The prologue reads as: "Dans le vaste empire des tsars la lutte pour la Liberté fut violente, dès le début de notre siècle. A maintes reprises le peuple russe s'est levé courageusement contre l'oppression." ... which translates as: "from the beginning of our century, the struggle for freedom was violent in the vast empire of the tsars. Time and again, the Russian people have courageously stood up against oppression." "