Speeches by Stalin, Lenin, and Trotsky in Spanish
A compilation of several speeches by the leaders of the USSR, Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky. In this video, you can hear the real voices of these three communist leaders who shaped the history of the 20th century. First, I'll share with you the words with which Stalin tried to rally his people in the face of the German advance of Operation Barbarossa, which began in the summer of 1941. Then, you'll hear Trotsky defending himself against Stalin's accusations, from his exile in Mexico and during the Moscow trials that purged many of the early leaders of the Soviet regime. And finally, Lenin himself will explain the Soviet power that he himself spearheaded after the October Revolution of 1917.
STALIN, November 7, 1941
Comrades, men of the Red Army and the Red Navy, commanders and political instructors, men and women guerrillas—the whole world looks to you as the force capable of destroying the hordes of German invaders. The enslaved peoples of Europe who have fallen under the yoke of the German invaders see 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. May the manly images of our great ancestors—Alexander Nevsky, Dimitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin, Dimitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov, and Mikhail Kutuzov—inspire you in this war! May the victorious banner of the great Lenin be your guiding star!
For the complete destruction of the German invaders!
Death to the German invaders!
Long live our glorious homeland, its freedom and independence!
Under the banner of Lenin, forward to victory!
LENIN, 1919: What is Soviet Power?
What is Soviet Power? What is the essence of this new power, which most countries still do not want or cannot understand?
Its essence, which increasingly attracts workers of all nations, is that the state was previously governed, in one way or another, by the rich or the capitalists, whereas now it is governed for the first time, and moreover, en masse by the very classes oppressed by capitalism.
As long as the domination of capital exists, as long as the land remains private property, the state will always be governed, even in the most democratic and free republic, by a tiny minority, nine-tenths of which are capitalists or the rich.
For the first time in the world, state power in Russia has been organized so that only the workers and working peasants, excluding the exploiters, constitute mass organizations, the Soviets, to which all power is transferred.
That is why, despite the slander Russia suffered by representatives of the bourgeoisie in all countries, the word "Soviet" has not only become understandable throughout the world, but also popular, beloved by workers, by all workers.
We know very well that we still have many defects in the organization of Soviet power. This is not a miraculous talisman. It does not suddenly cure the scourges of the past, illiteracy, lack of culture, the legacy of savage war, the legacy of rapacious capitalism.
But, on the other hand, it allows us to move towards socialism. It offers the oppressed of yesterday the possibility of rising and increasingly taking into their own hands the entire governance of the state, the entire administration of the economy, the entire direction of production.
Soviet power is the path to socialism, discovered by the working masses, and therefore a sure and invincible path."
TROTSKY vs. STALIN, January 30, 1937
Stalin's trial against me is based on false confessions, extorted by modern inquisitorial methods, in the interests of the ruling clique.
There are no crimes in history more terrible in intent or execution than the Moscow trials of Zinoviev Kamenev and Pyatakov-Radek.
These trials are not carried out under communism, nor under socialism, but under Stalinism, that is, under the irresponsible despotism of the bureaucracy over the people!
I have nothing to hide! Dozens of witnesses abroad possess facts and documents of incalculable value that shed light on Moscow's stratagems. The work of the commission of inquiry must end in a grand countertrial. A countertrial is necessary to clear the atmosphere of the germs of deceit, slander, falsification, and fabrications, the source of which is Stalin's police force, the GPU, which has sunk to the level of the Nazi Gestapo.
Dear Audience! You may have many different attitudes toward my ideas and political activity over the past forty years. But an impartial investigation will confirm that there is not a single stain on my honor, whether personal or political. Deeply convinced that the law is on my side, I sincerely greet the citizens of the New World.