text to speech and record

See the most popular languages and voices. Learn more →

Free text to speech over 200 voices​ and 70 languages

Luvvoice is a free online text-to-speech (TTS) tool that turns your text into natural-sounding speech. We offer a wide range of AI Voices. Simply input your text, choose a voice, and either download the resulting mp3 file or listen to it directly. Perfect for content creators, students, or anyone needing text read aloud.

Everything you need

What are the features of Luvvoice ?

Real ai voice.

Built on deep learning and Ai breakthrough research to generate sounds that are extremely close to the quality of real human voices.

Lots of Languages and AI Voices

As a professional AI Voice Generator, A large number of high-quality voices, 200 voices in more than 70 languages, your best text reader.

Easily Convert Text to Audio

Copy-paste an existing script or type in the text for your script on text editor. Choose an AI voice of your choice from Luvvoice’s library of voices .

best tts tool

The most powerful creative and business tts tool

Luvvoice is a great tts tool，Luvvoice can generate a variety of character voices that you can use in marketing, and social media such as Youtube and Tiktok, you can use to learn new languages and read books aloud!

Most Popular Languages and TTS AI Voices We Support

Easily convert text to speech, choose your favorite language and voice:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a very good text reader and tts tool! It generates realistic ai voice. If you aren’t sure, always go for Luvvoice. Believe me, you won’t regret it. Olivia Walker Consultant

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really good. Luvvoice is by far the most valuable business resource we have ever purchased. I love this TTS tool. Ashley Taylor Blogger

Frequently asked questions

To add pauses in your text, simply insert a period (.) wherever you want a pause. The voice will pause for one second at each period. This works even in the middle of sentences, allowing you to control the pacing and rhythm of the speech.

Example: “Hello. This is a sentence. With pauses.”

Yes, Luvvoice is completely free to use.Free text to speech over 50 language and 200 voice,no words limit. Listen online and download files in mp3 format.

Text-to-Speech (TTS) technology converts text into natural-sounding speech. Learn more about TTS.

Converting text to speech is easy. Simply paste or type the text into the designated text box, choose the language for the text and your preferred voice style, and click the ‘Submit’ button to initiate the process. The text will be processed, and you can download the audio file.

Yes, all voices from Luvvoice are suitable for commercial projects such as videos, podcasts, gaming characters, Youtube and TikTok, and you are not required to attribute the source.

Luvvoice audio tools are versatile and can be used in various fields including media production, education, gaming, and accessibility services. They help in bridging language barriers, restoring lost voices, and making digital interactions more human-like.

Need to transcribe longer texts or convert entire files?

Our advanced platform handles up to 20,000 characters per session and supports various file formats like TXT and PDF. Experience fast, accurate transcription that saves you hours.

Free Text to Speech

This audio file will be automatically deleted within 30 minutes, please download it in time. Click to share this audio online free for 30 days via short link. You have 100% audio file copyright and commercial rights, learn more.

If you can't download or play, simply click here to switch the download link:: Switch Download Link (Current Link: Download Link 001 )

• 0s (eliminate pauses)

TTSMaker is a free text-to-speech tool that provides speech synthesis services and supports multiple languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, etc., as well as various voice styles. You can use it to read text and e-books aloud, or download the audio files for commercial use (it's completely free). As an excellent free TTS tool, TTSMaker can easily convert text to speech online.

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Converting text to speech, please wait: % ... Estimated time: 10 seconds

⏳ In queue, high demand, expecting 1-3 minutes.

More Settings

Current BGM: Please upload BGM first

Quick Tutorial

Enter the text that needs to be converted into speech, the free limit is 20000 characters per week, some voices support unlimited free use.

Select language and voice

Choose the language for the text and your preferred voice style, each language has multiple voice styles.

Convert text to speech

Click the "Convert to Speech" button to start converting the text to speech, which may take a few minutes, longer texts will take longer. To adjust the speaking rate and volume, you can click the "More Settings" button.

Listen and download

After the text is converted to speech, you can listen to it online or download the audio file.

Usage Scenarios

TTSMaker's text to speech can be used for the following main purposes.

Video dubbing

Youtube and TikTok voice generator

As an AI voice generator, TTSMaker can generate the voices of various characters, which are often used in video dubbing of Youtube and TikTok. For your convenience, TTSMaker provides a variety of TikTok style voices for free use.

Audiobook reading

Create and listen to audiobook content

TTSMaker can convert text into natural speech, and you can easily create and enjoy audiobooks, bringing stories to life through immersive narration.

Education & Training

Teaching and Learning Languages

TTSMaker can convert text to sound and read it aloud, can help you learn the pronunciation of words, and supports multiple languages, it has now become a useful tool for language learners.

Marketing & Advertising

Create voiceovers for video ads

TTSMaker generates persuasive voice-overs to help marketers and advertisers explain a product's features to others, with high-quality audio.

Fast speech synthesis

We use a powerful neural network inference model that enables text-to-speech conversion in a short time.

Free for commercial use

You will own 100% copyright of the synthesized audio file and may use it for any legal purpose, including commercial use.

More voices and features

We are constantly updating this text-to-speech tool to support more languages and voices, as well as some new features.

Email and API supports

We offer email support and text-to-speech API services. If you encounter any issues while using our services, please feel free to contact our support team via email or through our support page.

"I love TTSMaker, I love meaningful things, I love this TTS tool, I have complete creative freedom..."

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Share This Audio File Online for Free by URL.WORK x TTSMAKER

Quickly share your audio file with anyone anywhere using a link.

Share your audio file now, host on URL.WORK CLOUD for a public short link.

When the sharing validity period runs out, shared file will automatically be wiped, and links will turn invalid.

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#1 Text To Speech (TTS) Reader Online

Proudly serving millions of users since 2015

Type or upload any text, file, website & book for listening online, proofreading, reading-along or generating professional mp3 voice-overs.

I need to >

Play Text Out Loud

Reads out loud plain text, files, e-books and websites. Remembers text & caret position, so you can come back to listening later, unlimited length, recording and more.

Create Humanlike Voiceovers

The simplest most robust & affordable AI voice-over generating tool online. Mix voices, languages & speeds. Listen before recording. Unlimited!

Additional Text-To-Speech Solutions

Turns your articles, PDFs, emails, etc. into podcasts, so you can listen to it on your own podcast player when convenient, with all the advantages that come with your podcast app.

SpeechNinja says what you type in real time. It enables people with speech difficulties to speak out loud using synthesized voice (AAC) and more.

Battle tested for years, serving millions of users, especially good for very long texts.

Need to read a webpage? Simply paste its URL here & click play. Leave empty to read about the Beatles 🎸

Books & Stories

Listen to some of the best stories ever written. We have them right here. Want to upload your own? Use the main player to upload epub files.

Simply paste any URL (link to a page) and it will import & read it out loud.

Chrome Extension

Reads out loud webpages, directly from within the page.

TTSReader for mobile - iOS or Android. Includes exporting audio to mp3 files.

NEW 🚀 - TTS Plugin

Make your own website speak your content - with a single line of code. Hassle free.

TTSReader Premium

Support our development team & enjoy ad-free better experience. Commercial users, publishers are required a premium license.

TTSReader reads out loud texts, webpages, pdfs & ebooks with natural sounding voices. Works out of the box. No need to download or install. No sign in required. Simply click 'play' and enjoy listening right in your browser. TTSReader remembers your text and position between sessions, so you can continue listening right where you left. Recording the generated speech is supported as well. Works offline, so you can use it at home, in the office, on the go, driving or taking a walk. Listening to textual content using TTSReader enables multitasking, reading on the go, improved comprehension and more. With support for multiple languages, it can be used for unlimited use cases .

Get Started for Free

Main Use Cases

Listen to great content.

Most of the world's content is in textual form. Being able to listen to it - is huge! In that sense, TTSReader has a huge advantage over podcasts. You choose your content - out of an infinite variety - that includes humanity's entire knowledge and art richness. Listen to lectures, to PDF files. Paste or upload any text from anywhere, edit it if needed, and listen to it anywhere and anytime.

Proofreading

One of the best ways to catch errors in your writing is to listen to it being read aloud. By using TTSReader for proofreading, you can catch errors that you might have missed while reading silently, allowing you to improve the quality and accuracy of your written content. Errors can be in sentence structure, punctuation, and grammar, but also in your essay's structure, order and content.

Listen to web pages

TTSReader can be used to read out loud webpages in two different ways. 1. Using the regular player - paste the URL and click play. The website's content will be imported into the player. (2) Using our Chrome extension to listen to pages without leaving the page . Listening to web pages with TTSReader can provide a more accessible, convenient, and efficient way of consuming online content.

Turn ebooks into audiobooks

Upload any ebook file of epub format - and TTSReader will read it out loud for you, effectively turning it into an audiobook alternative. You can find thousands of epub books for free, available for download on Project Gutenberg's site, which is an open library for free ebooks.

Read along for speed & comprehension

TTSReader enables read along by highlighting the sentence being read and automatically scrolling to keep it in view. This way you can follow with your own eyes - in parallel to listening to it. This can boost reading speed and improve comprehension.

Generate audio files from text

TTSReader enables exporting the synthesized speech with a single click. This is available currently only on Windows and requires TTSReader’s premium . Adhering to the commercial terms some of the voices may be used commercially for publishing, such as narrating videos.

Accessibility, dyslexia, etc.

For individuals with visual impairments or reading difficulties, listening to textual content, lectures, articles & web pages can be an essential tool for accessing & comprehending information.

Language learning

TTSReader can read out text in multiple languages, providing learners with listening as well as speaking practice. By listening to the text being read aloud, learners can improve their comprehension skills and pronunciation.

Kids - stories & learning

Kids love stories! And if you can read them stories - it's definitely the best! But, if you can't, let TTSReader read them stories for you. Set the right voice and speed, that is appropriate for their comprehension level. For kids who are at the age of learning to read - this can also be an effective tool to strengthen that skill, as it highlights every sentence being read.

Main Features

Ttsreader is a free text to speech reader that supports all modern browsers, including chrome, firefox and safari..

Includes multiple languages and accents. If on Chrome - you will get access to Google's voices as well. Super easy to use - no download, no login required. Here are some more features

Fun, Online, Free. Listen to great content

Drag, drop & play (or directly copy text & play). That’s it. No downloads. No logins. No passwords. No fuss. Simply fun to use and listen to great content. Great for listening in the background. Great for proof-reading. Great for kids and more. Learn more, including a YouTube we made, here .

Multilingual, Natural Voices

We facilitate high-quality natural-sounding voices from different sources. There are male & female voices, in different accents and different languages. Choose the voice you like, insert text, click play to generate the synthesized speech and enjoy listening.

Exit, Come Back & Play from Where You Stopped

TTSReader remembers the article and last position when paused, even if you close the browser. This way, you can come back to listening right where you previously left. Works on Chrome & Safari on mobile too. Ideal for listening to articles.

Vs. Recorded Podcasts

In many aspects, synthesized speech has advantages over recorded podcasts. Here are some: First of all - you have unlimited - free - content. That includes high-quality articles and books, that are not available on podcasts. Second - it’s free. Third - it uses almost no data - so it’s available offline too, and you save money. If you like listening on the go, as while driving or walking - get our free Android Text Reader App .

Read PDF Files, Texts & Websites

TTSReader extracts the text from pdf files, and reads it out loud. Also useful for simply copying text from pdf to anywhere. In addition, it highlights the text currently being read - so you can follow with your eyes. If you specifically want to listen to websites - such as blogs, news, wiki - you should get our free extension for Chrome

Export Speech to Audio Files

TTSReader enables exporting the synthesized speech to mp3 audio files. This is available currently only on Windows, and requires ttsreader’s premium .

Pricing & Plans

• Online text to speech player
• Chrome extension for reading webpages

$10.99 /mo OR $39 /yr

• Premium TTSReader.com
• Premium Chrome extension
• Better support from the development team

Compare plans

Sister Apps Developed by Our Team

Speechnotes

Dictation & Transcription

Type with your voice for free, or automatically transcribe audio & video recordings

Buttons - Kids Dictionary

Turns your device into multiple push-buttons interactive games

Animals, numbers, colors, counting, letters, objects and more. Different levels. Multilingual. No ads. Made by parents, for our own kids.

Ways to Get In Touch, Feedback & Community

Visit our contact page , for various ways to get in touch with us, send us feedback and interact with our community of users & developers.

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How to Record Text to Speech on PC or Mac

Last Updated: February 12, 2023 Tested

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Travis Boylls . Travis Boylls is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Travis has experience writing technology-related articles, providing software customer service, and in graphic design. He specializes in Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Linux platforms. He studied graphic design at Pikes Peak Community College. The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the article's instructions and verified that they work. This article has been viewed 78,092 times. Learn more...

This wikiHow teaches you how to record Text-to-Speech on a Windows or Mac computer. Text-to-speech software converts text to computerized spoken dialogue, but recording it can be a hassle. Luckily there are a variety of free online text-to-speech services that can turn your written text into an audio file which you can download directly! If you require greater Text to Speech (TTS) customization, you'll need to use a more professional TTS program. [1] X Research source

Using From Text To Speech Online

• You can copy text from any source or type the text directly into the text box.

• You can type or paste up to 50,000 characters in the text box.

• Changing the language will not translate your written text—this only changes the way the words are pronounced according to each language.

• On a Mac using Safari, click the download link while holding the Control key and select "Download Linked File."

Using Text To MP3 Online

• Make sure you select the language that matches your written text because changing the language will not translate the text, only change the pronunciation.

• Allow a few minutes for the file to generate.

• By default, downloads are stored in the "Downloads" folder on both Windows and Mac computers.

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• ↑ https://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-text-to-speech-software

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FREE TEXT TO SPEECH AI ONLINE

Hi, I'm Cliff, founder of speechify. I have Dyslexia. When I was a kid, I wanted my dad to be proud of me. But I couldn't read well. My dad started reading Harry Potter to me. I loved it. Without reading, I couldn't become who I wanted to be. So, I built Speechify to turn anything into an audiobook. Today, 30 million people use Speechify to read 3x faster, remember 2x more & reduce their stress. My mission is to be who I needed most when you were growing up. Much love ❤, Cliff

Unlock unlimited file uploads, speeds up to 4.5x, 200+ voices, 50+ languages, AI summarization, voice cloning, our Chrome Extension/iOS/Android/Mac apps, and more. Try for free!

200+ lifelike voices.

Enjoy over 200 natural, lifelike text to speech AI voices across 60+ languages — TTS is great for Google Docs, news articles, emails, books, fan fiction, PDFs, any website, and more

LISTEN ANYWHERE

Chrome extension.

The fastest way to read any PDF, book, or doc and make it stick. Integrates with Google Drive, Dropbox, Canvas & more.

Let Speechify read to you while you commute, exercise, and run errands. Breeze through PDFs, books, articles, emails — anything.

Let Speechify read to you while you walk to work, go for a run, or do laundry. Get through PDFs, books, articles, docs & emails twice as fast.

Read up to 4.5x faster by listening with Speechify. Listen to Google Docs, emails, articles & more seamlessly on Chrome.

Use Speechify from your Dock to read PDFs, Word docs, emails & more. Listen and read at the same time to read faster and retain more.

Clone Your Voice

Create a custom voice of yourself or your loved ones and enjoy having them read anything to you

Read 4.5x Faster

Our users save up to 9hrs a week by using Speechify to speed read

Instant AI Summaries

We summarize every reading so you get the takeaways right away

Scan & Listen

Use the app to snap a pic of any page and have Speechify read to you

INTRODUCING OUR TEXT TO SPEECH API

We're sharing an API that delivers Speechify's most natural and beloved AI voices directly with developers

OUR LISTENERS LOVE US

Over 250k people have given speechify 5 stars.

Speechify is absolutely brilliant. Growing up with dyslexia this would have made a big difference. I’m so glad to have it today.

This is the only review I’ve ever written. I downloaded this app to help me read books about the stock market and finance while I do my day job. It brough me to the brink of tears at my desk. Love the app.

I absolutely love that this app has been invented. I read a ton of pdf documents as a lawyer and researcher and I will now be able to get through them faster and with much better comprehension than before!

I was skeptical at first, however with my serious issue to be unable to focus reading extensive documentation for work, this program made it a breeze. Well worth the premium dollars! Love it.

Speechify makes it easy to learn at 2x or even 3x the speed you read with your eyes.

I used to hate school because I'd spend hours just trying to read the assignments. Listening has been totally life changing. This app saved my education.

This made my job 10x easier. I read scripts, conversations, and other text files all day, and this made it a lot easier to retain and wayyyyy faster. Thanks y’all!

I have always been a slow reader. As a professional, I have a lot of material to read through between industry emails, new rules and regulations, and continuing education. Speechify helps me power through it.

If there’s one hill I’m going to die on, it’s that speed listening is the best way forward. Speechify is a game-changer for me.

Mighty be one of the GOAT apps This is probably top 5 of greatest apps ever, you can literally read alone an entire book in a day. Easily worth the cost of the app.

Excellent for comprehending medical textbooks more quickly and thoroughly!! This is awesome for keeping up with latest surgical techniques and technology.

best app evaaa I use it because my head be scrambling up words, so I scan pages off books and work, and boom!!!! It works so well I love it. ♥️ ♥️ ♥️

Amazing I have ADHD and I love to read but have piles of book that I have never touched. I downloaded this app and it has helped me read more and obtain information better for school! Love this app, I recommend it to everyone!

I am a resident and this app saves me a ton of time. I listen to PDF’s while walking to clinic, running, making coffee in the morning.

Miracle reader. Been looking for a program like this to proof read my work. Allows me to develop a personalized style of reading. Love it!

Amazing!!! A dream come true! This is simply the best tool as an data specialist and having to do reports my time is limited and this tool is a must have for companies or any individual who is trying to better their reading abilities and increase productivity .

Text to speech, sometimes called TTS , read aloud , or speech synthesis , is the term for using AI voices to turn any input text into speech. The input text can be from a PDF , email , Google doc , epub , website – anything. Speechify has built the most used text to speech applications in the world.

An AI voice refers to the synthesized or generated speech produced by artificial intelligence systems, enabling machines to communicate with human-like speech. Speechify has a large speech research team of PhDs who focus on providing the most cutting edge speech models to Speechify users through our applications.

Speechify has applications that are available on iOS, Android, Chrome, Mac, and Microsoft Edge. All of these applications are available through a single Speechify account. You can start reading an article on your computer using the Speechify Chrome Extension, bookmark it, and find it instantly available for you to listen on your iPhone or Android. Speechify is the most used tool in the world for text to speech listening. It enables millions of people create audiobooks out of anything the need to read.

Everyone. Students use text to speech to get through all of their school reading faster, whether its PDFs , Google Docs , or textbooks . Speechify also helps them to retain more of what they read so they do better on exams. Professionals use text to speech to get through reading for work. They save time by reading during commutes, errands, or working out. Leisure readers use Speechify for their favorite books and fan fiction. People with dyslexia and ADHD use Speechify to overcome any learning differences . Senior with low vision use Speechify to avoid straining their eyes.

Yes. Speechify has the most natural, human-sounding voices available on the market, and they’re getting better each month. Speechify’s text to speech has improved dramatically in the last two years alone with novel advancements from our research team. The voices are now indistinguishable from human voices. Speechify’s voices are also available in several different languages including Spanish text to speech , Portuguese text to speech , German text to speech , French text to speech , and over 50 others.

Voice cloning allows you to upload or record a few seconds of any speaker, with the speaker’s permission, and generate a clone of the voice. This allows you to listen to any email, PDF, or website in the new cloned voice . Speechify users love use voice cloning to listen to books in the voice of a parent, child, or partner. Voice cloning also allows you to clone your own voice, or a hired actor’s voice, so that you or your team can use it through our API or Studio products. Speechify has an AI dubbing product within Studio that allows anyone to clone a voice from a video or voiceover and then have that voice speak a new language.

Yes, we will be making our speech API available to developers later this year with extensive documentation and cookbooks to get started. This is the same API that currently powers all of our products, providing the highest quality AI speech on the market to tens of millions of users. You can sign up for our API waitlist .

Yes! If you would like to purchase text to speech plans in bulk, please contact our sales team for schools or teams . We work with large school districts and governments around the world to provide students with access to Speechify at scale. Speechify helps make education more accessible and improves student outcomes. We also work with companies to provide bulk access to our text to speech reading tools and our voice over studio platform focused on e-learning , voiceover creation, and dubbing .

Text to Speech

Speech to text, vocal remover, voice enhancer, audio cutter, audio joiner.

Text to speech mp3 in natural voices. Free for commercial.

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Text to Speech

Generate speech from text. choose a voice to read your text aloud. you can use it to narrate your videos, create voice-overs, convert your documents into audio, and more..

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Text to Voice Generator

Online AI voice generator from text; free

319 reviews

An AI text reader like no other

VEED features a realistic voice generator like no other; convert text to speech in just one click—straight from your browser. It’s the easiest text to speech recording tool to use! Just type or paste your text, select a voice that you want to use, and hear your text being read aloud by our AI! Or you can use one of our AI avatars . Use animated text-to-speech avatars to create talking head videos even without your own recording.

How to generate voice from text:

Upload or record

Upload your video to VEED or start recording using our free webcam recorder. You can also generate content from prompts using our AI text-to-video tool.

Add text and convert to voice

Click Audio from the left menu and select Text to Speech. Select a language. Type or paste your text into the text field and click Add to Project. You will see an audio file in the timeline.

Export or keep creating!

Export your text-to-speech video or audio. Or keep exploring our AI video editing tools to make your content as engaging as possible.

Learn more about our text–to-voice generator:

Fast, accurate, and easy text reader online

No need to download and pay for chunky apps to convert your text into voice. Use VEED’s AI text-to-voice generator straight from your web browser. All you have to do is type your text or paste a text you’ve copied into the text field, and add the audio file to your project. You can also use your voice profile to add instant narrations using the AI voice cloning tool.

Human-sounding voice generator

Our voice profiles do not sound like robots. You can select from human-sounding voices with options for male and female. Preview the voice so you can hear how it sounds before adding it to your video. Guaranteed that your text will be read by a human voice. It’s fascinating! VEED also features auto-translation tools. Replace your original spoken audio with a translated voiceover—automatically using our voice dubber .

Edit videos like a pro in just a few clicks!

You can use our built-in video editing software to create amazing videos with voiceovers. VEED not only lets you convert text to speech online, but also lets you use all our video editing tools to create professional-looking videos in just a few clicks. You can add animated text, add images, subtitles, emojis, and drawings to your video. It’s your all-in-one video editor!

How do I turn my text into voice?

Upload your video to VEED or record one using our webcam recorder. Click Audio from the left menu and start typing or pasting your text. Select a voice, preview the speech, and add it to your video! It’s that simple.

What is the best text to voice converter?

VEED is the best tool to convert your text to voice online. Our AI voice profiles sound like real humans, and not like robots. Plus, it’s super easy to use and free! Just type or paste your text and it will be converted into speech in minutes.

How can I convert text to audio for free?

VEED’s text-to-voice generator is free to use. You can convert your text into a video or even an audio file, and you can do it straight from your browser.

Is there a limit to how much text I can convert to speech?

Currently, you can add up to 1,000 characters to convert to speech per video project.

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Loved by creators.

Loved by the Fortune 500

VEED has been game-changing. It's allowed us to create gorgeous content for social promotion and ad units with ease.

Max Alter Director of Audience Development, NBCUniversal

I love using VEED. The subtitles are the most accurate I've seen on the market. It's helped take my content to the next level.

Laura Haleydt Brand Marketing Manager, Carlsberg Importers

I used Loom to record, Rev for captions, Google for storing and Youtube to get a share link. I can now do this all in one spot with VEED.

Cedric Gustavo Ravache Enterprise Account Executive, Cloud Software Group

VEED is my one-stop video editing shop! It's cut my editing time by around 60% , freeing me to focus on my online career coaching business.

Nadeem L Entrepreneur and Owner, TheCareerCEO.com

When it comes to amazing videos, all you need is VEED

Convert text to voice

No credit card required

More than a text-to-voice generator

VEED is so much more than a text-to-voice generator. It’s an all-in-one professional video-editing software that lets you create stunning videos in just minutes. You don’t need any video editing experience. Plus, you can make use of our video templates; create videos for your business or personal use. Create sales videos, movie trailers, birthday videos, and so much more. Try VEED now and see how many amazing videos you can create in just a few minutes!

Text-to-Speech Voice Generator

Turn any text or script into natural-sounding speech with Descript's text-to-speech voice generator. Choose from dozens of lifelike AI voices or create your own voice clones in minutes. It’s perfect for podcast intros, voiceovers, faceless videos, and more.

How to turn text into realistic AI voice audio

Experience the magic of text-to-speech. Fix mistakes in your audio recordings without trudging back into the recording studio. Descript’s Overdub uses AI to create a natural-sounding synthetic version of your voice that you can use in any audio or video you’re creating.  

In a new Descript project, type out your script in the text editor or paste in the text you want to generate speech from. You can also use the  Ask AI  command in the Actions menu to write a script for you based on whatever criteria you want. 

Press ‘@’ to assign a speaker to your script. You can enter a new speaker name and then  Enable speech generation  to start the process of cloning your voice. Or  you can select  Browse stock AI speakers  to choose from a library of realistic stock voices, emotions, and styles.

The script will flash briefly to indicate your speech is being generated. Once that’s done, you can play back your newly generated voice audio, continue in an audio or video project, or export it by clicking  Publish .

Create natural-sounding speech with Descript

Turn text into sound with Descript by creating a high-quality text-to-speech model of your voice or selecting one from our ultra-realistic stock voices.

• Ultra-realistic: Descript’s Overdub is constantly being improved to sound more and more natural, with human inflections and contextual adjustments.
• State of the art: Descript’s Lyrebird AI represents the world’s most advanced speech-synthesis technology. It’s so real that androids often mistake it for their missing families.
• Privacy & security: Descript verifies that every Overdub Voice belongs to its owner. We do not allow cloning of voices that don’t belong to the account owner. We won’t share the data underlying your Overdub Voice with anyone outside Descript.
• Multiple voices: You can create multiple versions of your own voice to reflect different performance modes or emotional states, such as sad, excited, or Pittsburgh.
• Sharing: Descript allows you, and only you, to share your Overdub Voice with trusted collaborators or legally titled androids.  

Frequently Asked Questions

Can someone else use descript’s overdub tts to clone my voice.

No. When creating an Overdub Voice, Descript users must positively affirm their identity and give Descript their express consent to train and generate a synthesized version of their voice.

Voice-training data that does not include this Voice ID cannot be used to create an Overdub Voice. In other words, unless you specifically consent to Overdub Voice creation, Descript will not create your Overdub Voice.

We verify this consent by authenticating the audio file uploaded against our training script to ensure that the voice recorded belongs to the person submitting it.

Is Descript Text-to-Speech free?

Overdub text-to-speech is free on all Descript accounts. Pro accounts get an unlimited Overdub vocabulary.

Is there a difference between Overdub generated with the Pro subscription vs. a Creator or Free subscription?

Yes. While you can create a custom Voice on Overdub with any subscription,  Free and Creator plans are limited to a list of the 1,000 most common vocabulary words. Any words that are not on that list will be replaced with "jibber" or "jabber." To avoid this gibberish and gain access to the full vocabulary list, you can upgrade to the Pro subscription.

How can I improve the quality of my text-to-speech voice?

TTS voice quality relies on a number of factors, such as the quality of your microphone, background noise, and room surfaces. Check out our article on Overdub Voice Quality Tips for tips on how you can assure the best possible recording.

Download the app for free

More articles and resources.

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Text to Speech

• 3 Create a new project Drag your file into the box above, or click Select file and import it from your computer or wherever it lives.

With Descript, you can generate and edit voice audio just by typing. Convert your text into speech, edit it, and export it in your preferred format—all in one place.

Descript's  text-to-speech (TTS)  capabilities use AI to generate incredibly realistic voices. Choose from a range of voice types—from corporate to conversational, masculine to feminine—to find the one that suits your project best.

Create and share your own AI voices for use in future projects, whether you want to take a breather and let AI handle that voiceover track, or fix or add to an existing recording without rerecording.

No, Descript does not allow others to clone your voice without your explicit consent. Your voice data is kept secure and confidential, and you can delete it at any time. We are committed to protecting our users' privacy and adhere to a strict  code of ethics .

You can use Descript to generate up to 5 minutes of text-to-speech audio totally free. Then you can upgrade to unlock 120 minutes of TTS generation per month, and a slew of other AI features, starting at $24/month.

Our free plan limits you to 5 minutes of text-to-speech audio generation, and 5 uses of Regenerate and Overdub to repair or change spoken audio. On our paid plans, you get monthly usage limits starting at $12/month for 30 text-to-speech minutes and 10 Regenerate and Overdub uses, among other perks.

You can improve the quality of your text-to-speech voice clone by recording in a quiet environment, speaking clearly and naturally as you read the sample script, using a high-quality microphone, and following Descript's recording guidelines in the prompt.

Do you restrict access to the service and platform for any specific countries?

• Updated September 06, 2024 16:49

We are required to restrict access from the following countries:

• North Korea
• The Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions of Ukraine

If you are connecting from one of these sanctioned countries, your access to our service will be blocked. If you believe you have been incorrectly blocked, you can contact us via https://help.elevenlabs.io/hc/en-us/requests/new .

Best free text-to-speech software of 2024

Find the best free text-to-speech software for free text to voice conversion

• Best overall
• Best custom voice
• Best for beginners
• Best Microsoft extension
• Best website reader
• How we test

The best free text-to-speech software makes it simple and easy to improve accessibility and productivity in your workflows.

1. Best overall 2. Best custom voice 3. Best for beginners 4. Best Microsoft extension 5. Best website reader 6. FAQs 7. How we test

In the digital era, the need for effective communication tools has led to a surge in the popularity of text-to-speech (TTS) software, and finding the best free text-to-speech software is essential for a variety of users, regardless of budget constraints. 

Text-to-speech software skillfully converts written text into spoken words using advanced technology, though often without grasping the context of the content. The best text-to-speech software not only accomplishes this task but also offers a selection of natural-sounding voices, catering to different preferences and project needs.

This technology is invaluable for creating accessible content, enhancing workplace productivity, adding voice-overs to videos, or simply assisting in proofreading by vocalizing written work. While many of today’s best free word processors , such as Google Docs, include basic TTS features that are accurate and continually improving, they may not meet all needs.

Stand-alone, app-based TTS tools, which should not be confused with the best speech-to-text apps , often have limitations compared to more comprehensive, free text-to-speech software. For instance, some might not allow the downloading of audio files, a feature crucial for creating content for platforms like YouTube and social media.

In our quest to identify the best free text-to-speech software, we have meticulously tested various options, assessing them based on user experience, performance, and output quality. Our guide aims to help you find the right text-to-speech tool, whatever your specific needs might be.

The best free text-to-speech software of 2024 in full:

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

The best free text-to-speech software overall

1. Natural Reader

Our expert review:

Reasons to buy

Reasons to avoid.

Natural Reader offers one of the best free text-to-speech software experiences, thanks to an easy-going interface and stellar results. It even features online and desktop versions. 

You'll find plenty of user options and customizations. The first is to load documents into its library and have them read aloud from there. This is a neat way to manage multiple files, and the number of supported file types is impressive, including eBook formats. There's also OCR, which enables you to load up a photo or scan of text, and have it spoken to you.

The second option takes the form of a floating toolbar. In this mode, you can highlight text in any application and use the toolbar controls to start and customize text-to-speech. This means you can very easily use the feature in your web browser, word processor and a range of other programs. There's also a browser extension to convert web content to speech more easily.

The TTS tool is available free, with three additional upgrades with more advanced features for power-users and professionals.

Read our full Natural Reader review .

• ^ Back to the top

The best free custom-voice text-to-speech software

2. Balabolka

There are a couple of ways to use Balabolka's top free text-to-speech software. You can either copy and paste text into the program, or you can open a number of supported file formats (including DOC, PDF, and HTML) in the program directly. 

In terms of output, you can use SAPI 4 complete with eight different voices to choose from, SAPI 5 with two, or the Microsoft Speech Platform. Whichever route you choose, you can adjust the speech, pitch and volume of playback to create a custom voice.

In addition to reading words aloud, this free text-to-speech software can also save narrations as audio files in a range of formats including MP3 and WAV. For lengthy documents, you can create bookmarks to make it easy to jump back to a specific location and there are excellent tools on hand to help you to customize the pronunciation of words to your liking.

With all these features to make life easier when reading text on a screen isn't an option, Balabolka is the best free text-to-speech software around.

For more help using Balabolka, see out guide on how to convert text to speech using this free software.

The best free text-to-speech software for beginners

3. Panopreter Basic

Panopreter Basic is the best free text-to-speech software if you’re looking for something simple, streamlined, no-frills, and hassle-free. 

It accepts plain and rich text files, web pages and Microsoft Word documents as input, and exports the resulting sound in both WAV and MP3 format (the two files are saved in the same location, with the same name).

The default settings work well for quick tasks, but spend a little time exploring Panopreter Basic's Settings menu and you'll find options to change the language, destination of saved audio files, and set custom interface colors. The software can even play a piece of music once it's finished reading – a nice touch you won't find in other free text-to-speech software.

If you need something more advanced, a premium version of Panopreter is available. This edition offers several additional features including toolbars for Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer , the ability to highlight the section of text currently being read, and extra voices.

The best free text-to-speech extension of Microsoft Word

4. WordTalk

Developed by the University of Edinburgh, WordTalk is a toolbar add-on for Word that brings customizable text-to-speech to Microsoft Word. It works with all editions of Word and is accessible via the toolbar or ribbon, depending on which version you're using.

The toolbar itself is certainly not the most attractive you'll ever see, appearing to have been designed by a child. Nor are all of the buttons' functions very clear, but thankfully there's a help file on hand to help.

There's no getting away from the fact that WordTalk is fairly basic, but it does support SAPI 4 and SAPI 5 voices, and these can be tweaked to your liking. The ability to just read aloud individual words, sentences or paragraphs is a particularly nice touch. You also have the option of saving narrations, and there are a number of keyboard shortcuts that allow for quick and easy access to frequently used options.

The best free text-to-speech software for websites

5. Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader

Despite its basic looks, Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader has more to offer than you might first think. You can open numerous file formats directly in the program, or just copy and paste text.

Alternatively, as long as you have the program running and the relevant option enables, Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader can read aloud any text you copy to the clipboard – great if you want to convert words from websites to speech – as well as dialog boxes that pop up. One of the best free text-to-speech software right now, this can also convert text files to WAV format.

Unfortunately the selection of voices is limited, and the only settings you can customize are volume and speed unless you burrow deep into settings to fiddle with pronunciations. Additional voices are available for an additional fee which seems rather steep, holding it back from a higher place in our list.

The best free text-to-speech software: FAQs

What are the limitations of free tts software.

As you might expect, some free versions of TTS software do come with certain limitations. These include the amount of choices you get for the different amount of voices in some case. For instance, Zabaware gives you two for free, but you have to pay if you want more. 

However, the best free software on this list come with all the bells and whistles that will be more than enough for the average user.

What is SAPI?

SAPI stands for Speech Application Programming Interface. It was developed by Microsoft to generate synthetic speech to allow computer programs to read aloud text. First used in its own applications such as Office, it is also employed by third party TTS software such as those featured in this list. 

In the context of TTS software, there are more SAPI 4 voices to choose from, whereas SAPI 5 voices are generally of a higher quality. 

Should I output files to MP3 or WAV?

Many free TTS programs give you the option to download an audio file of the speech to save and transfer to different devices.

MP3 is the most common audio format, and compatible with pretty much any modern device capable of playing back audio. The WAV format is also highly compatible too.

The main difference between the two is quality. WAV files are uncompressed, meaning fidelity is preserved as best as possible, at the cost of being considerably larger in size than MP3 files, which do compress.

Ultimately, however, MP3 files with a bit rate of 256 kbps and above should more than suffice, and you'll struggle to tell the difference when it comes to speech audio between them and WAV files.

How to choose the best free text-to-speech software

When selecting the best free text-to-speech software is best for you depends on a range of factors (not to mention personal preference).

Despite how simple the concept of text-to-speech is, there are many different features and aspects to such apps to take into consideration. These include how many voice options and customizations are present, how and where they operate in your setup, what formats they are able to read aloud from and what formats the audio can be saved as.

With free versions, naturally you'll want to take into account how many advanced features you get without paying, and whether any sacrifices are made to performance or usability. 

Always try to keep in mind what is fair and reasonable for free services - and as we've shown with our number one choice, you can get plenty of features for free, so if other options seem bare in comparison, then you'll know you can do better.

How we test the best free text-to-speech software

Our testing process for the best free text-to-speech software is thorough, examining all of their respective features and trying to throw every conceivable syllable at them to see how they perform.

We also want to test the accessibility features of these tools to see how they work for every kind of user out there. We have highlighted, for instance, whether certain software offer dyslexic-friendly fonts, such as the number two on our list, Natural Reader.

We also bear in mind that these are free versions, so where possible we compare and contrast their feature sets with paid-for rivals.

Finally, we look at how well TTS tools meet the needs of their intended users - whether it's designed for personal use or professional deployment. 

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Daryl had been freelancing for 3 years before joining TechRadar, now reporting on everything software-related. In his spare time, he's written a book, ' The Making of Tomb Raider '. His second book, ' 50 Years of Boss Fights ', came out in 2024, with a third book coming in 2025. He also has a newsletter called ' Springboard '. He's usually found playing games old and new on his Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, and MacBook Pro. If you have a story about an updated app, one that's about to launch, or just anything Software-related, drop him a line.

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Free Text to Speech Software (TTS)

An easy way to convert text to voice that’s fast and straightforward – it’ll make your message more catchy and inclusive., listen to any text, book, email, or pdf you need to read to save hours of time & understand more with speechify.

Why do you need narration in your videos?

Adding narration to your videos will help you to gain and maintain the viewer’s attention.  This will, in turn, help you to make the message of your video easier to understand, and you´ll be able to drive action with your content

How does text to speech software work?

The online voice generator will make do its magic. Click play to listen to your message and download it as an mp3 file.

It’s simple and free.

Tutorial Video

Promo Video

App Demo Video

Need help creating your videos, talk to our wideo pros and get a quote on an editable video of your own..

Speech to Text - Voice Typing & Transcription

Take notes with your voice for free, or automatically transcribe audio & video recordings. amazingly accurate, secure & blazing fast..

~ Proudly serving millions of users since 2015 ~

I need to >

Dictate Notes

Start taking notes, on our online voice-enabled notepad right away, for free. Learn more.

Transcribe Recordings

Automatically transcribe (& optionally translate) recordings, audio and video files, YouTubes and more, in no time. Learn more.

Speechnotes is a reliable and secure web-based speech-to-text tool that enables you to quickly and accurately transcribe & translate your audio and video recordings, as well as dictate your notes instead of typing, saving you time and effort. With features like voice commands for punctuation and formatting, automatic capitalization, and easy import/export options, Speechnotes provides an efficient and user-friendly dictation and transcription experience. Proudly serving millions of users since 2015, Speechnotes is the go-to tool for anyone who needs fast, accurate & private transcription. Our Portfolio of Complementary Speech-To-Text Tools Includes:

Voice typing - Chrome extension

Dictate instead of typing on any form & text-box across the web. Including on Gmail, and more.

Transcription API & webhooks

Speechnotes' API enables you to send us files via standard POST requests, and get the transcription results sent directly to your server.

Zapier integration

Combine the power of automatic transcriptions with Zapier's automatic processes. Serverless & codeless automation! Connect with your CRM, phone calls, Docs, email & more.

Android Speechnotes app

Speechnotes' notepad for Android, for notes taking on your mobile, battle tested with more than 5Million downloads. Rated 4.3+ ⭐

iOS TextHear app

TextHear for iOS, works great on iPhones, iPads & Macs. Designed specifically to help people with hearing impairment participate in conversations. Please note, this is a sister app - so it has its own pricing plan.

Audio & video converting tools

Tools developed for fast - batch conversions of audio files from one type to another and extracting audio only from videos for minimizing uploads.

Our Sister Apps for Text-To-Speech & Live Captioning

Complementary to Speechnotes

Reads out loud texts, files & web pages

Listen on the go to any written content, from custom texts to websites & e-books, for free.

Speechlogger

Live Captioning & Translation

Live captions & simultaneous translation for conferences, online meetings, webinars & more.

Need Human Transcription? We Can Offer a 10% Discount Coupon

We do not provide human transcription services ourselves, but, we partnered with a UK company that does. Learn more on human transcription and the 10% discount .

Dictation Notepad

Start taking notes with your voice for free

Speech to Text online notepad. Professional, accurate & free speech recognizing text editor. Distraction-free, fast, easy to use web app for dictation & typing.

Speechnotes is a powerful speech-enabled online notepad, designed to empower your ideas by implementing a clean & efficient design, so you can focus on your thoughts. We strive to provide the best online dictation tool by engaging cutting-edge speech-recognition technology for the most accurate results technology can achieve today, together with incorporating built-in tools (automatic or manual) to increase users' efficiency, productivity and comfort. Works entirely online in your Chrome browser. No download, no install and even no registration needed, so you can start working right away.

Speechnotes is especially designed to provide you a distraction-free environment. Every note, starts with a new clear white paper, so to stimulate your mind with a clean fresh start. All other elements but the text itself are out of sight by fading out, so you can concentrate on the most important part - your own creativity. In addition to that, speaking instead of typing, enables you to think and speak it out fluently, uninterrupted, which again encourages creative, clear thinking. Fonts and colors all over the app were designed to be sharp and have excellent legibility characteristics.

Example use cases

• Voice typing
• Writing notes, thoughts
• Medical forms - dictate
• Transcribers (listen and dictate)

Transcription Service

Start transcribing

Fast turnaround - results within minutes. Includes timestamps, auto punctuation and subtitles at unbeatable price. Protects your privacy: no human in the loop, and (unlike many other vendors) we do NOT keep your audio. Pay per use, no recurring payments. Upload your files or transcribe directly from Google Drive, YouTube or any other online source. Simple. No download or install. Just send us the file and get the results in minutes.

• Transcribe interviews
• Captions for Youtubes & movies
• Auto-transcribe phone calls or voice messages
• Students - transcribe lectures
• Podcasters - enlarge your audience by turning your podcasts into textual content
• Text-index entire audio archives

Key Advantages

Speechnotes is powered by the leading most accurate speech recognition AI engines by Google & Microsoft. We always check - and make sure we still use the best. Accuracy in English is very good and can easily reach 95% accuracy for good quality dictation or recording.

Lightweight & fast

Both Speechnotes dictation & transcription are lightweight-online no install, work out of the box anywhere you are. Dictation works in real time. Transcription will get you results in a matter of minutes.

Super Private & Secure!

Super private - no human handles, sees or listens to your recordings! In addition, we take great measures to protect your privacy. For example, for transcribing your recordings - we pay Google's speech to text engines extra - just so they do not keep your audio for their own research purposes.

Health advantages

Typing may result in different types of Computer Related Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI). Voice typing is one of the main recommended ways to minimize these risks, as it enables you to sit back comfortably, freeing your arms, hands, shoulders and back altogether.

Saves you time

Need to transcribe a recording? If it's an hour long, transcribing it yourself will take you about 6! hours of work. If you send it to a transcriber - you will get it back in days! Upload it to Speechnotes - it will take you less than a minute, and you will get the results in about 20 minutes to your email.

Saves you money

Speechnotes dictation notepad is completely free - with ads - or a small fee to get it ad-free. Speechnotes transcription is only $0.1/minute, which is X10 times cheaper than a human transcriber! We offer the best deal on the market - whether it's the free dictation notepad ot the pay-as-you-go transcription service.

Dictation - Free

• Online dictation notepad
• Voice typing Chrome extension

Dictation - Premium

• Premium online dictation notepad
• Premium voice typing Chrome extension
• Support from the development team

Transcription

$0.1 /minute.

• Pay as you go - no subscription
• Audio & video recordings
• Speaker diarization in English
• Generate captions .srt files
• REST API, webhooks & Zapier integration

Compare plans

Privacy Policy

We at Speechnotes, Speechlogger, TextHear, Speechkeys value your privacy, and that's why we do not store anything you say or type or in fact any other data about you - unless it is solely needed for the purpose of your operation. We don't share it with 3rd parties, other than Google / Microsoft for the speech-to-text engine.

Privacy - how are the recordings and results handled?

- transcription service.

Our transcription service is probably the most private and secure transcription service available.

• HIPAA compliant.
• No human in the loop. No passing your recording between PCs, emails, employees, etc.
• Secure encrypted communications (https) with and between our servers.
• Recordings are automatically deleted from our servers as soon as the transcription is done.
• Our contract with Google / Microsoft (our speech engines providers) prohibits them from keeping any audio or results.
• Transcription results are securely kept on our secure database. Only you have access to them - only if you sign in (or provide your secret credentials through the API)
• You may choose to delete the transcription results - once you do - no copy remains on our servers.

- Dictation notepad & extension

For dictation, the recording & recognition - is delegated to and done by the browser (Chrome / Edge) or operating system (Android). So, we never even have access to the recorded audio, and Edge's / Chrome's / Android's (depending the one you use) privacy policy apply here.

The results of the dictation are saved locally on your machine - via the browser's / app's local storage. It never gets to our servers. So, as long as your device is private - your notes are private.

Payments method privacy

The whole payments process is delegated to PayPal / Stripe / Google Pay / Play Store / App Store and secured by these providers. We never receive any of your credit card information.

More generic notes regarding our site, cookies, analytics, ads, etc.

• We may use Google Analytics on our site - which is a generic tool to track usage statistics.
• We use cookies - which means we save data on your browser to send to our servers when needed. This is used for instance to sign you in, and then keep you signed in.
• For the dictation tool - we use your browser's local storage to store your notes, so you can access them later.
• Non premium dictation tool serves ads by Google. Users may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Ads Settings . Alternatively, users can opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting https://youradchoices.com/
• In case you would like to upload files to Google Drive directly from Speechnotes - we'll ask for your permission to do so. We will use that permission for that purpose only - syncing your speech-notes to your Google Drive, per your request.

Realistic Text-to-Speech AI converter

Create realistic Voiceovers online! Insert any text to generate speech and download audio mp3 or wav for any purpose. Speak a text with AI-powered voices.You can convert text to voice for free for reference only. For all features, purchase the paid plans

How to convert text into speech?

• Just type some text or import your written content
• Press "generate" button
• Download MP3 / WAV

Full list of benefits of neural voices

Multi-voice editor.

Dialogue with AI Voices . You can use several voices at once in one text.

Over 1000 Natural Sounding Voices

Crystal-clear voice over like a Human. Males, females, children's, elderly voices.

You spend little on re-dubbing the text. Limits are spent only for changed sentences in the text. Read more about our cost-effective Limit System . Enjoy full control over your spending with one-time payments for only what you use. Pay as you go : get flexible, cost-effective access to our neural network voiceover services without subscriptions.

If your Limit balance is sufficient, you can use a single query to convert a text of up to 2,000,000 characters into speech.

Commercial Use

You can use the generated audio for commercial purposes. Examples: YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitch, Twitter, Podcasts, Video Ads, Advertising, E-book, Presentation and other.

Custom voice settings

Change Speed, Pitch, Stress, Pronunciation, Intonation , Emphasis , Pauses and more. SSML support .

SRT to audio

Subtitles to Audio : Convert your subtitle file into perfectly timed multilingual voiceovers with our advanced neural networks.

Downloadable TTS

You can download converted audio files in MP3, WAV, OGG for free.

Powerful support

We will help you with any questions about text-to-speech. Ask any questions, even the simplest ones. We are happy to help.

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Works with any video creation software: Adobe Premier, After effects, Audition, DaVinci Resolve, Apple Motion, Camtasia, iMovie, Audacity, etc.

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All your files and texts are automatically saved in your profile on our cloud server. Add tracks to your favorites in one click.

Use our text to voice converter to make videos with natural sounding speech!

Say goodbye to expensive traditional audio creation

Cheap price. Create a professional voiceover in real time for pennies. it is 100 times cheaper than a live speaker.

Traditional audio creation

• Expensive live speakers, high prices
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• The announcer in the studio voices a long time. It takes time to give him a task and accept it.

• Affordable tts generation starting at $0.08 per 1000 characters
• Website accessible in your browser right now
• Intuitive interface, suitable for beginners
• SpeechGen generates text from speech very quickly. A few clicks and the audio is ready.

Create AI-generated realistic voice-overs.

Ways to use. Cases.

See how other people are already using our realistic speech synthesis. There are hundreds of variations in applications. Here are some of them.

• Voice over for videos. Commercial, YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, and other social media. Add voice to any videos!
• E-learning material. Ex: learning foreign languages, listening to lectures, instructional videos.
• Advertising. Increase installations and sales! Create AI-generated realistic voice-overs for video ads, promo, and creatives.
• Public places. Synthesizing speech from text is needed for airports, bus stations, parks, supermarkets, stadiums, and other public areas.
• Podcasts. Turn text into podcasts to increase content reach. Publish your audio files on iTunes, Spotify, and other podcast services.
• Mobile apps and desktop software. The synthesized ai voices make the app friendly.
• Essay reader. Read your essay out loud to write a better paper.
• Presentations. Use text-to-speech for impressive PowerPoint presentations and slideshow.
• Reading documents. Save your time reading documents aloud with a speech synthesizer.
• Book reader. Use our text-to-speech web app for ebook reading aloud with natural voices.
• Welcome audio messages for websites. It is a perfect way to re-engage with your audience. 
• Online article reader. Internet users translate texts of interesting articles into audio and listen to them to save time.
• Voicemail greeting generator. Record voice-over for telephone systems phone greetings.
• Online narrator to read fairy tales aloud to children.
• For fun. Use the robot voiceover to create memes, creativity, and gags.

Maximize your content’s potential with an audio-version. Increase audience engagement and drive business growth.

Who uses Text to Speech?

SpeechGen.io is a service with artificial intelligence used by about 1,000 people daily for different purposes. Here are examples.

Video makers create voiceovers for videos. They generate audio content without expensive studio production.

Newsmakers convert text to speech with computerized voices for news reporting and sports announcing.

Students and busy professionals to quickly explore content

Foreigners. Second-language students who want to improve their pronunciation or listen to the text comprehension

Software developers add synthesized speech to programs to improve the user experience.

Marketers. Easy-to-produce audio content for any startups

IVR voice recordings. Generate prompts for interactive voice response systems.

Educators. Foreign language teachers generate voice from the text for audio examples.

Booklovers use Speechgen as an out loud book reader. The TTS voiceover is downloadable. Listen on any device.

HR departments and e-learning professionals can make learning modules and employee training with ai text to speech online software.

Webmasters convert articles to audio with lifelike robotic voices. TTS audio increases the time on the webpage and the depth of views.

Animators use ai voices for dialogue and character speech.

Text to Speech enables brands, companies, and organizations to deliver enhanced end-user experience, while minimizing costs.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Enhance Your Content Accessibility

Boost your experience with our additional features. Easily convert PDFs, DOCx files, and video subtitles into natural-sounding audio.

📄🔊 PDF to Audio

Transform your PDF documents into audible content for easier consumption and enhanced accessibility.

📝🎧 DOCx to mp3

Easily convert Word documents into speech for listening on the go or for those who prefer audio format

🔊📰 WordPress plugin

Enhance your WordPress site with our plugin for article voiceovers, embedding an audio player directly on your site to boost user engagement and diversify your content.

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Free Text-To-Speech and Text-to-MP3 for US English

Easily convert your US English text into professional speech for free. Perfect for e-learning, presentations, YouTube videos and increasing the accessibility of your website. Our voices pronounce your texts in their own language using a specific accent. Plus, these texts can be downloaded as MP3. In some languages, multiple speakers are available.

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Input limit: 3,000 characters / Don't forget to turn on your speakers :-)

Hint: If you finish a sentence, leave a space after the dot before the next one starts for better pronunciation.

Here are some features to use while generating speech:

Add a break, emphasizing words, conversations.

Please note: Remove any diacritical signs from the speakers names when using this, Léa = Lea, Penélope = Penelope

Need more effects or customization? Please refer to the Amazon SSML Tags for Amazon Polly

Facts about the us english language:.

English was brought to Britain in the mid 5th to 7th centuries. If you were to ask those who don't speak English whether or not it's a hard language to learn, you'd likely get more than a few who insist that it is among the hardest.

Though, it can be argued that English is easy since it has no gender, no word agreement, and no cases. Yet, it does have words such as through, threw, and thru, all sounds the same, but are spelled differently, and can't be used interchangeably.

English also has polish, and Polish. One is used to make furniture shine, while the other is a language. Or take resume and resume, one is used when you're filling out job applications, and the other is used when you want to tell someone to carry on with what they're doing.

As you can see above, the English language can be challenging, however, it's far from the most difficult language to learn. With a bit of study, and some practice, almost anyone can learn English. One of the best ways to learn the language is to find a friend who speaks English, and is willing to have conversations with you. This will help you immerse yourself in the language and pick up on the nuances, and speech patterns of English. With a bit of practice, you'll soon be speaking English like it's your native language.

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Current Limit: ~375 words or 3,000 characters / day | Powered by AWS Polly

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Voice   Generator

This web app allows you to generate voice audio from text - no login needed, and it's completely free! It uses your browser's built-in voice synthesis technology, and so the voices will differ depending on the browser that you're using. You can download the audio as a file, but note that the downloaded voices may be different to your browser's voices because they are downloaded from an external text-to-speech server. If you don't like the externally-downloaded voice, you can use a recording app on your device to record the "system" or "internal" sound while you're playing the generated voice audio.

Want more voices? You can download the generated audio and then use voicechanger.io to add effects to the voice. For example, you can make the voice sound more robotic, or like a giant ogre, or an evil demon. You can even use it to reverse the generated audio, randomly distort the speed of the voice throughout the audio, add a scary ghost effect, or add an "anonymous hacker" effect to it.

Note: If the list of available text-to-speech voices is small, or all the voices sound the same, then you may need to install text-to-speech voices on your device. Many operating systems (including some versions of Android, for example) only come with one voice by default, and the others need to be downloaded in your device's settings. If you don't know how to install more voices, and you can't find a tutorial online, you can try downloading the audio with the download button instead. As mentioned above, the downloaded audio uses external voices which may be different to your device's local ones.

You're free to use the generated voices for any purpose - no attribution needed. You could use this website as a free voice over generator for narrating your videos in cases where don't want to use your real voice. You can also adjust the pitch of the voice to make it sound younger/older, and you can even adjust the rate/speed of the generated speech, so you can create a fast-talking high-pitched chipmunk voice if you want to.

Note: If you have offline-compatible voices installed on your device (check your system Text-To-Speech settings), then this web app works offline! Find the "add to homescreen" or "install" button in your browser to add a shortcut to this app in your home screen. And note that if you don't have an internet connection, or if for some reason the voice audio download isn't working for you, you can also use a recording app that records your devices "internal" or "system" sound.

Got some feedback? You can share it with me here .

If you like this project check out these: AI Chat , AI Anime Generator , AI Image Generator , and AI Story Generator .

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John Leguizamo applauds Emmys diversity in fervent speech: ‘Our industry is making progress’

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John Leguizamo delivered an impassioned speech about Latinx representation in the television industry at the 76th Emmy Awards on Sunday.

The actor, who has penned several open letters urging Hollywood executives to recognize actors of color — including a 2022 piece published in The Times — said during the awards show at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live that, when it comes to promoting diversity in film and television, “not complaining doesn’t change anything.”

Leguizamo delivered his pointed, and loudly applauded, remarks while introducing the chair of the Television Academy, Cris Abrego . Read his full speech below.

All the best and worst moments of the 2024 Emmys, as they happened

Our writers break down the biggest winners, best moments and more from the 2024 Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.

Sept. 15, 2024

What’s up? I’m John Leguizamo , and I’m one of Hollywood’s DEI hires. That’s right. DEI, the D is for diligence, the E is for excellence, the I is for imagination. And everyone in this room tonight has dedicated their lives to diligence, excellence and imagination, so we are all DEI hires. And man, what a beautiful and diverse room this is tonight, ¡ Wepa!

Because when I was going up in Jackson Heights, Queens, a scrawny little wannabe gangster — [to audience members clapping] you’re not from Queens, don’t lie — I didn’t know that people like me could be actors. At 15, I didn’t know the word representation. Actually, a lot of words I didn’t know back then. But I saw a lot of brown face. I saw Marlon Brando play a Mexican in “Viva Zapata!” and Al Pacino played Cuban gangster Tony Montana, and Natalie Wood play a Puerto Rican beauty named Maria. Everybody played us, except us.

I didn’t see a lot of people on TV who look like me. Of course, there was always Ricky Ricardo, “Lucy, you got a lot of ’splaining to do.” And I know some of you remember the Looney Tunes cartoon mouse Speedy Gonzale s , the fastest mouse in all of Mexico, “¡Arriba Arriba! ¡Ándale!” and his lethargic, useless sidekick, Slowpoke Rodriguez: “Sorry, Señor Pussycat, I can’t play wit’ ‘chu no more, it’s time for my siesta.”

That’s how we saw ourselves because that’s all we saw of ourselves. I used to watch “Star Trek” and think, “Wow. In the future, there ain’t gonna be no Latin people! But at least, then, the food will suck.” And for years, I didn’t complain about the limited roles my people were offered: the spicy sexpot, the Latin lover, the maid, the gang-banger. Turns out, not complaining doesn’t change anything.

Greg Berlanti accepts Governors Award at Emmys and speaks about LGBTQ+ representation

Writer, producer and director Greg Berlanti received this year’s Governors Award, given by the Television Academy at the Emmys.

So for the past few years, I’ve been complaining. A few months ago, I took out a full page ad in the New York Times, asking Emmy voters to recognize candidates of color, and it’s a good thing I decided to do it before I found out how much a full page ad in the New York Times costs. But the ad worked because, overnight, Hollywood changed. OK, not really.

But what I see here tonight makes me, well, almost happy and certainly less angry, because tonight is among the most diverse list of nominees in Emmys history. I see lots of my incredibly talented Latinx brothers and sisters. Selena Gomez is nominated for “Only Murders in the Building,” and she’s been carrying Steve Martin and Martin Short for three whole seasons [audience laughs] . Sofia Vergara is nominated for “Griselda” — dale , homegirl!

Issa López is being recognized for “True Detective: Night Country,” which also had Indigenous actress Kali Reis in a lead role. Yes, sir. And Nava Mau, who was born in Mexico City and starred in “Baby Reindeer,” and she’s the first transgender person ever nominated for a limited series acting Emmy. Also, my pal, Liza Colón-Zayas — ¡baya! — she won for “The Bear,” the charming story of white people who are obsessed with Michelin stars and making kale taste good.

2024 Emmy Awards: The complete list of winners

Here is the list of winners for the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, which honors the best of television from the 2023-2024 season.

That’s five Latinx nominees being honored tonight — six, if you count Mark Cuban from “Shark Tank.” His last name is Cuban, that counts. And here’s another sign of progress: Right after I took that ad out in the New York Times, a cademy members elected the first ever Latino chair. Mero mero, Cris Abrego. You’re welcome, Hollywood. I did it.

[The announcer for the ceremony speaks: Actually, John, Cris Abrego was elected chair of the Television Academy in November 2023, which was eight months before your ad.”]

Yeah, whatever. But we need more stories from excluded groups: Black, Asian, Jewish, Arab, LGBTQ+ and disabled. And this show tonight is proof that our industry is making progress. So I am delighted to introduce to you someone who is committed to protecting and fostering that progress, please welcome the chair of the Television Academy, Cris Abrego.

More to Read

Emmys 2024 red carpet: See all the best fashion

Rep. Joaquin Castro says ‘Blood In, Blood Out’ should be added to the National Film Registry

Aug. 28, 2024

Selena Gomez’s ‘Murders in the Building’ acting-producer roles and more Latinos break Emmy barriers

July 17, 2024

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You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

Ashley Lee is a staff reporter at the Los Angeles Times, where she writes about theater, movies, television and the bustling intersection of the stage and the screen. An alum of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Critics Institute and Poynter’s Power of Diverse Voices, she leads workshops on arts journalism at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. She was previously a New York-based editor at the Hollywood Reporter and has written for the Washington Post, Backstage and American Theatre, among others.

Malia Mendez began writing for the Los Angeles Times in 2023. A previous summer intern on the Entertainment and Arts Desk, she graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s in journalism. Mendez got her start in journalism at the Stanford Daily, where she worked as managing editor of the newspaper’s Arts & Life section. Her byline can be found in Los Angeles Magazine, the Orange County Register and the Peninsula Press. She is from Irvine.

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Joke’s on ‘The Bear’ — ‘Hacks’ gets a surprise Emmy win for best comedy series

‘Shōgun’ wins Emmys for top drama awards including series and lead acting

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Blog of the Textual Records Division at the National Archives

The Text Message

Khrushchev’s Secret Speech, 1956

Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD.

Josef Stalin presided over the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) from 1928 until he died in March 1953. ( See this post for a humorous reaction to his death .) His standing in the U.S.S.R. at the time of his death was such that his body was placed in the mausoleum in Red Square in which Soviet founder V.I. Lenin is preserved.

In 1956, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union held the first party Congress after the death of Stalin, the twentieth in a line going back to before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.  The Department of State and the United States Information Agency (USIA) sent out a policy statement on the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on February 8, 1956. [1]   In a statement that soon became supremely ironic, the guidance stated “The 20th Party Congress will probably not bring any surprises on policy issues.”  Thus, the Western Powers were astounded when in March 1956, word began to leak out that Stalin had been censured on February 25 at the Twentieth Party Congress. 

The party Congress took place in Moscow from February 14 to February 25.  At a closed session on the last day, Nikita Khrushchev gave a speech denouncing Stalin.  It became known as “The Secret Speech.”  The open sessions, which had been reported on by U.S. diplomats in the U.S.S.R., had included criticism of Stalin, especially the concept of one-man rule.  Khrushchev had given what U.S. ambassador to the U.S.S.R. Charles “Chip” Bohlen called a “long” and “tiresome” speech during an open session. [2]   Nothing, however, approached what Khrushchev said on the last day.

Ambassador Bohlen later wrote that the speech “unmasked Stalin as the instigator of the terror of the 1930s, when millions were shot to death; as a coward who was paralyzed by fear at the time of the Nazi invasion; as a stupid military strategist, who sent thousand of troops to senseless deaths; as a supreme egotist, who rewrote books to glorify himself.” [3]  Khrushchev, however, carefully avoided discussing activities in which he would be implicated in favor of focusing on those involving his competitors on the Presidium.  Nevertheless, the revelations sent shock waves through the Soviet bloc.  Communist leaders in the bloc were cast adrift and left without direction on how to proceed.  The revelations may even have contributed to the Polish uprising in June 1956 and the Hungarian revolution of October 1956.

Even before learning the details of and securing a summary or copy of Khrushchev’s speech, the U.S. began to position itself to take advantage of the revelations.  Rumors of the speech first reached Ambassador Bohlen on March 10, at a reception at the French embassy. [4]   Enough was known, or thought to be known, that the speech was the subject of discussion at a March 22 meeting of the National Security Council during which President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles indicated they believed that the speech could be turned to U.S. advantage. [5]   That same day, the USIA took steps to make that so, issuing interim guidance on how to use what was known about the anti-Stalin speech to U.S. advantage.  Key portions of the guidance include: [6]

Still without a copy of the speech, in early April, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles made the following pointed statement. [7]

In mid-April, still without any definitive detailed information about the speech, the Department of State and USIA sent out another guide for use in dealing with the anti-Stalin movement.  It noted that “The U.S. public position has been set forth by Secretary Dulles in a carefully considered statement made at his press conference on April 3.  It should serve as the basic guideline for all official [propaganda] output.” [8]

The document included sections headed “The contrast between Communism and the Democratic Way of Life,” “Discrediting Stalin does not Destroy Stalinism,” and “Meanwhile we must keep our guard up.”  It also provided guidance on tailoring the effort to the various audiences: the USSR, the Soviet Bloc, the Free World, and Yugoslavia.  Posts were informed that Guidance on the Far East was forthcoming.

The promised guidance on the Far East, entitled “The Far East and the Soviet Anti-Stalin Campaign,” for use by USIA was issued eight days later.  After four pages of background, the document included the following policy guidance. [9]

The best available evidence indicates that the U.S. secured a detailed summary, copy, or near copy, of the full speech in mid-May.  For more detail on how the U.S. secured the text of the speech and how it was analyzed and used, see Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955-57, Volume XXIV: Soviet Union; Eastern Mediterranean and Ambassador Bohlen’s memoir, Witness to History, 1929-1969 .

See posts here and here for Department of State reaction to the publication of Nikita Khrushchev’s memoirs.

[1] Policy Information Statement EUR-243: 20th Congress of the CPSU, enclosed in Circular Airgram 6001, February 8, 1956, file 511.00/3-2256 ( NAID 171392418 ), 1955-59 Central Decimal File, RG 59: General Records of the Department of State.  Printed in Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955-57, Volume XXIV: Soviet Union; Eastern Mediterranean .

[2] Charles E. Bohlen, Witness to History, 1929-1969 (New York: W.W. Norton, 1973), p. 394.  Diplomatic reporting was based on public statements published in “Pravda” or other publications as foreign diplomats were not allowed to attend. 

[3] Bohlen, p. 396.

[4] Bohlen, pp. 396-97.

[5] Memorandum of Discussion, 280th Meeting of the National Security Council, March 22, 1956, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955-57, Volume XXIV: Soviet Union; Eastern Mediterranean , pp. 72-75.

[6] United States Information Agency, Joint State-USIA Circular Telegram 408, March 22, 1956, file 511.00/3-2256 ( NAID 171392418 ), 1955-59 Central Decimal File, RG 59: General Records of the Department of State.

[7] Department of State, Press Release No. 171, April 3, 1956, Press Releases, 1912-1990 ( NAID 602158 ), RG 59: General Records of the Department of State.

[8] United States Information Agency, Joint State-USIA Circular Airgram 2005, April 12, 1956, file 511.00/4-1256 ( NAID 171392418 ), 1955-59 Central Decimal File, RG 59: General Records of the Department of State.

[9] Policy Information Statement FE-243: The Far East and the Soviet Anti-Stalin Campaign, enclosed in Circular Airgram 8285, April 20, 1956, file 511.00/4-2056 ( NAID 171392418 ), 1955-59 Central Decimal File, RG 59: General Records of the Department of State. Sent to the embassies and consulates in Bangkok, Canberra, Djakarta, Fukuoka, Hong Kong, Kobe, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Medan, Melbourne, Nagoya, Phnom Penh, Rangoon, Saigon, Sapporo, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo, Vientiane, and Wellington. 

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V. I. Lenin

Speech delivered at the, first all-russia congress of working cossacks [1], march 1, 1920.

Delivered: 1 March, 1920 First Published: Pravda Nos. 47, 48 and 49, March 2, 3 and 4, 1920; Published according to the Pravda text, verified with the booklet, V. I. Lenin, Speech Delivered at the First All-Russia Congress of Working Cossacks, Moscow, 1920 Source: Lenin’s Collected Works , 4th English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1965, Volume 30, page 380-400 Translated: George Hanna Transcription/HTML Markup: David Walters & Robert Cymbala Copyleft: V. I. Lenin Internet Archive (www.marx.org) 2002. Permission is granted to copy and/or distribute this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Comrades, allow me first of all to greet the Congress on behalf of the Council of People’s Commissars. I very much regret that I was unable to attend your meeting on the opening day and did not hear Comrade Kalinin’s report. But from what he has told me I conclude that many things relating to the direct and immediate tasks of Soviet development, and especially to the Cossacks, were dealt with in his speech. I should, therefore, like to deal mostly with the international situation of the Soviet Republic and the tasks which confront all the working masses, including the Cossacks, because of this situation.

Never has the international position of the Soviet Republic been as favourable and as triumphant as it is now. If some thought is given to the way our international situation has evolved in the course of two years of untold difficulties and incredible sacrifices, if some thought is given to the reasons for it, any intelligent person will discern the main forces, the mainsprings, and the chief alignment of forces in the incipient world revolution.

When, over two years ago, at the very beginning of the Russian revolution, we spoke about this approaching international, world revolution, it was a prevision, and to a certain extent a prediction. And the vast majority of the working people who did not live in the large cities and who had no had a schooling in the Party greeted this talk of an approaching world revolution with either mistrust or indifference, and at any rate with scanty understanding. And, indeed, it was impossible and would have been unnatural to expect the vast mass of the working population, especially the peasant, farming population, who are scattered over an immense territory, to form in advance anything like a correct idea of why world revolution was approaching, and whether it really was international. Our experience during these two incredibly difficult years and the experience of the working masses of remote border regions are worthy of attention, and not of merely being brushed aside with the remark that times were hard but have now become easier. Yes, we must give thought to the reason why things happened as they did, to the significance of their happening as they did, and to the lessons that are to be drawn from this; we must see which party’s views have been borne out by what our own history and world history have demonstrated during these two years. That is what I would like to deal with first of all.

From the standpoint of the international situation the issue is quite clear; when the matter is taken on a broad scale and regarded not from the standpoint of one party or of one country, but from the standpoint of all countries together, when the matter is taken on a broad scale, then particular and trifling details recede into the background and the chief motive forces of world history become apparent.

When we began the October Revolution by overthrowing the power of the landowners and capitalists, appealing for the termination of the war, and addressing this appeal to our enemies; when after this we came under the yoke of the German imperialists; when after this, in October and November 1918, Germany was crushed, and Britain, France, America and the other Entente countries became the lords of the earth—what was our situation then? The vast majority asked whether it was not then obvious that the cause of the Bolsheviks was hopeless. And many added, “Not only is it hopeless, but the Bolsheviks have turned out to be frauds. They promised peace, but instead, after the German yoke had been thrown off and Germany defeated, they were found to be enemies of the whole Entente—that is, of Britain, France, America and Japan, the most powerful countries in the world; and Russia, ruined, weakened and exhausted by the imperialist war, and moreover by the Civil War, has now to hold out in a fight against the foremost countries of the world.” This was easy to believe; and it is not surprising that lack of faith made indifference and often actual hostility to the Soviet government more and more widespread. There is nothing surprising in it. What is surprising is that we emerged victorious from the struggle against Yudenich, Kolchak and Denikin who were supported in every possible way by all the wealthiest powers in the world, powers which no other military force on earth can even approximately equal. The truth of this is clear to everybody, even to the blind, and even to those who are worse than blind, those who refuse to see at any price—even to them it is clear that we have emerged from this struggle victorious.

How did this miracle happen? It is to this question that I would like most of all to direct your attention, because it most clearly reveals the chief motive forces of the entire international revolution. By analysing this question in a practical way, we can supply an answer to it, for this is something we have already been through; we are able to say what happened after the event.

We were victorious because we could be and were united, and because we were able to win over allies from the camp of our enemies. And our enemies, who are immeasurably stronger than we are, suffered defeat because they were not, never could be and never will be united, and because every month they fought against us brought them further disintegration within their own camp.

I shall now speak about the fact which proves these statements.

You know that after Germany was defeated, there was nobody in the world to oppose Britain, France and America. They had robbed Germany of her colonies, and there was no corner on earth, there was not a single country, where the military might of the Entente did not prevail. It would seem that under such circumstances, enemies of Soviet Russia as they were, they must have clearly realised that Bolshevism aims at world revolution. We have never made a secret of the fact that our revolution is only the beginning, that its victorious end will come only when we have lit up the whole world with these same fires of revolution. And we realised quite clearly that the capitalists were frenzied enemies of the Soviet government. It should be mentioned that when the European struggle was over they had an army of millions, and a powerful navy, to which we could not oppose even the semblance of a navy or an army of any strength. And all they had to do was to employ a few hundred thousand soldiers of this army of millions in the war against us in the same way as they were employed in the war against Germany, and the Entente would have crushed us. There cannot be the slightest doubt of this in the minds of those who have examined this question from the theoretical standpoint, and especially of those who went through the last war and know it from their own experience and observation.

Both Britain and France tried to seize Russia in this way. They concluded a treaty with Japan, who had taken practically no direct part in the imperialist war but who supplied a hundred thousand or so soldiers to crush the Soviet Republic, acting from the Far East. Britain at that time landed troops at Murmansk and Archangel, not to mention the movement in the Caucasus, while France landed soldiers and sailors in the South. This was the first historical phase of the struggle we sustained.

The Entente at that time had an army of millions and its soldiers were, of course, far superior to the whiteguard troops which were mustering in Russia and which had neither organisers nor arms. And it sent these soldiers against us. But what the Bolsheviks had predicted happened. They said that it was not only the Russian revolution that was concerned, but the world revolution as well, and that the Bolsheviks had allies in the workers of all civilised countries. These prophecies were not realised in their direct form at the time we proposed peace to all countries. [2] Our appeal did not meet with a general response. But the strike in Germany in January 1918 [3] showed us that there we had the support of fairly large forces of workers and not only of Liebknecht, who even in the days of the Kaiser had the courage to declare publicly that the government and the bourgeoisie of Germany were robbers. This strike ended in bloodshed and the suppression of the workers. In the Entente countries, of course, the bourgeoisie deceived the workers, either lying about our appeal or not publishing it at all. For this reason the appeal we made in November 1917 to all the nations produced no direct result, and those who thought that this appeal alone would call forth revolution were bound, of course, to be bitterly disappointed. But we did not count only upon the appeal; we counted upon more profound motive forces. We said that the revolution would proceed differently in different countries, and that of course it was not merely a matter of removing a protégé of Rasputin or a villainous landowner, but of a struggle against the more developed and enlightened bourgeoisie.

And so, when the British landed troops in the North and the French in the South, the decisive test and the final denouement began. The question of who was right was now to receive its answer. Were the Bolsheviks right when they said that in order to win the fight they had to rely upon the workers? Or were the Mensheviks right when they said that an attempt to make a revolution in one country would be senseless and foolhardy, because it would be crushed by other countries? You heard this kind of talk not only from Party people but even from people who were just beginning to think about politics. And then came the acid test. For a long time we did not know what the result would be; for a long time we could not judge the result; but now, after the event, we know what it was. Even in the English newspapers, in spite of the frenzied lies about the Bolsheviks told by all the bourgeois papers—even in those papers letters began to appear from British soldiers near Archangel, saying that on Russian soil they had come across leaflets in English explaining to them that they had been deceived, that they were being led against workers and peasants who had set up their own state. These soldiers wrote that they did not want to fight. As for France, we know that there was a mutiny in the navy for which tens, hundreds, and perhaps thousands of Frenchmen are still doing penal servitude. These sailors declared that they would not fight the Soviet Republic. We can now see why neither French troops nor British troops are fighting us at present, why the British soldiers have been removed from Archangel, and why the British Government dare not bring them on to our soil.

One of our political writers, Comrade Radek, wrote that the Russian soil would prove to be such that no soldier from any other country who set foot on it would be able to fight. This seemed to be too boastful a promise, it seemed a delusion. But it proved correct. The soil on which the Soviet revolution had taken place proved to be very dangerous to all countries. It seems that the Russian Bolsheviks were right; they had already managed to bring about unity among the workers during the time of the tsar, and the workers had managed to create small cells, which greeted all who believed them, whether French workers or British soldiers, with propaganda in their own languages. True, we had only tiny sheets, whereas in the British and French press propaganda was carried on by thousands of newspapers and every phrase was publicised in tens of thousands of columns. We issued only two or three quarto sheets a month; at best it worked out at only one copy for every ten thousand French soldiers. [4] I am not certain whether even that many reached their destination. Why, then, did the French and British soldiers believe them? Because we told the truth, and because when they came to Russia they saw that they had been deceived. They had been told that they were to defend their own country; but when they came to Russia they found that they were to defend the rule of the landowners and capitalists, that they were to crush the revolution. The reason we were able to win over these people in two years was that although they had forgotten that they had once executed their own kings, the moment they stepped on to Russian soil, the Russian revolution and the victories of the Russian workers and peasants reminded the soldiers of France and Britain of their own revolutions, and, thanks to the events in Russia, they recalled what had once happened in their own countries.

And this showed that the Bolsheviks were right, that our hopes were better founded than those of the capitalists, although we had neither funds nor arms, while the Entente had both arms and an invincible army. But we won the sympathy of these invincible armies, so much so that they dare not bring either British soldiers or French soldiers against us, knowing from experience that every such attempt turns against them. That is one of the miracles that have occurred in Soviet Russia.

Now, after four years of war, when ten million people have been killed and twenty million crippled, when the imperialists are asking themselves what the war was for—such questions lead to some very interesting revelations. Certain negotiations which took place in 1916 were recently made public in France—the Austrian monarch began peace negotiations with France as early as 1916, but France kept quiet about it, and Albert Thomas, who called himself a socialist and who was then a member of the Cabinet, came to Russia to promise Constantinople, the Dardanelles and Galicia to Nicholas II. All these facts have now become widely known, they have been published in a French newspaper. The French workers are now saying to Albert Thomas: “You said that you had joined the Cabinet in order to protect our French fatherland and the interests of the French workers; yet in 1916, when the Austrian monarch proposed peace, you, Albert Thomas, concealed the fact, and as a result millions of people perished in order that the French capitalists might make more profit.” These exposures are not ended yet. We began them by publishing the secret treaties, and the whole world saw why millions of people had perished, why rificed in order that Nicholas II might secure the Dardanelles and Galicia. All the imperialists knew this. So did the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries; and if they did not, they were downright idiots not to have studied politics and diplomacy enough to have known what has now been made public in the French papers. These exposures are now becoming more profound, and there will be no end to them. Thanks to this, the workers and peasants in every country are beginning more and more keenly to sense the truth and to realise what the imperialist war was about. That is why they are beginning to believe us, to see that we spoke the truth, and to see that the imperialists were lying when they led them to defend the fatherland.

That explains the miracle of our having won the sympathies of the soldiers of Britain and France, weakend helpless as we were from the military standpoint. It is no longer a prediction, but a fact. True, the victory cost us untold hardships and incredible sacrifices. During the past two years we have suffered untold torments of starvation which became particularly acute when we were cut off from the grain of the East and the South. Nevertheless, we gained a victory, and a victory that is not only for our country, but for all countries, for all mankind. Never before has there been a case in history when powerful military states have been unable to fight a country so helpless in the military field as the Soviet Republic. Why did this miracle happen? Because when we, the Bolsheviks, led the Russian people into the revolution, we knew very well that this revolution would be a painful one, that it would cost millions of lives; but we knew that we would have the working masses of all countries behind us, and that our truth, by exposing all lies, would triumph more and more as time went on.

After the campaign of the powers against Russia had failed, they tried another weapon. The bourgeoisie of those countries have hundreds of years of experience, and were able to replace their own unreliable weapons by others. At first they tried to use their own soldiers to crush and stifle Russia; now they are trying it with the help of the border states.

Tsarism, the landowners and the capitalists used to oppress a number of the border nations—Latvia, Finland, and so on, where they aroused hatred by centuries of oppression. “Great Russian” became a most hateful word to all these nations, which had been drenched in blood. And so the Entente, having failed in fighting the Bolsheviks with the help of its own soldiers, is now banking on the small states, hoping to strangle Soviet Russia with their help.

Churchill, who is pursuing the same sort of policy as Nicholas Romanov, wants to fight, and is fighting, without paying the slightest heed to parliament, He boasted that he would lead fourteen states against Russia—that was in 1919—and that Petrograd would he captured in September and Moscow in December. He was a little too boastful. He banked on the hatred of Russia in all these small states; but he forgot that in these small states there is a clear understandiiig of what Yudenich, Koichak and Denikin mean. They were once within a few weeks of complete victory. During Yudenicii’s campaign, when he was quite close to Petrograd, an article appeared in The Times, the richest of the British newspapers— I read this editorial myself—which implored, ordered, demanded that Finland help Yudenich—the eyes of the whole world are upon you; you will save liberty, civilisation and culture all over the world. Take the field against the Bolsheviks! This is what Britain said to Finland, and Britain has Finland completely in her pocket; it was said to Finland, who is up to her ears in debt, and who dares not utter a squeak because without Britain she has not enough grain to last her a week.

Such was the pressure brought to bear on all these small states to make them fight Bolshevism. And it failed twice. It failed because the peace policy of the Bolsheviks turned out to be a serious one, and was judged by its enemies to be more honest than the peace policy of any other country, and because a number of countries thought, “Much as we hate Great Russia, which used to suppress us, we know that it was Yudenich, Koichak and Denikin who suppressed us, and not the Bolsheviks.” The former head of the Finnish white-guard government has not forgotten that in November 1917 he personally received a document from my hands in which we said without the slightest hesitation that we unreservedly recognised Finland’s independence. [5]

At that time this seemed a mere gesture. It was thought that the revolt of the Finnish workers would cause it to be forgotten. But no, such things are not forgotten when they are corroborated by the whole policy of a definite party. And even the Finnish bourgeois government said, “Let’s think it over. After all, we have learned something during a hundred and fifty years of oppression by the Russian tsars. If we take the field against the Bolsheviks, we shall help to install Yudenich, Kolchak and Denikin. And who are they? Don’t we know? Are they not the same breed of tsarist generals who stifled Finland, Latvia, Poland and many other nationalities? And shall we help these enemies of ours to fight the Bolsheviks? No, let us wait!”

They did not dare to refuse outright—they are dependent on the Entente. They did not help us directly; they waited, temporised, wrote Notes, sent delegations, formed commissions, sat in conference, and did so until Yudenich, Kolchak and Denikin had been crushed and the Entente defeated in the second campaign too. We were the victors.

If all these s–aall states had taken the field against us—they were supplied with hundreds of millions of dollars and the finest guns and weapons, and had British instructors who had been through the war—if they had taken the field against us, there is not the slightest doubt that we would have been defeated. Everybody knows that very well. But they did not take the field against us, because they realised that the Bolsheviks are more honest. When the Bolsheviks say that they recognise the independence of any nation, that tsarist Russia was based on the oppression of other nations, and that the Bolsheviks never supported this policy, do not support it and never will support it, and that they will never go to war to oppress other nations—when they say that, they are believed. We know this not from the Latvian or Polish Bolsheviks, but from the bourgeoisie of Poland, Latvia, the Ukraine and so on.

Here the international significance of the Bolshevik policy had its effect. It was a test on international and not on Russian soil. It was a test by fire and sword, and not by words. It was a test in the last decisive struggle. The imperialists realised that they had no soldiers of their own, that they could strangle Bolshevism only by mustering international forces; but all international forces were beaten.

What does imperialism mean? It means that a handful of rich powers have a stranglehold on the whole world, when they know that they have the fifteen hundred million people of the world in their hands and have a stranglehold on them, and when these fifteen hundred million feel what British culture, French culture and American civilisation mean—rob for all you are worth! Today three-quarters of Finland has already been bought up by American multimillionaires. The officers who came from Britain and France to our border states to instruct their troops behaved like insolent scions of the Russian nobility in a defeated country. They all profiteered right and left. And the more the Finnish, Polish and Latvian workers starve, the more they are squeezed by a handful of British, American and French multimillionaires and their henchmen. And this is going on all over the world.

The Russian Socialist Republic alone has raised the standard of war for real emancipation; and sympathy is turning in its favour all over the world. Through the small countries, we have won the sympathy of all the nations of the world, and they represent hundreds of millions of people. They are at present oppressed and downtrodden, they are the most backward part of the population; but the war has enlightened them. Huge masses of people were drawn into the imperialist war. Britain brought regiments from India to fight the Germans. France called millions of Africans to the colours to fight the Germans. They were formed into shock units and hurled into the most dangerous sectors, where they were mown down like grass by machine-guns. But they learned something. Under the tsar the Russian soldiers said, “If die we must, then let it be fighting the landowners”—now the Africans say, “If die we must, then let it not be to help the French predators rob the German capitalist predators, but to emancipate ourselves from the capitalists, German and French.” In every country of the world, even in India, where three hundred million people are oppressed and treated as labourers by the British, minds are awakening and the revolutionary movement is growing from day to day. They all look towards one star, the star of the Soviet Republic, because they know that it made tremendous. sacrifices in order to fight the imperialists, and that it has withstood the most severe trials.

This was the significance of the second card of the Entente to he beaten—victory on an international scale. It means that our peace policy is approved by the vast majority of people all over the world. It means that the number of our allies in all countries is growing—much more slowly than we would like, it is true, but growing nevertheless.

The victory we won in the offensive engineered against us by Churchill shows that our policy was right. And after that we won a third victory—a victory over the bourgeois intelligentsia, over the Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Mensheviks, who in all countries were rabidly hostile to us, They all began to oppose the war against Soviet Russia. In all countries the bourgeois intelligentsia, the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks—this breed, unfortunately, is to be found in all countries (applause) —condemned interference in Russian affairs. They declared in all countries that it was a disgrace.

When Britain proposed that the Germans blockade Soviet Russia, and Germany refused, this exhausted the patience of the British and other Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. They said, “We are enemies of the Bolsheviks and regard them as violators and robbers. But we cannot support the proposal that the Germans join us in strangling Russia by a hunger blockade.” And so, within the camp of the enemies, inside their own countries, in Paris, London and so on, where Bolsheviks are being hounded and treated in the way revolutionaries were treated under the tsar—in all cities, the bourgeois intelligentsia have issued the call “Hands off Soviet Russia I” In Great Britain this is the slogan under which the bourgeois intelligentsia are summoning meetings and issuing manifestos.

That is why the blockade had to be lifted. They could not restrain Estonia, and we have concluded peace and can trade with her. We have cut a window open on the civilised world. We have the sympathy of the majority of the working people, and the bourgeoisie are anxious to start trade with Russia as soon as possible.

Now the imperialists are afraid of us and they have reason to be, for Soviet Russia has emerged from this war stronger than ever. British writers have written that the armies all over the world are disintegrating, and that if there is any country in the world whose army is gaining strength, that country is Soviet Russia. They tried to slander Comrade Trotsky and said that this was so because the Russian army is being kept under iron discipline, which is enforced by ruthless measures, as well as by skilful and widespread agitation.

We have never denied this. War is war, and it demands iron discipline. Have you capitalist gentlemen not employed the same methods? Have you not carried on agitation? Have you not a hundred times more paper and printing works? To compare our literature with yours is like comparing a molehill to a mountain. Yet your propaganda has failed, and ours has succeeded.

The Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks tried an experiment to see whether it was not possible to get along with the capitalists peacefully, and to pass from them to social reform. In Russia they wanted to go over to social reform in an amicable way, so as not to offend the capitalists. They forgot that capitalists are capitalists, and that the only thing to do with them is to vanquish them. They say that in the Civil War the Bolsheviks have drenched the country in blood. But, my dear Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, did you not have eight months to experiment in? Were you not in power with Kerensky from February to October 1917, during which period you had the help of all the Cadets, of the whole Entente, of all the richest countries in the world? Your programme then was one of social reform, without civil war. Is there a fool in the. world who would have resorted to revolution if you had really begun social reform? Why did you not do so? Because your programme was a blank, an absurd dream. Because it is impossible to come to terms with the capitalists and secure their obedience peacefully, especially after four years of imperialist war. Do you think there are no clever people in Britain, France and Germany who understand that they went to war for the division of colonies, and that ten million people were killed and twenty million crippled over the division of the spoils? That is what capitalism means. How can you expect to persuade, how can you expect to come to terms with this capitalism which has crippled twenty million people and killed ten million? And we say to the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, “You had the opportunity of trying your experiment. Why did nothing come of it? Because your programme was a sheer utopia, a utopia not only for Russia, but even for Germany, the Germany where the German Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, whom nobody will listen to, are now in power, the Germany where a German Kornilov, armed from head to foot, is preparing reaction, [6] the German republic where fifteen thousand workers have been slaughtered in the streets of the cities. And this is called a democratic republic!” Yet the German Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries have the hardihood to say that the Bolsheviks are a wicked lot, that they have reduced the country to a state of civil war, whereas in their own country social peace prevails and only fifteen thousand workers have been killed in the streets!

They say that the Civil War and bloodshed in Russia are due to the fact that it is a backward country. But tell us, why is the same thing happening in countries like Finland which are not backward? Why is there a White Terror in Hungary which has shocked the whole world? Why were Luxemburg and Liebknecht assassinated in the German republic, where, since the overthrow of the Kaiser, the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries have been in power? And why is it not the Mensheviks who are strong there, but Kornilov—and the Bolsheviks too, who, although they are crushed, are strong because of their faith in the justice of their cause and because of their influence over the masses?

There you have the world revolution—which they said the Bolsheviks were using to deceive the people with, when as a matter of fact all hopes of compromise proved to be sheer nonsense.

A big tussle is developing among the bourgeois countries themselves. America and Japan are on the verge of flinging themselves at each other’s throats because Japan sat snug during the imperialist war and has grabbed nearly the whole of China, which has a population of four hundred million. The imperialist gentlemen say, “We are in favour of a republic, we are in favour of democracy; but why did the Japanese grab more than they should under our very noses?” Japan and America are on the verge of war, and there is absolutely no possibility of preventing that war, in which another ten million will be killed and twenty million crippled. France, too, says, “Who got the colonies?—Britain.” France was victorious, but she is up to her ears in debt; she is in a hopeless position, whereas Britain has piled up wealth. Over there, new combinations and alliances are already being engineered. They want to fling themselves at each other’s throats again over the division of colonies. And an imperialist war is again brewing and cannot be prevented. It cannot be prevented, not because the capitalists, taken individually, are vicious—individually they are just like other people —but because they cannot free themselves of the financial meshes in any other way, because the whole world is in debt, in bondage, and because private property has led and always will lead to war.

All this is causing the roots of the international revolution to strike deeper and deeper. Because of this we have won over the French and British soldiers; because of this we have won the confidence of the small states, and our international position is now better than ever before. And on the basis of a simple calculation we can say that though many hardships still await us, the worst difficulties have already been overcome. The all-powerful Entente no longer holds out any terrors for us: we have defeated it in decisive battles. (Applause.)

True, they may still incite Poland against us. The Polish landowners and capitalists are growling and threatening, saying that they want to get back the territory of I772, [7] that they want to subjugate the Ukraine. We know that France is inciting Poland, flinging millions into that country, because France is bankrupt anyhow and is now putting her last stake on Poland. And we say to the comrades in Poland that we respect her liberty as we respect the liberty of every other nation, and that the Russian workers and peasants, who have experienced the yoke of tsarism, know very well what that yoke meant. We know that it was a heinous crime to divide Poland up among the German, Austrian and Russian capitalists, and that this division doomed the Polish nation to long years of oppression, when the use of the native language was regarded as a crime, and when the whole Polish nation was brought up in one idea, namely, to throw off this treble yoke. We therefore understand the hatred the Poles feel, and we declare to them that we shall never cross the line on which our troops are now stationed—and they are stationed a long way from any Polish population. We are proposing peace on this basis, because we know that this will be a tremendous acquisition for Poland. We do not want war on account of frontiers, because we want to obliterate that accursed past when every Great Russian was regarded as an oppressor.

But since Poland responds to our peace proposal by silence, since she continues to give a free hand to French imperialism, which is inciting her to a war against Russia, since fresh trainloads of munitions are arriving in Poland every day and the Polish imperialists threaten to start a war on Russia, we say, “Just try it! You’ll get a lesson you’ll never forget.” (Applause.)

When soldiers died during the imperialist war for the enrichment of the tsar and the landowners, we said frankly and openly that defence of the fatherland in the imperialist war was treachery, that it meant defence of the Russian tsar, who was to get the Dardanelles, Constantinople and so on. But now that we have published the secret treaties, now that we have embarked on a revolution against imperialist war, now that we have borne untold hardships for the sake of that revolution, now that we have shown that the capitalists in Russia have been suppressed and dare not even dream of returning to the old system, we say that we are not defending the right to plunder other nations, but are defending our proletarian, revolution, and will defend it to the very end. The Russia which has been emancipated and which for two years has borne untold suffering for the sake of her Soviet revolution—that Russia we shall defend to our last drop of blood! (Applause.)

We know that the time is gone when we were pressed on all sides by imperialist armies and when the working folk of Russia still did not understand the tasks that confronted us. Guerrilla methods prevailed then, each tried to grab a weapon for himself without consideration for the cause as a whole, and disorder and robbery prevailed in the localities. In the course of, these two years we have created a united and disciplined army. It has been a very difficult task. You know that the science of war cannot be learned all at once and you also know that only the officers, the colonels and generals, who have remained from the tsarist army, know that science. You have heard, of course, that these old colonels and generals have been responsible for a great deal of treachery, which cost us tens of thousands of lives. All such traitors had to he cleared out, and at the same time we had to select a corps of commanders from among the former officers, so that the workers and peasants might learn from them; for a modern army cannot be built up without science, and we have had to put it in the hands of military experts. It has been a difficult task, but that, too, we have accomplished.

We have created a united army, an army which is now directed by the advanced section, by experienced Communists, who have everywhere succeeded in putting agitation and propaganda on a proper footing. True, the imperialists are also carrying on propaganda, but the peasants are already beginning to understand that there are different kinds of propaganda. They are beginning to tell by instinct what is true and what is false. At any rate, the propaganda which is being carried on by the Mensheviks and which was carried on by Kolchak and Denikin is no longer as successful as it was. Take their posters and pamphlets. They talk about a Constituent Assembly, they talk about liberty and a republic. But the workers and peasants, who have secured liberty at the price of their blood, now understand that the term “Constituent Assembly” serves as a screen for the capitalists; and if anything decided the issue of the struggle against Kolchak and Denikin in our favour, despite the fact that they were supported by the Great Powers, it was that both the peasants and working Cossacks, who for a long time remained in the other camp, have in the end come over to the workers and peasants—and it was only this that finally decided the war and brought about our victory.

With this victory behind us, we must now do our utmost to consolidate it on another front, the bloodless front, the front of the war against the economic chaos to which we have been reduced by the war against the landowners and capitalists, against Kolchak and Denikin. You know what this victory has cost us; you know what a desperate fight we had to put up when we were cut off from the graingrowing regions, from the Urals and Siberia. At that time the Moscow and Petrograd workers had to suffer intolerable torments of hunger. Attempts were made to frighten you with the term “dictatorship of the proletariat”, to frighten the peasants and working Cossacks, and instil into their minds the idea that dictatorship meant the arrogant rule of the worker. Actually, however, while Britain and America were doing all they could to support Kolchak and Denikin, the workers of the central cities, exercising their dictatorship, did their best to show everyone by their example how to break away from the landowners and capitalists and march with the working people; for labour unites, while property disunites. That was the thesis we stuck to throughout these two years, and it led us to victory. We were united by labour, whereas the Entente is steadily disintegrating, because property has turned the imperialists into wild beasts, who from first to last are always squabbling over the division of spoils. Labour has made us a force that is uniting all the working people. And now “dictatorship” is a word that can frighten only utterly ignorant people, if such are still to be found in Russia.

I do not know if any person still remains who has not been taught a lesson by Kolchak and Denikin, and who has not come to realise what the dictatorship of the proletariat means—it means that never has the proletariat of Petrograd, Moscow and the industrial centres suffered such hardships as during these past two years. The peasants of the producing gubernias are now in such a position that they, having possession of the land, get the whole product for themselves. Since the Bolshevik revolution the Russian peasants, for the first time in thousands of years, are working for themselves and can feed better. Yet at the same time, during these two years of struggle the workers, the proletariat, while exercising their dictatorship, have been suffering untold torments of hunger. You now see that dictatorship means leadership, the union of the disunited and scattered working masses, a single, closely—knit whole directed against the capitalists in order to defeat them and to prevent a recurrence of the bloodshed in which ten million people perished and twenty million were crippled. The union of all the labouring people, a single iron will is required to defeat a force like this, which can rely on mighty armies and modern culture. This single iron will can be furnished only by the working masses, only by the workers, the proletariat, only by those class-conscious workers whom decades of strikes and demonstrations have trained in struggle, and who have succeeded in overthrowing tsarism. It can be furnished only by the workers who have borne the brunt of the two years of unparalleled civil war, fighting in the front ranks and creating a united Red Army, which has been joined by tens of thousands of the finest workers, peasants and military and political students, who have been the first to perish and who, in Moscow, Petrograd, I vanovo-Voznesensk, Tver, Yaroslavi and all the industrial cities, have been suffering the terrible torments of hungers And this hunger has welded the workers together and brought the peasants and working Cossacks of the producing gubernias to see for themselves that the Bolsheviks were right, for the workers were thus enabled to hold their own in the struggle against the whiteguards.

That is why the working class is entitled to say that by these two years of sacrifice and war it has proved to all the working peasants and to every working Cossack that we must unite and join forces. We must fight those who are profiteering on the famine because they find it more profitable to sell grain at a thousand rubles a pood than to sell it at the fixed price. There is money to be made that way, but it leads back to the old times, and we shall once more find ourselves in that accursed pit where tsarisin ruled and where the capitalists condemned humanity to the imperialist slaughter for the sake of their profits. It would turn us back, and that i something that cannot be allowed. After the struggle against Kolchak and Denikin, the working peasants and Cossacks came to realise the truth that we need unity, and they are taking their places by the side of the workers and looking upon the working class as their leaders. The working peasants saw that no injury derived from the workers’ government for there was none to see; it was only the landowners, capitalists and kulaks who did, but then, they are the worst enemies of the working people, they are the allies of those imperialists who were the cause of the bloody war and all the miseries of the people. All working people must unite—only then shall we be victorious.

The bloody war is over and we are now waging a bloodless war, a war against the economic chaos, ruin, poverty and disease to which we have been reduced by four years of imperialist war and two years of civil war. You know that the economic chaos is terrible. In the border regions of Russia, in Siberia and in the South there are today tens of millions of poods of grain; millions of poods have already been collected and transported, yet there is a terrible famine in Moscow, people are dying of starvation because grain cannot be delivered; and it cannot be delivered because the Civil War has completely devastated the country, wrecked the railways and destroyed scores of bridges. Locomotives have broken down, and we are unable to repair them quickly. We are now trying with great difficulty to secure aid from abroad. We know, however, that it is now possible to start on the complete restoration of industry.

How are we going to restore industry when we cannot exchange manufactured goods for grain because there aren’t any?

We know that when the Soviet government takes grain from the peasants at a fixed price it pays them only in paper. What is this paper worth? Although it is not the price of the grain we can only pay in paper money. But we say that this is essential, that the peasants must give their grain as a loan. Is there a single well-fed peasant who would refuse bread to a hungry worker if he knew that this worker, once he had been fed, would repay him in goods? No honest and politically-conscious peasant would refuse to give grain as a loan. Peasants who have surplus grain must let the state have it for paper money—and that means a loan. The only people who do not understand, who do not realise this, are the supporters of capitalism and exploitation, those who want the well-fed man to profit even more at the expense of the hungry man. The workers’ government cannot tolerate that, and we shall stop at no sacrifice to combat it. (Applause.)

We have now concentrated all our forces on the restoration of industry and are steadfastly waging this new war, in which we shall be as victorious as we have been hitherto. We have instructed a commission of scientists and engineers to draw up a plan for the electrification of Russia. The plan will be ready in two months and will enable us to got a full and clear picture of how, in a few years, the whole of Russia will be covered by a network of electric transmission lines, will be restored in a new way, not the old way, and how she will achieve that culture which our prisoners of war saw in Germany.

That is the way we must restore our industry, and that is the way we shall return a hundredfold the loan of grain we are taking from the peasants. We know that this cannot be done in a year or two; the minimum programme of electrification is calculated for a period of not less than three years, and the complete success of this advanced industry will require not less than ten years. But if we were able to I hold on for two years in such a bloody war, we shall be able to hold on for ten years and more in face of any difficulties. We have gained that experience in leading the masses with the help of urban workers which will carry us through all difficulties on this bloodless front of struggle against economic chaos and will lead to greater victories than those we gained in the war against international imperialism. (Applause .)

[1] The First All-Russia Congress of Working Cossacks was held February 29-March 6, 1920. It was attended by 339 delegates from nearly all Cossack regions. The agenda of the Congress was the following: Soviet development in Cossack regions; food policy; organisation of national economy, etc. Lenin took part in the work of the Congress, and showed the true road for the working Cossacks in his speech on March 1. The Congress denounced the attempts of the upper strata of Cossacks, in company with the landowners and bourgeoisie, to separate the Cossacks from the common cause of all the working people . The Congress resolution stressed that the chief task of the working Cossacks was to unite with the workers and peasants of Soviet Russia. The Congress expressed in favour of the participation of working Cossacks in Soviet governmental bodies on the same conditions as all workers and peasants, called upon the Cossacks to strengthen the union of workers and peasants and concentrate all efforts on overcoming the economic devastation in the country.

[2] Lenin refers to the Decree on Peace adopted by the Second All-Russia Congress of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies on October 26 (November 5), 1917 (see present edition, Vol. 26, pp. 249-53).

The Decree on Peace proposed to all belligerent nations and their governments that they immediately sign an armistice and start negotiations on a just democratic peace.

[3] Lenin refers to a strike of workers in Germany which began on January 28, 1918 in protest against the rapacious peace terms pro-posed by the German delegation during the Brest-Litovsk peace talks. Over 500,000 workers at armaments factories went on strike. The strikers demanded peace without annexations and indemnities as proposed by the Soviet delegation, the participation of worker representatives of all countries in peace talks, the repeal of the war-time laws in the country and granting of democratic civil rights to the people. The workers of Hamburg, Kid, Leipzig, the Ruhr region and other industrial centres also went on strike. All in all, over 1,000,000 people took part in the January political strike. Arbeiterrkte were set up in a number of cities during the strike.

At the head of the strike were revolutionary stewards elected by workers mainly from among the active trade unionists. However, the majority of revolutionary stewards were members of the Independent Social-Democratic Party, the activities of which were directed by collaborators. This weakened the forces of the strikers.

Though the January political strike ended in the defeat of the workers, its significance was very great. Lenin considered that this strike "marks a turn of sentiment among the German proletariat (see present edition, Vol. 27, p. 546)

[4] This refers to the newspapers published in 1918-19 in English German and French by the groups of foreign Communists set up at the C.C., R.C.P.(B.); they were for distribution among soldiers of the interventionist armies and among prisoners of war. The English newspaper The Call was distributed on the Northern Front. Two German publications, Der Vdlkerfriede (Peace of the Peoples and Revolution (World Revolution), were distributed among the German prisoners of war and in the Ukraine. The French weekly La Lanserne was distributed in the South of Russia

[5] On December iS (31), 1917, Lenin handed Svinhufvnd, head of the Finnish bourgeois government, the decree of the Council of People’s Commissars granting independence to Finland. The decree was endorsed by the All-Russia Central Executive Committee on December22, 1917 (January 4, 1918).

[6] Lenin refers to the preparations for a military-monarchist putsch in Germany. The leader of the German reactionaries, Kapp, gave his name to the revolt known as the "Kapp putsch" to which the Social Democratic government offered no resistance. On March 13, 1920, army units were moved to Berlin and meeting with no resistance from the government declared it dissolved and set up a military junta. The German working class responded with a general strike and on March 17, under pressure from the working class, Kapp’s government fell and state power again passed into the hands of the Social-Democrats, who by deceit succeeded in frustrating the general strike.

[7] The slogan calling for restoration of the 1772 frontiers implied the seizure of Byelorussia, Lithuania, part of the Ukraine as far as the middle Dnieper, and the southern part of Latvia; it reflected the aggressive tendencies of the Polish bourgeoisie and landowners.

Collected Works Volume 30 Collected Works Table of Contents Lenin Works Archive