Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 31 - From Marx to Mao

SPEECH TO CHAIRMEN OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES319that the Polish state was, and still is, a state of the landownersand capitalists, and that it is fully dependant onthe capitalists of the Entente countries, in particular onFrance. Though at the time Poland controlled, not only thewhole of Lithuania but also Byelorussia, to say nothing ofEastern Galicia, we considered it our duty to do everythingpossible to avert a war, so as to give the working class andthe peasantry of Russia at least a brief respite from imperialistand civil wars, and at last enable them to get downin earnest to peaceful work. The events that ensued havehappened all too frequently: our straightforward and publicoffer of peace on the line the Poles actually held was takenas a sign of weakness. Bourgeois diplomats of all countriesare unaccustomed to such frank statements and our readinessto accept a peace along a line so disadvantageous to us wastaken and interpreted as proof of our extreme weakness.The French capitalists succeeded in inciting the Polishcapitalists to go to war. You will remember how, after abrief interval following upon the Polish offensive, wereplied by dealing a counter-blow and almost reachedWarsaw, after which our troops suffered a heavy defeat,and were thrown back.For over a month and right down to the present, ourtroops were retreating and suffered reverses, for they wereutterly worn out, exhausted by their unparalleled advancefrom Polotsk to Warsaw. But, I repeat, despite this difficultsituation, peace was signed on terms less advantageous toPoland than the earlier ones. The earlier frontier lay 50versts to the east, whereas it is now 50 versts to the west.Thus, though we signed a peace at a time favourable onlyto the enemy, when our troops were on the retreat andWrangel was building up his offensive, we signed a peacetreaty on more favourable terms. This once again proves toyou that when the Soviet Government proposes peace,its words and statements have to be treated seriously;otherwise what will happen is that we shall offer peace onterms less favourable to us, and get this peace on betterterms. This is a lesson the Polish landowners and capitalistswill not, of course, forget; they realise that they havegone too far; the peace terms now give them less territorythan was offered previously. This is not the first lesson