§（一）伟大抗日战争的一周年纪念，七月七日，快要到了。
#§1.It will soon be July 7, the first anniversary of the great War of Resistance Against Japan.
全民族的力量团结起来，坚持抗战，坚持统一战线，同敌人作英勇的战争，快一年了。
# Rallying in unity, persevering in resistance and persevering in the united front, the forces of the whole nation have been valiantly fighting the enemy for almost a year.
这个战争，在东方历史上是空前的，在世界历史上也将是伟大的，全世界人民都关心这个战争。
# The people of the whole world are attentively following this war, which has no precedent in the history of the East, and which will go down as a great war in world history too.
身受战争灾难、为着自己民族的生存而奋斗的每一个中国人，无日不在渴望战争的胜利。
# Every Chinese suffering from the disasters of the war and fighting for the survival of his nation daily yearns for victory.
然而战争的过程究竟会要怎么样？
# But what actually will be the course of the war?
这些问题，不是每个人都解决了的，甚至是大多数人至今没有解决的。
# Not everyone has found answers to these questions; in fact, to this day most people have not done so.
于是失败主义的亡国论者跑出来向人们说：中国会亡，最后胜利不是中国的。
# Therefore the defeatist exponents of the theory of national subjugation have come forward to tell people that China will be subjugated, that final victory will not be China's.
某些性急的朋友们也跑出来向人们说：中国很快就能战胜，无需乎费大气力。
# On the other hand, some impetuous friends have come forward to tell people that China will win very quickly without having to exert any great effort.
这些议论究竟对不对呢？
# But are these views correct?
我们一向都说：这些议论是不对的。
# We have said all along they are not.
一半因为我们的宣传解释工作还不够，一半也因为客观事变的发展还没有完全暴露其固有的性质，还没有将其面貌鲜明地摆在人们之前，使人们无从看出其整个的趋势和前途，因而无从决定自己的整套的方针和做法。
# This is partly because we did not do enough propaganda and explanatory work, and partly because the development of objective events had not yet fully and clearly revealed their inherent nature and their features to the people, who were thus not in a position to foresee the over-all trend and the outcome and hence to decide on a complete set of policies and tactics.
现在好了，抗战十个月的经验，尽够击破毫无根据的亡国论，也尽够说服急性朋友们的速胜论了。
# Now things are better, the experience of ten months of war has been quite sufficient to explode the utterly baseless theory of national subjugation and to dissuade our impetuous friends from their theory of quick victory.
在这种情形下，很多人要求做个总结性的解释。
# In these circumstances many people are asking for a comprehensive explanation.
尤其是对持久战，有亡国论和速胜论的反对意见，也有空洞无物的了解。
# All the more so with regard to protracted war, not only because of the opposing theories of national subjugation and quick victory but also because of the shallow understanding of its nature.
“卢沟桥事变以来，四万万人一齐努力，最后胜利是中国的。”
# "Our four hundred million people have been making a concerted effort since the Lukouchiao Incident, and the final victory will belong to China."
抗日战争和统一战线之所以能够坚持，是由于许多的因素：全国党派，从共产党到国民党；全国人民，从工人农民到资产阶级；全国军队，从主力军到游击队；国际方面，从社会主义国家到各国爱好正义的人民；敌国方面，从某些国内反战的人民到前线反战的兵士。
# Our perseverance in the War of Resistance and in the united front has been possible because of many factors. # Internally, they comprise all the political parties in the country from the Communist Party to the Kuomintang, all the people from the workers and peasants to the bourgeoisie, and all the armed forces from the regular forces to the guerrillas; internationally, they range from the land of socialism to justice-loving people in all countries; in the camp of the enemy, they range from those people in Japan who are against the war to those Japanese soldiers at the front who are against the war.
总而言之，所有这些因素，在我们的抗战中都尽了他们各种程度的努力。
# In short, all these forces have contributed in varying degrees to our War of Resistance.
每一个有良心的人，都应向他们表示敬意。
# Every man with a conscience should salute them.
我们共产党人，同其它抗战党派和全国人民一道，唯一的方向，是努力团结一切力量，战胜万恶的日寇。
# We Communists, together with all the other ant-Japanese political parties and the whole people, have no other course than to strive to unite all forces for the defeat of the diabolical Japanese aggressors.
今年七月一日，是中国共产党建立的十七周年纪念日。
# July 1 this year will be the 17th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.
为了使每个共产党员在抗日战争中能够尽其更好和更大的努力，也有着重地研究持久战的必要。
# A serious study of protracted war is necessary in order to enable every Communist to play a better and greater part in the War of Resistance.
因此，我的讲演就来研究持久战。
# Therefore my lectures will be devoted to such a study.
和持久战这个题目有关的问题，我都准备说到；但是不能一切都说到，因为一切的东西，不是在一个讲演中完全说得了的。
# I shall try to speak on all the problems relevant to the protracted war, but I cannot possibly go into everything in one series of lectures.
§（二）抗战十个月以来，一切经验都证明下述两种观点的不对：一种是中国必亡论，一种是中国速胜论。
#§2.All the experience of the ten months of war proves the error both of the theory of China's inevitable subjugation and of the theory of China's quick victory.