Marxism-Leninism: The International Teaching of the Working Class

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M.A.SUSLOV Marxism-Leninism— ‘The International Teaching of the Working Class

PROGRESS PUBLISHERS MOSCOW

Translated from the Russian

M. A. CYCJIOB MAPKCH3M-JIEHHHH3M — HHTEPHALLHOHAJIDHOE PABOYUETO KJIACCA Ha

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Asolke

First printing 1975 © Translation into English. Progress Publishers 1975

Printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

_ 10202-449

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CONTENTS

Page

KARL MARX—BRILLIANT TEACHER AND LEADER OF THE WORKING CLASS. Address at a Commemoration Meeting in Moscow in Honour of the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Karl Marx. May 5, 1968 LENINISM AND THE REVOLUTIONARY TRANSFORMATION OF THE WORLD. Article Published in the Journal Kommunist, No. 15, 1969 THE GREAT FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY.

5

39

Article Published in the Book The Great October Revolution and the World Revolutionary Process, Politizdat Publishers, 1967

77

THE LEADING ROLE OF THE WORKING CLASS IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST IMPERIALISM FOR THE REVOLUTIONARY RENEWAL OF THE WORLD. Extract from a Speech at an International Scientific Conference in Moscow “On the Fiftieth Anniversary of the October Revolution and the International ee Class”. November Hl, DICT

ere:

eer

20

UNDER THE BANNER OF INTERNATIONALISM. Address at a Scientific Session on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Formation of the Communist International. March 25, LOGO

RNS

«

THE STRUGGLE OF THE CPsu FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIST Extract from a Report to the Plenary Committee of the CPSU. February 14, i

3

oe

US)

THE COHESION OF MOVEMENT. Meeting of the Central 1964...

136

THE CPSU—THE PARTY OF CREATIVE MARXISM. Article Published in the Journal Kommunist, No.

14, 1971

198

THE LEADING ROLE OF THE WORKING CLASS IN COMMUNIST CONSTRUCTION. Article Published in the ear Thesie aa Class and the Modern World, No. 4, 1971

213

FRIENDSHIP IN BATTLE AND FRATERNAL SOLIDARITY. Speech at the 20th ee of the French Communist ees December 14, 1972 . .

229

THE GREAT SCIENCE OF VICTORY. Address at a Meeting to Commemorate the Award Order of Lenin to the Institute of Marxism-Leninism Central Committee of the CPSU. January 17, 1973 .

239

of the of the :

KARL MARX—BRILLIANT TEACHER AND LEADER OF THE WORKING CLASS ADDRESS AT A COMMEMORATION MEETING IN MOSCOW IN HONOUR OF THE 150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF KARL MARX May 5, 1968

Comrades,

today

Communists,

broad

sections

of

the

working population and progressive people throughout the world are commemorating a momentous date—the 150th anniversary of the birth of the founder of scientific communism, that brilliant teacher and leader of the international

proletariat, Karl Marx. The great thinker and ardent revolutionary Karl Marx has gone down in history as the man who showed the working class and all working and oppressed peoples the way to liberation from centuries of exploitation and enslavement, the way to social and spiritual freedom. Marx proved scientifically the need for and possibility of destroying the capitalist system by revolution and outlined the prospects for creating a new society, a society free from exploitation, oppression and poverty, in which production, science and culture belong to the whole people and are developed in the interests of the whole people. Marx revealed the historical role of the proletariat in overthrowing capitalism and creating communist society. Marx’s whole life was one of devoted service to the proletariat. His life’s path was a remarkably hard one: the miseries of being an émigré, endless want, slander and persecution from reactionary forces the world over. But his 5

unparalleled courage, his indomitable will and his unshakeable belief in the victory of the cause of the working class enabled him to endure all tribulations. Marx’s

close

friend.

and

comrade-in-arms,

Frederick

Engels, worked and fought side by side with him for the interests of the working class. After the death of Marx and Engels their cause and teaching were brilliantly continued by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Marx and Engels developed a scientific doctrine which formulated the general laws of development of nature, society, human thought and the revolutionary transformation of society. The beginning of the international communist movement is associated with their names. Under the influence of Marxism the working class becomes increasingly aware of its historic mission, the international character of its struggle and the importance of international links for achieving its great aims. Under the banner of Marxism the working class creates and develops its own class organisations and launches active attacks on the bourgeoisie. In the struggle against trends hostile to scientific socialism, the teaching of Karl Marx wins more and more victories. It was under the banner of Marxist ideas that the October Revolution took place, socialism was built in the USSR and socialist revolutions have triumphed in a number of European and Asian countries, and in Cuba. Marxist teaching is being put into practice by the transforming labour of the peoples of the socialist countries and is exerting an ever-growing influence on broad sections of the working people in the capitalist world, developing in breadth and depth.

The present period of the struggle with imperialism is marked by the true triumph of Marxism-Leninism. All that is revolutionary and progressive throughout the world is gravitating to Marxism. The communist movement, which numbered only a few hundred in its ranks in the middle of the last century,

has

now

turned

into

the

world’s

most

influential political force. People are seeking and finding in Marxism-Leninism the answers to vital problems. History contains no other example of such rapid growth of a doctrine’s authority and influence. Marxist-Leninist doctrine is truly international. It knows no state frontiers and it forms the ideological basis of the 6

international unity and brotherhood of the working people of all countries. In honouring the memory of Karl Marx, we, Soviet people, celebrate his anniversary today with -a special feeling of respect and gratitude. The revolutionary teaching of Karl Marx belongs to the whole world. It is the precious possession of all mankind. But we are proud of the fact that it was in our country that this teaching was put into practice for the first time. “Marx and Engels,” wrote Lenin, “naturally possessed the most fervent faith in a Russian revolution and its great world significance.”! Marx took a constant interest in the struggle against the tsarist autocracy, waged so devotedly by Russian revolutionaries, and was personally connected with many of them. He was deeply convinced that Russia “will go through

a formidable social revolution’.? In their turn the many generations of Russian revolutionaries have had the profoundest respect for Marx. Marx’s theory has been a powerful ideological weapon for them. In all its activity, at all stages of its heroic struggle for the overthrow of tsarist autocracy and the victory of the proletarian revolution, for the freedom and independence of the

Motherland, for the building of socialism and the ultimate triumph of communism, our Leninist Communist Party has always been guided by the principles of creative MarxismLeninism. (Applause.) Our Party will always remain unshakeably devoted to the revolutionary teaching of which Marx was the founder. (Prolonged applause.) GREAT THINKER

AND REVOLUTIONARY

The emergence of Marxism was no chance occurrence on the paths of world history. It was determined logically by the whole course of social development. In the ideological and theoretical respect Marxism was prepared by the whole development of scientific social thought and major discoveries in the field of the natural sciences. Marx’s doctrine, wrote Lenin, “emerged as the direct 1 V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 12, p. 376.

2 Marx/Engels, Werke, Bd. 32, Dietz Verlag, Berlin, 1965, S. 443- 44.

7

and immediate continuation of the teachings of the greatest representatives of philosophy, political economy and socialism’’.4 Marx was a true erudite, a tireless scholar and a thinker

who scaled great heights. He had a profound knowledge of all the trends in social thought and the most important discoveries in the natural sciences of his day, and made a comprehensive study of the main tendencies in the development

of capitalism. By critically assimilating and creatively refining the achievements of science, he produced a real revolution in philosophy, political economy and the study of human society, and created an integrated and well-balanced revolutionary doctrine. In the Manifesto of the Communist Party,

which appeared in February 1848, Marx and Engels expounded the principles of the new doctrine: consistent philosophical materialism which embraces nature and social life, dialectics as the most comprehensive and profound theory of development, and the theory of class struggle and the historical role of the proletariat.

“Like every new theory,” wrote Engels, “modern socialism

had, at first, to connect

trade

ready

itself with the intellectual stock-in-

to its hand,

however

deeply

its roots

lay in

material economic facts.’”2 The social roots of the emergence of Marxist theory are

primarily that with the development of the capitalist mode

of production and the growth of its contradictions a new consistently revolutionary class entered the arena of social

life and began its historical ascent—the proletariat. It was in the proletariat that Marxism found its materialsocial base. For the proletariat Marxism is a powerful ideological weapon in the struggle against capitalism. The fact that the class interests of the proletariat coincide with the objective needs of social progress and, on the other hand, that Marxist ideas, which are strictly objective and scientific in character, correspond to the class aims of the proletariat has given Marxist. theory its great transforming role and vital strength. Marxism has become not only the theory and programme

of the world

working-class

movement,

but also

the spiritual banner of the social progress of mankind. { V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. LOW pees: 2K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works, in three volumes,

Moscow, 1973, p. 115.

Vol. 3,

By creating dialectical ,and historical materialism, Marx and Engels produced a great turning-point in philosophy. The materialists before Marx had not connected materialist conclusions with the idea of development and had not been

able to extend materialism to the field of social relations. The exponents of pre-Marxian dialectics recognised the idea of development,

but divorced

it from the material

world,

en-

dowing it with a mystical character. Meanwhile events demanded a scientific explanation of the objective processes

taking place

in

society

and

nature

as

processes of development. The natural sciences had proved the mutability of organic and inorganic matter. Marx and Engels demonstrated the mutability of forms of social life and applied the idea of development to history. They linked materialist theory with the dialectical idea of development, proved the existence of general objective laws operating in nature and society and created an integrated conception of development, a qualitatively new philosophical science— dialectical and historical materialism. By extending materialism to human society and its history, Marx put an end to the chaos and arbitrariness which reigned in the interpretation of social phenomena. “By examining the totality of opposing tendencies,’ wrote Lenin, “by reducing them to precisely definable conditions of life and production of the various classes of society, by discarding subjectivism and arbitrariness in the choice of a particular ‘dominant’ idea or in its interpretation, and by revealing that, without exception, all ideas and all the various tendencies stem from the condition of the material forces of production, Marxism indicated the way to an all-embracing and comprehensive study of the process of the rise, development, and decline of socio-economic system.”’! The materialist interpretation of history made it possible to explain the decisive role of the popular masses and, above all, the working class, in the historical process. As we know, many exponents of pre-Marxian philosophy believed that history was made by kings, generals and outstanding indivi-

duals. Consequently, they saw the course of social development, the destinies of peoples, countries and social progress, as being subject to the whims of chance. Marx showed that 1 V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 21, p. 57. 9

the basis of social life is material production, that historical changes take place primarily as a result of changes in production, and that the workers and peasants, who are the most important productive force in society and who create material wealth, are the real makers of history.

By studying the history of into classes, Marx showed that opment of these societies is the all social, political and other

societies which were divided the motive force in the develclass struggle and that behind changes in society one should

see first and foremost the struggle between classes. Stressing the enormous importance of the Marxist theory of class struggle, Lenin wrote: “People always have been the foolish victims of deception and self-deception in politics, and they always will be until they have learnt to seek out the interests

of some class or other behind all moral, religious, political and social phrases, declarations

and promises.”!

By applying materialist dialectics to the development of society, Marx demonstrated the transient nature of the capitalist order and the inevitability of its collapse. The very essence of Marxist theory is profoundly critical and revolutionary. It is no accident that it provokes violent anger in the bourgeoisie and bourgeois ideologists. Materialist dialectics means tireless advance, constant renewal and revolutionary innovation. Marx produced a revolution in the field of political economy, creating a truly scientific economic theory. The exponents of pre-Marxian political economy described certain essential features of bourgeois society and criticised its many

defects, but failed to reveal the inner mechanism

of the development of the explain its contradictions eternal “natural” condition By creating the theory of

capitalist mode of production or and regarded capitalism as the of society. surplus value, Marx revealed the secret of capitalist exploitation, exposed the inner mechanism of capitalist society and its contradictions and showed the impossibility of freeing the proletariat from exploitation without overthrowing capitalism. The theory of surplus value is the true corner-stone of Marxist political economy. The discovery of surplus value, as Engels pointed out in AntiDiihring, was Marx’s great historical service. “It spread the { V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 19, p. 28. 10

clear light of day through economic domains in which Socialists no less than bourgeois economists previously groped in utter darkness. Scientific socialism dates from the discovery of this solution and has been built up around it.’””! The theory of surplus value revealed the source of the main contradiction of capitalism, namely, that between labour and capital, between the social character of production and the private form of appropriation, demonstrated the real position of the proletariat in the general system of capitalism, and forms the basis of the Marxist theory of the decisive revolutionary role of the proletariat in overthrowing that system. This is why the bourgeoisie attacks the theory of surplus value with special violence, seeking to prove that exploitation no longer exists in present conditions. A “revolution” is alleged to have taken place in incomes, and the relations between the bourgeoisie and the working class are said to be founded on the principles of social partnership. But events convincingly refute such false conceptions. The facts of capitalist reality show that far from disappearing exploitation has become even more intense. The acute social conflicts, the growth in the scale of the strike movement,

are

clear indications that there is not and cannot be any peace under a capitalist olive branch. It is the theory of surplus value, not the principles of “social partnership’, which today, as before, expresses the essence of the relations between

the workers and the bourgeoisie, the exploited and the exploiters. Marx and Engels created the doctrine of communism and in so doing produced the most profound revolution in people’s ideas about the content and prospects of social development. For centuries great thinkers had dreamed of the ideal organisation of society, socialism. Yet these were utopian dreams. Although it criticised the capitalist system, pointing

out its many defects, and expressed sympathy for oppressed peoples, utopian socialism could not show these peoples the true way out of their difficult position. “It could not explain the real nature of wage-slavery under capitalism, it could

not reveal the laws of capitalist development, or show what ! F. Engels, Anti-Diihring, Moscow, 1969, p. 243.

11

social force is capable of becoming the creator of a new society.””! Marx and Engels turned socialism from a utopia into a science, proving that the victory of socialism is prepared by the whole development of the capitalist mode of production. Marx was the first to point to the working class as the force called upon to overthrow the bourgeoisie and build communist society. The discovery and substantiation by Marx of the historical role of the proletariat is a crucial point in Marxism. From this it followed,

as Lenin

noted, that it was

not the well-

meaning efforts of noble-minded individuals, but the class struggle of the organised proletariat that would deliver mankind from the evils engendered by the exploitatory system.2 There is not and cannot be any Marxism without the crucial point, without the theory of the historical role of the proletariat. Marx was not only the brilliant theoretician and creator of scientific communism, but also an ardent revolutionary and political leader of the working class, the first builder of a political party of the proletariat. Under the influence of Marx and his great comrade-in-arms Engels the nineteenthcentury working-class movement swelled to considerable proportions. The Communist League, the First International, and the formation of socialist working-class parties in the various European countries and America—these are the main stages in the growth of the revolutionary consciousness and organisation of the international working class. Marx was the founder and true leader of the First International—the International Working Men’s Association—and the author of its most important documents. Marx and Engels promoted the transition of the working-class movement from the spontaneous to the conscious phase of struggle. As a result of their combined efforts the process of uniting Marxism with

the working-class movement was greatly during their lifetime. A tense ideological struggle has always Marxist theory, ever since it first appeared ago. For some time the bourgeoisie ignored { V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 19, p. 27. ~~ Thid., Vols2,

p09)

12

advanced

even

centred around over a century

Marxist theory,

then sought to refute it and has been trying unsuccessfully to do so for many decades. Bourgeois ideologists maintain that Marxist theory is out of date and that capitalist development has taken a different course. Book upon book has been written in an effort to show that modern capitalism does not fit in with Marxist conceptions, and that Marxism in general cannot be applied to Western civilisation. All manner of “‘anti-communist manifestoes” have come and gone, the sole aim of which was to whitewash and defend capitalism, to refute Marx and to “annihilate” Marxism or at least weaken its influence and hinder its spread. However, as Lenin wrote, after each such “annihilation” Marxism penetrates into the masses of the people more and more widely and deeply, “becomes stronger, more hardened and more vigorous”.! (Applause.) The tense struggle around the ideological legacy of Marx continues to be waged in the working-class movement also. As we know, the first strong reformist attack on Marxism was made by Bernstein and his followers. Some time later the majority of the leaders of the Second International challenged creative Marxism from reformist positions. After the October Revolution the whole of Right-wing Social-Democracy adopted openly revisionist positions, basically rejecting the Marxist theory of class struggle, the socialist revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat. There is also a second front in the fight to defend Marxism-Leninism—the battle against all manner of “Left’-wing opportunist distortions of revolutionary theory, the struggle with revisionism from the “Left”, with petty-bourgeois “revolutionarism”. The forms of “Left-wing revision” of Marxism-Leninism are many and various. The Trotskyists, for example, at one time disguised their capitulation and

lack of faith in the inner forces of the Soviet Republic by “Left” phrase-mongering and called for world revolution and the overthrow of imperialism simultaneously in all countries, but finished up by becoming anti-Soviet and collaborating with the most reactionary forces. The activity of the

Mao Tse-tung group is a crude expression of “Left’-wing adventurist distortion of Marxism. In effect it has rejected

1 Ibid., Vol. 15, p. 31. 18

Marxist-Leninist teaching and supports petty-bourgeois nationalism and chauvinism. The communist and workers’ parties see it as a sacred duty to defend Marxist-Leninist theory and develop it creatively by their combined efforts. MARXISM-LENINISM—THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF BUILDING COMMUNIST SOCIETY

The Great October Socialist Revolution, which opened up a new era in the life of mankind, was a triumph of Marxism-Leninism. Brought about under the guidance of the Bolshevik Party led by Lenin, the October Revolution confirmed the correctness of Marxist-Leninist theory and marked the beginning of the practical application of this theory in the building of the new society. Lenin, the leader of our Party, founder of the Soviet state and great thinker, developed Marxist theory in relation to the changed historical circumstances and raised it to a new, higher stage. We expanded and realised the most important Marxist ideas on socialist revolution, the dictatorship of the proletariat, the leading role of the party and the working class and elaborated the basic problems of the building of socialist society and the transition to communism. Lenin’s great service to mankind was that he made a comprehensive study of imperialism and the laws of its development and proved convincingly that “the epoch of capitalist imperialism is one of ripe and rotten-ripe capital-

ism, which is about to collapse, and which is mature enough to make way for socialism’’.! In developing Marx’s teaching, Lenin produced an integrated theory of the party of a new type—the Marxist revolutionary party, its leading role, and its organisational, ideological, tactical and theoretical principles. He believed that the possession of a Marxist party was the prime condition for the victory of the working class in the fight for the triumph of socialism. Only then was the working class a formidable, invincible force. Lenin gave embodiment to his ideas on the Marxist party of the new type in the Communist 1 V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 22, p. 109.

14

Party of the Soviet Union, of which he was the founder. (Prolonged applause.) he Communist Party, formed on the firm scientific basis of Marxism-Leninism, was thoroughly prepared under the direct guidance of the great Lenin to carry out its historical mission as the leader of the revolution and organiser of socialist and communist construction. In stirring up the masses to revolution, the Party was governed by Lenin’s brilliant thesis that under imperialism socialist revolution and the building of socialism were possible, first in a few countries, or even in a single one. This discovery by Lenin opened up great prospects for the communist and workers’ parties of the world in their revolutionary struggle. The teaching of Marx and Lenin on the dictatorship of the proletariat is of enormous importance for the international

revolutionary

movement.

Marx,

and

later

Lenin,

proved with exhaustive clarity that the state of the transitional period between capitalism and socialism must be a revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat, stressing at the same time the possibility of the dictatorship taking different state forms. Lenin’s outstanding service in the creative development of Marx’s teaching was the discovery of the Soviets as a new type of state. His conclusion that the highest principle of the dictatorship of the proletariat is the alliance of the working class with the working masses of the peasantry was

a great contribution to Marxist theory. Lenin thoroughly elaborated the question of the nature and tasks of the dictatorship of the proletariat and of proletarian democracy as the highest form of democracy. The dictatorship of the proletariat deprives capitalists, landowners and their henchmen of the “freedom” to own factories and exploit the working people, the “freedom” to control the press, radio and other means of propaganda in order to fool the masses, the “freedom” to fight for the re-establishment of the power of capital and the “freedom” to maintain relations with the foreign bourgeoisie for these anti-popular aims. The dictatorship of the proletariat, which wages a determined struggle against the enemies of socialism and their agents, involves first and foremost, Lenin pointed out,

a vast extension of democracy, proletarian democracy—the democracy of the working people, i.e., the vast majority of 15

the population. Moreover, not a formal democracy, but one in which workers, peasants and all working people are the real masters of their country and its material and spiritual riches. This is why proletarian democracy is immensely more democratic than any bourgeois democracy. (Prolonged applause.) The victory of socialism produces profound changes in the political life of society. The state of the dictatorship of the proletariat develops into a political organisation of the whole people led by the working class, which results in the further development, deepening and improvement of socialist democratism. True democratism proceeds from the very essence of the socialist order. The theory of scientific communism elaborated by Marx and developed by Lenin is the guiding star in the building of the first communist society in the world. It has provided a scientifically based forecast of the development of mankind. Making a profound study of the capitalist social formation and tracing the development of this formation, Marx outlines with brilliant perspicacity the important features of the future society which is to replace capitalism. In so doing, as Lenin said, he makes no attempt whatsoever to compose a utopia. As a true scientist, Marx raises the question of communism “on the basis of the fact that it has its origin in capitalism, that it develops historically from capitalism, that it is the result of the action of a social force to which capitalism gave birth’.' Marx predicted that the advance of society from capitalism to communism would take place in three objectively determined, historically logical and inseparably linked stages: the transitional period, the socialist phase and the communist phase. He stressed that the development of the first phase into the second would be determined primarily by the development of productive forces and the improvement of production relations. He criticised the theoretical and practical inconsistency of any attempt to “hurry along” history, to bypass historically essential stages, and also the antiscientific conceptions of the “barrack communism” type. Lenin attached great importance to Marx’s theoretical conclusions on the transitional period, communism, ' V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 25, p. 458. 16

and its phases

of development and elaborated them further. Proceeding from Marx’s ideas and the practical experience of the Soviet state, Lenin explained the ways of building socialism with extreme clarity and depth. Socialism, he taught, can triumph only on the basis of a modern advanced technology, a powerful socialist industry and a high level of productivity. Basing himself on Marx’s agrarian theory and developing it, Lenin produced the brilliant plan of bringing the peasantry to socialism through co-operation. In accordance with this plan for the first time in history the highly complex peasant question was solved in the Soviet Union and the whole way of life of the countryside was transformed radically. Of great importance is Lenin’s far-reaching plan for socialist transformations in the sphere of culture, which provided for the abolition of illiteracy among the masses, their introduction to knowledge, science and culture, the creation of a popular intelligentsia, the critical absorption and adaption of the spiritual heritage, the establishment of communist ideas in the field of education, morals, habits and customs, and the intensive development of all branches of culture, national in form and socialist in content. In accordance with Marxist-Leninist theory the first phase

of the communist formation—socialism—has been built in the USSR. The socialist phase has its own degrees of maturity which depend on the level of development of productive forces and the improvement of production relations, on the concrete situation. Moreover, the existence of the world socialist system creates the prerequisites for an increasing

variety of forms in the socialist organisation of society. But in all cases the characteristic features of socialism are the existence of developed productive forces, the prevalence of public ownership of the means of production, the absence of exploiter classes and exploitation of man by man, the gradual erasing of the differences and distinctions between classes, the planned development of social production aimed at systematically raising the well-being of the working people, the leading role of the working class headed by a Marxist-Leninist party, true and comprehensive democracy, social, national and political equality for all, and the spiritual flourish-

ing of society. One of the most characteristic features of socialism as the first phase of communism 2—1641

is, as we know, the distribution of 17

material wealth among the working people in accordance with the quantity and quality of labour on the principle of ‘from each according to his abilities, to each according to his labour”. There is no exploitation of man by man under socialism, but there is still a certain inequality between people in the receipt of material rewards from society. As Marx

emphasised, it is inevitable “in the first phase of communist society as it is when it has just emerged after prolonged birth pangs from capitalist society”’!. Socialism is not a short-term stage, but a whole historical period in the development of communist society. The economic laws of socialism and its advantages are revealed most fully in mature socialist society. The full and complete realisation of the socio-economic potential and requirements of socialism ensures the gradual, logical, natural transition to communism. The road to communism lies through the total victory of socialism. There is no other path. (Prolonged applause.) The length of time required for the solution of socialist tasks and particularly for the formation of mature socialism possessing a corresponding material and technical basis and developed social relations varies with different countries. Those which are already economically developed when they embark on the new path find it relatively easier to carry out the building of socialism. Countries which have an undeveloped material and technical basis at the beginning of socialist relations have to traverse a longer path and solve more problems. Thus, the theory of scientific communism, enriched by the experience of the Soviet Union and the other socialist coun-

tries, forms the scientific basis for the gigantic socialist transformations taking place today in the countries of Europe, Asia and in Cuba, and has been put into practice in the world socialist system which is vastly superior to the capitalist system from all points of view—economic, social, political and spiritual. The communist

and workers’ parties of the socialist countries are making their contribution to the theory and practice of the organisation of socialist society. The CPSU is happy to share its experience with other Marxist-Leninist parties ' K. Marx

and F. Engels, Selected

18

Works,

Vol. Oanp.

LO!

and also studies attentively the collective experience of the fraternal parties and employs it in political, economic and cultural construction. The creative application of Marxist-Leninist theory in this or that country requires that account be taken of the different relations which obtain between classes and parties and of other concrete circumstances. Yet the principles of the organisation of socialist life are always the same. Experience shows that there are no and cannot be forms of socialism which are not based on general principles. In such cases we are dealing only with “socialist” phraseology and not with real socialism. The Soviet people under the leadership of the CPSU has traversed a great historical path. It has eliminated the exploiter classes and created a society of the working people, socialism. Thereby a full guarantee against the restoration of capitalism in the country has been obtained. By creating a mighty power, strengthening our friendship with the socialist countries and pursuing a peaceful foreign policy, we have also secured a guarantee against the restoration of capitalism from the viewpoint of the alignment of forces in the world arena. The victory of socialism in the USSR is now a full

and final one. (Applause.) The building of socialism in the USSR is an historic service to the whole of mankind by our working class, collective-farm peasantry and intelligentsia, by the whole Soviet people and its vanguard—the Communist Party. The great plan drawn up by Marx and Lenin has been realised by the efforts and genius of the Soviet people.

(A pplause.) The building of developed socialist society revealing its advantages to the full had its own special features in our country and involved overcoming considerable difficulties. We had to solve the most complex problems, to build a new society, strengthen the country’s defence capacity and defend the achievements of the revolution against imperialism, fulfilling our national and international obligations. In carrying out these tasks we were called upon to make great sacrifices to emerge victorious from the bitter struggles against international and domestic reaction. As we know, the working people of our country withstood the onslaught and defeated all the forces of the old world which took up arms Qe

19

against the October Revolution and the young Soviet republic —from world imperialism and the exploiter classes overthrown by the Revolution to the renegade socialists—the Mensheviks, the Socialist-Revolutionaries and bourgeois nationalists. The Soviet people also had to shoulder the brunt of the Second World

War

with the nazi hordes—the

shock

troops of imperialism. Today also the Soviet people devotes constant attention to the strengthening of the country’s defence capacity in the interests of peace and socialism. With a feeling of deep satisfaction we can say that our Motherland possesses the Armed Forces which are selflessly devoted to the Party and the people and are safely guarding the gains of socialism, constantly on the alert to repulse any aggressor. (Prolonged applause.) The ever growing successes of the Soviet people in the post-war period are making it possible to reveal more fully, deeply and vividly what socialism is capable of in all fields of social life. And as we go forward each member of Soviet society is becoming increasingly aware of the great advantages of the socialist system. The Soviet people is now engaged in the building of communism. The outlines of the communist phase were determined by Marx and Lenin. The communist phase begins after the maturing of the economic, social and spiritual prerequisites within the frame-

work of socialism, “after the enslaving subordination of the individual to the division of labour,” wrote Marx, “and therewith also the antithesis between mental and physical labour, has vanished; after labour has become not only a means of life but life’s prime want; after the productive forces have also increased with the all-round development of the individual, and all the springs of co-operative wealth flow more abundantly—only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be crossed in its entirety and society inscribe on its banners: From each according to his ability, to each accord-

ing to his needs!”! (Applause.)

Guided by the great ideas of Marx and Lenin, our Party is blazing new trails in revolutionary theory and practice. We now have a clearer idea of which path we must take to ‘ K. Marx

and F. Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 3, p. 19.

20

communism, which problems and difficulties are confronting us, and are seeking tirelessly for methods and means of solving these problems. A profound elaboration of the problems of the gradual development of socialism into communism is contained in the Party Programme and Decisions of the 23rd

CPSU Congress. These programme documents and_ the resolutions of Plenary Meetings of the CPSU Central Committee outline measures to promote the advance of our society along the path of communist construction. What is most important in the creative work of building communism is to develop productive forces and improve production relations to the utmost, to create the material and technical basis for communism. Scientific and technological advances, industrial development of the whole of social production and an increase in its efficiency and labour productivity should be extensively used to guarantee the further rapid growth of industry and steady high rates of agricultural development, which will make it possible to satisfy more and more fully the material and cultural requirements of all Soviet people.

Socialist

production

relations

give broad

scope

for the

development of productive forces. However, this development must be accompanied by the improvement of production relations, which is a deliberate process directed by the Party and state, not a spontaneous one.

The requirements of modern socialist production in the USSR, which are linked with scientific and technological progress, and the objective need to give broader scope to the operation of socialist economic laws call for corresponding changes in production relations and forms of management. Accordingly, the Party, by the creative application of Marxism-Leninism, has drawn up some large-scale economic projects and is now putting them into action. The new methods of economic management are based on a combination of management of the economy by a single state plan with the economic independence and _ initiative of individual enterprises, and also on all-round development of socialist competition and use of a system of moral and economic incentives. Marx and Lenin revealed the operation of the most important objective laws of socialism, primarily the laws of extended reproduction, planned economic development, dis21

tribution according to labour and the law of value. The use of these and other laws operating under socialism makes possible the conscious, scientific, planned management

of all

the country’s economic processes.

Marx examined the problems of reproduction and planning from the point of view of the rational use of labour resources, the saving of labour time. He wrote that “the economy of time, as well as the planned distribution of labour time among the different branches of production, is the prime economic law on the basis of collective production. It even becomes a law in a much higher degree’’.! The improvement of economic management and the scientific level of planning, the correct use of commodity-money relations, such economic categories as profit, economic efficiency, cost accounting and the development of material and

moral incentives to labour both on a nation-wide scale and within the framework of individual branches, amalgamations and enterprises make it possible to increase productivity considerably and to achieve maximum results economising in all the elements of production. The policy of making broader use of economic methods and cost-accounting forms in the organisation of production and distribution is one of the most important component parts of the economic reform which we are implementing. In this connection bourgeois propaganda has let loose a whole torrent of misinformation and slander about the alleged crisis of socialism and the return of the USSR and other socialist countries to capitalist management. This propaganda contains nothing but malicious fabrications. The use of commodity-money relations in the socialist countries is also attacked by the “theoreticians” of the Mao Tse-tung group, who seek in their writings to distort Lenin’s theses on material incentive, cost accounting and profit by representing these economic categories as bourgeois ones. In fact, however, commodity-money relations in a socialist economy have a quite different social content than under capitalism. They are based on public ownership of the means of production and exclude the possibility of turning money into capital, into a means of exploitation. They presuppose ' Karl Marx,

Grundrisse

hentwurf), Moscow,

der Kritik der Politischen

1939, S. 89.

22

Okonomie

(Ro-

the leading role of centralised state planning and are used to ensure an even more rapid development of all branches of the socialist economy and the increased prosperity of the Soviet people. The main principle of the new system of economic management is that of democratic centralism, which ensures that centralised management is combined with profound democratism. This principle proceeds logically from public owner-

ship of the means of production and promotes maximum efficiency in the organisation of modern large-scale socialist production and the closest correspondence of the interests of society with the interests of collectives of the working people and all citizens, whose consciousness is constantly increasing with the advance towards communism. As well as developing the material and technical basis of communism Soviet society is improving social and political relations. The continuous expansion and development of socialist democracy are leading to increasing activity of the Soviets, trade unions, Komsomol

and other social organisa-

tions, to the ever greater participation of the working people in the management of the state. It is on the basis of this growing democratism that the elements of communist social self-government are gradually taking shape. Our task is to encourage these elements, to help them grow and multiply with all the means at our disposal. The sphere of the social transformations and changes in Soviet society, brought about with the working class playing a leading role and under the guidance of the Party, is extraordinarily broad. We have already done a great deal to erase the distinctions between town and country. In the next few years this work will acquire even greater dimensions. Agriculture will become “industrialised” by electrification, mechanisation and widespread use of chemicals. A higher level of culture in the countryside and the decisive reconstruction of peasant life will ensure an even greater approximation of the conditions of work, life and culture in town and country.

The scientific and technological revolution, improved production relations, the increased prosperity of all sectors of the population, growing community of ideological and political tasks, the broad dissemination of knowledge in the masses and increased activity and organisation of the work23

ing people will make it possible to ensure the gradual erasing of social and class distinctions between the industrial workers, collective-farm workers and the intelligentsia in the economic,

social

and

cultural

spheres.

The

social

homoge-

neity of our socialist society is already growing rapidly. The process of combining mental and physical work in production is being carried on intensively. The successes in communist construction are consolidating even further the friendship and co-operation between the peoples of our Motherland. The drawing together of nations and the interpenetration of cultures, customs and languages is growing stronger. The dialectics of this process is that as the national cultures of our peoples grow, so their general Soviet, international, socialist features flourish. In the course of building communism the new, fully developed Soviet man is formed—a person of great culture, high communist ideals, ideological staunchness and limitless devo-

tion to the socialist Motherland and proletarian internationalism. As our society’s fifty years of experience show, the process of the formation of the new man requires a great deal of work by the Communist Party and the Soviet state in giving communist education to the working people, and a determined battle against the vestiges of capitalism in people’s minds and imperialist ideological sallies. The April (1968) Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee of the CPSU noted that the present stage of historical development is characterised by a sharp aggravation of the ideological struggle between capitalism and socialism. In these circumstances the communist education of the working people on the basis of the great ideas of Marxism-Leninism is of special importance, as are the implacable struggle with hostile ideology, the resolute exposure of the intrigues of imperialism and its ideologists, agents and lackeys, and the intensification of the whole ideological activity of the Party. This is an essential condition for successful communist construction. (A pplause.) The path to the future was clearly outlined for the peoples of the world by those great geniuses of mankind—Marx, Engels and Lenin. Under the guidance of the Communist Party the Soviet people is advancing firmly and unswervingly along this path. 24

And the finest memorial

to these titans of thought, the

finest way to thank these ardent revolutionaries, is to erect the splendid edifice of communism in this country of ours. (Prolonged applause.)

MARXISM AND SOME PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT

Comrades, Marxist-Leninist theory is the ideological basis of the activity of the international working-class and communist movement and of all revolutionary forces the world over. It enables them to keep their bearings in the complex interweaving of events and to find answers to the new problems produced by the course of social development. Each day events confirm the correctness of this theory and refute the arguments and reasoning of the apologists of capitalism who seek to disprove Marxist theory. Capitalism is being undermined on all sides. Even some bourgeois public figures in the United States are forced to admit that their state is a “sick society” in which all sectors of the population are apprehensive about the future, and the country as a whole is experiencing “a nervous breakdown on a nation-wide scale’. It would be more correct, however, to say that today it is the whole capitalist system, not one single bourgeois state, that is suffering from an incurable disease. The scientific diagnosis of this disease is the ever deepening general crisis of capitalism. Imperialism, and primarily the imperialism of the United States, the main force of world reaction, is sparing no effort in its attempts to check the revolutionary process, to organise

sabotage and conspiracies and provoke military aggression here, there and everywhere. Despite the efforts of imperialist reaction, however, the dominant tendency in world development is the consolidation of the positions of socialism, the

upsurge of the international working-class and national liberation movement. The great communist revolution, about which Marx wrote so penetratingly, is advancing over our planet. (Prolonged applause.) Today the revolutionary movement, the true paths of which were indicated by the founders of Marxism, has taken the 25

shape which the cialist

of a powerful, universal revolutionary process, in three main streams ate interacting, namely: revolutionary activity of the peoples of the world sosystem who are fighting for the building of socialism

and communism; the working-class

movement

in the

capitalist

countries;

the national liberation struggle of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America. At the hub of the present age, the main feature of which is the transition from capitalism to socialism on a world-wide scale,

stand

the international

working

class

and

its finest

creation—the world socialist system. This situation, which has been recorded in the documents of the world communist movement and in the CPSU Programme, is fully confirmed by the revolutionary practice of millions, by the whole course of world events. The triumph of socialism in the USSR, the emergence and consolidation of the socialist community have had a most profound influence on the course of the world-wide struggle between labour and capital. The growth of the political influence and economic and military power of the world socialist system is tying the hands of the imperialists and creating more favourable conditions for the development of the world revolutionary process. Socialism is exerting increasing influence on social progress all over the world. The experience of recent years has again confirmed that, in spite of the complexity and contradictions of the present situation, time is on the side of socialism. The day has gone when a _ powerful imperialist power could use its military and technological superiority, without

the fear of serious retribution, to pursue

“police actions”

in

any part of the globe. This has been the experience of the United States, which was expecting to have a military walkover in Vietnam, but received instead a terrible, bloody and

futile war.

The

events

in Vietnam

have convincingly

de-

monstrated what great potential can be released in a people when it rises up in defence of its freedom and independence

and is able to rely on the support of friendly, peace-loving states. (Applause.) The

all-round

collaboration

and

tries of the socialist community, omic and scientific development, 26

solidarity

of the coun-

their successes in econin increasing the well-

being and culture of the working people and improving socialist social relations are constantly enhancing the attractiveness of socialism, extending the scope for political and economic assistance to peoples fighting for their national and social freedom. This is why, experiencing serious setbacks and failures in domestic and foreign policy, imperialism is now activating its subversive political and ideological struggle against the socialist countries in an attempt to demoralise them from within, to weaken the unity of these countries and the solidarity of the international communist movement. These cunning designs of the imperialists will be thwarted too, without a doubt. The peoples of the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries are ever on the alert. They are advancing firmly along the path of building socialism and communism, and no one shall deflect them from this path. (Prolonged applause.) Comrades, modern capitalism is being increasingly rent by ever sharper, deep and insoluble contradictions. In the developed capitalist countries, those centres of modern imperialism, the revolutionary struggle of the working class against the very foundations of a socio-economic system based on the exploitation of man by man is broadening. In this struggle the working class and all working people are confronted by a strong, experienced enemy, the monopolies which have the support of the powerful state machine. In an effort to preserve its positions, the monopoly bourgeoisie is seeking to adapt itself to modern conditions. It is compelled to do so by three main factors. These are, firstly, the objective process of the development of production, which is of a clearly expressed social nature, secondly, the historical competition with socialism and, third-

ly, the determined and growing struggle of the working class and the whole working population for their economic and political interests.

In recent decades the process by which monopoly capitalism is turning into state-monopoly capitalism has grown stronger. The various forms of direct and indirect state control, economic programming and forecasting are being applied more extensively. The system of private monopolies is becoming more closely interlinked with the system of state

enterprise. The modern bourgeois state is intervening more and more in the system of socio-economic relations with the 27

aim, naturally,

of preserving the bourgeois

system,

and in

the interests of enriching the monopolies, not in the interests of the people. The Marxist dialectical approach to these phenomena enables one to see the whole contradictory nature of their development. In the final analysis they are undermining the holy of holies of capitalism—private ownership. The whole development of capitalism is leading it forcibly to the last ditch, to the point at which socialism is actually knocking at the door. The apologists for capitalism seek to defend its right to existence by reference to the fact that in recent decades industrial development rates have risen in certain capitalist countries. And indeed, thanks to the scientific and technolo-

gical revolution and the application of a number of measures of state-monopoly control, capitalist economy has been developing more intensively than in the first third of the twentieth century. In spite of all these innovations, however, capitalism is increasingly revealing its bankruptcy in the competition with the socialist world. Even in its best years its economy has developed more slowly than in the socialist countries. It is significant that more recently the correlation of economic development rates has swung even more in favour of the socialist countries. Moreover, the growth of capitalist economy is extremely uneven.

In some countries, particular-

ly the United States, this growth has been of an unhealthy, militaristic nature to a considerable extent. There is not a single capitalist country that has overcome market fluctuations. As a rule, every five or six years of growth are

followed by serious slumps or, at best, marking time. Capitalist economy has recently experienced some new profound upheavals. The two main international currencies

of the capitalist system—the pound sterling and the dollar— have proved to be extremely weak. The ruling capitalist clique is seeking to find a solution at the expense of the working people: by depriving them of their social and economic gains of earlier years. This betokens the further aggravation of social conflicts and class struggles. In the course of economic development, the gulf between labour and capital is growing deeper and the polarisation of class forces stronger. One can see from the example of the 28

United States how a handful of capitalists possessing vast riches worth thousands of millions of dollars is practically controlling and legislating the country’s economic, political and even cultural life. At the same time many millions of people in the developed capitalist countries, and hundreds of millions in the capitalist sphere of influence as a whole, lead wretched, poverty-stricken lives. The proportion of wage workers among the gainfully employed population in the United States and the other developed capitalist countries rose to 80-90 per cent in the mid-sixties. The emergence and development as a result of the scientific and technological revolution of new social groups exploited by capital opens up new prospects for extending the front of the forces, led by the working class, which are demanding a radical change in the existing social system. This means that the class of exploiters is objectively challenged by the overwhelming majority of the population. The Marxist theory that the bourgeoisie will never relinquish power voluntarily holds true today as well. But the experience of the working-class movement shows that the forms of revolutionary force used may vary according to the concrete situation. The main problem of the offensive strategy of the modern working-class movement is to promote the creation of objective and subjective conditions in which the revolutionary masses will be able to put an end to the power of the monopoly bourgeoisie. How can these conditions be created? How can the masses be brought to the decisive stage of the struggle with the monopoly bourgeoisie? These are the questions which confront the working-class movement in the developed capitalist countries today. The scope of the general democratic tasks in the revolutionary struggle of the working class has increased considerably in modern conditions and their content has changed. Whereas in Marx’s time the nature of the general democratic struggle was determined by a complex of anti-feudal and anti-capitalist tasks; whereas at the beginning of the twentieth century in Russia and certain other countries the general democratic tasks were regarded and tackled from

the point of view of developing bourgeois-democratic revolution into a socialist one; whereas in the countries of People’s 29

Democracy the general democratic tasks of the national fronts arose predominantly from the anti-fascist nature of the first period of their revolutionary struggle, the extended scope of the general democratic tasks in the capitalist countries at the present time proceeds from the anti-monopolistic nature of the proletariat’s class struggle. The anti-monopoly movement of today includes as an integral part the struggle for democratic reforms undermining the positions of the monopolies. The struggle for these reforms and for raising the working people’s standard of living, although not a directly socialist one, is, nevertheless, bringing the masses to an understanding of the need for socialist revolution. The struggle of the masses for peace, national independence and democracy is growing ever wider in the capitalist countries. Of particular importance is the extensive democratic movement for peace and peaceful coexistence between countries with different social systems and for the prevention of a new world war, a struggle aimed against the militaristic circles of monopoly capital. The development of these and other modern forms of mass struggle will, in the final analysis, lead to the isolation of the most aggressive and reactionary groups in the imperialist camp, to a definite limitation of the economic supremacy of the monopolies and to a weakening of their political positions. In such a situation increasingly broad masses of the people will realise the need for the revolutionary transition from capitalism to socialism. The success of the struggle depends on how firm is the

union of the working class with the other social strata and groups attacking the rule of the monopolies. The broadest sectors of the population, peasants, artisans, intellectuals, urban middle class, are capable of being united under the flag of anti-monopoly tasks and under the leadership of the working class. Therefore, it is only natural that revolutionary forces should be striving to create a united anti-monopoly

front—a union of all the champions for peace, democracy, national independence and social progress. The doomed nature of capitalism, which brings people growing exploitation, unemployment, general anxiety, rising taxation and a higher cost of living, economic crises, political

reaction, aggressive “local wars” and the threat of a thermo30

nuclear catastrophe, neo-colonial oppression and terrible poverty for the majority of mankind living in the former colonies, is becoming increasingly clear not only to the working class, but to large sections of working people the whole

world over. The facts show that the class struggle of the proletariat in the developed capitalist countries is becoming ever broader

in scope, deeper in content and more socially significant and representative in the number of its supporters, and that it is preparing the conditions for a direct struggle for the ultimate

aim—the revolutionary transformation of society, socialism. (A pplause.) An important place in Marx’s great legacy is occupied by his teaching on the colonial question. Marx saw the colonial system as the inevitable result of capitalism and stressed the close link between the revolutionary liberation of the working masses in the developed countries and the abolition of colonial rule. In the new situation, after capitalism had entered

its last, imperialist

stage, Lenin

revealed

the new

prospects for the development of the world revolutionary process and the indissoluble union of its main streams and predicted the inevitable growth in the national liberation movement which “will turn against capitalism and imperialism...”! Lenin’s forecast turned out to be absolutely right. Imperialism

as a system

of oppression

and

exploitation of

classes and nations on a world-wide scale has come up against the struggle of all enslaved classes and peoples. The struggle of the masses for national independence is joining with the struggle for social emancipation. Today the national liberation movement is an organic part of the world revolu-

tionary process, in the vanguard of which marches the world socialist community and the organised working class. The age of socialist revolutions inaugurated by

the Great October Revolution gave a start to the crisis of the colonial system. After the emergence of the world socialist

system, a mighty bulwark for the anti-imperialist struggle throughout the world, the collapse of the colonial system became possible. Whereas at the beginning of the Second World War the colonial and dependent countries constituted

about 67 per cent of the world’s territory and 60 per cent 1 V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 32, p. 482.

31

of its population, today the colonial empires lie in ruins. One thousand five hundred million people have cast off the fetters of slavery.

The vast majority of countries of the Third World have already won political independence. But, as envisaged by Marxist-Leninist theory, this does not yet mean freedom from poverty, backwardness and oppression. The plunder of these countries by the imperialists continues, only its forms are often camouflaged. The struggle for economic independence is the main feature of the present stage in the national liberation movement. Without the attainment of economic independence it is impossible to have any serious social progress or improvement in the standard of living of the masses. Yet this struggle can be successful only if the liberated countries take all measures to ensure the gradual creation of their own viable and diversified economy. The speed and efficiency of reorganising a backward, still semi-colonial economy depend on the profundity and scale of the social transformations carried out in these countries. In the course of the struggle for economic independence socialism is becoming more and more attractive among the peoples of the liberated countries. Increasingly broad sectors of the population rightly see socialism as the only system which can ensure freedom from poverty, backwardness, exploitation and inequality. There are also objective prerequisites for the transition of the liberated countries to socialism, bypassing capitalism. The countries advancing along the path of consolidation of their national independence, the path of social progress, can lean on the political, moral and economic support of the world socialist system. In a number of countries revolutionary democracy has come to power and has succeeded in carrying out extensive

social transformations which create the prerequisites for the transition to a non-capitalist path of development.. The further successes of the revolutionary democrats on this path will depend to a great extent on how confidently and firmly they adopt the positions of scientific socialism and are guided by revolutionary theory in their activities. In many liberated countries the Communists are playing an active role in the struggle for socialism. As early as the o2

revolutionary upsurge in the period from 1917 to 1922, eighteen Marxist-Leninist parties emerged in the colonial and dependent countries. On the eve of the Second World War there were already 38 communist parties with a total in Asia, Africa and Latin America. of 117,000 members Today there are communist and workers’ parties in more than fifty countries of the Third World. Not all of them are numerically strong yet, but their role will, undoubtedly, grow. The problems of the link between the three streams in the world revolutionary movement of today, the role of each of them, and particularly the relations between the world socialist system and the working-class movement in the capitalist countries, on the one hand, and the national liberation movement, on the other, have, as we all know, become the object of shameless demagogy in recent

years. Certain Leftist and nationalist elements, who champion the

struggle of the “world village” against the “world town” (including the socialist countries!), maintain that the epicentre of the world socialist revolution today has shifted to the zone of the countries of the national liberation movement. They state that these countries are the main force of revolution. Therefore, the cause of revolution in capitalist countries, they insist, depends in the final analysis on the outcome of the struggle of the liberated peoples of the former colonial outskirts of imperialism. The distortion of Marxist-Leninist ideas on world revolution in this conception is most obvious. Its authors disregard Marxist-Leninist teaching on the historical mission of the working class, misinterpret the essence of historical materialism and distort the idea of social progress as the replacement of one economic formation by a superior one in terms of development of productive forces and production relations. They are undermining the unity of the world revolutionary process and seeking to set one of its sections against the others. These splitting tactics are causing great harm not only to the international working class, but also above all to

the national liberation movement itself. Comrades,

wherever

class

struggles

are

being

waged,

wherever the revolutionary process is being activated, you will find communist parties in the vanguard of the anti3—1641

33

monopoly and anti-imperialist movement, in the front ranks of the fighters for social progress. The communist movement has become the most influential political force of the present day, because at all stages of the struggle, in all circumstances, it has remained true to Marxism-Leninism, which demands a creative approach to quickly changing reality. The most important political task of the contemporary communist movement

is to restore and strengthen its unity.

Right at the beginning of the international working-class movement, Marx pointed out that the international solidarity of the working class is an essential condition for its victory. Marx’s

call “Workers

of All Countries,

Unite!”

was

and

still is the battle cry of the world working-class movement. For the communist parties of all lands one of the most important tasks in the present situation is to carry out faithfully Marx’s great behest: “...to make the workmen of different countries not only feel but act as brethren and comrades in the army of emancipation”.! (Applause.) Achieving the solidarity of all revolutionary forces is a complex and sometimes contradictory process. The increase in the scale of the revolutionary movement, the extension of its social basis, the varying conditions of economic and socio-political development in countries where communist parties are active, differing historical traditions and other differences may lead to a lack of coincidence in positions and, consequently, to a divergence of opinion on this or that question. The solidarity and unity of the communist parties on basic

and decisive questions by no means exclude a large variety of political and tactical positions and differences in views

and assessments. The founders of scientific communism warned against the danger of distorting the principles of internationalism, and against attempts by some parties to force their point of view on others. In accordance .with the principles of internationalism bequeathed by the founders of Marxism the standard for relations between the communist parties is complete democracy, equality of rights and respect for one another’s views. 4 The

General

Council

of the First International,

cow, 1962, p. 341.

34

1864-1866,

Mos-

As early as the period of the First International Marx and Engels stressed that the International’s Rules “presents a general outline of the proletarian movement, while leaving its theoretical elaboration to be guided by the needs of the practical struggle and the exchange of ideas in the sections ...in their organs and Congresses. ..’!. This is all the more correct today when the concrete conditions of the workingclass struggle in the various countries have become more varied and forms of contact between the fraternal parties have developed further. Today each Marxist-Leninist party elaborates and implements the policy and tactics of revolutionary struggle independently in conformity with its country’s specific features and historical traditions. At the same time each party takes part in the performance of common international tasks. The sovereignty and independence of the fraternal parties in their domestic activity are the basic principles of the international struggle of the working class, the common aims of which demand co-ordination and unity of action by all the national contingents of the communist movement. Violation of this dialectical interconnection between the national and international elements results in distortion of the principles of proletarian internationalism,

in national

seclusion from which

it is only a step to the nationalism and chauvinism that undermine the foundations of revolutionary unity. “... One who has adopted the standpoint of nationalism,” wrote Lenin, “naturally arrives at the desire to erect a Chinese Wall around his nationality, his national working-class movement; he is unembarrassed even by the fact that it would mean building separate walls in each city, in each little town and village, unembarrassed even by the fact that by his tactics of division and dismemberment he is reducing to nil the great call for the rallying and unity of the proletarians of all nations, all races and all languages.’ Proletarian internationalism, which expresses the community of situation and interests of the working people of all countries, was and still is the guiding principle in the theoretical and practical activity of Marxist-Leninists. This was demonstrated yet again by the representatives of com1 K. Marx

and F. Engels, Selected

Works,

Vol. 2, p. 271.

2 V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 6, pp. 520-21. fe

35

munist and workers’ parties at the Consultative Meeting in Budapest in March of this year. The Budapest meeting showed that, in spite of the splitting tactics of the Mao Tsetung group, the main trend in the international communist movement is one of ever-growing striving for solidarity, unity of action and activation of the struggle against imperialism. The delegates at the meeting in Budapest came to the conclusion that an important role in the solution of this task must be played by the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties, which it is planned to hold in Moscow, the capital of world’s first socialist state. Our Party warmly welcomes this decision. (Applause.)

The solution of the problem of the unity of all forces of the world revolutionary movement in the struggle against imperialism depends to a large extent on the correct actions of the communist parties. A steadfast struggle against all deviations from Marxism-Leninism and against nationalistic, dogmatic and revisionist distortions of its revolutionary principles is the condition and pledge of the triumph of the cause of peace, democracy, national independence and socialism the world over. The CPSU, an integral part of the international communist and working-class movement, is doing everything in its power to consolidate the unity of the international communist movement. It is striving to develop fraternal relations with all communist and workers’ parties and to coordinate its actions with the efforts of all contingents of the world revolutionary working-class and anti-imperialist movement.

Comrades, harsh test of on the basis ment by the

the teaching of Marx, which has endured the time, withstood all challenges and been enriched of the practice of the mass revolutionary movetrue continuer of Marx’s cause and teaching,

the brilliant Lenin, has become

the banner

of hundreds

of

millions of people who are applying this teaching in the struggle against capitalism and imperialism and in the building of the new society. Today the teaching of Marx, Engels and Lenin is a bright light showing all mankind the way to a splendid future, to communism.

How can we explain this grandiose triumph of MarxismLeninism? 36

By the fact that Marxist-Leninist teaching expresses the interests of the working class, the most progressive class of modern society, and, therefore, the interests of all working people and all oppressed, that is to say, of the vast majority

of the world’s population. By the fact that this teaching is a true reflection of the objective laws of the development of human society. And the broader the scope of revolutionary transformations, the more clearly mankind can see that the most important Marxist-Leninist conclusions are correct. By the fact that this teaching is organically linked with life, with practice, is constantly growing richer and developing by generalising practice, studying the new data and new phenomena of developing reality, and is, therefore, perpetually vital. The enemies of Marxism-Leninism go on about Marxism being “out of date”. They do not understand, or more often than not deliberately distort, the creative character of this teaching, its dialectics and its development.

Creative Marxism cannot be out of date because it is true. This is the inexhaustible source of the strength and vitality of Marxist-Leninist teaching. (Applause.) Today Marxism-Leninism is being developed by the collective efforts of the communist and workers’ parties on the basis of their vast experience of the struggle with imperialism in the most varied conditions. Together with the other fraternal parties the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is making a considerable contribution to the further elaboration of Marxist-Leninist teaching. Unswervingly guided by this teaching and waging an uncompromising

struggle with Right-wing

and “Left’-wing

revisionism, our Party is also constantly concerned with the further elaboration of revolutionary theory, with the development of all the component parts of Marxist-Leninist doctrine —philosophy,

political

economy

and _ scientific

commu-

nism. Marxist-Leninist teaching is the ideological basis for the building of socialism and communism. It is also the ideological basis and banner of the struggle of the international communist movement and the struggle of all peoples for social and national liberation. * 37

Comrades, the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx coincides with the preparations for another great jubilee—the centenary of Lenin’s birth. This coincidence is profoundly symbolical. In the memory of working people the name of Karl Marx is indissolubly linked with the name of the great continuer of his cause—Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. It fell to Lenin to carry out gigantic tasks connected with both the further development of Marxist theory and its practical embodiment. For many

decades

our Party has

borne

aloft

the great

revolutionary banner of Marx and Lenin with honour. Under this banner the working people of the Soviet Union have turned their Motherland into one of the most powerful states in the world. The unfading light of Marxist-Leninist ideas is showing us the way ahead, to communism. Today, as we honour the memory of the great founder of scientific communism, we can say without hesitation: our socialist Motherland will attain the ultimate goal set by Marx—communism. (Prolonged applause.) Today the international working class and all progressive mankind are paying a tribute of profound gratitude and respect to the great genius of science, the leader and teacher of the world proletariat, Karl Marx. Long live the perpetually vital revolutionary teaching of Marx-Engels-Lenin! (Prolonged applause.) Long live the great Soviet people, the first to embody the ideas of scientific socialism! (Prolonged applause.) Long live the Communist Party of the Soviet Union—the inspirer and organiser of all our victories! (Prolonged applause.) Long live the world communist movement and the consolidation of its solidarity on the basis of the principles of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism! (Stormy, prolonged applause.)

LENINISM AND THE REVOLUTIONARY TRANSFORMATION OF THE WORLD ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNAL KOMMUNIST, No. 15, 1969

The history of mankind contains great dates, which are celebrated in all countries, among all peoples. One such date

is April 22, 1970—the

birth centenary of Vladimir

Lenin, the brilliant thinker, theoretician

Ilyich

of scientific com-

munism, ardent revolutionary and great leader of the Soviet people, the international working class and working people the world over. The Lenin birth centenary is being celebrated at a time when his ideas are widely spreading around the globe. The name of Lenin, his ideas and accomplishments are indissolubly linked with modern history, with all the great revolutionary events of the twentieth century and the most important of them is the October Revolution, which ushered in a new epoch in the life of mankind, the transition from capitalism to socialism and communism. It is at this most important turning-point of world history that the gigantic figure of Lenin towers, showing mankind the way to a new life, to true freedom, social justice, peace and universal well-

being. cae life was a short one, a mere 54 years. But it was a life full of titanic activity and selfless struggle, a life of achievement for the good of mankind. All his great talent, all his powers were devoted to the struggle for the happiness 39

of the working people, for human progress. The name of Lenin, his ideas and accomplishments will survive over the millennia. LENINISM—THE CONTINUATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MARXISM IN NEW HISTORICAL CONDITIONS

The name of Lenin is closely linked with the names of those brilliant leaders of the international proletariat, Marx and Engels. In the person of Lenin Marxism acquired its most outstanding champion. Lenin was deeply and broadly educated, a firm and consistent Marxist, the great continuer of the teaching of Marx and Engels. He tirelessly propagated the ideas of scientific socialism elaborated by them. More than anyone else Lenin understood that it is Marxism that gives the working class the knowledge it needs for the victory of its just cause. “Without knowledge the workers are defenceless, with knowledge they are a force!’’! he wrote, and frequently pointed out that it is from Marxism, which has generalised and absorbed the whole experience of the international revolutionary movement, that the working class gains a clear idea of the aims, tasks and organisation of its struggle. After the death of the founders of scientific communism, the teachers and leaders of the international proletariat, Marx and Engels, some important changes took place in world social development. Capitalism entered its imperialist stage. The problem of mankind’s transition to socialism acquired a special urgency. The revolutionary movement of the international proletariat was enriched by new experience of struggle. All this required careful scientific analysis, strict, objective study and theoretical generalisation. The difficult and at the same time vitally important for the destinies of mankind task of defending and creatively developing Marxism in the new historical conditions fell to the lot of Lenin. Lenin revealed fully the significance of Marxism as the only true revolutionary theory, which proceeds from the total sum of human knowledge, forms its conclusions in 1 V. 1. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 2,'p. 92.

40

conformity with the development of objective material reality and tests their validity in socio-historical practice. Lenin’s writings and practical activity continued, developed and made concrete all the component parts of Marxism: philosophy, political economy and scientific communism. Lenin was not a “pure academic”. He developed Marxist theory in the course of the class struggles of the proletariat, regarding it as a guide to revolutionary action and defend-

ing its purity

against numerous

distortions,

falsifications

and imitations. Lenin and the Communist Party of which he was the founder were called on to wage an implacable struggle with numerous enemies in the revolutionary movement to retain its Marxist path and character. The Narodniks, “Legal

Marxists’,

“Economists”,

Mensheviks,

Social-

ist-Revolutionaries, Anarchists, Trotskyists, Right-wing opportunists, national-deviationists and revisionists of all hues in the international arena—this is by no means a complete list of revolutionary Marxism’s ideological and_ political enemies, against whom Lenin and the Bolshevik Party waged a fierce struggle in defence of the principles of Marxist theory. One great danger was international revisionism, which campaigned for the renovation of what it called “oldfashioned” Marxism, but was in fact seeking to dilute Marxism with the ideology of an alien class and to deprive it of its militant revolutionary spirit. Lenin denounced revisionism writing: “An ever subtler falsification of Marxism, an ever subtler presentation of anti-materialist doctrines under the guise of Marxism—this is the characteristic feature of modern revisionism in political economy, in questions of tactics and in philosophy generally, equally in epistemology and in sociology’’.t In defending Marxist philosophy against the revisionists, Lenin developed further the basic questions of dialectical and historical materialism. He enriched the materialist theory of knowledge of Marx and Engels, revealed the great strength of the human intellect which is capable of understanding objective truth and showed that the authenticity of knowledge is tested by a single reliable criterion—sociohistorical practice. About the power of the intellect, its achievements and prospects he wrote in words ringing with 4 V. 1. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 14, p. 330.

41

a profound optimism: “Human

reason has discovered many

amazing things in nature and will discover still more, will thereby increase its power over nature.”!

and

In his classic work Materialism and Empirio-Criticism Lenin gave a profound philosophical explanation of the new discoveries in the natural sciences which had caused a complete break with a number of formerly accepted principles and concepts in physics. This break gave rise to the spread of idealist attitudes and views among certain scholars, who wrongly assumed that the new scientific data disproved materialism. Lenin showed convincingly that these discoveries were yet further confirmation of the truth of materialism, and that it was essential for scientific progress that scholars should adopt dialectical materialism, which alone provides a correct, scientific explanation of the world and interpretation of the processes taking place in it. Many leading figures in the natural sciences did in fact follow this course. Lenin attached tremendous importance to the dialectical method and regarded materialist dialectics as the heart and soul of Marxism. In analysing the nature of dialectics, he showed convincingly that its essence lies in the law of the unity and struggle of opposites, which provides the key to understanding the development of matter, in the process of which the new comes to replace the old. This is why Lenin always stressed the critical trend and revolutionary nature of Marxist dialectical method, which calls us forward, to the future, to the replacement of the old by the new. Materialist dialectics demonstrates irrefutably the transient nature of obsolete capitalist society, which no longer responds to the needs of mankind, and the inevitability of its replacement by a new, more perfect, social order. The objective course of social development coincides with the strivings of the working masses led by the most revolutionary class, the proletariat, who are interested in replacing capitalism by the new, communist

order and are called upon

to bring about this historically necessary replacement. The principle of party commitment in ideology and _ politics, formulated and developed by Lenin, urges people to adopt consciously the position of the most progressive social force, ! V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 14, pp. 281-82. 42

the working class, because its revolutionary views and striving are the truest and most just. Guided by the scientific theory of Marx and Engels, Lenin produced an integrated theory of imperialism. He advanced and substantiated the proposition that capitalism at its imperialist stage enters a period of acute aggravation of economic and political contradictions, results in the unleashing of imperialist wars and involves reaction on all fronts, a sharp increase in the exploitation of the working

people and the intensification of national oppression. By his profound analysis of the features of the new imperialist stage of capitalism, Lenin demonstrated convincingly that the profound contradictions and defects of imperialism are incurable and that, in the age of imperialism, capitalism is rotting and moribund and leads society to the very threshold of socialism. The very development of society raises the question of the proletarian revolution, the need to destroy imperialism and replace it by socialism. “The epoch of capitalist imperialism,’ wrote Lenin, “is one of ripe and rotten-ripe capitalism, which is about to collapse, and

which

is mature

enough

to make

way

for social-

ism”’.! Having discovered the new laws of development of the age of imperialism as an age “relatively much more violent, spasmodic, disastrous and conflicting” than the pre-monopoly period of capitalism, Lenin concluded that the victory of socialism was possible initially in several or even in one country. “... Socialism cannot achieve victory simultaneously in all countries. It will achieve victory first in one or several countries, while the others will for some time remain

bourgeois or pre-bourgeois.”?2 The Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia fully confirmed this Lenin’s conclusion, which differed radically from the view then prevalent among Marxists that the victory of the proletarian revolution was possible only as a simultaneous victory in the majority of the developed countries. Lenin’s theory of the possibility of the victory of socialism in one country was an important, new advance in the devel-

opment of Marxism. It showed the working class that the socialist revolution was not something for the remote future 4 V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 22, p. 109. 2 Tbid., Vol. 23, p. 79.

43

and that the working class should overthrow boldly and take state power into its hands as sential objective and subjective conditions ripe in any capitalist country. As we know,

first appeared and

was

successfully

the soon for this

exploiters as the esthis were possibility

exploited in Russia,

which proved to be the weakest link in the world capitalist system and whose working class was best prepared to carry out the socialist revolution. That great man of science, Lenin, belongs to the thinkers who see it as their main task not only to explain the world but, first and foremost, to transform

it. As the true leader

of the proletariat, Lenin made a profound study of the life and struggle of the classes, constantly supported close, indissoluble links with the working masses, carefully worked out the victorious strategy and tactics of the revolutionary struggle of the proletariat and himself directly led the workers’ revolutionary struggles against capitalism. All Lenin’s works are imbued with the spirit of Marxism as a perpetually vital and developing teaching, which demands allegiance to its principles, but does not recognise stereotypes and dogmas and always proceeds from concrete consideration of a given situation. Preparing the victory of the working class, Lenin scientifically analysed the conditions, ways and means of the struggle for socialism. In the fierce battle against Right and “Left” opportunists, Lenin defended and developed the revolutionary content of Marxism. He elaborated fully the Marxist theory of socialist revolution. Creatively developing the ideas of Marx and Engels and taking into account the experience of the Communist League

and the International

Working

Men’s

Association

founded

by them, Lenin produced a detailed theory of the revolutionary party of a new type, the party as the guiding organisation of the proletariat, the main weapon in the hands of the proletariat, without which the working class could not overthrow the supremacy of capital, win political power and build socialism. He not only produced the theory of the revolutionary party of the working class, but also orgaised and trained one—the Communist Party of the Soviet nion. “In its struggle for power the proletariat has no other 44

weapon but organisation,”! Lenin stressed. Only a high degree of organisation can turn the working class into a force that none of its class enemies can withstand. The working class must have its own political party, which unites and organises the workers and directs their struggle. In creating the party, Lenin formulated its organisational, ideological, tactical and theoretical principles. With inexhaustible energy throughout many years of hard combat

with

“Legal

Marxists’,

“Economists”,

Mensheviks

and other supporters of spontaneity and tailism, who sought to subordinate the working-class movement to the interests of the bourgeoisie, Lenin created and consolidated the party of a new type—the Bolshevik Party, which embodied all the basic Marxist propositions on the role of the Party as the conscious vanguard of the working class, its political leader armed with a progressive theory, and knowledge of the laws of social development and the laws of the class struggle. The party of the working class, Lenin taught, can only perform a mobilising and guiding role if its activity is based on Marxist revolutionary theory. Marxist theory equips Communists with a scientific programme of struggle for the

economic, political and social transformation of society by

revolutionary methods. The party is only able to perform its role if it is linked very closely with the working-class movement and expresses and consistently defends the basic interests of the proletariat. In its turn, the workers’ struggle cannot be successful “until this struggle is led by a strong organisation of revolutionaries’.* Lenin saw the merging of scientific socialism with the revolutionary working-class movement as the main advantage of the party of a new type, which distinguished it radically from all previous political organisations of the working class. A true Marxist-Leninist party should, naturally, combine theory and practice, the most progressive ideas and revolutionary action. Founder and leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the great Lenin instilled the Party with a spirit of devotion to the cause of the working class and hatred for its class enemies, wrought in it an iron will directed to achiev1 V. J. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 7, p. 415. 2 Tbid., Vol. 5, p. 475.

45

ing victory and taught

it not

to fear

difficulties, but to

advance boldly to its set aim, leading, consolidating, inspiring and organising the broad masses of the working people. Lenin attached prime importance to party unity and urged members to keep’ it as the apple of their eye, to observe a high degree of discipline equally binding for all

party members, both leadership and rank and file, to fight

capitulators and opmercilessly against panic-mongers, party line and general the violate to portunists who seck

demoralise its ranks. Lenin demanded from Communists that they should not be conceited or be complacent and selfsatisfied, but should firmly criticise and rectify their mistakes. He attached prime importance to the fact that the party as a whole and each of its members individually should be closely

linked with the people, should value its trust and be fully conversant

with its vital interests.

Communists,

Lenin

said,

were drops in the sea of the people. They could guide the masses only if they expressed correctly that of which the people were aware. The core of Lenin’s organisational principles for the party of a new type is the principle of democratic centralism, in which democracy and centralism are indivisible aspects of a single whole. Democratic centralism is the unity of the party’s ideological, tactical and organisational principles embodied in its Programme and Rules, observance of which is compulsory for each Communist and each party organisation. The party has a supreme body—the congress, and in the intervals between congresses—the Central Committee, a common

discipline, and bases all its activity on the absolute subordination of the minority to the majority, of lower organisations to higher ones. “After the competent bodies have decided, all of us, as members of the Party, must act as

one man’, explained Lenin. The party, its congresses and the Central Committee determine the general line, the common course of all the organisations, and at the same time do everything to encourage and promote the development of independent action, activity and initiative on the part of Communists and all party organisations in framing and implementing party 1 V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 11, p. 323.

46

resolutions and in adapting the general political line to the specific features and differences of local conditions. Lenin pointed out in this connection that centralism in the truly democratic sense creates “the possibility ... of a full and unhampered development not only of specific local features, but also of local inventiveness,

local initiative,

of diverse

ae methods and means of progress to the common goal”. Democratism means that all the guiding party bodies from top to bottom are elective, accountable and removable, that the Party leadership is a collective one, that all Communists show initiative and play an active role in party life, and that criticism and self-criticism are widely practised. Our Party attaches tremendous importance to the strict observance and consistent development of inner-party democracy. It considers that the opinions and suggestions of individual members must command attention and respect. In its turn, the development of inner-party democracy

presup-

poses the all-round strengthening of discipline within the party and the increasing of individual members’ responsibility for the state of affairs in their organisation and in the party as a whole. The principle of democratic centralism enables the Party to increase the activity of all its members, to unite their mighty energy by a single will and to direct it to the revolutionary transformation of society. It is no accident that the enemies of the Communist Party are constantly attacking the principle of democratic centralism, the most important proposition in Lenin’s theory of the party of a new type. All the Leninist principles have been firmly adopted by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and form the basis of its monolithic nature, its great strength. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union has become what it is today— the powerful, united, guiding and directing force of Soviet society, linked to the masses by the deepest threads, the inspirer and organiser of the Soviet people in its struggle for the victory of communism—because it is guided steadfastly by Lenin’s theory and solemnly observes the principles formulated by him for the organisation of party activity and standards of party life. 1 [bid., Vol. 27, p. 208. 47

The Communist Party enjoys unlimited authority among the Soviet people, which sees the Party’s activity and policies as the expression of its basic interests and, therefore, gives active support to all party enterprises. As the political leader of the Soviet people, its militant vanguard, the CPSU was and still is, first and foremost, a party of the working class as the most progressive class of our society. The CPSU today unites in its ranks about 14 million members. Almost 40 per cent are workers and 15.6 per cent are collective farmers. Our Party also includes many highly qualified technologists and people from the spheres of science, culture and the arts. Lenin’s development of the Marxist theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat is of tremendous importance for the international revolutionary movement. Noting that the question of the dictatorship of the proletariat is fundamental to the socialist revolution and crucial to Marxism, Lenin devoted a great deal of attention in his writings to ascertain-

ing the most essential aspects of the dictatorship of the proletariat, its social nature,

the

conditions

for its establish-

ment and its most important functions, forms, role and importance. Dealing a firm rebuff to the opportunists who attacked the dictatorship of the proletariat, Lenin demonstrated that it was historically necessary as an instrument for building a society without exploitation—socialism. Mankind can only achieve socialism, he said, through the dictator-

ship of the proletariat. Lenin contrasted bourgeois democracy, which expresses the interests of the exploiter minority, with the dictatorship of the proletariat as a fundamentally new, higher type of democracy, which ensures the broadest possible participation of the working people in the management of the affairs of society and the state and expresses the interests of the vast majority of the people. Lenin’s great contribution to the development of the Marxist theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat was his

discovery of the Soviets as a new type of state. He revealed the historical significance of the Republic of Soviets as the state form of the dictatorship of the proletariat, infinitely more democratic than any bourgeois-parliamentary republic. He reached this conclusion by basing himself on the initiative of the popular masses who created Soviets of

Workers’ Deputies on their own initiative for the first time, 48

during the bourgeois-democratic revolution in Russia in 1905-07. The Soviets are the fruit of the people’s creativity. Lenin saw them as the prototype of a socialist state of the working people. Describing the Soviets as a new, higher type of democracy, Lenin wrote: “It was an authority open to all, it carried out all its functions before the eyes of the masses, was accessible to the masses, sprang directly from the masses; and was a direct and immediate instrument of the popular masses, of their will.’’!

The victory of the Great October Revolution in Russia and the formation over one-sixth of the Earth’s surface of the Soviet socialist state was a triumph for Leninist ideas. Lenin was the direct inspirer, organiser and leader of the October Revolution,

the founder

and leader of the world’s

first state of workers and peasants. Lenin explained the historical, international importance of the October Socialist Revolution. He referred to it as a turning-point, a new chapter in world history, whose great merit was that “the Russian revolution has charted the road to socialism for the whole world and has shown the bourgeoisie that their triumph is coming to an end”’.2 Lenin fre-

quently stressed the tremendous importance of the Soviet state for the working people of all lands: “Our socialist Republic of Soviets will stand secure, as a torch of international socialism and as an example to all the working people.’ Describing the international significance of the October Revolution and Soviet power, Lenin wrote: “Experience has proved that, on certain very important questions of the proletarian revolution, all countries will inevitably have to do what Russia has done.’* At the same time he noted that other countries would contribute a great deal that was new, specific and creative to the forms and means of achieving the socialist revolution and the dictator-

ship of the proletariat, without deviating from their important principles. Subsequent proletarian revolutions and socialist construction in a number of countries have fully borne out Lenin’s teaching. 4 2 3 *

4—164]

V. 1. Ibid., Thid., |bid.,

Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 352.

Vol. 28, p. 44. Vol. 26, p. 472. Vol. 31, p. 31%

49

Guided by the ideas of Marx and Engels and generalising the practical experience of the Soviet state, Lenin further elaborated the questions of the two phases of communist society, the building of socialism and its development into full communism. Under his guidance a concrete plan for socialist construction in our country was drawn up. Lenin not only indicated the ways and means of building socialism, but also perceived which social forces were capable of solving this historical task. Socialism, he taught, is the living creation of the popular masses. It is the working people who will succeed in building the new life and solving, on their own experience, the problems of the socialist organisation of society, however complex they may be. The theory of scientific communism, created by Marx and Engels and developed by Lenin, is being enriched by the practical experience of the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries, the experience of the fraternal communist and workers’ parties. This theory had been embodied in the world socialist system. It forms the scientific basis of the colossal socialist transformations that are taking place in the countries in this system and is an inspiring incentive to the struggle of the international working class and the liberation movement of all peoples who see their future in socialism. THE LENINIST COURSE OF THE COMMUNIST OF THE SOVIET UNION

PARTY

The Great October Socialist Revolution confronted the Soviet people with the unprecedented task of building a socialist society, a task which had previously been only the subject of speculation. Lenin and the Communist Party led the Soviet people to socialism by paths which no man’s foot had ever trod. “The new task before us,’ wrote Lenin, “has

never been tackled anywhere else before.”! Yet despite its complexity, this task was capable of being solved, he taught. Everything necessary for the building of a full socialist society in the Soviet Republic was available. “Our natural wealth, our manpower and the splendid impetus which the great revolution has given to the creative powers of the ! V. J. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 32; p. 379.

50

people are ample material to build a truly mighty and abundant Russia....”! Under the guidance of the Communist Party led by Lenin

the proletarian revolution firmly cleared the way to socialism of all the historical rubble that had been accumulated over the centuries by the exploiter order. All the numerous attempts by the bourgeoisie of Russia and the rest of the world to restore their lost supremacy and the old order were

heroically defeated by the people who had been liberated by

the Revolution. The Soviet state steadfastly endured enormous difficulties, withstood all tests, with honour emerged

victorious from the Civil War and defeated the interventionist forces of fourteen capitalist states. The October Socialist Revolution was living proof that when the people are led by a truly revolutionary Marxist party capable of inspiring the masses with faith in their own strength, organising and uniting them, the revolutionary energy of the masses, the colossal strength of the people can break down and sweep away all obstacles on the path to freedom, democracy and socialism. Lenin regarded the active participation of the whole working people in the building of socialism as an essential and prime condition for the victory of socialism. The profoundly democratic essence of socialism is seen in the fact that the working people themselves build the new life. Lenin urged the Party to mobilise the Soviet people in all its millions to great creative work, to stir up, as he put it, the lowest of the low to historical creativity. “Victory can belong only to those who have faith in the people, those who are immersed in the life-giving spring of popular creativity.” One of the main distinguishing features of Soviet society is that it provides great scope for the activity of the masses— the true creators of history. Working people, who are ordinary, inconspicuous and often superfluous, unwanted under capitalism, are the ones who in the Soviet Union are building a new life with their own hands, erecting the edifice of communism, producing from their ranks thousands upon thousands of new heroes, leading figures in industry and agriculture, science, technology, culture and the arts.

£ Thids Vol. 27; p. 161. 2 Ibid., Vol. 26, p. 292. ae

51

After the victory of the October Revolution Lenin continued to develop the theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Socialism could not be built without the dictatorship of the proletariat. The bourgeoisie could not wait to reclaim its lost power. Only a state of the workers and peasants could thwart its constant striving in this direction, break the resistance of the exploiters and organise the building of the new, socialist life. The highest principle of the dictatorship of the proletariat, Lenin stressed, is the alliance of the working class with the working masses of the peasantry. He ardently urged the Party, workers and working peasantry to consolidate this alliance under the guidance of the working class. “The new society, which will be based on the alliance of the workers and peasants, is inevitable,’ wrote Lenin. “... and this society the forms peasants.... We shall alliance of the workers

... we are helping to work out for of alliance between the workers and get this done and we shall create an and peasants that is so sound that no

power on earth will break it.”! Lenin spoke again and again of the tremendous importance for the dictatorship of the proletariat and for socialist construction of a monolithic Communist Party, whose strength lay in its unity, revolutionary theory and indissoluble links with the people, a Party whose role after the gaining of power would increase rather than decrease. It is no accident that the bourgeoisie and its agents fear the revolutionary party of the working class. The enemies of the Soviet people are constantly waging a fierce battle against the Communist Party, realising that if they succeed in weakening it this will inevitably lead also to the weakening of the dictatorship of the proletariat. It was with this

aim in mind that the counter-revolution even advanced the slogan “Soviets, without

Communists!”

Trotskyists,

Zino-

vievites, Bukharinites, bourgeois nationalists and other antiLeninist groups did all they could to destroy the Communist Party, set up factions inside it which carried on subversive activities, and strove to divorce the Party from the trade unions, the Komsomol and other mass organisations.

All attacks on the Party were repulsed, however. The Communist Party organised its activities in the way Lenin 1 V. 1. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 83, p. 177.

52

taught, by strengthening its unity and solidarity, observing the strictest and at the same time conscious discipline in its ranks, firmly purging itself of opportunists and degenerates, developing the activity of the Party rank and file in all ways possible and putting the interests of the working people first always and in everything. With the most extreme clarity and profundity Lenin formulated the tasks of the Soviet people in the building of socialism. He pointed out that socialism could triumph only on the basis of a modern advanced technology, on the basis of a powerful socialist industry. The industrialisation of the country, the creation of the economic foundation of the new society were the key tasks in the building of socialism. “A large-scale machine industry capable of reorganising agriculture is the only material basis that is possible for social-

ism.”! Capitalist encirclement and the threat of military attack on the USSR from the bourgeois states were the reasons for speeding up the pace of industrialisation and the great strain on the young Republic’s resources. “We are economising in all things, even in schools,”? said Lenin. The fine achievements of the Soviet people under the leadership of the Party in the period when Lenin’s GOELRO (the State Commission for the Electrification of Russia) Plan and the first five-year plans were implemented, turned the Soviet Union into a mighty industrial power. With the same energy the Communist Party of the Soviet Union fought to realise Lenin’s brilliant plan for bringing the peasantry to socialism through co-operation. Lenin regarded the task of putting the peasantry on the socialist path as a most important one, corresponding to the vital interests of both the working class and the working peasantry, and stressed that “small-scale farming will not bring deliverance from want’. Only by putting the small peasant farms

on the new socialist path would it be possible to free the working peasantry from dependence on the kulaks, eliminate the economic roots of capitalism in the countryside, and thereby solve one of the most important tasks of the socialist revolution. 1 Tbid., Vol. 32, p. 459. 2 Thid., Vol. 33, p. 426.

3 Ibid., Vol. 30, p. 148.

aS

The enemies of socialism sometimes claim that Marx and Engels were not interested in the peasant question and that this question is of purely “Russian” significance. But this is not so. The founders of scientific communism attached great importance to this question. “Our task relative to the small peasant,” wrote Engels, “consists, in the first place, in effecting a transition of his private enterprise and private possession to co-operative ones, not forcibly but by dint of

example

and the

proffer

of

social

assistance

for

this

purpose.’’! Proceeding from the ideas of Marx and Engels, Lenin and our Party analysed all aspects of the peasant question, providing it with a theoretical grounding and showing that the way to solve it was through socialist co-operation under the dictatorship of the working class. Only an alliance with the working class can show the peasantry the way out of its difficult position under capitalism; only socialist co-operation of small producers, Lenin stressed, can ensure a firm economic basis for socialism in the countryside. The correctness of the Leninist policy in all its aspects

has been fully confirmed by subsequent events. The transformation of the Soviet Union into a mighty industrial power created a firm material base for the country’s economic independence and the technological reconstruction of all branches of the national economy, consolidated the victory of socialist relations in industry and greatly increased the country’s defence capacity. The implementation of Lenin’s co-operative plan led to the creation in the Soviet Union of the world’s largest socialist agriculture and strengthened the alliance of the working class and the peasantry. The last exploiter class, the kulaks, was eliminated as a result of full-

scale collectivisation. Alongside the solving of the most important political and economic tasks a cultural revolution took place in the country and a new, truly popular educational

system

was

set

up.

Lenin analysed with great profundity the question of raising the cultural level of the peoples of our country. The Party, he explained, should see to it that “learning shall really become part of our very being, that it shall actually and fully become a constituent element of our social life’? t K. Marx and F, Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 3, p. 470. 2 V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 33, p. 489. 54

The broad masses of the working people were introduced to the cultural riches accumulated by mankind. The cultural revolution made it possible to create numerous cadres of popular intelligentsia and ensure the training of qualified specialists for all branches of the economy, without which rapid scientific and cultural progress and the establishment of socialist ideology would have been impossible. Following the Leninist course, the Party has led our country to the complete and final victory of socialism. This splendid victory has demonstrated the historical mission of the working class and is a triumph of Marxism-Leninism. Socialism has revealed its advantages over capitalist society in all respects: by establishing public ownership of the means of production

and

freeing the workers

and peasants

from

exploitation, it has created the conditions for a systematic rise in the material well-being and cultural development of the whole people, consolidated

social and national equality,

ensured true freedom and democracy and given people the broadest opportunities for revealing their talents and skills. The Soviet Union has put into practice for the first time ever the basic principle of socialism, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his work”, which for many of the world’s peoples is still just a cherished dream. Socialism’s great achievement and mighty strength lies in the unity of the multinational Soviet people, the fraternal friendship and co-operation of the workers, collective farm peasantry, intelligentsia, working people of all nationalities. The consolidation of the indestructible brotherhood of the Soviet peoples, and the economic and cultural flourishing in

the socialist republics of our Motherland are convincing proof of the correctness of Lenin’s teaching and the Party’s policy of solving the national question, and of the triumph of the ideas of proletarian internationalism.

The stability and vital strength of socialism was put to a severe test in the years of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union against fascist Germany. As we know, in this mortal combat the Soviet people not only defended the honour and independence

of its Motherland,

but routed the

Hitlerite hordes, thereby saving world civilisation from the scourage of nazism. The application of Marxist-Leninist theory on the building of socialism enabled the Soviet people to embark upon 55

the gradual transition to communism. Lenin always saw the building of socialism and communism as two inseparable aspects of the same task of the Party and the Soviet people. “In striving for socialism,” he said, ““we are convinced that it will develop into communism....”! In drawing up a concrete programme for the building of communism, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union has proceeded from Lenin’s instructions and behests. “he future society we are striving for,’ Lenin said about communism, “the society in which all must work, the society in which there will be no class distinctions, will take a long time to build.” Economics is inevitably becoming the main sphere of the struggle for complete communism in a situation where socialism has already triumphed. Therefore, the CPSU Programme and the resolutions of the 23rd Congress of our Party, which set out the basic tasks of the Soviet people in the building of communist society, define the creation of the material and technological basis of communism as the main task of the Party and the people. This basis ensures an increase in the material well-being and cultural level of the working

people,

the improvement

of socialist

social

rela-

tions and their gradual transition into communist relations, and the further development of socialist democracy. The superiority of our social system can be seen from the high development rates of socialist production, which exceed the rates of the capitalist economy. Annual industrial growth rates for the period 1951-67 averaged 10.5 per cent in the USSR, compared with 4.5 per cent in the USA, 2.8 per cent in Britain and 5.5 per cent in France. Retaining their lead in growth rates, the socialist countries increased industrial production in 1968 eleven times over compared to the prewar level, whereas in the capitalist countries it rose by only four times. Lenin’s prevision is coming true. “I am convinced,” he said, “that the Soviets will overtake and outstrip the capitalists and that our gain will not be a purely economic one. By comparison with 1913 our country’s industrial production was 79 times higher in 1968. In 1968, the USSR pro1 V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 25, p. 456. 2 Thid., Vol. 29, p. 324. 3 Thid., Vol. 31, p. 458. 56

duced 107 million tons of steel, 639,000 million kwh of electricity and 309 million tons of crude oil. The total length of electrified railway track in the Soviet Union is more than in the United States, Britain, France, the Federal Republic of Germany and Japan together. The Leninist thesis—communism is Soviet power plus the electrification of the whole country—is acquiring a true and visible content. The Party is devoting constant attention to the creation of a highly developed agriculture capable of satisfying fully the population’s need for food and industry’s raw material requirements. As a result, the annual average for gross agricultural output in 1966-68 was 19 per cent higher than for 1961-65. The gross yield of grain in 1968 was 103,000 million poods, representing an increase of 30 per cent on the annual average for 1961-65. Characteristic features of the current period in the life of our society are the building of the material and technological basis of communism at a time when the scientific and technological revolution is constantly gaining impetus and the implementation, under the leadership of the Communist Party and the Soviet Government, of large-scale measures to improve

science-based

management

in the economic,

socio-

political and spiritual spheres. An increasingly important condition of rapid economic development is more efficient capital investment and use of existing production assets, increased

labour productivity

and improved

quality of pro-

duction. Science is playing a growing role in production. The high level of Soviet economics is now making it possible to retain priority growth rates in the leading branches of industry and at the same time to speed up considerably the development of branches directly connected with satisfying the working people’s material and cultural requirements. The successful implementation of the plans drawn up in our country can be seen clearly from the fact that economic growth rates in respect of national income, industrial production, retail trade, real incomes of the popula-

tion, average wages of factory and office workers and the remuneration of collective farmers during the current fiveyear period have outstripped the average

annual

rates laid

down in the Directives of the 23rd CPSU Congress. Our Party is devoting great attention to improving economic planning and incentives. In so doing it proceeds from 57

Lenin’s most important instructions concerning the principles of managing the socialist economy. A_ basic advantage of socialism, Lenin taught, is balanced development of the economy, its centralised public control. “All should work according to a common plan,” he said, “on common land, in

common factories and in accordance with a common system.”! The economic reform now being introduced has been worked out with an eye to making the best possible use of the laws of socialist economy, the advantages of the Soviet social system and the vast experience accumulated by the Party in guiding the development of society. Today in the USSR, more than ever before, there is a growing opportunity and need for broad initiative by the working masses in their local organisations, for their increased activity in production management and in making use of all the inner resources at each enterprise. Modern

conditions give a new content to Lenin’s instruction that alongside the consolidation of state planning there should

be “extension of enterprise and initiative by each large establishment in the disposal of financial and material resources’2. The development of Soviet society is confirming over and over again the correctness of Lenin’s idea of the need to make use of both material and moral incentives in the building of communism. The economic management methods which are being improved by the economic reform consist of making fuller use of the advantages of socialism, of the unity and specific features of the economic interests of workers

and collectives in the enterprises, and of the whole

of society. A great role is to be played in the economy by the balanced and active use of commodity-money relations and categories—profits, prices, credit and autonomous economic accounting. In the socialist system of economy these categories have a fundamentally different content from what they have under capitalism: instead of serving exploitation, which does not exist under socialism, they play the role of economic levers for boosting the economy in the interests of the whole people.

{ V.I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 292. 2 Tbid., Vol. 32, p. 434.

58

The Communist Party places the interests of the working people above all else. It is guided by the behests of Lenin who stressed that “only socialism can meet their interests’’!. Under socialism the direct and main aim of production is the fullest possible satisfaction of the constantly growing material and cultural requirements of the people, the allround development of the individual. It is to this end that socialist production in the Soviet Union is directed. Real incomes in our country per head of the working population over the period 1913-68 are more than seven times higher for workers in industry and construction and eleven times for the working peasantry. The remuneration of collective farm workers has risen particularly rapidly over the last few years. Each year the population receives a growing number of payments and subsidies from the social consumption funds which amounted to 55,000 million rubles in 1968. These funds are used to provide for free education and medical service, to increase paid leave, to pay pensions, allowances and student grants, to develop the subsidised health resort service and to put up extensive residential building. Each year about 11 million Soviet people celebrate

moving into new flats. The land of the Soviets is now at the forefront of world

culture and science. In 1968, the number of scientific workers in the USSR topped 800,000, which is one quarter of the world total. The Soviet Union was the first country to build an atomic power station, the first to make passenger jets and intercontinental ballistic missiles, the first to launch an artificial satellite into space. And the first journey into space

was made by a Soviet person. All this bears witness to our great successes dating socialism and constructing communism. not mean,

however,

that we have now

in consoliThis does

solved all our tasks.

Life itself is constantly presenting new problems. The CPSU is fully aware that the building of communism is a remarkably responsible and complex task, and we, who

have been reared by Lenin, are far from indulging in boasting and conceit. Our country is confronted with tasks of tremendous importance. But that which the Soviet people has already achieved is of historic significance.

1 Ibid., Vol. 26, p. 333. 59

An astounding renewal of all aspects of life is taking place in our Soviet land which is illuminated by the ideas of the great Lenin. THE INTERNATIONAL

CHARACTER

OF LENINISM

Lenin is the pride of all mankind. In his person history has given the working masses of the whole world a brilliant mouthpiece for their cherished hopes and aspirations, a wise leader, and a man who has done an infinite amount

for the

happiness of working people of all continents throughout the globe. As a true proletarian revolutionary, Lenin was deeply concerned with the revolutionary struggle of the workers of all lands and followed the national liberation movement of the colonial and dependent peoples with keen attention and

sympathy. His life was imbued with the desire to destroy capitalist slavery throughout the world. Lenin made a very great contribution to the formulation of the scientific principles of the programme, organisation, strategy and _ tactics of the international communist movement, took a direct part in strengthening the fraternal communist parties, gave them the benefit of the Bolshevik Party’s great experience and urged the Communists of all countries to do their utmost to strengthen the international unity of the revolutionary working-class movement and to expand their links steadily with the masses in order to become the true vanguard of all revolutionary forces. The opponents of Leninism seek to represent it as a purely “Russian” phenomenon and deny its international relevance. Some of them say that the path of the October Revolution is the path of economically backward countries, that Leninism is a specific version of Marxism adapted to conditions of backwardness. Others maintain that the socialist path of development of the USSR is a strictly “European”

phenomenon and that, therefore, Leninism is not suitable for the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Such interpretations of Leninism are fundamentally false.

Leninism is neither an exclusively “Russian” nor a specifically “European”

phenomenon.

It arose

as the continuation

of Marxism at the point in history when capitalism entered 60

its final, imperialist stage, and expressed quirements of world social development. The international character of Leninism the following main circumstances: Firstly, by virtue of a whole number of Russia at the beginning of the twentieth

the objective re-

century

focal point of all the main contradictions

of the world im-

is determined by historical

causes,

was

the

perialist system, and the October Revolution was the starting point and pivot of the modern world revolutionary process. The main laws of the world revolutionary process manifested themselves more and more strongly in the consecutively growing waves of the three Russian revolutions, which were the most important historical events of the beginning of the twentieth century. These revolutions, and particularly the Great October Socialist Revolution, shook the whole world and were of tremendous international significance. They had a powerful influence on the development of the revolutionary movement in all countries. Secondly, the international character of Leninism is determined by the many facets of the October Revolution itself and also by the subsequent experience of socialist construction in the USSR. A great variety of socio-economic structures existed in Russia on the eve of the Revolution. There were the large centres of capitalist industry with a developed working class, the semi-feudal land-owning system in the countryside, the colonial or semi-colonial regime in Central Asia, and the almost primitive backwardness of the Far North—structures and conditions peculiar to a great variety of countries. Pre-revolutionary Russia, with its many different structures and nationalities, embodied the characteristic features of many countries in different continents. Leninism reflected the vast experience of the Bolshevik Party, which was called upon at the various stages of its struggle to solve tasks confronting economically advanced and backward areas, industrial, working-class centres and the poverty-stricken, ravaged countryside, areas of considerable culture and vast zones of illiteracy and backwardness. Thirdly, by virtue of Russia’s position on the border of the developed capitalist countries of the West and the colonial, semi-colonial and dependent countries of the East, the Russian working-class movement inevitably came into con-

tact with the West

European 61

revolutionary

working-class

movement, on the one hand, and with the national liberation

movement of the colonial peoples, on the other. Leninism emerged and developed as a generalisation of the experience not only of the Russian, but also of the world working-class and national liberation, anti-colonial movement.

was forced to spend

many

France, Britain, Germany,

years

Poland

abroad

Lenin, who

in Switzerland,

and other countries, was

closely linked with the socialist circles of Western Europe and took an active part in the international socialist movement. He devoted great attention to the anti-colonial struggle of the peoples of the East. Leninism provided a generalisation of the experience, forms and methods of the revolutionary movement and the national liberation struggle of all countries. Fourthly, Leninism originated not out of thin air, but on

the firm basis of Marxism, as its development. It generalised the latest advances in science and culture. There is not a single cardinal question posed by Marx and Engels concerning the theory and tactics of the international revolutionary movement, that was not developed in Leninism. Lenin developed and enriched Marxism, using the basic theses of the teaching of Marx and Engels. Leninism is the Marxism of the new historical epoch. It has rightly become the ideological and theoretical basis of the modern international communist movement. Lenin’s contribution to the development of the world working-class movement and the whole revolutionary liberation movement is enormous. It was Lenin who raised the question of the need to increase the international solidarity of the revolutionary forces. He pointed out that this need proceeded from the changed historical circumstances, the development of capitalism into the imperialist

stage,

and

the advancement

of proletarian

revolutions as the urgent task of the times. When the Second International collapsed and its failure became a fact, Lenin immediately set about consolidating the revolutionary wing of the international working-class movement and gradually forging the internationalist nucleus from which the Communist International eventually grew. The great Lenin had a decisive influence on the formation of the ideological and theoretical platform of the Comintern and on the elaboration of fundamental questions concerning 62

the strategy and tactics of the world communist movement and its organisational principles. Lenin waged an indefatigable struggle for the unity of the world working-class movement and the communist movement on a principled basis. The policy elaborated by him of the united working-class front was adopted by the international communist movement. The essence of the Leninist idea of the united working-class front was to attain unity of action by the workers in their struggle for their immediate

vital interests,

to attract

to it the

most

varied

detachments of the working class, including those at present under the influence of reformism, and thereby to raise the general level of the working-class movement and lead it gradually through its own experience to revolutionary positions. Lenin helped the young communist parties to understand the united working-class front slogan properly and warned them against making both “Left” sectarian and Right opportunist mistakes in applying it. He taught Communists to combine high principles and flexibility in politics. When the threat of fascism first began to appear on the horizon, Lenin drew Communists’ attention to the need to link the policy of the united front more closely with the aims of the antifascist and anti-war struggle, with the defence of peace, democratic rights and freedoms. Lenin’s truly historic service was his analysis of the national-colonial problem. On the basis of a profound study of the imperialist stage of capitalism, Lenin revealed the irreconcilable contradiction between the imperialist countries, on the one hand, and the millions of people in the colonial and dependent countries, on the other, showing that

imperialism involves the most merciless exploitation and oppression for these peoples. Lenin envisaged the liberation of the oppressed colonial peoples only through the struggle with imperialism and linked this liberation closely with the general struggle of the international proletariat to overthrow capitalism. At the same time he theoretically substantiated the great role of the national liberation movement in the world revolutionary process. “...The socialist revolution,” he said, “will not be solely, or chiefly, a struggle of the revolutionary proletarians in each country against their bourgeoisie—no, it will be a struggle of all the imperialist63

oppressed colonies and countries, of all dependent countries, against international imperialism.’”! Hence the Leninist conclusions on the full support of the international proletariat for the national liberation

movement of the oppressed and dependent peoples and the need for unity of action by these revolutionary forces in the struggle against imperialism. This is the fundamentally new, Leninist contribution to the Marxist theory of revolution. Leninist strategy for the struggle to consolidate the unity and increase the interaction of all the main streams of the world revolutionary process is of invaluable and undying importance for the struggle of the Marxist-Leninist parties and all revolutionary forces against imperialism. Present-day events are providing more and more confirmation of the tremendous vitality and fruitfulness of Lenin’s immortal teaching. Lenin enriched, developed and advanced Marxist theory to such an extent that today one cannot be a real Marxist without becoming a Leninist and without mastering all that Lenin contributed to the treasure house of scientific communism. This is why modern Marxism is rightly called Marxism-Leninism. Marxism-Leninism is a single, indivisible ideology which possesses an international character.

In our day the only true, consistent Marxist is the one who is guided by Leninist methodology in the analysis of social processes, who actively demonstrates his allegiance to Leninism in deeds, not words, and who will not be reconciled with the class enemy. Leninism demands a truly scientific approach to all life’s phenomena, an organic unity of theory and practice, and a militant struggle against bourgeois and petty-bourgeois ideology which is opposed to scientific socialism. Noting the paramount importance of the efficient use of all forms of class struggle by the revolutionary proletariat and its organisations, Engels wrote: “...since a workers’ movement has existed, the struggle is being waged pursuant to its three sides—the theoretical, the political and the economic-practical....”2 Agreeing with this proposition, Lenin pointed out that scientific communism “recognises, not two { V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 30, p. 159. * K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 2, p. 170.

64

forms of the great

struggle of Social-Democracy

(political

and economic), as is the fashion among us, but three, placing

the theoretical struggle on a par with the first two’”'. Leninism proceeds from the need to wage a consistent struggle for the purity and creative development of the revolutionary doctrine of the working class. Lenin’s whole life was a clear illustration of this. He firmly rebuffed all manner of attacks on revolutionary Marxism by opportunists and nationalists of every stripe. Lenin urged the international communist movement to remember always that at certain periods “the zigzags of bourgeois tactics intensify revisionism within the labour movement’”?. At the same time he constantly warned against petty-bourgeois “Left” adventurism and sectarianism, a trend which “is very revolutionary in words, but not in the least revolutionary as far as its real views....’° Lenin’s ideological heritage is a tried and tested weapon in the hands of communist and workers’ parties in their struggle against the bourgeoisie and all types of opportunism. As we know, in their hounding of Communists the imperialists are doing their utmost to demoralise the parties of the working class ideologically, playing on nationalism and chauvinism, Right opportunism and “Left”? adventurist revisionism, seeking to disunite the communist parties, to weaken the socialist countries and set them against one another. The imperialists are not squeamish about the means they use to attain these ends. They spread licentious antisocialist propaganda and heap lies and slander on the policy of the USSR and the other socialist countries, seeking to discredit the noble aims for which Communists are fighting. The communist parties challenge the cunning strategy of of imperialism and its ideological sabotage with proletarian internationalism, the determined struggle against imperialism and its accomplices. Leninism,

the great international doctrine of the working

class and all working people, is a powerful ideological force in the struggle against bourgeois ideology, revisionism and 1 V_J. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 5, p. 370.

2 Ibid., Vol. 16, p. 351. 3 Ibid., Vol. 6, p. 288. 5—1641

65

nationalism. Leninism is the banner of our time, the great instrument of the revolutionary transformation of the world. LENIN’S IDEAS CONQUER THE WORLD

The working masses of all lands are becoming increasingly aware of the great truth of Lenin’s teaching. They see in Leninism a science which answers the questions posed by modern

social

development,

and

are

gradually

realising

that only by following the path indicated by Lenin is it possible to free the working people from the capitalist yoke, the peoples of the world from wars, and mankind from imperialist oppression, and to build the new life. Take any important question of concern to modern society: the direction in which imperialism is developing, the class struggle in the capitalist countries, the problems of the socialist revolution and the winning of state power by the working class, the national liberation movement, questions of war and peace and peaceful coexistence between states belonging to opposed social systems, the relations between socialist and capitalist states, the ways of socialist and communist development— all these questions were the subject of profound and detailed study by Lenin. Leninist theory serves as reliable ideological

guidance for all revolutionary forces called upon the world on communist principles.

to renew

This has been fully confirmed by the development of world history over the last few decades. The profound revolutionary transformations which have taken place in the last fifty years have changed the social

face of our planet radically. To realise this one needs only glance at the political map of the world (see Table on p. 67). The facts show that capitalism has lost irrevocably its determining role in the development of world politics. The age of its complete supremacy has been replaced by the age of the transition from capitalism to socialism. The exploitation of man by man has been abolished forever over vast stretches of the globe. Many peoples have cast

off the fetters of imperialist oppression. Socialist ideas have conquered the minds of the multimillion masses into a great material force. 66

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5*

The revolutionary process of the replacement of capitalism by socialism is continuing to develop and deepen. Today this process consists of the following three interacting streams: the world socialist system, the working-class movement in the capitalist countries and the national liberation struggle of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The decisive force in the anti-imperialist struggle is the world socialist system. It has been in existence for a little over two decades, but even in this short time it has demon-

strated its enormous vitality and strength. Its power can be seen,

for example,

from

the following

fact.

The

socialist

countries which form the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance cover only 18 per cent of the Earth’s surface and comprise a mere 10 per cent of its population, yet at the present time they are producing about one-third of the world’s industrial output. The successes of the world socialist system are an inspiring example for the working people of the industrial capitalist

countries

and

for the popular

masses

of the

young

states

which have embarked on the path of independent development. “The rise and development of the international socialist system is part and parcel of the world-wide class struggle. The socialist system is the principal obstacle to imperialism.””! Leninist ideas, embodied in the practice of the world socialist system, are a powerful weapon in the struggle for social progress and are helping to mould the class and revolutionary consciousness of the working people the world over. Some important advances are taking place in the modern working-class movement. The world today has become the witness of unprecedented mass action by the working people. In the May-June general strike in France in 1968 about ten million working people took part. About twelve million joined in the general strike of Italian working people in November 1968 and eighteen million in the general strike that took place in Italy in February 1969. Fourteen million took part in the traditional “spring offensive” of Japanese workers in 1968. It is a long time since the working-class movement in the imperialist countries has seen strike action of such dimensions as that which can be observed at the present stage in the general crisis of capitalism. ! World Marxist Review, No. 8, 1969, p. 2. 68

The class struggles of recent years in the West were heralded by a series of new phenomena in the mass workingclass and anti-monopoly movement. The most important of these was an increased desire for unity of action in the working class, the inclusion alongside factory workers in the struggle for social progress of engineering and technological workers, office workers, members of the intelligentsia, students and middle class elements in town and country. This broadening of the social composition of participants in the anti-monopoly campaign led to a further widening of the gulf between the monopoly bourgeoisie and the leaders of the state machine, on the one hand, and the rest of the population, on the other. Today the working class is demanding such things as democratic nationalisation, broader representation of working people in parliament, the introduction of progressive social legislation, etc. Although these aims do not extend beyond the framework of the capitalist system, the struggle for their realisation helps to undermine the supremacy of the monopolies and to make the working class more aware of its political tasks. The whole course of objective development confirms Lenin’s ideas on the organic link between the struggle of the working class for socialism and broad movements of a general democratic nature. “The socialist revolution,” Lenin stressed, “is not a single act, it is not one battle on one front,

but a whole epoch of acute class conflicts, a long series of battles on all fronts, i.e., on all questions of economics and politics, battles that can only end in the expropriation of the bourgeoisie. It would be a radical mistake to think that the struggle for democracy was capable of diverting the proletariat from the socialist revolution or of hiding, overshadowing it, etc. On the contrary, in the same way as there can be no victorious socialism that does not practise full democracy, so the proletariat cannot prepare for its victory over the bourgeoisie without an all-round, consistent and revolutionary struggle for democracy.”! Leninism is exerting a tremendous influence on the development of the national liberation struggle in the colonial

and dependent countries. The new alignment of socio-poli1 V.I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 22, p. 144.

69

tical forces in the world arena has accelerated the collapse of the imperialist colonial system. Over the last twenty-five years hundreds of millions of people have freed themselves from colonial slavery. An extensive programme of socioeconomic measures which undermine the basis of capitalism is being carried out in a number of the young developing states. The former colonial countries are waging a determined struggle to consolidate their political and economic independence. The liberation struggle of the peoples is receiving inestimably valuable assistance from the socialist countries. The socialist countries and the international working class are fighting consistently to consolidate the union of all democratic and revolutionary forces. In so doing the world is revolutionary working-class and liberation movement invariably guided by Leninist theory. Leninism has always been and will always be the scientific basis for solving the complex and difficult problems which arise on the path to the universal victory of communism. Consistent defence of the purity of this theory, Leninist development of it and full use of the Leninist heritage— this is the common duty of the great communist host and all fighters against imperialism. Inspired by Leninist ideas, the international communist movement has achieved great successes and turned into the most influential political force of the present day. Communist parties are waging an active struggle in all corners of the globe. They are the ruling parties in a number of countries. In both the imperialist states and in many developing countries they are active at the very forefront of the struggle against reaction and for social progress. Each communist party’s success in fulfilling its aims and tasks varies according to how consistently it combines the fulfilment of international and domestic obligations and how actively and ably it applies Leninist principles.

The June 1969 International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties in Moscow took place as a demonstration of allegiance to Marxism-Leninism. The holding of the Meeting was a great success for the international communist movement. Its work and results disproved the ill-fated prophesis of the enemies

of communism,

who cherished

the

hope that it would not take place and that even if it did it 70

would end in failure. The Meeting made a profound analysis of new phenomena in world social development over the period since the world forums parties in 1957 and 1960.

of communist

and workers’

The Meeting emphasised most strongly the historical correctness and international significance of Leninism and approved a special address on “Centenary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin”. “The victory of the socialist revolution in a group of countries, the emergence of the world socialist system, the gains of the working-class movement in capitalist countries, the appearance of peoples of former colonial and semi-colonial countries in the arena of sociopolitical development as independent agents, and the unprecedented upsurge of the struggle against imperialism— all this is proof that Leninism is historically correct and expresses the fundamental needs of the modern age.”!

This international communist forum approved a document entitled “Tasks at the Present Stage of the Struggle Against Imperialism and United Action of Communist and Workers’ Parties and All Anti-Imperialist Forces”, the main political and theoretical theses of which are imbued with the creative spirit of Leninism. This and other documents of the Meeting contain comprehensive analysis of the new social phenomena of our time, of which the main ones are: firstly, the development of the world socialist system which has now entered a stage at which much fuller use can be made of its powerful reserves;

secondly, the development of the scientific and technological revolution that is opening up unlimited possibilities for mankind, but is impeded by capitalism which is striving to prolong its existence with the help of science and technology at the price of causing disasters and suffering for whole people; thirdly, the increase in the state-monopoly character of modern imperialism and the aggravation of the contradictions between labour and capital, between the financial oligarchy and the interests not only of the working class— the main motive and mobilising force in the revolutionary struggle—but also of the vast majority of the nations; 1 International

Meeting

of Communist

cow, 1969, Prague, 1969, p. 41.

71

and Workers’

Parties, Mos-

fourthly, the collapse of the colonial system, which has considerably weakened imperialist positions, and the formation of sovereign national states as a result of the national liberation movement.

An analysis of the new social phenomena of our day shows that the present stage is characterised by growing possibilities for the further advance of revolutionary and progressive forces. The Meeting’s documents give a broad, consistent,

militant programme of struggle

against

imperialism,

for

peace, democracy, national independence and socialism, The Meeting marked an important stage in the struggle to

strengthen the solidarity of Marxist-Leninist parties on the basis of the principles of proletarian internationalism. It dealt a severe blow to Right and “Left” revisionists, and also to nationalistic trends in certain detachments of the communist movement. Our age is the age of transition from capitalism to socialism. Participants in the Meeting rightly stressed that, in spite of the growth of imperialist aggression and the mobilisation of its vast resources

for the armed, political, economic

ideological struggle against socialism ration movement, the alignment of combat is swinging in favour, not of forces of peace, national liberation the difficulties

and

setbacks

and

and the people’s libeforces in this world imperialism, but of the and socialism. Despite

of certain

of its detachments,

is continuing the movement revolutionary the world offensive. As the Meeting noted, “Jmperialism can neither regain its lost initiative nor reverse world development. The main direction of mankind’s development is determined by the

world socialist system, the international working class, all revolutionary forces.” At the same time Communists by no means underestimate

the strength and potential of imperialism. It remains a serious threat to mankind and has by no means turned into a “paper tiger”. Imperialism, as was stressed at the Meeting and noted in its documents, possesses a vast military machine and a considerable economic potential, concentrating in its hands powerful means of influencing the masses ideologically.

~~ 1 International Meeting of Communist cow, 1969, Prague, 1969, p. 13.

72

and

Workers’

Parties,

Mos-

It must also be remembered that modern state-monopoly capitalism, forced to adapt itself to the struggle of the two systems, is seeking to increase production efficiency and extend the financing of scientific and technological progress. In an attempt to strengthen their positions in the world arena, the ruling circles in a number of capitalist powers are resorting to the creation of international state-monopoly amalgamations and aggressive military and political al-

liances. Imperialism can no longer turn back the clock. But it is still capable of inflicting great suffering and disaster on peoples, of intervening in the affairs of other peoples and unleashing armed conflicts. In particular, the aggressiveness of the main imperialist power, the United States, has increased. The serious threat of a new world war on the part of imperialism still hangs over mankind. The forces of reaction are increasingly resorting to police reprisals, seeking to restrict the democratic gains of the working people, and not stopping short of attempts to establish terrorist forms of rule. In a number of countries imperialism is trying to restore its lost supremacy with the help of military coups and various forms of intervention. Imperialism today is not only the main enemy of the international working class, but of all mankind, the main obstacle on the path of world progress. At the root of imperialism’s predatory and aggressive policies lies the urge at all costs to prevent progress, weaken socialism, suppress the national liberation movement, hinder the struggle of the working people in the capitalist countries for peace and democracy and check the irreversible process of the general crisis and decline of capitalism. The main military, political and economic centre of world reaction and the most evil suppressor of peoples’ freedom is American imperialism. Fifty years ago the founder of the Soviet state, Lenin, demonstrated convincingly the whole falsity and inconsistency of the arguments by apologists for American capitalism about its “peace-loving” and “progressive” nature. In this connection Lenin characterising the USA emphasised: “The idealised democratic republic of Wilson proved in practice to be a form of the most rabid imperialism, of the most shameless oppression and suppression of weak and small 73

nations.” American imperialism, as assessed by Lenin, was “the most reactionary imperialism... the most savage im-

perialism, which is throttling the small and weak nations and reinstating reaction all over the world”. Events today are providing yet further confirmation of the correctness of Lenin’s description of American imperialism. The United States still is the largest world exploiter in the capitalist camp, the bulwark of all anti-popular regimes and the main force of imperialist aggression and marauding. The reactionary, anti-popular character of American imperialism has been demonstrated most clearly in its aggression against the Vietnamese people. However, the intervention of the United States has met with the heroic resistance of the Vietnamese people who have the support of the Soviet Union, the other socialist countries and peaceloving forces the world over. One of the most important tasks of the anti-imperialist struggle at the present time is to compel the imperialists of the United States to put an end to the war of aggression in Vietnam and to withdraw their armed forces from that country. The Appeal for “Independence, Freedom and Peace for Vietnam” made by the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties reads: “True to the principles of proletarian internationalism and in the spirit of fraternal solidarity, the international communist and working-class movement will continue to render the Vietnamese

people all the assistance they require until the final triumph of their just cause.’ The tasks of strengthening the solidarity of the communist movement and the anti-imperialist front and raising the whole struggle with imperialism to a new, higher level urgently demand an intensification of the fight against those who are seeking to disrupt the ranks of the international revolutionary movement. In this connection the adventurist chauvinist policy of the present leadership of the CPC, who have abandoned Marxism-Leninism and the principles of proletarian interna{ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 28, pp. 189, 190. 2 International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties, cow, 1969, Prague, 1969, p. 44.

74

Mos-

tionalism and are seeking to sow discord in the world communist movement, is provoking the indignation and profound concern of Communists throughout the world. All this is causing great harm to the international communist move-

ment, the Chinese working people and the People’s Republic of China. This policy is bound to fail. Marxist-Leninists are convinced that sooner or later events will lead to the inevitable triumph of the ideas of scientific socialism in China and the Chinese people will make its contribution to the common cause of the struggle of all working people against imperialism and for peace, democracy and socialism. In all their activities Communists are guided by Lenin’s instruction that whatever the reversals of the struggle, however many zigzags we have to overcome, in order not to lose our way in these twists and turns of history we must always retain a general perspective. For Communists this general perspective always has been and always will be the realisation of an historic task—the revolutionary transformation of the world, which will free mankind once and for all from exploitation, poverty, hunger, sufferings, deprivation and devastating wars and provide all peoples with an abundance of material and spiritual riches.

Under the banner of Leninism socialism and human social progress have already won great victories. But the struggle for the future of mankind, for the realisation of the great ideals of social equality and justice is not yet finished. Lenin’s prediction that the forces of the old world would not withdraw voluntarily from the historical arena is being con= firmed. The old, rotten capitalist system can and must be destroyed by the joint efforts of the peoples of the countries building socialism and communism, the working class and broad sections of the working population in the capitalist states, and peoples fighting against colonial slavery for national independence.

The ideas of Lenin are an inexhaustible source of inspiration for Communists and all those fighting against reaction for peace and socialism. This was pointed out yet again by the International Meeting of Communist and

Workers’ Parties. The address on the “Centenary of the Birth of Vladimir Hyich Lenin” adopted by the Meeting reads: “Loyalty to Marxism-Leninism, to this great interna75

tional teaching, holds the promise of further successes of the communist movement. Communists regard it as their task firmly to uphold the revolutionary principles of MarxismLeninism and proletarian internationalism in the struggle against all enemies, steadfastly to make them a living reality, constantly to develop Marxist-Leninist theory and enrich it on the basis of present experience of waging the class struggle and building socialist society.”!. Lenin’s ideas are conquering the minds and hearts of millions of people. True to his behests, Communists will do their utmost, relying on the growing international unity of the working class and the revolutionary liberation and antiimperialist forces, to bring the great struggle for the establishment of socialism and communism throughout the world to a victorious conclusion.

! International Meeting of Communist cow, 1969, Prague, 1969, p. 41.

and Workers’

Parties, Mos-

THE

GREAT

FIFTIETH

ANNIVERSARY

ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE BOOK THE GREAT OCTOBER REVOLUTION AND THE WORLD REVOLUTIONARY PROCESS, POLITIZDAT PUBLISHERS, 1967

The fifty years which have passed since the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution have changed the socio-political face of our planet radically. In October 1917 a devastating blow was struck at the whole world system of oppression and exploitation of man by man. The formation of the world’s first socialist state marked the beginning of a new age in world history when, to quote Lenin, “mankind is throwing off the last form of slavery:

capitalist,

or

wage,

slavery’!. Real ways opened up of realising mankind’s agelong dream—the creation of a society with no aim but the well-being and happiness of the people. The historic importance of the October Revolution and the building of socialism in the USSR lies in the fact that the working class of our country was the first to show the working people of the whole world the way to the victory of the proletarian revolution and the creation of the new society, and to demonstrate in practice the advantages of socialism over capitalism. The heroic feat of the Soviet people, who have created a socialist society and are confidently advancing along the path to communism, has greatly increased the influence of Marxist-Leninist ideas on world development. 1 V. J. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 29, p. 307.

77

Mankind’s attention is now focused on the ideas of the October Revolution. For half ‘a century all progressive people have been turning to them. From the experience of the first victorious

proletarian revolution

they are drawing

strength

and wisdom in the struggle for a happy future for all peoples. The enemies of socialism seek to check the inexorable march of social progress by distorting the essence of the October Revolution and belittling its international significance. But these attempts have always failed; they are all the more unsuccessful in our age—the age of the existence and development of the world socialist system. The whole course of world history over the last fifty years confirms the correctness of the path opened up by the Great October Socialist Revolution, the historic accuracy of Marxism-Leninism and the correctness of the Leninist general line of the CPSU and the world communist movement. THE VICTORY OF SOCIALISM IN THE USSR IS THE GREAT RESULT OF THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION

The process of the transition from capitalism to communism, begun by the Great October Socialist Revolution, is the logical result of human development. The need for the revolutionary transformation of the old world arose from the existence of irreconcilable contradictions in the capitalist system which condemned the working people to innumerable

calamities and sufferings. There was a time when capitalism acted as the bearer of progress. By overcoming feudal stagnation it set in motion the tremendous forces of material production and gave a great impetus to the development of science and technology. But this was true of capitalism only in its early days. Capitalism has long since become reactionary and changed into a brake on social development. In a society based on private ownership,

the great productive

forces

and

all the

processes of production and exchange, which have acquired a public character, are disposed of by a handful of exploiters who appropriate the results of the labour of millions and millions of working people. Alongside the development of 78

capitalism its basic contradictions invariably develop too, becoming more acute, first and foremost, the contradiction between the public nature of production and the private, capitalist form of appropriation, the irreconcilable antagonism between the class of the exploited and that of the exploiters, between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. In creating enormous material wealth, capitalism also makes it impossible to use this wealth in the interests of those who create it—the workers, the broad working masses. The ideals of freedom, equality and fraternity advanced at the dawn of capitalism have inevitably remained unrealised, for capitalism has not destroyed the main obstacle to their realisation, the exploitation of the working masses, but merely replaced one form of exploitation by another, the capitalist one, which combines callousness and shamelessness with social demagogy and subtle deception of the working people.

The growth and aggravation of the contradictions in bourgeois society, the growing exploitation of the working class and all working people, i.e., the vast majority of the world’s population, the intensified national oppression, political reaction, and the most bloody wars in the history of

mankind—these are the logical result of the development of the capitalist system which has entered the stage of imperialism, the period of its decline. The transition of capitalism to the stage of monopoly development has not only intensified the contradictions between labour and capital, between imperialism and the colonial countries, and between the imperialist powers themselves, but also threatens the very existence of mankind. “... Humanity,” wrote Lenin, “must now choose between perishing or entrusting its fate to the most revolutionary class....”! “Outside of socialism,” he emphasised, “there is zo deliverance of humanity from wars, from hunger, from the destruction of still more millions and millions of human beings.”* These prophetic words were written half a century ago. At that time Dachau and

Oswiecim,

Hiroshima

and

Nagasaki

were

nothing

but

geographical names, not the symbols of unprecedented crimes against mankind, which proceeded not simply from 1 V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 25, pp. 364-65. 2 Tbid., Vol. 24, p. 37. 79

the evil designs of individual groups of perverted people, but from the very essence of imperialism. It is difficult to imagine what a destiny imperialism would have prepared for mankind, had the growing force of socialist society, born in October 1917, not crossed its path. Fifty years ago the revolutionary proletariat of Russia overthrew the power of the capitalists and landowners and established a dictatorship of the proletariat—the true power of the working people. The workers’ and peasants’ state made its main aim the building of the most just society—a society of free and happy people, free from exploitation and oppression. In October 1917, the foundations of the exploitation of man by man were abolished in our country, and in the ensuing period an end was put to this century-old evil once and for all. The possession of the decisive means of production by the working class and working peasantry, socialist industrialisation and the collectivisation of agriculture led to the triumph of socialist production relations. After defeating the German fascist invaders in the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet people attained new successes on the front of peaceful, creative labour. They embarked on the building of communism. In the last fifty years they have achieved some historic feats in the political, social, economic, technological and cultural spheres. In 1922, in one of the drafts for the political report of the Central Committee of the RCP (B) to the 11th Party Congress Lenin described the situation in revolutionary Russia as follows: “The main thing: the gap between the worldhistoric greatness of the tasks raised and started and the

material and cultural poverty.””! Today in the Soviet Union there is no longer a discrep-

ancy between the greatness of the historic tasks that have been set and the material and cultural possibilities of tackling them. The working class and entire working masses of our country have carried out Lenin’s behest: in a short space of time they have ensured a high level of material and spiritual culture for Soviet society, destroyed all forms of the oppression of man by man, created a society without antagonistic classes, achieved an unprecedented moral and political unity 1 V. J. Lenin, Complete Works, Vol. 45, p. 414 (in Russian). 80

of all strata of society and secured the complete and final victory of socialism. The changes in the class structure of society are a generalised expression of the great social changes that have taken place in our country. Table 1

Class Composition ,

of the Population of the USSR (per cent,

including non-working members of families) | 1943

Total population

..... Including: Factory and office workers.| Collective farm peasantry and co-operative handiGraltamioni celeiatietmwaipels Individual peasants and non-co-operative _handiGALLI,

Bourgeoisie,

100

| 1928

|1939

|1966

100 | 100 | 100

17.0 | 17.6 | 50.2 | 76.4

_

qr lgnemlae % oo

BS) ||LP || PILE

66.7 | 14.9

2.6

—

16.3

—

—

landowners,

traders and kulaks

...]

4.6|

The Soviet people embarked on the building of socialism in the most complex conditions. As we know, pre-revolutionary Russia was considerably behind the most developed capitalist countries economically. The imperialist war followed by the intervention of fourteen capitalist states against the young Soviet Republic aggravated our country’s backwardness even more. By the end of the intervention and the Civil War the output of large-scale industry was about one-seventh of the figure for 1913. In terms of coal and oil output our country was thrust back to the nineteenth century, and in pig iron production to the level in the second half of the eighteenth century. Gross agricultural output dropped by 50 per cent. For any capitalist country such a position would have meant complete disaster, to say nothing of its collapse as a great power. It is characteristic that not only Soviet Russia’s enemies, but also people who were well disposed to it could 6—1641

81

see no way out of the situation, by virtue of their limited, petty-bourgeois

view of the world.

For example,

the well-

known writer H. G. Wells wrote that Bolshevik Russia would witness “‘the final collapse of all that remains of modern civilisation. ..”!. Even among Communists there were those of little faith who doubted that the Soviet state could build socialism by its own efforts. An unwavering belief in the ideals of communism, in the people and the working class, and a profound understanding of the nature of the changes in the concrete situation enabled Lenin’s genius and the Bolshevik Party to determine the real way to create the new society. The advantages of a planned socialist economy, the heroic efforts of the working masses and, first and foremost, the working class, together with the correct policy of the Communist Party, ensured our country’s transformation into a mighty socialist power in a very short time.

In place of the backward, predominantly agrarian economy there emerged a highly developed socialist one. In tsarist Russia three-quarters of the population were engaged in agriculture. Industry, building, transport and communications accounted for little more than one-tenth of the working population. And only one-hundredth was employed in scientific, cultural and medical establishments. As a result of socialist transformations the position has changed radically. Today about a half the working population is concentrated in industry, building, transport and communications; less than a third is engaged in agriculture; and a considerable section caters for the country’s cultural, medical and scientific requirements (see Table 2). An important indication of the powerful upsurge in the economy is the fact that in 1966 the main production assets in all branches of the economy were over 14 times higher than in 1913. Particularly impressive are the Soviet people’s successes in industrial development. Fifty years ago tsarist Russia, which accounted for about 10 per cent of the world’s population, produced less than 3 per cent of world industrial output. Today the Soviet Union produces more than a fifth of world industrial output. 1H. G. Wells, Russia in the Shadows, 82

New York, 1921, p. 178.

Table 2

Distribution of the Working Population According to Branches of the Economy (excluding students and servicemen, | 1913

1928

|1240

100

| 400

| 400

10 80

28 54

43 32

iL

2

6

14

9

3

5

6

4

5

7

5

Total engaged in the ee | NOMI. A. a Bike