Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 26 - From Marx to Mao

344V. I. LENINthe advantages which had been so assiduously preservedfor them by Nicholas II and Kerensky.“We are told that Russia will disintegrate and split upinto separate republics but we have no reason to fear this.We have nothing to fear, whatever the number of independentrepublics. The important thing for us is not where thestate border runs, but whether or not the working peopleof all nations remain allied in their struggle against thebourgeoisie, irrespective of nationality. (Stormy applause.)“If the Finnish bourgeoisie are buying arms from theGermans in order to use them against their workers, we offerthe latter an alliance with the Russian working people. Letthe bourgeoisie start their filthy petty squabbles and theirtrading over frontiers, the workers of all countries andnationalities will not fall out over that sort of thing. (Stormyapplause.)“We are now ‘conquering’ Finland—this is using a nastyword—but not the way the robber barons of internationalcapitalism conquered it. We are winning Finland over bygiving her complete freedom to live in alliance with us orwith others, guaranteeing full support for the workingpeople of all nationalities against the bourgeoisie of allcountries. It is not an alliance based on treaties, but on thesolidarity of the exploited against the exploiters.“We now see a national movement in the Ukraine and wesay that we stand unconditionally for the Ukrainianpeople’s complete and unlimited freedom. We have to wipeout that old bloodstained and dirty past when the Russiaof the capitalist oppressors acted as the executioner of otherpeoples. We are determined to wipe out that past, and leaveno trace of it. (Stormy applause.)“We are going to tell the Ukrainians that as Ukrainiansthey can go ahead and arrange their life as they see fit.But we are going to stretch out a fraternal hand to theUkrainian workers and tell them that together with them weare going to fight against their bourgeoisie and ours. Onlya socialist alliance of the working people of all countriescan remove all ground for national persecution and strife.(Stormy applause.)“I shall now touch on the question of war. We have starteda resolute struggle against the war brought on by the clash