Written: 2 August, 1918.
First Published 19 September, 1918 Pravda No. 201; Published according to the manuscript
Source: Lenin’s Collected Works, Progress Publishers, Moscow, Volume 28, 1965, page 94
Translated (and edited): Jim Riordan
Transcription/HTML Markup: David Walters
Online Version: V.I.Lenin Internet Archive, 2002
September 18, 1918
To the District Commissar, 3 Cadet Line, Vasilyevsky Island, Petrograd
Greetings to the 400 comrade workers who pass out today as Red Army officers and go to join the ranks. The success of the Russian and world socialist revolution depends on the degree of energy the workers display in running the state and commanding the army of working and exploited people fighting to overthrow the rule of capital. I am sure therefore that thousands and thousands of workers will follow the example of the four hundred; with such administrators and commanders the victory of communism is assured.
Lenin
Chairman of the Council
of People—s Commissars