J. V. Stalin
ON THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR OF THE SOVIET UNION
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 onlyone 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. StalinOctober 3, 1942
REPLIES TO QUESTIONSSUBMITTED 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:I am answering your questions which reached me on November 12.
Dear Mr. Cassidy,
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 couldcarry 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. StalinNovember 13, 1942
ORDER OF THE DAYOF 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 ofKantemirovka, 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 25,1943ORDER OF THE DAYOF 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 2,1943ORDER OF THE DAYOF 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 itwith 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 DAYOF 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 theUnited 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 strataof 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 QUESTIONSSUBMITTED 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. StalinMay 4, 1943
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 ChurchillLondon
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
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 ofother 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. StalinMay 28, 1943