700,000 men have been killed and over 300,000 taken prisoner.
    Of course, the German command will do their utmost to make good these colossal losses. But in the first place the weak spot of the German armies is their shortage of reserves of manpower, and, consequently, no one can say from what sources they will be able to make good these losses. Secondly, even if we assumed that the Germans do manage, by hook or by crook, to scrape together the required number of men, they will need no little time to muster and train them. But time does not wait.
    The Hitler army commenced hostilities against the Soviet Union with nearly two years' experience in conducting large-scale military operations in Europe with the aid of the most up-to-date implements of warfare. In the first period of the war the Red Army, naturally, did not yet have, nor could it have had such military experience. This was the advantage enjoyed by the German fascist army. During the twenty months of the war, however, the situation has changed in this respect too. In the course of the war the Red Army had become a seasoned army. It has learned to strike the enemy unerring blows, taking into account his weak and strong sides,

as modern military science demands. Hundreds of thousands and millions of men in the Red Army have learned to wield their weapons -- rifles, swords, machine guns, artillery, mortars, tanks, sappers' tools and aircraft -- to perfection. Tens of thousands of commanders of the Red Army have become expert military leaders. They have learned to combine personal valour and courage with the ability to lead troops on the battlefield; they have abandoned stupid and pernicious linear tactics and have definitely adopted the tactics of mobile warfare.
    It is by no means fortuitous that the Command of the Red Army is not only liberating Soviet soil from the enemy, but is also preventing him from leaving our soil alive, executing such formidable operations in surrounding and annihilating enemy armies as may serve as models of the art of war. This is undoubtedly a symptom of the maturity of our commanders.
    There can be no doubt that the correct strategy of the Red Army Command and the flexible tactics of our commanders in the field alone enabled them to carry out such an outstanding operation as the surrounding and annihilation of a vast army of picked German troops numbering 330,000 men near Stalingrad.
    In this respect all is not well with the Germans by any means. Their strategy is defective, because, as a rule, they underrate the strength and potentialities of the enemy and overrate their own strength. Their tactics are stereotyped, because they try to make operations at the front fit in with this or that paragraph of their army regulations. The Germans are methodical and precise in their operations when circumstances enable them to fulfil the requirements of their army regulations. This is

 

their strong side. But the Germans are helpless when the situation becomes complicated and "fails to fit in" with this or that paragraph of their army regulations and calls for the adoption of independent decisions not provided for by these regulations. This is the Germans' main weakness.
    Such are the causes which have determined the defeats of the German forces and the successes of the Red Army during the past three months.
    This does not mean, however, that the Hitler army is done for, and that all the Red Army has to do is to pursue it to the western frontiers of our country. To think so would mean yielding to unwise and pernicious delusion. To think so would mean overrating our own strength, underrating the enemy's strength and plunging into adventurism. The enemy has suffered defeat, but he is not yet vanquished. The German fascist army is passing through a crisis as a result of the blows inflicted upon it by the Red Army, but this does not mean that it cannot recover. The struggle against the German invaders is not yet over, it is only just developing and flaring up. It would be silly to believe that the Germans will surrender even a single kilometre of our soil without a fight.
    The Red Army has a stern struggle before it against a crafty, cruel and still formidable enemy. This struggle will require time, sacrifice, the exertion of all our efforts and the mobilization of all our potentialities. We have begun to liberate Soviet Ukraine from the German yoke, but millions of Ukrainians are still groaning under the yoke of the German tyrants. The German invaders and their servitors are still lording it in Byelorussia, Lithua-

nia, Latvia, Estonia, Moldavia, the Crimea and Karelia. Powerful blows have been struck the enemy armies, but the enemy is not yet vanquished. The German invaders are putting up a frantic resistance, launching counter attacks, trying to hold on to their defensive lines and likely to plunge into new adventures. That is why there must be no room in our ranks for complacency, negligence or conceit.
    Our entire Soviet people are rejoicing at the victories of the Red Army. But the men, commanders and political instructors of the Red Army must firmly bear in mind the behests of our teacher Lenin: "The primary thing is not to become intoxicated by victory and not to boast; the second is to consolidate the victory; the third is to give the enemy the finishing stroke."
    For the sake of liberating our motherland from the hated enemy, and for the sake of our final victory over the German fascist invaders,

    I HEREBY ORDER:

    1. That military training be constantly perfected and that discipline, order and organization be strengthened throughout the Red Army and Navy.
    2. That heavier blows be inflicted on the enemy forces, that the enemy be continuously and persistently pursued, that he be given no opportunity to fortify himself in defensive lines, that he be given no rest, either day or night, that enemy communications be cut and that enemy troops be surrounded and annihilated if they refuse to lay down their arms.
    3. That the flames of guerilla warfare be fanned still more in the enemy's rear, that the enemy's communica-

tions be destroyed, railway bridges blown up, the movement of enemy troops and the supply of arms and ammunition be dislocated, that army stores be blown up and burnt, that enemy garrisons be attacked, that the retreating enemy be prevented from setting fire to villages and towns and that all efforts and means be employed to assist the advancing Red Army. This is the pledge of our victory.
    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, commanders and political instructors! Partisans, men and women!
    On behalf of the Soviet Government and of our Bolshevik Party I greet you and congratulate you on the 25th Anniversary of the Red Army.
    Long live our Great Motherland!
    Long live our gallant Red Army, our valiant Navy, and our brave men and women partisans!
    Long live the Bolshevik Party, the inspirer and organizer of the Red Army's victories!
    Death to the German invaders!

J. Stalin
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

ORDER OF THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

No. 195

MOSCOW, MAY 1, 1943

    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, commanders and political instructors, partisans, men and women, working men and working women, peasants, men and women, men and women engaged in intellectual pursuits! Brothers and sisters who have temporarily fallen under the yoke of the German oppressors!
    On behalf of the Soviet Government and of our Bolshevik Party, I greet and congratulate you on the occasion of the First of May!
    The peoples of our country are celebrating this First of May in the stern days of the Patriotic War. They placed their fate in the hands of the Red Army and their hopes have not been disappointed. Our Soviet warriors rose manfully to defend our Motherland, and for nearly two years already they have been upholding the honour and independence of the peoples of the Soviet Union.
    During the winter campaign of 1942-43, the Red Army inflicted severe defeats upon the Hitler troops, exterminated an enormous amount of the enemy's manpower and material, surrounded and liquidated two enemy armies at Stalingrad, took over 300,000 men and officers

prisoner, and liberated from the German yoke hundreds of Soviet towns and thousands of villages. The winter campaign showed that the striking power of the Red Army has grown. Our troops not only dislodged the Germans from the territory which they had captured in the summer of 1942, but also occupied a number of towns and districts which had been in the enemy's hands for about eighteen months. To avert the Red Army's offensive proved to be a task beyond the Germans strength.
    Even for a counter-offensive on a narrow sector of the front, in the region of Kharkov, the Hitler command was obliged to transfer over thirty new divisions from Western Europe. The Germans counted on being able to surround the Soviet troops in the region of Kharkov and arrange a "German Stalingrad" for them. But the attempt of the Hitler command to take revenge for Stalingrad failed.
    Simultaneously, the victorious troops of our Allies defeated the Italo-German troops in Libya and Tripolitania, cleared these regions of enemy forces and are now continuing to rout them in the region of Tunis; meanwhile, the gallant British and American air forces are striking crushing blows at the war industry centres of Germany and Italy, presaging the formation of a second front in Europe against the Italian and German fascists.
    Thus, for the first time since the war began, a blow struck at the enemy in the East by the Red Army merged with a blow in the West delivered by the troops of our allies in a single, common blow.
    All these circumstances taken together have shaken the Hitler war machine to its foundations; they have changed

the course of the world war, and have created the necessary prerequisites for victory over Hitler Germany.
    As a result, the enemy has been obliged to admit a grave worsening of his position and has begun to wail about a war crisis. True, the enemy is striving to cover up his critical position by a clamour about "total" mobilization. But no clamour can alter the fact that the fascist camp is really experiencing a grave crisis.
    The crisis in the fascist camp finds expression first of all in the fact that the enemy has been obliged openly to abandon his original plan of a blitzkrieg. It is no longer the fashion in the enemy camp to talk about a blitzkrieg ; the noisy chatter about a blitzkrieg has given way to despondent lamentations about an inevitably protracted war. Formerly the German fascist command used to boast about their lightning offensive tactics, but now these tactics have been discarded and the German fascists no longer boast of having carried out, or of intending to carry out, a lightning offensive; instead, they boast of having adroitly slipped out of the converging drives of the British troops in North Africa, or of encirclement by the Soviet troops in the region of Demyansk. The fascist press teems with boastful reports to the effect that the German troops have succeeded in rullning away from the front and in avoiding another Stalingrad in this or that sector of the Eastern or the Tunis fronts. Apparently, the Hitler strategists have nothing else to boast of.
    Secondly, the crisis in the fascist camp finds expression in the fact that the fascists are beginning more often to talk about peace. Judging by the reports in the foreign press one can draw the conclusion that the Germans would like to conclude peace with Great Britain and the

United States on the condition that they desert the Soviet Union, or, on the other hand, that they -- the Germans -- would like to conclude peace with the Soviet Union on the condition that the latter desert Great Britain and the United States. Being perfidious to the marrow of their bones, the German imperialists have the effrontery to measure the Allies by their own yardstick and to assume that any one of the Allies would nibble at their bait. Obviously, the Germans are not talking about peace because things are going well with them. The talk about peace in the fascist camp merely indicates that the fascists are experiencing a grave crisis. But what peace can there be with the imperialist robbers in the German fascist camp her with gallows? Is it not clear that only the utter rout of the Hitler armies and the unconditional capitulation of Hitler Germany can bring peace to Europe? Are not the German fascists talking about peace because they feel the approach of inevitable disaster?
    The German-Italian fascist camp is experiencing a grave crisis and is faced with disaster.
    This does not yet mean, of course, that Hitler Germany has already met with disaster. No, it does not mean that. Hitler Germany and her armies are shaken and are experiencing a crisis, but they are not yet defeated. It would be childish to imagine that this disaster will come of its own accord. Another two or three blows in the West and the East as powerful as those which have been inflicted on the Hitler army during the past five or six months are needed in order that the disaster of Hitler Germany may become a fact.
    Therefore, the peoples of the Soviet Union and their

 

Red Army, as well as our Allies and their armies, have still to wage a stern and arduous struggle before complete victory over the Hitler monsters is achieved. This struggle will call for tremendous sacrifice, enormous fortitude and iron endurance. They will have to muster all their forces and potentialities in order to defeat the enemy, and thus pave the way to peace.
    Comrades! The Soviet people display the greatest solicitude for their Red Army. They are ready to devote all their strength to the task of still further increasing the military might of our Soviet land. In less than four months the peoples of the Soviet Union contributed over seven billion rubles to the Red Army Fund. This is further proof that the war against the Germans is indeed a people's war of all the nations inhabiting the Soviet Union. The workers, collective farmers and intellectuals are working tirelessly in factory, office, transport system and collective and state farm, staunchly and bravely bearing all the privations caused by the war. But the war against the German fascist invaders demands that the Red Army should receive still more guns, tanks, aircraft, machine guns, automatic rifles, mortars, ammunition, equipment and food supplies. Hence the workers, collective farmers and the entire Soviet intelligentsia must work with redoubled energy to supply the needs of the front.
    All our people, and all our institutions in the rear, must work with the smoothness and precision of a well-made clock. Let us recall the behest of our great Lenin: "Since war has proved inevitable -- everything for the war, and the slightest laxity or lack of energy must be punished in conformity with wartime laws."

    In response to the confidence and solicitude displayed by its people, the Red Army must strike the enemy still harder blows, must ruthlessly exterminate the German invaders and unrelentingly drive them from our Soviet soil. During the course of the war the Red Army has acquired immense military experience. Hundreds of thousands of men have learnt to handle their weapons to perfection. Many commanders have learnt to direct their troops on the battlefield with skill. But it would be unwise to rest content with that. The men must learn to handle their weapons proficiently, and commanders must become skilled in the art of conducting battles. But even this is not enough. In war, and particularly under the conditions of modern warfare, one must not mark time. To mark time in war means to lag behind. And, as is well known, laggards are beaten. Hence, the main task at present is to ensure that the entire Red Army should, day in and day out, improve its military training; that all the commanders and men of the Red Army should study the experience of the war and learn to fight in the way that the cause of victory demands.
    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, commanders and political instructors, partisans, men and women!
    Greeting and congratulating you on the occasion of the First of May,

    I HEREBY ORDER:

    1. All men -- infantrymen, mortar men, artillerymen, tankmen, airmen, sappers, signal servicemen and cavalrymen -- to continue tirelessly to perfect their fighting skill, precisely to execute the orders of their commanders and the requirements of Army Regulations and field manuals, and sacredly to maintain discipline, organization and order.
    2. Commanders of all arms of the service and also general commanders -- to become expert in leading troops, skilfully to organize the co-ordination of all arms of the service and to direct them in battle. To study the enemy, improve reconnoitring -- the eyes and ears of an army -- and to remember that without this it is impossible to strike the enemy with unerring aim. To raise the entire level of staff operations and to ensure that the staffs of units and concentrations of the Red Army shall become exemplary organs of administration of the forces. To raise the army administration services to the level of the requirements of modern warfare, and firmly to remember that it is upon the full and timely supply of ammunition, equipment and provisions to the troops that the outcome of military operations depends.
    3. The entire Red Army -- to consolidate and develop the successes of the winter battles; not to yield to the enemy an inch of our soil, and to be prepared for the decisive battles with the German fascist invaders. In defence -- to display the stubbornness and staunchness that are characteristic of the men of our Army. In attack -- to display resoluteness, to ensure the proper co-ordination of the different arms, and to carry out bold manoeuvres on the battlefield to be crowned by the encirclement and extermination of the enemy.
    4. Partisans, men and women -- to strike mighty blows at the enemy's rear, supply lines, army stores, headquarters and industrial establishments, and to destroy the enemy's lines of communication. To enlist broad strata

of the Soviet population in the districts seized by the enemy for the active struggle for liberation and thereby save Soviet citizens from being driven into slavery in Germany and from extermination by the Hitler beasts. To take ruthless vengeance on the German invaders for the blood and tears of our wives and children, our mothers and fathers, our brothers and sisters. To exert all efforts to help the Red Army in its fight against the despicable Hitler slave-drivers.
    Comrades!
    The enemy has already felt the weight of the crushing blows of our troops. The time is approaching when the Red Army, in conjunction with the armies of our allies, will break the back of the fascist beast.
    Long live our glorious motherland!
    Long live our valiant Red Army!
    Long live our valiant Navy!
    Long live our brave men and women partisans!
    Death to the German invaders!

J. Stalin
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

 

REPLIES TO QUESTIONS

SUBMITTED BY THE CORRESPONDENT
OF THE "NEW YORK TIMES"
AND THE LONDON "TIMES"

    Mr. Parker, the Moscow correspondent of the "New York Times" and the London "Times" wrote to J. Stalin, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the U.S.S.R., requesting him to reply to two questions which interested American and British public opinion.
    Comrade Stalin sent Mr. Parker the following reply:

 
Dear Mr. Parker,

    On May 3, I received your two questions concerning the Polish-Soviet relations. Here are my answers:
    1. QUESTION: Does the Government of the U.S.S.R. desire to see a strong and independent Poland after the defeat of Hitler's Germany?
    ANSWER. Unquestionably, it does.
    2. QUESTION: On what fundaments is it your opinion that the relations between Poland and the U.S.S.R. should be based after the war?
    ANSWER. Upon the fundament of solid good-neighbourly relations and mutual respect, or, should the Polish people so desire upon the fundament of an alliance providing for mutual assistance against the Germans as the chief enemies of the Soviet Union and Poland.

With respect,           
J. Stalin

May 4, 1943

 

<"s15">

GREETINGS

TO Mr. WINSTON CHURCHILL
AND Mr. FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT
ON THE OCCASION OF THE VICTORY
OF THE BRITISH AND AMERICAN FORCES
IN NORTH AFRICA

    On the night of May 8 J. Stalin, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the U.S.S.R., sent the following telegrams of greeting to the British Prime Minister, Mr. Winston Churchill, and to the President of the United States, Mr. Franklin Roosevelt.

 
To Prime Minister Churchill

London 

    Congratulate you and gallant British and American troops on splendid victory which has led to the liberation of Bizerta and Tunis from Hitlerite tyranny. Wish you further success.

J. Stalin        

To President Roosevelt

Washington 

    Congratulate you and gallant American and British troops on splendid victory which has led to the liberation of Bizerta and Tunis from Hitlerite tyranny. Wish you further success.

J. Stalin        

May 9, 1943
 <"s16">

REPLY TO QUESTIONS

SUBMITTED BY THE CHIEF CORRESPONDENT
OF THE BRITISH REUTER'S AGENCY

    Mr. King, Moscow correspondent of the British Reuter's Agency addressed a letter to J. Stalin, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the U.S.S.R., requesting him to reply to a question that interested the English public.
    Comrade Stalin sent Mr. King the following reply:

 
Dear Mr. King,

    I have received your request to answer a question referring to the dissolution of the Communist International. I am sending you my answer.
    QUESTION. British comment on the decision to wind up the Comintern has been very favourable. What is the Soviet view of this matter and of its bearing on future international relations?
    ANSWER. The dissolution of the Communist International is proper and timely because it facilitates the organization of the common onslaught of all freedom-loving nations against the common enemy -- Hitlerism.
    The dissolution of the Communist International is proper because:
    a) it exposes the lie of the Hitlerites to the effect that "Moscow" allegedly intends to intervene in the life of

other nations and to "bolshevize" them. An end is now being put to this lie;
    b) it exposes the calumny of the adversaries of Communism within the labour movement to the effect that Communist parties in various countries are allegedly acting not in the interest of their people but on orders from outside. An end is now being put to this calumny too;
    c) it facilitates the work of patriots in freedom-loving countries for uniting the progressive forces of their respective countries, regardless of party or religious faith, into a single camp of national liberation -- for unfolding the struggle against fascism;
    d) it facilitates the work of patriots of all countries for uniting all freedom-loving peoples into a single international camp for the fight against the menace of the world domination by Hitlerism, thus clearing the way to the future organization of a companionship of nations based upon their equality.
    I think that all these circumstances taken together will result in a further strengthening of the united front of the Allies and other united nations in their fight for victory over Hitlerite tyranny.
    I feel that the dissolution of the Communist International is perfectly timely because it is exactly now when the fascist beast is exerting its last strength -- that it is necessary to organize the common onslaught of the freedom-loving countries to finish off this beast and to deliver the peoples from fascist oppression.

With respect,           
J. Stalin

May 28, 1943
 

26TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT
OCTOBER SOCIALIST REVOLUTION

SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE JOINT CELEBRATION MEETING
OF THE MOSCOW SOVIET OF WORKING PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES
AND REPRESENTATIVES OF MOSCOW PARTY
AND PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS

NOVEMBER 6, 1943

  Comrades!

    Today the peoples of the Soviet Union are celebrating the 26th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.
    For the third time our country is celebrating the anniversary of her people's revolution in the midst of the Patriotic War.
    In October 1941 our motherland was in great distress. The enemy was approaching our capital. He had surrounded Leningrad by land. Our troops were compelled to retreat. Our Army was obliged to exert strenuous efforts and our people to exercise all their strength to check the enemy and to strike him a serious blow near Moscow.
    By October 1942 our motherland was in still graver danger. The enemy was almost 120 kilometres from Moscow, had forced his way into Stalingrad and had entered the foothills of the Caucasus. But even in those

grave days our Army and people did not lose heart, but staunchly bore all trials. They found the strength to check the enemy and strike him a counter blow. True to the behests of our great Lenin, they defended the gains of the October Revolution, stinting neither their strength nor their lives. It is well known that the efforts our Army and people exerted then were not in vain.
    Shortly after the October days of last year, our troops assumed the offensive and struck other powerful blows at the Germans, first at Stalingrad, in the Caucasus and in the area of the middle reaches of the Don, and then, in the beginning of 1943, at Velikiye Luki, Leningrad and in the area of Rzhev and Vyazma. The Red Army has retained the initiative ever since. Throughout this summer its blows steadily increased in intensity and its military skill improved month after month. Since then our troops have won big victories, and the Germans have sustained defeat after defeat. In spite of all his efforts the enemy has failed to achieve any success of importance on the Soviet-German front.

1.  THE RADICAL TURN IN THE COURSE
OF THE WAR

    The past year -- from the 25th to the 26th Anniversary of the October Revolution -- marked the decisive turn in the course of our Patriotic War.
    This year marked such a turn, firstly because, during it, the Red Army, for the first time since the war began, succeeded in conducting a big summer offensive against the German troops, and as a result of the blows

our forces inflicted upon them, the German fascist troops were compelled hurriedly to abandon the territory they had seized, often having to save themselves from encirclement by flight and abandoning on the battlefield large quantities of equipment, stores of arms and ammunition, and large numbers of wounded men and officers.
    Thus, the successes of our summer campaign in the latter half of this year were the continuation and consummation of the successes of our winter campaign at the beginning of this year.
    Now that the Red Army is developing the successes of the winter campaign and has dealt the German troops a powerful blow in the summer, the legend that the Red Army is incapable of conducting a successful summer offensive may be regarded as dead and buried. The past year has shown that the Red Army can successfully attack in the summer as well as in the winter.
    As a result of these offensive operations, our troops succeeded during the past year in fighting their way forward from 500 kilometres in the central part of the front to 1,300 kilometres in the South (a p p l a u s e), and in liberating nearly 1,000,000 square kilometres of territory, i.e., almost two-thirds of the Soviet territory that the enemy had temporarily seized. In the course of this, the enemy troops were hurled back from Vladikavkaz to Kherson, from Elista to Krivoi Rog, from Stalingrad to Kiev, from Voronezh to Gomel and from Vyazma and Rzhev to the approaches to Orsha and Vitebsk.
    Having no confidence in the stability of their earlier successes on the Soviet-German front the Germans built formidable defence lines a long time beforehand, particularly along the big rivers. In this year's battles, howev-

er, neither rivers nor formidable fortifications saved the Germans. Our troops shattered the German defences and during the three summer months of 1943 alone, skilfully forced four very difficult river barriers -- the Severny Donetz, Desna, Sozh and Dnieper, not to mention such barriers as the German defences in the area of the river Miuss, west of Rostov, and those in the area of the river Molochnaya, near Melitopol. Now the Red Army is successfully routing the enemy on the other side of the Dnieper.
    This year witnessed the turning point in the war also because the Red Army, within a comparatively short time, was able to annihilate or demolish the most experienced and seasoned cadres of the German fascist troops and at the same time to steel and increase its own cadres in the course of the successful offensive fighting this year. In the course of the fighting on the Soviet-German front during the past year the German fascist army lost over 4,000,000 men and officers, of whom no less than 1,800,000 were killed. This year the Germans also lost over 14,000 aeroplanes, over 25,000 tanks and no less than 40,000 guns.
    The German fascist army is no longer what it was at the outbreak of the war. At the outbreak of the war it had a sufficient number of experienced cadres; now it is diluted with young, raw and inexperienced officers, whom the Germans are rushing to the front, as they lack both the necessary reserves of officers and the time in which to train them.
    The Red Army presents an entirely different picture. Its cadres have grown and have become steeled in the successful offensive battles it fought during the past year. Its lighting cadres are growing and will continue to grow, for the availability of the necessary reserves of officers gives it both time and opportunity to train young officers and to promote them to responsible posts.
    It is characteristic that instead of the 240 divisions that were facing us on our front last year, of which 179 were German, we have 257 divisions facing the Red Army this year, of which 207 are German. Evidently the Germans count on making up for the deterioration in the quality of their divisions by increasing their numbers. The defeat of the Germans during the past year, however, shows that the deterioration in the quality of these divisions cannot be compensated by increasing their numbers.
    From the purely military point of view, the defeat of the German troops on our front towards the end of the present year was predetermined by two major events: the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk.
    The Battle of Stalingrad ended in the encirclement and rout of the German army 300,000 strong and the capture of about one-third of the surrounded troops. To form an idea of the slaughter on the battlefield of Stalingrad, which was on a scale unprecedented in history, one should know that after the Battle of Stalingrad 147,200 dead German men and officers and 46,700 Soviet men and officers were picked up and buried. Stalingrad marked the beginning of the decline of the German fascist army. It is common knowledge that the Germans never recovered from the Stalingrad slaughter.
    As for the Battle of Kursk, that ended in the rout of the two main attacking groups of German fascist troops and in our troops launching a counter-offensive, which

subsequently developed into the Red Army's powerful summer offensive. The Battle of Kursk began with an offensive launched by the Germans against Kursk from the North and South. This was the Germans' last attempt to carry out a big summer offensive in the hope of redeeming their losses in the event of success. It is common knowledge that this offensive failed. The Red Army not only repulsed the German offensive but assumed the offensive itself, and by a series of successive blows delivered in the course of the summer it hurled the German fascist troops beyond the Dnieper.
    If the Battle of Stalingrad presaged the decline of the German fascist army, the Battle of Kursk brought it to the brink of disaster.
    Lastly, this year witnessed the turning point in the war because the Red Army's successful offensive has seriously aggravated fascist Germany's economic, military and political situation and has brought her to the verge of a grave crisis.
    The Germans counted on carrying out a successful offensive on the Soviet-German front this summer to redeem their losses and to bolster up their shaken prestige in Europe. But the Red Army upset the Germans' calculations, repulsed their offensive, launched an offensive itself and proceeded to drive the Germans westward, thereby shattering the prestige of German arms.
    The Germans, counting on being able from now on to conduct a protracted war, began to build defence lines and "walls," and proclaimed to all the world that their new positions were impregnable. But once again the Red Army upset the Germans' calculations. It broke through their defence lines and "walls," and is continuing its ad-

vance, thus making it impossible for the Germans to drag out the war.
    The Germans counted on being able to improve their position at the front by means of a "total" mobilization. But here, too, events upset the Germans' calculations. The summer campaign has already consumed two-thirds of the "totally" mobilized men, but it does not look as if this has in any way improved the position of the German fascist army. The Germans may find it necessary to proclaim another "total" mobilization, but there is no ground for assuming that a repetition of this measure will preclude the possibility of the "total" collapse of a certain state. (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    The Germans counted on retaining a firm hold on the Ukraine in order to utilize her agricultural produce for their army and the people at home, and the coal of the Donetz Basin for the factories and railways that are serving the German army. But here, too, they miscalculated. As a result of the Red Army's successful offensive the Germans have lost not only the coal of the Donetz Basin but also the most fertile grain regions of the Ukraine; and there is no reason to suppose that they will not lose the rest of the Ukraine in the near future. (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    Naturally, all these miscalculations could not but change, and in fact did change, fascist Germany's economic, military and political position fundamentally for the worse.
    Fascist Germany is experiencing a grave crisis. She is on the brink of disaster.

2.  THE NATIONWIDE ASSISTANCE TO THE FRONT

    The Red Army would not have been able to achieve the successes it has achieved had it not received the assistance of the people, had it not been for the self-sacrificing efforts of the Soviet people in the factories, collieries, mines, in the transport system and in agriculture. Under the stern conditions of war our Soviet people have proved capable of supplying their Army with all its most essential requirements and of constantly improving its fighting equipment. At no time during the present war has the enemy excelled our Army in the quality of armaments. While improving their quality, our industry has supplied the front with ever increasing quantities of armaments.
    The past year witnessed the turning point not only in the course of military operations but also in the work of our rear. We were no longer confronted with such tasks as that of evacuating industrial plants to the East and of switching industry over to the production of armaments. Our Soviet state now possesses an efficient and rapidly expanding war economy. Consequently, it was possible to concentrate all the efforts of our people on the task of increasing the output and still further improving the quality of our armaments, particularly of tanks, aircraft, guns, and self-propelled artillery. In this we have achieved great successes. Backed by the entire people, the Red Army has received uninterrupted supplies of fighting equipment, has rained millions of bombs, mines and shells upon the enemy and has brought thousands of tanks and aircraft into action. There is every ground for saying that the self-sacrificing efforts of our Soviet people in the rear will go down in history parallel

with the heroic struggle our Red Army is waging as an unprecedented feat of heroism performed by a people in defending their country. (P r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.)
    During this Patriotic War the workers of the Soviet Union, who in the period of peaceful construction built up our great and highly developed socialist industry, have been working with tremendous zeal and energy and have been displaying real labour heroism in their efforts to assist the front.
    It is common knowledge that in their war against the U.S.S.R. the Hitlerites have had at their disposal not only the highly developed industry of Germany, but also the fairly powerful industries of the vassal and occupied countries. Nevertheless, the Hitlerites failed to maintain the quantitative superiority in military equipment they enjoyed at the outbreak of the war against the Soviet Union. Credit for the fact that the enemy's former superiority in numbers of tanks, aircraft, mortars and automatic rifles has now been eliminated, for the fact that our Army now experiences no serious shortage of arms, ammunition and equipment is due primarily to our working class. (L o u d  a n d  p r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.)
    During this Patriotic War the peasants of the Soviet Union, who during the period of peaceful construction transformed their formerly primitive farming into modern agriculture based on collective farming, have displayed a degree of understanding of our common national interests unprecedented in the history of the rural districts. By their self-sacrificing efforts to assist the front they have shown that they regard this war against the Germans as their own, as a war for their own life and liberty.

    It is common knowledge that as a result of the invasion of the fascist hordes our country was temporarily deprived of important agricultural districts like the Ukraine, the Don, and the Kuban. In spite of this, however, our collective and state farms have been supplying the Army and the country with food without any serious interruption. Naturally, we could not have coped with this extremely difficult task had it not been for the existence of the collective farm system and the self-sacrificing efforts of our men and women collective farmers. The fact that our Army is not experiencing any shortage of food in this third year of the war, that the population of our country is being supplied with food and industry with raw materials, is evidence of the strength and vitality of the collective farm system and of the patriotism of the collective farm peasantry. (P r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.)
    An important part in assisting the front has been played by our transport system, primarily by our railways, but also by our river, sea and motor transport systems. It is common knowledge that transport is a vital means of communication between the rear and front. Vast quantities of arms and ammunition may be manufactured, but if the transport system fails to deliver them to the front in time they become a mere dead weight as far as the front is concerned. It must be said that the transport system plays a decisive part in the timely delivery to the front of arms, ammunition, food, clothing, etc. Credit for the fact that we have been able to supply the front with all it needs in spite of wartime difficulties and fuel shortage is due primarily to our transport workers and office employees. (P r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.)

 

    Nor is our intelligentsia lagging behind the working class and the peasantry in its efforts to assist the front. Our Soviet intelligentsia is working devotedly, making its contribution to the defence of our country, and constantly improving the Red Army's equipment and the methods and organization of production. It is helping the workers and collective farmers to increase the output of industry and agriculture, and is promoting Soviet science and culture amidst the conditions of war.
    This stands to the credit of our intelligentsia. (P r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.)
    All the peoples of the Soviet Union rose as one to defend their country, rightly regarding the present Patriotic War as the common cause of all the working people irrespective of nationality or religion. Today the Hitler politicians themselves realize how hopelessly absurd were their expectations that discord and strife would break out among the peoples of the Soviet Union. The friendship among the peoples of our country has stood the test of all the hardships and trials of the war and has been still further cemented in the common struggle all the Soviet peoples are waging against the fascist invaders.
    This is the source of the strength of the Soviet Union. (L o u d  a n d  p r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.)
    As in the years of peaceful construction, so in the days of war, the leading and guiding force of the Soviet people has been the Party of Lenin, the Bolshevik Party. No party has enjoyed, or enjoys, such prestige among the masses of the people as our Bolshevik Party. This is natural. Under the leadership of the Bolshevik Party the workers, peasants and intellectuals of our country won

 
page 123

their freedom and built up socialist society. In this Patriotic War the Party has been the inspirer and organizer of the nationwide struggle against the fascist invaders. The organizational work conducted by our Party has united all the efforts of the Soviet people, directing them towards the common goal, and concentrating all our strength and resources on the task of defeating the enemy. In the course of the war the Party has still further strengthened its bonds of kinship with the people, it has become still more closely connected with the masses of the working people.
    This is the source of the strength of our state. (L o u d  a n d  p r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.)
    The present war has strongly confirmed Lenin's well-known thesis that war is an all-round test of a nation's material and spiritual strength. The history of war shows that only those countries can stand the test which excel their enemies in economic development and organization, whose troops excel in experience, skill and fighting spirit, and whose people excel in endurance and unity throughout the whole course of the war. Ours is precisely such a country.
    The Soviet state has never been so stable and firm as it is now, in the third year of the Patriotic War. The experience of the war has proved that the Soviet system is not only the best system for organizing the economic and cultural development of a country in the period of peaceful construction, but also the best system for mobilizing all the forces of the people to resist an enemy in wartime. The Soviet Government that was set up twenty-six years ago transformed our country in a historically short period of time into an impregnable for-

tress. The Red Army's rear is more stable and reliable than that of any other army in the world.
    This is the source of the strength of the Soviet Union. (L o u d  a n d  p r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.
    There can be no doubt that the Soviet state will emerge from the war stronger and more consolidated than it was before. The German invaders are desolating and devastating our land in an effort to sap the strength of our state. The Red Army's offensive has exposed more than ever the barbarous, piratical character of the Hitlerite army. In the districts they seized, the Germans have exterminated hundreds of thousands of the civilian population. Like the barbarians of the Middle Ages, or the hordes of Attila, the German fiends trample down our fields, burn down our villages and towns, and demolish industrial plants and cultural institutions. The crimes the Germans are committing are evidence of the weakness of these fascist invaders, for only those who are in temporary occupation, who do not believe that they will be victorious can behave in this way. And the more hopeless the position of the Hitlerites becomes the greater becomes the frenzy with which they commit their atrocities and depredations. Our people will never forgive the crimes these German fiends have committed. We shall bring the German criminals to book for all their villainies! (L o u d  a n d  p r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.)
    In those areas where the fascist cutthroats exercised their temporary rule we shall have to restore the demolished towns and villages industry, the transport system, agricultural and cultural institutions, and create normal conditions of existence for the Soviet people who have

been liberated from fascist slavery. The work of restoring our economy and culture is already proceeding in full swing in the districts which have been liberated from the enemy. But this is only the beginning. We must completely obliterate the consequences of German rule in the districts which have now been liberated from German occupation. This is a great national task. We can, and must, cope with this difficult task in a short time.

3.  CONSOLIDATION OF THE ANTI-HITLER
COALITION AND DISINTEGRATION OF THE
FASCIST BLOC

    The past year has witnessed the turning point not only in the Soviet Union's Patriotic War, but in the World War as a whole.
    The changes that have taken place in the military and international situation during this year have been favourable to the U.S.S.R. and the Allied countries friendly to her, and detrimental to Germany and her associates in brigandage in Europe.
    The results and consequences of the Red Army's victories are felt far beyond the Soviet-German front; they have changed the whole course of the World War and have acquired great international importance. The victory of the Allied countries over the common enemy has drawn nearer, while the relations between the Allies, and the military collaboration of their armies, far from weakening, as the enemy anticipated, have become stronger and more enduring. Eloquent testimony of this is also provided by the historic decisions of the Moscow

Conference of representatives of the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the United States, which were recently published in the press. Our united countries are now determined to deal the enemy joint blows that will result in final victory over him.
    This year, the blows the Red Army struck at the German fascist troops were supplemented by our Allies' military operations in North Africa, in the Mediterranean, and in Southern Italy. At the same time the Allies subjected, and are still subjecting, important industrial centres of Germany to effective bombing, thereby considerably weakening the enemy's military power. If to all this we add the fact that the Allies are regularly supplying us with munitions and raw materials of various kinds, it can be said without exaggeration that by all these means they have greatly facilitated the success of our summer campaign. Of course, the Allied armies' present operations in Southern Europe cannot as yet be regarded as a second front, but they are something in the nature of a second front. Obviously, the opening of a real second front in Europe, which is not very remote, will greatly hasten our victory over Hitler Germany and serve still further to consolidate the military collaboration of the Allied countries.
    Thus, the events of the past year show that the anti-Hitler coalition is a firmly cemented association of nations and rests on a solid foundation.
    It is now obvious to all that by unleashing the present war the Hitler gang has brought Germany and her hangers-on to an impasse. The defeats the fascist troops have sustained on the Soviet-German front, and the blows our Allies have struck at the Italian and German troops

have thoroughly shaken the edifice of the fascist bloc, and it is now crumbling before our very eyes.
    Italy has dropped out of the Hitler coalition for good. Mussolini can change nothing, for he, in fact, is a prisoner of the Germans. The next to drop out will be the other partners in the coalition. Discouraged by Germany's military defeats, Finland, Hungary, Rumania and the other vassals of Hitler have now lost all hope of the war ending in their favour and are anxious to find a way out of the bog into which Hitler has dragged them. Now that the time has come for them to answer for their brigandage, Hitler Germany's accomplices in plunder, recently so obedient to their master, are looking about for a loophole, waiting for the opportune moment to slip away from this robber gang unobserved. (L a u g h t e r.)
    In plunging into this war, the partners in the Hitlerite bloc anticipated a speedy victory. They decided in advance who were to get the buns and pies, and who the bumps and black eyes. (L a u g h t e r  a n d  a p p l a u s e.) Naturally, they allocated the bumps and black eyes to their enemies and the buns and pies to themselves. It is now obvious that Germany and her hangers-on will get no buns or pies, but will have to share the bumps and black eyes. (L a u g h t e r  a n d  a p p l a u s e.)
    With this uninviting prospect before them, Hitler's accomplices are now racking their brains to find a way out of the war with as few bumps and black eyes as possible. (L a u g h t e r.)
    The case of Italy proves to Hitler's vassals that the longer they put off their inevitable rupture with the Germans, and the longer they allow them to lord it in

their respective countries, the more will their countries be devastated and the more will their peoples suffer. The case of Italy also shows that Hitlerite Germany has no intention of defending her vassal countries, but intends to convert them into arenas of devastating war as long as she can thereby postpone the hour of her own defeat.
    German fascism is a lost cause and the bloody "new order" it has set up is on the verge of collapse. An eruption of popular anger against the fascist enslavers is maturing in the occupied countries of Europe. Germany has irretrievably lost her prestige among her allies and the neutral countries; her economic and political ties with the neutral countries have been weakened.
    The time when the Hitlerite clique clamoured vociferously about the Germans winning world domination has long passed away. Now, as is well known, the Germans are too busy to worry about world domination; they are worrying about how to get out of this mess alive. (L a u g h t e r  a n d  a p p l a u s e.)
    Thus, the course of the war has shown that the alliance of fascist countries has not been and is not based on a firm foundation. The Hitler coalition is based on the rapacious and predatory aspirations of its members. As long as the Hitlerites were achieving military victories the fascist coalition appeared to be stable; but the very first defeats sustained by the fascist troops actually led to the disintegration of this bandit alliance.
    Hitler Germany and her vassals are on the brink of disaster. The victory of the Allied countries over Hitler Germany will bring up on the order of the day the impor-

tant questions of organizing and restoring the political, economic and cultural life of the peoples of Europe. Our government's policy on these questions remains unchanged. In conjunction with our Allies we shall have to:
    1) liberate the peoples of Europe from the fascist invaders and help them to rebuild their national states which the fascist enslavers have dismembered -- the peoples of France, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Greece and the other countries now groaning under the German yoke mut again become free and independent;
    2) grant the liberated peoples of Europe full right and freedom to decide what form of government they are to have;
    3) take measures to ensure that all the fascist criminals who are respollsible for this war and the suffering the peoples have endured shall meet with stern punishment and retribution for all the crimes they have committed, no matter in what country they may hide;
    4) establish an order in Europe that will utterly preclude the possibility of further aggression on Germany's part;
    5) establish lasting economic, political and cultural collaboration among the peoples of Europe based on mutual confidence and mutual assistance for the purpose of restoring their economic and cultural life which the Germans have wrecked.

*   *   *

 

    During the past year the Red Army and the Soviet people have achieved important successes in the struggle against the German invaders. We have reached a radical turning point in the war in favour of our country, and now the war is drawing towards its climax. But it is not fitting for the Soviet people to rest on their laurels, to exult over their successes. Victory may elude us if complacency appears in our ranks. Victory cannot be won without struggle and effort. It is won by fighting. Victory is near, but to achieve it we must make another effort, we need the self-sacrificing labour of our entire rear, and skilled and resolute operations on the part of our Red Army at the front. We would be committing a crime against our motherland, against the Soviet people who have temporarily fallen under the fascist yoke, and against the peoples of Europe who are groaning under the heel of German tyranny, if we failed to utilize all opportunities for accelerating the enemy's defeat. The enemy must be given no respite. Hence, we must exert all our efforts in order to crush him.
    The Soviet people and the Red Army clearly visualize the difficulties of the struggle that lie ahead. But it is now evident that the day of our victory is drawing nigh. The war has reached the stage of completing the expulsion of the invaders from Soviet territory and of liquidating the fascist "new order in Europe." The day is not far distant when we shall have completely driven the enemy from the Ukraine and Byelorussia, and from the Leningrad and Kalinin Regions, and have liberated the peoples of the Crimea, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldavia and the Karelo-Finnish Republic from the German invaders.

Comrades!

    For the victory of the Anglo-Soviet-American fighting alliance! (A p p l a u s e.)
    For the liberation of the peoples of Europe from the fascist yoke! (A p p l a u s e.)
    For the complete expulsion of the German fiends from our soil! (A p p l a u s e.)
    Long live our Red Army! (A p p l a u s e.)
    Long live our Navy! (A p p l a u s e.)
    Long live our daring men and women partisans! (A p p l a u s e.)
    Long live our great motherland! (A p p l a u s e.)
    Death to the German invaders! (L o u d  a n d  p r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e  r i s i n g  t o  a n  o v a t i o n.)

 

ORDER OF THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

No. 309

MOSCOW, NOVEMBER 7, 1943

    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers, officers and generals, partisans, men and women! Working people of the Soviet Union!
    On behalf of the Soviet Government and of our Bolshevik Party, I greet and congratulate you on the occasion of the 26th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.
    We are celebrating the 26th Anniversary of our Great Socialist Revolution at a time when our Red Army is gaining glorious victories over the enemies of our country.
    For over two years our people have been waging a war of liberation against the German fascist enslavers. A year ago our country was in extreme distress. At that time the enemy had seized a large part of our territory. Millions of Soviet people were languishing in German captivity. Enemy hordes were pushing towards the Volga in order to envelop Moscow from the East, and besieging the approaches to Transcaucasia. But the Red Army rose like a wall to bar the enemy's progress. Our troops checked the alien robber hordes and then, after defeat- ing them at Stalingrad, drove them headlong westward. Since then, the Red Army has retained the initiative in military operations.
    In the winter of 1942-43, our gallant forces routed the armies of picked German, Italian, Rumanian and Hungarian troops, killed or captured over a million enemy men and officers and liberated a vast area amounting to half a million square kilometres.
    In the summer of 1943, the Red Army inflicted another crushing blow upon the enemy. In the course of several days our troops smashed the Germans' summer offensive and thereby wrecked Hitler's plan to crush the main forces of the Red Army and to envelop Moscow from the Orel-Kursk direction. Nor is this all. The Red Army itself launched a determined offensive, broke through the enemy's powerful defensive zones, and in the course of three months hurled the enemy westwards for distances ranging in places from 400 to 450 kilometres. During this summer campaign our troops expelled the enemy from the Ukraine up to the Dnieper, from the Donetz Basin, Taman, the Orel Region and the Smolensk Region, crossed to the right bank of the Dnieper, captured Kiev, the capital of Soviet Ukraine, entered Byelorussia, captured the approaches to the Crimea and liberated over 160 towns and over 38,000 other inhabited centres.
    During the past year the Red Army recovered from the Germans nearly two-thirds of the territory they had captured from us and liberated from the German yoke tens of millions of Soviet people.
    During the past year the Germans lost on the Soviet-German front over 4,000,000 men and officers, of whom no less than 1,800,000 were killed.

    On the Soviet-German front the picked cadre divisions of the German fascist army met with an inglorious end. Together with them is buried forever Hitler's plan to conquer the world and to enslave the nations.
    True, the German army is still fighting stubbornly, clinging desperately to every defence line. But the defeats the Germans have sustained after their troops were routed at Stalingrad have shaken the fighting spirit of the German army. The Germans are now haunted by the fear of encirclement, and whenever they are in danger of being surrounded by our troops they run, leaving on the battlefield their equipment and wounded.
    In the offensive battles fought during the past year our troops gained greater experience in conducting modern warfare. Our officers and generals are skilfully handling their troops and are successfully mastering the art of generalship. The Red Army has become a most formidable and seasoned modern army.
    The Red Army's victories have still further strengthened the international position of the Soviet Union. Our Army's offensive was backed by the military operations of the Allied troops in North Africa, on the Italian islands and in Southern Italy. Our Allies' air forces subjected the industrial centres of Germany to serious bombardment. There is no doubt that the blows the Red Army is striking at the German troops in the East, hacked by the blows of the Allies' main forces in the West, will crush the military might of Hitler Germany and lead to the complete victory of the anti-Hitler coalition.
    The Red Army would have been unable to achieve the great victories of this year had it not been for the assistance our entire country rendered it. The Soviet peo-

ple are exerting all their efforts to support their Army. Arms, munitions, food and equipment are pouring to the front in an endless stream. The Urals and Kuzbass, Moscow and the Volga Region, Leningrad and Baku, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Georgia and Armenia, all our republics and regions have become mighty arsenals of the Red Army. The Soviet people are successfully restoring the industrial and agricultural districts which have been recovered from the enemy, are re-starting factories, mines and railways, are reviving state farms and collective farms and utilizing the resources of the liberated districts for the purpose of assisting the front.
    Our successes are indeed great. But it would be childish for us to rest satisfied with our present achievements. Now that the Red Army is striking at the enemy on the other side of the Dnieper, and is fighting its way to the western frontiers of our country, it would be particularly dangerous to give way to complacency and placidity and to underrate the serious difficulties involved in the forthcoming struggle. The enemy will now fight with exceptional frenzy for every inch of captured territory, because every step forward our Army takes brings nearer the day of retribution for the crimes the Germans have committed on our soil.
    The fight for final victory over the German fascist invaders will call for still further effort and further feats of heroism on the part of our Army and our people.
    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers, officers and generals! Partisans, men and women!
    In the great battles you have fought against our mortal enemy you have gained important victories which

cover the flags of the Red Army and Navy with unfading glory. The Red Army and Navy now have every opportunity for completely clearing our Soviet soil of the German invaders in the very near future.
    For the sake of our country's victory over the German fascist fiends

    I HEREBY ORDER:

    1. All men and non-commissioned officers -- unremittingly to improve their fighting efficiency, strictly to obey the requirements of Army Regulations, field manuals and the orders of their commanders and chiefs, and always and everywhere to maintain exemplary order, firm discipline and a high state of organization.
    2. Officers and generals of all arms of the service -- to improve their skill in handling troops on the battlefield and in co-ordinating the operations of all arms, firmly to consolidate the successes of the offensive, swiftly to pursue the enemy's troops, accelerate the advance of the army administrations and more boldly to utilize reserves for fresh blows.
    3. The entire Red Army -- boldly and determinedly to break down the enemy's defences, pursue the enemy day and night and prevent him from digging in on intermediate lines, to cut the enemy's communications by skilful and daring manoeuvres, surround and break up his forces and destroy and capture his manpower and material.
    4. Partisans, men and women -- to rouse the Soviet people for an armed struggle against the Germans, to increase in every way their assistance to the advancing Red Army, to wreck the enemy's army administrations

and staffs, to save Soviet people from being slaughtered or driven into penal servitude in Germany and ruthlessly to exterminate the German fascist scoundrels!
    Warriors of the Red Army! Partisans, men and women! Forward to the complete rout of the German fascist invaders!
    Long live the 26th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution!
    Long live our victorious Red Army!
    Long live our victorious Navy!
    Long live our brave men and women partisans!
    Long live our great motherland!
    Vengeance and death to the German fascist invaders!

J. Stalin
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

 

ORDER OF THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

No. 16

MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 23, 1944

    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers, officers and generals! Partisans, men and women!
    The peoples of our country are celebrating the 26th anniversary of the Red Army amidst historic victories won by the Soviet troops over the German fascist troops.
    For over a year the Red Army has been conducting a victorious offensive, routing the armies of the Hitler invaders and sweeping them from Soviet soil. During this period the Red Army successfully conducted the winter campaign of 1942-43, won the battles in the summer of 1943, and has developed a victorious offensive in the winter of 1943-44. In these campaigns, unprecedented in the history of war, the Red Army fought its way westward, in places as much as 1,700 kilometres, and cleared the enemy from nearly three-fourths of the Soviet territory he captured.
    In the course of the present winter campaign the Red Army has demolished the powerful German defences along the whole length of the Dnieper, from Zhlobin to

Kherson, and has thereby upset the Germans' calculations of successfully conducting a protracted defensive war on the Soviet-German front.
    During the three months of the winter campaign, our valiant troops have achieved immense victories in the Ukraine on the right bank of the Dnieper, completed the liberation of the Kiev, Dniepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye Regions, liberated the whole of the Zhitomir Region and almost the whole of the Rovno and Kirovograd Regions, and freed a number of districts of the Vinnitsa, Nikolayev, Kamenets-Podolsk and Volhynia Regions. By its resolute operations, the Red Army thwarted the Germans' attempts to conduct a counter-offensive in the districts of Zhitomir, Krivoi Rog and Uman. The Soviet troops arranged another Stalingrad for the Germans on the right bank of the Dnieper by surrounding and exterminating, in the district of Korsun-Shevchenkovsky, ten German divisions and one brigade.
    The Soviet troops won a magnificent victory at Leningrad. Our troops smashed the enemy's powerful system of permanent, deeply echeloned fortifications, routed a strong group of German troops and completely relieved Leningrad from the enemy blockade and savage artillery bombardment. The Soviet troops are now clearing the Leningrad and Kalinin Regions of the last remnants of the fascist fiends and have entered the territory of Soviet Estonia.
    The wholesale expulsion of the invaders from Soviet Byelorussia is proceeding on a wide scale: almost the whole of the Gomel and Polesie Regions and a number of districts in the Moghilev and Vitebsk Regions have been liberated.     Amidst the unfavourable conditions of the present winter, our troops, surmounting the powerful enemy defence zones, in the course of three months of the winter campaign, have cleared the enemy out of about 200,000 square kilometres of Soviet territory. The Red Army has recovered from the enemy over 13,000 inhabited centres, including 82 towns and 320 railway stations. Additional millions of Soviet citizens have been liberated from fascist captivity. Our country has regained important agricultural and industrial districts containing immense deposits of iron and manganese ore. The Germans have been deprived of these economically important districts, to which they clung so desperately.
    It should now be obvious to everybody that Hitler Germany is irresistibly heading for disaster. True, in this war, the conditions for conducting war are more favourable for Germany than they were in the last World War when, from beginning to end, she was compelled to fight on two fronts. A serious drawback for Germany, however, is the fact that in this war the Soviet Union has proved to be much more powerful than former tsarist Russia was in the last war. In the first World War six Great Powers -- France, Russia, Great Britain, the United States, Japan and Italy -- were arrayed on two fronts against the German bloc. In the present war, Italy and Japan arrayed themselves on the side of Germany; Finland joined the fascist bloc, and Rumania, which fought Germany in the last war, deserted to Germany's side in this war; and to this day Germany's main forces are operating on one front against the Soviet Union. We know from history that Germany was always victorious when she fought on one front and was vanquished when

compelled to fight on two fronts. In the present war Germany has concentrated her main forces on one front -- against the U.S.S.R. Nevertheless she has not only failed to achieve victory but, as a result of the powerful blows delivered by the armed forces of the Soviet Union, finds herself on the brink of disaster. Since the Soviet Union, fighting single-handed, has not only withstood the onslaught of the German war machine but has inflicted heavy defeats on the German fascist troops, how much more hopeless will Hitler Germany's position be when the main forces of our Allies go into action, and a powerful and ever growing offensive of the armies of all the Allied countries develops! The German fascist robbers are now making frantic efforts to avert disaster. They have again clutched at "total" mobilization in the rear, although Germany's man power reserves are exhausted. The fascist rulers are making desperate efforts to sow dissension in the camp of the anti-Hitler coalition and thereby prolong the war. Hitler's diplomats are rushing from one neutral country to another in the endeavour to establish contacts with pro-Hitler elements, hinting at the possibility of a separate peace, now with our country and now with our Allies. All these stratagems of the Hitlerites are doomed to failure, for the anti-Hitler coalition is based on the vital interests of the Allies, who have set themselves the object of routing Hitler Germany and her associates in Europe. It is this community of vital interests that is causing the fighting alliance of the U.S.S.R., Great Britain and the United States to become stronger in the course of the war.
    The hour of final retribution for all the atrocities the

Hitlerites have committed on Soviet soil and in the occupied countries of Europe is drawing near.
    The Red Army's victorious offensive was made possible by the fresh feats of labour heroism the Soviet people have performed in all branches of our national economy. The working people of the Soviet Union consolidated the Red Army's summer victories at the front by fresh production victories in the rear.
    The workers in our industries are fulfilling and over fulfilling state plans ahead of time, are starting new industrial plants, blast furnaces and electric power stations, and, in an unprecedentedly short space of time, are restoring the industry that was destroyed by the invaders in the now liberated districts. The heroic efforts of the working class are still further strengthening the Red Army's military material base and thereby bringing nearer the hour of our final victory.
    The Soviet peasantry are providing the state with provisions for the Army and the towns and raw materials for industry, and are self-sacrificingly backing the efforts of the Red Army.
    The Soviet intelligentsia are rendering the workers and peasants direct assistance and guidance in developing production and in satisfying the Red Army's needs.
    The working people in the liberated districts are, day after day, increasing their assistance to the Red Army -- their liberator -- and are directing the products of their restored factories and farms into the common stream of supplies that is flowing to the front.
    There can be no doubt that the Soviet people will continue, by their heroic labours, and by straining all their efforts, to ensure a continuous increase in the productive forces of our country for the purpose of securing the speedy and final defeat of the German fascist invaders.
    The organization of new military formations in the Union Republics, the ground for which was prepared by the fighting unity of the peoples of the U.S.S.R. during our present Patriotic War and by the entire history of our country, will still further strengthen the Red Army an augment its ranks with new fighting forces.
    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers, officers and generals! Comrades, partisans, men and women!
    In this great war of liberation for the freedom and independence of our motherland you have displayed marvels of heroism. The Red Army has achieved a decisive turning point in this war in our favour, and is now confidently marching toward final victory over the enemy. The enemy is sustaining defeat after defeat. He is not yet vanquished, however. The Hitler brigands, realizing that their doom and inevitable retribution for all the fiendish atrocities they have committed on our soil is approaching, are resisting with the fury of despair. They are hurling into the fray their last forces and reserves; they are clinging to every metre of Soviet soil and to every convenient line.
    Precisely for this reason, great as our successes may be, we must continue soberly to appraise the enemy's strength, be vigilant and not permit conceit, complacency and carelessness to enter our ranks. There has never been a case in the history of war when the enemy leapt into the abyss of his own accord. To win the war we must drive the enemy to the precipice and throw him over. Only crushing blows of steadily increasing force can break the enemy's resistance and bring us final victory. For this we must continue to perfect the military training of the men and the military skill of the commanders of our Army. It is the Red Army's duty day after day to improve its skill in the art of war, unceasingly and thoroughly to study the enemy's tactics, skilfully and opportunely see through his crafty designs and oppose the enemy's tactics with our own more perfect tactics. The fighting experience and achievements of the outstanding units and formations of the Red Army must be acquired by all our troops; the entire Red Army, all its men and officers must learn to fight the enemy according to all the rules of modern military science.
    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers, officers and generals, partisans, men and women!
    Greeting and congratulating you on the 26th Anniversary of the Red Army,

    I HEREBY ORDER:

    1. That all the men and non-commissioned officers of the infantry, trench-mortar units, artillery, air force, tank force, sappers, signal corps and cavalry -- continue unceasingly to perfect their fighting skill, make the fullest use of our splendid fighting equipment, beat the enemy as our valiant Guardsmen are beating him, precisely carry out the orders of their commanders, increase discipline and order, and improve organization.
    2. That officers and generals of all arms of the service perfect their skill in the art of leading troops, in

manoeuvring tactics, and in combining the operations of all arms in the course of battle, more boldly and extensively apply in their fighting practice the experience of the outstanding Guards units and formations, raise the efficiency of staffs and army administrations to a higher level, and in every way improve and develop our reconnoitring service.
    3. That the entire Red Army, by the skilful combination of fire and manoeuvres, smash the enemy's defences throughout their depth, give the enemy no respite, forestall the enemy's attempts to arrest our advance by means of counter-attacks, skilfully organize the pursuit of the enemy, prevent the latter from withdrawing his material, outflank the enemy's troops by daring manoeuvres, penetrate their rear, surround the enemy's troops, split them up and exterminate them if they refuse to lay down their arms.
    4. That partisans, men and women, increase their aid to the Red Army, attack the enemy's staffs and garrisons, wreck his army administrations in the rear, destroy his communications and prevent him from drawing up reserves.
    5. That, to celebrate the great victories achieved by the armed forces of the Soviet state during the past year, twenty salvoes of artillery be fired today, February 23, the 26th Anniversary of the Red Army at 18 hours, in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Dniepropetrovsk, Gomel and Rostov in salute of the valiant troops of the Red Army.
    Glory to our victorious Red Army!
    Glory to Soviet arms!

    Glory to our valiant men and women partisans!
    Long live our great Soviet Motherland!
    Long live our All-Union Communist Party -- the inspirer and organizer of the Red Army's great victories!
    Death to the German invaders!

J. Stalin
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

 

ORDER OF THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

No. 70

MOSCOW, MAY 1, 1944

 

    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers, officers and generals, partisans, men and women. Working people of the Soviet Union! Brothers and sisters who have temporarily fallen under the yoke of the German oppressors and those who have been forcibly driven to fascist penal servitude in Germany.
    On behalf of the Soviet Government and of our Bolshevik Party, I greet and congratulate you on the occasion of the First of May!
    The peoples of our country are celebrating this May Day in the midst of outstanding successes achieved by the Red Army.
    Since the defeat of the German divisions at Stalingrad the Red Army has been conducting an almost uninterrupted offensive. During this period the Red Army has fought its way forward from the Volga to the Sereth and from the foothills of the Caucasus to the Carpathians, exterminating the enemy vermin and sweeping them from our Soviet soil.
    In the course of the winter campaign of 1943-44 the Red Army won the historic battle for the Dnieper and for the territories of the Ukraine west of the Dnieper, crushed the powerful German defence fortifications of Leningrad and in the Crimea and, by skilful and vigorous action, shattered the German defences on the water barriers of the South Bug, Dniester, Pruth and Sereth. Nearly the whole of the Ukraine, Moldavia, the Crimea and of the Leningrad and Kalinin Regions, and a considerable part of Byelorussia have been cleared of the German invaders. The metallurgical industry of the South, the ore of Krivoi Rog, Kerch and Nikopol and the fertile lands between Dnieper and the Pruth have been restored to our motherland. Tens of millions of Soviet people have been delivered from fascist slavery.
    Executing the great task of liberating our native land from the fascist invaders, the Red Army reached our state frontiers with Rumania and Czechoslovakia and is now continuing to batter the enemy troops on Rumanian territory.
    The Red Army's successes became possible owing to the correct strategy and tactics pursued by the Soviet Command, to the high morale and élan of our men and commanders, to the fact that our troops have been well supplied with first rate Soviet war material, and to the enhanced skill and training of our artillerymen, mortar men, tankmen, airmen, signals, sappers, infantrymen, cavalrymen, and scouts.
    These successes were largely facilitated by our great Allies, the United States of America and Great Britain, who are holding the front in Italy against the Germans and are diverting a considerable part of the German troops from us, are supplying us with very valuable strategical raw materials and armaments, and are sub-  jecting to systematic bombardment military objectives in Germany, thus undermining the latter's military might.
    The successes of the Red Army, however, might have proved to be only transient and might have been nullified after the very first serious counter-blow on the part of the enemy, had not the Red Army been backed by our entire Soviet people in the rear, by our entire country. In the battles for our motherland the Red Army has displayed unexampled heroism. But the Soviet people have not remained in debt to the Red Army. Amidst the difficult wartime conditions the Soviet people have achieved decisive successes in the mass production of arms, ammunition, equipment and provisions and in delivering these to the Red Army at the front in proper time. During the past year the capacity of Soviet industry has greatly increased. Hundreds of new factories and mines, dozens of electric power stations, railway lines and bridges have been put into operation. Additional millions of Soviet people have taken their places at the machines, mastered the most complex trades and have become expert at their jobs. Our collective farms and state farms have emerged from the test of war with credit. Amidst the difficult wartime conditions Soviet peasants are tirelessly working in the fields, supplying our Army and the population of our country with food, and our industry with raw materials. Our intelligentsia has enriched Soviet science and technology, culture and art with new, outstanding achievements and discoveries. Invaluable service in the cause of defending our motherland is being rendered by Soviet women, who are working self-sacrificingly to supply the needs of the front, are courageously bearing all the hardships of the war and are inspiring the men of the Red Army -- the liberators of our motherland -- to perform deeds of valour.
    Our Patriotic War has shown that the Soviet people are capable of performing miracles and of emerging victoriously from the severest trials. The workers, collective farmers and the Soviet intelligentsia, the entire Soviet people, are filled with determination to hasten the defeat of the enemy, to restore completely our economy which the fascists have ruined, to make our country still mightier and more prosperous than ever.
    Under the blows of the Red Army the bloc of fascist states is cracking and falling, to pieces. Fear and consternation now reign among Hitler's Rumanian, Hungarian, Finnish and Bulgarian "allies." These underlings of Hitler's whose countries have been or are being occupied by the Germans, cannot now fail to see that Germany as lost the war. Rumania, Hungary, Finland and Bulgaria have only one means of averting disaster: rupture with the Germans and withdrawal from the war. However, it is hard to expect that the present governments of these countries will prove capable of breaking with the Germans. It must be assumed that the peoples of these countries will have to take the cause of their liberation from the German yoke into their own hands. And the sooner the peoples of these countries realize to what an impasse the Hitlerites have brought them, the sooner they cease all support to their German enslavers and their Quisling underlings in their own countries, the less will be the sacrifice and destruction these countries will suffer from the war, and the more will they be able to count on understanding on the part of the democratic countries.

    As a result of its successful offensive the Red Army has reached our state frontiers on a stretch of over 400 kilometres and has liberated more than three-quarters of occupied Soviet territory from the German fascist yoke. The object now is to clear the whole of our territory of the fascist invaders and re-establish the state frontiers of the Soviet Union all along the line, from the Black Sea to the Barents Sea.
    But our task cannot be confined to that of expelling the enemy troops from our country. The German troops now put one in mind of a wounded beast which is compelled to crawl back to the borders of its lair -- Germany -- in order to heal its wounds. But a wounded beast which retires to its lair does not cease to be a dangerous beast. To rid our country and the countries allied with us of the danger of enslavement we must follow hot on the heels of the wounded German beast and finish it off in its own lair. In pursuing the enemy, we must deliver from German bondage our brothers the Poles, the Czechoslovaks and other peoples of Western Europe allied with us who are under the heel of Hitler Germany.
    Obviously this task is more difficult than that of expelling the German troops from the Soviet Union. It can be accomplished only by the joint efforts of the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the United States of America, by joint blows, delivered in the East by our troops and in the West by the troops of our Allies. There can be no doubt that only such a combined blow can completely crush Hitler Germany.
    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers, officers and generals, partisans, men and women! Working people of the Soviet Union!

Brothers and sisters who have temporarily fallen under the yoke of the German oppressors and those who have been forcibly driven to fascist penal servitude in Germany! I greet and congratulate you on the occasion of the May Day festival!

    I HEREBY ORDER:

    In honour of the Red Army's historic victories at the front and to mark the great achievements of the workers, collective farmers and intelligentsia of the Soviet Union in the rear, that at 20 hours today, on the world festival of the working people, a salute of twenty artillery salvoes be fired in Moscow, Leningrad, Gomel, Kiev, Kharkov, Rostov, Tbilisi, Simferopol and Odessa.
    Long live our Soviet Motherland!
    Long live our Red Army and Navy!
    Long live the great Soviet people!
    Long live the friendship of the peoples of the Soviet Union!
    Long live the Soviet partisans, men and women!
    Eternal glory to the heroes who have fallen in battle for the freedom and independence of our motherland!
    Death to the German invaders!

J. Stalin
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

 <"s21">

STATEMENT

ON THE INVASION OF NORTHERN FRANCE BY THE
ALLIED TROOPS

    Asked by a "Pravda" correspondent how he evaluated the landing of the Allied forces in Northern France, J. V. Stalin gave the following reply:
    In summing up the seven days' fighting of the Allied liberation forces during the invasion of Northern France, it may he said without hesitation that the large-scale forcing of the Channel and the mass landing of Allied forces in the North of France have been completely successful. This is undoubtedly a brilliant success for our Allies.
    It cannot but be acknowledged that the history of war knows no similar undertaking as regards breadth of design, vastness of scale and high skill in execution.
    As is known, "invincible" Napoleon in his day ignominiously failed to carry out his plan of forcing the Channel and capturing the British Isles. Hysterical Hitler, who had boasted that he would effect a forcing of the Channel for two years, dared not even attempt to carry out his threat. It was only the British and American forces who succeeded in carrying out with credit a vast plan for forcing the Channel and effecting the mass landing of troops.
    History will record this deed as an achievement of the highest order.

June 13, 1944 <"s22">

ORDER OF THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

No. 152

MOSCOW, KREMLIN, AUGUST 20, 1944

 

    Comrades airmen, pilots, air-gunners, radio-operators, engineers, technicians, motor mechanics, officers and generals of the fighting, assault, bombing and scouting air forces!
    I greet you on the occasion of All-Union Aviation Day and congratulate you on the successes you have achieved in the fight against the German invaders!
    In conjunction with the entire Red Army the Soviet Air Force is waging a fierce struggle against the German fascist invaders and is striking devastating blows at the enemy's manpower and material and against his administrations and communications.
    The self sacrificing labours of the working men and working women and the high skill of Soviet aircraft designers and engineers have enabled us to overcome the former numerical superiority of the German air force and to equip the Air Forces of the Red Army and Navy with many thousands of high-grade fighting machines.
    In air combats with the enemy our airmen have displayed unexampled valour, heroism and courage, and

officers and commanders skill and military talent in directing air operations.
    As a result, our fighting air forces now enjoy complete mastery of the air over the enemy air forces.
    Thousands of splendid airmen, pilots and air-gunners are steadily multiplying the successes of our armed forces and are beating the enemy on land and in the air.
    To mark the successes achieved by our fighting air forces I hereby order:
    That today, Aviation Day, August 20, at 17 hours, a salute to our valiant aviators be fired in the capital of our country, Moscow, on behalf of our country, with twenty artillery salvoes from two hundred and twenty-four guns.

J. Stalin
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

27TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT
OCTOBER SOCIALIST REVOLUTION

SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE JOINT CELEBRATION MEETING
OF THE MOSCOW SOVIET OF WORKING PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES
AND REPRESENTATIVES OF MOSCOW PARTY
AND PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS

NOVEMBER 6, 1914

Comrades!

    The Soviet people are today celebrating the 27th Anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Revolution in our country.
    This is the fourth time our country is celebrating the anniversary of the Soviet Revolution amidst the conditions of our Patriotic War against the German fascist invaders.
    This, of course, does not mean that the fourth year of the war does not differ in its results from the three preceding years of war. On the contrary, there is a fundamental difference between them. Whereas during the first two years of war the German troops were on the offensive and were advancing into the interior of our country, while the Red Army was obliged to wage defensive battles, and whereas the third year of the war marked the radical turning point on our front, when the Red Army developed powerful offensive operations, defeated the Germans in a series of decisive battles, cleared

the German troops out of two-thirds of Soviet territory and compelled them to pass to the defensive, all this time waging the war against the German troops single-handed without receiving any substantial support from the Allies, the fourth year of the war proved to be a year of decisive victories for the Soviet armies and the armies of our Allies over the German troops, while the Germans were compelled to wage war on two fronts, and were hurled back to the frontiers of Germany.
    The operations of the past year culminated in the expulsion of the German troops from the boundaries of the Soviet Union, France, Belgium and Central Italy, and in the shifting of military operations to the territory of Germany.

1.  GERMANY HELD IN A VICE BETWEEN
TWO FRONTS

    The decisive successes achieved by the Red Army during the past year and the expulsion of the Germans from the boundries of our Soviet territory were predetermined by a series of crushing blows inflicted by our troops upon the German troops, begun as far back as last January and subsequently developed throughout the course of the year under review.
    The first blow was delivered by our troops near Leningrad and Novgorod last January, when the Red Army demolished the Germans' permanent defences and pushed the Germans into the Baltic regions. The result of this blow was the liberation of the Leningrad Region.
    The second blow was delivered on the River Bug last  February and March, when the Red Army routed the German troops and pushed them beyond the Dniester. As a result of this blow, the Ukraine on the right bank of the Dnieper was liberated from the German fascist invaders.
    The third blow was delivered in the region of the Crimea last April and May, when the German troops were thrown into the Black Sea. As a result of this blow the Crimea and Odessa were liberated from German oppression.
    The fourth blow was delivered in the region of Karelia last June, when the Red Army defeated the Finnish troops, liberated Vyborg and Petrozavodsk and pushed the Finns into the interior of Finland. The result of this blow was the liberation of the greater part of the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Republic.
    The fifth blow was inflicted on the Germans last June and July, when the Red Army utterly routed the German troops at Vitebsk, Bobruisk and Modhilev, and culminated in the surrounding of thirty German divisions near Minsk. As a result of this blow our troops: a) completely liberated the Byelorussian Soviet Republic; b) reached the Vistula and liberated a considerable part of the territory of our ally, Poland; c) reached the Niemen and liberated the greater part of the Lithuanian Soviet Republic, and d) forced the Niemen and reached the frontiers of Germany.
    The sixth blow was delivered in the region of Western Ukraine last July and August, when the Red Army defeated the German troops at Lvov and hurled them beyond the San and the Vistula. As a result of this blow: a) Western Ukraine was liberated, and b) our troops

forced the Vistula and formed a powerful bridgehead on the other side, west of Sandomir.
    The seventh blow was delivered last August in the region of Kishinev -- Jassy, when our troops utterly routed the German and Rumanian troops, and culminated in the surrounding of twenty-two German divisions near Kishinev, not counting the Rumanian divisions. As a result of this blow: a) the Moldavian Soviet Republic was liberated; b) Rumania, Germany's ally, was put out of action and she declared war on Germany and Hungary; c) Germany's ally, Bulgaria, was put out of action and she too declared war on Germany; d) the road was opened for our troops into Hungary, Germany's last ally in Europe, and e) it became possible to extend a helping hand to our ally, Yugoslavia, against the German invaders.
    The eighth blow was delivered in the Baltic regions last September and October, when the Red Army defeated the German troops at Tallinn and Riga and expelled them from the Baltic regions. As a result of this blow: a) the Estonian Soviet Republic was liberated; b) the greater part of the Latvian Soviet Republic was liberated; c) Germany's ally, Finland, was put out of action and she declared war on Germany, and d) over thirty German divisions were cut off from Prussia and held between pincers in the area between Tukums and Libau, where our troops are driving the last nail into their coffin. (P r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.)
    Last October our troops launched the ninth blow between the Tisa and the Danube, in the region of Hungary, with the object of putting Hungary out of the war and of turning her against Germany. As a result of this blow, which has not yet been completed: a) our troops rendered direct assistance to our ally, Yugoslavia, in expelling the Germans and liberating Belgrade, and b) our troops obtained the opportunity of crossing the Carpathians and of extending a helping hand to our ally, the Czechoslovakian Republic, part of whose territory has already been liberated from the German invaders.
    Finally, at the end of last October, a blow was dealt the German troops in North Finland, when the German troops were kicked out of the region of Pechenga and our troops, pursuing the Germans, entered the territory of our ally, Norway. (A p p l a u s e.)
    I shall not quote the figures of the losses sustained by the enemy in killed and prisoners as a result of these operations, of the guns, tanks, aircraft, shells, machine guns and so forth captured by our troops. You are probably familiar with these figures from the communiques of the Soviet Information Bureau.
    Such were the Red Army's main operations during the past year which led to the expulsion of the German troops from the boundaries of our country.
    As a result of these operations as many as 120 divisions of the Germans and their allies were defeated and put out of action. Instead of the 257 divisions that faced our front last year, of which 207 divisions were German, we now have on our front, after all the "total" and "super-total" mobilizations, only 204 German and Hungarian divisions, of which no more than 180 are German.
    It must be admitted that in the present war Hitler Germany and her fascist army proved to be a more powerful, crafty and experienced foe than Germany and her army were in all previous wars. To this it must be

 

added that in the present war the Germans succeeded in utilizing the productive forces of nearly the whole of Europe and the fairly large armies of their vassal states. The fact that Germany, nevertheless, finds herself on the brink of inevitable doom in spite of these favourable conditions for waging war must be attributed to the circumstance that her chief foe, the Soviet Union, excelled Hitler Germany in strength. (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.)
    What must be deemed as a new factor in the war against Hitler Germany during the past year is the fact that the Red Army conducted its operations against the German troops not single-handed, as was the case in preceding years, but jointly with the troops of our Allies. The Teheran Conference was not held in vain. The decision of the Teheran Conference to strike joint blows at Germany from the West, East and South began to be put into operation with astonishing precision. Simultaneously with the Red Army's summer operations on the Soviet-German front, the Allied troops commenced their invasion of France and organized powerful offensive operations which compelled Hitler Germany to wage war on two fronts. The troops and the navies of our Allies carried out a massed landing operation on the French coast of a magnitude and organization unprecedented in history and overcame the German fortifications with consummate skill.
    Thus, Germany found herself held in a vice between two fronts.
    As was to be expected, the enemy failed to withstand the joint blows of the Red Army and the Allied troops. The enemy's resistance was broken and within a short space of time his troops were kicked out of Central Italy,

France, Belgium and the Soviet Union. The enemy was thrown back to the frontiers of Germany.
    There can be no doubt that without the organization of the Second Front in Europe, which engages as many as seventy-five German divisions, our troops would have been unable in so short a time to break the resistance of the German troops and eject them from the boundaries of the Soviet Union. Nor can there be any doubt that without the Red Army's powerful offensive operations last summer, which engaged as many as two hundred German divisions, the troops of our Allies would have been unable to cope with the German troops so quickly and expel them from Central Italy, France and Belgium.
    The task is to continue to hold Germany in the vice between two fronts. This is the key to victory.

2.  THE HEROIC FEAT OF THE SOVIET PEOPLE
IN THE PATRIOTIC WAR

    The fact that the Red Army was able successfully to perform its duty to our country and has expelled the Germans from the boundaries of our Soviet territory is due to the devoted support it received from the rear, from our entire country, from all the peoples of our country. The keynote of the self-sacrificing labours of all the Soviet people during the past year -- of the workers, peasants and intellectuals -- and of the directing activities of our Government and Party organizations has been: "Everything for the front!"
    The past year was marked by fresh successes in in-

dustry, agriculture and transport, by the further expansion of our war economy.
    In the fourth year of the war our factories are producing several times more tanks, aircrafit, guns, mortars and ammunition than at the beginning of the war. The most difficult period in the restoration of agriculture is now over. Now that the fertile fields of the Don and the Kuban have been restored to our country and the Ukraine liberated, our agriculture is rapidly recovering from the severe losses it sustained. Our Soviet railways have stood a strain that the railways of other countries could scarcely have stood. All this proves that the economic basis of the Soviet state is immeasurably more virile than the economies of the enemy countries have proved to be.
    The socialist system which was engendered by the October Revolution imbued our people and our Army with great and invincible strength. Notwithstanding the heavy burden of war, notwithstanding the temporary occupation of extremely large and economically important regions of our country by the Germans, the Soviet state, far from reducing has, year after year, increased its supplies of arms and ammunition to the front during the course of the war. Today, the Red Army has not less but more tanks, guns and aircraft than the German army. As regards the quality of our war material, it far excels the armaments of the enemy. Just as the Red Army gained a military victory over the fascist troops in a long and severe struggle, fighting single-handed, so the working people in the Soviet rear gained an economic victory over the enemy in single combat against Hitler Germany and her accomplices. (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.) The Soviet people denied themselves many necessities,

voluntarily endured severe hardships, in order to provide more for the front. The unprecedented difficulties of the present war, far from breaking, still further steeled the iron will and courageous spirit of the Soviet people. Our people have justly earned fame as a heroic nation.
    Our working class is devoting all its strength to the cause of victory; it is steadily improving the process of production, increasing the output capacity of our industrial enterprises and erecting new factories and mills. The working class of the Soviet Union has performed a great feat of labour heroism in the present war.
    Our intellectuals are boldly pursuing the path of technical and cultural innovation, are successfully promoting modern science and are creatively utilizing its achievements for the production of armaments for the Red Army. By their constructive efforts the Soviet intellectuals have made an invaluable contribution to the cause of defeating the enemy.
    An army cannot fight and win without modern armaments, nor can it fight and win without bread, without provisions. Thanks to the care of our collective farm peasantry, the Red Army suffers no lack of provisions in the fourth year of war. Our men and women collective farmers are supplying the workers and intellectuals with food and our industry with raw materials, thus ensuring the normal functioning of our factories and mills which are manufacturing armaments and equipment for the front. Fully conscious of their duty to their country. our collective farm peasantry are actively helping the Red Army to achieve victory over the enemy.
    The unprecedented labour heroism displayed by our Soviet women and our valiant youth, who have borne

the brunt of the burden in our factories and mills and in our collective and state farms, will go down in history for ever. For the sake of the honour and independence of our country our Soviet women, youths and girls are displaying courage and heroism on the labour front. They have proved themselves worthy of their fathers and sons, their husbands and brothers who are defending our country from the German fascist fiends.
    Like the undying martial heroism displayed by our warriors on the battlefield, the labour heroism displayed by our Soviet people in the rear springs from their ardent and virile Soviet patriotism.
    The strength of Soviet patriotism lies in the fact that it is based not on racial or nationalistic prejudices, but upon the profound devotion and loyalty of the people to their Soviet Motherland, on the fraternal co-operation of the working people of all the nations inhabiting our country. Soviet patriotism is a harmonious blend of the national traditions of the peoples and the common vital interests of all the working people of the Soviet Union. Soviet patriotism does not disunite but unites all the nations and nationalities inhabiting our country in a single fraternal family. This should be regarded as the basis of the indestructible and ever-growing friendship that exists among the peoples of the Soviet Union. At the same time, the peoples of the U.S.S.R. respect the rights and independence of the peoples of foreign countries and have always shown their readiness to live in peace and friendship with neighbouring countries. This should be regarded as the basis upon which the ties between our country and other freedom-loving peoples are expanding and growing stronger.

    The Soviet people hate the German invaders not because they belong to a foreign nation, but because they have caused our people and all freedom-loving peoples incalculable misfortune and suffering. There is an old saying among our people: "The wolf is not beaten because he is grey, but because he devours the sheep." (L a u g h t e r.  P r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.)
    The German fascists chose the misanthropic race theory as their ideological weapon in the expectation that the advocacy of brutal nationalism would create the moral and political prerequisites for the domination of the German invaders over enslaved peoples. The policy of race hatred pursued by the Hitlerites, however, actually became a source of internal weakness for the German fascist state, and of its political isolation from other states. The ideology and policy of race hatred have been one of the factors that led to the collapse of the Hitler brigand bloc. It cannot be regarded as an accident that against the German imperialists have risen not only the enslaved peoples of France, Yugoslavia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, but also Hitler's former vassals -- the Italians, the Rumanians, the Finns and Bulgarians. By their cannibal policy the Hitler clique has roused all the people of the world against Germany, and the so-called "chosen German race" has become the object of universal hatred.
    In the course of the war the Hitlerites have sustained not only military but also moral and political defeat. The ideology of the equality of all races and nations, which has become firmly established in our country, the ideology of friendship among nations, has achieved com-

plete victory over the ideology of brutal nationalism and race hatred preached by the Hitlerites.
    Now that our Patriotic War is drawing to a triumphant close, the historic role played by the Soviet people stands out in all its grandeur. Everybody admits now that by their self-sacrificing struggle the Soviet people saved the civilization of Europe from the fascist pogrom-mongers. This is the great historic service the Soviet people have rendered mankind.

3.  THE CONSOLIDATION AND EXPANSION OF THE
ANTI-GERMAN COALITION FRONT. THE QUESTION
OF PEACE AND SECURITY

    The past year has witnessed the triumph of the common cause of the anti-German coalition, for the sake of which the peoples of the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the United States of America have united in a fighting alliance. This year witnessed the consolidation of the unity of the three principal powers and of the co-ordination of their activities against Hitler Germany.
    The decision of the Teheran Conference to conduct joint operations against Germany, and the brilliant execution of this decision, constitute one of the striking indices of the consolidation of the anti-Hitler coalition front. There are few cases in history of plans for large-scale military operations, undertaken in joint action against a common enemy, being carried out as fully and precisely as the plan for a joint blow against Germany drawn up at the Teheran Conference was carried out.

There can be no doubt that the Teheran decision could not have been carried out so fully and precisely had there been no unanimity of opinion and co-ordination of action among the three Great Powers. There can be no doubt also that the successful execution of the Teheran decision could not but help to consolidate the front of the United Nations.
    An equally striking index of the stability of the front of the United Nations are the decisions of the conference at Dumbarton Oaks on the question of organizing security after the war. There is talk of disagreements among the three powers on certain questions concerning security. Of course there are disagreements, and there will be on a number of other questions too. Disagreements even exist among people who belong to the same party. How much more so must this be the case among representatives of different countries and different parties. The surprising thing is not that differences exist, but that there are so few, and that these are, as a rule, settled almost every time in a spirit of unity and co-ordination of action of the three Great Powers. It is not the disagreements that count, but the fact that they do not go beyond the limits dictated by the interests of unity among the three Great Powers, and that, in the final analysis, they are settled in conformity with the interests of this unity. It is common knowledge that more serious disagreements existed among us on the question of opening the Second Front. It is also common knowledge, however, that, in the final analysis, these disagreements were settled in the spirit of complete harmony. The same must be said concerning the differences that existed at the conference in Dumbarton Oaks. The char-

acteristic thing about the conference is not that certain disagreements were revealed there, but that nine-tenths of the questions concerning security were settled at the conference in the spirit of complete unanimity. That is why I think that the decisions of the conference at Dumbarton Oaks should be regarded as one of the striking indices of the stability of the anti-German coalition front.

    A still more striking index of the consolidation of the front of the United Nations are the recent negotiations with the head of the British Government, Mr. Churchill, and the British Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Eden, in Moscow, which proceeded in a friendly atmosphere and in a spirit of complete unanimity.
    Throughout the whole period of the war the Hitlerites have been making desperate efforts to disunite the United Nations, to set them against each other, to foment suspicion and hostility among them, to weaken their war efforts by mutual distrust and, if possible, by mutual conflicts. These efforts on the part of the Hitler politicians are quite intelligible. For them there is nothing more dangerous than the unity of the United Nations in the struggle against Hitler imperialism, and they could achieve no greater military and political victory than that of disuniting the Allied Powers in their struggle against the common enemy. How vain, however, the efforts of the fascist politicians to disrupt the alliance of the Great Powers have been is common knowledge. This indicates that the alliance between the U.S.S.R., Great Britain and the U.S.A. is based not on casual and transient motives, but on vitally important and long-standing interests.

    Since the fighting alliance of the democratic countries has stood the test of over three years of war, and since this alliance is sealed with the blood of the peoples who have risen to defend their freedom and honour, there can be no doubt that it will stand the test of the concluding stage of the war. (P r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.)
    But the past year not only witnessed the consolidation of the anti-German front of the Allied Powers; it also witnessed its expansion. The fact that Italy was followed out of the war by Germany's other allies, Finland, Rumania and Bulgaria, cannot be regarded as an accident. It must be noted that these countries not only went out of the war, but also broke off relations with Germany and declared war on her, thereby joining the front of the United Nations. This undoubtedly signifies the expansion of the front of the United Nations against Hitler Germany. There can be no doubt that Hungary, Germany's last ally in Europe, will also be put out of action in the very near future. This will signify the complete isolation of Hitler Germany in Europe, and her inevitable collapse.
    The United Nations are on the threshold of the victorious consummation of the war against Hitler Germany.
    The United Nations will win the war against Germany -- of this there can no longer be the slightest doubt now.
    To win the war against Germany means consummating a great historical cause. But winning the war does not yet mean ensuring the peoples a durable peace and reliable security in the future. The task is not only to

win the war, but also to prevent the outbreak of fresh aggression and another war, if not for ever, then at least for a long time to come.
    After her defeat Germany will, of course, be disarmed economically, as well as militarily and politically. It would be naive to think, however, that she will make no attempt to recuperate her strength and embark on new aggression. It is common knowledge that the German rulers are already making preparations for another war. History shows that quite a short period, a matter of twenty or thirty years, is sufficient to enable Germany to recover from defeat and recuperate her strength. What means are available to prevent fresh aggression on Germany's part and, if war breaks out nevertheless, to strangle it at the very outset and prevent it from developing into a big war?
    This question is all the more appropriate for the reason that, as history shows, aggressor nations, being the attacking nations, are usually better prepared for a new war than peaceful nations, which, not being interested in waging a new war, are usually belated in their preparations for It. It is a fact that the aggressor nations in the present war had an army of invasion ready even before the war broke out, whereas the peaceful nations did not even have a fully satisfactory covering army for mobilization. Unpleasant facts such as the Pearl Harbour "incident," the loss of the Philippines and other islands in the Pacific, the loss of Hongkong and Singapore, when Japan, as an aggressor nation, proved to be better prepared for war than Great Britain and the United States who pursued a peace policy, cannot be regarded as accidents. Nor can such an unpleasant fact as

the loss of the Ukraine, Byelorussia and the Baltic regions in the very first year of the war, when Germany, as the aggressor nation, proved to be better prepared for war than the peaceful Soviet Union, be regarded as an accident. It would be naive to attribute these facts to the personal qualities of the Japanese and the Germans, to their superiority over the English, the Americans or the Russians, to their farsightedness, and so forth. It is not personal qualities that count, but the fact that aggressor nations who are interested in a new war, nations who prepare for war over a long period of time and accumulate the necessary forces, usually are and must be better prepared for war than peaceful nations who are not interested in a new war. This is natural and intelligible. It is, if you like, a law of history, which it would be dangerous to ignore.
    Consequently, it cannot be denied that the peaceful nations may again be caught unawares by aggression in the future, if, of course, they fail, right now, to devise special measures that will be capable of preventing aggression.
    Hence, what means are available to prevent fresh aggression on the part of Germany, and if war breaks out nevertheless, to strangle it at the very outset and to prevent it from developing into a big war?
    Apart from the complete disarming of aggressor nations there is only one means of achieving this: to set up a special organization consisting of representatives of the peaceful nations, for the protection of peace and for ensuring security; to place at the disposal of the leading body of this organization the minimum of armed forces necessary to prevent aggression; and to make it

the duty of this organization to utilize these armed forces without delay, in the event of necessity, to prevent or liquidate aggression and punish those responsible for it.
    This must not be a replica of the League of Nations of sad memory, which possessed neither the powers nor the means with which to prevent aggression. It will be a new, special, fully-empowered international organization, which will have at its disposal all that is necessary for protecting peace and preventing fresh aggression.
    Can we count on the activities of this international organization being sufficiently effective? They will be effective if the Great Powers who have borne the brunt of the burden of the war against Hitler Germany continue to act in a spirit of unanimity and harmony. They will not be effective if this essential condition is violated.

*   *   *

    Comrades!
    The Soviet people and the Red Army are successfully accomplishing the tasks set them in the course of our Patriotic War. The Red Army has worthily performed its patriotic duly and has liberated our country from the enemy. Henceforth our soil will be free from the Hitler scum for ever. It now remains for the Red Army to fulfil its last and concluding mission: to consummate, in conjunction with the armies of our Allies, the complete rout of the German fascist army, to finish off the fascist beast in its own lair and hoist the flag of victory over Berlin. (L o u d  a n d  p r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.) There are grounds for assuming that the Red Army will fulfil this task in the not distant future. (L o u d  a n d  p r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.)

    Long live our victorious Red Army! (A p p l a u s e.)
    Long live our valiant Navy! (A p p l a u s e.)
    Long live the mighty Soviet people! (A p p l a u s e.)
    Long live our great motherland! (L o u d  a p p l a u s e.  A l l  r i s e.)
    Death to the German fascist invaders! (L o u d  a n d p r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.  O v a t i o n.  C r i e s  o f : "L o n g  l i v e  C o m r a d e  S t a l i n !")

 

 

ORDER THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

No. 220

MOSCOW, NOVEMBER 7, 1944

    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers, officers and generals! Working people of the Soviet Union! Brothers and sisters who have been forcibly driven into fascist servitude in Germany!
    On behalf of the Soviet Government and of our Bolshevik Party, I greet and congratulate you on the 27th anniversary of our Great October Socialist Revolution.
    We are celebrating the twenty-seventh anniversary of the October Revolution in the midst of decisive victories achieved by the Red Army over the enemies of our country. As a result of the heroic efforts of the Red Army and the Soviet people our soil has been cleared of the German fascist invaders.
    This year our Soviet troops have rained continuous blows of increasing power upon the enemy. In the winter of 1944 the Red Army achieved outstanding victories in the Ukraine, on the right bank of the Dnieper, and routed the Germans near Leningrad. Last spring the Red Army cleared the Crimea of the Germans. In the summer of 1944 our troops inflicted the severest defeats upon the

German army, which caused a radical change in the situation at the front in the struggle against the German fascist invaders. The Red Army shattered the enemy's powerful defences on the Karelian Isthmus and also between Lakes Ladoga and Onega and knocked Finland out of the brigand Hitler bloc. In the historic battles on Byelorussian soil the Red Army forces utterly routed the German central group of forces constituting three armies, and killed and captured 540,000 German men and officers. During the fighting in the South, the Red Army surrounded and completely annihilated a group of German troops constituting two armies. In the course of these battles our Soviet troops killed and captured over 250,000 German men and officers. The Red Army routed the Germans in Rumania, ejected them from Bulgaria and is beating them on Hungarian territory. Our troops have crushed the Baltic group of Hitler's army. During the course of the 1944 summer campaign the Red Army fought its way from Kishinev to Belgrade -- over 900 kilometres, from Zhlobin to Warsaw -- over 600 kilometres, and from Vitebsk to Tilsit -- 550 kilometres. The war has now been carried into the territory of fascist Germany.
    In the course of the fighting the Red Army expelled the German fascist invaders from the entire territory of Soviet Ukraine and Byelorussia and from the Karelo-Finnish, Moldavian, Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet Republics. The fascist yoke which for three years prevailed in the territories of our fraternal Soviet Republics temporarily seized by the Germans has been overthrown. The Red Army has restored freedom to tens of millions of Soviet people. The Soviet State frontiers, which the Hitler hordes wantonly violated on June 22,  1941, have been restored along their whole length from the Black Sea to the Barents Sea.
    Thus, the past year witnessed the complete liberation of our Soviet soil from the German fascist invaders. Having consummated the liberation of its native soil from the Hitler scum, the Red Army is now helping the peoples of Holand, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia to break the chains of fascist slavery and to recover their freedom and independence.
    During the fighting last winter and summer, the Red Army displayed greater fighting ability. The men of the Red Army skilfully demolislled the enemy's fortified zones and swiftly pursued, surrounded and annihilated the enemy. In the course of these offensive operations the actions of all arms of the service were closely co-ordinated and high skill in manoeuvring was displayed. Our Soviet troops became steeled in battle and learnt to rout and vanquish the enemy. The Red Army grew into a formidable force, and is now superior to the enemy in fighting ability ,and war material.
    The strength of the Red Army is greatly multiplied by the smooth operation of the Soviet rear. The workers, collective farmers and intellectuals are honourably performing their duty to their country, are heroically overcoming wartime difficulties and are uninterruptedly supplying the Red Army with arms, ammunition and provisions. Our Soviet economy is continuously growing in strength and is rendering ever increasing assistance to the front.
    The Red Army and the Soviet people are ready to strike fresh annihilating blows at the enemy. The days of Hitler's bloody regime are numbered. Under the blows

 

of the Red Army the fascist bloc has utterly collapsed, and Hitler Germany has lost most of her allies. The large-scale operations conducted by the armies of our Allies in Western Europe with consummate skill have led to the rout of the German troops in France and Belgium and to the liberation of these countries from fascist occupation. The Allied forces have crossed the western frontiers of Germany. The joint blows struck at Hitler Germany by the Red Army and the Anglo-American forces have brought near the hour of the victorious conclusion of the war. The encirclement of Hitler Germany is being completed. The lair of the fascist beast is beleaguered on all sides and no cunning will save the enemy from complete and inevitable defeat.
    The Red Army and the armies of our Allies have taken up their initial positions for launching the decisive attack upon Germany's vital centres. The task now is for the armies of the United Nations to crush Hitler Germany at the earliest date by means of a swift assault.
    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers, officers and generals! Working people of the Soviet Union!
    In our Great Patriotic War we saved our country from the invaders, completely liquidated the menace of enslavement of the peoples of the U.S.S.R. by the fascist fiends and are now on the threshold of complete victory.
    To mark the historic victories achieved by the Red Army at the front and the great achievements of the workers, peasants and intellectuals in the rear, and in honour of the liberation of our Soviet soil from the German fascist invaders,

    I HEREBY ORDER

    That today, the 27th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, at 20 hours, a salute of twenty-four artillery salvoes be fired in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Petrozavodsk, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Kishinev, Tbilisi, Sevastopol and Lvov.
    Long live the 27th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution!
    Long live our free Soviet Motherland!
    Long live our Red Army and Navy!
    Long live our great Soviet people!
    Eternal glory to the heroes who have fallen in the struggle for the freedom and independence of our country!
    Death to the German invaders!

J. Stalin
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

<"s25">

ORDER THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

No. 225

MOSCOW, NOVEMBER 19, 1944

 

    Comrades, artillerymen, mortar men, engineers and technicians, officers and generals of our Soviet Artillery!
    Today the Soviet people are celebrating Red Army Artillery Day.
    The entire country is today paying tribute to the great importance of the Artillery as the Red Army's main striking force.
    It is well known that the Artillery was the force that helped the Red Army to check the enemy,s advance at the approaches to Leningrad and Moscow.
    The Artillery was the force that ensured the rout by the Red Army of the German troops at Stalingrad and Voronezh, at Kursk and Belgorod, at Kharkov and Kiev, at Vitebsk and Bobruisk, at Leningrad and Minsk, at Jassy and Kishinev.
    By means of its devastating fire, the Artillery successfully cleared the road for the Infantry and Tanks in the great battles that have been fought during our Patriotic War, as a result of which the enemy has been driven beyond the borders of our country.

    Now, in conjunction with the entire Red Army, the Soviet Artillery is striking crushing blows at the enemy's manpower, material and fortifications in the last decisive battles for victory over Germany.
    It is common knowledge that our Soviet Artillery has achieved complete mastery on the battlefield over the enemy's artillery, that in numerous battles with the enemy our Soviet artillerymen and mortar men have covered themselves with undying fame by their exceptional courage and heroism, and that their commanders and chiefs have displayed high skill in directing artillery fire.
    This is an achievement of which our country may justly be proud.
    Comrades, artillerymen and mortar men, engineers and technicians, officers and generals of our Soviet Artillery! I congratulate you on the occasion of Artillery Day!
    To mark the decisive successes achieved by the Artillery of the Red Army in our Patriotic War,

    I HEREBY ORDER:

    That today, November 19, Artillery Day, at 19 hours, the capital of our country Moscow, the capitals of our Union Republics, and the cities of Leningrad, Stalingrad, Sevastopol, Odessa, Khabarovsk, Novosibirsk, Sverdlovsk, Gorky, Molotov and Tula shall, on behalf of our country, salute our valiant artillerymen with twenty artillery salvoes.
    May our Soviet Artillery live and flourish to the terror of the enemies of our motherland!

J. Stalin
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

<"s26">

ORDER THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

No. 5

MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 23, 1945

 

    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers, officers and generals! Today we are celebrating the twenty-seventh anniversary of the Red Army.
    Created by great Lenin to protect our country from attack by foreign aggressors and reared by the Bolshevik Party, the Red Army has traversed a glorious path of development. It has fulfilled with honour its historic mission and is deservedly the beloved offspring of the Soviet people. During the period of the Civil War the Red Army defended our young Soviet state from numerous enemies. In the great battles of our Patriotic War against the German invasion, the Red Army saved the peoples of the Soviet Union from German fascist slavery, upheld the freedom and independence of our country and helped the peoples of Europe to throw off the German yoke.
    We are celebrating the Red Army's twenty-seventh anniversary amidst new historic victories over the enemy. The Red Army has not only rid our native land of the Hitler scum, but has also hurled the enemy back many hundreds of kilometres beyond the lines from which the

Germans launched their predatory attack upon our country, has carried the war into the territory of Germany, and is now, in conjunction with the armies of our Allies, successfully completing the rout of the German fascist army.
    In January, this year, the Red Army struck the enemy a blow of unprecedented force along the whole front from the Baltic to the Carpathians. On a stretch of 1,200 kilometres it demolished the powerful defences of the Germans, which the latter had built up in the course of a number of years. During its offensive the Red Army, by means of swift and skilful operations, hurled the enemy far to the West. In hard fought battles, our Soviet troops advanced from the frontiers of East Prussia to the lower reaches of the Vistula -- a distance of 270 kilometres; from the bridgehead on the Vistula south of Warsaw to the lower reaches of the river Oder -- a distance of 570 kilometres; and from the Sandomir bridgehead into the interior of German Silesia -- a distance of 480 kilometres.
    The successes of our winter offensive resulted, primarily in the frustration of the Germans' winter offensive in the West, the object of which was to capture Belgium and Alsace, and they enabled the armies of our Allies, in their turn, to pass to the offensive against the Germans and thereby combine their offensive operations in the West with the Red Army's offensive operations in the East.
    During forty days of the offensive in January and February 1945, our troops dislodged the Germans from 300 towns, captured as many as 100 munition plants producing tanks, aircraft, armaments and ammunition, occupied over 2,400 railway stations and captured a net-

work of railways of a total length exceeding 15,000 kilometres. During this short period Germany lost over 350,000 men and officers taken prisoner, and no less than 800,000 killed. In the same period the Red Army destroyed and captured about 3,000 German aeroplanes, over 4,500 tanks and self-propelled guns, and no less than 12,000 other guns.
    As a result the Red Army completely liberated Poland and a large part of Czechoslovakia, occupied Budapest and knocked out of the war Germany's last ally in Europe, Hungary, captured the major part of East Prussia and German Silesia, and hewed a road for itself to Brandenburg and Pomerania, the approaches to Berlin.
    The Hitlerites boasted that no enemy soldier had set foot on German soil for over a hundred years and that the German army had fought and would fight only on foreign soil. An end has now been put to this German boastfulness.
    Our winter offensive has shown that our Red Army finds ever new forces for solving problems of increasing complexity and difficulty. Its valiant soldiers have now learned to crush and destroy the enemy according to all the rules of modern military science. Inspired by the consciousness of their great liberating mission, our soldiers are displaying miracles of heroism and self-sacrifice, skilfully combine bravery and daring in battle with the full utilization of the power and might of their weapons. The generals and officers of the Red Army skilfully combine massed blows of powerful implements of war with skilful and swift manoeuvring.In the fourth year of the war the Red Army is more solid and powerful than ever before; its fighting equipment is more perfect and its fighting skill ever so much higher.

    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers, officers and generals!
    Complete victory over the Germans is now already near. But victory never comes of its own accord; it is achieved by hard fighting and by persevering labour. The doomed foe is hurling his last forces into battle and is offering desperate resistance in order to escape stern retribution. He is clutching, and will clutch again, at the most extreme and despicable methods of fighting. Hence, we must bear in mind that the nearer our victory, the keener must be our vigilance and the more powerful the blows we strike at the enemy.
    On behalf of the Soviet Government and of our glorious Bolshevik Party, I greet and congratulate you on the twenty-seventh anniversary of the Red Army!
    To mark the great victories achieved during the past year by the armed forces of the Soviet state

    I HEREBY ORDER:

    That today, February 23, the twenty-seventh anniversary of the Red Army, at 20 hours, a salute of twenty artillery salvoes be fired in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Petrozavodsk, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Kishinev, Tbilisi, Stalingrad, Sevastopol, Odessa and Lvov.
    Long live our victorious Red Army!
    Long live our victorious Navy!
    Long live our mighty Soviet Motherland!
    Eternal glory to the heroes who have fallen in the struggle for the freedom and independence of our country!
    Death to the German invaders!

<"s26">

 

J. Stalin
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

<"s27">

SPEECH

DELIVERED AT THE SIGNING
OF THE TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP, MUTUAL
ASSISTANCE AND POST-WAR COLLABORATION
BETWEEN THE SOVIET UNION AND THE POLISH
REPUBLIC

APRIL 21, 1945

 

    Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, Gentlemen!
    I think that the Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Assistance and Post-War Collaboration between the Soviet Union and Poland, which we have just signed, is of great historic importance.
    The importance of this Trealy lies, first of all, in that it marks the radical turn in the relations between the Soviet Union and Poland towards alliance and friendship that was brought about in the course of the present struggle for liberation against Germany, and which is now formally sealed in this Treaty.
    The relations between our countries during the past five centuries, as is known, were replete with elements of mutual estrangement, unfriendliness and often with open military conflicts. These relations weakened both our countries and strengthened German imperialism.
    The importance of the present Treaty lies in that it puts an end to these old relations between our countries, nails them in their coffin, and creates real basis for

substituting relations of alliance and friendship between the Soviet Union and Poland for the old unfriendly relations.
    During the last twenty-five to thirty years, i.e., during the last two world wars, the Germans succeeded in utilizing the territory of Poland as a corridor for invasion in the East, and as a jumping off ground for an attack on the Soviet Union. This could happen because there were then no relations of friendship and alliance between our countries. The former rulers of Poland did not wish to have allied relations with the Soviet Union. They preferred a policy of playing between Germany and the Soviet Union. Of course, they lost. . . . Poland was occupied and her independence was annulled; as a result of this fatal policy the German troops were given the opportunity to reach the gates of Moscow.
    The importance of the present Treaty lies in that it does away with the old fatal policy of playing between Germany and the Soviet Union and substitutes for it a policy of alliance and friendship between Poland and her Eastern neighbour.
    Such is the historic importance of the Treaty between Poland and the Soviet Union for Friendship, Mutual Assistance and Post-War Collaboration, which we have just signed.
    It is not surprising, therefore, that the peoples of our countries have been impatiently looking forward to the signing of this Treaty. They feel that this Treaty is a guarantee of the independence of new democratic Poland, a guarantee of her might and her prosperity.
    But this is not all. The present Treaty is also of great international importance. While there was no alliance

<"s27">

 

between our countries, Germany was able to take advantage of the absence of a united front between us; she could play off Poland against the Soviet Union and vice versa, and thereby fight them one by one. The situation radically changed after the alliance between our countries was established. Now it is no longer possible to play off our countries against each other. Our countries now have a united front, from the Baltic to the Carpathians,ia against the common enemy, against German imperialism. It can now confidently be said that German aggression is hemmed in in the East. There can be no doubt that if this barrier in the East is supplemented by a barrier in the West, that is, by an alliance between our countries and our Allies in the West, it may be boldly asserted that German aggression will be curbed, and it will not be easy for it to run riot.
    It is not surprising, therefore, that the freedom-loving nations, and primarily the Slavonic nations, have been impatiently looking forward to the conclusion of this Treaty, for they realize that this Treaty signifies the consolidation of the united front of the United Nations against the common enemy in Europe.
    Hence, I have no doubt that our Western allies will welcome this Treaty.
    May free, independent and democratic Poland live and prosper!
    May her Eastern neighbour -- our Soviet Union -- live and prosper!
    Long live the alliance and friendship between our countries!

<"s27">

<"s28">

ORDER THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
TO THE ARMY ON ACTIVE SERVICE

    The troops of the First Ukrainian Front and our Allied British and American troops, striking from the East and West, severed the front of the German troops and on April 25, at 13 hours 30 minutes, effected a junction in the middle of Germany, in the region of Torgau. As a result, the German troops located in North Germany have been cut off from the German troops in the southern regions of Germany.
    To mark this victory, and in honour of this historic event, today, April 27, at 19 hours, the capital of our country, Moscow, will, on behalf of our country, salute the valiant troops of the First Ukrainian Front and our Allied British and American troops with twenty-four artillery salvoes, fired from three hundred and twenty-four guns.
    Long live the victory of the freedom-loving nations over Germany!

J. Stalin Marshal of the Soviet Union Supreme Commander-in-Chief

April 27, 1945, No. 346.

<"s29">

ADDRESS

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
TO THE RED ARMY AND THE ALLIED TROOPS

APRIL 21, 1945

    On behalf of the Soviet Government I address myself to you, commanders and men of the Red Army and of the armies of our Allies.
    The victorious armies of the Allied Powers who are waging a war of liberation in Europe have routed the German troops and have effected a junction in the territory of Germany.
    Our task, and our duty, is to deliver the finishing stroke at the enemy and compel him to lay down his arms and surrender unconditionally. This task, and this duty towards our people and towards all the freedom-loving peoples, will be carried out by the Red Army to the very end.
    I greet the valiant troops of our Allies who are now standing on German territory shoulder to shoulder with the Soviet troops, determined to perform their duty to the end.

ORDER THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

No. 20

MOSCOW, MAY 1, 1945

 

    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers, and petty officers, officers of the Army and Navy, generals and admirals!
    Working people of the Soviet Union!
    Today our country is celebrating the First of May -- the international festival of the working people.
    This year the peoples of our motherland are celebrating the First of May during the victorious consummation of the Great Patriotic War.
    The stern times when the Red Army was fighting back the attacks of enemy troops near Moscow and Leningrad, near Grozny and at Stalingrad, are gone, never to return. Today our victorious troops are routing the armed forces of the enemy in the heart of Germany, far beyond Berlin, on the River Elbe.
    In a short space of time Poland, Hungary, a large part of Czechoslovakia, a considerable part of Austria, and Vienna, the capital of Austria, were liberated.
    At the same time, the Red Army captured East Prussia, the hotbed of German imperialism, Pomerania, the larger part of Brandenburg and the main districts of

Berlin, the capital of Germany, and has hoisted the flag of victory over Berlin.
    As a result of these offensive battles waged by the Red Army the Germans lost in the course of three to four months over 800,000 men and officers taken prisoner, and about 1,000,000 in killed. During the same period Red Army forces captured or destroyed as many as 6,000 enemy aeroplanes and 12,000 tanks and self-propelled guns, over 23,000 field-guns and an enormous quantity of other kinds of armaments and equipment.
    It must be noted that in these battles Polish, Yugoslav, Czechoslovak, Bulgarian and Rumunian divisions successfully attacked the common enemy side by side with the Red Army.
    As a result of the crushing blows that were struck by the Red Army, the German Command was compelled to shift dozens of divisions to the Soviet-German front, thereby denuding whole sectors of other fronts. This circumstance helped the troops of our Allies to develop a successful offensive in the West. Furthermore, by striking simultaneous blows at the German troops from East and West the Allied troops and the Red Army succeeded in cutting the German forces into two isolated parts and in effecting a junction between our troops and the Allied troops, thus forming a single front.
    There can be no doubt that this circumstance signifies the end of Hitler Germany.
    The days of Hitler Germany are numbered. More than half her territory is occupied by the Red Army and the troops of our Allies. Germany has lost her most vital regions. The industry still remaining in the hands of the Hitlerites cannot supply the German army with a

sufficient quantity of arms, ammunition and fuel. The man power reserves of the German army are exhausted. Germany is entirely isolated and stands alone, if her ally, Japan, is left out of account.
    In their quest for a way out of their hopeless situation the Hitler adventurers resort to all sorts of tricks, even going to the extent of making advances to the Allies in an endeavour to sow discord in the Allied camp. This new chicanery of the Hitlerites is doomed to utter failure. It can only hasten the collapse of the German forces.
    Mendacious fascist propaganda is intimidating the inhabitants of Germany with absurd tales to the effect that the armies of the United Nations are out to exterminate the German people. It is not part of the task of the United Nations to exterminate the German people. The United Nations will extirpate fascism and German militarism, they will sternly punish the war criminals, and compel the Germans to make good the damage they have caused other countries. But the United Nations are not touching, and will not touch, the civilian population of Germany if they faithfully carry out the demands of the Allied military authorities.
    The brilliant victories the Soviet troops have achieved in the Great Patriotic War have revealed the titanic might of the Red Army and its high military skill. In the course of the war our motherland acquired a first-class seasoned army capable of defending the great Socialist gains of our people and of protecting the state interests of the Soviet Union.
    Notwithstanding the fact that for nearly four years the Soviet Union has been waging a war of unprecedented magnitude calling for colossal expenditures our Socialist

economy is growing stronger and expanding, and the economy of the liberated districts, which was plundered and wrecked by the German invaders, is successfully and rapidly reviving. This is the result of the heroic efforts of the workers and collective farmers, of the Soviet intelligentsia, of the women and young people of our country who are inspired and directed by our great Bolshevik Party.
    The World War, which was unleashed by the German imperialists, is drawing to a close. The collapse of Hitler Germany is a matter of the very near future. The Hitler bosses, who fancied themselves the rulers of the world, have now been left with a broken pitcher. The mortally wounded fascist beast is at its last gasp. The task now reduces itself to delivering the finishing stroke to this fascist beast.

    Men of the Red Army and Red Navy!

    The final assault on the Hitler lair is in progress. In the concluding battles set fresh examples of military skill and valour. Strike harder at the enemy, skilfully demolish his defences, pursue and surround the German aggressors, give them no respite until they cease resistance.
    While beyond the borders of your native land, be exceptionally vigilant!
    Continue to uphold the honour and dignity of the Soviet soldier!

    Working people of the Soviet Union!

    By your persevering and untiring labours increase your all-round assistance to the front. Quickly heal the wounds the war has inflicted on our country and enhance still further the might of our Soviet state!

    Comrades, Red Armymen and Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers and petty officers, officers of the Army and Navy, generals and admirals!
    Working people of the Soviet Union!
    On behalf of the Soviet Government and of our Bolshevik Party, I greet and congratulate you on the occasion of the First of May!
    In honour of the Red Army's historic victories at the front and of the great successes achieved by the workers, collective farmers and intelligentsia in the rear, and in celebration of the international festival of the working people,

    I HEREBY ORDER.

    That, today, May 1, a salute of twenty artillery salvoes be fired in the capitals of our Union republics: Moscow, Kiev, Minsk, Baku, Tbilisi, Erevan, Ashkhabad, Tashkent, Stalinabad, Alma-Ata, Frunze, Petrozavodsk, Kishinev, Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn, and also in the hero cities Leningrad, Stalingrad, Sevastopol and Odessa.
    Long live our mighty Soviet Motherland!
    Long live the great Soviet people, the victor people!
    Long live the victorious Red Army and Navy!
    Eternal glory to the heroes who have fallen in battle for the freedom and independence of our country!
    Forward to the final defeat of Hitler Germany!

J. Stalin
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

 <"s31">

AN ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE

MAY 9, 1945

 

    Comrades! Fellow countrymen and countrywomen!
    The great day of victory over Germany has arrived. Fascist Germany, forced to her knees by the Red Army and the troops of our Allies, has admitted defeat and has announced her unconditional surrender.
    On May 7 a preliminary act of surrender was signed in Rheims. On May 8, in Berlin, representatives of the German High Command, in the presence of representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allied troops and of the Supreme Command of the Soviet troops, signed the final act of surrender, which came into effect at 24 hours on May 8.
    Knowing the wolfish habits of the German rulers who regard treaties and agreements as scraps of paper, we have no grounds for accepting their word. Nevertheless, this morning, the German troops, in conformity with the act of surrender, began en masse to lay down their arms and surrender to our troops. This is not a scrap of paper. It is the actual capitulation of the armed forces of Germany. True, one group of German troops in the region of Czechoslovakia still refuses to surrender, but I hope the Red Army will succeed in bringing it to its senses.
    We now have full grounds for saying that the historic

day of the final defeat of Germany, the day of our people's great victory over German imperialism, has arrived.
    The great sacrifices we have made for the freedom and independence of our country, the incalculable privation and suffering our people have endured during the war, our intense labours in the rear and at the front, laid at the altar of our motherland, have not been in vain; they have been crowned by complete victory over the enemy. The ago-long struggle of the Slavonic peoples for their existence and independence has ended in victory over the German aggressors and German tyranny.
    Henceforth, the great banner of the freedom of the peoples and peace between the peoples will fly over Europe.
    Three years ago Hitler publicly stated that his task included the dismemberment of the Soviet Union and the severance from it of the Caucasus, the Ukraine, Byelorussia, the Baltic and other regions. He definitely said: "We shall destroy Russia so that she shall never be able to rise again." This was three years ago. But Hitler's insane ideas were fated to remain unrealized -- the course of the war scattered them to the winds like dust. Actually, the very opposite of what the Hitlerites dreamed of in their delirium occurred. Germany is utterly defeated. The German troops are surrendering. The Soviet Union is triumphant, although it has no intention of either dismembering or destroying Germany.
    Comrades! Our Great Patriotic War has terminated in our complete victory. The period of war in Europe has closed. A period of peaceful development has been ushered in.

    Congratulations on our victory, my dear fellow countrymen and countrywomen!
    Glory to our heroic Red Army, which upheld the independence of our country and achieved victory over the enemy!
    Glory to our great people, the victor people!
    Eternal glory to the heroes who fell fighting the enemy and who gave their lives for the freedom and happiness of our people!

<"s32">

ORDER THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
TO THE RED ARMY AND NAVY

    On May 8, 1945, in Berlin, representatives of the German High Command signed the act of unconditional surrender of the German armed forces.
    The Great Patriotic War which the Soviet people waged against the German fascist aggressors has been brought to a triumphant conclusion; Germany is utterly defeated.
    Comrades, Red Armymen, Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers, petty officers, officers of the Army and Navy, generals, admirals and marshals, I congratulate you on the victorious termination of our Great Patriotic War.
    To mark our complete victory over Germany, today, May 9, Victory Day, at 22 hours, Moscow, the capital of our country, will on behalf of our country, salute the valiant troops of the Red Army and the ships and units of our Navy who achieved this brilliant victory with thirty artillery salvoes from one thousand guns.
    Eternal glory to the heroes who fell fighting for the freedom and independence of our country!
    Long live the victorious Red Army and Navy!

<"s32">

J. Stalin
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

May 9, 1945, No. 369.

<"s33"> SPEECH

AT THE RECEPTION IN THE KREMLIN
IN HONOUR OF THE COMMANDERS OF THE
RED ARMY

MAY 24, 1945

 

    Comrades, permit me to propose another toast, the last one.
    I would like to propose that we drink to the health of the Soviet people, and primarily of the Russian people. (Loud and prolonged applause and cheers.)
    I drink primarily to the health of the Russian people because it is the most outstanding of all the nations that constitute the Soviet Union.
    I drink to the health of the Russian people, because, during this war, it has earned universal recognition as the guiding force of the Soviet Union among all the peoples of our country.
    I drink to the health of the Russian people, not only because it is the leading people, but also because it is gifted with a clear mind, a staunch character and patience.
    Our government committed no few mistakes; at times our position was desperate, as in 1941-42, when our army was retreating, abandoning our native villages and towns in the Ukraine, Byelorussia, Moldavia, the Leningrad Re-

 

gion, the Baltic Region and the Karelo-Finnish Republic, abandoning them because there was no other alternative. Another people might have said to the government: You have not come up to our expectations. Get out. We shall appoint another government, which will conclude peace with Germany and ensure tranquillity for us. But the Russian people did not do that, for they were confident that the policy their government was pursuing was correct; and they made sacrifices in order to ensure the defeat of Germany. And this confidence which the Russian people displayed in the Soviet Government proved to be the decisive factor which ensured our historic victory over the enemy of mankind, over fascism.
    I thank the Russian people for this confidence!
    To the health of the Russian people! (L o u d  a n d  p r o l o n g e d  a p p l a u s e.) <"s34">

ORDER THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

    To mark the victory over Germany in our Great Patriotic War, I hereby order that on June 24, 1945, in the Red Square in Moscow, a parade be held of troops of the Army on active service, of the Navy, and of the Moscow Garrison -- a Victory Parade.
    The following are to participate: Mixed regiments from the fronts, a mixed regiment of the People's Commissariat for Defence, a mixed regiment from the Navy, the military academies, military schools and the troops of the Moscow Garrison.
    The salute at this Victory Parade is to be taken by my deputy, Marshal of the Soviet Union Zhukov.
    The Victory Parade is to be under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky.
    I entrust the general direction of the organization of the Parade to Colonel-General Artemyev, Commander of the troops of the Moscow Military Area and Chief of the Moscow Garrison.

J. Stalin
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

June 22, 1945, No. 370.

ORDER THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
TO THE RED ARMY AND NAVY
OF THE U.S.S.R.

No. 371

JULY 22, 1945

 

    In the Great Patriotic War the Soviet people waged against fascist Germany, our country's Navy was a faithful helpmate of the Red Army.
    In the war against the U.S.S.R. fascist Germany, taking advantage of suddenness of attack, and possessing a powerful army, set out to smash our Army and Navy in a short space of time. With their military forces, acting in co-operation with their air and naval forces, the Germans also wanted to achieve mastery on the sea.
    As we know, the plans of the German strategists failed utterly on both land and sea. The Red Army, jointly with our Allies, completely routed the Hitler army and forced it to surrender.
    When the Red Army was on the defensive, as well as when it was on the offensive, our Navy provided reliable protection for the Red Army's flanks which rested on the sea, struck telling blows at the enemy's merchant fleet and shipping, and ensured the uninterrupted operation of its communications. When in action our Soviet sailors were distinguished for their devoted staunchness and courage, high fighting activity and military skill. The

sailors manning submarines and surface vessels, the naval airmen, gunners and marines, took over and amplified all that was valuable in the ancient traditions of the Russian Navy.
    On the Baltic, Black and Barents Seas, on the Volga, the Danube and the Dnieper, Soviet sailors, during the four years of war, inscribed new pages in the book of Russian naval glory. The Navy performed its duty to our Soviet Motherland to the full.
    Comrades, Red Navymen, petty officers and officers!
    The Soviet people wants to see its Navy still stronger and more powerful. Our people will construct for the Navy new warships and new bases. The Navy's task is tirelessly to train and perfect cadres of sailors, fully to assimilate the fighting experience of our Patriotic War, and to raise naval culture, discipline and organization in their ranks to a still higher level.
    I congratulate you on the celebration of U.S.S.R. Navy Day!
    Long live the Navy of the Soviet Power and its heroic sailors!

J. Stalin
Generalissimo of the Soviet Union
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

ORDER THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

No. 51

MOSCOW, AUGUST 19, 1945

 

    In the Great Patriotic War the Soviet people waged against fascist Germany our air force performed its duty to our country with honour.
    In fierce air combats, our country's valiant falcons defeated the vaunted German air force and thereby ensured freedom of action for the Red Army and rid the inhabitants of our country of enemy air bombardment.
    In conjunction with the entire Red Army they struck the enemy crushing blows, destroying his man power and material. The skilful operations of our valiant air force constantly facilitated the success of our land forces and helped to bring about the final defeat of the enemy.
    In fighting for the freedom and independence of our country Soviet airmen set no few examples of devoted staunchness, courage and true heroism. They have contributed many vivid pages to the history of our Great Patriotic War.
    The Soviet people, the victor people, is legitimately proud of the fighting glory of its airmen.
    During the course of the war the labour enthusiasm of the workers, men and women, engineers and office

staffs and the inventiveness and talent of Soviet aircraft designers made it possible to equip our air force with many thousands of splendid fighting machines which carried on their wings death to the enemy and immortal glory for our great Soviet people.
    Comrades airmen, pilots and air-gunners, radio-operators, motor mechanics and armourers, mechanics, technicians and engineers, officers and generals! Workers, engineers, office employees and designers in the aircraft industry!
    I greet you and congratulate you on the celebration of Aviation Day!
    To mark Aviation Day, and in honour of our valiant aviators,

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    I HEREBY ORDER:

    That today, August 19, at 20 hours, there shall be fired in Moscow, the capital of our country, on behalf of our country, a salute to our valiant aviators of twenty artillery salvoes from two hundred and twenty-four guns.

J. Stalin
Generalissimo of the Soviet Union
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

AN ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE

SEPTEMBER 2, 1945

    Comrades!
    Fellow countrymen and countrywomen!
    Today, September 2, political and military representatives of Japan signed an act of unconditional surrender. Utterly defeated on sea and land, and completely surrounded by the armed forces of the United Nations, Japan has admitted defeat and has laid down her arms.
    Two hotbeds of world fascism and world aggression had been formed on the eve of the present World War: Germany in the West and Japan in the East. It was they who unleashed the Second World War. It was they who brought mankind and civilization to the brink of doom. The hotbed of world aggression in the West was destroyed four months ago and, as a result, Germany was forced to capitulate. Four months later the hotbed of aggression in the East was destroyed and, as a result, Japan, Germany's principal ally, was also compelled to Sign an act of capitulation.
    This signifies the end of the Second World War.
    Now we can say that the conditions necessary for peace all over the world have been gained.
    It must be observed that the Japanese aggressors inflicted damage not only on our Allies -- China, the United States of America and Great Britain. They also inflicted

 

extremely grave damage on our country. That is why we have a separate account to settle with Japan.
    Japan commenced her aggression against our country as far back as 1904, during the Russo-Japanese war. As we know, in February 1904, when negotiations between Japan and Russia were still proceeding, Japan, taking advantage of the weakness of the tsarist government, suddenly and perfidiously, without declaring war, fell upon our country and attacked the Russian Fleet in the region of Port Arthur with the object of putting a number of Russian warships out of action and thereby creating an advantageous position for her fleet. She did, indeed, put out of action three Russian first-class warships. It is characteristic that thirty-seven years later Japan played exactly the same perfidious trick against the United States when, in 1941, she attacked the United States naval base in Pearl Harbour and put a number of American battleships out of action. As we know, in the war against Japan, Russia was defeated. Japan took advantage of the defeat of tsarist Russia to seize from Russia the southern part of Sakhalin and establish herself on the Kuril Islands, thereby putting the lock on all our country's outlets to the ocean in the East, which meant also all outlets to the ports of Soviet Kamchatka and Soviet Chukotka. It was obvious that Japan was aiming to deprive Russia of the whole of her Far East.
    But this does not exhaust the list of Japan's aggressive operations against our country. In 1918, after the Soviet system was established in our country, Japan, taking advantage of the hostility then displayed towards the Land of Soviets by Great Britain, France and the United States, and leaning upon them, again attacked our coun-

try, occupied the Far East and for four years tormented our people and looted the Soviet Far East.
    Nor is this all. In 1938 Japan attacked our country again, in the region of Lake Hasan, near Vladivostok, with the object of surrounding Vladivostok; and in the following year Japan repeated her attack in another place, in the region of the Mongolian People's Republic, near Halhin-Gol, with the object of breaking into Soviet territory, severing our Siberian Railway and cutting off the Far East from Russia.
    True, Japan's attacks in the regions of Hasan and Halhin-Gol were liquidated by the Soviet troops, to the extreme humiliation of the Japanese. Japanese military intervention in 1918-22 was liquidated with equal success and the Japanese invaders were expelled from our Far Eastern regions. But the defeat of the Russian troops in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese war left bitter memories in the minds of our people. It lay like a black stain upon our country. Our people believed in and waited for the day when Japan would be defeated and the stain would be wiped out. We of the older generation waited for this day for forty years, and now this day has arrived. Today Japan admitted defeat and signed an act of unconditional surrender.
    This means that the southern part of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands revert to the Soviet Union and henceforth will serve not as a barrier between the Soviet Union and the ocean and a base for Japanese attack upon our Far East but as a direct means of communication between the Soviet Union and the ocean and a base for the defence of our country against Japanese aggression.
    Our Soviet people spared neither strength nor labour

 

for the sake of victory. We experienced extremely hard years. But now every one of us can say: We have won. Henceforth we can regard our country as being free from the menace of German invasion in the West and of Japanese invasion in the East. The long awaited peace for the peoples of all the world has come.
    I congratulate you, my dear fellow countrymen and countrywomen, on this great victory, on the successful termination of the war, and on the ushering in of peace all over the world!
    Glory to the armed forces of the Soviet Union, the United States of America, China and Great Britain which achieved victory over Japan!
    Glory to our Far Eastern troops and our Pacific Fleet, which upheld the honour and dignity of our country!
    Glory to our great people, the victor people!
    Eternal glory to the heroes who fell fighting for the honour and victory of our country!
    May our country prosper and flourish!

 

ORDER THE DAY

OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
TO THE RED ARMY AND NAVY

    On September 2, 1945, in Tokio, representatives of Japan signed an act of unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces.
    The war which the Soviet people waged jointly with our Allies against the last aggressor -- Japanese imperialism -- has drawn to a triumphant close; Japan is defeated and has capitulated.
    Comrades, Red Armymen, Red Navymen, non-commissioned officers, petty officers, officers of the Army and Navy, generals, admirals and marshals, I congratulate you on the victorious termination of the war against Japan.
    To mark the victory over Japan, today, September 3. on the Festival of Victory over Japan, at 21 hours, Moscow, the capital of our country, will, on behalf of our country, salute the valiant troops of the Red Army and the ships and units of our Navy which achieved this victory with twenty-four artillery salvoes fired from three hundred and twenty-four guns.
    Eternal glory to the heroes who fell fighting for the honour and victory of our country!
    Let our Red Army and Navy live and flourish!

J. Stalin
Generalissimo of the Soviet Union
Supreme Commander-in-Chief

September 3, 1945, No. 373.