Radio Broadcast, 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 Hitlerite Germany on our Fatherland,
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
force units have already been smashed and have met their doom on the
field of battle, the enemy continues to push forward, hurling fresh
forces to the front. 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 overhangs
our country.
How could it have happened that our glorious Red Army surrendered a
number of our cities and districts to the fascist armies? Is it really
true that the German-fascist troops are invincible, as the braggart
fascist propagandists are ceaselessly blaring forth?
Of course not! History shows that there are no invincible armies and
never have been. Napoleon’s army was considered invincible, but it was
beaten successively by the armies of Russia, England and Germany.
Kaiser Wilhelm’s German army in the period of the First Imperialist War
was also considered invincible, but it was beaten several times by
Russian and Anglo-French troops, and was finally smashed by the
Anglo-French forces. The same must be said of Hitler’s German-fascist
army of to-day. This army had 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 resistance the finest divisions
of Hitler’s German-fascist army have been defeated by our Red Army,
this means that it too can be smashed and will be smashed, as were the
armies of Napoleon and Wilhelm.
As to part of our territory having nevertheless been seized by the
German-fascist troops, this is chiefly due to the fact that the war of
fascist Germany against the U.S.S.R. began under conditions that were
favourable for the German forces and unfavourable for the Soviet
forces. The fact of the matter is that the troops of Germany, a country
at war, were already fully mobilized, and the 170 divisions brought up
to the Soviet frontiers and hurled by Germany against 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 effect mobilization and
move up to the frontiers. Of no little importance in this respect was
the fact that fascist Germany suddenly and treacherously violated the
non-aggression pact which she had concluded in 1939 with the U.S.S.R.,
regardless of the circumstance that she would be regarded as the
aggressor by the whole world. Naturally, our peace-loving country, not
wishing to take the initiative in breaking the 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, such fiends
as Hitler and Ribbentrop? Was this not an error on the part of the
Soviet Government? Of course not! Non-aggression pacts are pacts of
peace between two states. It was such a pact that Germany proposed to
us in 1939. Could the Soviet Government have declined such a proposal?
I think that not a single peace-loving state could decline a peace
treaty with a neighbouring state even though the latter were 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 an episode,
while the tremendous political gain of the U.S.S.R. is a weighty and
lasting factor that is bound to forth the basis for the development of
outstanding military successes 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, finally,
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 we are bound to win.
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 armed to the teeth 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 equipped with thousands of tanks and planes. The
soldiers 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 imperilling our country and what measures must be taken to smash the enemy?
Above all it is essential that our people, the Soviet people, should
appreciate the full immensity of the danger that threatens our country
and give up all complacency, casualness and the mentality of peaceful
constructive work that was so natural before the war, but which is
fatal to-day, when war has radically changed the whole situation. The
enemy is cruel and implacable. He is out to seize our lands watered by
the sweat of our brows, to seize our grain and oil secured 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, Esthonians, Uzbeks, Tatars, Moldavians,
Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanians and the other free peoples of the
Soviet Union, to Germanize them, to turn 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.; the
issue is whether the peoples of the Soviet Union shall be free or fall
into slavery. The Soviet people must realize this and abandon all
complacency; they must mobilize themselves and reorganize all their
work on a new, war-time footing, where there can be no mercy to 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 virtues of
the Bolshevik must become the virtues of millions and millions of the
Red Army, of the Red Navy, of 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 destruction of the enemy. The peoples of the
Soviet Union now see that German fascism is untamable in its savage
fury and hatred of our native country, which has ensured all its
working people labour in freedom and prosperity. The peoples of the
Soviet Union must rise against the enemy and defend their rights and
their land.
The Red Army, 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 inherent in our people.
We must organize all-round assistance to the Red Army, ensure powerful
reinforcements for its ranks and the supply of everything it requires;
we must 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 industries must be got to work with greater
intensity, to produce more rifles, machine-guns, guns, cartridges,
shells, planes; we must organize the guarding of factories, power
stations, telephonic and telegraphic communications, and arrange
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 extermination battalions. We must bear in mind that the enemy is
crafty, unscrupulous, experienced in deception and the dissemination of
false rumours. We must reckon with all this and not fall victims to
stratagem. All who by their panic-mongering and cowardice hinder the
work of defence, no matter who they may be, must be immediately haled
before a military tribunal.
In case of a forced retreat of Red Army units, all rolling stock must
be evacuated, the enemy must not be left a single engine, a single
railway car, not a single pound of grain or gallon of fuel. The
collective farmers must drive off all their cattle and turn over their
grain to the safe keeping 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 on loot,
must be formed; sabotage groups must be organized to combat enemy
units, to foment guerilla warfare everywhere, blow up bridges and
roads, damage telephone and telegraph lines, 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 the German-fascist armies. The aim of this
national patriotic war in defence of our country against the fascist
oppressors is not only to eliminate the danger hanging over our
country, but also to aid all the European peoples 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 country 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 standing for freedom and against enslavement and threats of
enslavement by Hitler’s fascist armies. In this connection the historic
utterance 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 peoples of the
Soviet Union, are fully comprehensible and symptomatic.
Comrades, our forces are numberless. The overweening enemy will soon
learn this to his cost. 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 huge People’s Guards in support of the Red Army. Such People’s
Guards 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 and their country in this patriotic
war against German fascism.
In order 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 Defence has been formed and
the entire state authority has now been vested in it. The State
Committee of Defence has entered on the performance of its functions
and calls upon all our people to rally around the Party of Lenin and
Stalin and around the Soviet Government, so as to render self
sacrificing support to the Red Army and Red Navy, to exterminate the
enemy and secure victory.
All our forces for the support of our heroic Red Army and our glorious Red Navy!
All the forces of the people for the destruction of the enemy!
Forward to victory!
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