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

490V. I. LENINthat, while we are persistently striving for peace, we areprepared from the military point of view. Any attempt tostart a war against us will mean, to the states involved,that the terms they will get following such a war will beworse than those they could have obtained without a war orprior to it. This has been proved in respect of severalcountries. This is an achievement we shall not forego, onethat will not be forgotten by any of the powers surroundingus or in political contact with Russia. Thanks to this,our relations with neighbouring countries are steadily improving.You know that a final peace has been signed witha number of states bordering on the Western frontiers ofRussia. These were part of the former Russian Empire, andthe Soviet government has unequivocally recognised theirindependence and sovereignty, in conformity with the fundamentalprinciples of our policy. Peace on such a basishas every chance of being far more durable than is to theliking of the capitalists and certain West-European states.As regards the Latvian Government, I must say that at onetime there was a danger of our relations becoming strained,so much so that the idea even arose of severing diplomaticrelations. But the latest report from our representativein Latvia indicates that a change of policy has already takenplace, and that many misunderstandings and legitimatecauses of dissatisfaction have been removed. There is goodreason to hope that in the near future we shall have closeeconomic ties with Latvia, which will naturally be evenmore useful to us in our trade with Western Europe thanEstonia and the other states bordering on the R.S.F.S.R.I must also say, comrades, that during this year ourpolicy in the East has been very successful. We mustwelcome the formation and consolidation of the SovietRepublics of Bokhara, Azerbaijan and Armenia, which havenot only recovered their complete independence, but haveplaced the power of government in the hands of the workersand peasants. These republics are proof and corroboration ofthe fact that the ideas and principles of Soviet governmentare understood and immediately applicable, not only inthe industrially developed countries, not only in thosewhich have a social basis like the proletariat, but alsoin those which have the peasantry as their basis. The idea