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CHAPTER I
TOC
Card HUMAN SOCIETY: ITS DEVELOPMENT
Text
10 BASIC CONCEPTS
HTML
PS
SOCIAL FORMATIONS. PRODUCTION AND THE LAWS OF
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ITS DEVELOPMENT
T* The Concept of a Social Formation
19*
13
### 16 The Structure of Socio-Economic Formations
23 Society and Nature
The Law of the Conformity of the Production Relations to the

27 Productive Forces
29 Development of Socio-Economic Formations
44 The Communist Socio-Economic Formation
THE ACTIVITY OF PEOPLE IN HISTORY
55 Factors Determining the Activity of People
59 Classes and Social Groups. The Struggle of Classes
66 Classes Under Socialism
68 Society, the Individual and the Collective
75 Spiritual Life of Society
CHAPTER II
THE COMMUNIST PARTY— THE POLITICAL LEADER OF

THE STRUGGLE FOR SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM
WHY IS IT NECESSARY FOR THE WORKING CLASS TO

HAVE ITS OWN PARTY?
84 [introduction.]
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85 The Role of Organisation in the Class Struggle
88 The Birth of a Revolutionary Marxist Party in Russia
92 The Communist Party and Socialism
WHAT KIND OF A PARTY DOES THE WORKING CLASS

NEED?
95 [introduction.]
96 The Party of a New Type
100 Forms of Party Organisation
WHO MAKES UP THE COMMUNIST PARTY?
103 [introduction.]
104 The Class Approach to the Development of the Party
109 The Growth of the Party Ranks
WHAT DEMANDS THE PARTY IMPOSES ON COMMUNISTS?
114 [introduction.]
115 The Communists’ Labour and Public Activity
117 A Communist Is a Political Fighter
HOW THE COMMUNIST PARTY IS ORGANISED
121 [introduction.]
121 Democratic Centralism
129 Election and Accountability of the Leading Party Bodies
133 Party Discipline and Responsibility
135 Criticism and Self-Criticism
137 Collective Leadership of the Party
HOW THE PARTY GUIDES SOCIALIST SOCIETY AND THE

STATE
140 [introduction.]
140 The Guiding Force of the Political System of Socialism
144 Forms and Methods of Party Guidance
THE GROWING ROLE OF THE CPSU IN DIRECTING

COMMUNIST CONSTRUCTION
151 [introduction.]
152 Causes Enhancing the Role of the Party
155 What Ensures the Growing Role of the Party
CHAPTER III
THE HISTORICAL ROAD OF SOVIET SOCIETY
160 [introduction.]
161 The Dawn of a New Era
168 Socialist Construction
181 Principles of Socialism
199 The Exploit of the Soviet People in the Great Patriotic War
204 Further Progress
The International Significance of the Experience of Socialist

207 Construction in the USSR
CHAPTER IV
THE MAIN FEATURES OF THE SOVIET UNION’S

DEVELOPMENT AT THE PRESENT STAGE
THE ECONOMY OF A DEVELOPED SOCIALIST SOCIETY
210 [introduction.]
212 New Opportunities in the Economy and New Demands
215 The Scientific and Technological Revolution and Socialism
221 Changes in the Relations of Production
226 The Influence of External Factors
THE SUPREME AIM OF THE PARTY’S ECONOMIC POLICY
227 [introduction.]
233 Formation of Requirements
235 The Tasks of the Ninth Five-Year Plan
THE SOURCE OF MEANS FOR FULFILLING SOCIAL TASKS
239 Extensive or Intensive Development?
Application of Science and Technology. Scientific Organisation

243 of Labour
245 Improvement of the Location and Structure of Production
246 The Use of Production Assets and Investments
249 Economic Education
ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT AND "WORK FOR ONESELF"
251 [introduction.]
252 Scientific Management
256 Both Master and Worker
263 The Conscious Discipline of the Masses
267 Interests and Discipline
THE SOCIO-POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SOVIET

SOCIETY
270 [introduction.]
270 The Social Structure of Society
Strengthening of the Soviet State. Development of Socialist

279 Democracy
CHAPTER V
MOULDING OF THE NEW MAN —ONE OF THE MAIN

TASKS IN COMMUNIST CONSTRUCTION
MARXISM-LENINISM ON THE EDUCATION OF THE NEW

MAN
287 [introduction.]
288 Socio-Political Practice and Education
292 The Soviet Way of Life— the Basis of Communist Education
The Creative Role of Socialist Ideology
298
Development of the Consciousness of the Masses Is the Main
303 Content of Ideological Work
THE 24th CPSU CONGRESS ON COMMUNIST EDUCATION
306 [introduction.]
Specific Features of Ideological and Educational Work in

308 Present-Day Conditions
FORMATION OF A COMMUNIST WORLD OUTLOOK
316 [introduction.]
317 Mastering Revolutionary Theory
The Moulding of Soviet Patriotism and Socialist

321 Internationalism
Strengthening of the Principles of Socialist Community

327 Relations. Moral and Political Education
The Struggle Against Bourgeois Ideology and Right- and

335 “Left”-Wing Revisionism
WAYS AND MEANS OF EDUCATION
339 Mass Information and Propaganda
The Role of the Production Collective as a Teacher and

342 Educator
345 Unity of Ideological and Economic Activity
347 Socialist Emulation—School of Communist Education
CHAPTER VI
THE WORLD SOCIALIST SYSTEM
FORMATION OF THE WORLD SOCIALIST SYSTEM
351 [introduction.]
People’s Democratic and Socialist Revolutions in European

352 and Asian Countries and in Cuba
356 General Laws of Transition to Socialism
Characteristic Features of the Transition to Socialism in
362 Individual Countries
367 The Socialist Community
ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND MUTUAL ASSISTANCE
374 [introduction.]
380 Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
383 Comprehensive Economic Integration
POLITICAL INTERACTION AND UNITY OF SOCIALIST

COUNTRIES
387 [introduction.]
395 Internationalism and Nationalism
Co-operation of the Fraternal Communist and Workers’

400 Parties
404 The Warsaw Treaty Organisation
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIALIST COUNTRIES
407 [introduction.]
The Great Social Gains of the Peoples of the Socialist

408 Countries
411 Successes of Industrialisation
414 Socialist Reorganisation of Agriculture
416 Rise in the Welfare and Cultural Level of the People
Political Organisation of Society and Forms of Managing

418 Production
COMMUNIST PARTIES— THE LEADING FORCE IN

SOCIALIST COUNTRIES
421 [introduction.]
422 Political Parties in Socialist Countries
425 Leading Role of the Communist Parties
DECISIVE FACTOR OF HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
427 [introduction.]
428 Force of Example
430 Bulwark of Peace, Freedom and Independence of the Peoples
435 Economic Competition Between Socialism and Capitalism
443 Assistance to Developing Countries
446 The World Proletariat Supports the Socialist System
CHAPTER VII
TRANSITION TO COMMUNISM— THE PATH OF

MANKIND’S DEVELOPMENT
THE CONTEMPORARY EPOCH— THE EPOCH OF

TRANSITION FROM CAPITALISM TO SOCIALISM
The Essence of the Epoch Ushered in by the October

449 Revolution
Imperialism’s Futile Attempts to Adapt Itself to New

454 Conditions
458 The Crisis of Capitalism Is Deepening
462 Growth of Political Reaction in the Capitalist Countries
REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT OF THE WORKING CLASS
466 Capitalism’s Chief Opponent
470 New Conditions of the Proletariat’s Struggle
474 For a Mighty Anti-Monopoly Front
478 The Proletariat on the Offensive
NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLES OF

ASIA, AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA
481 [introduction.]
481 What Is a National Liberation Movement
483 Who Participates in the National Liberation Struggle
488 The Collapse of the Colonial System
492 A New Stage of the National Liberation Movement
495 Capitalism or Socialism?
506 Imperialism Remains the Chief Enemy
509 True Friends and Allies
THE WORLD COMMUNIST MOVEMENT
512 [introduction.]
514 The Force Which Unites All Revolutionaries
516 For the Cohesion of Communists
519 The Most Influential Movement of Our Time
THE STRUGGLE OF THE CPSU AND THE SOVIET STATE

FOR PEACE AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
522 [introduction.]
525 Fundamental Principles of Soviet Foreign Policy
Co-operation with Socialist Countries and Revolutionary-

529 Democratic Parties
The Maintenance and Consolidation of Peace, an Important

533 Aspect of Soviet Foreign Policy
Measures to Eliminate Hotbeds of War and Rebuff to

534 Military Aggression
537 The Struggle for Stable Security in Europe
544 A Ban on Weapons of Mass Destruction
545 The Struggle to Halt the Arms Race
548 Development of International Co-operation
***

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<•>
Fundamentals of Political Science is intended for those who are beginning to study p
TOC Marxism-Leninism.
Card
Whether we are considering international affairs or the economy, morality or the p
utilisation of science and the ethos of culture, education or ideology, the past, the
Text present or the future, we inevitably meet with problems of politics.
HTML
PS What, then, is politics? p
PDF
Lenin said that politics is relations between classes, it is “participation in the affairs p
T* of state, direction of the state, definition of the forms, tasks and content of state
19* activity”. [ 7•* Politics, he emphasised, should become the cause of the working
class, of the entire people.
###
It has become precisely that in socialist society. p
But in order consciously to appraise politics, to comprehend the complex interlacing p

of social phenomena, and to become an active participant in the building of a new
life, one must steadily expand his knowledge of the laws of social development and 8
the principal trends in the world historical process.
This book concisely defines the basic scientific concepts of society and the laws of p
its development and shows what determines the social activity of people.
Nevertheless a mere knowledge of the theoretical foundations of politics is not p

enough, it is also important to observe politics in action, to see its objectives and
results. To show all this the authors use the example of the Soviet state: they trace
the historic path covered by the Soviet people since the Great October Socialist
Revolution of 1917, describe how Lenin’s plan of socialist construction in the USSR
was carried into effect, and expound the principles of the socio-economic and
political structure of Soviet society, a society of developed socialism.
Inasmuch as the Leninist Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) is the tested p
political leader of the multinational Soviet people guiding their efforts to build
communist society, the authors have set themselves the task of showing how the
Party directs this enormously complicated work and carries through its policies.
The greater part of the book, therefore, deals with the present and future of the p
USSR.
Many fresh, creative ideas have been injected into the life of the Soviet people by p
the 24th CPSU Congress, the decisions adopted at the Plenary Meetings of the CPSU
Central Committee, and the theoretical and political documents bearing on the 50th 9
anniversary of the October Revolution, the centenary of V. I. Lenin’s birth and the
50th anniversary of the USSR. The Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the
24th Party Congress, the decisions of CC CPSU Plenary Meetings, and General
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/0-To.the.Reader[2012-12-25 2:26:12]
Secretary of the CC CPSU Leonid Brezhnev’s report “The Fiftieth Anniversary of

the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" provide a profound analysis of the basic
features of the present-day development of the Soviet Union, and of key international
issues. In the light of this analysis the authors examine the economy of a developed
socialist society, the country’s socio-political development and ideological and
educational work. They devote considerable attention to problems of communist
education, the shaping of the ideological and moral image of the individual and the
elimination of all negative aspects in human behaviour which are incompatible with
the morality and mode of life of Soviet socialist society.
Communist construction in the USSR is inseparable from the development of the

world revolutionary process. Special chapters deal with the experience of other
socialist countries, the revolutionary struggle of the international working class and
the national liberation movement of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America,
the CPSU’s foreign policy activities and the Programme of Peace advanced by its
24th Congress.
***

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[ 7•*] V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 41, p. 382.
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ITS DEVELOPMENT

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<•> HUMAN SOCIETY: ITS DEVELOPMENT

BASIC CONCEPTS
TOC
Card Man is a social being and therefore cannot exist outside society. What is man and p
what is human society? What are the relations between them?
Text
HTML In order to exist people must eat and dress, have dwellings, and so forth. They p
PS produce their food and clothes and build dwellings with the help of instruments of
PDF labour. The production of the instruments of labour and everything else necessary for
life is an eternal, natural and essential basis of man’s existence.
T*
19* In the process of production the human individual sets the instruments of labour, p
machines in motion and with their help acts upon metal, wood, soil and other objects
### of labour in order to obtain the necessary product. The employment of the
instruments of labour to produce the required products is labour, i.e., the purposeful
practical activity of a human individual. Not only man but some animals, too,
possess the ability to create: birds build nests, beavers build log dams across rivers,
and monkeys use sticks and stones for specific purposes. But not a single animal can 11
improve or develop its “production”. Only the history of man and humanity is
characterised by a continuous improvement of the means of labour and ways of
producing them.
What distinguishes human labour from the activity of animals is its conscious, p
purposeful character. Karl Marx wrote that what distinguishes the worst architect
from the best of bees is that he raises his structure in imagination before he erects it
in reality, while the bee builds its honeycombs instinctively. The bee does not have
to be taught to build honeycombs. This knowledge is instinctive. All the other bees
before it built exactly the same honeycombs.
Man, however, sets himself a goal, evolves a plan for achieving it and acts p
accordingly. This type of activity is characteristic of man only: it was inherent in
him in the past, when he engaged in primitive hunting, and it is inherent today,
when he controls the most sophisticated machinery.
We know that man’s labour is connected with his consciousness. But consciousness p
in its turn is closely connected with speech, with language, by means of which man
communicates with other human beings, expressing and conveying his thoughts to
them. Articulate speech is characteristic of man alone, and each generation as it
grows up has to learn a language in order to be able to participate in joint activity.
Animals also emit sounds signalling food, danger, and so forth, but these sounds
cannot be called speech. Speech is connected with man’s ability to generalise, to 12
think in abstract terms, i.e., to comprehend things and phenomena.
Thus, labour, consciousness and speech are qualities which distinguish man from p
animals and endow him with the ability to engage in forms of joint activity inherent
only in the human individual.
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Insofar as people work and act jointly they enter into definite relations which are p
called social relations. People with their activity and mutual relations comprise a
society. Since society can exist and develop only in the process of human activity,
man can be only a social being. To understand a man, his way of life and thinking,
it is necessary in the first place to determine the type of society in which he lives
and what this society stands for. Therefore all social sciences are sciences about
human beings.
Man studies life and cognises nature. Science has explored the atom, it is p
discovering ever new sources of energy and is studying celestial bodies. People must
be armed with knowledge in order to apprehend the world in which they live and
consciously to transform nature in the interests of mankind. At the same time man
must possess knowledge about society, about himself. But mankind covered a long
and difficult path of development before it witnessed the rise of social science giving
people a true knowledge of the laws of social development.
This happened when the proletariat emerged as an active revolutionary force and p
placed the struggle for the socialist reconstruction of life on the agenda of historical 13
development. The brilliant creators of this science were Karl Marx, Frederick Engels
and Vladimir Lenin.
The Marxist science of society is called historical materialism. A study of this

science discloses the substance of the historical process and its motive forces, the
structure of society at various stages of history, the role played by the masses and
the individual in social development and the place of socialism in human history and
prospects of its further development. This knowledge is essential to everyone who
wants to comprehend the surrounding world, the meaning of events and the
significance of the struggle for humanity’s better future—the communist future.
***

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<< SOCIAL FORMATIONS. >>

PRODUCTION AND THE LAWS
OF ITS DEVELOPMENT

<<< TO THE READER CHAPTER II -- THE COMMUNIST >>>

PARTY--- THE POLITICAL
LEADER OF THE STRUGGLE
FOR SOCIALISM AND
COMMUNISM

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<•> AND THE LAWS OF ITS DEVELOPMENT

The Concept
TOC
of a Social Formation

Card
Living conditions in various epochs and countries differed substantially from each p
Text other, just as they do today, when there are about 200 states with an aggregate
HTML population of 3,700 million in the world. There are even some countries with
PS remnants of the tribal system or those with feudal relations. People live in capitalist
PDF and socialist states, i.e., at different levels of social development.
T* A specific historical stage in the development of society is called a socio-economic p 14

19* formation. The history of mankind is not a conglomerate of incidental events, but a
definite process leading from bottom to top, from the simplest to the more
### sophisticated types of socio-economic formations. In the course of its development
from the lowest social formation, the primitive– communal system, to the communist
formation, which is the highest and whose first stage is socialism, mankind passes
through the slave-owning system, feudalism and capitalism. Each nation at a given
period of its existence belongs to one or another formation, depending on the level
of its socioeconomic development.
However different are the history, culture and modes of life of such countries as the p
USA, FRG, Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Australia, all of them are capitalist
countries where factories, land, roads, forests, mineral deposits, etc., are owned by
the capitalists. That determines other aspects of life in capitalist society: political, for
power likewise belongs to those who own the wealth, and intellectual, for science,
culture and education are levers by means of which the ruling class strengthens its
position.
A characteristic feature of socialist countries is the domination of public ownership p

of the means of production which engenders relations of co-operation between
people and eliminates exploitation of man by man. Compared with capitalism,
socialism is a higher stage of social development. It appeared as a result of socialist 15
revolutions and subsequent economic, socio– political and cultural transformations.
We have already said that survivals of precapitalist formations still exist in a p

number of countries, including some African ones, whose development has been
greatly retarded as a result of protracted colonial rule of the imperialist states. The
imperialists held on to these countries as sources of raw materials and cheap
manpower for the advanced capitalist states. The majority of the formerly enslaved
countries have already freed themselves of colonial domination. Given the necessary
conditions they will be able to take the path of non-capitalist development; whether
this will happen or not will depend on the outcome of the acute struggle between
progressive and reactionary forces.
The economy and politics, the state and the law, technology and science, everything p
is interconnected in a human society, and changes in any one sphere engender
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changes in another. The interaction of all aspects of social life takes place on the
basis of the production of essential material wealth.
Inasmuch as the history of mankind is a succession of socio-economic formations it

is very important to have a thorough knowledge of structure of each of these
formations, i.e., the interaction of all the forces operating in a society in a given
period of time.
***

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< The Structure of Socio-Economic >

Formations

<< BASIC CONCEPTS THE ACTIVITY OF PEOPLE IN >>

HISTORY


FOR SOCIALISM AND
COMMUNISM

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<•> of Socio-Economic Formations

TOC The existence of any human society depends on the production of material wealth. p
Production is a very broad concept. As a rule people engage in specific types of
Card
production. For instance, field husbandry, gardening, orcharding and animal
husbandry are types of agricultural production. The extraction of coal, oil, and ore
Text are branches of the mining industry. The heavy industry produces machines and other
HTML means of labour, while the light and food industry turns out fabrics, shoes and
PS foodstuffs. All these branches are closely interconnected: industry supplies agriculture
PDF with machines, and agriculture supplies industrial enterprises with raw materials.
T* Modern production is inconceivable without transport and communications, research p
19* and designing institutes and other branches of labour.
### The chief element of any type of production is the means of labour, i.e., machines p
and mechanisms, fuel and other power resources, storehouses and factory buildings,
everything that man uses to produce the necessary products and to act on nature. At
the same time it is impossible to carry on production without people possessing
adequate knowledge, experience and skill. The means of labour and people who use
these means comprise society’s productive forces.
In addition to making food, clothes, dwellings, means of labour and everything else p
that is necessary for life, people enter into what are called relations of production. 17
Without these relations they would be unable to live together. The forces of
production and the relations of production together define the mode of production.
Each socio-economic formation has its own mode of production: the feudal mode of p
production is the basis of the feudal formation, the capitalist mode of production is
the basis of the capitalist formation, and so forth.
Why is the mode of production the determinative basis of life and social p
development?
Labour productivity and, consequently, society’s wealth depend on the level of p

development of the means of labour and on how successfully people learn to master
them. At the dawn of the human history instruments of labour were extremely
primitive. The man employed stone axes, spears, bows and arrows and wooden hoes
with which he hunted, fished, gathered fruits and engaged in primitive farming.
Naturally, such a production base was not conducive to the rise of a prosperous and
flourishing society.
The appearance of improved instruments of labour stimulated the development of p

society. A most important development in the productive forces was the transition
from handicrafts tools, which people used over many centuries, to machine
production which first appeared in England in the latter half of the 18th century. The
improvement in production was so significant that it came to be known as the
industrial revolution. The rapid and widespread introduction of machine production
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gave a powerful impetus to the development and consolidation of capitalist relations. 18
Thus each social formation rests on a definite level of development of the forces of p
production.
Social formations differ from one another in the first place in the relations of p
production. The relations of production are determined by the form of ownership of
the basic means of production, i.e., the objects and means of labour. In Ancient
Rome, for example, wealthy landowners possessed great landed estates (latifundia),
the tools for cultivating the land and the slaves who worked on it. This form of
ownership determined the relations between people in the process of production as
relations between a slave and a slave-owner. The slave-owning form of ownership
gave rise to the slave-owning social system.
Under capitalism ownership has a different character. The capitalist owns only the p
means of production, while the worker is formally free, he can be neither bought nor
sold. Yet, in order to exist, a worker is compelled to sell his labour power, to get a
job at a capitalist enterprise where the capitalist is the owner and the worker does
what he is hired to do, where the former gets the profits and the latter a wage. As a
result society’s main wealth accumulates in the hands of the capitalists.
The relations of production are called the economic basis of society. In other words, p
the basis is the economic system of a society at a given stage of its development. A
corresponding superstructure arises on the basis. The conception “superstructure” also 19
embraces a wide sphere of human relations. It is the political relations between
various classes with their programmes of struggle for power; it is the state with all
its instruments of compulsion in the form of the army, courts and prisons; it is the
ideology of the various classes and social groups expressed in various forms—
political, legal, moral, aesthetic, religious and philosophic. What unites all these
heterogeneous phenomena?
They have at least two common features. First, they stem from the society’s p
economic basis. Second, they serve to perpetuate, strengthen and develop the
economic system on whose basis they have appeared, or to overthrow it, when they
are the programmes and ideologies of the exploiting classes.
Let us examine the relation between politics and economy, for example. The politics p
of every class is determined chiefly by its economic interests. What is a capitalist’s
main interest? Since he owns property and money, he is concerned with preserving
the social system which ensures his wealth and strengthening the relations which
enable him to multiply his capital. It is this economic interest which above all
determines the policies of the capitalist class and capitalist states, a policy of
strengthening and consolidating the foundations of capitalism, a policy of fighting
against the revolutionary and national liberation movement, a policy of anti-
communism. This relation between politics and economy is definitely and concisely 20
expressed in the Marxist formula: politics is the concentrated expression and
consummation of economy.
Of course, politics is relatively independent with regard to economy and can exert p
great influence upon it. In order to explain the policy of a state we should have to
take into account not only the economic interests of the ruling class in a given state,
but also the latter’s position in the system of other states, its historical and national
traditions, the correlation of its social forces and many other factors. Still, the
politics of a state depends in the first place on its economic situation and the
economic interests of its ruling class.
Other superstructural phenomena are removed from economy further than politics p
and are not linked directly with economy. In the final count, however, the
superstructure and all its components are either engendered by the economic basis, or
are determined by it either directly or indirectly. We should always bear this in mind
if we wish to examine scientifically the politics of one or another state, class or
party, the essence of their political programmes and declarations, the character of the
ideas dominating a given society.
Politics, being a concentrated expression of economy, serves it by supporting a p

corresponding social system. Any state has an apparatus of coercion and an
apparatus of administration with which it protects and upholds the existing order.
This means that elements of the superstructure engendered by economy are not 21
passive, but forcefully act on the basis.
All the elements of the superstructure are connected by their common origin and p
their social function.
The basis and superstructure taken together characterises every social formation: the p
basis expresses its economic foundation, while the superstructure expresses its
political and ideological forms. Thus, in a feudal state the nobility, landowners and
feudal lords held the dominating position. As a rule feudal states were monarchies.
Society was divided into estates, each with its strictly defined rights, and transition
from a lower estate to a higher one was almost impossible. The bourgeois state
proclaimed the formal equality of citizens before the law and abolished the estates.
In this state people were distinguished by their economic status, by their wealth, in
the first place. Karl Marx used to say that a bourgeois carried his power in his
pocket. This power is money. All the other distinctions between people recede into
the background in the face of this chief idol of capitalist society.
It follows, therefore, that every society, i.e., every social formation, differs from p
another not only as regards its economic, but also as regards its political system.
The appearance of a socialist society gives rise to a qualitatively new type of state p
—the dictatorship of the proletariat, which gradually develops into a socialist state of
the entire people.
Every social formation is dominated by ideas reflecting the interests of the ruling p 22
class. In the Middle Ages (6th-16th centuries), for instance, the Catholic Church was
a tremendous social force in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and some other countries
and the religious Catholic ideology was predominant there. The Church subjugated
everything: science and art, and morality, and was a great political force at the same
time. Hence, it was only natural that the first actions undertaken by the bourgeoisie
against feudalism had the form of religious movements. Further on, science joined
the fight against feudalism. The most consistent struggle against the ruling religious
ideology was waged by 17th-18th century materialist philosophers who attuned
people’s mentality for the impending bourgeois revolution.
Religion has lost its leading position in a bourgeois society, although it retains p
considerable ideological influence. Having cast off the oppression of the Church
natural sciences made great progress in their development. And an important role in
bourgeois society is played by political and legal ideology.
This means that transition from one social formation to another is accompanied by p
important changes both in the basis and the superstructure, and these transformations
attest to the birth of a new society.
As we have gathered from the above, the production of material wealth is the core
of any social formation and, consequently, of all the important changes in the
development of human society.
***

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<•>
In the process of labour man interacts with nature, which itself is a general object p
TOC of labour. The process of labour is in fact the transformation of nature, the adaptation
of natural objects to man’s requirements. And so it follows that natural conditions
Card
influence the process of labour and can be either propitious or unfavourable. Yet
people can surmount unfavourable effects of natural conditions. For instance, the
Text rigorous conditions of the Far North with its long cold winters, long polar nights and
HTML permafrost deprive people of the possibility of engaging in agriculture and create
PS great difficulties for the development of industry, trade and the construction of
PDF communications. It was due to these factors that the peoples of the Far North had
remained at the level of the tribal system in their social development. The October
T* Socialist Revolution and the assistance of the other peoples of the Soviet Union
19* opened the road to modern forms of life for the ethnic groups of north and the rise
of socialist relations among them.
###
While in the past the peoples of the Far North engaged solely in fishing and deer- p
breeding, now there are towns and a developing heavy industry inside the Arctic
Circle. One such town is Norilsk. It has a mining and metallurgical combine,
factories turning out pre-fabricated house parts, cement and ferro-concrete items and
other industrial enterprises. It also has a college of mining and metallurgy, a
repertoire drama theatre, etc. The Far North’s immense natural wealth has promoted 24
the rapid development of industry and construction. But in order to surmount the
unfavourable influence of the natural conditions, man must have the necessary
material means and a high level of production.
At the early stages of the development of human society, when the means of labour p
were extremely primitive, man depended to an enormous degree on nature, on the
elemental forces. For example, he depended on whether his geographical environment
was rich in fish, game and edible plants, inasmuch as his principal sources of
livelihood were hunting, fishing and the gathering, of edible plants. Later, when
people began to cultivate land, their welfare depended largely on the climate and soil
fertility. With the development of heavy industry which takes in metals, mineral raw
materials, coal, oil, the energy of rivers and so forth in enormous quantities,
territories abounding in these natural resources acquired the utmost importance.
Today people utilise the earth’s natural wealth in vast and ever increasing amounts;
that means that the question of its economical and rational use is a matter of the
greatest significance for the further development of human society.
Consequently, natural conditions can and do influence the development of p

production, either favourably or unfavourably, promoting the development of a given
society or retarding its progress. At the same time the character and the strength of
their influence depend on the level of a nation’s social development.
Society not only experiences the influence of natural conditions, it also alters them. p 25
As the productive forces of society developed, people acquired increasingly powerful
means of acting on their natural environment. They were able to transform nature to
an ever greater degree and adapt it to their own requirements. Today nature in its
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primordial state has been preserved most probably only in the polar regions, in the
impassable taiga and the ocean depths. The reason is obvious. A modern advanced
state cannot exist without large towns, industrial complexes, a ramified system of
railways and highways, numerous canals and man-made reservoirs, fields, orchards,
and so forth.
Soviet socialist society has set itself the task of steadily transforming nature in the p
interests of man in order to create the most favourable conditions for his life and
health.
But the relationship between man and nature is a many-sided, complicated problem, p
and society must foresee how its utilisation of natural resources affects nature itself.
At times environmental changes favourable to man are accompanied by unexpected
and harmful consequences. And the more powerful the means of man’s acting on
nature, the more adverse may be the impact if society fails to control its own
interaction with nature.
This problem has never been as acute as it is today. Once it was generally believed p
that any harm which industry might cause nature was subsequently neutralised by the
elements themselves. Reality, however, proved that this view was not only erroneous, 26
but also dangerous, for changes harmful to man taking place in nature may prove to
be irreversible. Today the air and water pollution from industrial waste, the
destruction of forests and the contamination of huge areas with various waste have
acquired such enormous proportions that without the effective and systematic work
by society it is practically impossible to combat the harm caused to nature. Yet, the
domination of private property in capitalist society inhibits the introduction of broad
measures to protect and improve the natural environment, and the monopolists’ thirst
for profits leads to predatory utilisation of the natural wealth.
The problem of relations between man and nature, or the ecological problem, as it
is called, is becoming more and more international in character. The most favourable
conditions for its solution, naturally, exist in socialist countries whose planned
economy is subordinated to the interests of the people. Obviously, it is impossible to
solve all problems arising there immediately, for that would have entailed vast
financial outlays. But the Soviet state is using the available possibilities to build
installations at industrial enterprises to protect the atmosphere and water from
pollution, rehabilitate forests, prevent soil erosion, improve urban life (planting of
trees in streets, combating noise, etc.), and use natural resources more rationally. The
Soviet Government has promulgated the law “On Measures of Further Improving the 27
Protection of Nature and the Rational Utilisation of the Natural Resources”. The
protection of nature is not only the concern of society as a whole, but of each
separate individual, too.
***

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Formations Production Relations to the
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TOC The productive forces determine the development of society and define society’s p
attitude to nature. Man’s power over nature corresponds to the level of development
Card
of the forces of production.
Text Man’s first tools were made of wood, stone and bone. Then people learned to smelt p
HTML metal. The appearance of iron tools was a milestone in the development of the forces
PS of production. Today people employ not only the materials which they find in nature,
PDF but also create new, synthetic materials possessing properties which man needs.
T* Here is another example. At first people used their own muscular energy to set the p
19* instruments of labour in motion, then they began to use the strength of animals.
Gradually mankind learned to employ new types of energy: the energy of water and
### wind, steam and electricity, and now it also uses the energy of the atom.
The means of labour and the productive forces reflect the level of man’s knowledge p
of nature and embody the production experience which he has accumulated. The 28
level of development of the productive forces is a gauge of society’s progress.
Production is the basic form of human activity. The relations between people in the
process of production do not depend on the will of the people and take shape in
conformity with the character of the productive forces. The necessity that relations of
production should be adapted to the productive forces arises from the very substance
of production. It is just as impossible, for example, to build capitalism in the stone
age, or to establish primitive-communal relations on the basis of large-scale industry,
as to dress a fullgrown man in baby clothes. If the productive forces correspond to
the production relations then the former develop freely and society flourishes. But
this conformity does not last for ever. The productive forces are in a state of
constant change, for people are continuously improving the instruments of production.
The development of productive forces can be very slow, so slow, in fact, that
thousands of years pass by before any noticeable changes make their appearance, as
was the case during the primitive-communal system. It can also be relatively fast,
even very fast, when perceptible changes in productive forces take place in the
course of centuries and even decades.
The more sophisticated the means of production, the more advanced should be the p
production relations. This means that these relations must change. But in a capitalist
as in any other exploiting society changes in the relations of production are inhibited
by classes and groups which are not interested in seeing them change. The relations 29
begin to lag behind the productive forces with the result that they not only do not
promote the latter’s development but, to the contrary, slow down their growth. This
causes a conflict. As a result it becomes necessary to replace the outmoded
production relations with more progressive ones, and this means that the old social
formation has outlived itself.
In an exploiting society such a situation calls not only for a change in the
economic, but also in the political system inasmuch as the latter hinders the
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development of new production relations. Therefore the conflict between the new
productive forces and the old relations of production is the economic foundation of
social revolution which is the sole form of transition from one social formation to
another.
***

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<•>
Man has always been a social being. In primordial times people united according to p
TOC their kinship into clans and tribes. Leading a nomad way of life they gathered edible
plants, hunted and fished. Inside the clan matrimonial relations were prohibited and
Card
each clan united matrilinear relatives. Work was assigned according to the physical
abilities of each individual. In other words there existed a sex-age division of labour.
Text All that people obtained through joint labour was equally divided between them and
HTML thus they were able to keep themselves alive.
PS
PDF What sort of production existed in those times? p 30
T* The primitive man had such primitive tools that he could not exist by himself. This p
19* weakness of the individual in the face of nature was what forced people to unite.
Only by living and working together could they stand up to nature and obtain food
### and other necessities. Evidently the primitive collective of people using individual
primitive tools was the first productive force in human history. Collective labour and
collective mode of life gave rise to equal distribution of products, i.e., to such
relations of production which precluded the possibility of exploitation.
Due to the extremely slow growth of the productive forces the production relations p
remained in conformity with the collective productive force of a primitive clan for
many thousands of years. Gradually, however, some tribes, either as a result of
favourable natural conditions, or for other reasons, began to attain a higher level of
development of productive forces compared to the mass of humanity scattered
throughout the world. Cropping and livestock breeding appeared. Stone tools gave
way to bronze and then iron. People obtained more reliable sources of food, began to
lay in food supplies and accumulate diverse types of material wealth, i.e., the
productive forces reached a level at which it became possible to obtain surplus
product. Surplus product is that part of the produced material wealth which remains
after most essential requirements are satisfied. The surplus product gave rise to two
important trends in social development.
First, it became possible to accumulate this product and redistribute it. In other p 31
words, there appeared an economic basis for the rise of inequality, when some clans,
tribes or individuals began to seize cattle, weapons, etc., while others lost them.
Plunder and, consequently, wars for wealth became possible.
Second, exploitation came into being. Exploitation means the appropriation of the p
fruits of someone else’s labour. So long as people produced only as much as they
needed to survive, an individual could not exploit the labour of another individual.
But as soon as man began to produce more than he needed to survive, he opened
the road to exploitation. Thus slavery was established.
Although the instruments of labour became more productive, they remained adapted p
to individual use, and an individual or a family could produce all they needed for
sustenance: plough the land and keep cattle. Interest in common tribal economy
disappeared. On the other hand, as we have said earlier, people could now
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/1.2.5-Development.of.Socio-Economic.Formations[2012-12-25 2:26:41]
accumulate wealth. All this undermined the foundations of primitive collectivism and
equality in distribution. Society split into the rich and the poor, into the slaves and
the slave-owners. Classes appeared. The primitive system gave way to a class society
in which the economically dominant class lived at the expense of the labour of the
oppressed class, thus engendering economic and social inequality and irreconcilable
class contradictions.
The transition to a class society was a progressive phenomenon because it p 32

considerably accelerated the growth of the productive forces. The accumulation of
wealth facilitated exchange and trade, and towns developed as centres of trade and
crafts. Groups of people who did not produce material wealth but devoted their time
to diverse intellectual activity emerged in society. In other words, the era of the rise
of a class society witnessed the separation of mental and physical labour, a most
important precondition for the development of man’s spiritual culture. The rise of
classes was accompanied by the formation of states.
Social progress has a contradictory nature. When classes came into being, mankind p
began to advance at the expense of ruthless exploitation of the majority of the
people, at the expense of the enslavement of the working people through sanguinary
wars and plunder. Everything was placed on the altar of wealth and power; the
basest human vices and instincts were rampant.
Such a society is called antagonistic. p
History knows three antagonistic class societies: the slave-owning, feudal and p
capitalist.
Pre-capitalist class societies have one common feature: they have a primitive p
technical basis consisting of the wooden plough, hammer, axe, potter’s wheel and
other instruments of labour with which people obtained food and clothes,
accumulated wealth, built houses, temples and sailing ships.
Very little could be done to improve on these tools: a hammer is a hammer and an p 33
axe is an axe whatever their shapes. With such a technical basis the labour
productivity was very low and that accounted for the slow development of the slave-
owning and feudal societies.
The technical basis of a developed feudal society was higher than that of the slave- p
owning society which existed, for example, in Ancient Greece or Rome. The status
of the toiling people was also different. A slave was the chattel of the slave-owner.
A slave had neither property, nor family nor a home and he was not interested in
the results of his labour.
The chief productive force in a feudal society was the peasant who was personally p
dependent on the feudal landowner. The most brutal semislave form of this
dependence was serfdom. But a peasant had a home, family, tools and a plot of
land, and although he was not a free man he was interested in obtaining more means
for sustaining his family and himself, he had to pay labour rent (corvee), turn over a
designated part of the harvest to the church, and so forth.
In the slave-owning and feudal societies the private character of the instruments of p
labour corresponded to the individual nature of the activity of a peasant or craftsman.
Small-scale production and natural economy were predominant in both of them. The
large-scale property of the slaveowner or the feudal lord developed on the basis of
non-economic coercion, since neither the one nor the other could economically force
the slave or the serf of work for him. Such were the main features of these 34
formations. Their antagonistic nature manifested itself in an acute class struggle
which at times took the form of armed uprisings, including such major ones as the
slave revolt against Rome led by Spartacus (74–71 B. C.), the revolt in England led
by Wat Tyler in 1381, the peasant wars in Germany (1524–25) and in Russia led by
Stepan Razin (1670–71) and Yemelyan Pugachev (1773–75).
The level of social development was not the same throughout the world, for the p
human society advances unevenly. In ancient times and the Middle Ages a
considerable portion of people in Asia, Africa, Australia and America still lived in
tribal systems. When the feudal system became established in some European
countries, the decaying slave-owning system still existed in other parts of the world.
This uneven development is observed throughout the history of mankind.
The next stage in the development of class antagonistic society was capitalism. p
Machine production became the technical basis of capitalism, although the first signs p
of capitalist relations appeared long before the machine acquired a leading place in
production. The qualitative leap occasioned by the emergence of machine production
had far-reaching consequences. This stage of development of productive forces was
characterised by the introduction of scientific achievements in production,
rationalisation and improvement of machines, technology and the organisation of 35
production, and a continuous rise in the productivity of labour.
Under the system of capitalist ownership of the means of production, the owner of p
the capital economically forces the proletarian, a person who has no property, to
work for him. Only vital necessity compels the worker to hire himself out to the
capitalist.
Why does a capitalist hire workers? Not out of pity, of course, but to derive profit, p
for the workers create surplus value.
What is surplus value? It is the value of the product which a worker produces p
without compensation, since his wage is always smaller than the value of the
commodity he has created. Therein lies the essence of capitalist relations of
production.
It is surplus value, which the capitalist receives in the form of profit by p

appropriating the product of the unpaid labour of workers, that is the chief stimulus
of capitalist production. In their striving for profit the interests of the capitalists clash
and a struggle for still greater profits begins. This struggle is called competition, and
the winner is the capitalist whose production is better organised and who equips it
with more sophisticated machinery and manages to sell his commodity more
profitably. The race for profits and competition compel the capitalist to improve
production and technology and turn out greater quantities of commodities. The
production of more goods than can be purchased on the market leads to crises of
overproduction.
These crises, however, do not in the least testify to an absolute excess of p 36

commodities. The demand for them still exists, but people cannot afford to purchase
them because they do not have the money for it. Overproduction leads to the closure
of factories and the dismissal of workers who swell the ranks of the unemployed.
This still further narrows the demand for commodities. Crises are one of the most
characteristic features of the capitalist system. Modern industrial production calls for
a rational planned organisation which takes into account nation-wide demand and
consumption.
Crises show that capitalism is unable to cope with this task. p
The class struggle under capitalism becomes more acute. Workers unite and fight for p
better living and working conditions. This struggle takes the form of strikes,
demonstrations and revolutionary uprisings.
Thus, ruthless competition, periodic crises and the unceasing class struggle attest to p
the contradictory nature of the capitalist system, the growing disparity between the
productive forces and the production relations. The basic contradiction of capitalism
is precisely the disparity between the nature of production and methods of
appropriation of the fruits of production. The production process is social inasmuch
as in present-day conditions millions of people bound by production relations jointly
produce all the necessary commodities. But the product of this social production is
appropriated by private owners.
Private property, however, can be turned into public property. Then not only the p 37
necessary but also the surplus product can be distributed in the interests of the whole
of society. On the basis of public property it is possible to abolish competition, and
effectively plan production on a scale corresponding to the entire society and in its
interests. The social nature of production should be matched by public ownership of
the means of production with its specific organisation of labour and forms of
distribution. This, however, is possible only under socialism.
The bourgeoisie would like to resolve or at the least to smooth over the p
contradictions inherent in the capitalist system. Production is becoming increasingly
socialised: individual capitalists are being replaced by associations of capitalists—
firms, trusts and giant monopolies. Monopoly capitalism is developing and turning
into state– monopoly capitalism, which is an indication of the recognition of the
social character of the productive forces within the framework of the capitalist
system itself. But the whole point is that monopoly property remains private capitalist
in character, and monopoly profits are distributed among the shareholders.
Monopolies do not abolish competition because they themselves compete on a
worldwide scale. And the small and medium-size private enterprises, too, are locked
in a sustained and embittered struggle for raw materials and consumer markets.
Monopoly capital is the source and the perpetrator of fearful crimes against p
humanity. It was responsible for the outbreak of two world wars which took a toll of 38
dozens of millions of human lives. And it was monopoly capitalism that fathered
fascism which is ever pregnant with the threat of reaction and violence.
Apologists of capitalism assert that the position which the working class in the p
advanced capitalist countries holds today does not permit the capitalists to cut wages
impunely and compels them to pay fairly high wages to the workers, and therefore
the class struggle is petering out. This is an illusion, an attempt at wishful thinking.
The working people are winning their rights in the course of long years of fierce
class struggle, at the cost of incalculable sacrifices. This struggle is not only
continuing, it is becoming ever more acute.
Certainly, in developed capitalist countries such as the USA, the FRG, France and p
Britain a qualified worker receives a relatively high wage. He has also won other
social rights, especially in the period following the Socialist Revolution in Russia in
1917. However, this does not mean that injustice, inequality and oppression have
been wiped out in these countries. In capitalist society a person who works remains
oppressed and is constantly aware of his dependence on the capitalist who can fire
him at any moment and thus deprive him of shelter and food. Moreover, even in
advanced capitalist countries the incomes of very many people are lower than the
subsistence minimum.
For a long time capitalism exploited hundreds of millions of people in colonial p 39

countries. The colonial system collapsed but backwardness and poverty weigh heavily
on the shoulders of toiling people in many African, Asian and Latin American
countries. The peoples of the developing states are faced with the difficult problems
of further development which are solved in the course of the struggle against
imperialism and bitter social conflicts.
The development of state-monopoly capitalism did not smooth out, but exacerbated p
the internal contradictions of the capitalist system, and the scientific and
technological revolution, that qualitatively new phase in the development of the
modern forces of production, aggravated them to a still greater extent.
What is a scientific and technological revolution? p
One of its features is that it radically alters the already developed industrial p
production, opening qualitatively new prospects before it. The chief trend in the
transformation of technology is the creation of automated production, first partially
and then fully. The prerequisites for such automation lie in the development of
cybernetics and electronic computers with the help of which machines are able to
control technological processes.
Another feature of the scientific and technological revolution is the growing p

implementation of scientific achievements in production, the transformation of
science into an actual productive force, when modern equipment appears as the direct 40
result of the development and application of science. The organic fusion of science
and production as we are witnessing today has no precedent in history. And indeed,
atomic energy, space flights, the production of synthetic materials with set properties,
electronics, lasers, these and many other achievements arise from science and not
merely as a result of the accumulated experience, as was the case in the past. The
organic connection between scientific and technological progress is the distinguishing
feature of the scientific and technological revolution.
Sophisticated technology makes it possible considerably to raise labour productivity p

and introduces serious changes in the very structure and organisation of production.
But the most important result and the distinctive feature of the scientific and
technological revolution is that it modifies man’s role in production. On the basis of
automated technology and the application of scientific methods, serial production will
be increasingly guided by machines which do not require the direct participation of
man in the technological process. His job will be controlling the operation of
machines, handling repairs, designing and building new machines and performing
other creative functions connected with production.
The craftsman set in motion his instruments of production chiefly by his own p
muscle energy, and in machine production, too, the worker became an appendage to
the machine, but the machines created by the modern scientific and technological 41
revolution will make man the master of the self-regulating (automatic) production
process. Such is the prospect opened by the scientific and technological revolution.
Today we are witnessing the beginning of this process, for automated shops even in
advanced countries have so far accounted for an insignificant part of the entire
production.
The scientific and technological revolution will raise production to such a level that p
it will be possible to create the material and technical basis for the achievement of
the maximum material wealth, reduce the working day and employ people’s strength
and abilities primarily in the field of creative work. But whether the achievements of
the scientific and technological revolution will be employed to the benefit of the
working man depends on the social system where it is developing—within the
capitalist framework or in socialist society.
Capitalism takes advantage of the growth of the productive forces and the scientific p
and technological progress to intensify the exploitation of the working people and
strengthen its system of domination and oppression. In capitalist conditions the
scientific and technological revolution further strengthens the state-monopoly
organisation which turns the working man into a particle, a tiny screw in the
powerful capitalist machine.
As it promotes industrial development the scientific and technological revolution p

undermines capitalism, exacerbates its contradictions and increases the incompatibility
of the growing productive forces with the narrow framework of the capitalist 42
economy, with the character of the production relations, and engenders class
conflicts.
The socio-economic system that corresponds to the modern character and prospects p
of further development of productive forces is socialist society. Socialism is the
highest stage that mankind has so far achieved in its progress. And it is socialism
that can make the best of the scientific and technological revolution and, most
important, employ it in the interests of man.
Let us sum up all that has been said in this section. p
Human history is movement from the lower to higher forms of social life and its p
leading force is the development of the productive forces. We have examined only
the general aspects of the main line, the basic trend of social development. The
knowledge of the stages of social development furnished by Marxist theory makes it
possible to comprehend historical phenomena in their entire diversity, to analyse the
past, assess the present and foresee the future.
At the same time the materialist theory of social development is not a fixed scheme; p
it calls for a concrete analysis of concrete historical phenomena. Historical progress
is uneven and the rise of a new formation does not immediately cause the
disappearance of the preceding one. Survivals of primitive-communal relations, for
example, continue to exist for a long time in a class society. Survivals of feudalism
are still found in some backward countries. Whole peopies, states and cultures 43
perished in wars or disappeared due to other reasons. Many of the peoples which
exist today passed over the above stages of social development. The Slav peoples,
for instance, moved from primitive-communal relations directly into feudalism,
bypassing the slave-owning formation. Many peoples living in the Soviet Union
stepped from patriarchal, feudal relations into socialism, without passing through the
capitalist stage of development. There are many similar examples.
The general theoretical principles, Lenin noted, are creatively applied to different p
countries inasmuch as each one has its historic, national, cultural and other features
influencing its development. At the same time these general principles mirror the
general laws of social development which determine the course of world history and
which force their way through the numerous varieties of the concrete historical
process. In our time it was the operation of these general laws that launched the
capitalist social formation towards its inevitable end. A new, communist social
formation is beginning to take shape and develop. This being the case, the
contemporary epoch taken on the world historic scale is an epoch of transition from
capitalism to socialism. The countries of the world socialist system are standing at
the initial stage of the communist social formation.
What are the main features of a communist social formation?
***

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Production Relations to the Formation
Productive Forces


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<•> Socio-Economic Formation

TOC The economic basis of this formation is public ownership of the means of p
production. At the present stage public property has two forms: state property and
Card
co-operative and collectivefarm property. It is this form of property that corresponds
to the social nature of the production process and creates infinite opportunities for
Text the growth of the productive forces.
HTML
PS The construction of communist society, as any other stage of historical development, p
PDF is characterised by contradictions between the productive forces and the production
relations. In this case, however, their solution is not attended by social conflicts and
T* political revolutions and is achieved as a result of conscious and planned
19* improvement of the production relations. This is possible, first, because public
property does away with exploitation of man by man, abolishes the exploiting
### classes, and the life of the entire society is guided by common interests; and, second,
because the tasks and problems facing society can be resolved consciously and in a
planned way. In a communist formation production, culture and social relations
advance and improve at an especially rapid pace. Proof of this is the fact that the
USSR developed into a mighty power with a highly advanced economy and culture
in a mere 58 years.
The rise and development of the communist formation is a natural process. The p
material prerequisites for the transition to this formation are created in the depths of 45
the capitalist system. The most important of them is modern production which unites
the entire mass of the working people. The working class is the leading social force
which consummates the socialist revolution in alliance with the working peasantry
and lays the foundation of the communist social formation.
As it develops the communist social formation passes through several stages. The p
first is the transition period which begins with socialist revolution. In this period
survivals of the overthrown classes (landowners and the bourgeoisie) are abolished
and small peasant farms are transformed into large collective farms through
cooperation and the development of the industrial base of the new society. In the
sphere of social thinking the scientific ideology of MarxismLeninism gains the
dominating position, and the masses begin acquiring socialist consciousness.
Politically, the transition period is one of the dictatorship of the proletariat, i.e., the p
state power of the proletariat established after the bourgeois government is deposed.
After carrying through the socialist revolution the proletariat inevitably encounters p
the resistance of the overthrown classes which can be suppressed by force only.
Therefore the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat is the main content
of socialist revolution.
At the same time the dictatorship of the proletariat has an important creative p
mission. It is the chief instrument in the building of socialism. The dictatorship of 46
the proletariat is a form of the political guidance of all sections of the working
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/1.2.6-The.Communist.Socio-Economic.Formation[2012-12-25 2:26:46]
people by the working class. Its purpose is to win over the mass of working people
and draw them into construction of the new society. In contrast to bourgeois rule, the
dictatorship of the proletariat does not stand in opposition to the mass of people, but
expresses their fundamental interests.
The dictatorship of the proletariat can be effected in various political forms p

depending on the specific conditions of the development of socialist revolution. One
form of the dictatorship of the proletariat was the Paris Commune (March 18 to May
28, 1871). Though short-lived, it was of great significance for it was the first time in
history that the proletariat had come to power. The Soviets, a new form of the
dictatorship of the proletariat, appeared in the course of the revolution in Russia.
Building upon the teaching of Marx and Engels about the dictatorship of the
proletariat, Lenin substantiated the historical significance of the Republic of Soviets,
a state of a new type, of consistent and real democracy. People’s Democracy, which
appeared in the countries that took the road of socialist development after the Second
World War, became another form of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
The transition period ends with the establishment of socialist social relations. p
Socialism, the first phase of the communist formation, fully abolishes private 47
ownership of the means of production and the exploiting classes. Socialism stands for
the complete socio-political and ideological unity of society, of all its classes, strata
and social groups; it abolishes national oppression and establishes relations of
friendship between peoples based on the principle of socialist internationalism.
Once socialism has won, the dictatorship of the proletariat develops into a state of p
the entire people. It performs a number of important and essential functions,
economic and organisational in the first place. The state expresses the fundamental
interests of the people, of the whole of society in the economic sphere; it plans and
manages the national economy; it serves as the organising authority in the solution of
the tasks facing society, protects public and personal interests of the working people
and upholds socialist law and order. Relying on the support of all working people,
the state of the entire people enforces measures of compulsion with regard to people
violating the laws and principles of socialist society. The socialist state puts in a vast
amount of work to promote public education, raise the cultural level of the working
people, foster communist consciousness and create conditions for a continuous
development of culture and science. The socialist state carries out the crucial
function of protecting the country, defending the socialist gains of the working
people and promoting friendship and co-operation between socialist countries; it
supports the international revolutionary liberation movement and upholds the cause of 48
peace and international security.
The victory of socialism, the first phase of communism, in the USSR was reflected p
in the new Constitution adopted in 1936. After that the socialist society developed on
its own foundation. The growth of the socialist economy and culture was
accompanied by consolidation of socialism and the further strengthening of the
socialist state. As a result the Soviet people achieved the complete and final victory
of socialism and the country entered a period of a developed socialist society.
As it continues to advance, the socialist system more fully discloses its advantages p
over the capitalist system. One of its most important advantages is the steadily
increasing role of the people in the building of the new society. The 24th CPSU
Congress (1971) set the people and the Party the task of using the advantages of
socialism, combining them with the scientific and technological revolution and further
improving the entire system of management in order to gain more efficacy of
production and accelerate the growth of the material welfare and cultural level of the
people.
Under developed socialism people are in a position to solve tasks which society was p
unable to fulfil in the past. As a result of the tremendous growth of industrial and
agricultural production the Soviet Union can speed up the rates of growth of
consumer goods production and increase investments into agriculture without 49
lowering the rates of heavy industry development. Thanks to their dedicated labour
in the socialist industry and agriculture the Soviet people fulfil the main task of the
five-year plan, that of securing a considerable rise in the standard of living and the
cultural level of the people. Today the Soviet state is in a position to channel
increasing efforts and means into the development of public education, literature, and
art and thus promote the growth of the intellectual wealth of society.
The further prospects for the development of socialist society are connected with the p
transition from socialism, the lowest stage in the development of the communist
formation, to complete communism, its highest stage.
Wherein lies the distinction between socialism and communism? The chief p
distinction is society’s level of economic and spiritual maturity.
One of the most important directions in the growth of the productive forces is that p
of intensifying production and raising the level of its socialisation. Production is
being enlarged and links between factories, and the various branches of production
are becoming more and more intricate and diverse. The employment of new
materials, the automation of production, and broad introduction of scientific methods
and technical means of organisation and management will eventually do away with
heavy and monotonous work and as a result the majority of people will work in
various fields of creative labour. All this is bound to cause enormous changes in 50
their mode of life.
Under socialism material wealth is distributed among the members of society chiefly p
according to the quality and quantity of the work they perform for society, i.e., in
line with the principle “From each according to his ability, to each according to his
work”.
Society takes care that people develop their abilities and for this purpose improves p
the system of education. The introduction of universal secondary education is a
matter of very great significance for the intellectual development of all working
people and their increasing participation in creative labour.
It is the concern of socialist society that each individual should work in a field p
where he can make full use of his abilities and thus be of the greatest service to
society. This problem, naturally, still requires its ultimate solution, but socialist
society considers it one of the most important.
The socialist principle of distribution according to the work done is embodied in the p
existing system of wages. A large and steadily increasing part of the material wealth
and services in the USSR is distributed among people through public consumption
funds regardless of the quantity and quality of work contributed by an individual.
These funds account for free education and medical treatment, grants to mothers of
large families, state-owned housing, numerous holiday facilities, and so on and so
forth.
Under communism the level of development of productive forces and labour p 51
productivity must be high enough to ensure an abundance of consumer goods. A

new principle of distribution, “From each according to his ability, to each according
to his needs”, will become effective in communist society. But before this happens
society will have to attain a new level of development of production which will
become the material and technical basis of communism. Man himself will rise to a
higher stage in the new conditions. In socialist society distinctions still exist between
urban and rural labour, between mental and physical labour, and unskilled manual
labour is still needed. The survivals of the old division of labour and non-creative
labour which restricts man’s intellectual growth can be abolished only through a high
level of technological development, introduction of science into all branches of
production, the latter’s complex mechanisation and automation and high productivity
of labour. These are enormous and complicated tasks, but their solution will create
the necessary material basis for man’s all-round progress, for the burgeoning of his
abilities in all spheres of creative labour.
Gradually labour will cease to be an obligation and a means of subsistence; it will p

become a prime necessity of life and the interest of the individual in the very
process of labour will become predominant. Naturally, elements of such an attitude
exist in socialist society and more appear with each passing year. For instance, the
underlying principle of the movement for a communist attitude to labour, which has 52
attained broad scope at Soviet industrial enterprises and offices, is “to learn to live
and work the communist way”. But only under communism, when society enters the
highest stage of its economic and spiritual maturity, when all substantial distinctions
between town and country and between mental and physical labour have been
abolished, will the all-round development of the individual be accompanied by the
consolidation of a communist attitude to labour in the whole of society.
Distinctions between the classes of workers and peasants and the intelligentsia p
continue to exist under socialism, but they will gradually disappear as society
advances towards communism. The distinctions between workers and peasants will be
gradually obliterated as agricultural labour develops into a variety of industrial
labour. The introduction of the achievements of science into production and the
growth of its machine-to-man ratio call for greater knowledge on the part of the
worker so that the gap between physical and mental labour will gradually narrow.
This will result in the formation of a socially homogeneous society, a classless
society, not only because there will be no exploitation of man by man (this is
achieved under socialism), but also in the sense that there will be no distinctions
between the working classes.
The eradication of distinctions between classes and social groups does not mean p
levelling people and abolishing individual distinctions. On the contrary, the abolition 53
of classes will offer every member of society equal opportunities and create all the
essential conditions for the development of the individual and the formation of a
harmoniously developed man.
Great changes will take place in the organisation and management of the economy p
and in the sphere of social relations. The working class is the one and only class
known to history which takes power into its hands not in order to perpetuate its
domination but so as to abolish classes in general.
As society advances towards communism moral principles will play an increasing p

role in guiding the behaviour of people, and each individual will voluntarily and
consciously perform his duties in society. This will accelerate the development of
communist social self-government and the withering away of the state. But the
question of the withering away of the state has an external aspect as well as an
internal one. The historical necessity of the existence of the state will disappear only
when the threat of war and the social antagonisms existing in the world have been
fully eliminated. These conditions will be created when the communist social
formation is established throughout the world, or at least in the majority of countries.
The building of a communist society is the immediate practical task of the Soviet p
people. A developed socialist society is a society which is building communism. Its
purpose is defined in the CPSU Programme: “Communism is a classless social 54
system with one form of public ownership of the means of production and full social
equality of all members of society; under it, the all-round development of people will
be accompanied by the growth of the productive forces through continuous progress
in science and technology; all the springs of co-operative wealth will flow more
abundantly, and the great principle ’From each according to his ability, to each
according to his needs’ will be implemented. Communism is a highly organised
society of free, socially conscious working people in which public self-government
will be established, a society in which labour for the good of society will become the
prime vital requirement of everyone, a necessity recognised by one and all, and the
ability of each person will be employed to the greatest benefit of the people."
The history of mankind knows no greater or more noble aim than that of building p
communism. The opponents of Marxism, the enemies of communism, are
endeavouring to portray it as wild fantasy. But reality has proved the untenability of
their arguments.
The idea of socialism and communism was advanced and scientifically substantiated p
by the founders of Marxism in the 19th century. Today socialism is an historical
reality which undeniably confirms the correctness of the scientific prediction of the
proletariat’s great teachers.
The ideas of communism do not clash with the objective trends of development of p
the contemporary forces of production, the prospects of the scientific and 55
technological revolution; on the contrary, they fully correspond to them, which also
confirms the viability of these ideas.
Communism stands not only for the comprehensive development of production,

science and culture, but also for their utilisation in the interests of man, their
subordination to the tasks of serving man. This cannot be attained under capitalism,
which places science and technology in opposition to man. But this target becomes
absolutely realistic under socialism and communism, for the communist formation
erases social antagonisms and places all the achievements of the human genius at the
service of man to promote his all-round development. It follows, therefore, that the
communist ideal can be fully translated into reality.
***

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Formations


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<•>
Factors Determining the Activity of People

TOC History is made by people. But when we say that history is a consistent process we p
Card simultaneously assert that people cannot make history arbitrarily, according to their
will and contrary to the requirements of social development. For example, the Soviet
Text Union cannot at present effect distribution according to needs, for so far its
HTML economic and cultural development has not attained the level which would make it
PS possible to implement this principle. Therefore distribution is effected according to
PDF the quantity and quality of the work done. This is in keeping with the level of 56
economic development of the Soviet state and is one of the principles of socialism.
T*
19* It is material conditions that determine the activity of people. p
### Does this, however, imply that man does nothing more than passively fulfil p
objective demands, that he automatically obeys the dictate of objective laws? Such
understanding of the role played by people in history would be erroneous, one-sided,
in other words, it would be fatalistic. The fact of the matter is that objective
conditions and laws determine only the limits of the possible and the impossible in
the given circumstances, and allow very considerable latitude for diverse activity. At
the same time this latitude also depends on concrete circumstances.
The activity of people may differ in identical conditions, for it depends on their p
mentality and also on their desires, emotions and those intellectual and social values
on which they rely and numerous other subjective factors.
Inasmuch as the actual course of history depends not only on objective conditions p
and the laws of development but also on the way of acting which is selected by
people themselves and, therefore, is not predestined by fate, people create history in
the true meaning of the word, and history is created in struggle, in collision of
various social forces.
For instance, in present-day conditions there exists the possibility of an outbreak of p

a world nuclear conflict, for there are nuclear weapons, antagonistic contradictions 57
and the aggressive forces of imperialism capable of precipitating it. On the other
hand, the majority of people realise that a nuclear war, if it does break out, will
bring inestimable disaster to humanity. And since they do not want the war, there
also exists the possibility of averting it. It is common knowledge that the Soviet
Union is doing everything in its power to avert such a war and inhibit political
adventurism.
In all historical conditions there are diverse possibilities that may determine the p
further course of developments. Which of these possibilities will gain the upper hand
depends on the people themselves, on their activity and the balance of the opposing
forces. Historical laws are enacted in the activity of the people and in no other way.
Marxism-Leninism gives people knowledge of the objective laws and motive forces p
of society, it explains the processes occurring in society and provides methods of
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/1.3.1-Factors.Determining.the.Activity.of.People[2012-12-25 2:26:51]
analysing them. Obviously, the success of the activities of people depends on the
degree of their congruity with specific conditions and their expediency within a
definite period of time. In planning production, for instance, it is important to take
account of internal production links, level of technology, scientific achievements,
organisation of labour, system of management and a diversity of other factors which
have a direct bearing on the rates of its development and determine its results. But
first of all it is necessary to have a thorough knowledge of society’s requirements.
The compilation of such an optimal plan, especially for a large country, is a very 58
difficult problem which cannot be solved without the help of science.
Marxist social science is revolutionary because it serves the achievement of a great p

aim—the creation of a new society, because it promotes the success of the
revolutionary struggle of the working class and all working people for the
emancipation of humanity from all forms of social, national and spiritual oppression.
Marxism-Leninism plays an enormous role in the life of people by making their p

activity more purposeful and reasonable, thus helping them to make full use of the
opportunities for promoting historical progress that are inherent in the existing
conditions.
The already cognised laws of historical development are not always capable of p
showing man correct line of action in any given circumstances. The laws deal with
objective trends and processes, whereas man operates in a concrete situation.
Therefore when he reaches a decision he is largely guided by his experience,
abilities, cultural level and moral qualities. The moral aspect is most important, for
in identical circumstances a person can act either honestly or basely, do good or evil,
be brave or cowardly, and so forth. Since this applies not only to individuals, but
also to the activity of groups of people, it is necessary to take the psychology of
these groups into account.
Politics, for example, cannot be only a science; it will always be an art, too. The
adoption and implementation of political decisions depend to an enormous degree on 59
the personal qualities of people, their abilities, experience, authority, character, and
so forth.
***

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OF ITS DEVELOPMENT


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<•> The Struggle of Classes

TOC Human activity has a great diversity of forms. People work in industry and p
agriculture. They produce material values.
Card
People work at research institutes. They study nature and society, investigate their p
Text laws and furnish society with knowledge. This is scientific activity.
HTML
PS People create new machines, mechanisms, instruments, etc. This is engineering, p
PDF designing activity.
T* People work at state institutions. This is administrative activity. p

19*
People work in the spheres of health service, education, culture and so forth. p
###
All these types of activity are essential for society and they determine the division p
of people according to their occupations and specialities.
There are many other distinctions, too, including age, educational standard, wages, p
etc.
But the most important distinction between groups of people is the one between p
classes.
Class distinctions arise in the economic sphere. Classes are large groups of people p
differing from each other by the place they occupy in the system of production, by
their relation to the means of production, by their role in the social organisation of 60
labour and by the mode of acquiring income and its dimensions.
Every exploiting social formation known to history had its specific classes. p
Moreover, society developed in the course of the class struggle.
The interests of the individual, his mode of life and thinking essentially depend on p
the class to which he belongs.
The theory of classes and class struggle provides an understanding of the sources of p
the contradictory strivings of individuals and the causes for their thinking and acting
differently.
What is the science of classes and class struggle all about in contemporary p
conditions?
In advanced capitalist countries the basic classes are the monopoly bourgeoisie and p
the proletariat. In addition, bourgeois countries have the peasantry (farmers), petty
bourgeoisie (owners of small enterprises, shops and workshops). The intelligentsia,
i.e., engineers, scientists, writers, men of arts and letters, and other mental workers,
holds an important place in the class structure of the capitalist society. The
intelligentsia is heterogeneous. It has absorbed representatives of various classes and
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/1.3.2-The.Struggle.of.Classes[2012-12-25 2:26:57]
forms a special social stratum.
Insofar as class interests are contradictory, their contradictions are manifested in the p
struggle of classes. For instance, workers organise strikes as they fight for higher
wages. This is an economic form of struggle. But the actions of the workers, the
intelligentsia and young people against aggressive wars, against militarism, are a 61
political struggle because their purpose is to achieve definite political objectives. Both
the economic and political struggle is reflected in the collision of ideologies. Some
theoreticians justify the actions of the bourgeoisie and the imperialist forces, others
uphold the interests of the working class. The collision of opposing ideas also
expresses antagonism between classes. Therefore, the ideological struggle is a form
of class struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, between socialism and
capitalism.
The political struggle is the main form of class struggle, because what class will p
gain political ascendancy and stand at the head of society depends on its outcome.
Of course, the question of power is far from always posed directly, since various
classes can put forward political demands which do not affect the political mainstays
of a given society. The problem of power is of paramount importance in politics.
When the bourgeoisie employs police to disperse a demonstration of working people,
to smash organisations upholding the interests of the working class or to suppress
strikes, it does so to assert its rule. Of course, besides direct political violence, the
bourgeoisie resorts to economic, ideological and other methods. However, usually
methods of political violence are widely employed in periods of the exacerbation of
the class struggle. So, in order to wrest power from the bourgeoisie, the oppressed
classes must also resort to violence.
An analysis of class struggle makes it possible to explain the existence of political p

parties in a modern society: in a political struggle each class defends its own 62
interests. Therefore it is natural that there should be groups of people and
organisations representing the interests of a given class and guiding its activity.
These organisations are political parties. In bourgeois– democratic states there are
various parties representing the interests of the basic classes and social groups, and
representatives of various parties are elected to parliament. But this is merely formal
democracy because the bourgeoisie with power and wealth concentrated in its hands
always finds the ways and means of securing the parliamentary majority to support
the policy advantageous to the ruling class.
Marxist-Leninist parties of the working class in bourgeois-democratic countries also p

participate in the political struggle by representing the workers in bourgeois
parliaments. But their main mission is to uphold the interests of the working people,
educate the working class in a revolutionary spirit and guide its activity against
bourgeoisie and the capitalist system.
The political struggle has a variety of forms and methods. The reformists, Right p
opportunists, or simply conciliators and time-servers, deny the necessity of
revolutionary struggle on the grounds that the working class should act in a “purely
democratic" manner and achieve reforms by co– operating with the ruling class.
There are also “Left”– wing opportunists, the extremists (champions of extreme
measures), who believe that the working class will be able to attain its goals only
through violence, and therefore reject peaceful forms of class struggle. 63
The correct standpoint is that a party of the working class should be prepared to p
employ all forms, legal and illegal, violent and non-violent, depending on the
concrete situation and the resistance of the class adversary.
In its struggle each class seeks to win allies and enters in various blocs and p
agreements with other classes. These are questions of the strategy and tactics of the
class struggle.
In the final count the objective of this strategy and tactics is to prepare the masses p
for revolution and secure victory over the forces of the old system.
What is revolution? Let us take a deeper look into this question. We have already p
said that social revolutions are a natural form of the transition from one socio-
economic formation to another in the course of the progressive development of
society; that their economic foundation is the deep conflict between the productive
forces and the relations of production, when the latter begin to impede the
development of the former; that this conflict assumes the form of a forcible political
revolution because the ruling classes of the old society resist revolutionary changes,
so that a revolution will be victorious only if the revolutionary forces seize power
and employ it to suppress the resisting forces of the old society. This being the case,
the question of power becomes the main issue of the revolution which itself becomes
a political act. Such are the basic principles of the Marxist-Leninist theory of 64
revolution.
The nature of the revolution depends on the type of production relations which it p
abolishes and the type of system for which it paves the way. There is a qualitative
distinction between the bourgeois revolutions paving the way for the capitalist
system, and the proletarian, socialist revolutions aimed at abolishing capitalism and
all forms of exploitation and consolidating socialist relations. The motive forces of
revolution are the classes and social groups which bring it to conclusion. The basic
motive forces of socialist revolution are the working class and the peasantry. The
working class is winning more and more allies and there is mounting protest against
imperialist system, the oppressor of the broad masses.
If the peoples hate imperialism so intensely, why, then, have there been no p
revolutions in many capitalist countries? The main reason is that general economic
prerequisites alone cannot bring about a revolutionary explosion; the presence of a
revolutionary situation is also essential.
A revolution matures only when society becomes entangled in economic p

contradictions and the situation of the masses drastically deteriorates. In some cases
revolutionary situations were created by war. For instance, the 1905 Revolution in
Russia was a result of the crisis caused by the Russo-Japanese War. The February
1917 Revolution took place as a result of the sharp aggravation of social 65
contradictions, discontent, poverty and hunger provoked by the First World War. In
principle, however, a revolutionary situation does not necessarily develop as a result
of war. It can be engendered by the exacerbation of society’s internal contradictions.
Revolutions are not accidental phenomena, and neither are they made to order. Karl p
Marx and Vladimir Lenin, these great thinkers who dedicated their lives to the
proletarian cause, always opposed those who believed a handful of conspirators
detached from the movement of masses could consummate revolution and make
people “happy”. Such actions result only in defeat and always play into the hands of
the reaction. Revolution cannot be exported to another country and imposed on
another nation. It has to be prepared by the entire course of internal development of
a country.
Building upon the Marxist theory of revolution Lenin showed that in imperialist p
conditions a socialist revolution could win first in one country. This idea was
confirmed by the victory of the October Revolution in Russia. Later a number of
other European and Asian countries and also Cuba took the road of socialist
development. A world system of socialism, the chief revolutionary force of our time,
came into being. Intricate processes are taking place in capitalist and Third World
countries where new revolutionary forces are maturing.
The Communists are now striving to unite and rally all the forces capable of p
66
fighting imperialism, the main obstruction of historical progress, the basic

force oppressing the peoples and a source of the threat of a nuclear war.
The problem of consolidating anti-imperialist forces—the working class, the

peasantry, intelligentsia and various social strata—was raised as a most important
political issue of the day at the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’
Parties in Moscow in 1969.
***

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<•>
Under socialism there are no antagonistic classes because the industry and the land p
TOC belong to the socialist state and the exploiting classes have been eliminated. The
building of socialist society is accompanied by the co-operation, or collectivisation of
Card
small peasant holdings. In other words, small private holdings of the peasants are
united into the collective property of the collective-farm members, and the state turns
Text over the land to the collective farms for permanent use.
HTML
PS Collectivisation gives rise to large-scale agricultural production employing modern p
PDF machines and scientific achievements. The social character of the peasantry also
changes.
T*
19* The distinctions between the working classes— the workers and peasants—and p
between them and the intelligentsia—mental workers—continue to exist in socialist
### society, but they are not antagonistic because the basic interests of all social groups
coincide: the entire nation is interested in strengthening and developing the socialist 67
systern, promoting society’s economic and cultural growth and building communism.
The distinctions between classes will gradually disappear as socialist society p

continues to advance. Already today the scientific and technological revolution in
agriculture is transforming it into a variety of industrial labour. Both in the way of
life and culturally the countryside is approaching the urban level.
The present scientific and technological revolution makes for changes in society’s p
social structure. The steady improvement of technology, the increasing application of
science in production, the growth of automation and mechanisation and the mounting
demand for highly qualified labour dwindle the gap between mental and physical
labour. The educational level of the entire people rises steadily. This means that
distinctions between the intelligentsia and the rest of the working people are
gradually being obliterated.
The Soviet people are building socially homogeneous classless society. Classless p
society is the ultimate objective of the communist movement, for this society will be
free from economic inequality and will provide for the all-round development of
every individual. The only distinctions which will remain between people under
communism will be talent, abilities, interests, level of knowledge and the like.
But so long as classes exist the working class, the most united and best organised p
class and the leading vehicle of the communist ideas, will play the principal role in
society. «*
In socialist society the relations between classes and social groups are qualified as p 68
relations of socio-political and ideological unity. This unity is one of the greatest
assets of socialism. It brings together the efforts of the whole nation in building
communist society. In this sense the socio-political unity of society is one of the
motive forces of the development of socialism.
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/1.3.3-Classes.Under.Socialism[2012-12-25 2:27:01]
Nevertheless, this does not mean that there are no contradictions in Soviet society.
The building of a new society is invariably attended by unexpected developments and
obsoletion of things. Some contradictions disappear, while new contradictions
associated with the development of society may emerge. But these contradictions are
not antagonistic; the development and strengthening of the socialist society and the
increasing social wealth create ever more favourable conditions for resolving
contradictions.
Thus, socialism, being the initial phase of the communist social formation, is a
society which has done away with exploiting classes and whose main objective is to
create and develop conditions for surmounting the vestiges of class distinctions
between the working classes and social groups and to create and develop conditions
for the transition to communism.
***

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< Classes and Social Groups. The Society, the Individual and the >
Struggle of Classes Collective


OF ITS DEVELOPMENT


FOR SOCIALISM AND
COMMUNISM

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<•>
Although the course of history is set by the activity of large masses of people, and p
TOC by classes when we refer to a class society, it does not mean that separate 69
individuals play no part in it. History traces the activity of classes, states, nations and
Card
peoples, but it also records the feats of national heroes, the activity of heads of states
and military commanders and discoveries made by great scientists and it brings to us
Text the names of leaders of people’s uprisings, and prominent figures in education,
HTML culture and art.
PS
PDF Historical science is interested in people who have left their imprint on human p
memory, whose personality influenced the course of developments, either by
T* accelerating or retarding them. Who are these people? Socio-political developments
19* are seriously influenced by people standing at the head of states, parties, movements,
armies, etc. Indeed, an army which defeats another army owes its victory to many
### factors, not the least important the personality of its commander. A commander’s
abilities and personal qualities are a weighty factor in each concrete case.
The same applies to political leaders who have the backing of powerful parties or p
powerful states, and whose decisions can have a substantial impact on the course of
history.
Why do certain individuals leave an imprint in history? Undoubtedly due to their p

outstanding intellect, talent and abilities and to the fact that their particular qualities
fit in the particular period. The leaders of the popular movements of the past were
people who had been singled out by the masses and enjoyed great authority. There
can be no doubt that Stepan Razin and Yemelyan Pugachev, leaders of the peasant
movements in Russia, were outstanding personalities who most fully expressed the 70
interests and the characteristic features of the peasants of the period, their hatred for
the oppression of the landowners, their love for freedom and their prejudices, such as
their belief in a “benevolent” tsar.
Each class moulds its leaders in its own image. The revolutionary movement of the p
proletariat produced leaders of a qualitatively new type, welleducated people with
outstanding personal qualities and a thorough knowledge of the interests and needs
of the working class. The great leaders of the working class Karl Marx, Frederick
Engels and Vladimir Lenin not only enormously influenced the course of history, but
by their ideas and activity ushered in a new epoch in the struggle of the working
class for socialism.
In the spheres of culture, science and arts, the life and consciousness of the masses p
are influenced by people whose discoveries enrich human knowledge, and who
produce outstanding works of art and technical inventions.
Based as it is on the laws of historical development, social science seeks to explain p

the past and the present activity of the people and scientifically forecast the future.
But the course of history depends not only on the operation of objective laws, but
also on the activity of the makers of history themselves—the masses, classes and
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/1.3.4-Society,the.Individual.and.the.Collective[2012-12-25 2:27:08]
personalities standing at the head of various movements, and especially on those who
by virtue of their qualities and position are able to influence developments.
What about the personality of an “ordinary” person? Man, his development in p 71

history, his activity, have always been in the centre of social sciences. Marxist social
science regards man as a social being in the first place. And man’s biological nature
is subordinated to this social beginning. At the same time man’s social nature is not
immutable. Man is both a social and historic being. His nature is determined by
society in which he develops, lives and acts. Proceeding from this concept it is easy
to understand why Marx defined the essence of man as “the ensemble of the social
relations”. In other words, in order to understand man it is necessary to study the
society that produced him.
In primitive society man was a member of a clan, community or tribe and his p
consciousness was wholly determined by the conceptions prevailing in the clan. As
the class society developed so did the class personality. It was the personality of a
slave or a slave-owner, a feudal lord or a serf. In bourgeois society, where all people
are formally equal, they are divided according to their wealth and property status.
People are genuinely equal only under socialism and communism, since this society
abolishes all privileges associated with the origin of a person and wealth. The
communist society creates equal and favourable conditions for the all-round
development of the individual. It will be a qualitatively new stage in the relations
between society and the individual, where the individuality of a person will develop
to a still greater extent. The greater the diversity of social life and the more 72
abundant the cultural wealth of the people, the richer becomes the spiritual world of
the individual and the more vivid his personality. In the past this process was
extremely controversial because the exploiting classes appropriated the fruits of social
and cultural progress, relegating the toiling masses to poverty and ignorance. Today
workers in capitalist countries are subject to such forms of influence which are
designed to educate submissive, socially passive people. Such achievements of human
culture as the cinema, radio, television and the press are brought into play to divert
the attention of the people from problems of reality, from the struggle for a better
future. This is also the purpose of the developing “mass culture" which levels off or
standardises human interests and consequently downgrades and coarsens the
personality of man depriving it of genuine spiritual values.
Under socialism cultural development has the sole objective of moulding a vivid p
human personality. In this connection we should examine another important
circumstance.
It is a fact that man is connected not only with the activity of society, of large p
social groups, but also with that of small groups which he is directly attached to,
namely the body of his fellow workers and his family which greatly influence the
formation of the personality.
A small group, or a collective, is a link between man and society. For instance, in p
the USSR man is connected with society in the production sphere through the 73
collective in which he works, and his prestige in society depends on his prestige in
the factory shop, collective farm, office or other place where he works. In a
collective where man is in direct contact with other people there are specific
relations and moral atmosphere which strongly influence labour productivity and the
entire life and activity of the given group. Soviet society is interested in maintaining
healthy relations among people, which would stimulate their labour and the
intellectual development of the members of the collective body and improve them
ideologically and morally.
Under socialism workers’ collectives are the main cells of society and their further p
development is becoming an increasingly important factor of social progress. The
combination of individual, collective and social interests, when the interests of the
individual and the group are not opposed to each other and to the interests of
society, encourages the progressive development of the entire country.
It is most important to promote the development of the human personality, for the p
richer the inner world of each person, the more diversified is the life of society.
Individuality should not be confused with individualism. Individualism is a p

bourgeois ideological and moral principle which sets the individual in opposition to
society, to the collective, and puts personal interests and the striving for personal
advantages in the forefront. This basically vicious principle does not reflect the
interests of the individual in general, but the concrete interests of the bourgeoisie, 74
whose property and power is defended by the bourgeois system. The principle of
individualism is alien to the working class because it disunites people. In contrast to
bourgeois individualism, the proletarian outlook and communist morality assert the
principle of collectivism making it incumbent on the individual to concert his
interests and behaviour with the interests of his collective, class and society.
Does socialist collectivism run counter to the moulding of the individuality and p
freedom of the individual? Not at all. A person finds the necessary means for
development only in a collective. Therefore the emancipation of the collective is a
factor of the emancipation of the individual. This task, i.e., the emancipation of the
collective, is fulfilled by socialist revolution. Under socialism, which promotes the
rapid growth of education, culture and welfare, the collective and society acquire
truly limitless opportunities for progress. It can be confidently stated that no other
society in the world has done so much for the promotion of the spiritual
development of the masses as has socialism. Socialist collectivism brings to the
surface the most realistic ways for the development of the individual and
individuality when “the free development of each is the condition for the free
development of all". [ 74•*
Of course, socialist society cannot immediately offer such an opportunity. At first it 75

is necessary to raise sufficiently production and culture, surmount the survivals of the
old social division of labour and eliminate the demand for unskilled and semi-skilled
labour. The creation of conditions for the all-round development of the individual is
an historical process which socialism is carrying out at present. This process shows
that only socialist society is directing all its material and spiritual means to mould a
harmoniously developed man.
***

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Notes
[ 74•* ] K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works, Vol. I, Moscow, 1969, p. 127,
< Classes Under Socialism Spiritual Life of Society >


OF ITS DEVELOPMENT


FOR SOCIALISM AND
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Society,the.Individual.and.the.Collective

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<•>
In everyday life we easily distinguish existing objects from their ideal images, from p
TOC what takes place only in our mind. For instance, a person recalls his home and
dreams and thinks of visiting it. All this takes place in the mind. It is a totally
Card
different thing when this takes place in reality, when a person has come home, met
his near and dear ones, and so forth.
Text
HTML Materialist philosophy has proved that the material, i.e., real, existence of things p
PS does not depend on consciousness and that sensations, concepts, notions, all that we
PDF call consciousness, are a reflection of the material and secondary to consciousness.
T* The line between the material and the ideal (mental) is present in society, too. p
19* When people produce the necessary material values and use them, i.e., when they
interact with nature and with each other, this is their social being.
###
Social being is the material life of society. But public life is not the same thing as p 76
social being. People are conscious beings and when they work they do not act like
automatons but consciously set themselves specific aims and seek to attain them.
This means that the mental element, the aim, is always present even in the simplest
of jobs. The aim is determined by man’s requirements, his interests, the specific
conditions of his activity, etc. It follows, therefore, that the aim is secondary to the
conditions of activity, it derives from them. Furthermore, people, once they have set
themselves a specific aim, consciously select the means with which to attain it. In
other words, the purposeful character of human activity is connected with the
consciousness which enables man to understand the surrounding world and act
accordingly.
In order to work together people must develop patterns of behaviour to regulate p

their relations. These patterns are also factors of social consciousness.
Finally, the birth of consciousness in people is accompanied by the rise of their p

spiritual requirements which, just as material requirements, have to be satisfied, for
as the saying goes: “Man shall not live by bread alone.” The level of these spiritual
requirements differs in various periods and depends on the level of the spiritual
development of society or its individual sections. And yet spiritual requirements have
always existed and this is proved by primitive paintings, or the history of the
development of poetic folklore.
Thus, spiritual life is correlated with material life, and social consciousness with p 77
social being. The material, or in this case social being determines the ideal, or social
consciousness. The latter is a reflection of the people’s social being and as such is
secondary to it. Their interaction, however, does not end there. Social consciousness,
its various forms such as science, art, morality, accumulate a certain amount of ideas
and concepts with which each new step in the development of social consciousness
is connected. In other words, the relation of social consciousness to social being is
always seen in the light of concepts and ideas already formed earlier. Social
consciousness is relatively independent of social being. It can either lag behind social
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/1.3.5-Spiritual.Life.of.Society[2012-12-25 2:27:14]
being or, on the contrary, overtake it, reflect it correctly or distort, create a scientific
concept of reality or all sorts of illusions. What imprint, and why precisely this
particular one reality leaves on social consciousness, are questions which require
scientific study.
Social consciousness is influenced not simply by the interests of separate individuals p

but the interests of large social groups, or classes. The systems of ideas expressing
the interests of classes and reflecting reality and social relations in the light of these
interests constitute ideologies. Ideology is an element of social consciousness which
in a class society is most directly and intrinsically linked with classes, their interests
and struggle.
Ideologies play a major role in the life of society, guiding parties and classes that p
defend their interests in confrontations with other classes. In our day the main 78
ideologies are the communist, Marxist-Leninist ideology of the working class, and
the reactionary bourgeois ideology with all its variations (liberal, fascist and others).
Why is bourgeois ideology reactionary? In the first place because it reflects the p
interests of the reactionary exploiting class. History does not stand still, and the
assertion and development of socialist relations correspond to its objective laws and
demands. But the bourgeoisie wants to thwart the victory of socialism, preserve the
bourgeois system under which it holds the leading position, and retain its power and
wealth. Hence, the interests of the bourgeoisie contradict historical progress and
inhibit it, and bourgeois ideology sanctifies these interests. Hence its reactionary
nature.
Unlike bourgeois ideology, Marxist-Leninist proletarian ideology is progressive and p

revolutionary because it serves the demands of historical development, the
revolutionary transformation of capitalist relations into socialist. It is a scientific
ideology that correctly reflects reality and its laws; it expresses the interests of the
progressive class, the interests of the working people for whom a correct
understanding of reality, and a sober, realistic, scientifically-based approach to social
problems and contradictions and to prospects of social development are questions of
especial importance. Marxist-Leninist ideology is winning its difficult struggle against
world imperialism because it is genuinely scientific.
Besides ideology, which is a system of political and legal concepts, moral ideals p
and principles, artistic trends, religious dogmas and philosophical ideas, there are 79
other systems of knowledge and ideas whose direct and main purpose is to satisfy
the requirements of the developing productive forces. In the first place these systems
are natural, precise and technical sciences. The laws of nature which they study do
not depend on society, on the activity of people and can be cognised either
approximately or more precisely. Science is committed to the truth, it discovers the
truth and employs objective knowledge to improve production, and society’s practical
activity.
The attitude to any science, including sciences studying nature, depends on class p
interests. The bourgeoisie seeks to place science at its service, for without science
modern production cannot develop. Moreover, the ruling circles in capitalist countries
use scientific achievements to step up exploitation, intensify labour and strengthen
their own military-political domination.
Natural science cannot be disconnected from ideology, from the ideological struggle. p
Bourgeois ideologists are endeavouring to interpret science in a way that would
preclude any materialistic conclusions and make it impossible to employ it in the

struggle against religion. They portray science not as objective knowledge of the
laws of nature, but as a man-created system of views and ideas devoid of the
objective truth.
If science does not convey the objective truth then it is impossible to distinguish the p
real from the false, scientific knowledge from religious or any other dogma.
Thus, while being interested in implementing science in industry, the bourgeoisie p 80

fights the system of views which is based on science.
Under socialism science serves the whole of society, the working people, and there p
are all conditions for promoting science and its all-round application in the interests
of historic progress.
The fusion of science, of scientific and technological progress with the gains and p
advantages of the socialist system of economy is one of the primary sources of
society’s progressive development.
Social consciousness is a complicated manifold phenomenon. We have seen that it p

includes both ideology, with all its diverse forms, and non– ideological forms of
consciousness. Besides, the psychology of society, class or social group, i.e., social
psychology constitutes a distinctive part of social consciousness. We often hear about
“ pettybourgeois psychology”, “proletarian psychology”, etc.
Social psychology is moulded under the impact of the direct living conditions of p
people and their everyday activity. For instance, petty– bourgeois psychology is a
term describing the qualities characteristic of a petty proprietor, a moneygrubber, a
person whose interests are concentrated only on his property and the narrow world in
which he exists.
In this case it is not a question of a particular person, but rather of a definite social p
type, of the psychology of a certain type of individual, of attitudes, traditions and
sentiments prevailing in a specific social milieu, all the things which are specifically 81
refracted in the psychology of individuals.
In What Is To Be Done? Lenin wrote that the immediate living conditions of the p
working class under capitalism give rise to a specific psychology, specific
consciousness. On the one hand, living and working conditions develop in the
workers a sense of solidarity, firmness, stamina, discipline and organisation.
On the other hand, life in a bourgeois society instils in them what is called trade p
union mentality, awareness of the need to wage an economic struggle to improve
their material conditions within the capitalist framework. Such is the psychology of a
worker which is moulded by the conditions of his life in bourgeois society.
It expresses the class interest of the worker, but in a very narrow and restricted p
form: the worker is unaware of the antithesis of his interests and those of the
bourgeoisie.
This awareness is cultivated in the proletariat by an ideology built by the p

theoreticians of working class on the achievements of science and social thinking. It
is introduced into the ranks of the working class by its conscious vanguard—the
party.
This comparison of the psychology and ideology of the proletariat also discloses the p
significance and the poverty of psychology. It is significant because it is fertile soil
for the assimilation of the scientific revolutionary ideology, and its poverty lies in
that it does not give the worker the understanding of his general class interests.
It can be said, therefore, that psychology pertains to the sphere of ordinary p 82

consciousness which guides people in their everyday activity. Ideology, on its part,
comes to the forefront when it is necessary to solve crucial social problems in the
course of the class struggle.
Each new generation finds that it has at its disposal the productive forces and p
relations of production created by the preceding generations. This makes for
continuity in the sphere of society’s production activity and social being. At the same
time each new generation assimilates and further improves the system of knowledge
and ideas of the world and society, the patterns and rules of behaviour, or, in other
words, the spiritual culture it has inherited. Otherwise there can be no progress.
Not only material wealth but intellectual as well is unequally distributed in all p
antagonistic societies. The rich have every opportunity to raise their cultural level,
while the mass of the working people oppressed by poverty and constant fear of the
future, and due to their inferior education or complete illiteracy, find it difficult to do
so.
Prior to the socialist revolution the vast majority of the population in Russia could p
neither read nor write. The abolition of illiteracy became one of the most important
objectives of the socialist revolution. With this aim in view Lenin set the task of
carrying through a cultural revolution which included a broad programme for
surmounting the cultural backwardness of the masses and moulding a new, people’s
intelligentsia.
The cultural revolution was essential for the construction of socialist society. p 83
The building and development of socialism goes hand in hand with rapid industrial p
progress, the introduction of new, more sophisticated equipment, and consequently
with a vast growth in the demand for highly qualified specialists.
In the course of socialist construction socialist democracy develops further on, and p
an increasing number of people are drawn into the administration of state affairs. But
to be able to do so a person has constantly to raise his level of political knowledge
and culture.
Finally, as we have already said, the ideal of socialism and communism is an p

individual with an all-round development who participates in creative activity.
This, however, is impossible without a high level of culture of the masses.

Consequently, the solution of all problems of the building and the further
development of socialism is inseparable from the continuous growth of the cultural
level of the masses and the shaping of the communist world outlook in all people.
***

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< Society, the Individual and the >

Collective


OF ITS DEVELOPMENT


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<•> TITLE:
political education.
headed by A.~N. Yakovlev and including S.~I. Beglov, N.~B.
TOC AUTHORS: Bikkenin, K.~N. Brutents, V.~J. Kelle, A.~Z. Okorokov, F.~F.
Card
Petrenko, A.~I. Volkov, and V.~V. Zagladin.
TRANSLATOR(S): Translated from the Russian by DAVID FIDLON.
Text PUBLISHER: Progress Publishers
HTML First printing 1975
PS COPYRIGHT: © Translation into English. Progress Publishers 1975
PDF Printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
BINDING TYPE: book
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__SERIES__
MARXIST-LENINIST
THEORY TEXTBOOKS
[2]
[3]
__TITLE__
Fundamentals
of Political
Science
__TEXTFILE_BORN__ 2007-12-05T10:04:30-0800
__TRANSMARKUP__ "Y. Sverdlov"
__SUBTITLE__
Textbook for primary
political education
<IMG src="099-1.jpg" alt="099-1.jpg" style=" width:30.2pt; height:30.2pt;">
 Progress Publishers


 Moscow
[4]
 Translated from the Russian by DAVID FIDLON
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/index.txt[2012-12-25 2:27:45]
 This book has been prepared by a group of authors
headed by A. N. Yakovlev and including S. I. Beglov,
N. B. Bikkenin, K. N. Brutents, V. J. Kelle, A. Z.
Okorokov, F. F. Petrenko, A. I. Volkov and V. V. Zagladin.
 OCHOBbI nOJlHTHHECKHX 3HAHHH
 Ha amAuucKOM xauiKe
__COPYRIGHT__
First printing 1975
 © Translation into English. Progress Publishers 1975
 Printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
10104---894
014(01)---75
102---75
[5]
CONTENTS
Page
To the Reader............. 7
Chapter I. HUMAN SOCIETY: ITS

DEVELOPMENT ..................
10
Basic Concepts.............
10
Social Formations. Production and the Laws of
Its Development...........
13
The Activity of People in History......

55
Chapter II. THE COMMUNIST PARTY---THE

POLITICAL LEADER OF THE STRUGGLE FOR
SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM.......84
Why Is It Necessary for the Working Class to
Have Its Own Party?......... 84
What Kind of a Party Does the Working Class
Need?...............95
Who Makes Up the Communist Party? .... 103
What Demands the Party Imposes on Communists 114
How the Communist Party Is Organised . . . 121
How the Party Guides Socialist Society and the
State
140
The Growing Role of the CPSU in Directing

Communist Construction........151
Chapter III. THE HISTORICAL ROAD OF SOVIET

SOCIETY................160
Chapter IV. THE MAIN FEATURES OF THE
[6]
SOVIET UNION'S DEVELOPMENT AT THE
PRESENT STAGE.............
210
The Economy of a Developed Socialist Society .

210
The Supreme Aim of the Party's Economic Policy

227
The Source of Means for Fulfilling Social Tasks .

239
Economic Management and ``Work for Oneself" .

251
The Socio-Political Development of Soviet Society

270
Chapter V. MOULDING OF THE NEW

MANONE OF THE MAIN TASKS IN COMMUNIST
CONSTRUCTION............
2cS7
Marxism-Leninism on the Education of the New
Man................
287
The 24th CPSU Congress on Communist

Education ................
306
Formation of a Communist World Outlook . .
316
Ways and Means of Education.......

339
Chapter VI. THE WORLD SOCIALIST SYSTEM .

351
Formation of the World Socialist System . . .

351
Economic Co-operation and Mutual Assistance .

374
Political Interaction and Unity of Socialist
Countries..............
3S7
Development of the Socialist Countries ....

407
Communist Parties---the Leading Force in
Socialist Countries............
421
Decisive Factor of Historical Development . . .

427
Chapter VII. TRANSITION TO COMMUNISM---

THE PATH OF MANKIND'S DEVELOPMENT . .
449
The Contemporary Epoch---the Epoch of
Transition from Capitalism to Socialism.....
449
Revolutionary Movement of the Working Class .

466
National Liberation Movement of the Peoples of
Asia, Africa and Latin America.....

481
The World Communist Movement......

512
The Struggle of the CPSU and the Soviet State
for Peace and International Security ....

522
[7]
__ALPHA_LVL1__
TO THE READER
 Fundamentals of Political Science is
intended for those who are beginning to study
Marxism-Leninism.
 Whether we are considering international

affairs or the economy, morality or the utilisation
of science and the ethos of culture, education or
ideology, the past, the present or the future, we
inevitably meet with problems of politics.
 What, then, is politics?
 Lenin said that politics is relations between

classes, it is ``participation in the affairs of
<emmm>state</emmm>, direction of the state, definition of the
forms, tasks and content of state activity''.^^*^^
Politics, he emphasised, should become the cause of
the working class, of the entire people.
 It has become precisely that in socialist society.
 But in order consciously to appraise politics, to

comprehend the complex interlacing of social
phenomena, and to become an active participant
in the building of a new life, one must steadily
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 41, p. 382.
expand his knowledge of the laws of social

development and the principal trends in the world
historical process.
 This book concisely defines the basic scientific

concepts of society and the laws of its development
and shows what determines the social activity of
people.
 Nevertheless a mere knowledge of the

theoretical foundations of politics is not enough, it is
also important to observe politics in action, to see
its objectives and results. To show all this the
authors use the example of the Soviet state: they
trace the historic path covered by the Soviet
people since the Great October Socialist Revolution
of 1917, describe how Lenin's plan of socialist
construction in the USSR was carried into effect,
and expound the principles of the socio-economic
and political structure of Soviet society, a society
of developed socialism.
 Inasmuch as the Leninist Communist Party of
the Soviet Union (CPSU) is the tested political
leader of the multinational Soviet people guiding
their efforts to build communist society, the
authors have set themselves the task of showing
how the Party directs this enormously
complicated work and carries through its policies.
 The greater part of the book, therefore, deals

with the present and future of the USSR.
 Many fresh, creative ideas have been injected

into the life of the Soviet people by the 24th
CPSU Congress, the decisions adopted at the
Plenary Meetings of the CPSU Central
Committee, and the theoretical and political documents
bearing on the 50th anniversary of the October

Revolution, the centenary of V. I. Lenin's birth
and the 50th anniversary of the USSR. The
Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the 24th
Party Congress, the decisions of CC CPSU
Plenary Meetings, and General Secretary of the
CC CPSU Leonid Brezhnev's report ``The Fiftieth
Anniversary of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics" provide a profound analysis of
the basic features of the present-day
development of the Soviet Union, and of key
international issues. In the light of this analysis the
authors examine the economy of a developed
socialist society, the country's socio-political
development and ideological and educational work.
They devote considerable attention to problems of
communist education, the shaping of the
ideological and moral image of the individual and the
elimination of all negative aspects in human
behaviour which are incompatible with the morality
and mode of life of Soviet socialist society.
 Communist construction in the USSR is

inseparable from the development of the world
revolutionary process. Special chapters deal with the
experience of other socialist countries, the
revolutionary struggle of the international working class
and the national liberation movement of the
peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America, the
CPSU's foreign policy activities and the
Programme of Peace advanced by its 24th Congress.
[10]
__NUMERIC_LVL1__
CHAPTER I
__ALPHA_LVL1__
HUMAN SOCIETY: ITS DEVELOPMENT
__ALPHA_LVL2__
BASIC CONCEPTS
 Man is a social being and therefore

cannot exist outside society. What is man and what
is human society? What are the relations between
them?
 In order to exist people must eat and dress,

have dwellings, and so forth. They produce their
food and clothes and build dwellings with the
help of instruments of labour. The production
of the instruments of labour and everything else
necessary for life is an eternal, natural and
essential basis of man's existence.
 In the process of production the human

individual sets the instruments of labour, machines
in motion and with their help acts upon metal,
wood, soil and other objects of labour in order
to obtain the necessary product. The employment
of the instruments of labour to produce the
required products is labour, i.e., the purposeful
practical activity of a human individual. Not
only man but some animals, too, possess the
ability to create: birds build nests, beavers build
log dams across rivers, and monkeys use sticks
11
and stones for specific purposes. But not a single

animal can improve or develop its ``production''.
Only the history of man and humanity is
characterised by a continuous improvement of the means
of labour and ways of producing them.
 What distinguishes human labour from the

activity of animals is its conscious, purposeful
character. Karl Marx wrote that what
distinguishes the worst architect from the best of bees is
that he raises his structure in imagination before
he erects it in reality, while the bee builds its
honeycombs instinctively. The bee does not have
to be taught to build honeycombs. This
knowledge is instinctive. All the other bees before it
built exactly the same honeycombs.
 Man, however, sets himself a goal, evolves a

plan for achieving it and acts accordingly. This
type of activity is characteristic of man only: it
was inherent in him in the past, when he engaged
in primitive hunting, and it is inherent today,
when he controls the most sophisticated
machinery.
 We know that man's labour is connected with

his consciousness. But consciousness in its turn
is closely connected with speech, with language,
by means of which man communicates with other
human beings, expressing and conveying his
thoughts to them. Articulate speech is
characteristic of man alone, and each generation as it
grows up has to learn a language in order to be
able to participate in joint activity. Animals also
emit sounds signalling food, danger, and so forth,
but these sounds cannot be called speech. Speech
12
is connected with man's ability to generalise, to

think in abstract terms, i.e., to comprehend things
and phenomena.
 Thus, labour, consciousness and speech are

qualities which distinguish man from animals
and endow him with the ability to engage in
forms of joint activity inherent only in the
human individual.
 Insofar as people work and act jointly they

enter into definite relations which are called
social relations. People with their activity and
mutual relations comprise a society. Since society
can exist and develop only in the process of
human activity, man can be only a social being. To
understand a man, his way of life and thinking,
it is necessary in the first place to determine the
type of society in which he lives and what this
society stands for. Therefore all social sciences
are sciences about human beings.
 Man studies life and cognises nature. Science

has explored the atom, it is discovering ever new
sources of energy and is studying celestial bodies.
People must be armed with knowledge in order
to apprehend the world in which they live and
consciously to transform nature in the interests
of mankind. At the same time man must possess
knowledge about society, about himself. But
mankind covered a long and difficult path of
development before it witnessed the rise of social
science giving people a true knowledge of the
laws of social development.
 This happened when the proletariat emerged
as an active revolutionary force and placed the
13
struggle for the socialist reconstruction of life

on the agenda of historical development. The
brilliant creators of this science were Karl Marx,
Frederick Engels and Vladimir Lenin.
 The Marxist science of society is called

historical materialism. A study of this science
discloses the substance of the historical process and
its motive forces, the structure of society at
various stages of history, the role played by the
masses and the individual in social development
and the place of socialism in human history and
prospects of its further development. This
knowledge is essential to everyone who wants to
comprehend the surrounding world, the meaning of
events and the significance of the struggle for
humanity's better future---the communist future.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
SOCIAL FORMATIONS. PRODUCTION
 AND THE LAWS OF ITS DEVELOPMENT
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Concept
 of a Social Formation
 Living conditions in various epochs and

countries differed substantially from each other, just as
they do today, when there are about 200 states
with an aggregate population of 3,700 million in
the world. There are even some countries with
remnants of the tribal system or those with feudal
relations. People live in capitalist and socialist
states, i.e., at different levels of social
development.
14
 A specific historical stage in the development

of society is called a socio-economic formation.
The history of mankind is not a conglomerate of
incidental events, but a definite process leading
from bottom to top, from the simplest to the
more sophisticated types of socio-economic
formations. In the course of its development from
the lowest social formation, the primitive--
communal system, to the communist formation, which
is the highest and whose first stage is socialism,
mankind passes through the slave-owning system,
feudalism and capitalism. Each nation at a given
period of its existence belongs to one or another
formation, depending on the level of its
socioeconomic development.
 However different are the history, culture and

modes of life of such countries as the USA, FRG,
Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Australia, all
of them are capitalist countries where factories,
land, roads, forests, mineral deposits, etc., are
owned by the capitalists. That determines other
aspects of life in capitalist society: political, for
power likewise belongs to those who own the
wealth, and intellectual, for science, culture and
education are levers by means of which the
ruling class strengthens its position.
 A characteristic feature of socialist countries

is the domination of public ownership of the
means of production which engenders relations
of co-operation between people and eliminates
exploitation of man by man. Compared with
capitalism, socialism is a higher stage of social
development. It appeared as a result of socialist
15
revolutions and subsequent economic, socio--

political and cultural transformations.
 We have already said that survivals of

precapitalist formations still exist in a number of
countries, including some African ones, whose
development has been greatly retarded as a result
of protracted colonial rule of the imperialist
states. The imperialists held on to these countries
as sources of raw materials and cheap manpower
for the advanced capitalist states. The majority
of the formerly enslaved countries have already
freed themselves of colonial domination. Given
the necessary conditions they will be able to take
the path of non-capitalist development; whether
this will happen or not will depend on the
outcome of the acute struggle between progressive
and reactionary forces.
 The economy and politics, the state and the

law, technology and science, everything is
interconnected in a human society, and changes in
any one sphere engender changes in another. The
interaction of all aspects of social life takes place
on the basis of the production of essential
material wealth.
 Inasmuch as the history of mankind is a
succession of socio-economic formations it is very
important to have a thorough knowledge of
structure of each of these formations, i.e., the
interaction of all the forces operating in a society
in a given period of time.
16
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Structure
 of Socio-Economic Formations
 The existence of any human society depends on

the production of material wealth. Production is
a very broad concept. As a rule people engage in
specific types of production. For instance, field
husbandry, gardening, orcharding and animal
husbandry are types of agricultural production.
The extraction of coal, oil, and ore are branches
of the mining industry. The heavy industry
produces machines and other means of labour, while
the light and food industry turns out fabrics,
shoes and foodstuffs. All these branches are
closely interconnected: industry supplies
agriculture with machines, and agriculture supplies
industrial enterprises with raw materials.
 Modern production is inconceivable without

transport and communications, research and
designing institutes and other branches of labour.
 The chief element of any type of production

is the means of labour, i.e., machines and
mechanisms, fuel and other power resources,
storehouses and factory buildings, everything that
man uses to produce the necessary products and
to act on nature. At the same time it is
impossible to carry on production without people
possessing adequate knowledge, experience and skill.
The means of labour and people who use these
means comprise society's productive forces.
 In addition to making food, clothes, dwellings,

means of labour and everything else that is
necessary for life, people enter into what are
17
called relations of production. Without these

relations they would be unable to live together. The
forces of production and the relations of
production together define the mode of production.
 Each socio-economic formation has its own
mode of production: the feudal mode of
production is the basis of the feudal formation, the
capitalist mode of production is the basis of the
capitalist formation, and so forth.
 Why is the mode of production the

determinative basis of life and social development?
 Labour productivity and, consequently,

society's wealth depend on the level of development
of the means of labour and on how successfully
people learn to master them. At the dawn of
the human history instruments of labour were
extremely primitive. The man employed stone
axes, spears, bows and arrows and wooden hoes
with which he hunted, fished, gathered fruits and
engaged in primitive farming. Naturally, such a
production base was not conducive to the rise of
a prosperous and flourishing society.
 The appearance of improved instruments of

labour stimulated the development of society. A
most important development in the productive
forces was the transition from handicrafts tools,
which people used over many centuries, to
machine production which first appeared in England
in the latter half of the 18th century. The
improvement in production was so significant that it
came to be known as the industrial revolution.
The rapid and widespread introduction of
machine production gave a powerful impetus to the
18
development and consolidation of capitalist

relations.
 Thus each social formation rests on a definite

level of development of the forces of production.
 Social formations differ from one another in

the first place in the relations of production. The
relations of production are determined by the
form of ownership of the basic means of
production, i.e., the objects and means of labour. In
Ancient Rome, for example, wealthy landowners
possessed great landed estates (latifundia), the
tools for cultivating the land and the slaves who
worked on it. This form of ownership determined
the relations between people in the process of
production as relations between a slave and
a slave-owner. The slave-owning form of
ownership gave rise to the slave-owning social
system.
 Under capitalism ownership has a different

character. The capitalist owns only the means of
production, while the worker is formally free, he
can be neither bought nor sold. Yet, in order to
exist, a worker is compelled to sell his labour
power, to get a job at a capitalist enterprise
where the capitalist is the owner and the worker
does what he is hired to do, where the former
gets the profits and the latter a wage. As a result
society's main wealth accumulates in the hands
of the capitalists.
 The relations of production are called the

economic basis of society. In other words, the basis
is the economic system of a society at a given
stage of its development. A corresponding
19
superstructure arises on the basis. The conception

``superstructure'' also embraces a wide sphere of
human relations. It is the political relations
between various classes with their programmes of
struggle for power; it is the state with all its
instruments of compulsion in the form of the
army, courts and prisons; it is the ideology of the
various classes and social groups expressed in
various forms---political, legal, moral, aesthetic,
religious and philosophic. What unites all these
heterogeneous phenomena?
 They have at least two common features. First,

they stem from the society's economic basis.
Second, they serve to perpetuate, strengthen and
develop the economic system on whose basis they
have appeared, or to overthrow it, when they are
the programmes and ideologies of the exploiting
classes.
 Let us examine the relation between politics

and economy, for example. The politics of every
class is determined chiefly by its economic
interests. What is a capitalist's main interest? Since he
owns property and money, he is concerned with
preserving the social system which ensures his
wealth and strengthening the relations which
enable him to multiply his capital. It is this
economic interest which above all determines the
policies of the capitalist class and capitalist states,
a policy of strengthening and consolidating
the foundations of capitalism, a policy of
fighting against the revolutionary and national
liberation movement, a policy of anti-communism.
This relation between politics and economy is
__PRINTERS_P_19_COMMENT__
2*
20
definitely and concisely expressed in the Marxist

formula: politics is the concentrated expression
and consummation of economy.
 Of course, politics is relatively independent

with regard to economy and can exert great
influence upon it. In order to explain the policy of
a state we should have to take into account not
only the economic interests of the ruling class
in a given state, but also the latter's position in
the system of other states, its historical and
national traditions, the correlation of its social forces
and many other factors. Still, the politics of
a state depends in the first place on its economic
situation and the economic interests of its ruling
class.
 Other superstructural phenomena are removed

from economy further than politics and are not
linked directly with economy. In the final count,
however, the superstructure and all its
components are either engendered by the economic
basis, or are determined by it either directly or
indirectly. We should always bear this in mind
if we wish to examine scientifically the politics
of one or another state, class or party, the essence
of their political programmes and declarations,
the character of the ideas dominating a given
society.
 Politics, being a concentrated expression of

economy, serves it by supporting a
corresponding social system. Any state has an apparatus of
coercion and an apparatus of administration with
which it protects and upholds the existing order.
This means that elements of the superstructure
21
engendered by economy are not passive, but

forcefully act on the basis.
 All the elements of the superstructure are

connected by their common origin and their
social function.
 The basis and superstructure taken together
characterises every social formation: the basis
expresses its economic foundation, while the
superstructure expresses its political and ideological
forms. Thus, in a feudal state the nobility,
landowners and feudal lords held the dominating
position. As a rule feudal states were monarchies.
Society was divided into estates, each with its
strictly defined rights, and transition from a
lower estate to a higher one was almost
impossible. The bourgeois state proclaimed the formal
equality of citizens before the law and abolished
the estates. In this state people were distinguished
by their economic status, by their wealth,
in the first place. Karl Marx used to say that a
bourgeois carried his power in his pocket. This
power is money. All the other distinctions
between people recede into the background in the
face of this chief idol of capitalist society.
 It follows, therefore, that every society, i.e.,

every social formation, differs from another not
only as regards its economic, but also as regards
its political system.
 The appearance of a socialist society gives rise

to a qualitatively new type of state---the
dictatorship of the proletariat, which gradually develops
into a socialist state of the entire people.
 Every social formation is dominated by ideas
22
reflecting the interests of the ruling class. In the

Middle Ages (6th-16th centuries), for instance, the
Catholic Church was a tremendous social force
in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and some other
countries and the religious Catholic ideology was
predominant there. The Church subjugated
everything: science and art, and morality, and was a
great political force at the same time. Hence, it
was only natural that the first actions undertaken
by the bourgeoisie against feudalism had the
form of religious movements. Further on, science
joined the fight against feudalism. The most
consistent struggle against the ruling religious
ideology was waged by 17th-18th century materialist
philosophers who attuned people's mentality for
the impending bourgeois revolution.
 Religion has lost its leading position in a

bourgeois society, although it retains considerable
ideological influence. Having cast off the
oppression of the Church natural sciences made great
progress in their development. And an important
role in bourgeois society is played by political and
legal ideology.
 This means that transition from one social

formation to another is accompanied by
important changes both in the basis and the
superstructure, and these transformations attest to the birth
of a new society.
 As we have gathered from the above, the

production of material wealth is the core of any
social formation and, consequently, of all the
important changes in the development of human
society.
23
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Society and Nature
 In the process of labour man interacts with

nature, which itself is a general object of labour.
The process of labour is in fact the
transformation of nature, the adaptation of natural objects
to man's requirements. And so it follows that
natural conditions influence the process of labour
and can be either propitious or unfavourable. Yet
people can surmount unfavourable effects of
natural conditions. For instance, the rigorous
conditions of the Far North with its long cold winters,
long polar nights and permafrost deprive people
of the possibility of engaging in agriculture and
create great difficulties for the development of
industry, trade and the construction of
communications. It was due to these factors that the
peoples of the Far North had remained at the level
of the tribal system in their social development.
The October Socialist Revolution and the
assistance of the other peoples of the Soviet Union
opened the road to modern forms of life for the
ethnic groups of north and the rise of socialist
relations among them.
 While in the past the peoples of the Far North

engaged solely in fishing and deer-breeding, now
there are towns and a developing heavy industry
inside the Arctic Circle. One such town is
Norilsk. It has a mining and metallurgical combine,
factories turning out pre-fabricated house parts,
cement and ferro-concrete items and other
industrial enterprises. It also has a college of
mining and metallurgy, a repertoire drama
theatre, etc. The Far North's immense natural wealth
24
has promoted the rapid development of industry

and construction. But in order to surmount the
unfavourable influence of the natural conditions,
man must have the necessary material means and
a high level of production.
 At the early stages of the development of

human society, when the means of labour were
extremely primitive, man depended to an
enormous degree on nature, on the elemental forces.
For example, he depended on whether his
geographical environment was rich in fish, game and
edible plants, inasmuch as his principal sources
of livelihood were hunting, fishing and the
gathering, of edible plants. Later, when people
began to cultivate land, their welfare depended
largely on the climate and soil fertility. With the
development of heavy industry which takes in
metals, mineral raw materials, coal, oil, the
energy of rivers and so forth in enormous quantities,
territories abounding in these natural resources
acquired the utmost importance. Today people
utilise the earth's natural wealth in vast and ever
increasing amounts; that means that the question
of its economical and rational use is a matter of
the greatest significance for the further
development of human society.
 Consequently, natural conditions can and do

influence the development of production, either
favourably or unfavourably, promoting the
development of a given society or retarding its
progress. At the same time the character and the
strength of their influence depend on the level
of a nation's social development.
25
 Society not only experiences the influence of

natural conditions, it also alters them. As the
productive forces of society developed, people
acquired increasingly powerful means of acting
on their natural environment. They were able to
transform nature to an ever greater degree and
adapt it to their own requirements. Today nature
in its primordial state has been preserved most
probably only in the polar regions, in the
impassable taiga and the ocean depths. The reason is
obvious. A modern advanced state cannot exist
without large towns, industrial complexes, a
ramified system of railways and highways,
numerous canals and man-made reservoirs, fields,
orchards, and so forth.
 Soviet socialist society has set itself the task

of steadily transforming nature in the interests
of man in order to create the most favourable
conditions for his life and health.
 But the relationship between man and nature

is a many-sided, complicated problem, and
society must foresee how its utilisation of natural
resources affects nature itself. At times
environmental changes favourable to man are
accompanied by unexpected and harmful consequences.
And the more powerful the means of man's
acting on nature, the more adverse may be the
impact if society fails to control its own
interaction with nature.
 This problem has never been as acute as it is

today. Once it was generally believed that any
harm which industry might cause nature was
subsequently neutralised by the elements
26
themselves. Reality, however, proved that this view

was not only erroneous, but also dangerous, for
changes harmful to man taking place in nature
may prove to be irreversible. Today the air and
water pollution from industrial waste, the
destruction of forests and the contamination of huge
areas with various waste have acquired such
enormous proportions that without the effective
and systematic work by society it is practically
impossible to combat the harm caused to nature.
Yet, the domination of private property in
capitalist society inhibits the introduction of broad
measures to protect and improve the natural
environment, and the monopolists' thirst for profits
leads to predatory utilisation of the natural
wealth.
 The problem of relations between man and

nature, or the ecological problem, as it is called, is
becoming more and more international in
character. The most favourable conditions for its
solution, naturally, exist in socialist countries whose
planned economy is subordinated to the interests
of the people. Obviously, it is impossible to solve
all problems arising there immediately, for that
would have entailed vast financial outlays. But
the Soviet state is using the available possibilities
to build installations at industrial enterprises to
protect the atmosphere and water from pollution,
rehabilitate forests, prevent soil erosion, improve
urban life (planting of trees in streets,
combating noise, etc.), and use natural resources
more rationally. The Soviet Government has
promulgated the law `Òn Measures of Further
27
Improving the Protection of Nature and the

Rational Utilisation of the Natural Resources''. The
protection of nature is not only the concern of
society as a whole, but of each separate
individual, too.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Law of the Conformity of the Production
 Relations to the Productive Forces
 The productive forces determine the

development of society and define society's attitude to
nature. Man's power over nature corresponds to
the level of development of the forces of
production.
 Man's first tools were made of wood, stone

and bone. Then people learned to smelt metal.
The appearance of iron tools was a milestone in
the development of the forces of production.
Today people employ not only the materials
which they find in nature, but also create new,
synthetic materials possessing properties which
man needs.
 Here is another example. At first people used

their own muscular energy to set the instruments
of labour in motion, then they began to use the
strength of animals. Gradually mankind learned
to employ new types of energy: the energy of
water and wind, steam and electricity, and now
it also uses the energy of the atom.
__FIX__ Make gender neutral.
 The means of labour and the productive forces

reflect the level of man's knowledge of nature
and embody the production experience which he
28
has accumulated. The level of development of the

productive forces is a gauge of society's progress.
Production is the basic form of human activity.
The relations between people in the process of
production do not depend on the will of the
people and take shape in conformity with the
character of the productive forces. The necessity that
relations of production should be adapted to the
productive forces arises from the very substance
of production. It is just as impossible, for
example, to build capitalism in the stone age, or to
establish primitive-communal relations on the
basis of large-scale industry, as to dress a
fullgrown man in baby clothes. If the productive
forces correspond to the production relations then
the former develop freely and society flourishes.
But this conformity does not last for ever. The
productive forces are in a state of constant
change, for people are continuously improving the
instruments of production. The development of
productive forces can be very slow, so slow, in
fact, that thousands of years pass by before any
noticeable changes make their appearance, as was
the case during the primitive-communal system.
It can also be relatively fast, even very fast, when
perceptible changes in productive forces take
place in the course of centuries and even decades.

__FIX__ OCR output was missing paragraph break here. Check

rest of ebook.
 The more sophisticated the means of

production, the more advanced should be the production
relations. This means that these relations must
change. But in a capitalist as in any other
exploiting society changes in the relations of
production are inhibited by classes and groups which
29
are not interested in seeing them change. The

relations begin to lag behind the productive forces
with the result that they not only do not
promote the latter's development but, to the
contrary, slow down their growth. This causes a
conflict. As a result it becomes necessary to replace
the outmoded production relations with more
progressive ones, and this means that the old
social formation has outlived itself.
 In an exploiting society such a situation calls

not only for a change in the economic, but also
in the political system inasmuch as the latter
hinders the development of new production
relations. Therefore the conflict between the new
productive forces and the old relations of
production is the economic foundation of social
revolution which is the sole form of transition from
one social formation to another.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Development of Socio-Economic Formations
 Man has always been a social being. In

primordial times people united according to their
kinship into clans and tribes. Leading a nomad
way of life they gathered edible plants, hunted
and fished. Inside the clan matrimonial relations
were prohibited and each clan united matrilinear
relatives. Work was assigned according to the
physical abilities of each individual. In other
words there existed a sex-age division of labour.
All that people obtained through joint labour was
equally divided between them and thus they were
able to keep themselves alive.
30
 What sort of production existed in those times?
 The primitive man had such primitive tools that

he could not exist by himself. This weakness of
the individual in the face of nature was what
forced people to unite. Only by living and
working together could they stand up to nature and
obtain food and other necessities. Evidently the
primitive collective of people using individual
primitive tools was the first productive force in
human history. Collective labour and collective
mode of life gave rise to equal distribution of
products, i.e., to such relations of production
which precluded the possibility of exploitation.
 Due to the extremely slow growth of the

productive forces the production relations remained
in conformity with the collective productive force
of a primitive clan for many thousands of years.
Gradually, however, some tribes, either as a
result of favourable natural conditions, or for other
reasons, began to attain a higher level of
development of productive forces compared to the
mass of humanity scattered throughout the world.
Cropping and livestock breeding appeared. Stone
tools gave way to bronze and then iron. People
obtained more reliable sources of food, began to
lay in food supplies and accumulate diverse types
of material wealth, i.e., the productive forces
reached a level at which it became possible to
obtain surplus product. Surplus product is that
part of the produced material wealth which
remains after most essential requirements are
satisfied. The surplus product gave rise to two
important trends in social development.
31
 First, it became possible to accumulate this

product and redistribute it. In other words, there
appeared an economic basis for the rise of inequality,
when some clans, tribes or individuals began to
seize cattle, weapons, etc., while others lost them.
Plunder and, consequently, wars for wealth
became possible.
 Second, exploitation came into being.

Exploitation means the appropriation of the fruits of
someone else's labour. So long as people
produced only as much as they needed to survive,
an individual could not exploit the labour of
another individual. But as soon as man began to
produce more than he needed to survive, he
opened the road to exploitation. Thus slavery
was established.
 Although the instruments of labour became

more productive, they remained adapted to
individual use, and an individual or a family could
produce all they needed for sustenance: plough
the land and keep cattle. Interest in common
tribal economy disappeared. On the other hand,
as we have said earlier, people could now
accumulate wealth. All this undermined the
foundations of primitive collectivism and equality in
distribution. Society split into the rich and the
poor, into the slaves and the slave-owners. Classes
appeared. The primitive system gave way to
a class society in which the economically
dominant class lived at the expense of the labour of
the oppressed class, thus engendering economic
and social inequality and irreconcilable class
contradictions.
32
 The transition to a class society was a

progressive phenomenon because it considerably
accelerated the growth of the productive forces. The
accumulation of wealth facilitated exchange and
trade, and towns developed as centres of trade
and crafts. Groups of people who did not
produce material wealth but devoted their time to
diverse intellectual activity emerged in society.
In other words, the era of the rise of a class
society witnessed the separation of mental and
physical labour, a most important precondition
for the development of man's spiritual culture.
The rise of classes was accompanied by the
formation of states.
 Social progress has a contradictory nature.

When classes came into being, mankind began
to advance at the expense of ruthless
exploitation of the majority of the people, at the expense
of the enslavement of the working people
through sanguinary wars and plunder. Everything
was placed on the altar of wealth and power;
the basest human vices and instincts were
rampant.
 Such a society is called antagonistic.
 History knows three antagonistic class

societies: the slave-owning, feudal and capitalist.
 Pre-capitalist class societies have one common

feature: they have a primitive technical basis
consisting of the wooden plough, hammer, axe,
potter's wheel and other instruments of labour
with which people obtained food and clothes,
accumulated wealth, built houses, temples and
sailing ships.
33
 Very little could be done to improve on these

tools: a hammer is a hammer and an axe is an
axe whatever their shapes. With such a technical
basis the labour productivity was very low and
that accounted for the slow development of the
slave-owning and feudal societies.
 The technical basis of a developed feudal

society was higher than that of the slave-owning
society which existed, for example, in Ancient
Greece or Rome. The status of the toiling people
was also different. A slave was the chattel of the
slave-owner. A slave had neither property, nor
family nor a home and he was not interested in
the results of his labour.
 The chief productive force in a feudal society

was the peasant who was personally dependent
on the feudal landowner. The most brutal
semislave form of this dependence was serfdom. But
a peasant had a home, family, tools and a plot of
land, and although he was not a free man he was
interested in obtaining more means for sustaining
his family and himself, he had to pay labour rent
(corvee), turn over a designated part of the
harvest to the church, and so forth.
 In the slave-owning and feudal societies the

private character of the instruments of labour
corresponded to the individual nature of the activity
of a peasant or craftsman. Small-scale production
and natural economy were predominant in both
of them. The large-scale property of the
slaveowner or the feudal lord developed on the basis
of non-economic coercion, since neither the one
nor the other could economically force the slave
3---2052
34
or the serf of work for him. Such were the main

features of these formations. Their antagonistic
nature manifested itself in an acute class struggle
which at times took the form of armed uprisings,
including such major ones as the slave revolt
against Rome led by Spartacus (74--71 B. C.), the
revolt in England led by Wat Tyler in 1381,
the peasant wars in Germany (1524--25) and in
Russia led by Stepan Razin (1670--71) and
Yemelyan Pugachev (1773--75).
 The level of social development was not the

same throughout the world, for the human society
advances unevenly. In ancient times and the
Middle Ages a considerable portion of people in Asia,
Africa, Australia and America still lived in
tribal systems. When the feudal system became
established in some European countries, the
decaying slave-owning system still existed
in other parts of the world. This uneven
development is observed throughout the history
of mankind.
 The next stage in the development of class

antagonistic society was capitalism.
 Machine production became the technical basis

of capitalism, although the first signs of capitalist
relations appeared long before the machine
acquired a leading place in production. The
qualitative leap occasioned by the emergence of
machine production had far-reaching consequences.
This stage of development of productive forces
was characterised by the introduction of scientific
achievements in production, rationalisation and
improvement of machines, technology and the
35
organisation of production, and a continuous rise in

the productivity of labour.
 Under the system of capitalist ownership of the

means of production, the owner of the capital
economically forces the proletarian, a person who
has no property, to work for him. Only vital
necessity compels the worker to hire himself out to
the capitalist.
 Why does a capitalist hire workers? Not out of

pity, of course, but to derive profit, for the
workers create surplus value.
 What is surplus value? It is the value of the

product which a worker produces without
compensation, since his wage is always smaller than
the value of the commodity he has created.
Therein lies the essence of capitalist relations of
production.
 It is surplus value, which the capitalist receives

in the form of profit by appropriating the product
of the unpaid labour of workers, that is the chief
stimulus of capitalist production. In their striving
for profit the interests of the capitalists clash and
a struggle for still greater profits begins. This
struggle is called competition, and the winner is
the capitalist whose production is better
organised and who equips it with more sophisticated
machinery and manages to sell his commodity
more profitably. The race for profits and
competition compel the capitalist to improve production
and technology and turn out greater quantities of
commodities. The production of more goods than
can be purchased on the market leads to crises of
overproduction.
36
 These crises, however, do not in the least

testify to an absolute excess of commodities. The
demand for them still exists, but people cannot
afford to purchase them because they do not have
the money for it. Overproduction leads to the
closure of factories and the dismissal of workers who
swell the ranks of the unemployed. This still
further narrows the demand for commodities. Crises
are one of the most characteristic features of the
capitalist system. Modern industrial production
calls for a rational planned organisation which
takes into account nation-wide demand and
consumption.
 Crises show that capitalism is unable to cope

with this task.
 The class struggle under capitalism becomes

more acute. Workers unite and fight for better
living and working conditions. This struggle takes
the form of strikes, demonstrations and
revolutionary uprisings.
 Thus, ruthless competition, periodic crises and

the unceasing class struggle attest to the
contradictory nature of the capitalist system, the
growing disparity between the productive forces and
the production relations. The basic contradiction
of capitalism is precisely the disparity between
the nature of production and methods of
appropriation of the fruits of production. The
production process is social inasmuch as in present-day
conditions millions of people bound by
production relations jointly produce all the necessary
commodities. But the product of this social
production is appropriated by private owners.
37
 Private property, however, can be turned into

public property. Then not only the necessary but
also the surplus product can be distributed in
the interests of the whole of society. On the basis
of public property it is possible to abolish
competition, and effectively plan production on a scale
corresponding to the entire society and in its
interests. The social nature of production should
be matched by public ownership of the means of
production with its specific organisation of labour
and forms of distribution. This, however, is
possible only under socialism.
 The bourgeoisie would like to resolve or at the

least to smooth over the contradictions inherent
in the capitalist system. Production is becoming
increasingly socialised: individual capitalists are
being replaced by associations of capitalists---
firms, trusts and giant monopolies. Monopoly
capitalism is developing and turning into state--
monopoly capitalism, which is an indication of the
recognition of the social character of the
productive forces within the framework of the capitalist
system itself. But the whole point is that monopoly
property remains private capitalist in character,
and monopoly profits are distributed among the
shareholders. Monopolies do not abolish
competition because they themselves compete on a
worldwide scale. And the small and medium-size
private enterprises, too, are locked in a sustained and
embittered struggle for raw materials and
consumer markets.
 Monopoly capital is the source and the

perpetrator of fearful crimes against humanity. It was
38
responsible for the outbreak of two world wars

which took a toll of dozens of millions of human
lives. And it was monopoly capitalism that
fathered fascism which is ever pregnant with the
threat of reaction and violence.
 Apologists of capitalism assert that the

position which the working class in the advanced
capitalist countries holds today does not permit
the capitalists to cut wages impunely and
compels them to pay fairly high wages to the
workers, and therefore the class struggle is petering
out. This is an illusion, an attempt at wishful
thinking. The working people are winning their
rights in the course of long years of fierce class
struggle, at the cost of incalculable sacrifices. This
struggle is not only continuing, it is becoming ever
more acute.
 Certainly, in developed capitalist countries such

as the USA, the FRG, France and Britain a
qualified worker receives a relatively high wage. He
has also won other social rights, especially in the
period following the Socialist Revolution in Russia
in 1917. However, this does not mean that
injustice, inequality and oppression have been wiped
out in these countries. In capitalist society a
person who works remains oppressed and is
constantly aware of his dependence on the capitalist who
can fire him at any moment and thus deprive
him of shelter and food. Moreover, even in
advanced capitalist countries the incomes of very
many people are lower than the subsistence
minimum.
 For a long time capitalism exploited hundreds
39
of millions of people in colonial countries. The

colonial system collapsed but backwardness and
poverty weigh heavily on the shoulders of toiling
people in many African, Asian and Latin
American countries. The peoples of the developing
states are faced with the difficult problems of
further development which are solved in the
course of the struggle against imperialism and
bitter social conflicts.
 The development of state-monopoly capitalism

did not smooth out, but exacerbated the internal
contradictions of the capitalist system, and the
scientific and technological revolution, that
qualitatively new phase in the development of the
modern forces of production, aggravated them
to a still greater extent.
 What is a scientific and technological

revolution?
 One of its features is that it radically alters

the already developed industrial production,
opening qualitatively new prospects before it.
The chief trend in the transformation of
technology is the creation of automated production,
first partially and then fully. The prerequisites
for such automation lie in the development of
cybernetics and electronic computers with the
help of which machines are able to control
technological processes.
 Another feature of the scientific and

technological revolution is the growing implementation
of scientific achievements in production, the
transformation of science into an actual
productive force, when modern equipment appears as
40
the direct result of the development and

application of science. The organic fusion of science
and production as we are witnessing today has
no precedent in history. And indeed, atomic
energy, space flights, the production of synthetic
materials with set properties, electronics, lasers, these
and many other achievements arise from science
and not merely as a result of the accumulated
experience, as was the case in the past. The organic
connection between scientific and technological
progress is the distinguishing feature of the
scientific and technological revolution.
 Sophisticated technology makes it possible

considerably to raise labour productivity and
introduces serious changes in the very structure and
organisation of production. But the most
important result and the distinctive feature of the
scientific and technological revolution is that it
modifies man's role in production. On the basis of
automated technology and the application of
scientific methods, serial production will be
increasingly guided by machines which do not
require the direct participation of man in the
technological process. His job will be
controlling the operation of machines, handling repairs,
designing and building new machines and
performing other creative functions connected with
production.
 The craftsman set in motion his instruments

of production chiefly by his own muscle energy,
and in machine production, too, the worker
became an appendage to the machine, but the
machines created by the modern scientific and
41
technological revolution will make man the

master of the self-regulating (automatic)
production process. Such is the prospect opened by the
scientific and technological revolution. Today
we are witnessing the beginning of this process,
for automated shops even in advanced countries
have so far accounted for an insignificant part
of the entire production.
 The scientific and technological revolution

will raise production to such a level that it will
be possible to create the material and technical
basis for the achievement of the maximum
material wealth, reduce the working day and
employ people's strength and abilities primarily in
the field of creative work. But whether the
achievements of the scientific and technological
revolution will be employed to the benefit of the
working man depends on the social system where
it is developing---within the capitalist framework
or in socialist society.
 Capitalism takes advantage of the growth of

the productive forces and the scientific and
technological progress to intensify the exploitation
of the working people and strengthen its system
of domination and oppression. In capitalist
conditions the scientific and technological revolution
further strengthens the state-monopoly
organisation which turns the working man into a particle,
a tiny screw in the powerful capitalist machine.
 As it promotes industrial development the
scientific and technological revolution undermines
capitalism, exacerbates its contradictions and
increases the incompatibility of the growing
42
productive forces with the narrow framework of the

capitalist economy, with the character of the
production relations, and engenders class conflicts.
 The socio-economic system that corresponds to

the modern character and prospects of further
development of productive forces is socialist
society. Socialism is the highest stage that mankind
has so far achieved in its progress. And it is
socialism that can make the best of the scientific
and technological revolution and, most
important, employ it in the interests of man.
 Let us sum up all that has been said in this

section.
 Human history is movement from the lower to

higher forms of social life and its leading force
is the development of the productive forces.
We have examined only the general aspects
of the main line, the basic trend of social
development. The knowledge of the stages of
social development furnished by Marxist theory
makes it possible to comprehend historical
phenomena in their entire diversity, to analyse the
past, assess the present and foresee the future.
 At the same time the materialist theory of

social development is not a fixed scheme; it calls
for a concrete analysis of concrete historical
phenomena. Historical progress is uneven and the
rise of a new formation does not immediately
cause the disappearance of the preceding one.
Survivals of primitive-communal relations, for
example, continue to exist for a long time in a
class society. Survivals of feudalism are still
found in some backward countries. Whole
43
peopies, states and cultures perished in wars or

disappeared due to other reasons. Many of the
peoples which exist today passed over the above
stages of social development. The Slav peoples,
for instance, moved from primitive-communal
relations directly into feudalism, bypassing the
slave-owning formation. Many peoples living in
the Soviet Union stepped from patriarchal,
feudal relations into socialism, without passing
through the capitalist stage of development.
There are many similar examples.
 The general theoretical principles, Lenin noted,

are creatively applied to different countries
inasmuch as each one has its historic, national,
cultural and other features influencing its
development. At the same time these general principles
mirror the general laws of social development
which determine the course of world history and
which force their way through the numerous
varieties of the concrete historical process. In our
time it was the operation of these general laws
that launched the capitalist social formation
towards its inevitable end. A new, communist
social formation is beginning to take shape and
develop. This being the case, the contemporary
epoch taken on the world historic scale is an
epoch of transition from capitalism to socialism.
The countries of the world socialist system are
standing at the initial stage of the communist
social formation.
 What are the main features of a communist

social formation?
44
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Communist
 Socio-Economic Formation
 The economic basis of this formation is public

ownership of the means of production. At the
present stage public property has two forms:
state property and co-operative and
collectivefarm property. It is this form of property that
corresponds to the social nature of the production
process and creates infinite opportunities for the
growth of the productive forces.
 The construction of communist society, as any

other stage of historical development, is
characterised by contradictions between the productive
forces and the production relations. In this case,
however, their solution is not attended by social
conflicts and political revolutions and is achieved
as a result of conscious and planned
improvement of the production relations. This is possible,
first, because public property does away with
exploitation of man by man, abolishes the
exploiting classes, and the life of the entire society is
guided by common interests; and, second,
because the tasks and problems facing society can
be resolved consciously and in a planned way.
In a communist formation production, culture
and social relations advance and improve at an
especially rapid pace. Proof of this is the fact
that the USSR developed into a mighty power
with a highly advanced economy and culture in
a mere 58 years.
 The rise and development of the communist

formation is a natural process. The material
45
prerequisites for the transition to this formation are

created in the depths of the capitalist system.
The most important of them is modern
production which unites the entire mass of the working
people. The working class is the leading social
force which consummates the socialist revolution
in alliance with the working peasantry and lays
the foundation of the communist social
formation.
 As it develops the communist social formation

passes through several stages. The first is the
transition period which begins with socialist
revolution. In this period survivals of the
overthrown classes (landowners and the bourgeoisie)
are abolished and small peasant farms are
transformed into large collective farms through
cooperation and the development of the industrial
base of the new society. In the sphere of social
thinking the scientific ideology of
MarxismLeninism gains the dominating position, and the
masses begin acquiring socialist consciousness.
 Politically, the transition period is one of the

dictatorship of the proletariat, i.e., the state
power of the proletariat established after the
bourgeois government is deposed.
 After carrying through the socialist revolution

the proletariat inevitably encounters the resistance
of the overthrown classes which can be
suppressed by force only. Therefore the
establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat is the
main content of socialist revolution.
 At the same time the dictatorship of the

proletariat has an important creative mission. It is
46
the chief instrument in the building of socialism.
The dictatorship of the proletariat is a form of
the political guidance of all sections of the
working people by the working class. Its purpose is to
win over the mass of working people and draw
them into construction of the new society. In
contrast to bourgeois rule, the dictatorship of the
proletariat does not stand in opposition to the
mass of people, but expresses their fundamental
interests.
 The dictatorship of the proletariat can be

effected in various political forms depending on
the specific conditions of the development of
socialist revolution. One form of the dictatorship
of the proletariat was the Paris Commune
(March 18 to May 28, 1871). Though short-lived,
it was of great significance for it was the first
time in history that the proletariat had come to
power. The Soviets, a new form of the
dictatorship of the proletariat, appeared in the course of
the revolution in Russia. Building upon the
teaching of Marx and Engels about the
dictatorship of the proletariat, Lenin substantiated the
historical significance of the Republic of Soviets,
a state of a new type, of consistent and real
democracy. People's Democracy, which appeared in
the countries that took the road of socialist
development after the Second World War, became
another form of the dictatorship of the
proletariat.
 The transition period ends with the

establishment of socialist social relations. Socialism, the
first phase of the communist formation, fully
47
abolishes private ownership of the means of

production and the exploiting classes. Socialism
stands for the complete socio-political and
ideological unity of society, of all its classes, strata
and social groups; it abolishes national
oppression and establishes relations of friendship
between peoples based on the principle of socialist
internationalism.
 Once socialism has won, the dictatorship of the

proletariat develops into a state of the entire
people. It performs a number of important and
essential functions, economic and organisational
in the first place. The state expresses the
fundamental interests of the people, of the whole of
society in the economic sphere; it plans and
manages the national economy; it serves as the
organising authority in the solution of the tasks
facing society, protects public and personal
interests of the working people and upholds
socialist law and order. Relying on the support of all
working people, the state of the entire people
enforces measures of compulsion with regard to
people violating the laws and principles of
socialist society. The socialist state puts in a vast
amount of work to promote public education,
raise the cultural level of the working people,
foster communist consciousness and create
conditions for a continuous development of culture
and science. The socialist state carries out the
crucial function of protecting the country,
defending the socialist gains of the working people
and promoting friendship and co-operation
between socialist countries; it supports the
48
international revolutionary liberation movement and

upholds the cause of peace and international
security.
 The victory of socialism, the first phase of

communism, in the USSR was reflected in the
new Constitution adopted in 1936. After that the
socialist society developed on its own foundation.
The growth of the socialist economy and culture
was accompanied by consolidation of socialism
and the further strengthening of the socialist
state. As a result the Soviet people achieved the
complete and final victory of socialism and the
country entered a period of a developed socialist
society.
 As it continues to advance, the socialist system

more fully discloses its advantages over the
capitalist system. One of its most important
advantages is the steadily increasing role of the people
in the building of the new society. The 24th
CPSU Congress (1971) set the people and the
Party the task of using the advantages of
socialism, combining them with the scientific and
technological revolution and further improving the
entire system of management in order to gain
more efficacy of production and accelerate the
growth of the material welfare and cultural level
of the people.
 Under developed socialism people are in a

position to solve tasks which society was unable to
fulfil in the past. As a result of the tremendous
growth of industrial and agricultural production
the Soviet Union can speed up the rates of
growth of consumer goods production and
49
increase investments into agriculture without

lowering the rates of heavy industry development.
Thanks to their dedicated labour in the socialist
industry and agriculture the Soviet people fulfil
the main task of the five-year plan, that of
securing a considerable rise in the standard of
living and the cultural level of the people. Today
the Soviet state is in a position to channel
increasing efforts and means into the development
of public education, literature, and art and thus
promote the growth of the intellectual wealth of
society.
 The further prospects for the development of

socialist society are connected with the transition
from socialism, the lowest stage in the
development of the communist formation, to complete
communism, its highest stage.
 Wherein lies the distinction between socialism

and communism? The chief distinction is society's
level of economic and spiritual maturity.
 One of the most important directions in the

growth of the productive forces is that of
intensifying production and raising the level of its
socialisation. Production is being enlarged and
links between factories, and the various branches
of production are becoming more and more
intricate and diverse. The employment of new
materials, the automation of production, and broad
introduction of scientific methods and technical
means of organisation and management will
eventually do away with heavy and monotonous
work and as a result the majority of people will
work in various fields of creative labour. All this
4---8052
50
is bound to cause enormous changes in their

mode of life.
 Under socialism material wealth is distributed

among the members of society chiefly according
to the quality and quantity of the work they
perform for society, i.e., in line with the principle
``From each according to his ability, to each
according to his work''.
 Society takes care that people develop their

abilities and for this purpose improves the system
of education. The introduction of universal
secondary education is a matter of very great
significance for the intellectual development of all
working people and their increasing participation
in creative labour.
 It is the concern of socialist society that each

individual should work in a field where he can
make full use of his abilities and thus be of the
greatest service to society. This problem,
naturally, still requires its ultimate solution, but
socialist society considers it one of the most
important.
 The socialist principle of distribution

according to the work done is embodied in the existing
system of wages. A large and steadily increasing
part of the material wealth and services in the
USSR is distributed among people through public
consumption funds regardless of the quantity and
quality of work contributed by an individual.
These funds account for free education and
medical treatment, grants to mothers of large
families, state-owned housing, numerous holiday
facilities, and so on and so forth.
51
 Under communism the level of development

of productive forces and labour productivity must
be high enough to ensure an abundance of
consumer goods. A new principle of distribution,
``From each according to his ability, to each
according to his needs'', will become effective in
communist society. But before this happens
society will have to attain a new level of
development of production which will become
the material and technical basis of communism.
Man himself will rise to a higher stage in the
new conditions. In socialist society distinctions
still exist between urban and rural labour,
between mental and physical labour, and unskilled
manual labour is still needed. The survivals of
the old division of labour and non-creative
labour which restricts man's intellectual growth
can be abolished only through a high level of
technological development, introduction of science into
all branches of production, the latter's complex
mechanisation and automation and high
productivity of labour. These are enormous and
complicated tasks, but their solution will create the
necessary material basis for man's all-round
progress, for the burgeoning of his abilities in all
spheres of creative labour.
 Gradually labour will cease to be an obligation

and a means of subsistence; it will become a prime
necessity of life and the interest of the individual
in the very process of labour will become
predominant. Naturally, elements of such an attitude
exist in socialist society and more appear with
each passing year. For instance, the underlying
52
principle of the movement for a communist

attitude to labour, which has attained broad scope
at Soviet industrial enterprises and offices, is ``to
learn to live and work the communist way''. But
only under communism, when society enters the
highest stage of its economic and spiritual
maturity, when all substantial distinctions between
town and country and between mental and
physical labour have been abolished, will the all-round
development of the individual be accompanied by
the consolidation of a communist attitude to
labour in the whole of society.
 Distinctions between the classes of workers and

peasants and the intelligentsia continue to exist
under socialism, but they will gradually
disappear as society advances towards communism.
The distinctions between workers and peasants
will be gradually obliterated as agricultural
labour develops into a variety of industrial
labour. The introduction of the achievements of
science into production and the growth of its
machine-to-man ratio call for greater knowledge
on the part of the worker so that the gap between
physical and mental labour will gradually
narrow. This will result in the formation of a
socially homogeneous society, a classless society,
not only because there will be no exploitation of
man by man (this is achieved under socialism),
but also in the sense that there will be no
distinctions between the working classes.
 The eradication of distinctions between classes

and social groups does not mean levelling people
and abolishing individual distinctions. On the
53
contrary, the abolition of classes will offer every

member of society equal opportunities and create
all the essential conditions for the development of
the individual and the formation of a
harmoniously developed man.
 Great changes will take place in the

organisation and management of the economy and in the
sphere of social relations. The working class is
the one and only class known to history which
takes power into its hands not in order to
perpetuate its domination but so as to abolish classes
in general.
 As society advances towards communism

moral principles will play an increasing role in
guiding the behaviour of people, and each
individual will voluntarily and consciously perform
his duties in society. This will accelerate the
development of communist social self-government
and the withering away of the state. But the
question of the withering away of the state has
an external aspect as well as an internal one.
The historical necessity of the existence of the
state will disappear only when the threat of war
and the social antagonisms existing in the world
have been fully eliminated. These conditions
will be created when the communist social
formation is established throughout the world, or at
least in the majority of countries.
 The building of a communist society is the

immediate practical task of the Soviet people. A
developed socialist society is a society which is
building communism. Its purpose is defined in
the CPSU Programme: ``Communism is a
54
classless social system with one form of public

ownership of the means of production and full social
equality of all members of society; under it, the
all-round development of people will be
accompanied by the growth of the productive forces
through continuous progress in science and
technology; all the springs of co-operative wealth
will flow more abundantly, and the great
principle 'From each according to his ability, to each
according to his needs' will be implemented.
Communism is a highly organised society of free,
socially conscious working people in which public
self-government will be established, a society in
which labour for the good of society will become
the prime vital requirement of everyone, a
necessity recognised by one and all, and the ability
of each person will be employed to the greatest
benefit of the people."
 The history of mankind knows no greater or

more noble aim than that of building
communism. The opponents of Marxism, the enemies of
communism, are endeavouring to portray it as
wild fantasy. But reality has proved the
untenability of their arguments.
 The idea of socialism and communism was

advanced and scientifically substantiated by the
founders of Marxism in the 19th century. Today
socialism is an historical reality which
undeniably confirms the correctness of the scientific
prediction of the proletariat's great teachers.
 The ideas of communism do not clash with the

objective trends of development of the
contemporary forces of production, the prospects of the
55
scientific and technological revolution; on the

contrary, they fully correspond to them, which
also confirms the viability of these ideas.
 Communism stands not only for the

comprehensive development of production, science and
culture, but also for their utilisation in the
interests of man, their subordination to the tasks
of serving man. This cannot be attained under
capitalism, which places science and technology
in opposition to man. But this target becomes
absolutely realistic under socialism and
communism, for the communist formation erases social
antagonisms and places all the achievements of
the human genius at the service of man to promote
his all-round development. It follows, therefore,
that the communist ideal can be fully translated
into reality.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
THE ACTIVITY OF PEOPLE IN HISTORY
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Factors Determining the Activity of People
 History is made by people. But when we say

that history is a consistent process we
simultaneously assert that people cannot make history
arbitrarily, according to their will and contrary
to the requirements of social development. For
example, the Soviet Union cannot at present
effect distribution according to needs, for so far
its economic and cultural development has not
attained the level which would make it possible
to implement this principle. Therefore
distribution is effected according to the quantity and
56
quality of the work done. This is in keeping with

the level of economic development of the Soviet
state and is one of the principles of socialism.
 It is material conditions that determine the

activity of people.
 Does this, however, imply that man does

nothing more than passively fulfil objective
demands, that he automatically obeys the dictate
of objective laws? Such understanding of the
role played by people in history would be
erroneous, one-sided, in other words, it would be
fatalistic. The fact of the matter is that objective
conditions and laws determine only the limits of
the possible and the impossible in the given
circumstances, and allow very considerable latitude
for diverse activity. At the same time this
latitude also depends on concrete circumstances.
 The activity of people may differ in identical

conditions, for it depends on their mentality and
also on their desires, emotions and those
intellectual and social values on which they rely and
numerous other subjective factors.
 Inasmuch as the actual course of history

depends not only on objective conditions and the
laws of development but also on the way of acting
which is selected by people themselves and,
therefore, is not predestined by fate, people create
history in the true meaning of the word, and
history is created in struggle, in collision of various
social forces.
 For instance, in present-day conditions there

exists the possibility of an outbreak of a world
nuclear conflict, for there are nuclear weapons,
57
antagonistic contradictions and the aggressive

forces of imperialism capable of precipitating it.
On the other hand, the majority of people realise
that a nuclear war, if it does break out, will
bring inestimable disaster to humanity. And since
they do not want the war, there also exists the
possibility of averting it. It is common
knowledge that the Soviet Union is doing everything
in its power to avert such a war and inhibit
political adventurism.
 In all historical conditions there are diverse

possibilities that may determine the further course
of developments. Which of these possibilities will
gain the upper hand depends on the people
themselves, on their activity and the balance of
the opposing forces. Historical laws are enacted
in the activity of the people and in no other way.
 Marxism-Leninism gives people knowledge of

the objective laws and motive forces of society,
it explains the processes occurring in society and
provides methods of analysing them. Obviously,
the success of the activities of people depends on
the degree of their congruity with specific
conditions and their expediency within a definite
period of time. In planning production, for
instance, it is important to take account of
internal production links, level of technology,
scientific achievements, organisation of labour, system
of management and a diversity of other factors
which have a direct bearing on the rates of its
development and determine its results. But first
of all it is necessary to have a thorough
knowledge of society's requirements. The compilation
58
of such an optimal plan, especially for a large

country, is a very difficult problem which cannot
be solved without the help of science.
 Marxist social science is revolutionary because

it serves the achievement of a great aim---the
creation of a new society, because it promotes
the success of the revolutionary struggle of the
working class and all working people for the
emancipation of humanity from all forms of
social, national and spiritual oppression.
 Marxism-Leninism plays an enormous role in

the life of people by making their activity more
purposeful and reasonable, thus helping them to
make full use of the opportunities for promoting
historical progress that are inherent in the
existing conditions.
 The already cognised laws of historical
development are not always capable of showing man
correct line of action in any given circumstances.
The laws deal with objective trends and processes,
whereas man operates in a concrete situation.
Therefore when he reaches a decision he is
largely guided by his experience, abilities, cultural
level and moral qualities. The moral aspect is
most important, for in identical circumstances a
person can act either honestly or basely, do good
or evil, be brave or cowardly, and so forth. Since
this applies not only to individuals, but also to
the activity of groups of people, it is necessary
to take the psychology of these groups into
account.
 Politics, for example, cannot be only a science;

it will always be an art, too. The adoption and
59
implementation of political decisions depend to

an enormous degree on the personal qualities of
people, their abilities, experience, authority,
character, and so forth.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Classes and Social Groups.
 The Struggle of Classes
 Human activity has a great diversity of forms.

People work in industry and agriculture. They
produce material values.
 People work at research institutes. They study

nature and society, investigate their laws and
furnish society with knowledge. This is scientific
activity.
 People create new machines, mechanisms,

instruments, etc. This is engineering, designing
activity.
 People work at state institutions. This is

administrative activity.
 People work in the spheres of health service,

education, culture and so forth.
 All these types of activity are essential for

society and they determine the division of people
according to their occupations and specialities.
 There are many other distinctions, too,
including age, educational standard, wages, etc.
 But the most important distinction between

groups of people is the one between classes.
 Class distinctions arise in the economic sphere.

Classes are large groups of people differing from
each other by the place they occupy in the system
of production, by their relation to the means of
60
production, by their role in the social organisation

of labour and by the mode of acquiring income
and its dimensions.
 Every exploiting social formation known to

history had its specific classes. Moreover, society
developed in the course of the class struggle.
 The interests of the individual, his mode of life

and thinking essentially depend on the class to
which he belongs.
 The theory of classes and class struggle

provides an understanding of the sources of the
contradictory strivings of individuals and the causes
for their thinking and acting differently.
 What is the science of classes and class struggle

all about in contemporary conditions?
 In advanced capitalist countries the basic classes

are the monopoly bourgeoisie and the
proletariat. In addition, bourgeois countries have the
peasantry (farmers), petty bourgeoisie (owners of
small enterprises, shops and workshops). The
intelligentsia, i.e., engineers, scientists, writers, men
of arts and letters, and other mental workers,
holds an important place in the class structure of
the capitalist society. The intelligentsia is
heterogeneous. It has absorbed representatives of
various classes and forms a special social stratum.
 Insofar as class interests are contradictory,

their contradictions are manifested in the
struggle of classes. For instance, workers organise
strikes as they fight for higher wages. This is an
economic form of struggle. But the actions of the
workers, the intelligentsia and young people
against aggressive wars, against militarism, are
61
a political struggle because their purpose is to
achieve definite political objectives. Both the
economic and political struggle is reflected in the
collision of ideologies. Some theoreticians justify
the actions of the bourgeoisie and the
imperialist forces, others uphold the interests of the
working class. The collision of opposing ideas
also expresses antagonism between classes.
Therefore, the ideological struggle is a form of class
struggle between the proletariat and the
bourgeoisie, between socialism and capitalism.
 The political struggle is the main form of class

struggle, because what class will gain political
ascendancy and stand at the head of society
depends on its outcome. Of course, the question of
power is far from always posed directly, since
various classes can put forward political demands
which do not affect the political mainstays of a
given society. The problem of power is of
paramount importance in politics. When the
bourgeoisie employs police to disperse a demonstration of
working people, to smash organisations
upholding the interests of the working class or to
suppress strikes, it does so to assert its rule. Of course,
besides direct political violence, the bourgeoisie
resorts to economic, ideological and other
methods. However, usually methods of political
violence are widely employed in periods of the
exacerbation of the class struggle. So, in order to
wrest power from the bourgeoisie, the oppressed
classes must also resort to violence.
 An analysis of class struggle makes it possible

to explain the existence of political parties in a
62
modern society: in a political struggle each class

defends its own interests. Therefore it is natural
that there should be groups of people and
organisations representing the interests of a given
class and guiding its activity. These
organisations are political parties. In bourgeois--
democratic states there are various parties representing
the interests of the basic classes and social
groups, and representatives of various parties are
elected to parliament. But this is merely formal
democracy because the bourgeoisie with power
and wealth concentrated in its hands always finds
the ways and means of securing the
parliamentary majority to support the policy advantageous
to the ruling class.
 Marxist-Leninist parties of the working class
in bourgeois-democratic countries also
participate in the political struggle by representing the
workers in bourgeois parliaments. But their main
mission is to uphold the interests of the working
people, educate the working class in a
revolutionary spirit and guide its activity against
bourgeoisie and the capitalist system.
 The political struggle has a variety of forms

and methods. The reformists, Right opportunists,
or simply conciliators and time-servers, deny the
necessity of revolutionary struggle on the grounds
that the working class should act in a ``purely
democratic" manner and achieve reforms by co--
operating with the ruling class. There are also ``Left''--
wing opportunists, the extremists (champions of
extreme measures), who believe that the working
class will be able to attain its goals only through
63
violence, and therefore reject peaceful forms of

class struggle.
 The correct standpoint is that a party of the

working class should be prepared to employ all
forms, legal and illegal, violent and non-violent,
depending on the concrete situation and the
resistance of the class adversary.
 In its struggle each class seeks to win allies

and enters in various blocs and agreements with
other classes. These are questions of the strategy
and tactics of the class struggle.
 In the final count the objective of this strategy

and tactics is to prepare the masses for revolution
and secure victory over the forces of the old
system.
 What is revolution? Let us take a deeper look

into this question. We have already said that
social revolutions are a natural form of the
transition from one socio-economic formation to
another in the course of the progressive
development of society; that their economic foundation
is the deep conflict between the productive forces
and the relations of production, when the latter
begin to impede the development of the former;
that this conflict assumes the form of a forcible
political revolution because the ruling classes of
the old society resist revolutionary changes, so
that a revolution will be victorious only if the
revolutionary forces seize power and employ it
to suppress the resisting forces of the old society.
This being the case, the question of power
becomes the main issue of the revolution which
itself becomes a political act. Such are the basic
64
principles of the Marxist-Leninist theory of

revolution.
 The nature of the revolution depends on the

type of production relations which it abolishes
and the type of system for which it paves the
way. There is a qualitative distinction between
the bourgeois revolutions paving the way for the
capitalist system, and the proletarian, socialist
revolutions aimed at abolishing capitalism and all
forms of exploitation and consolidating socialist
relations. The motive forces of revolution are the
classes and social groups which bring it to
conclusion. The basic motive forces of socialist
revolution are the working class and the peasantry.
The working class is winning more and more
allies and there is mounting protest against
imperialist system, the oppressor of the broad
masses.
 If the peoples hate imperialism so intensely,

why, then, have there been no revolutions in
many capitalist countries? The main reason is
that general economic prerequisites alone
cannot bring about a revolutionary explosion; the
presence of a revolutionary situation is also
essential.
 A revolution matures only when society

becomes entangled in economic contradictions and
the situation of the masses drastically
deteriorates. In some cases revolutionary situations
were created by war. For instance, the 1905
Revolution in Russia was a result of the crisis
caused by the Russo-Japanese War. The
February 1917 Revolution took place as a result of
65
the sharp aggravation of social contradictions,

discontent, poverty and hunger provoked by the
First World War. In principle, however, a
revolutionary situation does not necessarily develop
as a result of war. It can be engendered by the
exacerbation of society's internal contradictions.
 Revolutions are not accidental phenomena, and
neither are they made to order. Karl Marx and
Vladimir Lenin, these great thinkers who
dedicated their lives to the proletarian cause, always
opposed those who believed a handful of
conspirators detached from the movement of masses
could consummate revolution and make people
``happy''. Such actions result only in defeat and
always play into the hands of the reaction.
Revolution cannot be exported to another country and
imposed on another nation. It has to be prepared
by the entire course of internal development of a
country.
 Building upon the Marxist theory of revolution

Lenin showed that in imperialist conditions a
socialist revolution could win first in one country.
This idea was confirmed by the victory of the
October Revolution in Russia. Later a number of
other European and Asian countries and also
Cuba took the road of socialist development. A
world system of socialism, the chief
revolutionary force of our time, came into being. Intricate
processes are taking place in capitalist and Third
World countries where new revolutionary forces
are maturing.
 The Communists are now striving to unite and

rally all the forces capable of fighting
5--2052
66
imperialism, the main obstruction of historical progress,

the basic force oppressing the peoples and a
source of the threat of a nuclear war.
 The problem of consolidating anti-imperialist

forces---the working class, the peasantry,
intelligentsia and various social strata---was raised as
a most important political issue of the day at the
International Meeting of Communist and
Workers' Parties in Moscow in 1969.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Classes Under Socialism
 Under socialism there are no antagonistic classes

because the industry and the land belong to
the socialist state and the exploiting classes have
been eliminated. The building of socialist society
is accompanied by the co-operation, or
collectivisation of small peasant holdings. In other words,
small private holdings of the peasants are united
into the collective property of the collective-farm
members, and the state turns over the land to
the collective farms for permanent use.
 Collectivisation gives rise to large-scale

agricultural production employing modern machines
and scientific achievements. The social character
of the peasantry also changes.
 The distinctions between the working classes---

the workers and peasants---and between them and
the intelligentsia---mental workers---continue to
exist in socialist society, but they are not
antagonistic because the basic interests of all social
groups coincide: the entire nation is interested in
strengthening and developing the socialist
67
systern, promoting society's economic and cultural

growth and building communism.
 The distinctions between classes will gradually

disappear as socialist society continues to advance.
Already today the scientific and technological
revolution in agriculture is transforming it into a
variety of industrial labour. Both in the way of
life and culturally the countryside is
approaching the urban level.
 The present scientific and technological

revolution makes for changes in society's social
structure. The steady improvement of technology, the
increasing application of science in production,
the growth of automation and mechanisation and
the mounting demand for highly qualified labour
dwindle the gap between mental and physical
labour. The educational level of the entire
people rises steadily. This means that distinctions
between the intelligentsia and the rest of the
working people are gradually being obliterated.
 The Soviet people are building socially

homogeneous classless society. Classless society is the
ultimate objective of the communist movement,
for this society will be free from economic
inequality and will provide for the all-round
development of every individual. The only
distinctions which will remain between people under
communism will be talent, abilities, interests,
level of knowledge and the like.
 But so long as classes exist the working class,

the most united and best organised class and the
leading vehicle of the communist ideas, will play
the principal role in society.
«*
68
 In socialist society the relations between classes

and social groups are qualified as relations of
socio-political and ideological unity. This unity is
one of the greatest assets of socialism. It brings
together the efforts of the whole nation in building
communist society. In this sense the socio-political
unity of society is one of the motive forces of the
development of socialism.
 Nevertheless, this does not mean that there are

no contradictions in Soviet society. The building
of a new society is invariably attended by
unexpected developments and obsoletion of things.
Some contradictions disappear, while new
contradictions associated with the development of
society may emerge. But these contradictions are
not antagonistic; the development and
strengthening of the socialist society and the increasing
social wealth create ever more favourable
conditions for resolving contradictions.
 Thus, socialism, being the initial phase of the

communist social formation, is a society which has
done away with exploiting classes and whose
main objective is to create and develop
conditions for surmounting the vestiges of class
distinctions between the working classes and social
groups and to create and develop conditions for
the transition to communism.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Society, the Individual and the Collective
 Although the course of history is set by the

activity of large masses of people, and by classes
when we refer to a class society, it does not mean
69
that separate individuals play no part in it.

History traces the activity of classes, states, nations
and peoples, but it also records the feats of
national heroes, the activity of heads of states and
military commanders and discoveries made by
great scientists and it brings to us the names of
leaders of people's uprisings, and prominent
figures in education, culture and art.
 Historical science is interested in people who

have left their imprint on human memory, whose
personality influenced the course of
developments, either by accelerating or retarding them.
Who are these people? Socio-political
developments are seriously influenced by people
standing at the head of states, parties, movements,
armies, etc. Indeed, an army which defeats another
army owes its victory to many factors, not the
least important the personality of its commander.
A commander's abilities and personal qualities
are a weighty factor in each concrete case.
 The same applies to political leaders who have

the backing of powerful parties or powerful states,
and whose decisions can have a substantial
impact on the course of history.
 Why do certain individuals leave an imprint

in history? Undoubtedly due to their
outstanding intellect, talent and abilities and to the fact
that their particular qualities fit in the particular
period. The leaders of the popular movements of
the past were people who had been singled out
by the masses and enjoyed great authority. There
can be no doubt that Stepan Razin and Yemelyan
Pugachev, leaders of the peasant movements in
70
Russia, were outstanding personalities who most

fully expressed the interests and the
characteristic features of the peasants of the period, their
hatred for the oppression of the landowners, their
love for freedom and their prejudices, such as
their belief in a ``benevolent'' tsar.
 Each class moulds its leaders in its own image.

The revolutionary movement of the proletariat
produced leaders of a qualitatively new type,
welleducated people with outstanding personal
qualities and a thorough knowledge of the interests
and needs of the working class. The great leaders
of the working class Karl Marx, Frederick
Engels and Vladimir Lenin not only enormously
influenced the course of history, but by their ideas
and activity ushered in a new epoch in the
struggle of the working class for socialism.
 In the spheres of culture, science and arts, the
life and consciousness of the masses are
influenced by people whose discoveries enrich human
knowledge, and who produce outstanding works
of art and technical inventions.
 Based as it is on the laws of historical

development, social science seeks to explain the past and
the present activity of the people and scientifically
forecast the future. But the course of history
depends not only on the operation of objective
laws, but also on the activity of the makers of
history themselves---the masses, classes and
personalities standing at the head of various
movements, and especially on those who by virtue of
their qualities and position are able to influence
developments.
71
 What about the personality of an `òrdinary''

person? Man, his development in history, his
activity, have always been in the centre of social
sciences. Marxist social science regards man as
a social being in the first place. And man's
biological nature is subordinated to this social
beginning. At the same time man's social nature is not
immutable. Man is both a social and historic
being. His nature is determined by society in
which he develops, lives and acts. Proceeding
from this concept it is easy to understand why
Marx defined the essence of man as ``the
ensemble of the social relations''. In other words, in
order to understand man it is necessary to study
the society that produced him.
 In primitive society man was a member of a

clan, community or tribe and his consciousness
was wholly determined by the conceptions
prevailing in the clan. As the class society developed
so did the class personality. It was the
personality of a slave or a slave-owner, a feudal lord
or a serf. In bourgeois society, where all people
are formally equal, they are divided according
to their wealth and property status. People are
genuinely equal only under socialism and
communism, since this society abolishes all privileges
associated with the origin of a person and wealth.
The communist society creates equal and
favourable conditions for the all-round development of
the individual. It will be a qualitatively new stage
in the relations between society and the
individual, where the individuality of a person will
develop to a still greater extent. The greater the
72
diversity of social life and the more abundant the

cultural wealth of the people, the richer becomes
the spiritual world of the individual and the
more vivid his personality. In the past this
process was extremely controversial because the
exploiting classes appropriated the fruits of social
and cultural progress, relegating the toiling masses
to poverty and ignorance. Today workers in
capitalist countries are subject to such forms of
influence which are designed to educate
submissive, socially passive people. Such achievements
of human culture as the cinema, radio, television
and the press are brought into play to divert the
attention of the people from problems of reality,
from the struggle for a better future. This is also
the purpose of the developing ``mass culture"
which levels off or standardises human interests
and consequently downgrades and coarsens the
personality of man depriving it of genuine
spiritual values.
 Under socialism cultural development has the

sole objective of moulding a vivid human
personality. In this connection we should examine
another important circumstance.
 It is a fact that man is connected not only

with the activity of society, of large social
groups, but also with that of small groups which
he is directly attached to, namely the body of his
fellow workers and his family which greatly
influence the formation of the personality.
 A small group, or a collective, is a link between

man and society. For instance, in the USSR man
is connected with society in the production sphere
73
through the collective in which he works, and his

prestige in society depends on his prestige in the
factory shop, collective farm, office or other place
where he works. In a collective where man is in
direct contact with other people there are specific
relations and moral atmosphere which strongly
influence labour productivity and the entire life
and activity of the given group. Soviet society is
interested in maintaining healthy relations among
people, which would stimulate their labour and
the intellectual development of the members of
the collective body and improve them
ideologically and morally.
 Under socialism workers' collectives are the

main cells of society and their further
development is becoming an increasingly important factor
of social progress. The combination of individual,
collective and social interests, when the interests
of the individual and the group are not opposed
to each other and to the interests of society,
encourages the progressive development of the entire
country.
 It is most important to promote the

development of the human personality, for the richer the
inner world of each person, the more diversified
is the life of society.
 Individuality should not be confused with

individualism. Individualism is a bourgeois
ideological and moral principle which sets the individual
in opposition to society, to the collective, and puts
personal interests and the striving for personal
advantages in the forefront. This basically vicious
principle does not reflect the interests of the
74
individual in general, but the concrete interests of

the bourgeoisie, whose property and power is
defended by the bourgeois system. The principle of
individualism is alien to the working class because
it disunites people. In contrast to bourgeois
individualism, the proletarian outlook and
communist morality assert the principle of collectivism
making it incumbent on the individual to concert
his interests and behaviour with the interests of
his collective, class and society.
 Does socialist collectivism run counter to the

moulding of the individuality and freedom of the
individual? Not at all. A person finds the
necessary means for development only in a collective.
Therefore the emancipation of the collective is a
factor of the emancipation of the individual. This
task, i.e., the emancipation of the collective, is
fulfilled by socialist revolution. Under socialism,
which promotes the rapid growth of education,
culture and welfare, the collective and society
acquire truly limitless opportunities for progress.
It can be confidently stated that no other society
in the world has done so much for the promotion
of the spiritual development of the masses as has
socialism. Socialist collectivism brings to the
surface the most realistic ways for the development
of the individual and individuality when ``the free
development of each is the condition for the free
development of all".^^*^^
 Of course, socialist society cannot immediately
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works, Vol. I,

Moscow, 1969, p. 127,
75
offer such an opportunity. At first it is necessary

to raise sufficiently production and culture,
surmount the survivals of the old social division of
labour and eliminate the demand for unskilled
and semi-skilled labour. The creation of
conditions for the all-round development of the
individual is an historical process which socialism is
carrying out at present. This process shows that
only socialist society is directing all its material
and spiritual means to mould a harmoniously
developed man.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Spiritual Life of Society
 In everyday life we easily distinguish existing

objects from their ideal images, from what takes
place only in our mind. For instance, a person
recalls his home and dreams and thinks of
visiting it. All this takes place in the mind. It is a
totally different thing when this takes place in
reality, when a person has come home, met his
near and dear ones, and so forth.
 Materialist philosophy has proved that the

material, i.e., real, existence of things does not
depend on consciousness and that sensations,
concepts, notions, all that we call consciousness, are a
reflection of the material and secondary to
consciousness.
 The line between the material and the ideal

(mental) is present in society, too. When people
produce the necessary material values and use
them, i.e., when they interact with nature and
with each other, this is their social being.
76
 Social being is the material life of society. But

public life is not the same thing as social being.
People are conscious beings and when they work
they do not act like automatons but consciously
set themselves specific aims and seek to attain
them. This means that the mental element, the
aim, is always present even in the simplest of
jobs. The aim is determined by man's
requirements, his interests, the specific conditions of his
activity, etc. It follows, therefore, that the aim is
secondary to the conditions of activity, it
derives from them. Furthermore, people, once they
have set themselves a specific aim, consciously
select the means with which to attain it. In other
words, the purposeful character of human activity
is connected with the consciousness which enables
man to understand the surrounding world and
act accordingly.
 In order to work together people must develop

patterns of behaviour to regulate their relations.
These patterns are also factors of social
consciousness.
 Finally, the birth of consciousness in people is

accompanied by the rise of their spiritual
requirements which, just as material requirements,
have to be satisfied, for as the saying goes: ``Man
shall not live by bread alone.'' The level of these
spiritual requirements differs in various periods
and depends on the level of the spiritual
development of society or its individual sections. And yet
spiritual requirements have always existed and
this is proved by primitive paintings, or the
history of the development of poetic folklore.
77
 Thus, spiritual life is correlated with material

life, and social consciousness with social being.
The material, or in this case social being
determines the ideal, or social consciousness. The latter
is a reflection of the people's social being and as
such is secondary to it. Their interaction,
however, does not end there. Social consciousness, its
various forms such as science, art, morality,
accumulate a certain amount of ideas and concepts
with which each new step in the development of
social consciousness is connected. In other words,
the relation of social consciousness to social being
is always seen in the light of concepts and ideas
already formed earlier. Social consciousness is
relatively independent of social being. It can
either lag behind social being or, on the
contrary, overtake it, reflect it correctly or distort,
create a scientific concept of reality or all sorts of
illusions. What imprint, and why precisely this
particular one reality leaves on social consciousness,
are questions which require scientific study.
 Social consciousness is influenced not simply by

the interests of separate individuals but the
interests of large social groups, or classes. The systems
of ideas expressing the interests of classes and
reflecting reality and social relations in the light
of these interests constitute ideologies. Ideology is
an element of social consciousness which in a class
society is most directly and intrinsically linked
with classes, their interests and struggle.
 Ideologies play a major role in the life of

society, guiding parties and classes that defend their
interests in confrontations with other classes. In
78
our day the main ideologies are the communist,

Marxist-Leninist ideology of the working class,
and the reactionary bourgeois ideology with all
its variations (liberal, fascist and others).
 Why is bourgeois ideology reactionary? In the

first place because it reflects the interests of the
reactionary exploiting class. History does not
stand still, and the assertion and development of
socialist relations correspond to its objective laws
and demands. But the bourgeoisie wants to thwart
the victory of socialism, preserve the bourgeois
system under which it holds the leading position,
and retain its power and wealth. Hence, the
interests of the bourgeoisie contradict historical
progress and inhibit it, and bourgeois ideology
sanctifies these interests. Hence its reactionary nature.
 Unlike bourgeois ideology, Marxist-Leninist

proletarian ideology is progressive and
revolutionary because it serves the demands of historical
development, the revolutionary transformation of
capitalist relations into socialist. It is a scientific
ideology that correctly reflects reality and its
laws; it expresses the interests of the progressive
class, the interests of the working people for
whom a correct understanding of reality, and a
sober, realistic, scientifically-based approach to
social problems and contradictions and to prospects
of social development are questions of especial
importance. Marxist-Leninist ideology is winning
its difficult struggle against world imperialism
because it is genuinely scientific.
 Besides ideology, which is a system of political
and legal concepts, moral ideals and principles,
79
artistic trends, religious dogmas and philosophical

ideas, there are other systems of knowledge and
ideas whose direct and main purpose is to satisfy
the requirements of the developing productive
forces. In the first place these systems are natural,
precise and technical sciences. The laws of nature
which they study do not depend on society, on the
activity of people and can be cognised either
approximately or more precisely. Science is
committed to the truth, it discovers the truth and
employs objective knowledge to improve production,
and society's practical activity.
 The attitude to any science, including sciences

studying nature, depends on class interests. The
bourgeoisie seeks to place science at its service,
for without science modern production cannot
develop. Moreover, the ruling circles in capitalist
countries use scientific achievements to step up
exploitation, intensify labour and strengthen their
own military-political domination.
 Natural science cannot be disconnected from

ideology, from the ideological struggle. Bourgeois
ideologists are endeavouring to interpret science
in a way that would preclude any materialistic
conclusions and make it impossible to employ it
in the struggle against religion. They portray
science not as objective knowledge of the laws of
nature, but as a man-created system of views and
ideas devoid of the objective truth.
 If science does not convey the objective truth

then it is impossible to distinguish the real from
the false, scientific knowledge from religious or
any other dogma.
80
 Thus, while being interested in implementing

science in industry, the bourgeoisie fights the
system of views which is based on science.
 Under socialism science serves the whole of

society, the working people, and there are all
conditions for promoting science and its all-round
application in the interests of historic progress.
 The fusion of science, of scientific and
technological progress with the gains and advantages of
the socialist system of economy is one of the
primary sources of society's progressive development.
 Social consciousness is a complicated manifold

phenomenon. We have seen that it includes both
ideology, with all its diverse forms, and non--
ideological forms of consciousness. Besides, the
psychology of society, class or social group, i.e.,
social psychology constitutes a distinctive part of
social consciousness. We often hear about ``
pettybourgeois psychology'', ``proletarian psychology'',
etc.
 Social psychology is moulded under the

impact of the direct living conditions of people and
their everyday activity. For instance, petty--
bourgeois psychology is a term describing the
qualities characteristic of a petty proprietor, a
moneygrubber, a person whose interests are concentrated
only on his property and the narrow world in
which he exists.
 In this case it is not a question of a particular

person, but rather of a definite social type, of the
psychology of a certain type of individual, of
attitudes, traditions and sentiments prevailing in a
specific social milieu, all the things which are
81
specifically refracted in the psychology of

individuals.
 In What Is To Be Done? Lenin wrote that the

immediate living conditions of the working class
under capitalism give rise to a specific psychology,
specific consciousness. On the one hand, living and
working conditions develop in the workers a sense
of solidarity, firmness, stamina, discipline and
organisation.
 On the other hand, life in a bourgeois society

instils in them what is called trade union
mentality, awareness of the need to wage an economic
struggle to improve their material conditions
within the capitalist framework. Such is the
psychology of a worker which is moulded by the
conditions of his life in bourgeois society.
 It expresses the class interest of the worker, but

in a very narrow and restricted form: the worker
is unaware of the antithesis of his interests and
those of the bourgeoisie.
 This awareness is cultivated in the proletariat
by an ideology built by the theoreticians of
working class on the achievements of science and
social thinking. It is introduced into the ranks of
the working class by its conscious vanguard---the
party.
 This comparison of the psychology and

ideology of the proletariat also discloses the significance
and the poverty of psychology. It is significant
because it is fertile soil for the assimilation of the
scientific revolutionary ideology, and its poverty
lies in that it does not give the worker the
understanding of his general class interests.
6---2052
82
 It can be said, therefore, that psychology

pertains to the sphere of ordinary consciousness which
guides people in their everyday activity. Ideology,
on its part, comes to the forefront when it is
necessary to solve crucial social problems in the
course of the class struggle.
 Each new generation finds that it has at its

disposal the productive forces and relations of
production created by the preceding generations. This
makes for continuity in the sphere of society's
production activity and social being. At the same
time each new generation assimilates and further
improves the system of knowledge and ideas of
the world and society, the patterns and rules of
behaviour, or, in other words, the spiritual
culture it has inherited. Otherwise there can be no
progress.
 Not only material wealth but intellectual as

well is unequally distributed in all antagonistic
societies. The rich have every opportunity to raise
their cultural level, while the mass of the working
people oppressed by poverty and constant fear of
the future, and due to their inferior education or
complete illiteracy, find it difficult to do so.
 Prior to the socialist revolution the vast

majority of the population in Russia could neither read
nor write. The abolition of illiteracy became one
of the most important objectives of the socialist
revolution. With this aim in view Lenin set the
task of carrying through a cultural revolution
which included a broad programme for
surmounting the cultural backwardness of the masses
and moulding a new, people's intelligentsia.
83
 The cultural revolution was essential for the

construction of socialist society.
 The building and development of socialism

goes hand in hand with rapid industrial progress,
the introduction of new, more sophisticated
equipment, and consequently with a vast growth in the
demand for highly qualified specialists.
 In the course of socialist construction socialist

democracy develops further on, and an increasing
number of people are drawn into the
administration of state affairs. But to be able to do so a
person has constantly to raise his level of political
knowledge and culture.
 Finally, as we have already said, the ideal of

socialism and communism is an individual with
an all-round development who participates in
creative activity.
 This, however, is impossible without a high

level of culture of the masses. Consequently, the
solution of all problems of the building and the
further development of socialism is inseparable
from the continuous growth of the cultural level
of the masses and the shaping of the communist
world outlook in all people.
[84]
__NUMERIC_LVL1__
CHAPTER II
__ALPHA_LVL1__
THE COMMUNIST PARTY---
 THE POLITICAL LEADER
 OF THE STRUGGLE
 FOR SOCIALISM
 AND COMMUNISM
__ALPHA_LVL2__
WHY IS IT NECESSARY FOR THE
 WORKING CLASS TO HAVE
 ITS OWN PARTY?
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 The great revolutionary changes of the
20th century were not spontaneous. To carry them
out the working class, millions of working people
not only acted with supreme dedication and
determination and made great sacrifices, but also
displayed a high level of organisation and mastered
the science and art of waging a class struggle.
 Since the middle of the 19th century the

proletariat continuously increased its pressure against
the oppressors and exploiters. The revolutionary
actions of the working class in a number of
European countries in 1848, the heroic uprising of the
Paris proletariat and the establishment of the
Paris Commune on March 18, 1871, the
Revolution of 1905 in Russia were milestones in the
courageous struggle of the working masses for their
emancipation.
 So long as the working class did not have its

own revolutionary party and lacked close unity
and a high level of organisation, all its numerous
efforts to alter the existing situation were of no
85
avail. Politically and ideologically the bourgeoisie

was more experienced and stronger; it relied on
its economic power and on the strength of the
capitalist state with its army, police, courts and
prisons, and the proletariat was unable to defeat it.
While scientifically predicting capitalism's
inevitable doom, the leaders of the working class
and the founders of its revolutionary theory Marx
and Engels took into account that the old system
would not fall all by itself and that the
bourgeoisie would not voluntarily surrender its positions.
They realised that the working class would have
to wage an uncompromising struggle against the
exploiting classes and that it would be able to
liberate itself only if it surpassed the enemy by its
superior proletarian consciousness and
organisation
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Role of Organisation in the Class Struggle
 The founders of the communist teaching

opened a great historical truth: in order to help
the proletariat become aware of its class interests,
to arm it ideologically and organise its struggle
for the overthrow of capitalism and the building
of a new, communist society, it was necessary to
form a militant, staunch vanguard capable of
raising the broad masses of the working people for a
decisive fight against the exploiting classes. What
is necessary is the `òrganisation of the
proletarians into a class, and consequently into a
political party'', Marx and Engels proclaimed in their
86
outstanding work Manifesto of the Communist

Party^^*^^ This conclusion of the founders of
scientific communism armed the working class with an
invincible weapon.
 Marx and Engels and later Lenin proved that

of all the organisations established by the
proletariat only a political party adhering to the
revolutionary positions of scientific socialism could
correctly express the fundamental interests of the
working class and guide it to victory. The workers
would be unable to put an end to capitalism and
build socialist society if they relied solely on trade
unions, mutual insurance funds and similar
organisations. To achieve this aim they had to have a
proletarian organisation of the highest type which
would not rest content with fighting for the
current economic needs of the working people, but
which would set itself the target of bringing the
working class to power and carrying through the
revolutionary transformation of the old system.
 The revolutionary party of the Communists was

to become such an organisation.
 In the first place the proletariat needs a party

so as not to grope its way in the revolutionary
struggle but to be equipped with such an
understanding of the conditions, the course and the
general results of the proletarian movement which
would give it an absolutely clear idea of the aims
of this struggle and ways of attaining them.
 In view of its oppressed position which deprived
_-_-_
87
it of the opportunity to engage in scientific and

political activity, the proletariat was unable to
develop on its own a scientific system of concepts
giving a correct idea of the development of nature
and society. Such a system, Marxism-Leninism,
was evolved by the great representatives of the
revolutionary intelligentsia Marx, Engels and
Lenin who studied and critically reappraised
advanced philosophical, political and economic views
and generalised the experience of the
workingclass movement.
 As a science Marxism-Leninism has provided

an integrated and harmonious system of views
about the objective laws of the development of
nature and society, about the revolutions of
oppressed and exploited masses, the winning of
political power by the proletariat (dictatorship of
the proletariat), and about the building of
socialism and communism the world over.
 It was the mission of the Communist Party to

arm the working class with this scientific
knowledge and revolutionary political views, and
promote its socialist consciousness. In order to do this
it had to fuse scientific socialism with the
working-class movement, to arm the movement
ideologically and theoretically and help it stand up to
and overcome the bourgeois ideology. Attaching
the utmost importance to this task Lenin
emphasised: ``Without revolutionary theory there can
be no revolutionary movement."^^*^^
 Marx, Engels and Lenin also proved that the
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 1

p. 117.
88
working class needed the party in order to wage

a successful economic struggle against the
bourgeoisie, for better living conditions.
 Finally, and this is most important, the working

class needed the revolutionary Marxist-Leninist
Party to guide its struggle for the overthrow of
the capitalist system, the assumption of power and
the building of socialist society. The embodiment
of the Marxist-Leninist teaching about the Party
in revolutionary practice opened a new phase in
the history of mankind.
 The establishment of a revolutionary party of

the working class was not only a brilliant idea of
the foremost representatives of revolutionary
thought. It became an objective historical
necessity at the stage when the proletariat started to
develop into a class and grew aware of its class
interests. The conditions of the mounting struggle
against the bourgeoisie urgently demanded its
unification into a political organisation.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Birth of a Revolutionary
 Marxist Party in Russia
 Due to historical circumstances the world's first

Marxist-Leninist Party, a party of a new type,
was founded in Russia. At the turn of the 20th
century the centre of the revolutionary movement
shifted to Russia. A popular revolution against
tsarism, which was destined to develop into a
socialist revolution, was in the making.
 The proletariat of Russia needed a party to

guide its revolutionary movement, unite all
89
genuinely revolutionary forces and indicate the

ways and means of solving the problems facing
the proletariat.
 Lenin realised better than anyone else what

splendid opportunities would present themselves
for the victory of the revolution in Russia if the
working-class movement would be led by a
militant and well-organised vanguard of the
proletariat adhering to the positions of scientific
socialism. Addressing the revolutionary workers, Lenin
wrote in the newspaper Iskra: ``Before us, in all
its strength, towers the enemy fortress which is
raining shot and shell upon us, mowing down our
best fighters. We must capture this fortress, and
we will capture it, if we unite all the forces of the
awakening proletariat with all the forces of the
Russian revolutionaries into one party which will
attract all that is vital and honest in Russia."^^*^^
And Lenin and his associates working in the
difficult conditions of the underground built a party
of a new type which became the militant
political vanguard of the proletariat of Russia. It was
called the Russian Social-Democratic Labour
Party (RSDLP) which was later renamed the
Communist Party.
 The embryo of the revolutionary proletarian

party in Russia was the League of Struggle for the
Emancipation of the Working Class. Founded by
Lenin in St. Petersburg in 1895 the League played
an important role in uniting social-democratic
organisations in a number of industrial centres. The
_-_-_
90
First Congress of social-democratic organisations,

which took place in 1898, proclaimed the
formation of the RSDLP. But it was held in the absence
of Lenin and his closest associates, who were in
exile at the time, and failed to work out the
Party's programme and rules and overcome the
disunity in the social-democratic movement.
 The newspaper Iskra set up by Lenin helped

to pave the way for the ideological and
organisational unification of the Marxists of Russia into
a single party. Under Lenin's guidance the
newspaper rallied around itself on strictly Marxist
positions local Party committees, a cohort of
professional revolutionaries, and united the pick of
the revolutionary proletariat of Russia.
 The unification of revolutionary Marxist

organisations was completed at the Second Congress
of the RSDLP in the summer of 1903 which
founded the proletarian party of a new type, the
Leninist Party. The Congress adopted a
MarxistLeninist programme of struggle for the overthrow
of the autocracy and the rule of landowners and
capitalists, and for the establishment of the
dictatorship of the proletariat as an instrument of the
socialist transformation of society.
 Lenin and his associates upheld the idea of

establishing a Marxist revolutionary party in an
acute struggle against the anarchists, Narodniks,
Economists and other proponents of anti-Marxist
trends, who were pushing the proletariat on a false
path and did their utmost to persuade the
workers that they did not need their own party. The
anarchists, for example, rejected the need of any
91
political organisation in general. The

anarchosyndicalists said that the working class should not
engage in politics and that it could get along very
well with only the trade unions (syndicates). The
Narodniks, who adhered to liberal positions,
advanced a programme of petty reforms and in
fact gave up the struggle against tsarism. The
Economists lauded the elemental strength of the
working class and suggested that all efforts should
be concentrated solely on organising the workers'
economic struggle against the proprietors and the
government. Proceeding as they did from false
conceptions of the ways of altering the capitalist
reality, all those who called themselves ``friends
of the working class" and ``friends of the people"
actually weakened the proletariat and tried to
leave it without a militant revolutionary party.
 The founding of a Marxist-Leninist Party in

Russia was a great blow at opportunism in the
proletarian movement and a signal victory of the
working class. Lenin's words ``Give us an
organisation of revolutionaries, and we will overturn
Russia!" uttered on the threshold of the 20th
century proved to be truly prophetic. The Communist
Party which he created rallied the working class
ideologically and politically, correctly orientated
it, framed the strategy and tactics of
revolutionary struggle and piloted the entire course of the
socialist revolution. The Great October Socialist
Revolution triumphed under the direct leadership
of the Communist Party headed by Vladimir
Lenin.
92
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Communist Party and Socialism
 Having entered the political scene as a militant

vanguard of the working class, Lenin's Party not
only `òverturned Russia" and set her forth on
the path of all-round renovation and progress, but
also inaugurated a turn in the destiny of the
whole of mankind, a turn from capitalism to
socialism.
 By bringing the working class to power the

Communist Party fulfilled one of its most
important tasks, which, however, was only part of its
historic mission. Further on, the Party and the
working class had new tasks to cope with, more
complicated and immense. They had to guide and
organise all work on the revolutionary
restructuring of society, i.e., destroy the old and build a new
economic system, strengthen the young socialist
state of workers and peasants, cultivate new
relations between the people in all fields of human
endeavour, promote the general cultural level of
the people and educate them in the spirit of
communist consciousness.
 The Party, as Lenin put it, had the task of

`àssuming power and leading the whole people
to socialism, of directing and organising the new
system, of being the teacher, the guide, the
leader of all the working and exploited people in
organising their social life without the bourgeoisie
and against the bourgeoisie".^^*^^
_-_-_
93
 Under the guidance of the Communist Party

the world's first socialist society was built in the
Soviet Union. Thus, history irrefutably confirmed
the Marxist-Leninist conclusion that the
revolutionary party of the working class is essential for
bringing down the capitalist system and building
socialism.
 On the eve of the October armed uprising a

fairly large number of parties were active on the
Russian political scene. The Constitutional
Democrats (Cadets), monarchists, Mensheviks and
Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) advanced their own
programmes for the ``reorganisation of Russia"
and the ``salvation of the Motherland''. Some
urged the restoration of the monarchy and the
military-police dictatorship, others wanted to turn
Russia into a type of ``Western democracy'', and
still others pinned their hopes on the peasantry
believing that the country's future would be
shaped by what they called a ``muzhik
revolution''.
 Lenin and the Communists were the only ones

who realised that 20th century Russia could
advance only towards socialism, which alone could
bring the peoples out of the blind alley into which
imperialism had led them. And as time showed
they did not err.
 Created under capitalism to meet the demands

of social progress, the Communist Party proved
to be the sole political organisation capable of
waging a consistent struggle for the interests of
the working class and all working people, for the
realisation of socialist and communist ideals.
94
 The CPSU and the Marxist-Leninist parties in

other socialist countries are the only political
parties in history which succeeded in bringing
society to the high form of organisation of life
known as socialism. Everything that the Soviet
people and the peoples of socialist countries have
achieved in the sphere of social reorganisation, in
the development of the economy and democracy,
in raising the material and cultural level of the
people is closely connected with the leading role
of the Communist parties. No other party that
advanced the programme of socialist
reorganisation of society was able to carry it out. Experience
has proved that without a revolutionary
Marxist-Leninist Party to guide it the working class
cannot accomplish a socialist revolution and build
socialist society. That is why both the overt and
covert enemies of communism are conducting a
furious political and ideological offensive against
the Communist parties knowing full well that
their activity is the most powerful weapon of the
working class in its struggle for the renovation of
the world.
 How can it be explained that only the

Communists proved to be capable of guiding the
profound social transformations and leading society
along the path of progress and civilisation?
Wherein lie the wellsprings of the strength and
influence of the Communist parties? In order to
answer these questions it is necessary to look not
only into the history of the revolutionary struggle
of the working class and its parties, but also
examine the character and nature of the Communist
95
parties as political organisations created for the

purpose of effecting genuinely revolutionary
transformations of social life. The explanation is
found in the ideological, political and
organisational principles underlying the activity of the
Communist parties.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
WHAT KIND OF A PARTY
 DOES THE WORKING CLASS NEED?
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 Now the world revolutionary movement draws
on the enormous experience of the CPSU and
other Marxist-Leninist parties and, therefore, it is
absolutely clear what the revolutionary vanguard
of the working class should be like. But at the
end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th
century, when the working class of Russia was
just emerging in the broad arena of political
struggle against the autocracy and the bourgeoisie,
this question, naturally, was the subject of fierce
debates.
 The history of the working-class and

communist movement showed that the elaboration and
creation of the perfect form of organisation of the
proletarian vanguard was a matter of crucial
importance for the working class struggling to attain
its objectives. And although by the turn of the
century, when the revolutionary struggle entered
a period of fresh upsurge, the world working-class
movement had already existed for decades, it had
no example on which it could pattern its own
militant vanguard.
96
 The West European Social-Democratic parties,

which at the outset of their activity considerably
influenced the working-class movement, had by
that time largely undermined their prestige and
lost their former influence. Their inability to guide
the revolutionary struggle manifested itself most
forcefully in the imperialist epoch characterised
by the aggravation of all the social contradictions.
West European Social-Democracy slipped down
to opportunist positions and became reconciled
with the capitalist system. Instead of preparing
the masses for revolutionary action, they often
limited their activity to parliamentary statements
and declarations.
 There was no longer any doubt that the

working class needed a party of a new type in order to
struggle successfully against capitalism. Lenin was
the first among the Marxists to apprehend this. In
What Is To Be Done?, One Step Forward, Two
Steps Back and other works he developed the
teaching about the revolutionary Marxist Party
and upheld the Marxist principles of building the
party of working class in a decisive struggle
against opportunists of diverse hues.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Party of a New Type
 Lenin defined the main purpose of the party of
the working class and designated the main trends
of its activity. He presented irrefutable arguments
confirming the idea that the Marxist-Leninist
Party was destined to fuse the working-class
97
movement with scientific socialism, become the guiding

force and the political leader of the proletariat, its
vanguard uniting and directing its class struggle
into the channel of socialist revolution. This
conclusion is one of the basic tenets of Marxist--
Leninist science.
 The Marxist Party, as Lenin showed, is an

element of the working class, its vanguard. The
Party must not be confused with the entire class,
just as it is impossible to reckon every striker or
sympathiser as being in the Party. Admission to
membership of unreliable petty-bourgeois
elements or the cluttering up of Party organisations
with just anyone merely wishing to enrol weakens
the Party. The Party is formed by admitting to
its ranks the finest representatives of the working
class, the most conscious, organised and selflessly
dedicated to the cause of the revolution. Only on
this condition can the Marxist Party be the
vanguard of the working class and lead the entire
proletariat.
 The Party is the vanguard also because it is

armed with Marxist theory, with a knowledge of
the laws of social development and class struggle
and therefore is in a position to set the working
class correct objectives and designate effective
means of struggle. The Party develops the
Marxist theory by creatively applying its premises in
concrete historical conditions.
 Lenin worked out the organisational principles

of building a Marxist-Leninist Party of the
working class and formulated the norms of Party life.
Substantiating the need for a clear-cut and
7---2052
98
efficient organisation of all Party links, Lenin made

the point that in capitalist society the working
class is confronted with the combined strength of
monopoly capital and the bourgeois state
standing guard over its interests. The exploiting classes
have the army, police, courts, prisons, a huge
propaganda machine and vast material means at
their disposal. And the working class and its
revolutionary party will be able to overcome this
great force only by consolidating their ranks and
attaining a high level of organisation.
 History has also shown that the Party has to be

just as monolithic and well organised after the
revolution too to enable the working class in
alliance with all the working people to carry
through crucial social reforms in conditions of
class society and successfully build socialism. In
order to solve the immense tasks which arise in
the course of socialist construction the Communist
Party must have a centralised structure and
exercise centralised guidance of all its organisations
and members. These tasks can be solved only by
a Party which due to its high level of
organisation and proletarian self-discipline can extend its
influence over all spheres of public life and
together with the working class and other sections
of the working people uphold and carry into
effect the ideals of socialism.
 Consequently, the Party must not only be an

advanced, but also a well-organised contingent
whose members display unity of will, action and
discipline. ``The Party,'' Lenin wrote, `ìs the
politically conscious, advanced section of the class, it
99
is its vanguard. The strength of that vanguard is

ten times, a hundred times, more than a hundred
times, greater than its numbers.
 `Ìs that possible? Can the strength of hundreds

be greater than the strength of thousands?
 `Ìt can be, and is, when the hundreds are
organised.
 `Òrganisation increases strength tenfold."^^*^^
 It is inconceivable that a militant proletarian

vanguard, a genuinely revolutionary party, should
resemble an unorganised amorphous mass. The
Party is not only unity of ideas, of ideological
positions, it is also unity of action. And unity of
action is possible only when Party members
besides possessing rights are also charged with definite
responsibilities and maintain discipline and
organisation. The susceptibility of the working class to
organisation and discipline facilitates the
formation of the Party as the highest form of class
organisation of the proletariat.
 The fact that organisation is not an aim in itself

but a means of attaining an aim, does not in the
least belittle its role. No purposeful collective
activity can be successful without corresponding
organisation. And the greater the number of people
involved the greater the need for organisation. An
unorganised mass of people, no matter how great,
is nothing more than a throng of individuals.
_-_-_
100
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Forms
 of Party Organisation
 At the same time practice shows that not just

any organisation can ensure the achievement of
specific aims. They are attained only given
corresponding organisation and means. The forms of
organisation depend on the tasks which people set
themselves and also on the conditions in which
they act. For example, production requires
oneman management and implicit subordination of
all its participants to the will of a single person.
Or, say, the armed forces can successfully defend
the state only if each unit whether large or small
is efficiently organised and obeys its commander.
But an entirely different thing is, for instance, a
society for the protection of nature, or a society
of anglers and hunters which impose totally
different demands on the members.
 The Communist Party is a political union of
foremost representatives of the working class and
other toiling classes and social strata that has set
itself the historical objectives of overthrowing the
exploiting system and enforcing wide
revolutionary changes in social life. In order to carry through
this vast and enormously complicated task the
Party should have the most perfect form of
organisation; it is imperative that it should be closely
united ideologically and organisationally. "The
political consciousness of the advanced
contingent,'' Lenin emphasised, "is, incidentally,
manifested in its ability to organise. By organising it
achieves unity of will and this united will of an
101
advanced thousand, hundred thousand, million

becomes the will of the class."^^*^^
 The organisational strength of the

MarxistLeninist Party, therefore, is a factor of primary
importance both during the struggle for power
and after the socialist revolution, in the period of
socialist and communist construction. History
offers many examples showing that no genuinely
socialist programme can be carried out if the
organisational structure of the Party and the nature of
inner-Party relations do not fully ensure the
complete unity of action of the Communists.
 Since its appearance the working-class

movement has known various forms of organisation.
The most effective one and corresponding most
fully to the character and aims of the Communist
Party and the conditions and the nature of its
activity proved to be the organisation of the Party
according to the principle of democratic
centralism. Set forth in general terms by Marx and
Engels, this principle was thoroughly
substantiated and elaborated by Lenin.
 Lenin considered that the Party could not

fulfil its mission if it did not maintain close ties with
the working-class masses, with millions of working
people. Since the masses are the decisive force of
social progress, the Party will be unable to
influence the course of events without expanding
and strengthening these contacts, without the
support of the masses. Neither could it develop and
_-_-_
102
grow stronger itself unless it draws fresh strength

from the proletariat, from the working people.
 A Marxist revolutionary party differs from the

other organisations of the working people in that
it is the highest form of class organisation of the
proletariat. The Party is in a position to lead all
the other organisations of the proletariat in the
common struggle for the overthrow of the system
of exploitation and the establishment of socialism
because it unites the most class-conscious and
organised sections of the working class and has a
knowledge of the laws of social development and
of the ways and means of fighting capitalism.
 Such are the basic requirements of a

revolutionary Marxist party of the working class. First
formulated by Lenin they have since been adopted
by the world communist movement.
 The enemies of communism and their actual

allies, Right-wing revisionists, have been alleging
that Lenin's ideas about the Party and the
principles of Party life formulated at the beginning of
the century are outdated and no longer conform
to modern conditions. The experience of the world
communist movement, however, refutes these
assertions. Life itself has corroborated Lenin's views
on these issues. The Marxist-Leninist Party passed
its long test in the most diverse historical
conditions: in the period of struggle for power, and in
the years of socialist construction, both in the
formerly backward countries such as Mongolia, and
in such industrially advanced countries as the
German Democratic Republic. Committed to
Lenin's principles of Party development,
103
Marxist-Leninist parties are making headway in their

revolutionary struggle and the building of
socialism and communism. Developing and modifying
certain forms of Party leadership and the
organisation of inner-Party activity in keeping with the
historical conditions and the fresh problems
arising before them, the Marxist-Leninist parties
undeviatingly adhere to Lenin's teaching about the
Party.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
WHO MAKES UP
 THE COMMUNIST PARTY?
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 The success of a Communist Party's activity

depends on the correctness of its policy, the
strength of its links with the masses, efficiency of
its forms and methods of work and many other
factors. To a large extent it also depends on the
people which the Party unites, on their abilities
and aspirations. In other words, a great deal
depends on the Party's social image, its composition.
A party is a political association of
representatives of one or several classes and social strata.
Just as not every class is capable of guiding the
struggle for the revolutionary transformation of
society, so not every party can lead and direct this
struggle.
104
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Class Approach
 to the Development of the Party
 The communist movement has been in existence

for over a hundred years. There is the more than
50 years' experience of socialist construction in
the USSR and 25 years of development of a
number of other socialist countries. Therefore, it can
be considered to be proved both theoretically and
practically that the working class is the one and
only class whose objective economic position
enables it to fight consistently and to the end for
socialist ideals. It has also been proved
theoretically and practically that the revolutionary
Marxist-Leninist Party of the working class is the only
party which can guide the working masses
towards socialism.
 Born of its class the party of the proletariat has

deep-lying roots not only in the midst of the
workers, but also in other sections of the people. And
the more it draws into its ranks the foremost rep- I
resentatives of the peasantry and the intelligentsia
as well as the workers, the greater its influence in
society.
 The Great October Revolution, which the

Communists led to victory and which put the Soviets
of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies in
power, raised millions of people of all the toiling
classes and sections of society to conscious partic- j
ipation in historic events. The prospects of revolu- '.
tionary socialist changes inspired a large number
of workers, peasants and members of the
intelligentsia to join the Party. This enabled the Party
105
to rely firmly on the masses and draw the entire

people into socialist construction.
 But Lenin and the Party always took into

account that the dictatorship of the working class,
its leadership, could be effected only through a
party in which workers constituted the majority.
This line in Party development has been
consistently enforced since the inception of Soviet power.
 In October 1917 about 350,000 Communists

launched the offensive on the capitalist system.
Approximately 60 per cent of them were workers,
about 8 per cent peasants and 32 per cent
intelligentsia and people from other sections of society.
With such a social composition of the Party, Lenin
pointed out, the Communists rallied around
themselves "the entire vanguard of the proletariat and
the overwhelming majority of the working
peopie".^^*^^
 The Party grew as more and more working

people were drawn into socialist construction and
their political awareness and activity increased.
Its ranks were swelled by representatives of the
working class and people from the other working
sections of Soviet society. But the Party saw to it
that the working class always held the leading
place. It achieved this by special campaigns to
enrol workers, by ideological and political work
directed to this end and by modifying the
conditions and practice of enrolling members to give
priority to representatives of the working class.
 The CPSU has always approached the question
_-_-_
106
of its development from clearly-defined class

positions. It has absorbed all the best features of the
working class, its revolutionary energy and
organisation, its devotion to the ideas of socialism and
communism and the interests of the working
people, its sober mind and efficiency.
 The building of a developed socialist society in
the USSR changed the class structure of Soviet
society and promoted the socio-political and
moral unity of the Soviet people. The political and
cultural level of the people has risen
tremendously.
 The Party's contacts with the masses have

become still broader and more comprehensive.
 From a small group of Marxists-Leninists, the

CPSU since the establishment of Soviet power
has grown into a genuinely mass Party with
nearly 15 million full and probationary members.
 One out of every 11 adult Soviet citizens is a

Communist. The formation of such a large and
strong Party is a factor of fundamental
importance for the working class in attaining its historic
objective. The Party's contacts with the people and
its ability to solve many practical questions
depend largely on the proportion of Communists in
various strata and groups of working people in
every branch of the national economy, in each
working body. It is one thing if there are
Communists at a collective farm, and another if there
are none at all, or if Communists comprise four
or five per cent of a factory personnel or when
they make up a tenth or a fifth of the workers
and engineers.
[107]
SOCIAL COMPOSITION
OF THE CPSU IN 1973
(per cent)
Industrial workers
Collective farmers
White-collar workers
108
 The social structure of the CPSU today

includes representatives of practically all classes, social
strata and groups, of the entire Soviet people: 40.7
per cent of its members are workers, 14.7 per cent
collective farmers and 44.6 per cent are engineers,
agronomists, teachers, doctors, research workers,
writers, artists, actors, and administrative
personnel.
 While admitting to its membership the foremost

representatives of the nation, the Party takes care
that the working class continues to occupy the
leading place in its composition. It is stated in the
Resolution of the 24th CPSU Congress that this
principle fully conforms to the Party's nature
and the place and role of the working class in
Soviet society. The working class is the vanguard
of Soviet society, a class which is employed in the
crucial sphere of material production, in industry,
and the role played by the workers in conditions
of the scientific and technological revolution is
steadily mounting. Today more than six million
workers are Communists.
 Ensuring its growth primarily by accepting the

workers, the CPSU at the same time consistently
draws the foremost representatives of the
collective-farm peasantry into its ranks. Agriculture is
one of the most important sectors of the national
economy accounting for more than a third of the
national income. Its sustained development is
essential for the building of the material and
technical basis of communism. The rural Party
organisations are the Party's powerful mainstay in
communist construction.
109
 The CPSU has always attracted to Party

membership the foremost representatives of the
numerous contingents of the Soviet intelligentsia which
is playing an important role in the life of society.
In shaping its social structure the Party is
striving to assess correctly the rapid numerical growth
of the Soviet intelligentsia, its mounting role in
communist construction, in promoting the scientific
and technological revolution, in the
administration and in society's cultural activities. Specialists
in industry and agriculture, scientists and people
in the sphere of culture and the arts comprised
approximately 22 per cent of the people admitted
to Party membership between the 23rd and 24th
CPSU Congresses. Today 33 per cent of the
engineers, 50 per cent of the agronomists and livestock
experts, 25 per cent of the school teachers and 20
per cent of the doctors are Communists.
 The CPSU pays a great deal of attention to the

correct placement of Party members. Communists
are assigned to key sectors of communist
construction, and at present about 75 per cent of the CPSU
members are employed in the sphere of material
production.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Growth of the Party Ranks
 The CPSU has always attached great

importance to augmenting its membership and building
up a mass Party. Otherwise it would have been
difficult to ensure Party guidance of all the
numerous sections of socialist and communist
construction and successfully solve the problems facing the
110
country. At the same time the Party makes sure

that only the best representatives of the working
people, capable of being in the vanguard of the
working class and the whole people, arc admitted
to membership.
 Speaking about the need qualitatively to

improve the composition of the Party Lenin noted:
"We must spare no effort to make this vanguard
of the proletariat, this army . . . capable of
coping with the tasks that confront it. And it is
confronted by tasks of gigantic international and
internal importance."^^*^^ It is therefore necessary to
take into account not only the social status of those
admitted to CPSU membership, but also their
social and political image, i.e., their ideological
and political maturity, social activity and business
and moral qualities.
 Fulfilling Lenin's behest, the Communist Party

of the Soviet Union is making ever higher
demands of its members and selects them
accordingly. In keeping with the Party Rules each
application to membership is considered individually by
primary Party organisations. This imposes great
responsibility on each organisation since it has to
make a thorough appraisal of the merits and
demerits of each applicant, assess his political and
labour activity and moral qualities. In this sense
the strength of the Party's influence depends
to an enormous degree on the correct solution of
questions concerning the admittance of new
members at each factory, collective farm and office.
_-_-_
111
 Without advancing any social restrictions to

Party membership for representatives of one or
another class or social stratum, the CPSU Rules
nevertheless clearly state: "The Communist Party
of the Soviet Union is the tried and tested militant
vanguard of the Soviet people, which unites, on a
voluntary basis, the more advanced, politically
more conscious section of the working class,
collective-farm peasantry and intelligentsia of the
USSR___Membership of the CPSU is open to
any citizen of the Soviet Union who accepts the
Programme and the Rules of the Party, takes an
active part in communist construction, works in
one of the Party organisations, carries out all
Party decisions, and pays membership dues.''
 This means that any Soviet citizen can be a

Party member; nevertheless by far not all the
applicants are admitted to membership. The
CPSU takes into account that the future
Communist must be not only a hard-working person and
an honest citizen, but also an active participant in
public and political life. In their overwhelming
majority Soviet people are conscientious and
honest. But the Party is a militant political
organisation of Communists, and people are not
born but become Communists. It is their
ideological and political training, social and labour
activity and degree of awareness of their public duty
that are the main criteria for their admittance to
Party membership.
 The CPSU owes its moral strength and

mounting prestige to the fact that its members represent
the foremost section of the Soviet people and
112
selflessly serve the interests of the working people,

and that revolutionary fervour, vigorous political
activity and high awareness of public duty are
characteristic features of Communists.
 The Party has always maintained that it could

best improve its composition by purging its
membership of alien elements which managed to get
into its ranks. Lenin drew the Party's attention to
this task on more than one occasion believing that
people adhering to hostile class positions,
careerists and adventurers should not be allowed to
remain under the banner of the Marxist
revolutionary party. ''. . . It was absolutely inevitable,''
he wrote in an article headlined "A Great
Beginning'', "that adventurers and other pernicious
elements should hitch themselves to the ruling party.
There never has been, and there never can be, a
revolution without that. The whole point is that
the ruling party should be able, relying on a sound
and strong advanced class, to purge its ranks.
 ``We started this work long ago. It must be

continued steadily and untiringly."^^*^^
 Carrying out Lenin's behest the CPSU purges

its organisations of people who proved to be
unworthy of being called Communists. The Party
always pays attention to both political and
general education of the Communists. Practically all
full and probationary members study at various
levels of the Party education system. Their
curriculum includes Marxist-Leninist philosophy,
political economy, scientific communism, the history
_-_-_
113
of the CPSU, organisational principles and

development of the Party, the fundamentals of
Marxism-Leninism, the fundamentals of political
science, problems of the world communist
movement and international politics, and economics.
Today 50 per cent of Party members have either
a higher or secondary education; about 6.6 million
are specialists in various fields of knowledge,
including 150,000 of those who hold scientific
degrees of doctors or candidates.
 It goes without saying that if the Party lacked

the necessary number of qualified specialists in all
fields, it would have been unable either to guide
effectively the development of the economy,
science and culture, or successfully build the material
and technical basis of communism, and transform
social relations and educate members of the new
society.
 As the Soviet women come to play an

increasingly active role in social production and public
and political life, the number of women Party
members becomes greater. Today they account
for over 20 per cent of the membership.
 The CPSU is a genuinely international party.
Its membership includes the best sons and
daughters of 131 nations and ethnic groups of the country.
 Thus, by ensuring the qualitative growth of its

ranks, the continuous consolidation of its social
basis and the correct placement of Communists,
the CPSU creates all the necessary conditions for
successfully guiding the construction of socialism
and communism.
8---2052
114
__ALPHA_LVL2__
WHAT DEMANDS
 THE PARTY IMPOSES ON COMMUNISTS?
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 The CPSU is the recognised vanguard and

leader of the people because its members are the
true leaders of the masses, selflessly upholding
the interests of the working people, promoting
their happiness and welfare.
 Communists work in all fields performing the

most diverse jobs. They are workers and state
and public figures, collective farmers, doctors,
engineers and servicemen of all ranks. The
building of communist society, the most revolutionary
and lofty mission of our day and age, inspires
Communists to work not for the sake of personal
glory, but because they are profoundly dedicated
to the Party's cause.
 The Communists have always been the first to

respond to Party appeals: they were in the
forefront in the years of revolutionary struggle and
the building of socialism, in the period of
peaceful construction and in the hard years of war.
And today, too, they are in the forefront. The
Soviet Union's achievements in developing the
natural wealth of Siberia, in space exploration
and cultivation of virgin lands, in modernising
technology and solving the most complicated
scientific problems, have been attained as a result
of the dedication and revolutionary enthusiasm
of millions of Communists and scores of
millions of non-Party people whom they lead.
 The number of Party activists is steadily
growing. There are people with fiery hearts, tireless
115
and wilful in all organisations, all sectors of

communist construction. Everywhere, in
production, in the state administration, in culture,
Communists are a militant force. They set the
pace for well-organised work, initiate new
developments in production and public affairs,
participate in commissions controlling economic
activity, carry on political education among the
population and work in the Soviets, trade unions,
Komsomol and other mass organisations of the
working people. No serious undertaking can be
successfully carried out without guidance,
assistance and initiative of Party organisations and
Party members.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Communists'
 Labour and Public Activity
 Since the creation of the material and

technical basis of communism is the initial and most
important factor of communist construction it is
natural that active participation in the country's
economic life is also the primary duty of all
Communists.
 In socialist society production activity is one

of the main spheres where a Communist can
display his Party spirit. A CPSU member who says
a lot of good things about communism but does
little to hasten its establishment and does not
give all his strength to further the common cause
is a bad Communist, for the simple reason that
communism cannot be built solely out of good
intentions, but only by dint of hard work.
116
 Needless to say Soviet Communists have

always been in the vanguard of the labour effort,
but today, when the ideals of communism are
being translated into reality, it has become
especially important that they should show how to
work the communist way. Here personal example
is worth more than the most ardent words. Labour
and communism are inseparable and naturally the
extent to which a person fulfils his public duty is
gauged by his attitude to labour.
 However important it is to set a personal
example at work, a Party member has other duties too.
A Communist is called a Communist because
everywhere and in everything he is a political
fighter, a proponent of Marxist-Leninist ideas,
an organiser of the masses. A true Communist is
distinguished by his vigorous public activity.
 The CPSU Programme provides for the

gradual transition from state forms of organisation
of life to communist self-government. The
attainment of this long-term target largely depends on
the growing participation of the masses in state
administration, on the performance of various
public functions by the working people in their
free time, voluntarily and free of charge. It is
up to the Communists, as the most advanced and
class-conscious section of the working people, to
set an example in discharging public obligations.
Naturally, in order to be able to play the
guiding role in all spheres of political, state,
economic and ideological life, such a multi--
million organisation as the CPSU should rationally
organise and apportion its work among its
117
members. One of its main forms is Party assignments

whose role should not be underestimated.
However small and at times mundane they may seem,
they are both important and significant first and
foremost because they are set by the Party. In
many respects the Party's work among the masses
depends on how successfully Communists
fulfil these assignments. By charging members and
probationary members with specific duties, the
Party organisation translates the Party's policy
and directives into reality. Hence the great
responsibility of each Communist entrusted with a
specific assignment by his organisation. The rigid
fulfilment of a Party assignment is the law of
Party life.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
A Communist Is a Political Fighter
 At the same time the activity of Party

members is not confined to the fulfilment of
assignments. A true Communist is highly conscious of
his Party duty; he is a political fighter who
generously gives his strength and ability to the
Party and the people whether fulfilling a specific
assignment or not. In all circumstances he is an
active Party propagandist and organiser of the
masses. The Party supports such activity because
no assignment or instruction can envisage exactly
how he should act in one case or another.
 The building of communism is a manifold,

allembracing process which calls for the broadest
initiative in all matters on the part of
118
Communists in keeping with communist ideals and the

demands of life and Party conscience.
 A Communist cannot be a bystander. The

petty-bourgeois philosophy of "I meddle not" is
alien to a Party member. All that concerns the
Soviet state, the Party and the working people
concerns the Communists, too.
 Since the Party is an organisation of

revolutionary action it draws its strength from the fact
that its members by their daily activity uphold
the reputation of the Party. A Communist
remains a Communist so long as he acts in the
interests of the Party.
 A Party approach means that a Communist

always and everywhere seeks to improve things
without shirking difficulties.
 A Communist has to do much more than

merely conscientiously to perform his specific job
for a wage, for a fixed remuneration. In line
with the principles of Party organisation and
activity a Communist, whether he holds a leading
post or is a rank-and-file worker, is entrusted with
a share of general Party work. All Communists
without exception are duty bound to work
actively among the masses.
 There is no better indicator of a Communist's

awareness of his responsibilities as a Party
member than his attitude to public and to personal
interests. A Communist places the interests of
the Party, the state, the people and the collective
above his own. This does not mean, of course,
that Communists lead a life of self-denial and
are concerned solely with production and public
119
work. Like all people they have a wide range of

cultural and other interests. They derive
satisfaction and joy not only from public activity, but
also from family life and purely personal
interests and attachments. They can always draw
on the example of the teachers and leaders of
the working people---Karl Marx, Frederick
Engels and Vladimir Lenin, who were ardent
revolutionaries but who did not spurn the joys of
life.
 A Communist, however, has a notable quality

characterising his approach to all personal matters.
 For a Communist public and personal interests

are indivisible, but the personal never obscures
the great cause for which he joined the Party.
Whenever necessary he will forsake his personal
wishes and comfort to further the interests of the
Party and the people. It cannot be otherwise.
That is why Communists have such a high
reputation among the people.
 The Party is a voluntary union, and people

join it only if they wish to do so. On its part the
CPSU admits only those people who have
realised the need to be in the forward ranks, who
are ready at their own free will to devote their
strength and knowledge to the communist cause.
The Party is strong because it is a union of
industrious people, for the energetic activity of a
Communist is the source of strength of each
Party organisation and the Party as a whole.
 The people of the USSR regard the Party as

their militant vanguard, and each Communist is
an example of determination and efficiency.
120
 Today, when the Party is coming to play still

greater role as the organiser of communist
construction, it is most important that all
Communists and Party organisations raise their activity
to a higher level to cope with the key problems
of social development in the USSR. The creation
of the material and spiritual prerequisites for
building communism calls for tremendous creative
energy on the part of the people. It is the primary
duty of all Party organisations to generate this
energy in each collective, fuse the efforts of the
working people and direct them towards the
achievement of the common aim. And the better
each Communist performs his Party duty, the
sooner this task will be accomplished.
 Passive attitude and indifference are alien to

the very spirit of the Communist Party, its
ideological and organisational principles and
traditions.
 ``The Party,'' said General Secretary Leonid

Brezhnev in the CC CPSU Report to the 24th
Party Congress, "cannot accept passivity and
indifference. If you are a Communist your duty is
not to shirk difficulties, not to encourage
backward attitudes, but to be a politically conscious
and active fighter of the Party. Always and
everywhere---in work, social activities, study and
everyday life---a Communist must remain a
Communist and worthily bear the lofty title of
member of our Leninist Party.''
121
__ALPHA_LVL2__
HOW THE COMMUNIST PARTY
 IS ORGANISED
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 Having guided the Soviet peoples into

socialism the CPSU is now fulfilling its mission of
directing communist construction. Its progress in
this field is very largely due to the fact that the
relations between Communists and the
innerParty life are based on principles which make
the Party strong and monolithic, bolster its
militant spirit, stimulate the political activity of its
members and are in keeping with the character
of the political organisation of the vanguard of
the Soviet people.
 The CPSU unites 379,000 Party organisations

and millions of Communists. It includes
large Party organisations at giant industrial
enterprises, and organisations with only a few
Party members. Its members represent various
social strata and the most diverse occupations. At
the same time, the CPSU is an integral social
organism. Each Party organisation is its living
cell. It is connected with the entire Party both
ideologically and organisationally, and lives and
acts in keeping with the rules regulating the
activity of the Party as a whole. These rules are
called Leninist in honour of the man who laid
them down.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Democratic Centralism
 The pivotal organisational element of the life
and work of Communists is the Leninist principle
of democratic centralism that combines the
122
broadest independent activity of Party members

with respect for the will of the majority, strict
discipline and subordination of lower
organisations to those standing at a higher level. It was
democratic centralism that gave the vanguard of
the working class of Russia and later of other
countries the monolithic stability and strength
which made it possible to wage drawn-out and
victorious battles against class enemies and fight
successfully for socialism and communism. The
CPSU proceeds from the basis that in order
successfully to guide society it is essential that all
Party organisations consistently adhere to the
principle of democratic centralism.
 Democratic centralism is the organic unity of

democracy and centralism. Their fusion makes
the Party capable of vigorous political action,
develops the initiative of the Communists and at
the same time helps the Party act with confidence
and determination.
 The need to build a Communist Party on

democratic principles stems in the first place from
the determinant role played by the working class,
the working masses in the historical process. The
Marxist-Leninist thesis about the role of the
popular masses in shaping history likewise applies
to Party members, the Communists. While the
mass of people is the main force of society, the
Communists are the main force of the Party.
Therefore inner-Party relations are built in such
a way as to enable the Communists decisively to
influence the elaboration of policy, the formation
of all leading Party bodies and display their
123
initiative. The correct implementation of the

principle of democratic centralism in the
organisation of inner-Party life makes all this possible.
 Democratism is closely connected with the very

nature of the Communist Party. The Party is a
voluntary political organisation, a union of
Communists sharing the same ideas. Therefore the
members of this union have equal rights and
share common duties and responsibilities. All
Party members, Lenin noted, participate in all the
affairs of the Party on an equal footing without
any exception either directly or through their
representatives.
 The Communists are the supreme authority in

their organisation and their vote is decisive at a
Party meeting, just as the vote of their delegates
is decisive at a Party conference or congress.
Communists shape the Party's policy and the
decisions of their organisation. In the final count
all inner-Party relations are based on this
Leninist principle.
 Party democracy is a system under which

Communists feel themselves masters of their
organisation, competent to conduct all its affairs
and be responsible for them. It is written down
in the CPSU Programme: "The development of
inner-Party democracy must ensure greater
activity among Communists and enhance their
responsibility for the realisation of the noble ideals of
communism. It will promote the cultivation in
them of an inner, organic need to act always and
in all matters in full accordance with the
principles of the Party and its lofty aims."
124
 Inner-Party democracy is guaranteed by the

principle of electiveness of all leading Party
bodies, collective Party leadership, mandatory
responsibility of the leading bodies to Party
members, publicity of Party life and the equal
rights and equal responsibilities of all Party
members. It is also ensured by the fact that all
questions of Party activity are discussed and
decided on a broad democratic basis.
 In conformity with the CPSU Rules each

Communist has the right to discuss freely all questions
of Party policy and practical matters at Party
meetings, conferences and congresses, at the
meetings of Party committees and in the Party
press. He can put forward proposals and openly
express and defend his views until his
organisation passes a decision. He has the right to
criticise any Communist, whatever his post, at Party
meetings, conferences, congresses and at plenary
meetings of Party committees. Any suppression
of criticism or persecution of a person for his
critical remarks is strictly penalised within the
Party.
 A Party member has the right to be present at
Party meetings and sittings of Party bureaus and
committees when the question of his activity or
behaviour is up for discussion. He is entitled to
submit questions, applications and
recommendations to any Party organisation right up to the
CPSU Central Committee and demand a
comprehensive reply.
 Centralism is no less important in the

organisation of the system of inner-Party relations.
125
Inner-Party democracy, as Lenin saw it, is closely

associated with discipline, which is identical for
all Communists, and with centralism in the work
of all Party organisations.
 In socialist society, as we have said above,

the Communist Party is the organiser of all
socio-economic transformations. For the Party to
be able to embody consistently the ideals of the
working class in all spheres of social activity, all
its organisations must be guided by uniform
political and organisational principles, by a single
programme and rules, have a single leading
centre and be equally subject to Party discipline.
 Centralism is also necessary because the Party

acts as an integral political community of people
with a single conviction, the Marxist-Leninist
world outlook. Finally, people join the Party so
as to act all together and not separately. Not a
single Party member could rely on the Party and
the Party itself could not firmly rely on any
Communist if they were not welded together by the
unity of organisation. Any person who does not
want to act alone, out of contact with the Party,
but strives for joint effort, relying on the strength
of the organisation and the compounded abilities
of the Party's fighters, must inevitably take into
account the will of his organisation and the whole
Party.
 That is why the Communist Party of the Soviet

Union is a centralised organisation with its
activity based on ideological, political and
organisational principles common to all its links. It
has a single supreme guiding body---the Party
126
Congress---while between the congresses the top
Party body is the Central Committee. Decisions
of Party Congresses and of the Central
Committee are binding on all Communists. All Party
organisations are subordinated to the Party centre;
the decisions and instructions of higher Party
bodies are binding on all lower bodies; the
minority in all organisations and their leading
bodies is subordinated to the majority.
Centralism also means that the lower bodies have to
report to the higher ones, and that Communists
have to report to their Party organisations. It
also implies rigid Party discipline and equal
responsibility to the Party of all its members
whatever their posts.
 In this respect the revisionists adhere to

opposite views. Disregarding facts and historical
practice they strive to prove that as a principle
of organisation of Party life democratic
centralism has outlived itself long ago and should be
discarded. Yet rejection of democratic centralism
as the guiding principle of the Party's
organisational structure, or any extenuation of this
principle will expose the Party to great danger.
 While Right-wing revisionists want to reduce

the Party to the level of a debating society, the
``Left''-wing pseudo-revolutionaries are striving
to turn it into a military-bureaucratic
organisation implicitly obeying its ``leader''. In spite of
their outward distinctions, it is easy to see that
the Right and ``Left'' opportunists are united
in their negation of the Leninist principles of
Party development and life which have been
127
tried and tested by the entire world communist

movement.
 Marxism-Leninism does not regard democracy

and centralism as two separate principles, but as
two facets of a single principle, as a foundation
of all inner relations in the Communist parties.
It is impossible to draw an opposition: either
centralism or democratism, for the two cannot be
separated. The Central Committee Report to the
24th CPSU Congress noted: "Both anarchic lack
of discipline, presented as democracy, and
bureaucratic centralisation, hindering the promotion
of the initiative and activity of Communists, are
equally injurious to the Marxist-Leninist Party.''
Only by developing on the basis of democracy
and centralism will the Party be able to
strengthen inner-Party relations.
 The strengthening of the Party and the

enhancement of its role in society depends wholly
on the all-round promotion of a democratic
atmosphere in all its organisations and leading
bodies, collective discussion of key issues, the
increasing role of each member in the affairs of
his organisation, promotion of the initiative of
the lower organisations coupled with the
consolidation of centralism and discipline and
greater responsibility for the implementation of
the Party's policy and the decisions of the Party
organisations.
 The fact that organisationally the Communist

Party develops not in keeping with subjective
wishes and views, not spontaneously, but on the
sound scientific foundation, according to the
128
objective laws of contemporary social development

and in conditions of class struggle, endows it with
great strength and advantages over the bourgeois
and reformist parties.
 Democratic centralism in the Party rests on the

clear-cut structure of its organisations. Primary
Party organisations set up at places where
Communists work are united into district and city
organisations in keeping with the country's
administrative-territorial division; all district
organisations of a region or territory are united into
a regional or territorial organisations, and so
forth. The organisation servicing an area is
higher than all the Party organisations servicing its
various parts. This structure, which takes into
account the decisive role of the working
collectives in the life of the country and the existing
state-administrative pattern, enables the Party
more effectively to guide the activity of Party
organisations and influence the corresponding state,
economic and public organisations in attaining
the common goals.
 Despite their varied composition and the

different conditions in which they operate, the
organisations of the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union comprise a single unit and have the same
Programme and Rules.
 In line with the existing administrative--

territorial division of the country, the CPSU unites
14 Communist parties of the constituent
republics, 6 territorial, 142 regional, 10 area, 774 city,
480 urban district and 2,832 rural district
organisations.
129
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Election and Accountability
 of the Leading Party Bodies
 In the CPSU, leadership from bottom to the

top is effected on the basis of self-government,
and first and foremost on the basis of election
and accountability of the leading Party bodies
to the Party masses. ''. .. All officials, all leading
bodies, and all institutions of the Party are
subject to election, are responsible to their
constituents, and are subjest to recall."^^*^^ This pattern
of inner-Party relations promotes the spirit of
comradely co-operation in the Party and is a
reliable foundation for Party activity.
 The Communists either directly or through

their delegates decide who should be entrusted
with organisational or other leading functions in
the primary Party organisation, in the district,
city or regional Party committees and in the
Central Committee, who is worthy of such trust
and is capable of living up to it. The right of
Party members to form their leading bodies is a
matter of decisive significance. The Party
effectuates its policy through people. And since a Party
organisation is concerned with successfully
carrying out its policy which embodies the will of
the Communists in big and small matters, it
promotes the most deserving to leading posts. Lenin
considered that such an approach would make
the choice "not the result of clannishness,
friendship or force of habit. . . but the result of the
_-_-_
9---2052
130
considered decision of the 'rank and file' 

themselves (i.e., of all the members of the Party) as
to their own political conduct".^^*^^
 The leading bodies of the CPSU organisations
are made up of workers, collective farmers,
representatives of all social strata and groups, of
all the nationalities of the country, people
employed in various state, public, economic and
cultural sectors. On the eve of the 24th CPSU
Congress 423,000 workers and collective farmers
were elected to the Party bureaus and
committees. Of the total number of members and
alternate members of district and city Party
committees nearly 40 per cent are workers and collective
farmers. The number of workers and collective
farmers has also increased in the regional and
territorial committees and in the Central
Committees of the Communist parties of the
constituent republics.
 Leading Party bodies periodically report on

their activity to Party members at conferences
and congresses. These reports are scheduled in
keeping with the CPSU Rules.
 Reports are an indispensable form of

democracy in the CPSU, one of the most effective
means by which the Communists control the
activity of their leading bodies. These reports
give the Communists the opportunity to verify
how Party bureaus and committees fulfil their
mandates and suggestions and how the decisions
of a Party organisation and the policy of the
_-_-_
131
Party are carried into effect. This is not only the right
but also the duty of Party members. Communists
follow Lenin's instructions who wrote: ''. . .the
Party itself is obliged to see to it that its Rules are
observed by its functionaries. . . . He who cannot
demand successfully of his agents the discharge
of their Party duties towards those who entrusted
them is unworthy of the name of Party member."^^*^^
 One can judge of the extent of this control and

the activity of the Communists by the activity of
the Party members at meetings held to hear
reports and elect Party organisations. Annually
more than three million Communists, or almost
a quarter of the total, speak at such meetings
and conferences in primary Party organisations.
 It has become the practice in many regional
and territorial committees and in the Central
Committees of the Communist parties of the
constituent republics to report on the fulfilment of
decisions and their work at statutory plenary
meetings of the Bureau of the Party Committee.
In between conferences district and city Party
committees periodically deliver information
reports in the biggest Party organisations.
Similarly, regional and territorial Party committees and
the Central Committees of the Communist parties
in the constituent republics inform the Party
functionaries and all Communists.
 The regular reports of Party bodies, which

have become a rule in the CPSU, testify to the
great viability of Party democracy. The steady
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ Ibid., Vol. 8, p. 224.
132
growth of the political activity of the

Communists, the increasingly principled stand of the Party
organisations and their mounting demands of
their members show that the Communists, as
fullfledged members of the Party, not only fulfil the
instructions of their chosen representatives, but
also help them and control their activity.
 Party organisations always bear in mind that

the effect of the Leninist principle of
accountability depends not only on the need to deliver
reports regularly, but above all on how free,
thorough and consistent is the discussion of the
activity of the bureau, committee or secretary of
the Party organisation. Reports are not a
formality; their purpose is to enable Communists to
sum up the work done, plan ways of improving
it and assess how their representatives fulfilled
their obligations. The Party considers this the
most important aspect of the reports.
 It goes without saying that inner-Party

democracy is not only the observance of democratic
principles during the elections and reports of
Party bodies, or the solution of problems.
Democracy is characteristic of all the work carried
on by the entire Party and its organisations.
 The Party attaches great importance to

informing all Communists of Party activity, to
improving inner-Party information. The CPSU
Central Committee regularly informs local Party
bodies, the functionaries and all Communists as
well as broad sections of the people about the key
problems of the Party's work and the country's
domestic and international situation. Local Party
133
bodies regularly inform the higher Party bodies,

right up to the Central Committee, about their
work and problems. Such information helps the
leading Party bodies to size up the situation and
to take into account the experience and opinion
of Party organisations and the working people
when resolving problems. Regarding inner-Party
information as an important instrument of
leadership and means of education and control,
the CPSU takes measures to make it more
operational and effective.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Party Discipline and Responsibility
 The CPSU pays close attention to another

very important aspect of the Leninist principle
of democratic centralism, namely strict
accountability and responsibility of Party members to
their organisation for the fulfilment of Party
decisions, observance of Party discipline and
mandatory accountability of the lower bodies to
the higher: the primary Party organisation to the
district committee, the latter to the regional
committee, and so forth. This is not a formal matter
and the Party attaches fundamental importance
to it. The endeavours of the Party and the
nation will be successful only with the steady
observance of Party discipline by all Party
organisations and bodies from top to bottom.
Carelessness and irresponsibility in the fulfilment of
Party decisions are incompatible with the Party's
high mission.
134
 The Leninist principle of democratic

centralism means uncompromising demands imposed by
both the Party members on the elected leadership,
and by the Party committees on the Communists.
This mutual responsibility is a stimulus of the
Party's activity and a guarantee of the further
enhancement of the role and prestige of each
Party organisation.
 Free discussion of matters of Party policy and
practical activity in every organisation is an
essential condition ensuring unity of action of the
Communists. But when the question is solved each
Party member is duty bound to carry out the will
of the organisation. When questions have been
considered and the decision adopted all
Communists act as one.
 Of course, there can be various approaches to

questions of practical activity. The coincidence of
the basic aims and interests of an individual
Communist and the Party does not mean that there is
bound to be perfect harmony on all questions.
Life has many complexities, and economic,
political and cultural development in a socialist
society is not left to chance. This development is
accompanied by many difficulties and contradictions
which have to be overcome. And frequently, in
order to fulfil one or another task in the spirit of
Party decisions a Communist has to act with civic
courage, integrity and selflessness.
 The CPSU Rules provide guarantees both

against the violation of Party discipline and
against the infringement on the Communists'
rights. These guarantees always bring out the
135
truth whenever the rights of a Party member are

violated. Lenin wrote that it would be "
inexcusable to forget that in advocating centralism
we advocate exclusively democratic centralism".^^*^^
The Party's common will can be created only
democratically.
 Mechanical discipline, which the apologists of

capitalism claim is maintained by Soviet
Communists, is in fact alien to the CPSU: its
discipline is conscious.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Criticism and Self-Criticism
 The CPSU consistently promotes criticism

and self-criticism in its practical activity. This
is necessary due to the objective processes of
social life which give rise to contradictions, and
to the errors and shortcomings springing from
subjective causes. The building of socialism and
communism is associated with critical and
continuous appraisal of social processes from the
point of view of Marxist-Leninist laws. It requires
thorough understanding and support of all new
phenomena that personify social progress, and
relentless struggle against everything that is
obsolete, conservative, all impediments in the way
of progress.
 The Party and the Soviet people are justly

proud of their successes in communist
_-_-_
136
construction. At the same time the Party teaches the

Communists not to be conceited and to regard
each achievement only as a step towards fresh
victories.
 Lenin regarded the Party's ability critically to

analyse its activity and frankly admit and then
rectify errors and shortcomings as a sign of its
seriousness and fitness to carry out socialist
transformation. Censuring any embellishment of
the actual state of affairs he called on the
Communists to be judiciously mistrustful of bragging
and not to ignore shortcomings, but to expose
and adjust them.
 The Communists undeviatingly follow Lenin's

instruction to study the experience of building a
new society so as to draw the lessons for the
future not only from successes, but also from
shortcomings and errors.
 The norms of inner-Party life effective in the

CPSU guarantee the extensive development of
criticism and self-criticism. But, of course, the
Communists support only that kind of criticism
which improves Party activity and promotes the
solution of problems.
 Party criticism is constructive and especially

effective when in addition to censuring
shortcomings and errors it exposes their causes and
shows how they can be remedied. Such an
approach is characteristic of CPSU Congresses and
Central Committee Plenary Meetings at which
the Party works out concrete measures of
improving the management of the economy, raising the
activity of the Party and state bodies among the
137
people to a higher level, and perfecting the style
and methods of Party and state leadership. The
introduction of these measures has ensured very
considerable progress in all fields of communist
construction.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Collective Leadership of the Party
 Lenin maintained that collective leadership was

indispensable for the successful activity of the
Party and its organisations.
 Many problems arise in the course of socialist

revolution and socialist and communist
construction. Their solution requires careful
consideration, scientific approach and effective leadership
of the practical activity of the working people.
The Party has to make a searching and objective
analysis of the existing situation, have a thorough
knowledge of the nation's interests, take into
account the opinions of large sections of people
and utilise the experience of the masses. There
is no better way of fulfilling all these tasks than
by employing the method of collective leadership,
one of the fundamental principles of the activity
of Marxist-Leninist parties.
 The method of collective decisions and actions,

stems from the very character of the Communist
Party.
 Collective leadership makes it possible to rely

on the knowledge and experience of a large
number of Party members. And collective
discussion and solution of complex problems of
138
social development enables the Party to assess

them more thoroughly and objectively.
 Collective leadership at all levels and links of

the CPSU is law. There are regular congresses
of the CPSU and the Communist parties of the
Union republics, regional, territorial, city and
district Party conferences, and general meetings
of primary Party organisations.
 Plenary meetings of Party committees and

meetings of their executive bodies are also held
regularly. In the period between the 23rd and
24th Congresses of the CPSU its Central
Committee held 16 plenary meetings to consider
important domestic and foreign policy questions.
The meetings of the Political Bureau of the CPSU
Central Committee and the meetings of the CC
Secretariat take place once a week.
 The Party sees to it that meetings,

conferences, plenary sessions and congresses most fully
express the will of the Communists of the
respective Party organisations and the Party as a whole.
This is ensured by the way the Party meetings,
plenary sessions and conferences are prepared
and conducted, by the manner of decision--
making and by an atmosphere stimulating collective
work which prevails at the meetings and
conferences.
 The CPSU seeks to involve in decision-making

all members of Party committees and bureaus
and every Communist. With this aim in view
rank-and-file and committee members are
assigned to prepare agendas for Party meetings
and plenary sessions of Party committees.
139
 The Leninist principle of collective leadership

means that in order to enable Communists,
members of Party bodies to discuss and solve
questions collectively, conditions should be created
under which the collegial Party body would be
in a position thoroughly to consider and resolve
all issues facing the organisation.
 But a collective decision is only the beginning,

for if it is not translated into life, collectivity will
be nothing more than empty talk.
 Developed by the Party in the course of its

practical activity, the Leninist principles of Party
life are set down in the CPSU Programme and
Rules. "Undeviating observance of the Leninist
standards of Party life and the principle of
collective leadership,'' states the CPSU Programme,
'"enhancement of the responsibility of Party
organs and their personnel to the Party rank and
file, promotion of the activity and initiative of
all Communists and of their participation in
elaborating and realising the policy of the Party,
and the development of criticism and self--
criticism, are a law of Party life. This is an
imperative condition of the ideological and
organisational strength of the Party itself, of the unity and
solidarity of Party ranks, of an all-round
development of inner-Party democracy and an
activisation on this basis of all Party forces, and of
the strengthening of ties with the masses.''
 Consistent concern for the observance of

Leninist standards and principles of Party life and the
further development of inner-Party relations are
a guarantee that the prestige and influence of the
140
CPSU will continue to grow in the interests of

the Soviet people and the communist cause, in
the interests of all progressive humanity.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
HOW THE PARTY GUIDES
 SOCIALIST SOCIETY AND THE STATE
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 For nearly six decades already the Soviet

Union has been confidently advancing along the
path opened by the October Socialist
Revolution. And although the front of creative activity
runs for thousands of kilometres passing not only
through factory shops and collective-farm fields,
but also through the hearts of the people, its
progress is calculated in advance and the entire
colossal job is meticulously planned and
organised. The country's advance towards
communism is sweeping and purposeful. The Soviet
society owes its dynamism and determination to
the political leadership of the Communist Party
of the Soviet Union.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Guiding Force
 of the Political
 System of Socialism
 As the vanguard of the working class and the

whole nation, the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union occupies the central place in the political
organisation of Soviet society: it unites the efforts
of state bodies and public organisations
concentrating them on the solution of problems of
141
 By virtue of its character, and the forms and

methods of its activity centred on policy-making,
ideological education and political organising of
the masses, the Communist Party is best adapted
to perform such guidance. Since there are Party
members and Party cells in all state and
public organisations, the Party can direct their
activity from within, i.e., through the
Communists.
 The Party is free from narrow departmental

or local interests and therefore can carry through
the necessary changes in the political, economic
and ideological spheres with the utmost
consistency and act in the best interests of the working
class and the whole nation.
 Historical experience shows that effective

Party guidance of the state and public organisations
and the success of the Party's work among the
masses depend not only on the contents of its
policy, but also on the mechanism of guidance
and the forms and methods of work the Party
employs.
 In its relations with the Soviets, the trade

unions, the Young Communist League and other
state institutions and public organisations the
Leninist Party firmly adheres to the positions of
socialist democratism. This means that the Party
promotes their activity in every way.
 The Communist Party draws the line between

its role of political leader and organiser of the
people, and the functions of state bodies and
public organisations. Relying on their political
prestige and the trust of the people, the Party
142
bodies enhance the independence and

responsibility of the bodies of people's power and
public organisations. The Party carries out its
decisions in the field of state administration through
Communists working in the Soviets, by way of
recommendations and suggestions to pertinent
state and public organisations. This is fully in
keeping with Lenin's demand "to increase the
responsibility and independence of Soviet officials
and of Soviet government institutions, leaving to
the Party the general guidance of the activities
of all state bodies. . .".^^*^^
 The Party as the political leader of society

regards it as its primary duty to outline the main
political development and national problems and
define the basic tasks of state and public organs
in conformity with the CPSU Programme and
general line, and to carry through its policy in all
links of the state and public system.
 The CPSU Rules state that Party organisations

and their leading bodies guide the Soviets, trade
unions, the Young Communist League,
cooperative societies and other public organisations
through their Party groups. But there can be no
substitution or mixing of duties and unnecessary
duplication. Whoever deviates from this rule,
who interferes in the activity of state and public
organisations and tries to command them or
dispenses petty tutelage, consciously or unconsciously
belittles the role of the Party, breeds a sense of
_-_-_
143
irresponsibility among the cadres and injures the

common cause.
 In their work Party organisations are not

supposed to substitute for other bodies. And when
Party organisations take to this course, their
political, ideological and moral influence over the
collective inevitably declines, in the first place
because they are preoccupied with routine
managerial functions. This style of work develops
sometimes when a Party organisation forgets that
its role is not that of a mere organiser of the
masses, but of their political organiser. The Party
formulates policy and rallies the people to
translate it into practice and fulfil the tasks of
communist construction. It promotes capable people
to authoritative positions, educates the masses
politically and together with them controls the
fulfilment of the adopted decisions. As regards
state administrative and economic-organisational
activity, it is vested in relevant state and
economic institutions.
 Since the October 1964 Plenary Meeting of the

CPSU Central Committee, Party activity has
been characterised by an enhancement of the role
of Party organisations and their leading bodies
as organisations and bodies of political guidance,
and the further consolidation of the role and
responsibility of state and public bodies.
Following the decisions of the 24th CPSU Congress
Party committees increasingly concentrate on
fundamental questions of social and economic
development, enhancement of the political and
labour activity of the masses, selection of cadres,
144
control over the fulfilment of the decisions of the

Party and Government and on educational
matters. This course fully corresponds to the Leninist
understanding of the mission and the character
of Party leadership.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Forms and Methods of Party Guidance
 The forms and methods of guidance employed

by the CPSU are determined by the place it
occupies in the political system of socialism, its
nature and character as the political
vanguard of society, and by the specific historical
conditions in which it acts.
 The CPSU always adapts the forms and

methods of its activity to the objective conditions
and targets of each specific period of communist
construction. In the pre-war years they had their
specific features, during the Second World War
they had other features, and today they are
different in many respects from those in the
preceding periods. This is natural.
 The CPSU has entered the new historical stage

with a wealth of experience of work among the
masses, the experience of building socialist
society. By securing the complete and final victory
of socialism---the establishment of developed
socialist society---in spite of extremely difficult
historical conditions, the Party has proved that
it is a farsighted political leader and vanguard
of the working people capable of solving the most
145
complicated problems of transforming the life of

society.
 In its Report to the 24th Congress the CPSU

Central Committee made the point that "the
main thing in the Communist Party's work is to
map out the general prospects of social
development, chart a correct political line and organise
the working people to implement it''.
 The Party is always heedful of the direction
and the character of social processes. It
thoroughly analyses them, correlating them with the aims
and interests of the working class and all the
people, and takes measures ensuring society's
further progress towards socialism and
communism. The Party's concern to make every step in
the country's development correspond to the
ideals of socialism and communism is fully in
keeping with the fundamental interests of the
entire Soviet nation.
 To illustrate the means and methods employed

by the CPSU in guiding various spheres of social
activity, we shall examine its guidance of
economic development.
 The leading Party bodies, from the Party

Congress and the Central Committee down to Party
conferences and the committee of a primary
Party organisation, each in its sphere, study and
consider all the fundamental questions of
economic development and then issue
corresponding instructions or recommendations to state and
economic bodies.
 What are these questions? The top Party bodies

above all deal with the direction, volume and
10---2052
146
rate of economic development, the structure of

the national economy, distribution of the
productive forces, scientific and technological
progress and growth of labour productivity, and also
with questions relating to the national income
and its distribution, budget revenues and
expenditures, enhancement of living standards,
improvement of the service industry, the training and
appointment of personnel, educational work, and
so forth. CPSU Congresses and Central
Committee Plenary Meetings consider long-term and
current economic development plans, economic
management, the situation in various branches of
industry and agriculture and ways and means of
stimulating their development.
 For example, the Plenary Meetings of the

CPSU Central Committee in March and
September 1965 drew up measures for improving the
planning of production and the system of
material incentives, which ensured a sustained
development of industry and agriculture. The
economic policy worked out by the Party over the
past few years and set forth in a comprehensive
form in the decisions of the 24th CPSU Congress
has become the foundation of the Party and state
economic activity.
 Local Party bodies also consider all

fundamental economic matters, including the
introduction of new technology and modernisation of
production, scientific organisation of labour,
labour productivity and material and moral
incentives.
 Primary Party organisations in industry,
147
transport, communications, building, in the material

and technical supplies service, in the sphere of
trade, public catering, the service industry,
collective and state farms and other agricultural
enterprises, design and development offices,
research institutes and cultural, educational and
medical institutions have the right to control the
work of the administration.
 Party organisations in ministries, state

committees and other national and local bodies and
departments control the fulfilment of the Party and
Government directives and the observance of
Soviet laws. It is their duty to take an active part
in improving the work of the apparatus and
instil in all staff-members a sense of responsibility
for their job. Party organisations in offices are
called upon to improve their services to the
population, resolutely fight against bureaucracy and
red tape, inform the respective Party bodies about
shortcomings in the work of offices and individual
members of the staff irrespective of their posts.
 The Party and its organisations check on the

effectuation of the economic policy and the
situation in industries and enterprises in various ways.
They receive reports from economic executives
and managers, regularly check up the activity of
economic bodies, analyse efficiency of various
economic links, and so on.
 Party control, just as Party guidance of

economic development in general, is designed to help
the workers and managers to fulfil their tasks.
Party organisations do not simply expose
shortcomings and errors, they always work out
148
measures to eliminate them and together with

workers' collectives take political, organisational,
ideological and other steps to improve
production.
 Political, ideological and organisational activity

of the Communists at enterprises is likewise a
very important form of Party guidance of
economic development. Using ideological and
organisational methods, Communists working in
factory shops, on construction sites and farms and
thus directly engaged in the creation of the
material and technical basis of communism carry
through the line envisaged in the programme of
 The selection, placement and training of top

personnel for the economy is another important
aspect of the Party guidance of economic
development. Party committees and organisations in
industries promote to administrative positions
people possessing the necessary political and
managerial qualities.
 Is it necessary for the Party to delve so deeply

into economic matters? Cannot the administrations
of industrial enterprises, trade unions or the
workers successfully cope with all economic
matters on their own?
 These questions, both theoretically and

practically, arose before the CPSU more than once
in the course of the 58 years of the existence of
Soviet power. The experience of these years has
proved beyond all doubt that Lenin's point of
view in his controversy over these questions with
the anarcho-syndicalists (a petty-bourgeois
149
opportunist trend hostile to the proletariat) was correct.

After the socialist revolution economic problems
for the Communist Party, as Lenin said, became
"the most interesting policy" and the "economic
policy" had to be moved to the forefront.
 The revolutionary transformation of capitalist

economic relations into socialist and the
building of the material and technical basis of
socialism and communism are a complex process. It
cannot develop haphazardly either on national
scale, or at a single enterprise. It has to be
directed in keeping with the objective laws of social
development and the emerging specific
circumstances. And it is the Party and its
organisations which carry on this mission day in and day
out.
 It is the activity of the Party of Communists

that enables the Soviet state to ensure the steady
economic growth, foster the complex and
coherent development of the productive forces and
raise labour productivity and the efficiency of
production. And it is the Marxist-Leninist
economic policy of the CPSU that has helped the
Soviet state to bring the backward hinterlands of
the nation to the level of the economically
advanced regions of the country, steer clear of
parochialism and isolation and have no
unemployment ever since the 1930s.
 If the Communist Party had not concentrated

its attention on the country's economic
development and had not made the principle of
democratic centralism the cornerstone of economic
organisation, the Soviet Union would have failed
150
to attain a purposeful cohesive growth of the

national economy and get rid of anarchy in
 No less essential is Party guidance in the spheres

of ideology and culture. The Communist Party
helps the people mould society's spiritual life in
such a way that it would promote the formation
of communist social relations and the education
of the new man in the spirit of communist
ideology and morality. The Party, Lenin underlined,
"must never for a moment lose sight of our
ultimate goal, but always carry on propaganda for
the proletarian ideology---the theory of scientific
socialism, viz., Marxism---guard it against
distortion, and develop it further".^^*^^ In the light of the
above the Party's support of progressive
developments in literature and art, and its criticism of
harmful trends are not only justifiable, but vitally
important.
 In the acute ideological struggle between

socialism and capitalism, the Party fights against all
manifestations of bourgeois ideology and morality
and arms the Communists and all Soviet people
with the scientific Marxist-Leninist world outlook.
Today, Marxist-Leninist propaganda and the
political education of the masses acquire the utmost
significance.
 Three Programmes of the Party, each

corresponding to a crucial historical period in the
development of socialism (the first adopted in 1903 at
the Second Congress, the second in 1919 at the
_-_-_
151
Eighth Congress and the third in 1961 at the

22nd Congress), are a concentrated expression of
revolutionary thought and revolutionary practice.
 Expressing as it does the interests of the

working class and all other toiling classes and social
strata, the CPSU concentrates these interests in
its policy that reflects the objective socio-economic
requirements of the developing Soviet society.
That accounts for the great political and moral
prestige of the CPSU with the Soviet working
class, the collective-farm peasantry and the
intelligentsia. All the 250 million inhabitants of the
Soviet Union recognise the Leninist Party as their
political leader and give it all support in its
undertakings.
 Thanks to its immense authority with the

Soviet people, the Party is able successfully to direct
the activity of all state, economic and public
organisations, of all working people, and channel
all the material and intellectual resources of
society towards the attainment of the common goal.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
THE GROWING ROLE OF THE CPSU
 IN DIRECTING COMMUNIST
 CONSTRUCTION
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 The history of Soviet society shows that the

building of a new society is attended by a further
enhancement of the role and importance of the
Communist Party. Suffice it to recall what a "drop
in the ocean'', as Lenin put it, was the Party in
the first years of Soviet power and compare it
with the mighty force which it is today.
152
 The growth of the role of the Party in guiding

Soviet society is a natural development which has
its specific causes and its effects.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Causes Enhancing the Role of the Party
 The CPSU Programme states that the

enhancement of the role of the Party derives in the first
place from the growing scale and complexity of
the tasks of communist construction.
 Communist transformation of society is a most

complex process. It is in fact extensive creative
work by the whole of society conducted in line
with a science-based programme and a single plan.
Therefore it is natural that this process can be
directed only by such a highly developed social
and political organisation connected with all
classes and strata of society as the Communist
Party.
 Equipped with a knowledge of the laws of

social development and the experience of
educating and organising the masses, the CPSU can and
does embrace the colossal scope of revolutionary
transformations, and comes to understand the
complexity and depth of the social processes
occurring in the course of communist construction.
 The gradual transition to communism, a system

with the highest degree of development of the
productive forces and social relations, naturally
calls for a still higher level of political and
organisational leadership.
 Another important factor of the growth of the

Party's leading role is the rapid development of
153
the activity and consciousness of the masses, and

the extensive participation of the people in state
administration. The Party is doing its utmost to
encourage the initiative of the people, directing
the creative enthusiasm of the masses towards the
solution of the urgent problems of communist
construction. Naturally, this not only increases the
scope of the work performed by the Party, but
also directly influences the development of the
Party itself and the forms and methods of its
work.
 Communist construction is successful when it is

conducted on the basis of broad socialist
democracy with active participation of the working
people and public organisations. This calls for the
co-ordination of their efforts and requires the
ability to turn effectively the energy and experience
of the masses to the advantage of social progress.
Only the Communist Party can carry out these
tasks because it has no narrow-mindedness or
parochial bias and enjoys great prestige among the
masses.
 Finally, the building of an absolutely new

social system involves a profound theoretical
elaboration of the ways of creating its material and
technical basis, the moulding of new social
relations and the education of the individual with a
communist psychology and morality.
 While the classics of Marxism-Leninism have

given only a very general outline of the contours
of the communist edifice, its detailed design and
blueprints and the entire programme of social
transformations are the job of the Party that has
154
proclaimed the struggle for the realisation of

communist ideals as its objective and is in the
leadership of this struggle.
 The transition from socialism to capitalism is

an objective process, though not a spontaneous
one. To help this process it is necessary objectively
to appraise the changes that are taking place,
comprehend their dialectics, find the correct
direction and ascertain the motive forces of further
development and chart ways for overcoming
difficulties and shortcomings. To do all this the Party
has to live up to its historic mission in the realm
of theory, too.
 Communism can be built only given a correct,

scientific understanding of the aims of social
development, of the present and the future.
 In guiding social processes, the CPSU proceeds

from the ideas of scientific communism. It takes
into account the objective demands of historical
development, defines the main targets, draws up
the political course and sets current tasks giving
them the most sensible and optimal expression.
As a result the Party is able to channel social
development towards communism and direct the
creative activity of the masses.
 The strength of the Party's influence is

immediately associated with its capacity to understand
and to reflect in its policy the laws and demands
of social development, with its ability to correctly
solve concrete social problems and elaborate
effective forms and methods of its policy. Since the
Soviet people were the first in history to
undertake communist construction and are following
155
new paths, it is natural that the theoretical

activity of the Communist Party is very complicated
indeed.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
What Ensures
 the Growing Role of the Party
 The Communist Party has adequate

opportunities and means to exert increasing influence in
various spheres of social life. It does this in the
first place by further deepening the scientific
principles of its policy, improving the forms and
methods of guiding state and public organisations,
raising the level of ideological and organisational
activity among the masses, perfecting inner-Party
relations and bolstering the vanguard role played
by the Communists.
 The cornerstone of CPSU leadership of

communist construction is the theoretical
understanding of the social processes taking place in the
USSR, and the elaboration of ways, forms and
methods of social transformations.
 The Party fuses science with the activity of

masses ensuring the unity of theory and practice.
Enriching Marxism-Leninism with revolutionary
practice, with the experience of socialist
construction, the Communist Party searches for and finds
the correct answers to problems of social
development and defines its prospects. At the present stage
increasing importance is being attached to the
further development of the theory of scientific
communism, prognostication of social
development, scientific elaboration of domestic problems
156
and foreign policy issues, and defence of the
revolutionary essence of Marxism-Leninism.
 In its Report to the 24th Party Congress, the

CPSU Central Committee noted: "Theoretical
work is a major element of our common
internationalist, revolutionary duty. The struggle between
the forces of capitalism and socialism on the
world scene and the attempts of revisionists of all
hues to emasculate the revolutionary teaching and
distort the practice of socialist and communist
construction require that we continue to pay
undivided attention to the problems and creative
development of theory.''
 As it creatively develops Marxism-Leninism the

CPSU re-examines earlier theoretical conclusions
and political decisions which lag behind the
changing conditions. Dogmatism, assertion of
outdated theoretical premises and formulas and of
forms of social life which have outlived themselves
in practice are alien to the Communist Party.
 In recent years the CPSU conducted extensive

theoretical work on the basis of Lenin's ideas and
methodology. It has specified ways of creating the
material and technical basis of communism,
worked out modern methods of running the
national economy, formulated the trends of the
agrarian policy, elaborated on questions relating to
its leading role in society and outlined topical
international problems.
 Thanks to its extensive links with the masses,

the Party is in a position not only to put various
theoretical conceptions to practical tests, but also
to verify whether society is ripe enough to
157
translate them into life. This is important because a

theory is valuable insofar as it can be implemented
with the help of the social activity of people.
 The Party has formulated and is effectuating a

policy that correctly mirrors the objective
socioeconomic requirements of the development of
Soviet society.
 Guided by Leninist principles, the CPSU has

mapped out a long-term general course of
development of Soviet society, defined the trend and
the character of the changes in the socio-political,
ideological and cultural fields, elaborated effective
forms and methods of political guidance of state
and public organisations, of all spheres of human
activity in the country. At each new stage in the
development of society, the Party becomes more
skilled and efficient in guiding domestic and
foreign affairs of the USSR.
 Having built a developed socialist society, the

Soviet people are tackling new tasks, the tasks of
communist construction. This has objectively
enhanced the role played by the Party as a force
directing all social processes towards the
attainment of a single goal, that of building communist
society.
 Each decision taken by Party bodies, each step

they make has a far-reaching impact on society.
Therefore Party committees are obliged to solve
all economic, ideological and cultural matters with
scientific thoroughness, to undertake only
judiciously considered steps that correspond to the
requirements of communist construction and the
vital interests of the people.
158
 That is why at its 24th Congress the CPSU set

the task of scientifically guiding all sections of
work, at all levels down to the primary Party
organisation. The Party urges its leading cadres to
master modern methods of management and to
ensure that each decision of its leading bodies
should have a sound scientific basis. Today
primary attention is focussed on the ability to
organise scientifically the management of production
and raise it to a high level of efficiency, promote
scientific and technological progress and guide all
social processes with a high degree of knowledge
and skill.
 A key principle of Party leadership is

combination of science and politics. The CPSU bases
its activity on the latest achievements in science,
and on a thorough study of reality and of the
internal and external conditions attending the
building of communism.
 Communist construction demands that the

Party should consistently and thoroughly examine all
social processes and phenomena and evaluate
them in the light of the present and future
conditions, and that it should unremittingly carry on
its theoretical work. The scope and significance of
this activity will increase steadily.
 The growth of the Party's prestige and influence

at the present stage is largely due to the fact that
it elaborated and solved a range of crucial
problems of the development of the socialist economy
and the further enhancement of the people's
welfare.
 It is no less important today to increase the
159
sense of responsibility among the Party cadres,

make greater demands on them, and strengthen
all forms of control, especially Party control, over
the fulfilment of Party and Government decisions
and the realisation of economic and cultural
development plans. The Soviet society with its
economic basis and political superstructure is a single
social organisation, an integral social system in
which all links are closely interconnected.
Therefore the Party strives to make precision,
industriousness and discipline organic to each collective
and each worker whatever his job.
 The role of the Communist Party in a socialist

society increases as the Party develops and
improves its activity, its forms and methods of work
and organisation of inner-Party life. This
headway is ensured by the line adopted at the 24th
CPSU Congress of further improving the methods
of Party guidance of society, strict observance of
the Leninist standards of Party life, further
consolidation of Party ranks and all-round
consolidation of its links with the working class, with
the whole Soviet nation.
[160]
__NUMERIC_LVL1__
CHAPTER III
__ALPHA_LVL1__
THE HISTORICAL ROAD
 OF SOVIET SOCIETY
__ALPHA_LVL2__
[introduction.]
__NOTE__ This chapter (III) has only LVL1 and

LVL2 headers, but, LVL2 headers are Title Case instead
of ALL CAPS as in previous chapters.
 In his "Notes of a Publicist" Lenin
compared those who accomplished the October
Socialist Revolution, the builders of a new life, with a
traveller ascending a steep and unexplored
mountain. On his way to the coveted top, the traveller
encountered unheard-of difficulties and dangers,
and was even forced into temporary retreat in
order to search for a more reliable path. The
enemies hooted and not all his friends realised the
necessity of this manoeuvre. The going was very,
very difficult... .
 The bourgeoisie, when it came to power in its

time, received what Lenin described as a "
welldesigned and tested vehicle, a well-prepared road
and previously tested appliances'', for many of
the prerequisites of capitalism had matured in the
depths of the feudal system, while the proletariat,
when it came to power, had "no vehicle, no road,
absolutely nothing that had been tested
beforehand".^^*^^
_-_-_
161
 From heights which they have attained and are

now looking back at the 58 years of their
development, the Soviet people are justly proud of their
history and their accomplishments. The
multinational Soviet people consciously and purposefully,
in an organised manner and with great
inspiration, shaped their history and under the leadership
of the Communist Party built a new and better
life for all working people.
 It is true that something could have been done

faster and better and with smaller outlays. But in
order correctly to appraise what has been achieved
it should be borne in mind that each step was a
step into the unknown and that each milestone
was passed in a determined struggle. "Socialism
built in battles'', as the poet Vladimir
Mayakovsky wrote, became not only a monument to its
builders, but something incomparably greater---a
beacon for all the peoples. Those who are
following the Soviet people's road to the cherished
heights are able to facilitate their progress by
drawing on the experience of the Soviet Union.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
The Dawn of a New Era
 The history of the Soviet land and a new era
in the history of mankind began on November 7,
1917, the day when the socialist revolution was
accomplished in Russia.
 The developments of that period are described

in history books, literary works, in the
reminiscences of veteran revolutionary fighters, and
depicted in documentary and feature films, all of
11---2052
162
which provide a better idea of tensity and

dynamism of the events, of their magnitude and their
impact on history. The substance of what had taken
place was described in the terse phrases of the
appeal of the Revolutionary Military Committee
written by Lenin: "The Provisional Government
has been deposed. State power has passed into the
hands of the organ of the Petrograd Soviet of
Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.. . .
 ``The cause for which the people have fought,

namely, the immediate offer of a democratic peace,
the abolition of landed proprietorship, workers'
control over production, and the establishment of
Soviet power---this cause has been secured."^^*^^ Thus
dawned the era of great transformations.
 The Great October Socialist Revolution was not

a fortuity, a "zigzag of history'', as the enemies of
socialism sometimes call it. It was prepared by the
entire course of world socio-economic
development. Studying the laws of social development the
great thinkers Marx, Engels and Lenin predicted
the inevitability of socialism replacing capitalism
through revolution.
 The classics of Marxism-Leninism created the

scientific theory of socialism, they proved that
capitalism was the last form of oppression of man
by man, that it would be inevitably replaced by
socialism and that the new system would win
through proletarian revolution.
 Advanced social thought became an action in

the period of the revolution because masses of
_-_-_
163
working people assimilated the theory of

revolution.
 The replacement of capitalism by socialism

became an unavoidable necessity when private
ownership of the means of production turned into
impediment to the development of the productive
forces. Organising production on an ever
increasing scale for the sake of greater profits, capitalism
involuntarily created its own gravedigger---the
working class---and promoted its growth, cohesion
and organisation.
 Russia became the first country to accomplish

socialist revolution and establish the dictatorship
of the proletariat due to several reasons: it was in
Russia that at a specific period of time the basic
contradictions of imperialism became most acute,
that the oppression of the capitalists and the
landowners was most brutal, and that police despotism
and national oppression was most insufferable.
That was how the objective conditions for the
revolution matured in the country; but that was
not enough to ensure its victory.
 An exceptionally important role was also

played by subjective factors, namely, the ability
of the working class to stand at the head of the
masses rising in revolt for power, and the
existence of an experienced party of the working
class armed with advanced revolutionary theory
and enjoying the confidence of the masses.
 The working class of Russia proved to be all

prepared to carry out the great historical mission
and exploit, which fell to its lot. It developed
into the most revolutionary contingent of the
164
world proletariat and drew upon its militant

experience; it created its own vanguard---the Party
of Communists which equipped the masses with
the advanced theory of struggle for a better future
and guided them to victory; it managed to find
a loyal ally---the toiling peasantry of Russia---
which made up the bulk of her population.
 The October Socialist Revolution was not a

coup at the top---it was carried out by the masses
in their own interests. The people did not want to
live the old way, they became imbued with the
ideals of freedom and were determined to fight
for them to the end. And so they swept away the
rule of the landowners and capitalists and
smashed the armies of counter-revolutionary
whiteguard generals and the armies of the
interventionists from 14 countries which poured their
troops into the country to crush the revolution.
 The storming of the Winter Palace, the grim

battles at Perekop, Kakhovka and Volochayevka,
the exploits of the heroes of the revolution and
the civil war will live for ever in the memory of
the Soviet people. They draw upon these glorious
examples to educate their sons and daughters to
love freedom, to be brave and utterly faithful to
their socialist homeland and the Communist
Party.
 Vladimir Lenin has gone down in history as a

great scientist, leader and organiser of the
popular masses, and founder of the Communist Party.
A revolutionary in the highest sense of the word,
he was a theoretician and practician, strategist and
tactician, a great humanitarian and a principled
165
fighter, he was all that a political leader should

be. His genius illumines all the victories of the
people both on the field of battle and in peaceful
endeavour. Having led the masses to victory in
the revolution and the civil war, the Party which
he founded armed the people with
scientificallygrounded scheme of a future society and inspired
them to launch creative activity on a scale
previously unknown to history.
 Yes, the revolution did not end with the victory
over the enemy and the establishment of the
power of Soviets: it went ahead in the entire
national economy and first and foremost in industry
where the people laid the foundations for
socialist industry, without which no victory of socialism
was possible. Lenin wrote that "the only possible
economic foundation of socialism is large-scale
machine industry. Whoever forgets this is no
Communist.''^^*^^
 The revolution also continued in the rural areas

where it was necessary to transform the petty
peasant economy into large-scale socialist agriculture,
and turn the peasant into a conscious builder of
communism, without which it was also impossible
to build a new society.
 The revolution continued in the cultural sphere,

in the entire spiritual life of the people. Not only
was it vitally important to teach people to read
and write but also to make socialist ideology
predominant in all spheres of society's spiritual life,
to educate cadres of scientists and specialists. It
_-_-_
166
was necessary to build up a socialist culture,

which would absorb all the best that had already
been created and which would also constitute a
new phase in the spiritual development of the
whole of humanity.
 Without suspending her struggle against

internal enemies, devastated by the imperialist and
civil wars, famine-stricken and impoverished,
surrounded on all sides by imperialist armies, Russia
embarked on another great historical exploit with
the enthusiasm which only a liberated people could
display.
 `Òur cause,'' Lenin wrote, "is assured because

the people have themselves set about building a
new, socialist Russia."^^*^^
 Tracing the 50-year history of the Union of

Soviet Socialist Republics, Leonid Brezhnev in a
report delivered at a joint meeting of the CC CPSU,
the USSR Supreme Soviet and the RSFSR
Supreme Soviet on December 21, 1972 noted: "It is
the history of the unprecedented growth and
allround development of the state born of the
Socialist Revolution, which is now one of the mightiest
powers in the world."^^**^^
 It was Lenin who advanced the plan of

establishing the Soviet state. He formulated the
fundamental theoretical propositions on
nationalstate construction and directed the establishment
of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 28, p. 88.


 ^^**^^ L. I. Brezhnev, The Fiftieth Anniversary of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Moscow, 1972, p. 5.
167
 The famous Declaration of Rights of the

Peoples of Russia, which was adopted a few days after
the October Socialist Revolution, proclaimed the
equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia,
the right of nations to free self-determination up
to and including secession and the establishment
of independent states, the abolition of all manner
of national and national-religious privileges and
restrictions, the free development of the national
minorities, and the need for a voluntary alliance
of the peoples of Russia and their complete
mutual trust. The joint revolutionary struggle of the
working masses against class enemies and
imperialist intervention welded the peoples of Russia
and her national outskirts into a close-knit
political, military, economic and diplomatic union
whose establishment was stipulated in a number of
treaties between them.
 In the course of the ensuing historical

development the trends towards unification increased and
strengthened. The working class, the working
people of all nationalities sought to strengthen
their unity, realising that in order speedily to
rehabilitate the productive forces undermined by
the wars, to overcome their backwardness and
improve living standards they would have to pool
their efforts. Moreover, it was absolutely essential
for them to unite to the fullest extent possible in
view of the continued threat of fresh imperialist
intervention. Thus, the vital interests of all Soviet
peoples, the very logic of the struggle for
socialism in the country demanded the formation of a
united miltinational socialist state.
168
 But, as Leonid Brezhnev said, the establishment

of such a state required the Party's organising
role, correct policy and purposeful activity.
 Indeed, the Communist Party did have the

necessary theoretical basis for such a policy---the
Marxist-Leninist doctrine on the national
question. This doctrine constituted an important
component of the theory of socialist revolution.
 On October 30, 1922, the First All-Union
Congress of Soviets opened in Moscow. In
response to the proposals put forward by the
congresses of Soviets in the Ukraine, Byelorussia,
Transcaucasia and the RSFSR it adopted its
historic decision setting up the world's first
multinational socialist state---the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics. On the same day Moscow
was chosen as the capital of the Soviet Union.
 Mentioning the exceptional importance of the

Congress's decision, Leonid Brezhnev underlined:
"December 30, 1922, is a truly historic date in
the life of our state, an important milestone in
the life of all the Soviet peoples, their great
festival.''
__ALPHA_LVL2__
Socialist Construction
 When the Communist Party came to power

it already had a science-based programme of
fundamental economic changes.
 The second Programme of the Communist

Party (adopted at its Eighth Congress in March
1919) defined the basic tasks for the entire
169
period of transition from capitalism to socialism: it

called for the completion of the process of
expropriating the bourgeoisie, the transformation of
all the means of production into public property,
the utmost stabilisation and development of the
socialist sector of the economy, the introduction
of measures to raise the productivity of small
individual peasant farms, and for all-round
support for state farms and other collective
agricultural associations. As a result of these measures,
private ownership of the means of production
was abolished, the proletarian state gained
command positions in the national economy and
established public ownership of the means of
production.
 A major element of the plan for socialist

construction was the State Plan for the Electrification
of Russia (GOELRO) proposed by Lenin and
approved by the Eighth Congress of Soviets in
December 1920. This first single plan of economic
development was worked out and approved at
the height of the civil war and provided for the
construction of 30 large power stations with a
total rating of 1,500,000 kw within a period of
10 to 20 years. It also envisaged the creation of
an advanced technological basis of socialism, a
considerable increase in industrial production, the
electrification of transport and agriculture. Lenin
called the GOELRO plan the Party's second
programme.
 The main trends of the Soviet state's economic

policy in the transition period, which were defined
by Lenin and approved by the 10th Congress of
170
the Communist Party in 1921, have gone down

in history as the New Economic Policy (NEP).
They were designed to defend the revolution,
save the country from economic dislocation and
famine, build the foundation for the socialist
economy and gradually oust and get rid of the
capitalist elements.
 During the civil war Soviet power had to gear

the country's life to a military footing, to
effectuate the policy of War Communism, which meant
the nationalisation of both large and
mediumsized industrial enterprises, and the introduction
of the surplus-appropriation system, i.e., the
requisition of surplus grain and other products for
the needs of the state at fixed prices. With the
introduction of NEP the surplus-appropriation
system was replaced by a tax in kind which
enabled the peasants to market a considerable
portion of their products and consequently
stimulated the growth of agricultural production. The
revival of private enterprise within certain limits
and the promotion of other measures which were
in keeping with the peculiarities of the historical
situation by no means exhausted the substance
and the significance of the New Economic Policy.
 In a report at a meeting marking the 50th

anniversary of the October Socialist Revolution,
Leonid Brezhnev underlined that the principles of
socialist management mapped out at the 10th
Party Congress have preserved their significance
to the present day. Lenin's premises concerning
the combination of centralised planning with the
development of the initiative of working people,
171
the utilisation of commodity-money relations,

autonomous economic accounting and material
incentives in labour, and the fusion of the interests
of the whole of society with the interests of each
individual member are still among the most
important guidelines in the Party's economic policy.
 At the end of 1925 the Communist Party held

its 14th Congress which set the course towards
socialist industrialisation that became the
principal cause of the Party and the whole Soviet
people.
 By then many capitalist states had already

passed the stage of industrial development. But
in the USSR industrialisation differed from
capitalist industrialisation both as regards its
socioeconomic content and the methods by which it
was carried out. The purpose of industrial
development in capitalist countries was to strengthen
the bourgeois exploiting system and the relations
of domination and subordination. The distinctive
feature of industrialisation in the USSR was the
establishment of large-scale industry to ensure the
victory of socialism over capitalism inside the
country. Socialist industrialisation gave rise to new
relations of production, comradely co-operation
and friendship. It was fully in keeping with the
interest of the millions of workers and peasants
and steadily improved the welfare of the people.
 Socialist industrialisation sharply differed from

capitalist also as regards its methods. Capitalist
countries started out by developing light
industries and then gradually built up the heavy
industry with the result that it took them a long time
172
to complete the process. The Soviet state was too

pressed for time to follow this course. The Party
always bore in mind Lenin's warning that the
capitalist encirclement presented a grave threat
to the Soviet Union. And since an attack by the
capitalists could come any time, the USSR had
to begin by building up the heavy industry and
develop it at an accelerated pace.
 The main distinction, however, and the most

important condition of the success of
industrialisation in the USSR was that it became a
nationwide task in which the Soviet people displayed
the utmost consciousness, discipline and fortitude.
Life was difficult. Bread was rationed, there was
a shortage of clothes, footwear and housing and
thrift was practised at work and at home. But
people knew what they were working for; they
were confident of success and at times
accomplished the seemingly impossible. Large numbers
of people volunteered for work at the construction
sites of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Station,
the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine, the
Turkestan-Siberian Railway, the Kharkov,
Chelyabinsk and Stalingrad Tractor factories, the
Gorky and Moscow motor works and to build the
city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur and the Berezniki
Chemical Complex---where the mainstays of
socialist industry were being established.
 By 1927, the total industrial output in the USSR

surpassed the 1913 level. Taking into account the
scope of industrial development, the CPSU turned
to long-term planning. The First Five-Year Plan
which was worked out in 1928 provided for the
173
creation of the economic foundation of socialism,

the ousting of capitalist elements from all spheres
of the national economy and the transformation
of the USSR into an industrial-agrarian power.
And each successive five-year plan was a major
step in enhancing the country's industrial might.
 The great enthusiasm of the working masses

and the scope of socialist emulation brought to the
fore thousands upon thousands of heroes of labour
---shock-workers and Stakhanovites---who had
mastered the new equipment and acquired a
totally new attitude to work. The names of the first
Stakhanovites in industry and transport---
A. G. Stakhanov (the initiator of the movement),
A. Kh. Busygin, A. I. Gurgenidze, S.
Djanbatyrov, N. A. Izotov, M. N. Mazai, S. G.
Khachatryan, O. Khodjayev and many others---were
known throughout the land. Their dedication to
the cause of socialist construction is an example
for Soviet people today, too, and their traditions
are passed on by one generation of the working
class to another.
 Socialism could not be built solely on the basis

of heavy industry; it was also necessary to
reorganise the village along socialist lines. And in
order to solve this exceptionally difficult task the
Party had to help the peasants to get rid of their
deeply-rooted private-ownership mentality and
narrow-mindedness. In this respect they differed
from the industrial workers who had no private
means of production. A peasant with such an
outlook had to be turned into an active participant
in collective labour and social life. Coercive
174
measures, and Soviet power had no intention of using

them, would have yielded no results. What had to
be done was to make the peasant realise the need
of making voluntary decisions which would benefit
the whole of society and simultaneously further
his own fundamental interests. Finally, it was
necessary to crush the resistance of the kulaks, the
last and the most numerous exploiting class.
 It was Lenin who found the way to the solution

of this immensely important economic and social
problem. It lay through co-operation which under
the dictatorship of the proletariat and the
predominance of public ownership in the means of
production could and did become an effective form
of blending the personal interests of the peasant
with those of the society as a whole, transforming
small peasant households into large-scale socialist
farms and drawing the peasants into the work of
socialist construction.
 In 1927, the Communist Party held its 15th

Congress which voted for the collectivisation of
agriculture. Like any other important
undertaking, collectivisation did not run smoothly and
precipitated a bitter struggle. The complex social
situation in the countryside, namely, the
stratification of the peasantry into poor and middle
peasants and the kulaks and the lack of equipment
and experience proved to be very serious
obstacles. Moreover, there were subjective difficulties
and errors, undue haste and attempts to forestall
events, and also the fierce and, at times, bloody
resistance of the kulaks. The bulk of the peasants
were in favour of collectivisation, trusted the
175
Communist Party and followed its lead. Time

showed that the Party's policy was correct and
farsighted.
 The establishment of the collective-farm system

mirrored the radical social changes that had taken
place in the way of life in the countryside and in
the minds and psychology of millions of peasants.
The Stakhanovite movement developed rapidly in
agriculture where the examples set by its
initiators P. N. Angelina, K. A. Borodin, M. V.
Gnatenko, M. S. Demchenko, M. Y. Yefremov and
F. Yunusov were taken up by the broad masses of
peasants and state-farm workers.
 The victory of the Leninist policy of

industrialisation and collectivisation had a great
sociopolitical impact. It resulted in the creation of the
economic foundation of socialism in town and
country, the establishment of a sound basis for
the development of new social relations, enhanced
the country's defensive capabilities and
strengthened the moral and political unity of the whole
Soviet people.
 All this would have been impossible, however,

if the Party had not vigorously launched the
cultural revolution from the first days of the October
Socialist Revolution. It should be borne in mind
that in 1917 three-quarters of Russia's
population were illiterate. And if the lag in this sphere
had not been overcome, any headway in industry
and agriculture would have been inconceivable.
The All-Russia Extraordinary Committee for
the Elimination of Illiteracy and the Down with
Illiteracy society were set up in the country, and
176
the trade unions, the Komsomol, teachers,

engineers, students and office employees took part in
the drive for literacy.
 The Communist Party's great efforts to

promote higher education and enhance the role of
science in socialist construction resulted in a rapid
growth in the number of universities and
institutes; the number of research workers increased to
over 90,000 by the end of the Second Five-Year
Plan, and the Academy of Sciences began to
function fruitfully.
 The elimination of illiteracy, the spread of

public education, the appearance of a new
intelligentsia, the development of science, literature and
art, and the enhancement of the socialist
consciousness of the masses, such were the main results of
the Party's activity in the course of the cultural
revolution.
 The socialist revolution paved the way for the

solution of the national question. Having smashed
the "prison of peoples'', as bourgeois-landowner
Russia was called, the October Revolution
liberated all the nationalities inhabiting her. The
economic and cultural ties of all the peoples
strengthened in the course of peaceful socialist
construction. In 1922, as we know, the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics, a voluntary union of peoples
welded in the struggle for common interests, was
founded.
 ``The formation of the USSR,'' states the

Resolution of the CC CPSU "On Preparations for the
50th Anniversary of the Formation of the USSR'',
"occupies an outstanding place in the history of
177
the Soviet state. It was an event of immense

political significance and equally far-reaching
socioeconomic consequences. This historic event
represented a convincing victory for the ideas of
proletarian internationalism and was the fruitful result
of the implementation of the Communist Party's
Leninist nationalities policy. The formation of the
Soviet Union was one of the decisive factors which
ensured favourable conditions for the
reconstruction of society on a socialist basis, for building up
the economies and developing the culture of all
Soviet republics, and for strengthening the
defence might and the international standing of the
multinational state of working people.''
 The formation of the USSR was dictated by the

objective course of historical development. "The
struggle against the enemies of the Revolution and
for the victory of socialism in our country,'' said
Leonid Brezhnev, "required the closest unity of
the peoples that had flung off the yoke of tsarism,
the bourgeoisie and the landowners."^^*^^
 On the basis of a searching scientific analysis

Lenin showed that in order to survive in the face
of world imperialism the Soviet republics had to
form a tightly-knit union. He said that the
preservation and strengthening of the union of
socialist republics was a measure "necessary for us" and
"for the world communist proletariat in its struggle
against the world bourgeoisie and its defence
against bourgeois intrigues".^^**^^
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ L. I. Brezhnev, The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union

of Soviet Socialist Republics, p. 5.

 ^^**^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 36, p. 609.
12---2052
178
 Without a union of Soviet republics and their

close economic co-operation it would have been
impossible to rehabilitate the productive forces
wrecked by imperialism, to create a single
socialist economy regulated by a single plan, to secure
a rational social division of labour and the
effective utilisation of natural wealth to the benefit of
all the peoples of the country.
 Without a close union of Soviet republics it

would have been impossible to achieve a steady
improvement in the welfare of the working people
and the all-round development and burgeoning
of the culture of all nations and nationalities of
the land.
 The formation of the multinational socialist

state was an outstanding result of the
revolutionary effort of all the Soviet peoples headed by
the working class and guided by the Communist
Party. It was a result of the Party's theoretical
and practical work and the multifold activity of
the Soviet peoples and mirrored their aspirations.
 All this enormous creative work carried on by

the working class in alliance with the peasantry
and in co-operation with the intelligentsia under
the guidance of the Communist Party took place in
complex conditions, political as well as economic.
 The capitalist encirclement was pregnant with

the threat of war. The situation worsened sharply
when the fascists came to power in Italy and
Germany and when the imperialist camp pushed
them eastward, against the Soviet Union.
 The Soviet Union based its foreign policy on

Lenin's ideas of the struggle for peace and
179
peaceful coexistence of countries with different

social and economic systems. Lenin said that the
Soviet state had to pursue a flexible foreign
policy and take advantage of the conflicts and
contradictions in the enemy's camp so as to
safeguard the country against a fresh capitalist
intervention. At the same time he considered
essential in every way to support the revolutionary
struggle of the working class and the anti--
imperialist national liberation movement, and enhance
the country's defensive capacity.
 The Communist Party and the working class

steered the course towards socialist construction
in the face of desperate resistance by ``Left''- and
Right-wing opportunists and national-deviationists
who strove to push the country off the Leninist
path. The ideological and political rout of
Trotskyism, which fostered mistrust for the
working class of the USSR by asserting that the
victory of the proletarian revolution in the West
was an essential condition for the victory of
socialism in the USSR, was a significant achievement.
The Trotskyites wanted to deprive the Party and
the Soviet people of the prospect of building
socialism in the USSR and negated its significance
for the world revolutionary movement. Using
``Left''-wing ultra-revolutionary phraseology as
screen, they strove to impose an adventuristic
course on the Party in order to doom the building
of socialism in the USSR to failure and artificially
to "spur on" revolutions in other countries. They
demanded the introduction of anti-democratic,
para-military methods of guiding the masses
12*
180
inside the country and the rejection of the

Leninist principle of democratic centralism.
 At the same time the Party had to fight

Rightwing opportunists who were against the rapid
pace of industrialisation and opposed the
collectivisation of agriculture and the elimination of
the kulaks as a class. The Communist Party
rebuffed the petty-bourgeois adventurism of the
Trotskyites and the capitulatory tactics of the
Right opportunists.
 The abolition of the exploiting classes,

industrialisation, collectivisation and the cultural
revolution---these were the links of a single
revolutionary process which basically altered the
relations between classes and between nations in the
country. A new social system based on the alliance
between the working class, the collective-farm
peasantry and the people's intelligentsia was
formed, and by the end of the thirties the
principles of socialism became firmly established in
all spheres of social life.
 On December 5, 1936, the Extraordinary

Eighth Ail-Union Congress of Soviets adopted the
Fundamental Law of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics which reflected the fact that
socialism had triumphed in the USSR. Since then
December 5 has annually been observed
throughout the country as Constitution Day.
 What are the basic principles of socialism and

the characteristic features of the new society?
181
__ALPHA_LVL2__
Principles of Socialism
 The economic foundation of the new social

system of which socialism is the initial stage is
public ownership in the means of production.
Under socialism there are no antagonistic classes
consisting of people who own the means of
production and those who sell their labour power
to them. All people jointly own the means of
production; at the same time each person is the
master and the worker and all people have equal
rights to public property.
 There are two forms of public ownership in

the Soviet Union. First, there is state property
which includes the land and its mineral wealth,
forests, waters, factories and state farms, railways
and other transport facilities, and so forth.
 Second, there is co-operative and

collectivefarm property. Collective farms are established
on land which belongs to the state but it is
allotted to them for permanent use. Collective
farmers jointly own tractors, combines and other
farm machines, production and cultural and
service premises, productive cattle, and, naturally,
the products which they produce.
 These two forms of ownership are matched by

two types of socialist enterprises: state enterprises
and collective farms, and also enterprises of
producers' and consumers' co-operatives.
 Historically co-operative and collective-farm

ownership appeared as group ownership but in
specific conditions---conditions of the dictatorship
of the proletariat and the domination of public
182
ownership in the means of production, including

the land. Under the influence of these decisive
factors co-operation and co-operative ownership
acquired features fundamentally different from
those characteristic of group ownership in the
capitalist system of production. Collective farms
have indivisible funds which form the backbone
of all collective-farm property and are not
subject to distribution. Collective farms sell their
products at fixed prices in accordance with the
plans which are handed down to them. It can be
said, therefore, that collective farms constitute a
part of the single planned system of the economy.
 In addition to these two forms of public

socialist property there is also personal property
to which all members of Soviet society are entitled
and which includes their earned incomes and
savings, items of personal use and household
articles and also houses and cattle owned by
collective farmers and state-farm workers.
 Sometimes personal property is erroneously

identified with private property although these
two forms of property have absolutely nothing
in common with each other. Private property is
engendered by the exploiting system and makes
it possible to use and enslave the labour of others
and exploit people for the purpose of enrichment.
Personal property has a totally different social
origin and its main source is personal labour.
 Public ownership in the means of production

determines the relations of people in the process
of production, its purpose and the principles of
distribution of the created product.
183
 Under socialism labour is a collective process

which takes place in keeping with a single plan
and is characterised by mutual assistance for the
sake of the ever fuller satisfaction of the
requirements of all members of society and the all-round
development of the individual.
 It is labour that makes the individual really

great in socialist society which respects all those
who work conscientiously in their chosen fields.
To distinguish the best and to inspire others to
follow their example, there have been instituted
in the USSR the title of Hero of Socialist Labour,
the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and the
Medal for Labour Valour, the Medal for
Distinction in Labour and the Medal for Valiant Labour.
 In capitalist society a person depends on

his wealth and consequently on the power he
wields.
 Due to its very nature socialist society does not

tolerate idlers and parasites, the human drones,
for socialism and labour are indivisible. Its
immutable law is "he who does not work, neither
shall he eat''.
 In socialist society there is no, nor can there

be, unemployment. The state takes care of the
needs of the working people: it improves their
conditions of work, mechanises production
processes, helps to raise their skill and promotes their
welfare. And what is most important, socialism
as befitting a judicious master conserves and
multiplies socially useful labour.
 Labour is the most important prerequisite for

the development of any society, including
184
socialist, of course. Since without labour it is impossible

to build the material and technical basis of
the new society and satisfy the material and
spiritual requirements of the people, Soviet
society is vitally concerned with raising the
labour productivity of each worker. Lenin
regarded a steady growth of labour productivity as
an essential condition for socialism's victory over
capitalism. He explained that high labour
productivity depends in the first place on the
continuous introduction of science and technology
into production, the mechanisation and
electrification of production, correct organisation of labour
and wages and the promotion of a socialist
attitude to labour.
 How is the jointly produced product distributed

and what is the incentive to work in socialist
society? These questions are connected with the
principle of distribution according to work.
 Inasmuch as public ownership in the means of

production is characteristic of socialist society, it
is society which is the owner of the created
product. All that is produced in a year is called
gross social product which the economists, after
evaluating it in rubles, call gross output. Is the
entire gross output channelled to satisfy human
needs? Of course not. First of all it is necessary to
compensate for the expended means of
production, to return their value to production, for
otherwise it will have to wind up, which,
naturally, cannot be allowed to happen. What remains
is the newly made product, or national income---
the foundation of .society's wealth.
185
 The following calculation shows how national

income is formed. Let us assume that in a year's
time the country produced 400,000 million rubles'
worth of coal, steel, oil, machines, bread, meat,
footwear, clothes and other material values. This
will be the gross social product which can be
expressed both in material (physical) and value
(money) form. But this product did not appear all
of a sudden, out of nothing. To produce it society
expended raw and other materials, fuel, machines,
tools, production premises, seeds and so on. Now,
let us say that the volume of the expended means
of production was worth 240,000 million rubles.
And since national income is the gross social
product minus the part that goes to replace the
expended means of production it amounts in this
case to 160,000 million rubles (400,000 million
rubles minus 240,000 million rubles).
 The volume and the rates of growth of national

income directly depend on the level of labour
productivity and on how the means of production
are used. The better Soviet people work, the more
economically they expend raw and other
materials and the more rationally they use machines
and other equipment, the bigger is the national
income. And the bigger the national income the
more means become available for satisfying the
requirements of the state, industrial and other
enterprises and citizens.
 National income divides into the accumulation

and the consumption fund. The first is used to
expand production, construct industrial and other
enterprises, houses, build cultural and welfare
186
facilities, set up state reserves, and so on.

The second is used to satisfy the continuously
rising material and spiritual requirements of
Soviet people. A certain part of it makes up the
social consumption funds which are jointly
utilised by Soviet people, while the bulk of it is
distributed among all working people according
to their labour.
 The principle of distribution is simple and

clear: equal pay for equal work. Each person
receives his share of the distributed portion of
national income, depending on the quality and
quantity of labour done, that is, according to his
own contribution to the common effort. This
principle will remain in force right up to the
transition to communism, under which people
will work according to their ability and receive
according to their needs, whatever the results of
their labour.
 Distribution according to labour does not yet

do away with economic inequality of the members
of society. Equality consists in that all people may
work and be remunerated according to their work.
But people have different abilities and some have
larger families than others. Consequently, some
will be better off materially than others.
 This, naturally, gives rise to the question: is it

not possible to reject the principle of
remuneration according to labour and change over to the
distribution of material values regardless of how
much or well a person works? No, and primarily
because the level of the productive forces is not
yet sufficient to create an abundance of material
187
values and to distribute them according to one's

needs. On the other hand, labour has not yet
become the vital necessity for all people and it
may well happen that some would become idlers
and use the wealth of society, while others would
have to work for them. This would amount to a
specific form of exploitation. Furthermore,
members of socialist society have different skills,
different experience and consequently work
differently: some do complex jobs while the work of
others is simple, requiring neither special
knowledge, skill, nor extensive experience. Let us
assume that a skilled worker and a novice were
paid equal wages for their labour. If everyone is
remunerated equally, why then study, work better
and produce more? It is easy to see that this
would inevitably lead to a decline in qualified
labour, stagnation and even winding up of
production. Hence, equal distribution in these
conditions would inhibit social progress and is
therefore unacceptable for socialist society.
 Under socialism the state controls the measure

of labour and the measure of consumption, and its
system of wages makes a worker interested in the
results of his work, encourages him to improve his
skill, work better and more productively. This
benefits society---which receives more from each
of its members, and the worker himself---who
receives more for his labour.
 The Communist Party and the Soviet

Government are seeking consistently to apply the
principle of remuneration according to work and
improve the forms of remuneration. An increase
188
in pay for work depends directly on a rise in

labour productivity, on the extent to which a
worker participates in the development of
production. A wage must be earned in the full sense
of the word. A flexible system of remuneration
is being introduced which makes it possible
promptly to reward the worker for his initiative
and with the help of corresponding stimuli
encourage industrial, office and other workers to
develop their initiative. The system of rating
wages has to be simple and clear so that each
factory and office worker easily discerns the
connection between labour productivity and wages.
The economic reform currently under way in the
USSR creates conditions for considerably
heightening the material interest of industrial and office
workers in the economic results of their
enterprise's activity. We shall return to this later in
the book.
 Wages are the main form of remunerating the

labour of industrial and office workers in the
USSR. As regards the work of collective farmers
it was until recently assessed and remunerated
somewhat differently---according to work-day
units. After deduction of the share of the product
to the indivisible and other public funds and
payments to the state, the remaining portion of
the jointly produced agricultural output was
divided by the number of work-day units.
 This system, however, did not guarantee steady

earnings, and so the CC CPSU and the USSR
Council of Ministers in their Resolution "On
Enhancing the Material Interest of Collective
189
Farmers in Developing Social Production"

recommended the collective farmers to change to a
guaranteed remuneration of labour. This has been
accomplished in the main. The collectively created
product, naturally, is still the foundation for
guaranteed remuneration, the only difference
being that the money for remunerating labour is
set aside not in the last but in the first place.
 The role played by material incentives to

labour is very great indeed, but Soviet workers,
collective farmers and intellectuals are motivated
by vast moral forces---their high political
awareness, ardent Soviet patriotism and the desire to
see their land still more powerful and prosperous.
We shall discuss the substance and the role played
by moral stimuli at the present stage of social
development in subsequent chapters.
 The political foundation of Soviet socialist

society is the alliance of the working class and
the peasantry; the political form which embodies
this alliance are the Soviets of Working People's
Deputies.
 The principal weapon with which the working

people of the USSR destroyed the old political
system, suppressed the resistance of the exploiting
classes and decisively altered the destiny of their
country was the state of the dictatorship of the
proletariat. The political power of the working
class led by its vanguard---the Communist Party---
is the main condition for the building of socialist
society.
 And when the exploiting classes had been

liquidated and the victory of socialism resulted
190
in the inviolable ideological and political unity

of society, the Soviet state which arose as the
dictatorship of the proletariat, became the state
of the whole people, the political organisation of
the people in which the leading role is played by
the working class.
 `Ìf the creative enthusiasm of the revolutionary

classes had not given rise to the Soviets,'' Lenin
wrote, "the proletarian revolution in Russia would
have been a hopeless cause... ."^^*^^
 Led by the Communist Party the Soviets are
genuinely people's organs of power. The whole
people elects the Soviets, and it is its best
representatives that sit on them; the Soviets
conduct their activity with the support and in the
interests of the people.
 The social and national composition of the

Soviets attest to their genuinely democratic and
representative character. Let us glance at the
higher organ of power, the USSR Supreme Soviet
elected on June 16, 1974. In its present
composition it has 1,517 deputies; 767 of them are in
the Soviet of the Union and 750 in the Soviet of
Nationalities. Among the deputies are 498
workers (32.8 per cent) and 271 collective farmers
(17.9 per cent). In all, there are 769 workers and
collective farmers (50.7 per cent) in both Soviets.
 From top to bottom state affairs are managed

today by more than 2,000,000 deputies with the
assistance of 25,000,000 activists.
 Nothing of the sort exists in capitalist countries
_-_-_
191
where power is wielded by the exploiting classes

which keep the working people away from state
affairs. What is the social composition of
bourgeois parliaments? The current US Congress, for
instance, includes more than 200 bankers,
businessmen and wealthy landowners and not a single
worker. The situation is approximately the same
in the representative bodies in other bourgeois
states.
 The Soviets are the organs of socialist

democracy. The word ``democracy'' means government
by the people. According to Marxism-Leninism,
democracy is of a class nature. There is no
freedom in general just as there is no democracy in
general. The Soviet Union is the first country in
the world where democracy corresponding to the
interests of all working people emerged and
became firmly established. Born of the great
revolution, Soviet power is the government by the
people and for the people.
 The democratic character of Soviet society finds
expression in the political rights and freedoms of
Soviet citizens.
 All citizens of the USSR who have reached the

age of 18 have the right to elect and be elected
to organs of Soviet power irrespective of property
status, race or nationality, sex, religion, education,
domicile, social origin, or past activity.
 Elections in the USSR are equal. This means

that every Soviet citizen has one vote; women
enjoy the right to elect and to be elected on equal
terms with men.
 Elections of deputies are direct. The
__PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__
192
COMPOSITION OF THE LOCAL SOVIETS

(percent)
Industrial workers and

collective farmers
White-collar workers
193
__PARAGRAPH_CONT__
Constitution of the USSR states that all Soviets of

Working People's Deputies, from the rural and town
Soviets to the USSR Supreme Soviet, shall be
elected by citizens by direct vote. In other words,
all Soviet electors directly participate in the
elections to all representative bodies.
 All deputies are elected by secret ballot. This

means that a voter may cast his ballot in a booth
all by himself so that how and for whom he voted
remains a secret.
 Elections in capitalist states have a totally

different character. "If we look more closely into
the machinery of capitalist democracy,'' Lenin
wrote, "we see everywhere, in the `petty'----
supposedly petty---details of the suffrage (residential
qualification, exclusion of women, etc.), in the
technique of the representative institutions, in the
actual obstacles to the right of assembly (public
buildings are not for `paupers'!), in the purely
capitalist organisation of the daily press, etc.,
etc.---we see restriction after restriction upon
democracy. These restrictions, exceptions, exclusions,
obstacles for the poor seem slight, especially in the
eyes of one who has never known want himself
and has never been in close contact with the
oppressed classes in their mass life (and nine out
of ten, if not ninety-nine out of a hundred,
bourgeois publicists and politicians come under
this category); but in their sum total these
restrictions exclude and squeeze out the poor from
politics, from active participation in democracy."^^*^^
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 25, pp. 460--61.
13---2052
194
 Let us take the United States of America, for

example. Its electoral system has set a record of
sorts for the number of various electoral
qualifications. Here are some of them.
 Property status, according to which people

lacking the required property qualifications are
barred from voting, is still in force in some states.
In others, poor people living in state-operated or
private charity homes are deleted from election
lists. Still others have requirements of residence
which prohibit people from voting if they have
lived a shorter period in the given area than
required by the Election Act. This enables the
authorities to exclude seasonal workers and the
unemployed roaming the country in search of jobs
from the election lists.
 In most US states only people who have

reached the age of 21 have the right to vote; this
means that a considerable portion of young
people is deprived of franchise.
 There are also many other obstacles and

requirements which in fact deprive millions of
working people of the right to vote. US
legislative bodies demand that an elector should be able
to read and correctly interpret the Constitution.
In California a voter must be able to sign his
name; in the state of New York he must fill out
a questionnaire, and in Alabama he must be able
to read, write and interpret any article of the
Constitution in English. Similar election
requirements exist in other states.
 Convincing proof of the broad democratic rights

exercised by Soviet people is their steadily
195
mounting political activity and interest in state

affairs. This is manifested, in particular, in the
activity of the electorate. The following figures
illustrate this point. In June 1974, 99.98 per cent
of the voters took part in the elections to the
USSR Supreme Soviet. In 1969, more than 95 per
cent of the local Soviets reported back on their
work to the electorate; 37.4 million people
attended 207,384 meetings at which Executive
Committees made their reports.
 A characteristic feature of the Soviet socialist

society are the broad political freedoms enjoyed
by Soviet citizens, namely, freedom of speech, of
the press, of assembly and rallies, street
processions and demonstrations. The working people in
capitalist states can only dream of the rights
which the Constitution of the USSR, the
country's fundamental law, grants Soviet citizens.
 The Soviet state grants all people the right to

work. In other words, all Soviet citizens have the
right to guaranteed employment and payment for
their work in accordance with its quantity and
quality. This is one of the greatest gains of the
Soviet people who unlike millions of working
people in the capitalist countries have no cause
to worry about the future. The last labour
exchange in the USSR ceased functioning in 1929.
Alongside the right to work, the Soviet state
grants all working people the right to rest. This
right, as all the others, is ensured by a wide range
of state measures including a fixed working day,
paid holidays, a large number of sanatoriums,
holiday homes, clubs, theatres, libraries and parks.
13*
196
 Soviet citizens have the right to maintenance
in old age and also in the event of sickness or
disability. The state ensures this right by
extensively developing the social security and pension
systems and free medical service.
 The Soviet state grants all citizens the right to

education. This means that the children of
workers, collective farmers and the intelligentsia can
enter any school, college, university or any other
educational institution they want and study there
free of charge.
 There is genuine national equality in the

USSR. The Soviet state steadfastly promotes the
economic, cultural and political development of
all nationalities. Any restriction of rights, the
establishment of privileges on the grounds of race
or nationality and any advocacy of racial or
national exclusiveness is punishable by law.
 Socialism has essentially altered the status of

women; the socialist state has created all
conditions for encouraging their cultural growth and
all-round development; Soviet women have equal
rights with men in work, remuneration, rest,
social security, education, and so forth.
 Women in the USSR have broad opportunities

for creative activity; they have mastered
numerous occupations which formerly were out of their
reach, and are actively participating in managing
state affairs.
 Granting broad democratic rights and freedoms

to its members, Soviet society also imposes
important duties on them. These rights and duties
are closely interconnected and interdependent. It
197
cannot be otherwise in a state where the welfare

of an individual depends on the prosperity of the
entire people, while the fulfilment by all citizens
of their basic duties ensures the development of
the socialist society and the state system.
 Another characteristic feature of the rights and

duties proclaimed in the Constitution of the USSR
is that they apply to all Soviet citizens in equal
measure. It cannot come to pass in socialist
society, as is the case in an exploiting society,
that some citizens would be accorded only rights
and freedoms, while others would have only
duties to fulfil.
 What are the duties which society imposes on
Soviet citizens?
 One of the basic duties of Soviet citizens is to

work for the benefit of society and maintain labour
discipline. The Constitution of the USSR states:
"Work in the USSR is a duty and a matter of
honour for every able-bodied citizen. .. .'' By
applying the principle "he who does not work,
neither shall he eat" Soviet society proclaims war
on idlers and shirkers, on people parasitic upon
the labour of others.
 It is also the duty of all citizens of the USSR

to safeguard and consolidate socialist property
and since this property belongs to the whole
people it is sacred and inviolable. Those who
plunder public property weaken the might of the
state, wittingly or unwittingly.
 The Constitution of the USSR proclaims that,

defence of the country is the sacred duty of all
citizens and they fulfil this duty with honour.
198
 Soviet workers, peasants and intellectuals are

welded together by communist ideology and a
profound community of interests, views and aims.
These relations of friendly, fraternal co-operation
took shape, matured and strengthened in the
course of socialist construction, in the course of
the struggle for the country's industrialisation and
collectivisation of agriculture and the
accomplishment of the cultural revolution. It is these
relations that constitute the foundation of their
sociopolitical and ideological unity.
 The highest expression of the moral and

political unity of Soviet society is the fact that the
Soviet people are closely rallied around the
Communist Party. They know that the Party has
no interests other than those of the people and
wholeheartedly support all its undertakings, and
its policy, regarding it as being correct,
sciencebased and fully in line with their interests.
Without the close unity of the Communists and
the broad masses of the working people there
would have been no victory of the Revolution in
1917, no rout of the interventionists and internal
counter-revolution in the civil war, no
industrialisation of the country and no collectivisation of
agriculture. Without this unity of the Party and
the people, the Soviet people would have been
unable to smash fascism in the Great Patriotic
War of 1941--1945, build socialism and launch
 Having completed the building of the edifice of

socialism by the end of the thirties, the Soviet
people had great plans for the future and dreamed
199
of making another stride forward. In 1939, at its

18th Congress, the Communist Party outlined the
first steps in the transition to the next phase,
namely, the building of communist society. But
the Soviet Union's gains gave no peace to those
who had dreamed of crushing the revolution when
it was still in its cradle; imperialism would not
concede defeat. War broke out. In its course the
Soviet people underwent the grimmest test in its
history.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
The Exploit of the Soviet People
 in the Great Patriotic War
 On June 22, 1941, nazi Germany wantonly,

without a declaration of war and in violation of
the non-aggression treaty attacked the USSR. A
battle unprecedented both in scope and scale
unfolded between the striking force of imperialism
and the world's first socialist power.
 The Communist Party anticipated the possibility

of a military clash with imperialism and was
preparing the country and the people for defence.
The Soviet people's victory in the Great Patriotic
War was ensured by the socio-economic gains
achieved in the course of the first five-year plan
periods, by the ideological and political unity of
Soviet society forged in the course of socialist
construction.
 Drunk with his lust for world domination, the

enemy was treacherous, well armed and powerful,
having the wealth of practically the whole of
Europe at his disposal. But the Soviet people defeated
200
him because they confronted him not only with

their military-industrial might, but also with their
revolutionary, humane ideology. Nazism came up
against a free nation united by the conscious
discipline of like-minded people and lofty social
ideals. The Communist Party inspired them to
fight for the socialist cause, for their land, and
organised a powerful front and a reliable rear.
The whole country turned into a military camp.
 A State Defence Committee headed by Stalin

was set up for the purpose of speedily mobilising
the country's forces to resist and smash the
enemy. All power in the country, all military,
administrative and economic leadership, was
vested in this extraordinary body.
 It was incredibly difficult at the front and in the

rear. The heroism of the people acquired a mass
character.
 Can all of us imagine today what it meant for

four long years to go into attack under a hail of
bullets, to soak and freeze in the trenches, to live
in partisan camps and strike the enemy from
forests and marshes?
 Can all of us imagine today how courageous a

person had to be and what he thought when he
blocked the gun-port of an enemy pillbox with
his body to save the lives of his comrades, as did
Private Alexander Matrosov and hundreds of
others after him? Can all of us imagine today
what it meant to ram an enemy aircraft in the air
as did Victor Talalikhin and then hundreds of
other pilots who followed his example? Can all
of us imagine today what great faith one had to
201
have in the cause of the people and its ultimate

victory to endure inhuman tortures and to die
without betraying one's comrades and with
proudly raised heads as did the partisans Zoya
Kosmodemyanskaya, Liza Chaikina and
members of the underground Komsomol organisation,
the Young Guard, which operated on temporarily
occupied Soviet territory?
 Soviet young people and their vanguard, the

Leninist Komsomol, displayed courage and
heroism in defending their socialist homeland.
Soviet people will always cherish the names of
Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Liza Chaikina, Oleg
Koshevoi, Alexander Chekalin, Parfenty
Grechany, Dasha Dyachenko, Vladimir Morgunenko,
Frosya Zenkova, Zinaida Portnova, Manshuk
Mametova, Maryte Melnykaite, Alexei
Shumavtsov and many, many others whose deeds are
immortal. One of the most important factors of
our victory was the inviolable friendship of the
Soviet peoples.
 ``The union and friendship of all its [the

USSR's---Ed.] nations and nationalities,'' said
Leonid Brezhnev in his report "The Fiftieth
Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics'', "have stood the severe trials of the
Great Patriotic War, in the course of which the
sons and daughters of the same Soviet
Motherland did not only succeed in safeguarding with
honour their socialist gains, but also saved world
civilisation from the barbarity of fascism, thereby
lending powerful support to the peoples' liberation
struggle.''
202
 Things were unbelievably difficult on the

homefront. People did not get enough sleep and food;
wives replaced their husbands in factories and
worked unheedful of time, and juveniles replaced
their fathers and brothers who had gone to the
front. Not for a moment did work stop at
factories. At times people worked even during air
raids, supplying the Soviet Army with increasing
quantities of the most up-to-date weapons.
Beginning with 1943 the Soviet Union began producing
more and better equipment and weapons than
Germany. In spite of the extreme shortage of
manpower and machinery and the damage caused
by the war, collective and state farms supplied
the country with the grain she needed for victory.
 The heroic defence of the Brest Fortress, the

great battles of Odessa and Sevastopol, at the
approaches to Moscow, at the walls of Leningrad
and Stalingrad, at Novorossiisk, in the Orel-Kursk
salient, on the Dnieper and the Vistula have gone
down in history as examples of the military art
and valour, of courage and heroism not only of
the military, but also of the civilian population.
The Communist Party inspired and organised the
victory over the nazi invaders. It was a genuinely
fighting party. The Communists were in the
forefront of the people's struggle against fascism,
setting examples of endurance, courage and
fortitude. About two million Communists were
killed in action.
 Fascism was smashed. Nazi Germany

surrendered, and the world which lived under the threat
of the most merciless bondage imaginable and
203
even complete annihilation of whole peoples

breathed with relief and joy. The road to
freedom, national independence and social progress
was now open to many peoples and countries.
 A large number of nations contributed to the

victory over fascism. But the greatest burden was
shouldered by the Soviet Union which did more
than any other country to save the world from
Hitlerism. The role played by the Soviet people
in the victory in the Second World War is beyond
compare. Their heroic exploit once again showed
the world that there were no forces which could
have defeated a free people and overturn its
socialist social system.
 Fulfilling its allied commitment, the USSR on

August 8, 1945, declared war on Japan. The
Soviet Army dealt a shattering blow on the
Japanese Armed Forces and on September 2, 1945,
Japan signed the instrument of unconditional
surrender. The Second World War was over.
 Each year on May 9, the Soviet Union pays

tribute to its war dead by observing a minute of
silence, a minute in the course of which people
recall 1,418 fighting days and nights, the sorrow
of irretrievable losses and the joy of victory.
 The Soviet people revere the memory of their

sons and daughters who died in the fighting at
Moscow, the Brest Fortress, Leningrad, Stalingrad,
Kiev, Sevastopol, Odessa, Warsaw, Belgrade,
Prague, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia, Vienna,
Berlin, on nameless heights and river crossings,
on the difficult roads of war and partisan
trails.
204
 The Unknown Soldier in whose memory the

eternal flame burns at the Kremlin Wall
symbolises the reverence which the bereaved mother
has for her fallen son, the wife for her husband,
the sister for her brother, the grandson for his
grandfather.
 The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a shrine

honoured by the whole multinational Soviet
people.
 Their grateful memory will for ever retain the

exploit of those who had fought in the Great
Patriotic War, of all those who stood their ground
in the terrible hour of danger and sacrificed
everything for their homeland, for the sake of
happiness and life in the world.
 Expressing their admiration for the great

exploit of millions of their countrymen and
boundless respect for those who fell in the battle for
the freedom and independence of their socialist
homeland, Soviet people manifest their readiness
at any moment to rise to defend the gains of the
October Socialist Revolution, and by their labour
to multiply the country's might.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
Further Progress
 Some circles in the imperialist camp reckoned

that the USSR would be unable to heal its war
wounds unassisted and would consequently fall
into dependence on the capitalist states. But these
calculations, too, went awry.
 The USSR suffered incalculable losses and

destruction in the war. To this day Soviet people
205
mourn the death of their near and dear ones. No

loss is heavier than the death of relatives and
friends. No sight is more distressing than that of
destroyed fruits of labour into which a person had
put his strength and talent and perhaps even his
whole life. No smell is more acrid than that of
smouldering ruins. Returning from the front the
Soviet soldiers saw their land in ruins, tortured by
flames and metal. The joy of victory and a bitter
feeling of loss mingled in the hearts of all people.
 They realised that there could be no better
monument to those who died in the war than
rehabilitated factories, blossoming fields and a
happy life of their children, brothers, friends. So
once again Soviet people rolled up their sleeves
to clear the debris and build whole cities anew.
 Those years abound in examples of labour

heroism. In 1948 the Soviet Union had in the
main attained the pre-war level of production in
industry and in 1950 in agriculture. A few years
later, having completely healed the war wounds,
the Soviet people created conditions for further
progress.
 The harnessing of atomic energy was an

outstanding achievement of Soviet science and
technology. In those years industrial development in
the USSR was characterised by the introduction
of advanced technology and production lines,
accelerated development of the power industry,
engineering and the chemical industry, the rise
of electronics and radio electronics and other new
branches, and the complex mechanisation and
automation of production.
206
 The CPSU took the necessary steps to

accelerate the growth of agricultural production.
This was a very difficult task because of the
damage caused by the war, and a major
achievement in this direction was the development of
virgin lands in the eastern regions of the country.
 Thanks to the increase in material production

it became possible to carry through many
measures to improve the welfare of the people.
 The 20th GPSU Congress (February 1956)

made a comprehensive analysis of the Soviet
Union's international and domestic situation,
summed up the results of the Party's activities
since the 19th Congress and outlined the prospects
of communist construction.
 It discussed the question of overcoming the

Stalin personality cult and eliminating its
consequences and adopted a resolution approving the
Central Committee's great efforts to restore the
Leninist standards of Party life and promote
inner-Party democracy. The Congress called for
the maximum promotion of socialist democracy,
persistent efforts to improve the work of all
governmental organisations, central and local, and
strengthen their ties with the masses.
 The Soviet Union confidently moved towards

new achievements in communist construction.
 Now side by side with it advanced other

countries which were building socialist society. The
formation of the mighty socialist camp was a
great victory of the international working class,
of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism.
207
__ALPHA_LVL2__
The International Significance
 of the Experience of Socialist
 Construction in the USSR
 Underscoring the international significance of

the revolutionary changes in the Soviet Union,
Lenin said that this experience would never be
forgotten. "It has gone down in history,'' he wrote,
"as socialism's gain, and on it the future world
revolution will erect its socialist edifice."^^*^^
 Life itself has proved the correctness of this

conclusion. It was in the USSR that the
characteristic features and general regularities of
socialist construction have first manifested
themselves. Now they are creatively being applied in
countries which are building socialism, and are
consequently of international significance.
 What are the principal lessons to be drawn

from the struggle of the CPSU and the Soviet
people for the victory of socialism?
 The experience of the USSR has demonstrated

that the transition from capitalism to socialism
can take place only as a result of socialist
revolution and the establishment of the dictatorship of
the proletariat. Despite the assertions of
revisionists and reformists, socialism cannot peacefully
grow out of capitalism. It can be victorious only
if the working class in alliance with all working
people overthrows the capitalist system and wins
political power.
 The experience of the USSR has confirmed the

exceptional importance of the Marxist-Leninist
_-_-_
208
conclusion regarding the necessity of abolishing

private property and establishing public
ownership in the means of production. Only public
ownership in the means of production does away
with production anarchy and opens the way for a
planned and uninterrupted development of the
economy on the basis of scientific and
technological progress. Socialism alters the very purpose of
social production: exploitation and oppression
give way to co-operation and mutual assistance
between the friendly classes, and this opens up
broad opportunities for improving the well-being
of the working people, and promoting science,
culture and art.
 The experience of the USSR has confirmed

that only the socialist reorganisation of agriculture
can rid the peasant masses of poverty and want
and ensure their prosperity and cultural
development. The transition of small peasant households
to the road of establishing large-scale socialised
agriculture is a vital necessity, a historical
regularity of social development.
 The experience of the USSR shows that

socialist construction encounters the bitter
resistance of the overthrown exploiting classes and
that international imperialism vigorously supports
the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie inside the
country. Defence of socialism against the
counterrevolutionary forces is the primary duty of the
workers' and peasants' state. Any revolution,
Lenin used to say, is worth something only if it
can defend itself.
 The experience of the USSR shows that only a
209
victorious socialist revolution puts an end to all

national oppression and creates conditions for a
voluntary, fraternal union of nations and
nationalities into a single state.
 The experience of the USSR shows that

socialism can be built only under the leadership
of the Marxist-Leninist Party. Armed with
Marxist-Leninist theory, the Communist Party
defines the principal trends and tasks of socialist
construction and formulates and carries through
a scientifically-based domestic and foreign policy.
The Party guides the entire economic, socio--
political and spiritual life of society.
 The historical experience of the USSR and

other countries of the socialist system has
demonstrated that enhancement of the organising
activity of the Marxist-Leninist Party is an
essential factor of successful socialist construction,
an earnest of further progress on the road to
communism.
[210]
__NUMERIC_LVL1__
CHAPTER IV
__ALPHA_LVL1__
THE MAIN FEATURES
 OF THE SOVIET UNION'S
 DEVELOPMENT
 AT THE PRESENT STAGE
__ALPHA_LVL2__
THE ECONOMY OF A DEVELOPED
 SOCIALIST SOCIETY
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 In order to reach his destination, to steer a

correct course, a seafarer has to know his exact
position at any given moment, the strength of the
current, the direction of the wind and other
conditions in which he has to act. Thanks to his
knowledge of the laws of nature, for instance, of
the laws governing the movement of the celestial
bodies, he orientates himself in space and time
and uses navigational instruments to chart his
course.
 In the ocean of social life people also have to

take their bearings, comprehend the specific
features of their time and ascertain the trends of
social development, in order to be able to act
consciously and promote social progress.
 At times it is more difficult to cognise the

present than the past. Looking closely at an oil
painting we see only dabs of various colours,
meaningless and chaotic. But let us move back a
few steps and the painting stands out in complete
detail. In the same way the picture of life is easier
211
understood if we move from it somewhat, not in

space, however, but in time.
 We have, however, to foresee the future on the

basis of our knowledge of the past. And this is
very important. Is this possible, have we the
necessary instruments? Yes, we have.
 Applying its knowledge of the laws of social

development and using the instruments of
scientific analysis, the Communist Party continuously
investigates social processes and on this basis maps
out its policy and orientates the Soviet people in
their advance towards ever new achievements in
communist construction. The 24th CPSU
Congress formulated its decisions on the basis of a
far-reaching scientific analysis of the present stage
of social development. In its Report to the 24th
Congress the CPSU Central Committee
characterised the present day as a period of developed
socialism.
 What are the main features of this stage? In

what way does it differ from the latter half of the
thirties when socialism had already been built in
the USSR?
 As regards the substance of the socialist system,

there are no distinctions: public ownership of the
means of production was predominant then and
it is predominant now; socialist principles
governed all spheres of human relations then and
they do so now. Today, just as in the late thirties,
there is no exploitation of man by man. But by
comparing the present day and what has been
recorded in the documentary films of the thirties
we shall see what great changes have occurred
14*
212
even in the very appearance of the country, its

factories and fields, city streets and villages, and
simply in the style of clothes and the furnishings
of apartments. Of course, the main distinction is
not that the inconspicuous ANT-25 on which
Valery Chkalov and his crew flew through the
North Pole to America has been replaced by the
mighty Antaeus capable of carrying 800
passengers, or the supersonic TU-144, or that even the
Gorky Automobile Factory, once the pride of the
country, seems different in comparison with the
giant Volga Motor Works which manufactures
Lada cars. Take a closer look at what is behind
the external changes and you will see that the
difference between the two periods of socialism is
evidenced both in the productive forces, in social
relations and in man himself. And these are not
simply quantitative, but also profound qualitative
changes.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
New Opportunities in the Economy
 and New Demands
 The 24th CPSU Congress focussed its attention

in the first place on the new magnitude of the
country's economy, on its new opportunities and
on the demands which society makes of it.
 The Soviet people have created a powerful

industry, socialist agriculture and advanced
science. The USSR daily produces a social product
worth nearly 2,000 million rubles (i.e., the entire
output of industry, collective and state farms in
213
terms of value), or ten times more than at the end

of the thirties. In 1950 Soviet industrial output was
less than 30 per cent of that of the United States,
the most powerful capitalist state, whereas in 1970
it was over 75 per cent. The gap is shrinking
steadily and by the end of the five-year plan for
1971--1975 the Soviet Union's aggregate industrial
and agricultural output will surpass the
contemporary level of production in the USA. This will be
a very important milestone in the economic
competition between socialism and capitalism.
 Let us take a look at the economic progress

made by the entire socialist camp. In 1970, the
volume of industrial production of the socialist
states was approximately 13 times higher than it
was on the same territory in 1937. It should be
noted that in the capitalist countries production
in this period increased 4.5 times.
 The new level of the Soviet national economy

is characterised by the following figures:
compared with the thirties steel output increased
almost six times, electricity approximately 12
times, oil and gas dozens of times. Clearly the
Soviet Union has every opportunity to solve a
wider range of problems than it had ever tackled
before, those which it could only dream of in the
thirties.
 Economic growth is accompanied by increasing

social demands on the economy. Further on we
shall dwell on the changes and development of
human requirements. In the meantime let us note
that the wealthier the society, the more diverse
and complex are the requirements of its members.
214
A hungry person dreams only of something to eat

and a naked person wants warm clothes, but a
person who is neither hungry nor cold cares about
his tastes; he will follow the fashion and take the
opinions of other people into consideration. He
buys only what he wants and not simply anything
that is offered in shops. And this fact has to be
taken into account, although it is becoming more
and more difficult, in planning new factories, to
keep up with the demands and tastes of people.

 The 24th CPSU Congress noted that while

surging ahead in some spheres of production, even
in the very important ones, the Soviet Union
cannot let others lag behind. While channelling
enormous funds into the development of
production, science and education, the USSR has also to
concentrate greater efforts and means on raising
the welfare of the Soviet people. This is what the
Congress meant when it discussed the need and
the possibility of dealing with a wider range of
problems in the period of developed socialism.
Explaining the substance of the shift in the
economic policy, Leonid Brezhnev said: "The
central task today is to effect a radical
change of orientation, to switch the accent to
intensive methods of economic management and
thereby achieve a considerable rise of efficiency
in the economy. The thing here is that economic
growth should be increasingly fostered by an
enhancement of labour productivity and an
acceleration of scientific and technological
progress, by the fuller utilisation of operating
production capacities, by increasing the return on
215
every ruble invested in the economy, on every ton

of utilised metal, fuel, cement and fertiliser."^^*^^
That was how the problem was set forth in the
decisions of the 24th CPSU Congress and the
December (1972) Plenary Meeting of the CPSU
Central Committee and also in the materials of
the joint meeting marking the 50th anniversary
of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Scientific and Technological
 Revolution and Socialism
 The specific features of development of the

Soviet Union at the present stage are largely
determined by the scientific and technological
revolution.
 The scientific and technological revolution has

several basic trends. One of them is the
development of new sources of energy---atomic and
thermonuclear. It is common knowledge that the
Soviet Union has a fairly large number of big
atomic power stations; it has the world's largest
nuclear-powered icebreakers Lenin and Arktika
and atomic submarines.
 Another trend is man's penetration and

exploration of outer space. This great process was
inaugurated by the Soviet Union which launched the
first artificial satellite of the earth and orbited the
first manned spaceship with Yuri Gagarin on
board.
_-_-_

of Soviet Socialist Republics, p. 72.
216
 The third trend is the development and

introduction of a new technology, more efficient than
the ordinary mechanical processing of materials.
It no longer simply alters the form of a substance
but transforms its molecular and atomic structure
and changes one substance into another. This
takes place in the production of polymers and
various plastic materials.
 Modern production imperatively demands raw

materials with technical and physical properties
different from those of natural materials. Plastics
and chemical fibres may have preset properties
such as increased strength, resistance to heat and
oxidation. The following example illustrates the
merits of synthetic materials: fibre-glass
impregnated with a special resin is almost as durable
as steel, 66 per cent lighter and does not rust.
 Finally, the scientific and technological

revolution is to reorganise production as a whole on
the basis of automation. Therein lies the main
trend of it because without automation there can
be no talk about the development of atomic
energy, space exploration and the transition to
new technologies, for, as a rule, they exclude
man's direct participation in the production
process. Here is an example.
 The chemical processes occurring during the

production of, say, plastics simply cannot be
manually controlled because the slightest
inaccuracy in temperature or pressure may easily
lead to undesirable changes in the properties of
materials. In many other industries, too,
improvements in machinery and technologies come into
217
conflict with the limited abilities of the human

organism. A lathe or milling machine operator,
for example, sets the machine in motion, stops it,
fixes and removes parts and devices. This means
that the operation of the machine depends on the
speed of his movements and reaction, on his
strength and endurance, all of which have their
limits. It follows, therefore, that the very
development of production raises the problem of
freeing man from direct participation in the
labour process and giving latitude for the further
development of technology. This objective
process coincides with the humanistic ideals of Soviet
society, with its desire to free man from arduous
work and provide conditions for his creative work
and all-round development.
 Automatic machines which control the entire

labour process appeared in response to the
demands of life itself. Machines of the old, classic
type consist of three units: motor, transmission
and tools which directly process the objects of
labour. Automatic machines have a fourth,
selfregulating unit which controls the machine, thus
dispensing with the functions formerly performed
by a worker. Scientists, designers and industrial
workers have created not only separate machines,
but automatic lines consisting of a number of
machines performing not one but many operations.
Moreover, there are now automatic shops and
even whole factories. Automatic interplanetary
stations are being used in space exploration.
 Thus man's role in production is undergoing a

radical change. He ceases to be a direct link in
218
the labour process, but watches this process in the

capacity of controller and regulator. Such, for
instance, is the job of a specialist who watches
the conversion of resins into a plastic or chemical
fibre, or the job of an operator in a hothouse
where watering, spray nutrition, temperature and
humidity are automatically regulated.
 The fundamental modification of man's role in

the production process is the principal content,
the quintessence of the scientific and technological
revolution. Obviously, this change can only take
place on the basis of the latest scientific
achievements, when science directly participates in
production, when the labour of scientists and
workers merges into a single whole.
 Examining man's position in the system of

production we discern a peculiar spiral.
 Let us begin with the mediaeval guildsman. His

craft bordered on art, and his skill, work habits,
taste and proficiency determined the quantity and
quality of his articles whose beauty we all admire
to this day. Very often he proudly affixed his
signature to them. Now let us take a look at
Charlie Chaplin's hero in the film Modern Times.
From the beginning to the end of the working day
he performed a single movement with his arms
as he tightened bolts on the conveyor, which
moved faster and faster because the proprietor
was after greater profits. Eventually the worker
began to imagine that there were bolts instead of
buttons on a girl's dress and even thought that the
foreman has a bolt instead of his nose. Such
labour stupefies and cripples a worker and turns
219
him into a human machine. The number of mental

cases among the workers of the famous Konosuke
Matsushita electronics empire rises in direct
proportion to the growing speed of the conveyor.
Here man is an appendage to the machine and is
replaced just as a worn-out machine part is
replaced. Yet it should be noted that here a
specific role is played not only by the character
of labour but also by the organisation of society,
a question which will be discussed further on in
the book.
 Finally, let us take a look at a worker at a

modern automated enterprise. His job is that of
a programmer, adjuster, technologist, designing
engineer and even researcher. As modern
technology advances from semi-automatic machines to
complete automation of production it becomes
increasingly his task to set assignments to
electronic equipment, adopt controlling decisions with
the help of computers and renew equipment and
processes. The decisive role in material
production gradually passes from man's muscle power to
his ability to solve complicated creative problems.
This requires diversified technical and scientific
knowledge and that is why foremost Soviet
workers enter vocational schools and institutes, or
keep abreast of the developments in their given
occupation by reading the necessary literature.
 Clearly the development of production depends

in increasing measure on man's knowledge and
skill, just as was the case with the mediaeval
craftsman but only at a totally different level of
development of the productive forces. It is hardly
220
worth mentioning that the production section

entrusted to a worker expands all the time; it
needs more means of production and consequently
the responsibility for its economic results rises.
For example, to break a spade is not the same
thing as to damage an excavator, and to damage
an excavator is not the same thing as to damage
a production line. Even the briefest stoppage of
a sophisticated machine leads to considerable
losses. And in this connection one can easily
imagine what an important role man will have to
play in agricultural production, too.
 Consequently production itself makes ever

greater demands of a modern worker, such as a
higher level of knowledge, greater interest in his
work and higher responsibility.
 And since man's role in production and his

attitude to work change in the course of the
scientific and technological revolution, the very
structure of society, the socio-economic conditions
come to play an increasing part in its further
progress. The question of man's position in society
---that of man who sells his labour power and is
deprived of all rights, or that of master of
production---is acquiring ever greater importance for
the development of production; for the working
man this question is of vital significance.
 Scientific and technological progress and social

progress go side by side in Soviet society,
determining and even assisting each other. Taking this
into account, the 24th CPSU Congress put on
record: "The task we face ... is one of historical
importance: organically to fuse the achievements
221
of the scientific and technical revolution with the

advantages of the socialist economic system....''
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Changes in the Relations of Production
 Any social phenomenon, according to the

founders of Marxism-Leninism, should be viewed from
class positions. This means that in economics it is
necessary in the first place to ascertain who, i.e.,
what class, owns the means of production, and in
politics who is in power. Public ownership in the
means of production is the basis of production
relations under socialism. This is characteristic of
all stages of socialism, including communism, its
highest phase. The principle of distribution
according to labour operates during the first phase,
including developed socialism. But relations of
production do not remain unchanged, and
socialist society, as Engels noted in one of his letters,
is not something that is petrified or immutable,
but should be regarded as being subject to
continuous changes and transformations. Analysing
the processes occurring in production and society,
the CPSU consciously takes measures to adapt
the relations of production as best as possible to
the level of development of the productive forces.
 At the present stage it is most important

skilfully to combine centralised planning with the
independent, creative activity of each Soviet
industrial enterprise. There was a time when all
planned targets, from the volume of production
to its organisation in individual sectors, were
handed down to the enterprise. The product
222
still to be produced was already earmarked
and the consumer could not refuse it, being,
in effect, deprived of the right to choose. This was
dictated by internal and external conditions, and
even more by the situation in the war years when
the country's central bodies kept strict count of
every kilogramme of metal and coal, and
consumer goods were rationed. But the more intricate
the economy, the more affluent the society and the
wider the range of commodities available to the
consumer, the more important it becomes to
grant an industrial enterprise the opportunity to
display greater initiative in production matters. It
is no longer possible to hand down production and
sales plans listing millions of different
commodities---their sort, size, fashion---to all enterprises
in the country. USSR central planning agencies
only set the indicators for key items. For example,
they plan the amount of footwear or fabrics to
be produced in the coming year, but the question
of the fashions and sizes of the footwear and the
colour and pattern of the fabrics is decided by the
factories and their customers---trading
organisations. To a certain extent this principle is applied
in the production of the means of production, the
instruments of labour. Industrial development
puts forward ever new demands some of which
are difficult to predict and this, too, calls for
flexible correction of plans.
 It is important that each industrial enterprise

should produce articles really needed by the
consumer---whether an individual buyer or a factory
---in adequate quantities and of the highest
223
quality. Therefore, at present it is essential that all

enterprises should establish direct contacts with
their suppliers and consumers. These contacts are
taken into account and modified if necessary by
managers and planning agencies.
 The successful fulfilment of the new tasks facing

the enterprises has an impact on value indicators,
such as the aggregate sum of realised products,
profitability. These indicators play a steadily
increasing role in assessing the work of an
enterprise. The economic reform launched in the USSR
in 1965 on the CPSU's initiative makes the level
of income and the welfare of the collective of an
enterprise increasingly dependent on the economic
results of its business activity. The production
development assets of an enterprise, the fund for
social and cultural measures and the material
incentive fund depend directly on the sales and the
size of profits.
 It should be noted that although the principle

of distribution according to the work done has not
changed in the course of the reform, it is now
being implemented to the fullest benefit of society.
To get a better idea of this principle let us quote
N. A. Baturin, the chairman of the Kushalino
Collective Farm in Kalinin Region, Deputy to the
USSR Supreme Soviet:
 `Èlaborating the schemes of the organisation

and remuneration of labour we make every effort
to extend the boundaries in which each person
will be able to display his individual abilities,
initiative and responsibility for his job and exercise
his rights as master of production.
224
 `Òur principle in remunerating labour is to

make the collective farmer interested in his work
as an individual worker, as a member of his team
and as a member of the entire collective
responsible for the overall result of his activity. We have
a three-stage system of material incentives. As an
individual worker, a collective farmer receives
a bonus for the output over and above the plan...
(the plan is fixed on the basis of average
production indicators on the farm); as a member of a
team he receives a bonus if his team exceeds the
aggregate production plan in terms of value: the
increase in the payment fund is proportional to
the overfulfilment of the production plan. Finally,
all collective farmers are equally entitled to
receive on every earned ruble part of the profits
assigned for distribution. In this way we try
harmoniously to combine the interests of every
individual worker, every team and the farm as a
whole.''
 Something similar is taking place in the whole

of society. Now distribution according to labour
no longer simply denotes payment for the time
spent at work or for the items produced. The
income of each worker also depends on the cost
price of the item, on whether it is sold and on its
quality. Thus, if each worker concerns himself
with improving the work of the entire collective,
introducing advanced techniques and technology,
raising the quality of the output and its sales, he
will earn more and society, too, will benefit.
 Of course, this does not at all belittle the
significance of the individual merits of a worker or his
225
responsibility for his job. The purpose of the

incentive system is to estimate the contribution of
each worker to the achievements of the entire
collective as fully as possible. But with the scientific
and technological revolution in progress and
socialisation of the means of production, work
becomes increasingly a collective effort, and that
means that the final result of the productive
activity of a large collective can largely depend on
the performance of an individual worker or
specialist. In these conditions no room remains for
slipshodness, wastefulness, carelessness and for
indifference towards them and the results of
collective labour. That is why it is necessary to search
for material and moral incentives suitable to the
requirements of modern production.
 Let us emphasise once again that improvement

in the relations of production is an objective
necessity arising from the development of the
productive forces. And today the
commoditymoney relations between people in the
process of planned production and distribution
conform most fully to the level of development of
the productive forces. The 24th CPSU Congress
pointed out that the improvement of the relations
of production and the economic reform in the
Soviet Union will continue. Acquiring a deeper
knowledge of the laws of development of social
production, each working man and woman can
to an increasing extent promote the improvement
of production relations.
15---2052
226
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Influence
 of External Factors
 In many respects the specific features of the

present historical stage are determined also by
external factors, the most important being the
expanding economic integration of socialist
countries. `Ìntegration'' means unification. But an
economic community is based above all on the
distribution of various industries between
countries. Some, for example, concentrate on the
production of turbines, others on the manufacture of
motor vehicles. A machine can be assembled from
parts manufactured in various countries. This
cuts production costs in each country and in the
long run proves to be advantageous to all.
Specialisation of production promotes mutual
economic interest and stable ties between the partners.
On the whole, economic development in the
socialist community is best regulated on the basis
of concerted plans. And, finally, there comes a
period when various countries pool their efforts
and means to solve specific economic problems,
as, for instance, the construction of the Druzhba
(Friendship) Oil Pipeline. We shall examine the
co-operation of socialist countries further down.
 On the other hand, the economic, scientific and

technological competition between the two world
systems has sharply intensified and is exerting an
enormous influence on all processes taking place
in the world, and the Soviet state has to take this
feature of the contemporary period into account
in all spheres of its activity.
227
 Above we have examined some of the most

important features of the economy of developed
socialism. As the 24th CPSU Congress pointed
out, the Soviet Union has attained a level of
production which has enabled it practically to launch
the building of the material and technical
basis of communism. This new level demands a
further improvement in the management of the
entire national economy and all social processes,
a precise definition of today's tasks and ways of
fulfilling them. They must be absolutely clear to
all members of society. That was why the 24th
GPSU Congress discussed as a single whole the
following questions:~
 the main aims towards which the CPSU is

orientating the development of the Soviet
economy;~
 the resources that must be mobilised to ensure

the further rapid rise of social production;~
 the question of improving the mechanism of

economic management in order to secure
successful economic growth.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
THE SUPREME AIM
 OF THE PARTY'S ECONOMIC POLICY
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 Karl Marx considered that the full

development of human forces was the "end in itself" of
the development of society based on social
justice. When Lenin worked on the Party's first
programme he formulated the premise that socialism
was a planned organisation of social production
228
designed to ensure the welfare and all-round

development of all members of society. However
difficult the tasks which had to be solved at each
stage in the history of the Soviet Union, the CPSU
has always had in mind the supreme aim---man
and his well-being. ''. . . Under socialism,'' it was
emphasised at the 24th CPSU Congress, "the
fullest possible satisfaction of the people's material
and cultural requirements is the supreme aim of
social production.''
 It is true that in the period of industrialisation

the Soviet people had to tighten their belts and
do without many essentials. But they deliberately
exposed themselves to these privations realising
that the satisfaction of their material and cultural
requirements could not be regarded as the
principal task of that period. Let us explain this.
 Both in substance and significance the

promotion of people's welfare is a multifold task which
cannot be viewed from the position of the
consumer alone. The requirements of a Soviet
individual are also by no means a simple concept.
Here is an example. A collective farm can either
distribute among its members, say, 100 thousand
rubles which they had earned, or spend them on
tractors. Let us imagine that the collective farmers
having spent all the money on food and other
items will be unable to buy the necessary farm
machinery to till the fields. In that case the farm
will take in a poor harvest and begin to
downgrade. But we can also assume that the following
may happen: by spending all the money on new
machinery, the collective farm will fail in making
229
the people interested in promoting the growth of
production, it will not create conditions for the
fruitful work of the tractor drivers themselves,
for their training, neither will it build a club,
school or whatever else the farm needs, and the
expenditures on the tractors will not yield the
expected results. This means that only the
collective farmers themselves, after thoroughly
considering which, personal or social, requirements
of each member as master of the farm have to be
satisfied in the first place, can arrive at the
correct decision. And if half of the 100 thousand
rubles is spent on the purchase of tractors in
conformity with scientific calculations and the
decision of the collective itself, will not this increase
the wealth of the collective farm? And will not
this decision in the long run promote the people's
welfare? We can distribute and consume only that
what has been produced. But production calls for
a continual renewal of the means of production.
Satisfaction of the people's requirements in the
means of production forms the basis for meeting
all their requirements.
 Man's requirements are diverse and their

levels vary. While a person is at home with his
family his requirements are personal and are
centred on the purchase of one or another thing
for the house, books, saving money for holidays,
etc. When he is at work his requirements acquire
a different quality: he is interested in seeing his
collective work in normal economic, sanitary,
technical, aesthetic and psychological conditions.
Returning from work he pays attention to
230
buildings, squares, the rhythm of city transport,

considers the possibility of going to a theatre or a
sports stadium.. . . Here his requirements attain
a higher level. On a regional scale, i.e., within
the limits of a certain territory, his requirements
become even broader, including his desire to
preserve the natural wealth, improve climatic
conditions and promote cultural development. Finally,
at the highest level, that of the whole of society,
his requirements come to embrace the need to
strengthen the country's defensive capability,
encourage scientific research essential for the
longterm development of society, improve the main
proportions of economic development which
enable separate branches and enterprises to select
the most promising variants of production.
 It would be a mistake, of course, not to
distinguish between the accumulation and consumption
funds, otherwise it would be impossible to
understand all the new elements introduced into the
social and economic policy by the 24th CPSU
Congress.
 The relation between these funds was not the

same at all times. And this is very significant.
 Yes, the policy of the CPSU has always been

designed to improve people's welfare, but the
possibilities for satisfying their requirements differed
in various periods and for a long time were very
limited due to specific historical factors. Today,
however, they are much greater and it is now
possible simultaneously to promote the
development of the economy and satisfy people's
requirements to a much greater extent.
231
 In the course of the seventh and the preceding

five-year plan periods (with the exception of the
first post-war five-year plan) the accumulation
fund increased at a considerably faster rate than
the consumption fund. In the period of the Eighth
Five-Year Plan (1966--1970) the difference in
their rates of growth was reduced to a minimum;
the consumption fund increased by 40.5 per cent,
and the accumulation fund by 41.9 per cent. In
the course of the ninth five-year plan period the
consumption fund will increase faster than the
accumulation fund (40 and 37 per cent respectively).
In the seventh five-year plan period the
consumption fund increased by 31,400 million rubles, in
the eighth by 56,800 million and in the ninth it
will rise by 75,000--81,000 million rubles. This rise
is ensured by the planned increase in the growth
rates of social production. As a result of the
accelerated growth of the consumption fund, the share
of accumulation in the national income will
decline somewhat by 1975, while the share of
production accumulation (i.e., the growth of the basic
production assets and stocks of commodity
values) will remain on the same level as in the
eighth five-year plan period.
 A characteristic feature of the Ninth Five-Year

Plan (1971--1975) is an increase in that portion of
investments which go to develop the facilities for
consumer goods production and everyday services.
The share of manufactured consumer goods
in the gross industrial output will also expand.
The considerable shift towards fuller satisfaction
of people's requirements is also expressed in the
232
fact that considerable labour resources are being

drawn into the service industry.
 These changes are engendered by both the

country's growing possibilities and the new
demands of production itself.
 The link between successes in economic

development and the growing welfare of the people is
self-evident: the greater the successes, the higher
is the standard of life. The distinctive feature of
contemporary stage of development of Soviet
production and society is that the growth of
people's welfare is becoming ever more essential for
the successful development of the economy itself
and turning into an important economic factor of
the growth of production in the USSR.
 As we know, modern production raises rapidly

increasing demands not only as regards
technological equipment, but above all as regards the
worker himself who creates and controls the
machines. Machines immeasurably augment man's
power, but are themselves the work of the human
intellect and hands. Man is the main productive
force and its development is most important for
boosting production. "Investment into man'', as
scientists now say, i.e., the creation of conditions
for raising the educational and cultural level of
a worker and for promoting his all-round
development, is most profitable today.
 Thus, we observe here once again the

coincidence of the humanistic ideals of Soviet society
and its desire to promote the all-round
development of the individual with the objective trends
in the development of social production.
233
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Formation of Requirements
 The Communist Party's line of raising the

welfare of the Soviet people has nothing in
common with the ideals of the so-called consumer
society which is being widely propagandised by
Western bourgeois ideologists. Their chief
argument is that consumption can allegedly be an aim
in itself for man, that there are no desires other
than to purchase the most expensive, the most
modern things, preferably those which neighbours
and friends do not have, and that the source of
human happiness and joy lies in the hunt for
these commodities. At the same time they claim
that acquisition of things is the motive force of
progress. It is to be regretted that in the USSR,
too, there are people who attach too much
importance to the fact that under communism
everything will be free of charge and people will just
take what they want from shops.
 Of course, the Communist Party and the

Soviet state strive to raise the living standard of
Soviet society to a high level and want that
already now Soviet people could use all the benefits
of civilisation. But in the final count their main
concern is that in the happy future which the
USSR is building people would consider all this
normal and would not even be concerned about
things or dream of saving money to buy a car.
Their minds would be occupied with other
matters, and in the first place with acquiring a deeper
knowledge of the world in its complexity and
beauty, from microparticles to the boundless
234
expanses of outer space, from the depths of the earth

to the most distant stars. Work will become life's
prime necessity and people will set greater store on
spiritual values such as knowledge and art and the
ability to be useful to other members of society.
Concern for the satisfaction of human
requirements under socialism and communism is in fact
concern for establishing conditions under which
man's creative individuality would develop to the
full.
 Man's requirements are changing more and

more perceptibly, and it is of the utmost
importance to take these changes into account no
matter how difficult this may be. Results of
investigations show that physiologically determined
material requirements are coming to occupy a
relatively decreasing place in the aggregate of
requirements. The fact of the matter is that a person
does not want to buy just an ordinary coat, but
a fashionable one, not just a chair or table but a
modern set of furniture. In making his choice he
is no longer principally guided by the
requirements of the organism but, as specialists say, by
"social standards'', i.e., by the concept of what is
good and what is bad, which has formed
in the given period as a result of association
with other people. This is also true of spiritual
values. Even economic stimulation should be
viewed from the point of view of unity of its two
aspects---material and moral. For example, a wage
increase not only denotes a rise in the sum of
material benefits: it is also a source of satisfaction
for a person who regards it as sign of social
235
recognition of his services. But that is not all. The

spiritual life of person in socialist society is
incomparably richer, broader and more diversified
than in capitalist society for the simple reason
that the Soviet man is master of his land and his
future. His interests are based on lofty social
ideals which permeate all his aspirations. Perhaps
the most important thing as regards human
requirements is that a person does not simply want to
possess a greater amount of material values, but
that he wants to increase his influence on
production and distribution. The 24th CPSU Congress
laid special emphasis on the need for broader
participation of the masses in the management of
production and public life in the country.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Tasks
 of the Ninth Five-Year Plan
 The Ninth Five-Year Economic Development

Plan of the USSR for 1971--1975 takes into
account the changes in the character of social
requirements.
 In this period the incomes of the working

people will rise: the average monthly wage of workers
and office employees will rise by 22.4 per cent,
and the collective farmers' incomes from social
production will go up by 30.6 per cent. A system
of measures will be introduced to raise the real
incomes of working people---wage increases for
low-bracket working people, higher scholarship
grants, and so forth. In the period from 1971 to
236
1974 alone about 47 million people had their

wages raised, and more than 30 million had their
pensions, scholarships and other grants increased.
 For example, a family of four which in 1970

received various benefits to the average sum of
3,200 rubles from the consumption fund of the
national income, will be receiving these benefits
to the sum of 4,300 rubles by the end of the ninth
five-year plan period.
 The 24th CPSU Congress paid special

attention to consumer goods production and the study
of demand in order to enable working people to
spend their earnings to their greatest advantage.
This is taken into account by directors of
enterprises, specialists and also by every
worker.
 Besides a growth in wages there will be a

further increase in the social consumption funds in
the ninth five-year plan period. In the preceding
five years they increased more than 1.5 times and
in 1970 comprised 262 rubles per head of
population as against 182 rubles in 1965. In the ninth
five-year plan period social consumption funds
will increase 40.6 per cent, and it is not
accidental that their growth is faster than the growth in
wages. To a considerable degree social
consumption funds level out the possibility of Soviet people
to satisfy such vital requirements as medical care,
education and social security.
 Concern for people's health is not confined to

medical care: measures are being taken to improve
working conditions, everyday services and rest and
leisure facilities. The five-year plan envisages a
237
further improvement of facilities for mass forms

of physical culture and sports and the promotion
of tourism; new river, sea, railway, motor and
air tourist routes will be organised, and more
hotels, garages and other facilities for tourists will
be built.
 In keeping with the plan, important headway

will also be made in the field of public education.
The transition to universal secondary education
will be completed in the main in 1975. Higher
and specialised secondary education schools will
train about nine million specialists, including
experts in new fields of science and technology
and for the rapidly developing branches of
production and the service industry.
 One of the most important factors of the

people's welfare is the pace at which the housing
problem is being solved. Between 1966 and 1970
apartment houses with 518 million square metres
of living space were built and 55 million Soviet
citizens improved their housing conditions. In the
ninth five-year period another 565--575 million
square metres of housing will be built. In the first
four years of the plan a total of 434.6 million
square metres were put up and approximately
43 million people moved into new flats.
 An extensive programme for bettering utilities

and town improvement will be carried into effect
in the course of the Ninth Five-Year Plan. Homes
in towns and urban-type settlements will have
gas to the extent of 65--75 per cent and rural
homes to the extent of 40--50 per cent. The water
supply of towns and urban-type settlements will
238
be improved and domestic consumption of electric

power will rise.
 Over the eighth five-year period the extent of

everyday services increased more than two times,
including three times in the villages, and their
rate of development will be approximately the
same under the Ninth Five-Year Plan.
 In 1966--1970 10,000 million rubles were spent

on measures to raise the welfare of the people,
whereas 22,000 million rubles will be spent
on similar measures under the Ninth Five-Year
Plan.
 The above is a concrete expression of the

CPSU line of raising the welfare of the Soviet
people.
 It is common knowledge, however, that it is

possible to consume only that what is produced.
This applies equally to the individual and to
society as a whole. Naturally, therefore, when we
refer to the satisfaction of personal requirements,
we have in mind only effective demand. A person
who works best receives more and better articles
of personal use. As regards society as a whole,
it is natural that the extent to which its
requirements are satisfied depends on the efficiency of
social production as a whole.
 What are the main sources of growth, the

resources that should be mobilised to enable Soviet
society to attain its immediate and long-term
targets?
239
__ALPHA_LVL2__
THE SOURCE OF MEANS
 FOR FULFILLING
 SOCIAL TASKS
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Extensive or Intensive Development?
 It is possible to secure a considerable rise in

the material and cultural level of the Soviet
people only on the basis of high rates of development
and greater efficiency of socialist production,
scientific and technological progress and
accelerated growth of labour productivity. Labour
alone can be the source of growth of social
welfare.
 But simply conscientious labour, the application

of physical efforts is not enough nowadays. In our
age of the scientific and technological revolution,
the success of production and consequently the
improvement of the living standard depend on
rational labour drawing on the latest scientific
achievements, calculating labour involving the
economy of rapidly mounting production costs,
creative labour based on a continuous search for
optimal solutions.
 The CPSU draws the attention of the people

to the fact that there are very limited possibilities
for extensive development in the country, and
that the main emphasis should be laid on the
intensification of production, on raising its
efficiency. What does this mean?
 Extensive development implies the bringing of

new lands under the plough, the employment of
additional manpower and the building of new
factories. Clearly such development cannot be
240
boundless; its limits are obvious right from the

start.
 Intensive development as applied to production

means a relative increase in investments per
hectare, expenditures on fertilisers and farm
machinery, and the introduction of new equipment and
technologies at factories making it possible to
obtain more products from the same production
areas. The crux of the task of raising the efficiency
of production is to achieve a considerable increase
in the volume of production and national income
per each unit of labour, material and financial
outlays. That is also what raising the productivity
of social labour in the final analysis amounts to.
 Higher labour productivity in the ninth

fiveyear plan period should account for at least 80
per cent of the increase in the national income,
87--90 per cent in industrial production, 95 per
cent in building and assembly and the entire
increase in railway freight carriage. The envisaged
growth in farm output must be secured entirely
by raising the productivity of labour.
 The successful achievement of the five-year

plan targets and the entire development of
production and society depend on the growth of
labour productivity.
 Perhaps everybody has at least an idea of the

importance of the growth of labour productivity.
"In the last analysis,'' Lenin wrote shortly after
the establishment of Soviet power, "productivity
of labour is the most important, the principal
thing for the victory of the new social system. . . .
Capitalism can be utterly vanquished, and will
241
be utterly vanquished by socialism creating a new

and much higher productivity of labour. This is
a very difficult matter and must take a long time;
but it has been started, and that is the main
thing."^^*^^
 Sometimes, however, this important economic

category is oversimplified and this leads to all
sorts of curious things. Here is an example.
 A factory purchased new equipment, but the

annual depreciation deductions from the cost of
these mechanisms and the expenses connected with
their exploitation considerably exceed the economy
on wages. Can we speak of a growth in labour
productivity in this case, even if more products
are now turned out per worker?
 In a way yes, because in physical terms (the

number of items per working hour), labour
productivity has increased. But will a good manager
regard this as an achievement and will he strive
for such a growth in labour productivity? In this
case it turns out that such productivity as a means
contradicts the aim. If such a "growth of labour
productivity" leads to losses, how can it promote
the growth of the country's national income and
lead to a better satisfaction of working people's
requirements?
 Karl Marx has a very precise definition: "

Productive power has reference ... to ... the efficacy
of any special productive activity during a given
time being dependent on its productiveness."^^**^^
_-_-_


 ^^**^^ K. Marx, Capital, Vol. I, Moscow, 1971, p. 46.
16---2052
242
 Does this mean that efficacy is always measured

in items, centners, cubic metres per person? Of
course, not. The increase in the volume of output
in physical terms is only one aspect of the matter,
though a very important one. According to Marx,
if the output is not sold at all then the labour
expended on it can be considered lost and is not
recognised as labour. And, of course, it is not
worthwhile speaking about any growth of the
productivity of such labour.
 The factory wants to know whether its output

has been sold, and at what price, and what
amount of labour has been saved, not only live
labour, but also that embodied in the means of
production (raw materials, machines and
buildings). What is important in determining the growth
of labour productivity at an industrial enterprise
is its expression in value terms, which takes
account of all these factors. From this point of view
it once again turns out that each Soviet worker,
each collective farmer ought to be concerned not
only about increasing production but also about
improving its quality, that he ought to be thrifty
and take care not only of his own work place, but
also of his enterprise as a whole. In addition to
employing his muscular energy, he must also
work creatively and with a will.
 What are the basic ways of raising the
efficiency of social production and labour
productivity?
243
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Application of Science and Technology.
 Scientific Organisation of Labour
 In our age of the scientific and technological

revolution it is of primary importance to promote
science and use its achievements in practice. A
careful study of the requirements modern
production makes of technological equipment, sources
of power and objects of labour shows that all
these questions can be solved only on a scientific
basis. Solution of many problems, including the
creation of new equipment and technology,
calculation of the optimal conditions of work of
highlyproductive machines, rational use of equipment
and organisation of labour, depends wholly on
the collective efforts of scientists and practical
workers. And today very many scientists become
practical workers in the full sense of the word
and are placed in charge of ever new branches
of production.
 From the point of view of scientific and

technological progress, the major task of people
directly engaged in production is to speed up the
replacement of obsolete machines. Obsolescence
means that a machine is not necessarily worn out;
but since there already exist more efficient
machines, those who employ outdated equipment may
find themselves far behind and lose the economic
competition.
 A characteristic feature of the Ninth Five-Year

Plan is the steadily increasing supply of modern
instruments of labour to industrial enterprises.
Their output will rise 1.6 times and it is planned
244
to design about 25,000 and launch the production

of more than 19,000 new types of machines,
mechanisms, apparatuses and devices.
 One of the most urgent tasks is the

mechanisation of labour-consuming jobs, the replacement of
manual labour with machines and automated lines.
Mechanisation will be comprehensive.
 In agriculture, an increase in the efficiency of
production can be achieved only through
comprehensive mechanisation coupled with
chemicalisation (i.e., the use of fertilisers, chemical
weedkillers and pesticides) and melioration (land
improvement).
 Scientific organisation of labour (SOL) is an

important means of enhancing the efficiency of
production. Usually this work begins with the
drafting of SOL plans for each work place.
After that plans are drawn up for production
sections, shops and, finally, for the whole
enterprise.
 Here, too, a comprehensive approach to the

problem produces the greatest effect. A
sciencebased organisation of production must be
combined with a rational organisation of labour at
each work place. SOL planning is a powerful
disciplining means of raising the efficiency of all
links of the production process.
 The Communist Party's appeal to enhance the

efficiency of production has met with a broad
response from industrial and agricultural workers in
the USSR as may be judged, for instance, by the
very substantial growth in the number of
inventions. In 1974 approximately 3.9 million
245
inventions and rationalisation proposals were

introduced in various branches of the national
economy. As a result, an annual economy of
4,000 million rubles was achieved.
 Rationalisation proposals and inventions are a

most important factor of scientific and
technological progress.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Improvement
 of the Location and Structure of Production
 A great deal can be done to raise the efficiency

of production by improving its location and
structure, i.e., the correlation and the territorial
distribution of the various branches of production.
 This concerns the whole of society in the first

place. It is most important correctly to decide
what branches of production should be given
priority. As regards the heavy industry branches,
such a decision leads to changes in many other
branches, for the heavy industry manufactures
the means of production for all branches and thus
determines their rates of development, too.
 The selection of the site for a factory is another

question. For instance, when Soviet planning
agencies began examining the problem of
selecting a site for the automobile factory which now
manufactures the Lada car they had the choice
of more than 30 towns. As a result of detailed
calculations which took into account a very large
number of factors, including expenditures
connected with the transportation of raw materials,
finished cars and the availability of labour
246
resources, only six towns remained on the list. Then

with the help of modern computers 16 variants
of calculations were made with regard to each of
these six towns and only after that the planning
agencies took the decision substantiated in every
detail to put up the factory in Togliatti on the
Volga.
 The location and structure of production is of

importance for individual branches, republics
and towns. It is also taken up and solved
in its own way at individual enterprises. A
collective farm offers the best example illustrating
this point. No one can deny that it is unprofitable
to cultivate water melons in Arkhangelsk Region
(north of the USSR). But very serious calculations
have to be made before it can be decided how
best to combine the cultivation of wheat and
sugar-beet on a collective farm in the black-earth
belt of Russia, how to combine the development
of marketable grain production with livestock
breeding, and how to combine, in livestock
breeding, its branches, say, the production of meat and
eggs. Production efficiency, i.e., the input-output
ratio, depends to a very great extent on the
correct structure of production.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Use of Production Assets
 and Investments
 The Soviet Union's existing production assets

are a source of its vast economic strength and
provide it with enormous opportunities for further
development.
247
 Production assets include buildings, machines
and equipment, and a great deal here depends on
the volume of output they produce annually, daily
and hourly.
 The efforts to keep machines and

equipment operating at their full capacity, to
increase inter-repair periods, to cut down repair
time (naturally not at the expense of quality), and
to ensure effective maintenance of equipment and
buildings spell additional profits, increased
efficiency of social production. One can judge of the
tremendous reserves latent in the fixed
production assets by their value which today equals
almost 740,000 million rubles.
 The 24th CPSU Congress emphasised the need

to raise the shift coefficient. At times new
factories are built, while similar enterprises already in
commission operate in one shift. This is a sheer
waste of money, and the workers themselves can
recommend the managers and specialists how to
improve the organisation of production and raise
the shift coefficient.
 In order to increase the efficiency of social

production it is very important to improve the use of
investments, i.e., the money spent on the
construction of factories, state farms, and so forth. In the
sphere of material production the Soviet Union
is now building more than any other country in
the world; the task now is to speed up the returns
on the money expended and to make them as
large as possible.
 This depends on the location of production

capacities and the rates of construction and the
248
rates of mastering newly built enterprises. It is

important to see how much is spent on the
construction of new enterprises and on the renewal of
plant. The latter outlays are usually more
effective.
 The task of raising the efficiency of production

is a complex one involving all aspects of economic
life without exception; and the Communist Party
and the Soviet Government take this circumstance
into account. At its Plenary Meeting in
December 1969, the CPSU Central Committee
emphasised that it was necessary to further the policy of
economy, increase the personal responsibility of
each Soviet worker for the common cause and
enhance labour discipline. All industrial and other
enterprises in the Soviet Union have ample
opportunities to save on raw and other materials,
electric power, fuel and tools. No smaller reserves
can be tapped through the rationalisation of
technological processes, and a more advantageous
arrangement of machines, lathes and
transportation facilities.
 The 24th CPSU Congress pointed out the

imperative need for industrial workers to make a
definite change in their approach to economic
questions, and modify some of their habitual
conceptions. There was a time when due to specific
conditions priority was given to quantitative
indicators: the point was to produce so many tons
of steel, so many tons of oil, so many tons
of coal.
 Of course, the quantitative aspect is still

important, but now it is much more important to take
249
account of the indicators relating to the quality

of production and the economic results of the
activity of industrial enterprises.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Economic Education
 Today, with the intensification of production

in the USSR, it is especially important to promote
the economic education of cadres, of all Soviet
working people.
 It is no longer possible to manage the economy

without a thorough knowledge of economics, the
contemporary economic policy and a clear idea of
the tasks being fulfilled. Accordingly, in order to
raise economic management to a higher level, the
CPSU Central Committee adopted a Resolution
"On the Improvement of the Economic Education
of Working People'', emphasising the need to
establish a well-organised nation-wide system of
economic education of cadres in all branches of
the economy: specialists, workers, office employees,
collective farmers, and all working people in
general, with due regard for the type of enterprise
and branch of production and the nature of work
performed by all categories of working people.
 The main emphasis is placed on the study of
the economic policy of the CPSU, the laws of
social development, Leninist principles and
methods of economic management, and the economics
and organisation of production. Economic
education is also designed to help people acquire a
knowledge of economics proper, teach them to run
250
the economy efficiently, raise labour productivity

and enhance its level of organisation.
 The Resolution notes that economic education

should dovetail with the organisation of the
entire economic activity of enterprises and raise the
level of economic management. It also makes the
point that working people should continuously
improve their skill and that their freshly acquired
knowledge should be embodied in concrete
achievements. If all working people acquire the habit
of making economic analysis, if they steadfastly
improve methods of labour and their skill, and
rationally use national wealth it would only be to
the benefit of the state and each member of
Soviet society.
 The main purpose of giving working people an

economic education is to enable them to combine
their knowledge of economic laws and the
economic policy of the CPSU with the concrete tasks
of the struggle for the fulfilment of economic
development plans.
 Higher efficiency of social production in large

measure depends on the further improvement in
the system of management of the socialist
economy and is necessitated by the rapid
development of production in the USSR.
 What are the tasks facing the Soviet people in

this field?
251
__ALPHA_LVL2__
ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT AND
 "WORK FOR ONESELF"
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 The improvement of the system of economic

management is a key question of the Communist
Party's economic policy, and as such was
formulated with the utmost clarity at the 24th CPSU
Congress:
 ``This is essentially a matter of how best to

organise the activity of society in accelerating
economic and social development, in ensuring the
fullest use of the available possibilities, and in
rallying even closer together hundreds of thousands
of collectives, and tens of millions of working
people round the main aims of the Party's policy.
Consequently, questions relating to management
affect not only a narrow circle of executives and
specialists, but all Party, government and
economic organisations and all collectives of working
people.''
 In April 1973, the CPSU Central Committee

and the USSR Council of Ministers adopted a
Resolution "On Certain Measures for Improving the
Management of Industry'', which is of great
importance for boosting industrial development in
the USSR. These measures are designed to open
up fresh opportunities for the further
concentration and specialisation of production and
accelerating of scientific and technological progress in
all branches of Soviet industry. Economic
management bodies will have closer ties with
enterprises, the rights and duties of various economic
links will be more precisely defined and the
252
administrative machinery will become more

efficient. In the final analysis these measures will lead
to a further upsurge in the entire national
economy.
 The Resolution not only defines the field of

management and its basic tasks, but also lays special
emphasis on the need to draw all working people
into economic management. This is a most
important requirement arising from the very nature
of production relations under socialism and the
specific features of the present stage of its
development.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Scientific Management
 As production becomes increasingly complex it

is more and more difficult to manage it. Precisely
this factor engendered the science of
management, which has developed into a separate branch
of knowledge and is now being applied on
an ever wider scale. It embraces methods of
collecting and processing information and helps
define the level at which a decision has to be taken
(enterprise, branch, society). Based on new
analytical methods the science of management makes
it possible to consider phenomena in life as a
system and in their interconnection. It uses
methods of scientific prognostication, i.e., of
forecasting the possible variants of development, and
modern planning methods.
 Electronic computers play an exceptionally

important role in improving economic management.
The management of the economy, a branch of
253
production or an individual enterprise can be

successful only if the leading bodies are promptly
supplied with information about the state of affairs
in them, rapidly process this information and,
knowing the situation, take appropriate decisions.
As production increases the flow of economic,
technological, technical and other information
increases to such a degree that it is simply impossible
to receive and process it in good time with the
help of ordinary methods. Now technical devices
are being employed which speedily gather and
process necessary information. And that is not all.
If one feeds a preset programme of operations into
a machine it will rapidly produce an answer
informing how effective one or another decision will
be and will even give a comparative analysis of
several variants of decisions. Electronic computers,
some of which perform up to 10,000,000
arithmetical operations a second, need just a few hours
to do the work which scores of economists and
planning specialists need many days to complete.

 What do electronic computers do at industrial

enterprises? Here is a concrete example. The
Uralmash Works in Sverdlovsk has more than
100 shops and dozens of production subsections
working on thousands of orders. Each machine
produced at the works has thousands of
components and each component undergoes dozens of
operations in the course of its making. In order to
organise the rhythmic work of all the equipment
it is necessary to know exactly how things stand
with the production of each component and unit,
keep track of a vast number of inter-shop links
254
and ensure that each machine-tool is working at

full capacity.
 Recently the first stage of an automated

management system consisting of several sub-systems
was commissioned at the Uralmash Works. One
sub-system takes care of the engineering
preparations, the second handles routine recording and
registration, the third plans maintenance and
supply, the fourth takes care of techno-economic
planning, the fifth does accounting operations and
the sixth handles personnel matters. The entire
course of production becomes visible, enabling the
managerial bodies to see what previously was
hidden from their eyes. For instance, they see the
load of each lathe not only for the day but for a
month ahead; they see how well each work place
is supplied with raw materials and tools. Timely
information, the computation of the efficacy of the
possible variants of decisions enable the
management to take prompt measures and furnish
timely economically and technically substantiated
solutions to problems that arise in the course of
production.
 Automated management systems are being

introduced on a steadily increasing scale in the
national economy. An automated management
system of an entire branch of production is being
introduced, for example, at the USSR Ministry of
Instrument-Making, Automation Facilities and
Control Systems. With the help of electronic
computers it draws up long-term development plans,
selects sites for enterprises, draws up their
production plans, processes information about the
255
operation of enterprises, makes calculations in the

field of maintenance and supply, sales, and so
forth.
 The greatest economic effect is produced by the

employment of electronic computers in managing
the economy as a whole. Thanks to the socialist
public ownership of the means of production there
are ample possibilities in this sphere. The State
Planning Committee of the USSR has set up the
Main Computer Centre whose staff largely made
up of economists and mathematicians is already
working on a series of nation-wide problems.
 Nevertheless, it should always be borne in mind
that a machine, however sophisticated, is only a
machine and has to be operated by man. If, for
instance, the machine is to solve the problem of
deriving maximum profit, it will not take measures
to enable man to work well, provide facilities
for his rest, take steps to prevent industrial
accidents, see to it that the speed of the conveyor does
not affect the workers' nervous system, and so
forth. But all these ``restrictions'' can be coded and
fed into the machine. It may produce a variant
which is orientated on high profits, but which
cannot be implemented without taking into
account human possibilities and requirements. In
other words, electronic computers are merely
technical devices and the important thing is who uses
them and for what purpose, that is, who owns
them and whom they serve.
 There can be no doubt that a capitalist

proprietor for whom the amassment of maximum
profits is the sole purpose of production may
256
easily use the latest computing devices as a means

of more adroitly underpaying the workers. At the
same time it is clear that in a society where the
working people are the masters of production, the
application of sophisticated computers invariably
furthers their interests; it does not clash with the
development of democratic principles of
management and promotes their fullest and consistent
implementation. Participation of the masses is
the basic and most important factor which
distinguishes socialist economic management from
management of capitalist production.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Both Master and Worker
 If we ask ourselves the question what exactly

enables Soviet society to raise labour productivity
to a higher level than that in capitalist
production, wherein lies the key to the solution of the
general task formulated by Lenin, we shall
logically turn to the socio-economic sphere, to the
problems of human relations.
 Indeed, is land in the Soviet Union richer than

that, say, in the USA? Evidently not, and in
general natural conditions are not decisive. Japan is
a case in point. Though by no means rich in
minerals Japan not long ago overtook the Federal
Republic of Germany and became the world's
third biggest producer of steel. In agriculture, too,
high labour productivity is not necessarily typical
of countries with fertile lands: in the USA, the
FRG and a number of other advanced capitalist
countries land may not be more fertile than in
Pakistan but labour productivity in agriculture is
257
incomparably higher. Turning to science and

technology it is clear that the USSR and the capitalist
countries have equal opportunities for promoting
their development with the exception of socio--
economic conditions, the structure of society itself
which gives the Soviet people unquestionable
advantages. And therein lies the principal
distinction.
 Let us continue the comparison: perhaps the

USSR will increase investments to develop its
productive forces at a faster rate? This is
necessary, of course. But where will the USSR get the
required means? An increase in the accumulation
funds resulting from a deliberate reduction of
consumption is an emergency measure and can
be enforced for a limited period only; the main
source of accumulation lies precisely in greater
labour productivity. Now let us look at the
question from a different angle: perhaps, on the
contrary, the Soviet state by paying higher wages
will heighten the interest of Soviet people in the
results of their work and thereby greatly develop
production? It is absolutely true that the Soviet
Government is anxious to raise wages, but this,
too, depends solely on the growth of labour
productivity. So what do we have, a vicious circle?
Nothing of the sort, for this circle is sundered as
soon as we turn to the sphere of production
relations, to the question of man's place in
production.
 At the beginning of the chapter we said that

man's role in production increases tremendously
as a result of the scientific and technological
17---2052
258
revolution. Accordingly, we arrived at the conclusion

that a society which gives latitude for
developing the main productive force, thus making
people interested in acquiring and applying
scientific knowledge in practice and developing a new
attitude to labour, will derive the biggest benefit.
In this respect the possibilities which are inherent
in socialist society do not exist under capitalism.
 Bourgeois philosophers, sociologists and

psychologists have come forward with some
interesting pronouncements. The American economist,
Charles Killingsworth, is convinced that
automation has tremendously increased the importance of
investment in man as a factor of economic
development. Alfred Sauvy, a French demographer,
draws the conclusion on the basis of his studies
that the principal factor of progress is not capital,
as was formerly believed, but knowledge and the
ability of people to create wealth. This evokes a
certain degree of pessimism in the opinions of
other people. The American psychologist,
Frederick Herzberg, speaks of the great importance of
getting the worker to believe that what is
advantageous to his firm is advantageous to himself. At
the same time, however, he acknowledges that
there is no practical way of achieving this because
the interests of a private firm clash with the
interests of the worker. US industrialists have ol
late begun to complain about the "decline in the
morals" of the workers who have no wish to work
with the enthusiasm and energy expected of them.
 In capitalist society, proprietors resort to all

possible means to make the workers interested in
259
improving their attitude to work, and even go to

the extent of distributing a portion of the profits
among them, but only in proportions which do not
damage their own interests. Propaganda is also
used for the same purpose, i.e., to mislead a
person into thinking that he is not an exploited hired
worker but an equal member of society, to make
him change his attitude to work and thus raise
his productivity and make him work more
intensively. To achieve this, capitalist propaganda tries
to prove that being members of an "industrial
society" workers and capitalists have ``common''
interests.
 Such measures of influencing the workers should

not be underestimated. But, of course, they do not
resolve the main contradiction, namely the
contradiction between the social nature of labour and
the private capitalist form of appropriating its
results, between wage labour and capital. The
proprietor and his hired worker inevitably stand
in opposition to each other inasmuch as the latter
due to his psychology seeks "to lighten the
burden of labour or to obtain at least some little
bit from the bourgeoisie".^^*^^ No matter how hard
capitalist ideologists may try to embellish wage
labour relations, their substance does not change
and, therefore, as Marx wrote, a worker in his
work "does not affirm himself but denies himself,
does not feel content but unhappy, does not
develop freely his physical and mental energy but
_-_-_
260
mortifies his body and ruins his mind".^^*^^ Wage

labour, Marx wrote, like slave and serf labour is
the lower form of labour which must give way to
associated, i.e., united labour "carried out
voluntarily, willingly and with enthusiasm''. Compare
this point of view with that of the French
scientist, Fran9ois Corre, who writes that daily work is
worse than hard labour for the majority of
people today. This view is echoed by the US
sociologist, Robert Dubin, who maintains that a worker
who performs one and the same operation at the
conveyor belt is in fact a cog in a machine. But
Lenin's words stand out in sharp contrast to these
thoughts: "We must organise all labour, no
matter how toilsome or messy it may be, in such a
way that every worker and peasant will be able
to say: I am part of the great army of free labour,
and shall be able to build up my life without the
landowners and capitalists, able to help establish
a communist system."^^**^^
 It goes without saying that the Soviet state has

always tried and is doing so today to reduce
messy, monotonous, arduous labour to a minimum.
Designers and scientists in many fields are
working in this direction. Much is already being done
to reduce the incidence of industrial injuries, and
a new branch of science, industrial aesthetics, has
come into being. But the basic difference between
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ K. Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of

1844, Moscow, 1959, p. 72.
261
the views of the authors whom we have just

quoted is obvious. Bourgeois economists and
sociologists regard the transformation of man into a
``cog'' of a machine, and the ``dehumanisation'' of
labour as a natural development which cannot be
averted because it is allegedly determined by
scientific and technological progress. And while
there are people who regard this process as
characteristic of only a certain phase of development,
others have even a gloomier outlook for the future.
For example, Jacques Ellul, a French sociologist,
maintains that a human being can no longer use
machinery in his own interests because it has
become an aim in itself and people have to adapt
themselves to it even if many spiritual values are
destroyed in the process.
 The classics of Marxism-Leninism regard the

exploitation of the worker by the capitalist as the
main cause of the dehumanisation of labour.
 Lenin pointed out that any labour can be a

source of joy and satisfaction if the worker
becomes the master of production and is a
participant in the collective building of a new society. In
this case the worker himself seeks to raise the
efficiency of production and to improve his working
conditions, for both are in his own interests.
 With the transition of power to the workers

and peasants every factory and village became,
as Lenin put it, "a field in which the working man
can reveal his talents, unbend his back a little,
rise to his full height, and feel that he is a human
being. For the first time after centuries of working
for others, of forced labour for the exploiter, it
262
has become possible to work for oneself. . . ."^^*^^

For the first time in history the owner of the
means of production and the worker become
embodied in a single person. Lenin saw in this the
unity of material and moral factors determining
man's attitude to social production and a
condition for developing socialist emulation. The
latter's advantage over capitalist rivalry consists in
that it involves the working masses who, and not
a handful of capitalists, reap the fruits of the
emulation which simultaneously solves not only
material but also moral and educational problems.
The new feeling of being one of those who
collectively, not individually, own property could
only be engendered in specific social conditions
and cultivated in the course of long years. A
working man acquired a definite urge to
participate in production management. This is a social
gain and in a sense a social problem.
 Bourgeois sociologists say that something

similar is taking place in the sentiments of certain
sections of the workers at capitalist enterprises.
Naturally, however, it is difficult to compare a
requirement consciously developed by socialist
society with a requirement which is frequently
concealed and suppressed under capitalism. The
urge to manage production is another form of the
requirement for the means of production, which
corresponds to the contemporary level of
socialisation of the means of production and not to the
level of domestic craft. Capitalism cannot satisfy
_-_-_
263
this urge and remain capitalism at the same time.

But socialism can, because of the public
ownership of the means of production in socialist
society, and this requirement is, in one way or
another, continuously satisfied. It is another
matter that a search is being made for its ever fuller
satisfaction in the changing conditions. And the
Party pays great attention to this question.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Conscious Discipline
 of the Masses
 The new, socialist society also creates new

principles of labour discipline. The organisation
of social labour under serfdom was based on
the discipline of the club held over the heads of
the extremely ignorant and oppressed labourers
plundered and humiliated by a handful of
landowners. The capitalist organisation of social
labour has always been dependent upon the
discipline of hunger.
 ``The communist organisation of social labour,''

wrote Lenin, "the first step towards which is
socialism, rests, and will do so more and more as
time goes on, on the free and conscious discipline
of the working people themselves. .. ."^^*^^
 Dwelling on the principles of the new

production discipline Lenin noted that it was a "
discipline of faith ... a discipline of comradeship, a
discipline of the utmost mutual respect, a discipline
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ Ibid., Vol. 29, p. 420.
264
of independence and initiative. . .".^^*^^ The

difference between the discipline of this kind and
enforced discipline is very well described in a
figurative expression: soldiers can be ordered to
march smartly but there is a distinction between
the sincere co-operation of enthusiasts and a show
of accommodation effected under fear of
punishment.
 The following incident took place at an iron

and steel factory near Philadelphia in the United
States nearly a hundred years ago. A worker
asked an engineer what was the purpose of the
products he made and how they were used. Keep
silent, the engineer replied. No one is
asking you to think as well as work. There are
people who are paid to do this.
 The engineer was Frederick Winslow Taylor,

the man who had developed a system of labour
organisation with a view to the most efficient
planning of the working day and the most rational
utilisation of the means of production. The Taylor
system evoked world-wide approval and
proprietors in many countries introduced it at their
factories. In spite of the scornful condemnation
and bigoted attacks by ``Left'' Communists, Lenin
advocated that it should be studied and taught in
Russia and systematically tested and adapted. At
the same time he disclosed the basic difference in
the utilisation of the new methods of scientific
organisation of labour in capitalist countries and
in the USSR. In capitalist countries these methods
_-_-_
265
further the most brutal capitalist exploitation, the
intensification of the sweating system with the
resulting growth of capitalist profits. In the Soviet
Union rational methods of labour promote its
efficiency, on the one hand, and facilitate labour
itself, on the other. Both are beneficial to working
people themselves.
 Scientific organisation of labour has become

an integral part of the organisation of production
throughout the world. But the substance of the
Taylor system contained an element which is best
described as strict differentiation between the
duties of the management and those of the
rankand-file workers. It was the duty of the
management to think about technology and the
organisation of production, while the workers were to
perform prescribed operations and receive
remuneration for each operation or for each item
produced. Today Western scientists are no longer
unanimous in their views on this matter. Some
say that in this respect Taylorism has become
hopelessly out of date and that the worker must
think and be interested in promoting the growth
of production. As regards the views of these
specialists concerning the interest of the workers, we
have already examined them earlier in/the book.
At the same time there are views which revive the
old practice on a new foundation; these are all
sorts of so-called elitist conceptions. What is
meant here is not merely the higher aristocratic
circles in their former sense, but technical experts.
Therefore, another word, ``technocracy'', i.e., rule
by top technical experts, is sometimes used. But
266
let us not analyse these theories as applied to

bourgeois society, particularly since the views that
power is already passing irom the owners into
the hands of the experts are clearly erroneous. It
is more important to look into another matter.
 Even in socialist countries there are scientists

who think that it is impossible or difficult to
combine the principles of scientific management and
democracy in the management of production. The
one is placed in opposition to the other. The
adherents of this concept regard science and scientific
disciplines as the "main principle" of the
organisation of production, as something which is above
democracy. These views are incorrect for the
following reasons.
 Their overestimation of the role played by
technical experts is in a way connected with
technological progress. But those who think along
these lines pay no attention to the fact that
technological progress also sharply enhances the
professional skill and the level of technical and
general knowledge not only of the intelligentsia,
but also of the workers, and, in the final count,
erases the distinctions between physical and
mental labour.
 It goes without saying that the development of

science and technology deepens the specialisation
of production and, hence, of the workers. Already
today a chemist finds it increasingly difficult to
understand a physicist, let alone a literary worker
or a physician. And it can be surmised that as
time goes on a chemist doing research in a certain
field will be less able to understand his
267
counterpart working in another. This does not mean,

however, that mutual understanding between
people will be reduced to such an extent that they
will be unable jointly to resolve key problems of
economic development. As for numerous questions
of social development, it is simply impossible to
solve them without the participation of the entire
mass of working people.
 ``. . .The more difficult, the greater, the more

responsible this new historical problem is,'' Lenin
wrote, "the larger must be the number of those
enlisted for the purpose of taking an independent
part in solving it."^^*^^ The combination of science
and democracy in management is the demand of
the times.
 In point of fact it is the conscious discipline of

working people united by a common idea and a
common aim which forms the cementing
foundation of socialist production. At its 24th Congress
the CPSU noted that one of its paramount tasks
was to foster in Soviet people the new, communist
attitude to work.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Interests and Discipline
 We would be idealists, however, if we were to

think that conscious discipline appears outside the
sphere of material interests, that the sense of being
the master of production, the realisation of "
working for oneself" are permanently present in a
_-_-_
268
person. Conscious discipline rests on the

coincidence of the material and spiritual interests of
the individual, the collective and society. This is
expressly what makes conscious discipline a
reality. Specific contradictions between the interests
of the individual and the collective, and the
collective and society can and do arise, but they are
resolved mainly through the continuous
improvement of production relations. That is the purpose
of the economic reform now under way in the
Soviet Union. It is designed to raise the interest
of the enterprise in attaining the results essential
for society, namely, to manufacture the necessary
amount of high-quality products in a most
economical way. And the individual becomes
increasingly interested in the successful operation of
the enterprise.
 The 24th CPSU Congress noted that the

improvement of the relations of production is a
continuously developing process.
 First and foremost the CPSU calls for maximum

efforts to improve planning which should rest on
a more precise study of social requirements, more
accurate scientific forecasts of the processes of
economic development and on an all-round
analysis and evaluation of different variants of
decisions and their possible consequences.
 Special significance is attached to long-term

planning, since important economic and social
tasks often require more than five years to fulfil.
For example, it takes more than five years to build
an iron and steel or a chemical plant. The
Congress has set the task of working out long-term
269
economic development plans which should be tied

in with five-year and annual plans.
 The Congress considered it important to raise

individual responsibility for assignments and
examined the question of rights and
responsibilities.
 Noting the importance and the efficiency of the
measures introduced under the economic reform
to increase material incentives, the 24th CPSU
Congress defined currently the most important
aspects deserving particular attention. First,
economic conditions have to be created that would
induce ministries and enterprises to assume
optimal commitments, i.e., adopt maximum plans and
make more rational use of investments and labour
resources; second, it is necessary to secure the
utmost acceleration of scientific and technological
progress and growth of labour productivity, and
third, to stimulate the interest of the working
people in improving the quality of output.
 In this connection the Congress pointed out the

need consistently to observe autonomous economic
accounting principles, and not only at enterprises
but also at higher economic levels, viz.,
associations, main boards and production branches. The
point is that the principle of distribution
according to work should be more fully implemented at
all economic levels so that people who have
attained better economic results and thus contributed
more to society should be better remunerated. It
is planned to provide enterprises with broader
possibilities for giving incentives to those workers
and production collectives who make the largest
270
contribution to the development of production,

combine trades and adopt a master-like and
thrifty attitude to social wealth.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
THE SOCIO-POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
 OF SOVIET SOCIETY
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 The characteristic features of developed

socialism are certainly not confined solely to changes in
the socialist economy. The 24th CPSU Congress
made a searching socio-political analysis of the
present stage of social development and set forth
the tasks connected with the formation of new
relations in Soviet society and the moulding of
the new man. In the preceding chapter we
touched upon these questions insofar as the need
to do so stemmed from an analysis of socialist
production, its aims and the role of the individual
in production. Now, we shall examine the changes
in the social structure of Soviet society and the
tasks of the further development of socialist
democracy and the moulding of the individual.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Social Structure of Society
 In order to describe the social structure of

society it is necessary to define and characterise
its classes, social sections and groups, and their
mutual relationship. It is absolutely clear from
the materials of the 24th CPSU Congress that in
this respect Soviet society is not immobile and is
subject to changes which require constant study.
271
The Congress made the point that the Party's

policy yields the desired results only when it fully
takes into account the interests of both the entire
people and its various classes and social groups,
and directs these interests into a single common
channel.
 The Party's policy is designed to help bring

the working class, the collective-farm peasantry
and the intelligentsia closer together, gradually
erasing the essential distinctions between town
and country and between brainwork and manual
labour. Long arid difficult as it is, this process
is a key factor in the building of a classless
communist society.
 The drawing together of all classes and social

groups in the Soviet Union, the moral and
political upbringing of the Soviet people and the
strengthening of their social unity are being
achieved on the basis of Marxist-Leninist
ideology, which expresses the socialist interests and
communist ideals of the working class.
 The working class has been and remains the

main productive force of socialist society. This is
not an artificially created privilege, but a result
of the objective laws of social development.
 In the first place the working class is the most

numerous in Soviet society. It is growing all the
time and becoming more educated, conscious and
politically active.
 Let us trace the growth of the Soviet working

class since 1928 when the USSR had 8.5 million
workers, or 12.5 per cent of the employed
population. By 1939--1940, as a result of
272
industrialisation the working class numbered 22.8 million, i.e.,

32.5 per cent of the working population. In the
course of the Eighth Five-Year Plan (1966--1970)
alone, the number of workers increased by eight
million so that by the beginning of 1971 they
made up 55 per cent of the employed population.
The numerical growth of the working class is
continuing in the ninth five-year plan period.
 Nevertheless, the working class plays the

leading role in the system of socialist social relations
not only because of its numbers; its revolutionary
spirit, discipline, organisation and collectivism
have turned it into the vanguard of the social
forces, and it is consolidating this position as it
increases its general culture, level of education
and political activity. The growth of the cultural
level of the working class is convincingly shown,
in particular, by the last two censuses. In 1959
there were 386 workers with a higher or secondary
education per 1,000; in 1970 this figure was 550.
 The reason why these and other qualitative

changes in the working class merit very serious
attention is that some people are inclined to
believe that as the scientific and technological
revolution continues to develop the intelligentsia
will become the leading force of society because
science plays an ever greater role in social
production. It is true that the number of scientists,
engineers, technicians is increasing in the Soviet
Union and so is the scope of their activity. Yet it
is the working class which has been and remains
the leading social force for reasons we have
already mentioned---consistency in building
273
socialism and communism, organisation and

revolutionary spirit. One cannot fail to observe that it is in
the course of the scientific and technological
revolution that the working class, due to objective
processes, turns into an increasingly important
vehicle of scientific and technological progress and
comes to play an increasing part in social
relations.
 Turning once more to the changes which take

place in the worker in connection with the
development of the productive forces, it should be
noted that in recent years they have been
occurring at an especially rapid pace. In 1925, for
example, skilled and highly-skilled workers in the
USSR comprised a mere 18 per cent of the total
number of workers. In 1965, taking the 3rd and
4th ratings as the average level and the 5th and
6th ratings as a high level of qualification, workers
holding these ratings comprised 65.2 per cent of
the total. The scientist who comes to work at a
factory with his plans, and the designer who
creates new machines and equipment are ably
assisted by the modern worker who no longer
merely performs his job, but whose creative
thought enables him to participate in the
development of new machines and technology.
Inventors and innovators from among the workers come
forward with important ideas designed to speed
up the development of production.
 Finally, it should be noted that many industrial

workers must have a higher education in order
to cope with their jobs. A classical example is the
operator of a walking excavator. Who is he?
18---2052
274
Usually a worker with an engineer's diploma. As

time goes on the educational and cultural level of
the working class will rise, and that means that
it is not losing its leading position in society but
consolidating it to an ever greater degree.
 In this connection sociologists made an

interesting comparison between Pskov in the USSR and
Jackson in the USA, towns with many common
features. It turned out that in Jackson one out of
every ten people worked and studied, and one
out of every two in Pskov. Employed men (up to
25 years of age) in the USSR devote 1.3 hours a
week to study, compared with 0.5 hour in the
United States; as regards employed women they
study 1.1 hours a week in the USSR and 0.1 hour
in the United States. The mass education of
workers combining study with work is a
characteristic feature of socialist society.
 There are convincing figures showing the high

level of social activity of the working class in the
USSR: workers account for more than 40 per cent
of the CPSU members and for 36.5 per cent of
the total number of deputies to local Soviets.
Practically all workers participate in trade union
activity.
 The Report of the CC CPSU to the 24th GPSU

Congress states: "The Party will continue to
direct its efforts to securing the growth and
strengthening of the influence of the working class in all
spheres of the life of our society and to making
its activity and initiative more fruitful.''
 Soviet society's political foundation is the

alliance of the working class with the peasantry. The
275
collective-farm peasantry is a large class and it,

too, has not remained unchanged.
 New machines and mechanisms, increasing

consumption of electric power, application of
chemical products are transforming agricultural
labour into a variety of industrial labour, and the
CPSU is taking steps to speed up this process.
The building of large mechanised stock-breeding
complexes, the founding of agricultural-industrial
associations, the strengthening of inter--
collectivefarm links, the formation of mixed state- and
collective-farm associations and enterprises are
giving rise to substantial social changes whose
principal content is the drawing together of the
working class and the peasantry both as regards
the substance of their labour and social status. The
peasants' way of life is changing considerably and
their cultural level is rising. On the eve of the
Great Patriotic War only six per cent of the
working people in the countryside had a higher or
secondary education whereas at the end of 1970,
over 50 per cent of the rural population had a
complete secondary or higher education.
 Of course, a great deal is yet to be done to

further promote agricultural development on the
basis of the latest technique. The improvement of
living standards in rural areas also calls for
unremitting attention. All this is important for the
further economic development of the USSR and
the solution of social problems in the countryside,
primarily the programmatic task of drawing it
closer to town.
 The Soviet intelligentsia, whose numbers are
18*
276
growing rapidly, is contributing in an ever

increasing measure to the consolidation of a
developed socialist society. This is a natural process
engendered by the Party's policy of raising the
cultural and educational standard of the people to
a still higher level. A gratifying fact not only
because it shows that the Party line is being
carried into effect, but also because it proves that
the state has every opportunity to continue its
 To a great extent the Soviet intelligentsia,

particularly the scientific and technical
intelligentsia, is replenished from among the workers and
peasants. The following fact was mentioned at the
24th CPSU Congress: at the Pervouralsk Pipe
Works 42 per cent of the engineers and
technicians were of working-class stock, 32 per cent of
peasant stock and 26 per cent from the families
of office employees. The situation is
approximately the same at other industrial enterprises in the
country. And this is further proof of the drawing
together of the working class, the peasantry and
the intelligentsia.
 In its policy the CPSU takes into consideration

the interests of such large social groups as young
people, women and pensioners. The 24th CPSU
Congress defined what should be done for these
groups in the first place. Effective measures are
being taken to improve working conditions for
women and to lighten their household chores; the
state is taking increasing care of children. For
people of the older generation it is important not
to worry about their security when they are no
277
longer able to work and to be assured that their

knowledge and experience are used to the benefit
of society. As regards the young people, their
dream is to extend their activity and have a wider
choice of occupations. The Communist Party and
the Soviet Government take all this into account
in their plans.
 One of socialism's greatest achievements is the

practical implementation by the Party of the
Leninist nationalities policy. Its great triumph has
been the celebration of the 50th anniversary of
the Soviet Union as a state form of the fraternal
alliance of many peoples. All Soviet nations and
nationalities have the right and opportunities to
develop. At the same time all nations and
nationalities, while respecting one another's
national features, are continuing to draw closer
together.
 The 24th CPSU Congress noted that a new

historical community of people, the Soviet people,
took shape in the country during the years of
socialist construction. It is a hitherto unknown
union of peoples, various classes and social groups,
a union based on friendship and co-operation
which appeared and became consolidated on the
basis of socialism's great victories. The Soviet
people are welded together by a common
MarxistLeninist ideology and the lofty aims of building
communism.
 An economic complex organically embracing

the economies of all the republics, territories and
regions united by a single plan and the community
of aims of socialist production has been established
278
in the USSR. An identical social structure, in

which the working class occupies the leading place,
and a single political system, whose guiding
nucleus is the Communist Party with its
international composition, ideology and policy, have
taken shape in all the republics.
 Soviet culture, whose single socialist content is

expressed in a magnificent diversity of national
forms, is making rapid progress. Alongside the
free development of national languages, the
Russian language is gaining country-wide recognition
and is becoming increasingly widespread as an
instrument of intercourse and exchange of
spiritual values between nations.
 All the socialist nations have risen to a higher

stage of development. It may be said that the best
national qualities and those features, which
appeared as a result of the co-operation of the Soviet
people, have merged in their way of life, in their
ideological and moral make-up and psychology.
Internationalist features play a leading role in
the mutual enrichment and the flourishing of the
nations.
 All these facts clearly indicate that much has
been achieved in the Soviet Union towards
internationalising the way of life of various peoples
in all the decisive directions of social
development. The socio-economic, ideological, political,
cultural and moral community of people---the
Soviet people---is in a way the total result of the
economic and socio-political changes which have
taken place in the USSR in the course of nearly
60 years.
279
 From this historic fact it follows of necessity

that the further burgeoning of Soviet nations
can only proceed by way of strengthening this
community, in conditions of their growing cohesion
and also by drawing together and then
harmoniously fusing the best national and common
features in their way of life.
 The decisions of the 24th CPSU Congress

orientate the Party towards this policy line in the field
of the development of nations and national
relations. This line corresponds to the basic interests
of the working people of all the Soviet republics
and is in keeping with the objective principles of
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Strengthening of the Soviet State.
 Development of Socialist Democracy
 The development of Soviet society is

accompanied by the strengthening of its political
organisation, the Soviet state, and socialist democracy.
Having accomplished its great historical mission,
the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat has
overgrown into a socialist state of the whole
people with the working class retaining its
vanguard role. The CPSU is working purposefully
on problems of socialist statehood and socialist
democracy; and the 24th Congress has set specific
immediate tasks in this field.
 The organs of people's power---the Soviets of

Working People's Deputies---are the foundation
of the socialist state and the fullest embodiment
of its democratic nature. Today the Soviets,
280
numBering over two million deputies, pass collective

decisions on the basic problems of development of
the whole of society, their republics, regions, cities
and villages. Deputies take part in formulating
these decisions as members of standing and ad
hoc committees of Soviets. Committees are formed
of competent people who are themselves interested
in fulfilling the task assigned to their respective
committees. If, for instance, it is necessary to solve
a question concerning miners, the committee
assigned to prepare a decision of the USSR
Supreme Soviet or the city Soviet will inevitably
include deputies who are professional miners; in
just the same way collective farmers participate
in committees of one or another Soviet whenever
matters concerning collective farms are up for
discussion. Every deputy is bound to report back
to his electors on his work. And, of course, great
importance is attached to the organising role
played by the deputies in their constituencies, and
to their direct work among the collectives in their
cities and districts.
 In recent years the rights of the local bodies of

Soviet power---district, city, rural and village
Soviets---have been extended, enabling them, for
example, to exert a greater influence on the work
of the enterprises and organisations situated in
their territory. The material and technical basis
of the Soviets has also been strengthened.
 In its Report to the 24th CPSU Congress the

Party Central Committee raised a question of the
utmost importance for the further promotion of
socialist democracy, namely, the pressing need
281
for a special law defining the status, powers and

rights of deputies---from the Supreme to the
village Soviets---and also the duties of officials with
regard to deputies. Such a law has already been
worked out and passed by the USSR Supreme
Soviet. It enhances the authority of the deputies
and enables them to exert a greater influence on
all developments and processes taking place in the
life of society, and more effectively to fulfil the
mandates of their electors. At the same time the
electors can place greater demands on their
representatives in the Soviets and exercise more
effective control over the way they utilise their
possibilities to fulfil the tasks facing them.
 In addition to the deputies, the Soviets have an

army of 25 million activists, comprising about 10
per cent of the country's total population. It can
be said with confidence that the successful work
of the Soviets depends to an enormous extent on
the initiative, activity, persistence and civic
consciousness of each member of Soviet society. The
improvement of the work of the Soviets is the
concern of all Soviet people.
 The CPSU attaches great importance to

perfecting Soviet legislation, and the preliminary
discussion of all the most important bills and the
participation of millions of citizens in the elaboration
of literally all laws have become common practice
in the USSR.
 The 24th CPSU Congress called for the further

improvement of the work of the state machinery.
The introduction of modern means and methods
of administration begun in recent years and the
282
employment of computers provide conditions for

a more rational organisation of the administrative
apparatus, reducing its maintenance costs and
personnel. Underlying the great service rendered
by the employees of the Soviet state machinery
in organising the creative activity of society, the
Congress called for decisive actions against
callous officials, bureaucrats and boors. It is
necessary to expose such people and to achieve more
efficiency in the work of the administrative
apparatus.
 ``The way we see it,'' states the CC Report to

the 24th CPSU Congress, "efficiency in
administration organically combines an attentive,
solicitous attitude to the needs and cares of the
working people with a prompt consideration of their
applications and requests. An atmosphere of good
will and of respect for man must reign in every
institution.'' Great humaneness is one of the
principal features of administration in socialist
society. It is the duty of every official, whatever
post he may hold and whatever specific tasks are
assigned to him at any given moment, never to
forget the most important thing: whatever is being
done in Soviet society always furthers the interests
of the people.
 An important role in the system of Soviet

socialist democracy is played by the organs of
people's control, in whose work millions of factory
and office workers and collective farmers take
part. The Congress emphasised that the CPSU
will continue doing everything to secure the
steadfast implementation of Lenin's precepts as regards
283
constant and effective control by the broad masses

over the entire development of production and
society.
 Working people in the USSR participate in the

administration of society not only through state
organs but also through a ramified network of
mass organisations, the trade unions and the
Komsomol in the first place.
 Soviet trade unions embrace almost 100

million members, or practically the entire working
class, the whole of the intelligentsia and numerous
sections of rural workers. The trade unions play
a major role in solving many problems of
economic development---from the drawing up of state
plans to the management of each enterprise.
 Addressing the 15th Congress of Soviet Trade

Unions, General Secretary of the CPSU Central
Committee Leonid Brezhnev said: "One of the
main features of the Soviet trade unions is that
they directly and actively participate in
promoting the development of the whole of society,
boosting production and raising its efficiency and in
managing the national economy.'' They also do a
great deal to promote a communist attitude to
labour and social property among industrial and
office workers, satisfy the cultural and everyday
requirements of working people and protect their
health.
 The 24th Congress once again made the point

that the safeguarding of the legitimate interests of
working people remains one of the basic tasks of
the trade unions. They can do much to eliminate
violations of labour legislation, improve safety
284
arrangements and the rating and remuneration of

labour. On behalf of the workers they conduct
negotiations with the administration and see to
it that collective agreements are carried out to the
letter.
 Trade union activity has heightened perceptibly

in connection with the economic reform under way
in the country and also due to the fact that the
labour collective---the principal production cell of
society---is coming to play a steadily increasing
role in the further enhancement of socialist
democracy.
 As the rights of enterprises are extended, the

labour collective increases its influence on the
organisation of production at its enterprise and
on the distribution of its funds. It is also playing
an ever greater role in drawing up plans for its
own branch of production; its activity also
influences the structure of the whole of social
production. It uses its enterprise's social and cultural
fund to finance the construction of housing,
kindergartens, clubs and sports facilities, thus
improving life in the entire town, or workers' settlement,
not to mention the village. It is the field of struggle
for stimulating the labour and social activity of
Soviet people.
 As the 24th CPSU Congress pointed out, the

Party attaches great importance to strengthening
socialist legality and law and order, and to
educating citizens in the spirit of the rules of socialist
community relations. Respect for law must become
the personal conviction of every individual; this
particularly applies to officials. No attempt to
285
deviate from, or to circumvent, the law, whatever

the motive, is to be tolerated. Nor is it possible to
tolerate any violation of the rights of individuals
and infringement of the dignity of citizens. "For
us Communists, champions of the most humane
ideals, this is a matter of principle,'' it was noted
in the CC Report to the 24th CPSU Congress.
 Questions of democracy are the crux of the

ideological and political struggle between the
socialist and the capitalist world. Bourgeois
ideologists and revisionists try to impose their
own `ìdeals'' of democracy on the socialist
countries and newly liberated countries, setting
capitalist society as an example, a society where all the
apparent ``freedoms'' are in the final count made
to serve the interests of the ruling minority,
primarily the interests of the big monopolists. This
model does not suit the working people. Socialist
ideals do not imply democracy for the minority,
democracy in general, but democracy for the
working people, i.e., socialist democracy. The
meaning of socialist democracy lies in the
participation of the masses in the administration of
the state and all public affairs.
 The development of socialist democracy is a
complicated process consciously guided by the
CPSU whose constant concern is that every person
should feel that he is a citizen in the full sense of
the word, a citizen interested in the cause of the
entire nation and bearing his share of the
responsibility. In order to solve this task it is of the
utmost importance to promote the development of
the individual, to change man himself, his
286
consciousness and to mould a citizen worthy of the new

society. And here there is an intricate dialectical
connection. Democracy can develop only given
specific conditions and a definite level of social
maturity; at the same time democracy itself is the
condition of the successful activity of society and
the development of the individual. The higher an
individual's self-discipline the more fertile the
soil for the improvement of society; and the faster
society improves the higher the conscious discipline
of the masses. This is a dialectic process inherent
in socialist society alone and based on the unity
of the economic and spiritual interests of the
individual, the collective and society.
 We have traced an intricate chain: man--

collective-society-man. Or: man-production-man. The
success of production depends on the individual,
while production in socialist society is conducted
in the interests of the individual. Man is both the
aim and the means of the evolution.
 Soviet people can regard the following words

of the founders of scientific communism as their
motto: " `History' is not a person apart, using man
as a means for its own particular aims; history is
nothing but the activity of man pursuing his
aims.''^^*^^
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ K. Marx and F. Engels, The Holy Family, Moscow,

1956, p. 125.
[287]
__NUMERIC_LVL1__
CHAPTER V
__ALPHA_LVL1__
MOULDING OF THE NEW MAN
 ---ONE OF THE MAIN TASKS
 IN COMMUNIST CONSTRUCTION
__ALPHA_LVL2__
MARXISM-LENINISM ON THE EDUCATION
 OF THE NEW MAN
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 The problem of educating a man of the

future was a stumbling block for many
progressive scientists prior to Marx. Fully aware that a
new, communist society would be inconceivable
without a new man, the great thinkers justly
considered that the man of the future would be a
harmoniously developed personality who would
display a new attitude to labour and people and
concern for the promotion of general welfare; he
would have lofty spiritual requirements and
would be free of the deceit, cruelty and
prejudices of the old, bourgeois world. But in their
dreams they came up against what appeared to
them an irreconcilable contradiction. On the one
hand, people are such as life makes them, and
life in a society of private owners breeds bourgeois
morality, base instincts, a psychology of avarice,
and jungle laws in relations between people. On
the other hand, it is these people who will have to
build a new society, free of exploitation and
oppression, to live and work in it and be guided
in their activity by the loftiest standards of
morality and justice.
288
 Failing to find effective ways of resolving this

contradiction some of these thinkers pinned their
hopes on enlightened reformers who would evolve
perfect forms of human behaviour and simply
present them ready-made to the people. Others
thought that first it was necessary to improve the
morality of the people and only then launch the
construction of a new life. But both the ones and
the others dwelled in utopia. The first because they
wanted to change the life of the people without
the participation of the people themselves, and
the second, because they thought it possible to
educate millions of people and rid them of the
abominations of the old, capitalist world without
uprooting it. In the history of social thought their
theoretic conjectures are known as Utopian
socialism.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Socio-Political Practice
 and Education
 What distinguished Marxism from Utopian

socialism, Lenin pointed out, was that the latter
wanted to build a new society not out of the
human material produced by the sanguinary, vile,
plundering, shopkeepers' capitalism, but out of
uncommonly virtuous people bred in special
hothouses and hotbeds. The real force capable of
transforming society and people was, as Marx and
Engels stressed, only revolutionary struggle
illuminated by scientific theory, the participation of
the masses themselves in building a new life. The
founders of scientific communism arrived at the
289
most important conclusion that in order both to

foster communist consciousness in the people and
transform the old society, a mass alteration of
the people is necessary, "an alteration which can
only take place in a practical movement, a 
revolution. . .".^^*^^
 Lenin, too, attached great importance to

sociopolitical practice and the introduction of socialist
ideology into the mass movement in promoting
the education of a new man.
 He insisted on this long before the October

Socialist Revolution: "Surely there is no need to
prove to Social-Democrats that there can be no
political education except through political
struggle and political action."^^**^^
 He emphasised the enormous educational

impact of socio-political practice after the October
Revolution, too. Only when the proletariat
"learns, not from books, not from meetings or
lectures, but from the practical work of
government ... it will constitute a force which will brush
away capitalism and all its survivals as easily as
straw or dust".^^***^^
 He wrote that only in practical matters would

the working people begin to learn by their own
experience how to build socialism and create a
new social discipline.
 These Marxist-Leninist precepts provide the key
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ K. Marx and F. Engels, The German Ideology,
Moscow, 1968, p. 87.
 ^^**^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 4, p. 288.


 ^^***^^ Ibid., Vol. 28, p. 420.
19---2052
290
to a scientific understanding of the essence of

education: it must steadily improve and perfect
the means of ideological influence, daily and
consistently involve the working people in direct and
vigorous socio-political activity and thus enable
the masses to gain their own political experience,
which is essential for the development of lofty
socialist consciousness, of high ideological
qualities.
 By changing the world man also changes his

inner make-up. Let us recall the great lines from
the revolutionary anthem of the working class
L'Internationale:
<blockquote>
 ``No God, no king, no politician

Will win for us a better day;
So let us drop the old tradition,
Forge weapons for the coming fray-----"
</blockquote>
 With their own hands the working class, the

working people of Russia accomplished the great
revolution, smashed the bourgeois-landowner
system and then built a developed socialist society.
 Gradually the revolutionary struggle and

socialist construction emancipated man not only from
economic exploitation and social oppression, but
also from egoism, knavish baseness and iniquity
which society based on private ownership had
implanted in the hearts of people over the
centuries.
 Therefore the great history of the October

Revolution, of the labour heroism of the five-year
plans and the stern ordeals of the war, is also the
history of the birth and the education of the new
291
man. It was in the struggle for the triumph of the

great ideas of the October Revolution that the
Soviet character, the character of a revolutionary,
a conscious worker, a staunch soldier and
humanist, was moulded.
 After the war a note was found in the ruins of the
Brest Fortress which the German troops subjected
to a long siege in 1941. It read: "There were five
of us: Serov, I. Grutov, Bogolyub, Mikhailov,
Selivanov. We have fought our first battle.
22. VI. 1941---03.15 hours. We shall fight to our
death!''
 There were five of them, but behind them stood

millions. The whole Soviet people rose to a sacred
war against the nazi invaders.
 The Soviet character has manifested itself to

the full in peacetime too, at top-priority
construction projects, at factories, on collective- and
statefarm fields, in spaceships and on state borders.
 The Soviet character is an alloy of such superb

qualities as dedication to the communist cause,
socialist patriotism and internationalism,
conscientious labour, a high sense of public duty, vigorous
social and political activity, intolerance of
exploitation and oppression and of national and racial
prejudices, and class solidarity with the working
people of all countries.
 A questionnaire circulated by Soviet sociologists

contained, among others, the following question:
what feature of the Soviet character can be
considered the most important? "A sense of
responsibility for the homeland, for its future,'' replied
Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR, Twice Hero of the
292
Soviet Union V. A. Shatalov. "Soviet patriotism,''

wrote Hero of Socialist Labour, initiator of the
patriotic Stakhanovite movement A. G.
Stakhanov. "Internationalism,'' replied veteran Party
member F. N. Matveyev who took part in the
storming of the Winter Palace in October 1917.
The socialist system and the Leninist
Communist Party brought up generations of people with
a high level of political awareness and thorough
ideological grounding, a sense of collectivism and
comradeship, Soviet patriotism and proletarian
internationalism. This world of feelings of the
Soviet man is deeply expressed in Alexander
Tvardovsky's forceful lines:
<blockquote>
 `Ì love this world, great and demanding;

 In it, my country's son am I.
 I share her vision of ascending
 To chosen summits in the sky.
 I'm with her on the long, long journey,
 No burden is too hard for me.''
</blockquote>
 What is it that moulds the Soviet character

which has absorbed the entire wealth of
revolutionary, fighting and labour traditions of the
Soviet people? It is the Soviet, socialist way of life
and communist ideology.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Soviet Way of Life---
 the Basis of Communist Education
 A new, Soviet way of life has developed and

sunk roots in the USSR since the
establishment of Soviet power. Already today
293
socialism's socio-political and spiritual values have

far surpassed all the past achievements of
mankind. By contrast in the advanced capitalist
countries with their relatively high standards of
consumption, capitalism has been unable to solve
fundamental social problems and millions of
people there live in poverty and fear of
unemployment.
 Capitalist society is dominated by spontaneous

laws of social development. They break and
cripple millions of human lives, inevitably
generating an atmosphere of despair and gloom. The
monopoly bourgeoisie exploits and deliberately
cultivates these sentiments, for it needs morally
impoverished people who have lost all hope for
the future, and seeks support for its ideology
among those who lack moral principles. Man---
the creator of modern civilisation---becomes a tiny
cog in the giant business machine. The production
of moral cliches, the moral degradation of society
are an inalienable element of capitalist reality.
 Socialism, which is a splendid example of a

humanistic society, shows the working people of
the non-socialist world the only road towards
progress, facilitates their class struggle against
capitalism and imperialism, and makes the
communist ideals, the ideals of revolutionary
humanism, even more attractive. Humanism is an
intrinsic part of the Soviet way of life. It is
embodied in the new system of social values
created by socialism.
 Today not only theory but also the practice of

building a new world provides an answer to the
294
question as to what Marxist humanism and the

socialist way of life are. Socialism and communism
is Marxist humanism in action.
 The process of socialism's growing over into

communism shows that the main objective of the
new world is, to quote Marx, "the development
of human strength'', i.e., of the human personality,
the attainment of complete welfare and free
development of all members of society. It is
socialism that combines the satisfaction of people's
material requirements with the development of
human abilities and spiritual values. The socialist
world outlook and way of life reject both the
bourgeois cult of money and things, which leads
to moral impoverishment and reduces the wealth
and fullness of human life to material well-being,
and the haughty indifference to the people's
essential requirements under the false banner of
``revolutionariness'' so characteristic of the various
forms of petty-bourgeois socialism.
 We find it necessary to place special emphasis

on the latter circumstance also because some
``revolutionaries'' allege that concern for the
welfare of the working people is tantamount to
revisionism, a departure from Marxism-Leninism.
The following two quotations show Lenin's view
on these questions. Countering petty-bourgeois
praters he emphasised that "the question of a
higher standard of living is also a question of
principle, and a most important one".^^*^^
Developing this thought he wrote: "The masses are drawn
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 18, p.
295
into the movement, participate vigorously in it,

value it highly and display heroism, self-sacrifice,
perseverance and devotion to the great cause only
if it makes for improving the economic condition
of those who work."^^*^^
 The socialist way of life is based on the

principle "from each according to his ability, to each
according to his work''. Under socialism social
progress sheds its antagonistic nature; its fruits
are no longer at the disposal of only a select circle
of people, but of all members of society whose sole
suzerain is labour. All people are obliged to work,
and all have a single source of spiritual
enrichment and material welfare.
 In socialist society labour ceases to be a

strictly personal affair, a source of existence; it
becomes a social act which moulds and educates
man himself.
 Humanism which is inherent in the socialist

way of life is vividly expressed in concern for all
members of society. The fundamental socio--
economic and political transformation of society has
changed the entire system of human relations. The
great poet and humanist Vladimir Mayakovsky
dreamed of the time when "the earth would
respond to the first call: `Comrade' ''. Under
communism society will be governed by the humanistic
principle "man is to man a friend, comrade and
brother''.
 Socialist humanism is complete equality of all

nations, the fraternal friendship of peoples.
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ Ibid., p. 85.
296
Internationalism and revolutionary humanism are

inseparable. This was underlined in his day by
Frederick Engels who wrote: "By virtue of their
nature, the proletarians are en masse free of
national prejudices and all their spiritual
development is essentially humanistic and anti--
nationalist. The proletarians alone are capable of putting
an end to national isolation, the awakening
proletariat alone can establish brotherhood between
different nations."^^*^^ Lenin spoke of this with the
utmost clarity: ''. . .we are out-and-out
internationalists and are striving for the voluntary
alliance of the workers and peasants of all nations."^^**^^
 Relations of comradely mutual assistance and

co-operation appeared and are developing in
socialist society where millions of working people
awakened to creative activity in the economic,
political and spiritual fields.
 Speaking of the all-round development of the

personality as a most important principle of
humanism, we must stress that the person's inner
qualities depend on the wealth of social relations
in which he participates. But even in Soviet
society a great deal depends on the individual
himself. He can lock himself up within the
confines of his strictly personal and sometimes egoistic
interests, or he can make his spiritual world rich
and variegated like the society in which he lives
and works. And the wealthier the inner content
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ K. Marx, F. Engels, Werke, Bd. 2, S. 614.


297
of a person the more he gives to society, the

greater his concern for social interests and the
more interesting his life. Soviet society is vitally
interested in the all-round spiritual enrichment
of all working people, for creative activity depends
on the mind, labour, initiative and abilities of
millions upon millions of people.
 Realising that all the gold in the world cannot

stop the growth of the influence of communist
ideals, bourgeois ideologists vilify Soviet society,
its policy, ideology and morality. They portray
the communist world as one in which humane
feelings are allegedly censured as "old-fashioned
reactionary sentiments''.
 But their efforts to asperse the ideals of the

Soviet people are futile. Humaneness is an
inalienable moral feature of the builders of the most
humane social order in the world. Under
socialism, the man of labour---the creator of all the
material and spiritual wealth---is himself the
greatest social value. The Soviet way of life
fosters lofty moral and political qualities in people,
builds new relations between them and creates
new moral principles which promote the
communist cause and make mankind even more humane.
Unfettered labour, the entire socio-political
atmosphere in Soviet society mould high civic qualities
in all Soviet people: the realisation that they are
the masters of their land and personally
responsible for the common cause.
 The fulfilment of the decisions adopted at the

24th CPSU Congress will offer fresh and
convincing proof that socialism, and socialism alone, is
298
the system under which personal, collective and

nation-wide interests merge in a single torrent.
The Ninth Five-Year Economic Development
Plan, which reflects the vital interests of the Soviet
people, and the capability of socialism to ensure
the growth of material and cultural benefits for all
members of society reveal the superiority of the
new system in the socio-economic and cultural
fields, in its way of life. Socialism has become
synonymous of humane social development.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Creative Role
 of Socialist Ideology
 Even if our enemies did acknowledge that we

achieved miracles in the development of agitation
and propaganda, Lenin wrote shortly after the
revolution, this should not be understood
outwardly that we had many agitators and expended
a great deal of paper, but inwardly that the truth
which was in this agitation was driven into the
heads of all. And there is no getting away from
this truth.
 Socialist ideology---Marxism-Leninism---carries

the full strength of this truth. In days of jubilation
and national calamities, in periods of peaceful
labour and the grim years of war, the Party's true
word was a tocsin which inspired the Soviet people
and helped them to surmount all difficulties and
obstacles.
 Socialist ideology gives a scientific, realistic and

comprehensive understanding of the world in its
299
complexity and contradictoriness. "We must not

create illusions or myths for ourselves; this would
be entirely incompatible with the materialist
conception of history and the class point of view,"^^*^^
Lenin wrote.
 Socialist ideology teaches people to see the

world as it is and as it should be. It discloses the
connection between historical periods, asserts
unity of word and deed, thought and action, and
makes human activity purposeful.
 ``The great advantage of the Communists and

generally of all politically conscious citizens of our
society,'' said General Secretary of the CG CPSU
Leonid Brezhnev, "is that they have a sound
understanding of the substance and direction of
social development and clearly see the objectives
that the country has set itself and the road along
which we are travelling."^^**^^
 Karl Marx and Frederick Engels performed a

scientific feat by creating the revolutionary
ideology of the working class. Marxism became the
first teaching in the history of social thought to
place ideological problems on the sound
foundation of a scientific analysis of social facts and
class interests.
 Lenin emphasised on more than one occasion

that socialism, being the ideology of the class
struggle of the proletariat, is subject to the
general conditions of the rise, development and
_-_-_


 ^^**^^ L. I. Brezhnev, The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union

300
consolidation of ideology, i.e., it rests on the entire

wealth of human knowledge, presupposes a high
level of scientific development and requires
scientific research.
 The creation of the revolutionary ideology of

the working class was preceded by all-embracing
critical work of the mind directed at assimilating
all the spiritual values accumulated by mankind,
without which socialism, as a scientific ideology,
could have never come into existence. The
scientific nature of proletarian ideology presupposed a
most careful attitude to progressive spiritual
heritage of the preceding epochs. "Marxism,'' Lenin
wrote, "has won its historic significance as the
ideology of the revolutionary proletariat because,
far from rejecting the most valuable achievements
of the bourgeois epoch, it has, on the contrary,
assimilated and refashioned everything of value
in the more than two thousand years of the
development of human thought and culture."^^*^^
 Like Marx, Lenin maintained that socialist

ideology was " 'in its essence critical and
revolutionary'. And this latter quality is indeed
completely and unconditionally inherent in Marxism."^^**^^
This means that socialist ideology is a creative
ideology which will not endure stagnancy of
thought and which is continuously enriched by
new conclusions and premises corresponding to
the changing reality.
 It is this kind of ideology which is capable of
_-_-_


 ^^**^^ Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 327.
301
being a reliable guide in the revolutionary struggle

and the building of a new society.
 The revolutionary-critical spirit of socialist

ideology finds its practical expression above all in
such features of the Soviet way of life as
uncompromising assertion of socialist ideals, a clearly
defined ideological content, unequivocal social
positions, and irreconcilable opposition to
bourgeois ideology and all forms of man's spiritual
enslavement. This revolutionary-critical spirit
calls for active intrusion into life, continuous
practical self-verification of the results achieved
and the ability to surmount difficulties and
obstacles.
 The Communist Party has always encouraged

an innovatory, Leninist approach to the study of
complicated social phenomena. Therefore,
boldness of thought is just as essential for a Marxist
scientist as courage for a soldier in battle.
 Lenin believed that ideology should give a

complete picture of our reality, precisely
formulate the actual process and meet scientific
requirements, that it was "impossible 'to study the real
state of affairs' without qualifying it, without
appraising it from the Marxist, or the liberal, or
the reactionary, etc., point of view!"^^*^^
 Since these appraisals depend on the class

interests of people, they can be very different indeed.
 A Marxist class approach has nothing in

common with arbitrary assessments. Such an approach
and such appraisals are called subjectivistic. The
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ Ibid., Vol. 19, p. 123.
302
objectivistic approach, which is widely employed

by bourgeois scientists and propagandists and
which on the surface seems to be the direct
opposite of the subjectivistic one, ignores class and
concrete historical aspects. What appears to be an
unbiased portrayal of events and phenomena is
in fact one-sided, for only those are mentioned
which are advantageous to the bourgeoisie.
 Bourgeois ideologists are particularly anxious to

evade the question: who benefits from one or
another turn of events? For instance, thousands
upon thousands of pages have been written in the
West about the assassination of US President John
Kennedy, complete with innumerable details
including even the way his wife was dressed at
the time of the murder. But at the same time the
monopoly press shies away from discussing the
political motives behind the assassination and
offers no explanation why violence, bribery and
killings are so widespread in the social and
political life of bourgeois society. And so thousands
of minor details are used to lend a semblance of
credibility, to divert attention from the principal
social reasons whose disclosure is not in the
interests of the monopoly bourgeoisie.
 In contrast to both the subjectivistic and

objectivistic approaches to reality, the Marxist approach
is based on a strictly scientific analysis of social
development and expresses the class positions of
the workers. Such an approach presupposes the
disclosure of social antagonisms and social
contradictions, ascertainment of society's motive
forces and the main trends of social progress, and
303
all-round consideration of class interests.

Marxism, Lenin wrote, "demands of all serious
policy . .. that it be based on and grounded in
facts capable of exact and objective verification".^^*^^
It is essential that views on social phenomena
should be based on an absolutely objective
analysis of reality and actual development.
 Conducting their propaganda and agitation

among the masses Party organisations in the
USSR adhere to scientific views on history, on the
basic problems of the times. This enables them to
arm the working people with an advanced
ideology capable of guiding them in the impetuous
torrent of life.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Development of the Consciousness
 of the Masses Is the Main Content
 of Ideological Work
 Lenin taught that the development of people's

consciousness remained the basis and the main
content of all ideological work, and the task of
educating and persuading the people would
always be one of the main problems of
administration. These instructions disclose the role played
by ideological work in the life of the Party and
in the guidance of social processes; they define its
content---the development of the consciousness of
the masses, its task---the education of people, and
its method---persuasion.
 There are many aspects to ideological work.
_-_-_
304
The CPSU studies life and on this basis develops

revolutionary theory, propagandises communist
ideals, organises the working people for the
solution of specific tasks of economic and cultural
development. To study, propagandise and
organise---such is the three-in-one task of ideological
education.
 Ideological and educational work is focussed

directly on man, on his consciousness, and
actively influences the formation of the people's world
outlook, their views and sentiments. That is why
the CPSU attaches so much importance to it in
all sectors of communist construction, whether in
production, economy, science and culture,
everyday life or leisure of the people. Ideology
examines all social phenomena from the standpoint of
their impact on the consciousness, behaviour and
psychology of the people.
 Marx, Engels and Lenin devoted profound

attention to socio-psychological phenomena. This
enabled them to draw up a precise programme of
political action and on its basis build up Party
propaganda and agitation.
 A major task of the ideological work is to

combine lofty ideals with everyday matters, and
programme targets with the solution of concrete
dayto-day problems in all spheres of life. The
approach to the solution of this problem differs with
each successive stage of revolutionary struggle and
socialist and communist construction. The reason
is obvious: every fresh stage in social
development is not a copy of the preceding one, but
always has many new features in the economy,
305
technology and culture, in the entire mode of life,

and consequently, in the substance and forms of
ideological and educational work. It is a matter
of the greatest significance that all this should be
taken into account in propaganda and agitation
which must persuade the individual by influencing
his mind and feelings, so that he would act in
conformity with the requirements of socialist ideology
and communist morality and thus live up to the
demands of the times.
 A person can ``learn'' ideas, but if they do not

become his inner conviction, a stimulus to
practical activity, such a person is not a fighter, but
a phrase-monger, a prater whose "ideological
convictions" go no deeper than the tip of his
tongue. This gives rise to the question: how can
the effectiveness of education, of propaganda and
agitation be gauged? ''. . .By what criteria,'' Lenin
wrote, "are we to judge the real 'thoughts and
feelings' of real individuals? Naturally, there can
be only one such criterion---the actions of these
individuals. And since we are dealing only with
social 'thoughts and feelings', one should add: the
social actions of individuals, i.e., social facts."^^*^^
As Lenin saw it, the most dependable and
objective criteria of the effectiveness of education, of
ideological work are the social actions of
individuals, their practical activity. And the most
important criterion is the socio-political and moral
atmosphere which took shape in the society as a
result of the multifold activity of the CPSU,
_-_-_
20---2052
306
including its ideological and educational work.

The practical results of the ideological and
educational work find their concrete expression in
diverse social phenomena and above all in the
level of consciousness, organisation and
responsibility of people, in their attitude to labour and
public property, in the level of production
standards and organisation, everyday life and leisure,
in the improvement of affairs in all sectors of
__ALPHA_LVL2__
THE 24th CPSU CONGRESS
 ON COMMUNIST EDUCATION
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 In its Resolution on the CC Report, the 24th

GPSU Congress set the task of making the "
propagation of Communist ideals and of the concrete
tasks of our construction more active and
purposeful''.
 Soviet society has reached a stage of

development when the level of consciousness, scientific
knowledge, thought, behaviour and attitude to
labour are increasingly influencing the growth of
the productive forces and the further improvement
of social relations. In other words, spiritual
factors are speeding up Soviet society's advance
towards communism to an ever increasing extent,
and the heightening role of the consciousness
factor in modern conditions is manifesting itself more
and more as a regularity of the development of
the communist formation.
 The 24th CPSU Congress gave all-round

consideration to the question of promoting the
307
spiritual activity of Soviet society. Judging by the

profound treatment of ideological and educational
matters in the CC Report, the attention they
received in the speeches of the delegates and the
decisions passed by the Congress, it is clear that
the Party attaches enormous significance to the
moulding of the new man.
 Such serious attention to problems of education,

to questions of ideology and ideological work is
a traditional feature of the CPSU and Leninism.
It conforms to one of the basic principles of
socialist society, namely: "A great project---the
building of communism---cannot be advanced without
the harmonious development of man himself.
Communism is inconceivable without a high level
of culture, education, sense of civic duty and
inner maturity of people just as it is inconceivable
without the appropriate material and technical
basis."^^*^^ In this way the CPSU once again
underlined the importance of ideological and
educational work for the fulfilment of its programme. It
invariably connects all problems on which it is
working, whether in the fields of foreign policy,
economy, social development, culture and
education, with educational issues and draws on the
enormous potentialities inherent in the Soviet
social system, in its ideology, morality and way
of life.
 The reason is clear: the more diversified and

dynamic is the life of society and the greater the
tasks which have to be resolved, the higher are
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, Moscow, 1971, p. 100.
20*
308
the demands of the human personality and the

greater the need for knowledge, conviction, and
creativity ot the masses, for their unity and
purposeful activity. "The very essence of
communism,'' noted GG GPSU General Secretary Leonid
Brezhnev, "is determined by the fact that citizens
are politically conscious to a high degree, have a
sense of responsibility to society and possess other
lofty moral qualities. That is why the education of
all citizens in the spirit of social consciousness is
one of the cardinal components of the building of
communism."^^*^^
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Specific Features of Ideological
 and Educational Work
 in Present-Day Conditions
__NOTE__
This LVL2 has this LVL3 as only explicit
LVL3! Should have at least two.
 Relying on the gains of socialism, the CPSU

has set the task of further promoting the all-round
development of the individual.
 As it goes ahead with this task the Party does

not rely on objective factors alone. Indisputably,
the moral and political make-up of Soviet people
is moulded by the entire socialist way of life, by
the entire course of affairs in society. The 24th
Congress also paid attention to the fact that in
many ways the moulding and education of the
individual depends on purposeful, manifold
ideological activity.
 The Congress underlined that the magnitude

and character of production, technological,
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ L. I. Brezhnev, The Fiftieth Anniversary o[ the Union

309
economic and social tasks facing Soviet society, the

entire course of social development, call for a
substantial enhancement of the role played by
spiritual factors and, consequently, for the further
promotion of all forms of ideological work. This
means that the content, forms and methods of
propaganda and education should be brought in
line with the enhanced social experience of the
working people, their political activity, level of
culture and education.
 Therefore, it is of primary importance to raise

the efficiency of ideological and educational work,
to make it more purposeful, concrete and
businesslike. "Our cardinal task in this sphere,'' said
Leonid Brezhnev at the 24th CPSU Congress, "is
to be able really to convey our ideological
conviction in full to the masses, and approach the work
of the communist education of the Soviet man in
a really creative manner.''
 Ensuring the continuity of the development of

Soviet society, the decisions of the 24th CPSU
Congress channel the energy of the Party, of all
working people, towards effecting major changes
in all spheres of human activity. This calls for
greater initiative and a new attitude to work. It
often happens in our dynamic age that specific
knowledge, experience and traits acquired in the
past suddenly become obsolete and ineffective, a
circumstance which calls for a prompt
psychological reorganisation, ability to appraise life
realistically, bring one's knowledge up to date with
the least possible delay and display the highest
initiative in all matters. In the epoch of the
310
scientific and technological revolution each ought

to perform his job with a knowledge of the
achievements of scientific thought.
 Inertness of thought, adherence to formulas

lagging behind the rapidly changing reality
inhibit the necessary changes and diminish their
effectiveness. No less detrimental is the other
extreme---impatience and subjectivism, the desire
to translate into practice immature ideas, or those
lacking a thorough scientific grounding.
 It is, therefore, most important to develop in all
working people a profound understanding of the
content and nature of the present-day tasks,
mature and flexible thinking and an innovatory,
creative attitude to labour in all fields. That
accounts for the greatly enhanced role and
responsibility of ideological work. Of course, the
difficulties of present-day life differ from those
in the preceding periods of the country's history.
They spring in the first place from the fact that
today it is necessary to solve tasks of
unprecedented magnitude and scale. Life forges ahead
surmounting contradictions and difficulties. And
although in terms of the society as a whole their
nature is not antagonistic, they are often fairly
serious and not painless. There is much to be
surmounted, especially in the sphere of
consciousness.
 The complexity of the problems which need to

be solved becomes infinitely greater in view of
the fact that the Soviet people are building
communism in conditions of an acute ideological
struggle between the two world systems. All major
311
world events, wherever they occur, in one way or

another have an impact on the life of Soviet
people and on their consciousness. Bourgeois
propaganda is doing its utmost to present them in a
distorted light, and the advocates of revisionist
ideas, wittingly or unwittingly, are helping it in
its efforts. Historical experience shows that any
underestimation, however small, of the danger of
bourgeois ideology and revisionism is
impermissible.
 In modern conditions ideological work should

above all thoroughly assess the situation with all
its complexities and contradictions, anticipate the
possibility of negative influences on the formation
and development of socialist consciousness and
block the way to these influences.
 The 24th CPSU Congress creatively solved such

topical questions of ideological work as, for
example:~
 the relationship between the principles of the

socialist way of life and the means of education
in fostering communist education, and unity
of economic and ideological and political
work;~
 the role played by ideological-educational
methods in solving economic and socio-political
problems;~
 socialist interests and communist ideals of the

working class as a basis for further strengthening
the unity of the Soviet society;~
 ways and means for actively determining

material and spiritual requirements, the system of
social values;~
312
 further development of socialist labour

incentives;~
 the interconnection between the growing level

of culture and education and the need to improve
its methods and forms;~
 the enhancement of the role of the working

collective in all spheres of human endeavour; the
collective as a medium where the personality
is moulded, as a social link connecting the
interests of the individual and society as a
whole;~
 the enhancement of the role of political

information in public affairs, especially in ideological
activity.
 The 24th CPSU Congress developed and

concretised the tasks in the sphere of communist
education of the working people set forth in the
CPSU Programme.
 Now ideological and educational work is being

conducted in a developed socialist society where
conditions are favourable both for moulding the
new man and for promoting socialism's ideological
offensive in the world arena.
 This situation conducive to the intensification of

political and ideological work has been
engendered by the entire preceding development of the
Soviet state. A factor of especial importance has
been the consolidation and development of the
moral and political atmosphere which took shape
in the Party and the country following the
October 1964 Plenary Meeting of the CPSU Central
Committee---an atmosphere of cohesion, efficiency
and comradely mutual understanding, solicitude
313
for the people and trust coupled with a high

degree of exactingness and integrity.
 The enormous work performed by the Party and

the people in recent years has resulted in a
substantial improvement in material welfare and
further development of social consciousness.
Positive changes are manifest everywhere.
 Turning to the basic features of the present-day

ideological and political situation, the following
should be mentioned:~
 the social activity, production and labour

initiative of the working people have risen
considerably, and socialist emulation for the fulfilment
of the ninth five-year plan targets has attained
wide scope;~
 rapid changes are taking place in the

socioclass structure of developed socialism; all classes
and social groups are drawing together at a swift
pace, the moral and political unity of all nations
and nationalities of the Soviet Union, the unity of
the new historical community---the Soviet people
---has become stronger still. Soviet people observed
the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union with
a great upsurge in political activity and fresh
labour successes;~
 the implementation of the Peace Programme

advanced by the 24th CPSU Congress and the
detente in international relations have created
propitious conditions on the world scene for the
creative labour of the Soviet people, for
strengthening socialism's ideological positions in the
world.
 Such are some of the objective factors of the
314
situation in which ideological and political work

is being conducted. And undoubtedly, this
situation provides fresh opportunities for improving
ideological work in very many fields and for
moulding a communist world outlook, educating
the people in the spirit of Soviet patriotism and
socialist internationalism, strengthening socialist
standards of social life and enriching the
revolutionary traditions of Soviet society.
 The 24th CPSU Congress noted that in recent
years both Right-wing and ``Left'' revisionists had
intensified their attacks on Marxism-Leninism as
an internationalist teaching, on the general
principles and history of socialism and especially on the
leading role of the Communist Party. Bourgeois
propaganda is extensively playing up all sorts of
Right-wing revisionist and Maoist conceptions and
technocratic theories. It is broadly forecasting a
``crisis'' of socialism and the communist
movement and heroising all sorts of renegades.
 As a result of this propaganda and due to

certain other reasons, some men of letters have
turned to the notorious ideas of ``deheroising'' the
past and ``reinterpreting'' crucial phases of Soviet
history connected with the victory and the nature
of the October Socialist Revolution,
collectivisation and industrialisation and the Great Patriotic
War.
 It also became clear that some people did not

understand the positive results of the enormous
work performed by the CPSU in recent years,
especially after the Plenary Meeting of its Central
Committee in October 1964, to surmount the
315
negative consequences of the personality cult and

subjectivist errors, promote the Leninist standards
of social and Party life and further strengthen the
social and ideological unity of Soviet society.
 All this diverted attention (regardless of the

subjective intentions and motivations of their
proponents) from the Party's constructive course and
was harmful to the cause of communist education.
The 24th CPSU Congress gave a clear and
exhaustive ideological and political assessment of
these phenomena. "Essentially,'' stressed the CC
CPSU Report, "both these cases were attempts to
belittle the significance of what the Party and the
people had already accomplished, and divert
attention from current problems, from the
Party's constructive guideline and the creative work
of Soviet people.''
 The CPSU has always considered it most

important to approach the historical past and
present-day life from class positions, to make a
Marxist-Leninist appraisal of the history of the
multinational Soviet socialist state and wage a
relentless struggle against bourgeois and
pettybourgeois ideology. For the Soviet people it is
both a question of their ideological principles and
concern for the correct, communist education of
the rising generations. The Party's documents
marking the 50th anniversary of the October
Socialist Revolution, the centenary of Lenin's
birth and the 50th anniversary of the USSR made
up the ideological and theoretical foundation
enabling Party organisations to unfold extensive
work to foster socialist patriotism and
316
internationalism among the people and make a principled

appraisal of any deviations from historical truth.
The Party resolved both domestic and foreign
policy issues because it firmly adhered to clearly
defined ideological positions and conducted
extensive ideological activity.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
FORMATION OF A COMMUNIST
 WORLD OUTLOOK
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 The CC Report to the 24th CPSU Congress

points up that "the formation of a communist
world outlook in the broad mass of the people
and their education in the spirit of the ideas of
Marxism-Leninism are the core of all ideological
and educational work by the Party''.
 The CPSU has made enormous headway in

this direction. But in present-day conditions it is
necessary more than ever before to foster a
scientific, communist world outlook in the people.
Communist construction is a deep-going process
involving the broadest masses of the people, and
as we have already noted, their level of spiritual
development and culture, political and moral
consciousness has an enormous impact on the
whole of social practice, economy, production and
everyday life. That is why it is most important
that all Soviet people should have a scientific
world outlook. This question is raised because of
the increasing rate of social development and the
rapidly changing economic and socio-political
picture of the world. An acute class struggle is in
317
progress in the world. The volume of knowledge
is increasing swiftly, scientific hypotheses and
conceptions are being replaced by new ones, and the
How of the most diverse information is mounting
steadily.
 In order to get his bearings in social phenomena

in their entire complexity, to be able to distinguish
between real and false values and to be a
conscious ideological fighter and worker, a person has
to have clear ideological guidelines.
 A scientific world outlook is also the antipode

of religious prejudices which still persist among
certain sections of the population. Needless to say,
these prejudices are gradually vanishing under
the influence of the Soviet way of life, the
enhanced culture, education and consciousness of
the people.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Mastering Revolutionary Theory
 In all matters, whether economic, political,

moral and ethical or cultural, the Communist
Party invariably relies on the eternally living,
developing Marxist-Leninist theory. In view of
the dynamism and complexity of social processes
there is an ever growing need for scientific
provision. This means that the extent and
significance of theoretical activity will continue to
increase. This is essential for further progress, for
without revolutionary theory there is no
revolutionary practice. The CPSU could not have guided
the people along the road of socialist and
communist construction if it did not rely on the great
318
strength of the revolutionary theory of Marxism--

Leninism.
 The 24th CPSU Congress noted that the Party

had activated its ideological and theoretical work
and improved the Marxist-Leninist education of
the Communists.
 The CPSU directs its theoretical thought at

further developing Lenin's ideological legacy,
studying the vital problems of the advancement
of Soviet society, communist construction and the
world revolutionary process. Together with other
Marxist-Leninist parties it has further elaborated
the strategy and tactics of the anti-imperialist
struggle and developed Lenin's teaching about the
alliance of all revolutionary forces.
 The CPSU's enormous theoretical work enriches

its propaganda, ideologically equips the
Communists and all Soviet people with revolutionary
scientific thought.
 In the course of the past few years much has

been done to enhance the ideological education
of the Communist Party members and non-Party
Soviet citizens. The uniform system of Party
study ensuring a consistent mastery of the
MarxistLeninist theory and the CPSU policy has lived
up to expectations. Millions of people are
enhancing their ideological and theoretical knowledge at
Evening Universities of Marxism-Leninism, study
circles and political schools, under the instruction
of a million-strong army of Party propagandists.

 The founders of Marxism-Leninism stressed

that ever since socialism became a science it had
to be treated as such, meaning that it had to be
319
studied. Lenin maintained that a superficial study

of revolutionary theory, the reduction of this
"most serious, difficult and great work" to a mere
memorisation of ready-made formulas and
assessments, was disastrous and contradicted the
very substance of a revolutionary world outlook.
 Ideological steeling and communist conviction

are the product of a long and intensive process of
thinking, the study of revolutionary theory, the
works of Marx, Engels and Lenin and Party
documents. It was Lenin who said: "We should
consult Marx.''
 The practice of socialist and communist

construction, and the key developments and processes
taking place in the world most convincingly attest
to the vital, revolutionary-transforming strength
of Leninism---the revolutionary Marxism of our
epoch. Each page of Lenin's works sparkles with
his eternally living creative thought.
 As we study Lenin's works we become cognisant

of revolutionary dialectics in its entire depth and
complexity as a teaching about development in its
fullest form free of one-sidedness. By studying
Lenin we master his method of analysing reality,
his scientific approach to the solution of social
problems, and learn to determine ways of
accomplishing present-day tasks which are both
innovatory and exceptionally complex.
 Life today imposes special demands on

theoretical grounding. Without profound and
continuously expanding knowledge it is impossible
effectively to solve practical problems, whether
economic, cultural or educational. A thorough study
320
of theory is a tested means for successfully

solving practical issues. Not without reason is it said
that nothing is more practicable than a
fundamental theoretical grounding.
 In our day, when the volume of information is

increasing at such a rapid pace, it is particularly
important to be able to interpret the entire
diversity of facts and developments from the standpoint
of the revolutionary theory of Marxism-Leninism.
 A knowledge of the natural sciences,

technology and culture does not of its own accord ensure
mastery of the scientific Marxist-Leninist world
outlook. It is necessary to mould this knowledge
into a comprehensive system of views on the
modern world. The learning by rote of various
world outlook conceptions unsubstantiated by the
latest knowledge is likewise far removed from the
Marxist understanding of the world. That is why
the CPSU regards political training and the
enhancement of the educational and cultural level
of masses as an organic whole; they should not be
viewed separately, nor should they be placed in
opposition to each other.
 Undoubtedly, a thorough knowledge of

Marxism-Leninism is essential for all, and particularly
for the young people. In order to be able to build
a new society, young people have to acquire a
high degree of class-consciousness, firm character,
perspicacity and a broad political outlook. And
the best way they can do this is by studying
 A deep study of this teaching which is

important for all, the mastery of socialism's practice as
321
Lenin's school of building a new world are

indispensable for the ideological education of the
young people. It is impossible to become a
conscious fighter for communism without an adequate
ideological and theoretical grounding. It is also
necessary to combine the acquired knowledge with
practical activity. Knowledge becomes a force
only when it has passed the rigid test of social
practice, when it is implemented in big and small
matters, when it becomes a firm conviction which
nothing can shake.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Moulding
 of Soviet Patriotism
 and Socialist Internationalism
 Socialism has reared generations of people who

dedicate their strength and minds to the cause of
communist construction, who are steadfastly
consolidating and developing the internationalist
principles of Soviet society resting on the unity of
socialist economy, politics and culture. The Party
has always worked to form the internationalist
Soviet way of life, to educate the people in the
spirit of friendship and fraternity. "It stands to
the Party's credit,'' Leonid Brezhnev underlined,
"that millions upon millions of Soviet men of
every nation and nationality have adopted
internationalism---once the ideal of a handful of
Communists---as their deep conviction and standard of
behaviour. This was a true revolution in social
21---2052
322
thinking, and one which it is hard to

overestimate."^^*^^
 Patriotism and internationalism are organically

fused in the make-up of the Soviet man. All
citizens of the USSR, whatever the republic they
may be living in, are children of a single socialist
Motherland, and everything that has been created
on their native land is the product of their labour.
The various nationalities of the Soviet Union are
members of a single multinational family which
is known as the Soviet people.
 United in a fraternal alliance, holding aloft

the banner of proletarian internationalism, the
peoples of the Soviet Union have covered a
glorious road of heroic struggle and creative
labour, of great victories and accomplishments.
Generations have appeared in the country who
experienced neither national oppression nor
racial discrimination.
 The 24th CPSU Congress pointed out that the

Party attaches major significance to educating all
working people in the spirit of Soviet patriotism,
pride for their socialist homeland, for the great
accomplishments of the Soviet people, in the spirit
of internationalism, implacability towards
manifestations of nationalism, chauvinism, national
narrow-mindedness, in the spirit of respect for all
nations and nationalities. Of fundamental
importance for the internationalist education of the
working people are the ideological-theoretical and
_-_-_

of Soviet Socialist Republics, pp. 34--35.
323
political conclusions contained in Leonid

Brezhnev's report "The Fiftieth Anniversary of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics''.
 It is quite natural that the CPSU should attach

so much attention to these problems, for the
multinational socialist society, the fraternal family
of Soviet peoples are welded together by bonds
of socialist internationalism and patriotism, a
common socialist mode of life, common political
principles and a single Marxist-Leninist ideology.
Therefore, the CPSU has always adopted an
uncompromising stand towards everything that is
inimical to its internationalist ideology and policy,
towards any manifestations of bourgeois
nationalism.
 In the Soviet Union there are no socio-class

foundations for nationalism, but this does not
mean that less attention should be paid to the
internationalist education of the people.
Nationalistic prejudices still crop up in tendencies to
parochialism, idealisation of the past and desire
to conserve or revive obsolete customs.
 It should be remembered, the CPSU warns, that

nationalistic prejudices, exaggerated or distorted
national feelings, are exceptionally tenacious and
deeply embedded in the psychology of politically
immature people. They persist even when
objective premises for any antagonisms in relations
between nations have long ceased to exist.
 The nationalities question is an object of an

acute ideological and political struggle between
socialist and capitalist worlds, between
MarxistLeninist and bourgeois ideologies. Today, in
21*
324
conditions of a sharp class struggle between the two

systems, socialism's enemies are placing increasing
stakes on nationalism. Resorting to all and any
means in an effort to weaken socialism's positions,
divert the attention of the working people in
capitalist countries from the class struggle and
suppress the national liberation movement, the
imperialists foment racialism, preach Zionism and
anti-semitism and strive to alienate the various
detachments of the working class on national
grounds.
 Reactionary forces are endeavouring to implant

nationalistic views into the minds of the peoples
of the socialist countries, too, and use nationalism
in an effort to undermine the socialist system. It
should be borne in mind that as an ideology
nationalism is exceptionally tenacious and
imperialist propaganda spares neither strength nor
means to revive and activate nationalistic
conceptions and prejudices. Nationalism speculates on
the idea of patriotism and strives to introduce a
nationalistic spirit into it.
 The Soviet man is proud of his land because of

the socialist gains of the Soviet people, of their
revolutionary, democratic, progressive traditions.
From the culture of the past the Soviet people take
only its democratic and progressive aspects, its
genuine spiritual values, and reject everything
reactionary with which the exploiting classes
enslaved the toiling people and disunited them
along national lines.
 It follows, therefore, that all that is socialist and

internationalist is patriotic in the opinion of the
325
Soviet people. As far as past history is concerned,

they regard as patriotic everything that was
revolutionary, democratic and progressive.
 Socialist patriotism is incompatible with any
manifestations of national narrow-mindedness
and chauvinism. It embraces a new,
internationalist content and transcends the bounds of national
affiliation. The report "The Fiftieth Anniversary
of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" sets
down the important conclusion that half a century
after the formation of the USSR we can speak of
the great sense of patriotism of the Soviet people,
of the national pride of the Soviet man. This is a
great, all-embracing feeling. It is immensely rich
in content having absorbed all the finest
accomplishments of the labour, courage and creative
genius of millions of Soviet people---the labour
achievements of workers and collective farmers,
the outstanding discoveries of scientists, the
immortal creations of the folk art of each of
the fraternal nations. And the farther the
Soviet people advance in the building of
communism and the more diverse and
stronger become the economic and cultural ties
linking all the peoples of the USSR, the stronger
and deeper will be the noble sentiment of the
great community---the national pride of the
Soviet man.
 Any departure, whether conscious or

unconscious, from the socialist essence of Soviet
patriotism is a deviation towards bourgeois nationalism.
And bourgeois nationalism and proletarian
internationalism, according to Lenin, are not only two
326
opposite policies, but also two world outlooks.^^*^^

The time that has elapsed since Lenin wrote this
did not and could not erase this difference. The
Communists have a reliable weapon with which to
counter nationalistic tendencies wherever they
originate. Lenin made the point that in order to
oppose nationalistic manifestations it is necessary
to act from the position of proletarian
internationalism. He always upheld the idea that the
important thing was "not to `proclaim' internationalism,
but to be able to be an internationalist in
deed. . .".^^**^^ Leninism demands that Communists
should know how to link each practical step with
the basic interests of socialism, to "fight against
small-nation narrow-mindedness, seclusion and
isolation, consider the whole and the general,
subordinate the particular to the general
interest".^^***^^
 All Communists, whatever their nationality,
have a common internationalist duty.
 Patriotism and internationalism are organically

united in the minds of Soviet people. In order to
educate patriots-internationalists it is necessary to
educate people in the spirit of the inviolable
fraternity of peoples, of respect for the working
people of all countries and hatred for exploitation
and oppression, in the spirit of class solidarity
and fraternal mutual assistance.
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ See: V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 20, p. 26.


 ^^**^^ Ibid., Vol. 24, p. 82.


 ^^***^^ Ibid., Vol. 22, p. 347.
327
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Strengthening
 of the Principles
 of Socialist Community Relations.
 Moral and Political Education
 The CPSU has always combined its entire

activity to mould the new man with a high level
of consciousness with efforts to foster and
strengthen communist morality, which, as Lenin put it,
enables man to rise still higher. Every aspect of
ideological and educational activity, whether the
fostering of Soviet patriotism and proletarian
internationalism or a conscious attitude to labour
and public property, is in effect moral and
political education.
 Soviet society is not unconcerned with how a

person works and how he behaves in everyday
life, in his relations with his comrades and other
people. The Communist Party attaches
fundamental importance to the moral education of the
people, to the strengthening of the laws and rules
of socialist community relations, and to educating
all working people in the spirit of respect for
socialist legality.
 The Soviet social system asserts the dignity of

the individual, the responsibility of the man and
citizen. Having emancipated people from
oppression and poverty socialism opened up the most
propitious opportunities for the development of
their moral qualities. "However,'' said Leonid
Brezhnev, "all this does not mean that the
political, educational and ideological tasks facing our
socialist society have been carried out. It is no
secret that to this day social sores, inherited from
328
the past and essentially alien to socialism, such

as an unconscientious attitude to work, slackness,
indiscipline, greed and various violations of the
norms of the socialist way of life not infrequently
make themselves felt.''
 Full-blooded social and private life depends

wholly on the strict observance of the laws of
socialist community living, maintenance of strict
discipline, efficient labour and cultural behaviour.
Respect for human dignity, for the old people, for
women, decorous behaviour, self-discipline and
good taste are elementary standards of morality
which are inherited and developed by the morality
of socialist society.
 In his work "The Immediate Tasks of the Soviet

Government" written as far back as 1918, Lenin
disclosed the enormous social role played by the
elementary rules of community living in the
building of a new society. He showed that such
precepts as "do not steal'', "do not be lazy'', "observe
the strictest labour discipline'', "keep regular
accounts of money'', "manage economically" are of
the utmost importance for the entire nation. The
consolidation of elementary norms of community
living and moral standards, their practical
implementation, according to Lenin, was directly
connected with the loftiest ideals, with the
transition of society to communist construction.
 There is no democracy if there are no social

norms, there are no rights if there are no duties,
there is no freedom if there is no responsibility,
no social discipline and organisation.
 Any attempt to separate these issues, let alone
329
place them in opposition to each other, is

untenable.
 There is a saying: everyone to his own taste.
That is true but only if tastes do not contradict
the way of life, standards of morality and
conceptions. But a man's tastes are not only his personal
business but also a social one. One cannot live in
a society without observing its social norms. That
is why imperialist propagandists are going to such
great lengths to instil the tastes prevailing in
bourgeois society and its anti-humanitarian morals
in the young people of the socialist and
developing countries. For this purpose they play up sex,
pornography, individualism, violence and
dissipation, i.e., a life free of any moral norms and
obligations to society. And this amoralism, repudiation
of moral norms and ideals, is presented as a
"contemporary mode of conduct" of a young
person.
 There is simple logic behind this: in its efforts

to influence the tastes and habits of the younger
generation, bourgeois propaganda seeks to modify
their views, make them indifferent to social affairs
and turn them into cynics and individualists whose
behaviour would be motivated solely by
selfinterest of the most dubious character. Soviet
society not only argues against such tastes and
ideals, if one may call them such, but fights against
them because they are incompatible with
communist morality, with the Soviet people's ideas of life
values; it fights them in the first place by
cultivating good tastes and publicly censuring bad ones.
Therefore, the moral shaping of the individual
330
should begin as early as possible so that from his

childhood days a person should be reared in the
spirit of respect for people, in the spirit of
comradeship and honesty, and be self-collected and
upright. These simple norms of morality form a
foundation for more complex moral principles.
But if the foundation has a flaw, the result will
inevitably be the moral undoing of the individual.
 A most important and responsible role in the

moral education of Soviet young people is played
by the family, the school, Komsomol and Young
Pioneer organisations, cultural institutions,
propaganda organs, literature and art.
 The living standard and the cultural level of

the population are steadily rising in the USSR.
People are now able to improve their diet, dress
better and enhance their recreational facilities.
Annually millions of families move into new flats.
All conditions have been created for normal,
healthy and vigorous activities.
 Cases of anti-social behaviour, particularly

alcoholism, are largely due to the still existing
liberal attitude to these vices, which is
incompatible with the dignity of the Soviet man, his moral
principles and the entire way of life in the USSR.
 In this connection let us recall a thought

expressed by Marx who maintained that the
consciousness of an individual degenerates under the
influence of two factors which at first sight seem
to eliminate each other: the first is when people
see a crime but do not see the punishment, and
the second, when people see the punishment bu*
do not see the crime.
331
 Without doubt it is necessary to employ

measures of compulsion against people still harbouring
the survivals of the past in their minds and whose
actions are socially dangerous. "Any display of
weakness, hesitation or sentimentality in this
respect would be an immense crime against
socialism,"^^*^^ Lenin wrote. But he also pointed out that
"laws alone are not enough. A vast amount of
educational, organisational and cultural work is
required; this cannot be done rapidly by
legislation but demands a vast amount of work over a
long period."^^**^^ Dwelling on the shortcomings in
the struggle against anti-social behaviour, he
wrote: "What hinders the fight against this? Our
laws? Our propaganda? On the contrary! We
have any number of laws! Why then have we
achieved no success in this struggle? Because it
cannot be waged by propaganda alone. It can be
done if the masses of the people help."^^***^^
 Lenin's approach to the struggle against

antisocial acts was specified by the 24th CPSU
Congress: "It is necessary to continue the struggle
against what we call the survivals of the past in
the minds and actions of people. This requires the
constant attention of the Party and of all
politically-conscious advanced forces in our society.''
 In its decisions the 24th CPSU Congress

emphasised the need more resolutely to direct the
educational impact of the collective and of public opinion
towards overcoming the survivals of the past in
_-_-_

 ^^**^^ Ibid., Vol. 29, p. 179.


 ^^***^^ Ibid., Vol. 33, p. 75.
332
the minds and actions of people both in everyday

life and at work. More often than not it is a
person who shows no interest in public life and locks
himself in a shell of egoistic interests who is beset
with obsolete morals, prejudices and harmful
habits.
 Today, when we talk about the need to fight

against various negative social phenomena, against
cases of anti-social behaviour we do not imply
that they constitute a serious threat to Soviet
society. But if nothing is done to counter them,
they may lead to complications. Lenin noted that
the fight against petty-bourgeois survivals in the
minds of people is one of the most difficult
aspects of the Party's educational work.
 A decisive factor promoting the development of

socialist consciousness, discipline and
organisation, and the eradication of the survivals of the
past in the minds of people, is the practical
experience of the masses, the direct participation
of the working people in management and their
self-education and self-discipline.
 Moral education has a direct bearing on spare

time activity. In his speech at the 15th Congress
of Soviet Trade Unions, CC CPSU General
Secretary Leonid Brezhnev placed special emphasis
on this fact: '',Marx used to say that free time is a
gauge of social wealth. But free time can be
regarded as genuine social wealth only when it is
used to promote the all-round development of the
individual, of his abilities, and thus to enhance
the material and spiritual potential of the whole
of society to a still greater extent. Socialism has
333
created the necessary conditions for this; it has

given the Soviet man sufficient time for rest, for
raising his educational and cultural level,
promoting his health and physical strength, for bringing
up children and other useful activities.''
 Leisure is not a time for idleness, but a time

which should be used for the maximum personal
and social benefit. Therefore it is most important,
especially for the young people, to learn to value
time, to value every hour, for it is hard to make
up for the time lost in one's youthful days.
 When Sergei Lazo, a legendary hero of the civil

war, was 21 he jotted down the following plan of
study and spare time activity for himself: "First,
a thorough acquaintance with mathematics,
mechanics, astronomy, physics, chemistry ... a
broad acquaintance with natural science in
general. An acquaintance with jurisprudence and
history. Russian and foreign literature. Study
German, English, French. Correct mode of living ...
two hours of physical work daily, physical
exercises, cold-water rubdown; sleep eight hours,
but not less than seven. Attend lectures, theatres,
visit museums and picture galleries and libraries___
Absolutely no visitors during the day; not to
spend all evenings with friends. Play chess,
participate in public activities at the university; attend
meetings without fail. . .. Dress modestly as
befitting a student, but not too warmly-----At
night---philosophy, poetry, art. Travel as much as
possible. Sports: rowing, bicycling, motorcycling,
swimming, gymnastics, skiing, and also
photography. . . .''
334
 Free time is a priceless treasure which is granted

to all. It is of the utmost importance that each
person should utilise it to the best advantage. And
this means that leisure should be used to extend
knowledge and culture, to enjoy wholesome rest,
to take part in interesting and useful activities.
 Summing up it can be said that moral and

political education is in fact education in the
spirit of the moral code of the builder of
communism which comprises the following principles:~
 devotion to the communist cause; love of the

socialist Motherland and of the other socialist
countries;~
 conscientious labour for the good of society---he

who does not work, neither shall he eat;~
 concern on the part of everyone for the
preservation and giowth of public wealth;~
 a high sense of public duty; intolerance of

actions harmful to the public interest;~
 collectivism and comradely mutual assistance:

one for all and all for one;~
 humane relations and mutual respect between

individuals---man is to man a friend, comrade
and brother;~
 honesty and truthfulness, moral purity, modesty,

and unpretentiousness in social and private life;~
 mutual respect in the family, and concern for

the upbringing of children;~
 an uncompromising attitude to injustice,

parasitism, dishonesty, careerism and money-grubbing;~
 friendship and brotherhood among all peoples

of the USSR; intolerance of national and racial
hatred;~
335
 an uncompromising attitude to the enemies of

communism, peace and the freedom of nations;~
 fraternal solidarity with the working people of

all countries, and with all peoples.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Struggle Against Bourgeois Ideology
 and Right- and ``Left''-Wing Revisionism
 The present-day ideological struggle over key

problems of our day and age is taking place along
a broad front and in complicated conditions. The
CPSU is consistently upholding the communist
teaching, its internationalist character and the
Leninist principles of socialist construction. This
is vitally important, all the more so because both
the ideologists of imperialism and Right- and
``Left''-wing revisionists have intensified their
attacks on Marxism-Leninism in recent years. In
these circumstances the fight against all forms of
revisionism has acquired particular significance.
 In our age many peoples and states standing at

different stages of development have taken the
road of social emancipation, and broad non--
proletarian sections are joining the working class in the
anti-imperialist struggle. At the same time the
complexity of the revolutionary process and the
formation of a new society, the diversity of
socioeconomic conditions, the limited political
experience and views of various social groups and the
influence of bourgeois ideology can create
difficulties at certain stages of the liberation struggle
and socialist construction. In these circumstances
it is of the utmost importance to adopt clear-cut
336
ideological positions, for any "evasiveness, and

shilly-shallying with regard to socialist ideology
inevitably play into the hands of bourgeois
ideology".^^*^^
 Experience shows that it is precisely such

"evasiveness and shilly-shallying" that breed all
sorts of anti-Marxist, anti-Leninist conceptions,
which, in spite of their outward diversity and
dissimilarity, have a common class content.
Ideologically, they are attempts to replace Marxism--
Leninism with social-reformist or social-chauvinistic
theories. Politically, they are attempts to employ
petty-bourgeois prejudices and nationalistic
feelings to further anti-socialist objectives.
 It is not the first time that Communists have to

deal with similar ideological and political zigzags
and vacillations. In their time Marx, Engels and
Lenin waged an uncompromising struggle against
bourgeois and petty-bourgeois distortions of
scientific socialism. Marxism-Leninism developed and
became steeled in clashes with bourgeois ideology,
with Right- and ``Left''-wing opportunism, with
liberal and `ùltra-revolutionary'' verbiage. Ever
since the appearance of the working-class
movement, Engels noted, the struggle had been
systematically conducted along its three co-ordinated
and interconnected directions: theoretical,
political and practical-economic. Emphasising the
fundamental significance of the conclusion formulated
by Engels, Lenin wrote that scientific communism
recognises not two forms of the great struggle of
_-_-_
337
the working class "(political and economic)... but

three, placing the theoretical struggle on a par
with the first two".^^*^^
 Revolutionary Marxism's struggle against

revisionism at the end of the 19th century
foreshadowed the great class battles of the contemporary
period. Socialism's historic victories were also
great victories of Marxism-Leninism which
radically altered the balance of forces on the world
scene.
 Together with fraternal socialist states, the

Soviet Union has always advocated a lasting
peace between nations and opposed the notorious
cold war policy. But peaceful coexistence between
socialist and capitalist countries does not imply a
reconciliation between bourgeois and socialist
ideologies.
 The experience of the class struggle

demonstrated the vitality and political farsightedness of
Lenin's idea that any departure from the
principles of proletarian ideology inevitably weakened
the leading positions of the working class in the
economy, politics and culture, and that
underestimation of the Party's ideological work misled
the working people politically and was used by
socialism's enemies for launching a counter--
offensive against socialism. Therefore it is the duty of
the Communists, of all working people of the
socialist countries, to maintain unceasing
revolutionary vigilance and resolutely oppose any
manifestations of bourgeois and petty-bourgeois ideas.
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ Ibid., Vol. 5, p. 370.


22---2052
338
 `Ìn the Party's ideological work,'' states the

Resolution of the 24th CPSU Congress, "the main
emphasis should be on the propagation of the
ideas of Marxism-Leninism and on mounting a
relentless offensive against bourgeois and
revisionist ideology.'' The struggle against this ideology
produces the best results when it is purposeful and
creative in essence. The criticism of bourgeois
attacks on the theory and practice of communist
construction in the USSR becomes much more
convincing if it is backed up by the vigorous
creative development of social science and rests on
Marxist-Leninist theory. That is how the 24th
CPSU Congress posed this question.
 Bourgeois ideologists are endeavouring to make

the world believe that the scientific and
technological revolution allegedly leads to the formation
of what they call a hybrid society, when capitalism
and socialism shed their basic distinctions. They
claim that scientific and technological progress
will make people give up their social and class
ideals with the result that opposing ideologies will
"die a natural death''.
 Such sermons are accompanied by the most

abominable slander of socialism and its principles
and aims, and by unrestrained praise of the
capitalist way of life.
 Imperialism is mustering all its resources to

stem the advance of socialist ideas, and bourgeois
propaganda is doing its best to stupefy the minds
of the toiling masses and enslave them spiritually.
 The capitalist way of life and vigorous

propaganda of amoralism breed an appalling avalanche
339
of crime and violence. The first to slip into moral

degradation is a part of the young people.
Bourgeois society which is so boastful of its wealth
exposes its anti-humane substance to an ever
increasing extent.
 However, there is a spiritual force in the world

which counterposes these ugly processes. This
force is socialist ideology and culture which assert
the civic dignity of the individual and the lofty
responsibility of being a man and tell the world
the truth about the Soviet way of life and
socialism's great gains.
 The communist ideals which the Soviet people

are asserting are the most humane in the history
of mankind. Yet it is necessary to fight for them,
as for all other ideals, and to work long and hard
in order to translate them into reality.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
WAYS AND MEANS OF EDUCATION
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Mass Information and Propaganda
 The CPSU has a great variety of means at its
disposal with which to accomplish the ideological
and educational tasks set by its 24th Congress.
 Under the guidance of the CPSU the Soviets

of Working People's Deputies, trade unions, the
Young Communist League, various mass
organisations and cultural and educational
establishments are conducting extensive work in the sphere
of communist education of the people.
 Literature and art play an important and noble
340
role in shaping the world outlook of the Soviet

man and his moral make-up.
 It is impossible to promote the communist

education of the working people and successfully
combat bourgeois ideology without the
wellorganised work of such key media of information
and propaganda as the press, television and radio.
 The press, television and radio embrace and

mirror the entire diversity of social relations: the
economy, politics, culture, way of life and
international relations.
 The Soviet press is an important instrument of

cognising reality, a source and an effective means
of disseminating objective information and a
collective propagandist and organiser. Consequently,
it influences the shaping of a person's world
outlook and his appraisal of the reality and events,
and draws millions of people into discussing and
solving social problems.
 Soviet propaganda and information organs are

genuinely popular in character.
 Radio and television are coming to play an ever

greater role in the life of the country. The
capacity of broadcasting stations has increased
considerably in recent years, and the total length of
TV transmission lines has more than doubled in
the past five years, bringing TV programmes to
the homes of almost the whole of the country's
population.
 By informing the country about the Soviet

people's political, economic and social gains, their
progress in science and culture, by raising topical
problems, disclosing shortcomings and presenting
341
serious issues in a manner comprehensible to all

sections of the population, the Soviet press, radio
and television propagandise the Soviet way of life,
and help the CPSU to educate a multi-million
army of ideological fighters building a new
society.
 Adherence to Party principles, efficiency,

truthfulness and close bonds with and reliance on
the masses, such are the time-tested principles and
traditions of the Soviet press.
 The 24th CPSU Congress emphasised the need

to expand and improve the system of information.
The CPSU looks upon information as a key
instrument for guiding economic and cultural
development.
 An extensive and effective system of

information corresponds to the objectives which Soviet
society seeks to attain and to those values which
the Soviet social system asserts.
 `Òur idea,'' wrote Lenin, "is that a state is

strong when the people are politically conscious.
It is strong when the people know everything, can
form an opinion of everything and do everything
consciously."^^*^^
 This opinion is especially topical today in view

of the sharp rise in the cultural and ideological
level of the Soviet people, the scale of economic
and cultural development and the need to solve
interconnected issues in their ever-increasing
complexity. In this connection, alongside
sciencebased and carefully considered solutions, there is
_-_-_
342
an urgent need for conscious, active participation

of millions of people in managing the affairs of
society, on the one hand, and for capable guidance
of their efforts, on the other.
 Moreover, the working people themselves, the

production collectives, verify whether one or
another decision is based on scientific premises, and
supplement them by giving their opinion. In this
way information is an important factor of the
development of socialist democracy, an instrument
for promoting communist education.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Role of the
 Production Collective as a Teacher and Educator
 There is no better teacher and educator than

the socialist production collective. It is at
industrial enterprises, construction sites, collective and
state farms and offices that people acquire new,
socialist qualities and enter into new relations.
Soviet reality proves that Marx was absolutely
correct when he said that "only in community
with others has each individual the means of
cultivating his gifts in all directions; only in the
community, therefore, is personal freedom
possible".^^*^^
 The responsibility of each person to his

collective, and the responsibility of the collective to each
worker---such is an intrinsic feature of the Soviet
way of life.
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ K. Marx and F. Engels, The German Ideology, p. 93.
343
 A socialist collective is a unit where the success

of the Soviet economic development plans is
decided to a considerable extent, where people
become accustomed to participation in management
and where the finest moral and political qualities
of the individual are fostered.
 The development of the practice of social

planning and the rich experience in this sphere
accumulated by many enterprises have enormously
enhanced the educational role played by the
production collective. Social planning broadens the
participation of the working people in
management, organisation of labour and the promotion
of culture and everyday facilities. It
combines national economic plans with present-day
realities and the potentialities of a production
collective and shows the working people that the
interests of society, the collective and the
individual are closely linked. Thanks to social planning
the masses are carried "forward with a clear and
vivid perspective (entirely scientific at its
foundations)".^^*^^
 The production collectives bear great

responsibility for the state of affairs in all spheres---
production, everyday life, education and culture.
The extensive participation of working people
in production management and the affairs of
the collective is an earnest and an essential factor
of the successful solution of the tasks facing the
collective.
 In its documents adopted in recent years, the
_-_-_
344
CPSU Central Committee underlined the need to

ensure close connection between nation-wide tasks
and the concrete tasks and affairs of a given
collective and each of its members. For this to
happen it is necessary to arm all working people with
a knowledge of the Communist Party's economic
and social policy, and to make each individual
realise that his interests and those of the
production collective and society as a whole are closely
and inseparably connected. Only when the entire
collective and each of its members are fully
mobilised to solve the tasks facing the country, to probe
for and utilise their reserves and resolutely
surmount shortcomings, will it be possible to solve
the problem of moulding moral and political
qualities in the people.
 Such an approach encourages initiative and

socialist enterprise. It is therefore most important to
extend the democratic principles underlying the
activity of the collective and systematically to
draw the working people into discussing and
practically resolving all key production, technical,
economic, social, cultural and everyday issues.
This purpose is served by workers' meetings,
standing production conferences, collective
agreements, and the activity of social organisations at
enterprises.
 A production collective also plays an

important role in solving social problems,
improving living and working conditions and safety
techniques, raising the educational, economic and
professional training of the workers and organising
wholesome and interesting spare time activities.
345
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Unity of Ideological
 and Economic Activity
 The Communist Party's ideological and

political work has always been closely bound up with
its efforts to solve socio-economic problems. Just
as the economy cannot exist without politics, there
can be no communist education of the working
people without their active participation in
economic development, production and social
life.
 In its Report to the 24th Congress, the CPSU

Central Committee made the point that cultural
and educational work should be inseverably
connected with economic and administrative activity
and stressed that all workers should think about
the educational impact of their economic and
administrative decisions.
 This is a most important proposition.
 The Party regards the communist education of

the people as the core of its ideological and
educational work, a nation-wide task in which there
are no minor details. Since the 24th Congress, the
CPSU Central Committee has adopted a number
of decisions, including "On the Further
Improvement of the Organisation of Socialist Emulation'',
"On the Improvement of the Economic Education
of the Working People'', and "On the
Participation of Administrative, Engineering and
Technical Personnel of the Cherepovets Metallurgical
Works in the Ideological and Political Education
of the Members of the Collective'', with the view
still closer to fusing economic and ideological and
346
educational work, further enhancing the creative

initiative and activity of the masses, and
promoting the growth of the ideological, professional
and cultural levels of all Soviet working
people.
 Lenin ascribed great importance to Party

decisions which provide exhaustive, systematic and
precise answers to the most important questions.
The documents adopted by the CC CPSU have
translated the Congress's decisions on ideological
and educational work into practical guidelines for
production collectives. The CG CPSU resolutions
are designed to raise the role played by Party
organisations and production collectives in
achieving a comprehensive solution of economic and
educational problems. And since economic
development is a matter of vital importance for hundreds
of millions of people, the social and ideological
and educational impact of the concrete results of
economic management can hardly be
overestimated.
 Scientific organisation of labour, rhythmic work

at enterprises, efficient organisation of emulation,
the capability of the administrator and his
relations with people are very important educational
factors.
 The principle of the unity of economic

management and education is fully expressed in Lenin's
premise that communism begins where rank--
andfile working people do their utmost to raise
labour productivity and see to it that not a single
pood (16 kilos) of grain, coal, iron and other
products is wasted. Not only are good management
347
and thrift important for the economy, they are

also great ideological and moral factors. However
wealthy Soviet society may be, it will always
display the greatest care for all that has been created
by people's labour.
 It is clear that thrift is both an important

principle of socialist economic management and a
sign of a highly conscientious attitude to labour
and to its fruits. It follows, that in life itself
economic problems are closely intertwined with
moral and educational factors.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Socialist Emulation---School of
 Communist Education
 Each stage of Soviet society's development

produces its labour heroes and specific forms of
emulation. Many of the past forms of emulation still
exist, but that does not mean that they have
remained unchanged. A closer scrutiny of the
content of the emulation and its origins at various
stages reveals the distinction between them.
Emulation for raising labour productivity and the
effectivity of production and for enhancing the
technical level of Soviet people on a mass scale
is of particular importance today.
 In its Resolution "On the Further Improvement

of the Organisation of Socialist Emulation'', the
CC CPSU noted that in present-day conditions
emulation should be directed at the achievement
of the most optimal correlation between socialist
commitments and the production plan, at
terminating the harmful practice of adopting
348
understated plans, at the fullest utilisation of

production reserves.
 Labour competition, labour rivalry, such is the

essence of socialist emulation. Its success largely
depends on the observance of Lenin's principles
of emulation, i.e., all results should be made
public and compared and assistance should be
furnished to those lagging behind. In view of the
scientific and technological progress, the profound
changes in the economy and the character of
labour, and the need for a comprehensive solution of
production problems, it is often difficult for an
individual worker to apply new methods of
labour, achieve record production results, and so
forth, without the participation of his workmates.
In our day a great deal of value is placed on the
experience of whole production collectives and
not only on the experience of their foremost
members. The significance of advanced experience has
increased immeasurably and even a rise of only
one per cent in labour productivity, or in the
saving of raw and other materials and of
working time, becomes a matter of mounting
importance.
 Yet, in view of the fact that in the age of the

scientific and technological revolution advanced
experience very rapidly becomes outdated and its
``lifespan'' decreases sharply, it is absolutely
essential to popularise the achievements of the
innovators and leading workers as broadly and
swiftly as possible.
 In its Resolution the CC CPSU regards correct

guidance of socialist emulation as a matter of the
349
greatest importance. It stresses that the
commitments undertaken by the working people should
mirror their initiative and experience,
encourage them to display their creative abilities, make
better use of reserves and potentialities and adopt
intensive plans.
 The participation of all the working people in

drawing up socialist commitments, controlling
and checking their fulfilment and
summing up the results of the emulation helps to
promote the growth of labour productivity and
fuller use of reserves, and also to develop
democratic principles of the emulation and the enlistment
of ever broader masses in production
management.
 Schools of communist labour have proved to be

very effective in drawing the working people into
socialist emulation and the movement for the
communist attitude to labour. In these schools the
ideological and political education of the workers,
collective farmers and office employees is
combined with the study of advanced production
experience and the fundamentals of socialist
economic management.
 In our day the need for moulding social

consciousness is also imperatively dictated by
economic factors. Scientific and technological progress
imposes the highest demands on the individual,
both on his professional training and on his
labour discipline, precision and organisational
efficiency. Lacking these qualities it is impossible to
tackle the extremely complicated problems raised
by life itself.
350
 In order to fulfil the set plans, Lenin wrote, it

is necessary to find in ourselves sufficient
consciousness, ideological firmness and selflessness.
 Ideological and educational work bolsters the

economic programme of the CPSU, and
mobilises the inexhaustible energies inherent in the
Soviet man---a dedicated fighter, worker and
builder.
[351]
__NUMERIC_LVL1__
CHAPTER VI
__ALPHA_LVL1__
THE WORLD SOCIALIST SYSTEM
__ALPHA_LVL2__
FORMATION
 OF THE WORLD SOCIALIST SYSTEM
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 The victory won by the workers and

peasants of Russia in October 1917 and the successes
of the Soviet Union in building a new life
showed all the peoples the way to social and
national emancipation and inspired them to fight
against capitalism. But for a long time the
working people of other countries were unable to bring
this fight to a victorious conclusion. The only
people's democratic system to be established soon
after the October Socialist Revolution was that in
Mongolia in 1921. The revolution in advanced
capitalist countries, about which Marx and Engels
had dreamt, did not take place. The world
bourgeoisie suppressed the revolution in Germany,
drowned in blood the young Hungarian
Republic and brutally crushed revolutionary action in
other countries. Nevertheless, reactionaries could
no longer reverse the course of history.
 A decisive battle between imperialism's most

reactionary forces and the new social system---
socialism---was fought in the course of the Second
352
World War. In the hope of regaining lost

positions, the imperialist reaction for many years
nurtured plans of war against the USSR and of
achieving the restoration of capitalism in Russia.
Nazi Germany in alliance with fascist Italy and
imperialist Japan undertook to carry through
these plans. The imperialists also wanted to
recarve the world, seize foreign territories, suppress the
mounting working-class and democratic movement
in capitalist countries and smash the Communist
parties which headed the struggle for peace and
social progress. These insane plans fell through.
Rising to the Great Patriotic War the Soviet
people in a hard and selfless struggle, jointly with its
allies, smashed the main forces of world reaction
---the nazi invaders and their imperialist
accomplices.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
People's Democratic
 and Socialist Revolutions
 in European and Asian Countries
 and in Cuba
 The victory of the Soviet Union in the Great

Patriotic War paved the way for the victory of
people's democratic and then socialist revolutions
in a number of capitalist countries. How did this
happen?
 In the beginning of the Second World War

nazi Germany seized the countries of Central and
Southeast Europe. The Japanese imperialists held
sway over a number of Asian states. The German
and Japanese invaders tried to destroy all
remnants of democracy and freedom and implant the
fascist order in the occupied countries.
353
 Headed by the working class and Communists

the working people rose to the war against nazism
and Japanese militarism. This national liberation
struggle especially gained in strength when the
Soviet Army drove the German fascist invaders
out of the USSR and began liberating other states
occupied by nazi Germany.
 The Soviet Union's victory in the Great

Patriotic War and the rout of the Japanese
imperialists created favourable conditions for people's
democratic and socialist revolutions. Having thrown
off the nazi yoke with the help of the Soviet
Army, the peoples of Poland, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Albania, Hungary and
Rumania, led by the working class and its
MarxistLeninist parties, launched a struggle for
liberation from capitalist exploitation.
 After taking power into their own hands the

working people first nationalised the industry,
dealing a decisive blow against the bourgeoisie
inside each given country and putting an end to the
domination of foreign capital. The nationalised
industry which became the property of the whole
people formed the material and production basis
of the new, people's democratic system. Agrarian
reforms were launched and land was given to
those who tilled it.
 As a result of the radical social changes in

town and country socialist revolutions were
successfully accomplished in the European People's
Democracies---Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Poland, Rumania and Yugoslavia.
 In 1949 the German Democratic Republic was
23---2052
354
proclaimed in Eastern Germany. It carried out

democratic reforms and also joined the family of
socialist states.
 The rout of German fascism and Japanese

militarism and the emergence of new socialist states
created conditions for the consummation of the
people's revolution in China. Under the guidance
of the Communist Party the working people of
China in the course of several decades persistently
fought for emancipation from exploitation by the
national and foreign bourgeoisie and landowners.
In the autumn of 1949 the Chinese revolution was
accomplished and the People's Republic of China
was formed.
 Radical democratic reforms were also carried

out in North Korea. After the Soviet Army
liberated Korea from the Japanese invaders the Korean
people took power in the north of the country,
where the Korean People's Democratic Republic
was proclaimed in 1948.
 The liberation of Vietnam from the Japanese

invaders was also marked by the establishment of
a democratic republic. It was headed by the
patriotic forces which had selflessly fought against the
Japanese invaders during the war. For nine years
following the end of the war the Vietnamese
people had to fight arms in hand for their freedom
against the encroachments of the French
colonialists. In 1945 the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
was established in the north of the country.
 The People's Republic of China, the Korean

People's Democratic Republic and the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam took the road of socialist
355
construction. And so in the middle of the 20th

century a community of socialist countries---the
world socialist system---emerged in the world.
 In 1959 revolutionary Cuba became the first
country on the American continent to fall away
from the capitalist world.
 The victory of socialist revolutions in several

European and Asian countries and in Cuba is the
greatest event in world history since October
1917. Socialism, which first won in the Soviet
Union, developed into a world social and
economic system.
 ``The emergence of socialism beyond the bounds

of one country,'' said Leonid Brezhnev in his
report "Fifty Years of Great Achievements of
Socialism'', "and the establishment of a system of
socialist states marked a sharp turn in world
development. This victory weakened the forces of
imperialism still more. It instilled in the hearts
of the masses greater confidence in the Tightness
of socialism and the invincibility of its great ideals.
New conditions for a further upswing of the
revolutionary and liberation struggle, for all
democratic movements arose in the world under the
influence of living and developing socialism and the
magnetic force of its example."^^*^^
 Since their emergence more than a quarter of

a century ago the socialist countries have carried
through the most profound social changes and
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ L. I. Brezhnev, Following Lenin's Course, Moscow,

1972, p. 42.
23*
356
accumulated vast experience of socialist

construction. This experience is instructive and is of world
historic importance.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
General Laws
 of Transition to Socialism
 The development of socialist countries shows

first of all that in spite of the fact that each one of
them made its own way towards socialism, the
very transition to the new social system and also
socialism's development into a world system are
the result of a law-governed historical process.
This process---the transition from capitalism to
socialism---is the main content of our epoch.
 In the course of historical development peoples

become more and more convinced that the
capitalist system has no future. Mankind's genuine
progress is connected with socialism and it is
Marxism-Leninism that shows the only correct
road to socialism for the peoples of all countries
and continents.
 Socialism's enemies have expended a great deal

of strength and means in their efforts to
undermine the working people's trust in socialism and
communism. They tried and are still trying to
prove that Marxist-Leninist teaching about
socialism is inapplicable to industrially developed
countries. But the experience of Czechoslovakia
and the German Democratic Republic has
disproved these assertions. Bourgeois propaganda
has also claimed that socialist revolutions are
357
impossible without world military conflicts. The

example of Mongolia and Cuba has disproved
these fabrications, too.
 Thus history has shown in practice that in our

time any nation, regardless of the level of its
economic development, size of territory and
population, can take the path of socialism.
 The process of socialist transformations in all

countries is governed by a number of general
laws:~
 leadership of the working people by the

working class and its core, the Marxist-Leninist Party,
in carrying through any form of proletarian
revolution and in establishing one or another form
of the dictatorship of the proletariat;~
 alliance of the working class with the bulk of

the peasantry and other sections of the working
people;~
 abolition of capitalist property and the

establishment of public ownership of the basic means
of production;~
 socialist reorganisation of agriculture;~
 planned development of the national economy

aimed at building socialism and communism and
raising the living standard of the working
people;~
 accomplishment of socialist revolution in

ideology and culture, and creation of a numerous
intelligentsia devoted to the working class, the
working people and the cause of socialism;~
 abolition of national oppression and

establishment of equality and fraternal friendship among
the nations;~
358
 defence of the gains of socialism against the

encroachments of both internal and foreign
enemies;~
 solidarity of the given country's working class

with the working classes of other countries, i.e.,
proletarian internationalism.
 The concrete historical conditions under which

power was won and the transition to socialism
took place in the Soviet Union differed from those
in other countries. Nevertheless, in all countries
the leading force of the revolution was the
working class headed by its Marxist-Leninist Party,
and its allies were the peasantry and other
sections of the working people. The dictatorship of
the proletariat was established in one form or
another in all countries. In the USSR and other
socialist countries economic development was
based on the socialisation of the basic means of
production. Many other transformations in other
socialist countries were similar in character to those
which had taken place in their time in the USSR.
This means that general laws have an objective
character and spring from the conditions in which
the struggle for socialism is taking place.
 Some of these laws remain in operation until

socialist society has been built and not only in the
transition period. Others arise in the course of
the development of socialism. They characterise
a more mature socialist society and the beginning
of the transition to communism and include among
others the creation of the material and technical
basis of communism, the gradual growing over of
socialist social relations into communist relations,
359
the obliteration of essential distinctions between
town and country and between mental and manual
labour, the extension of socialist democracy, and
the growth of society's socio-political and moral
unity.
 The revolutionary struggle and the

development of the socialist countries have shown that
general laws play a decisive role in the
building of a new life. Any disregard for or deviation
from them inevitably poses a threat to the
revolutionary gains and greatly harms the cause of
socialism, the interests of the working class and
all working people. China is a case in point.
 So long as the Chinese leadership adhered to

the fundamental principles of socialist
construction and maintained broad international ties with
the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, the
People's Republic of China successfully went
ahead with socialist construction. The situation
deteriorated sharply at the end of the 1950s when
the chauvinistic line gained the upper hand in
Peking and the Chinese leadership advanced the
adventuristic objective of making a "big leap
forward" and moving into communism within a
short period of time. The Chinese leadership
ignored the Marxist-Leninist tenet that it is
impossible to build communism bypassing socialism.
Neither did they take China's real economic
possibilities into account.
 Encountering the resistance of the Communist

Party and the people, the Maoists routed the
Party and the state apparatus and thus aggravated
the crisis which gripped all aspects of life in
360
China. The Communist Party in effect ceased to

play the leading role in society and the working
class lost its vanguard positions. The dictatorship
of the proletariat was undermined and the
principles of socialist democracy were trampled upon.
Nationalism and chauvinism became predominant
in ideology and foreign policy and voluntarism
gained the upper hand in economic management.
All these factors perverted the course of socialist
construction, seriously inhibited China's
development and placed a heavy burden on the shoulders
of the Chinese people.
 By deviating from the general laws guiding the

transition to socialism and grossly violating the
Marxist-Leninist methods of building a new
society the Chinese leaders enormously harm the
interests of the working people of China and
undermine socialism's prestige on the world scene.
 What Mao Tse-tung and his associates do and

preach has nothing in common with
MarxismLeninism, with scientific communism. But
inasmuch as the Chinese leaders allegedly act in the
name of socialism this leads to confusion in the
minds of some sections of the revolutionary
antiimperialist movement, especially in countries
which still have to choose what path of social
development they will follow.
 The ideology and practice of the Mao Tse-tung

group enable bourgeois propaganda to portray
socialism as a society subject to tyranny and
arbitrary rule, where the interests of the people and
the dignity and rights of man are trampled and
poverty lauded as the greatest virtue.
361
 The Czechoslovak Communist Party drew an

object lesson from the political crisis which
descended on the country in 1968, a lesson which
disclosed the full extent of the danger arising from
the violation of the common laws of socialist
construction, notably the danger invited by the
weakening of the leading role of the Communist Party
and of the principles of planned economy. At the
time Right-wing revisionist and anti-socialist
forces tried to push Czechoslovakia off the
highroad of socialist construction under the
pretext of `ìmproving'' socialism. These perfidious
plans were frustrated thanks to the vigilance of
the Czechoslovak working class, the fortitude and
integrity of the loyal forces in the Communist
Party and the fraternal assistance of the
socialist countries.
 We know from history that any improvement

and development of the political and economic
system of socialist society should rest on a
consistent creative application of the laws of
socialist development.
 Disregard for the collective experience of the

socialist states and general laws as well as for
national features under any and all pretexts
inevitably tears the ruling party's policy away from
life, from the actual requirements of social
development.
 In order to bring the working class and all
working people to the victory of socialism, the
Communist Party should be able correctly to
apply the general laws to the concrete historical
conditions in its country. General laws are not
362
cliches which can be mechanically applied to any

country at will. In each country they manifest
themselves in different ways and assume their
specific forms.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Characteristic Features
 of the Transition to Socialism
 in Individual Countries
 The experience of the socialist countries

confirmed Lenin's words that all nations would come
to socialism "in not exactly the same way, each
will contribute something of its own to some form
of democracy, to some variety of the dictatorship
of the proletariat .. .".^^*^^
 Real, living socialism has turned out to be more

complex and diverse than could have been
theoretically imagined several decades ago. The
peculiarities of the ways and forms of socialist
construction were determined by the differences in the
histories, levels of economic development, degree
of maturity of the working class and its vanguard,
the spread of culture and education and in the
national traditions of individual countries. Let us
examine some of these peculiarities.
 The October Socialist Revolution in Russia was

accomplished by an armed uprising. After that
the working people had to defend their
revolutionary gains in a bitter struggle against
internal and international reaction. The civil war and
foreign intervention in Soviet Russia lasted nearly
five years.
_-_-_
363
 The course of events in the European People's

Democracies showed that under specific conditions
a socialist revolution can be accomplished in some
countries without an armed uprising and in others
without civil war. The peoples of China, Cuba
and North Vietnam had to win power by force
of arms, but the transition from the democratic
to the socialist revolution was comparatively
peaceful.
 In its essence the socialist revolution is humane.
 The proletariat does not regard armed

struggle as an aim in itself, but as a forced measure
against the exploiter classes which oppose
socialist reforms by armed strength. In some countries
which had taken the socialist path of
development, reactionary elements made an attempt to
regain their lost positions by force of arms. This
happened in Poland where in the first post-war
years the counter-revolution tried to unleash civil
war, in Rumania where it also undertook armed
action, and in Hungary where the bourgeoisie
tried to recover its forfeited positions by an armed
putsch. All these attempts failed.
 There are also differences in the methods used

to carry out social transformations. In the Soviet
Union industry, transport and banks were
nationalised immediately after the socialist revolution,
but in the People's Democracies the basic means
of production were socialised gradually. First the
state confiscated the property of war criminals and
those capitalists who had collaborated with the
nazi invaders, and then carried out a stage--
bystage nationalisation of the other large industrial
364
enterprises, transport, means of communication

and banks. In some other countries, owing to
specific conditions, the state had to buy a part of the
property from the capitalists. Wherever this
happened mixed state and capitalist enterprises were
established.
 Why did people's democratic rule in some

countries choose this way of socialist
reorganisation? Was it unable to confiscate all the capitalist
property and turn it over to the people? The
experience of some countries showed that during
the transition period it is more expedient under
certain conditions to buy the property of the
capitalists in order to make use of their means,
knowledge and experience in production
management in the interests of the people and the cause
of socialism. The example of the GDR, Poland,
Hungary, Yugoslavia and some other countries
showed that the socialist reorganisation of a range
of economic branches and improvement of the
service industry required lengthy preparations and
flexibility.
 As in the Soviet Union, the decisive role in

socialist reorganisations in the fraternal countries is
played by the working class which leads the
working peasantry. But here artisans, handicraftsmen,
shopkeepers and other non-proletarian sections of
the population take an active part in building a
new life. In the final count the basic interests of
these groups coincide with those of all working
people.
 As regards the rural bourgeoisie---the kulaks---

their liquidation in the People's Democracies did
365
not require any extensive administrative measures.

In Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Rumania the
kulaks were granted the right to join the
cooperatives at a certain stage of agricultural co--
operation.
 Enlisting various sections of the urban and

rural bourgeoisie into political and economic
activity the people's rule took into account their
ability to shift to socialist positions only over a
certain period of time. And since they did not
counteract the assertion of the new relations, they were
regarded as full-fledged members of society.
 Of course, the enlistment of non-proletarian

classes in socialist construction and the attempts
to reach mutual understanding with them did not
signify cessation or weakening of the class
struggle. It continued, but its methods changed as
coercion increasingly gave way to education and
persuasion by example. This policy of broad class
alliances guided by Communists yielded good
results.
 In the USSR the people voted that the

Communist Party should be the country's sole ruling
party. In the course of socialist revolution and the
civil war only Lenin's Party consistently worked
for socialism and peace, whereas all the other
political parties sided with counter-revolution and
imperialist reaction. The masses turned away
from them and they had to quit the social arena.
 A different situation took shape in other
socialist countries. In some of them, alongside the
Communist parties, other parties participated in
reorganising society along socialist lines. Today these
366
parties in alliance with the Communists are

actively participating in socialist construction. These
countries have either biparty or multiparty systems.
 Another characteristic feature of the transition

of most European People's Democracies to
socialism was that the dictatorship of the proletariat
was established and consolidated with the aid of
certain elements of bourgeois democracy----
parliaments and bourgeois-democratic laws. In these
countries people's rule had no cause to resort to
such drastic political measures as
disfranchisement of the former exploiting classes.
 And, lastly, unlike the Soviet Union, not all

land was nationalised in the European socialist
countries, in China and the Korean People's
Democratic Republic. A large part of the land
confiscated from the landowners, the clergy and war
criminals was turned over to the landless and
land-hungry peasants.
 The experience of socialist construction is the

common property of the socialist community, of
the working people of all countries, and it is
being enriched with each passing year. Complete
socialism, which Lenin wrote about, is based on
the aggregate experience of all countries, which
includes the general laws and the specific features
of the transition of different countries to
socialism.
 The Communist Party of the Soviet Union

always willingly shares its achievements in
reorganising social life along socialist lines with its
friends. At the same time it studies the experience
of the fraternal parties and countries with
367
profound attention and interest and adopts all that

corresponds to Soviet conditions and serves the
cause of communist construction.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Socialist Community
 What is the system of socialist countries? In the
first place it is a qualitatively new historical
community of countries and peoples. History knows
many short-lived and lasting associations and
unions of peoples and states, but none of them
can compare in character, strength and
potentialities with the socialist system. Its very appearance
promoted the rise of friendly relations among
the socialist nations. The world system of
capitalism appeared and developed in a vicious
struggle among states in the course of which the strong
subjugated and exploited the weak. The socialist
system came into being and became consolidated
with the Soviet Union's vigorous support for the
young socialist states.
 Socialism introduced a community of aims and

ideals into interstate relations and its victory in
the fraternal countries led to the establishment
of a uniform social and state system, where power
belongs to the working people headed by the
working class. All these countries have established
public ownership of the instruments and means of
production and thus did away with exploitation of
man by man. The aim of socialist production is to
promote the happiness and welfare of the people.
Marxism-Leninism is the common ideology of
368
the peoples of the socialist countries and the

building of communism is their common historical
objective.
 Socialist countries are united by their

struggle against imperialism, for peace and national
independence, for securing international
conditions favouring the construction of socialism and
communism, and by their support for the
communist and working-class movement.
 All this creates the objective foundation for

lasting, friendly relations between them.
 The abolition of capitalist property and the

establishment of socialist social relations
eliminated the grounds for national enmity and
national oppression and created conditions for the
rise of the great socialist union of the peoples.
Marx's prophetic words have come true: "In order
to really unite the peoples must have common
interests. In order that their interests should be
common the existing property relations must be
abolished, for the existing property relations mean
exploitation of some peoples by others----"^^*^^
 It follows then, that the world system of
socialism is an historically shaped community of
states based on one type of economic and
political system, on the coincidence of the
fundamental interests and aims of the peoples. It is a
political and economic community of free and
independent states united by bonds of socialist
solidarity and proletarian internationalism.
 The fraternal co-operation of the socialist
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ K. Marx, F. Engels, Werke, Bd. 4, S. 416.
369
countries develops on the basis of common interests and

aims and it is equally in the interest of both small
and big nations. This co-operation guarantees the
consolidation of each country's national
sovereignty. It helps them to advance and surmount
temporary difficulties and bring their socio-economic
and cultural levels closer together.
 In contrast to the capitalist world where the

more rapid development of one country
aggravates the contradictions between states and
intensifies their rivalry, the successes of each socialist
country advance and strengthen the socialist
system as a whole.
 Unlike the economy of world capitalism which

develops through a series of booms and
depressions, crises and upheavals, the economy of world
socialism develops steadily and more rapidly.
 The capitalist states build their relations on

might makes right. Imperialism grossly violates
the general democratic principles of relations
between countries, viz., equality, respect for state
independence and territorial integrity, non--
interference in each other's internal affairs. In the
socialist community these principles are not only
fully observed, but are also enriched by fraternal
friendship and mutual assistance. Proletarian
internationalism has become a norm of interstate
relations between the socialist countries.
 In the socialist community there are no special

rights or privileges: all countries, whether big or
small, take into consideration their own interests
and those of the other countries, of the socialist
system as a whole.
24---2052
370
 The socialist countries are developing extensive

economic relations. They closely co-operate in
science, technology and culture and render each
other diplomatic and military assistance.
 Yet, it cannot be said that their co-operation is

entirely smooth and unimpeded. There are some
distinctions between the socialist countries
and they have to surmount specific difficulties and
contradictions some of which are engendered by
objective causes and are connected in the first
place with the fact that the members of the
socialist community have different levels of
economic development, different economic structures,
different historical and cultural traditions, and so
forth. In addition to a group of industrial states,
the socialist community also includes
agrarianindustrial and agrarian countries.
 In some cases difficulties in the relations

between the socialist states can be traced to
subjective causes, to errors in the activity of the leaders
of individual members of the community.
 Another source of difficulties is the fact that

the world socialist system is developing in a
complicated international situation, in a bitter class
struggle against imperialism. In their striving to
inhibit socialist construction and the drawing
together of the socialist states, the imperialists are
counteracting the socialist world in every possible
way. They try to foment nationalistic and other
prejudices and sow dissension in the socialist
community.
 Although socialist states are united on the key

issues, it does not mean that differences in views
371
and interests on certain questions of domestic and

foreign policy may not arise between them at one
time or another.
 As it develops the socialist system sometimes

comes up against survivals of the past due to the
prolonged domination of relations of exploitation.
Moreover, these survivals constitute the nutrient
medium breeding recurrences of nationalism and
other phenomena alien to socialism. As can be
judged from events in China, these survivals are
tenacious and capable of seriously harming the
socialist community.
 The fraternal parties are striving to surmount

the contradictions in the relations between the
socialist countries by joint effort and to prevent
temporary divergence of interests and opinions from
developing into fundamental differences. Provided
parties and states follow the correct,
MarxistLeninist policy, the coincidence of the basic
interests and aims of the peoples of the socialist states
enables them to surmount the existing
contradictions and build their relations on principles of
complete equality, mutual advantage and
comradely mutual assistance.
 The CPSU realistically appraises the situation

in the world socialist system. It is aware of its
great achievements and at the same time does not
ignore unsolved problems. "The present-day
socialist world ... is still a young and growing
social organism, where not everything has settled
and where much still bears the marks of earlier
historical epochs,'' reads the CC Report to the
24th CPSU Congress. "The socialist world is
372
forging ahead and is continuously improving. Its

development naturally runs through struggle
between the new and the old, through the
resolution of internal contradictions. The experience
that has been accumulated helps the fraternal
parties to find correct and timely resolution of the
contradictions and confidently to advance along
the path indicated by Marx, Engels and Lenin,
the great teachers of the proletariat.''
 Together with other Marxist-Leninist parties,

the CPSU is doing everything it can to enable
the countries of the socialist community to co--
ordinate their activity in crucial spheres of social
life to an ever greater extent, and to work out more
effective forms of reaching joint solutions on
questions of common interest.
 The Soviet Union has greatly helped to

consolidate people's rule in the socialist countries, to
create an atmosphere of friendship and mutual
respect in the socialist system. In line with their
internationalist duty, the Soviet people are
continuously assisting the nations which have taken
the path of socialist development. Soviet power in
Russia after the October Socialist Revolution could
only rely on the moral and political support of
the proletariat in other countries, whereas the
working people of the People's Democracies have
relied on the Soviet Union's powerful political,
economic and military support.
 The Communist Party of the Soviet Union and

the Soviet Government are putting in a great deal
of effort to enhance the cohesion of the socialist
countries and strengthen the world socialist
373
system. On the initiative of the CPSU Central

Committee, for example, socialist countries take
decisions on most important questions of common
interest after collective consultations. All
this promotes the solidarity of the socialist
countries.
 At the same time it should be borne in mind

that the formation of relations between socialist
countries is a complicated process. There are two
closely interacting lines in the development of the
world socialist system. On the one hand, each
socialist country relies on her manpower, material
and spiritual resources and on the advantages of
socialism as she strengthens her state
independence and develops her own economy and culture;
on the other hand, life leads the socialist
countries towards ever broader co-operation and closer
rapprochement. The harmonious combination of
these two processes and the close co-ordination of
national and international objectives are in the
interests of both individual countries and of the
socialist community as a whole.
 The realisation of the common interests and

aims of the socialist system promotes the fullest
satisfaction of correctly assessed national
interests, creates the best possible conditions for the
flowering of each nation and for the all-round
progress of each socialist country.
 The content and forms of relations between

the socialist states change in accordance
with their social development, the international
situation and the nature of the internal and
external problems facing them. In the first years
374
after the victory of people's democratic

revolutions the most urgent problems were military and
political ones: defence of the socialist countries
against imperialist encroachments and the
strengthening of the shoots of the new social
system.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION
 AND MUTUAL ASSISTANCE
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 As a result of the consolidation of socialism in

the People's Democracies and the development
of economic relations between them their military
and political alliance was gradually supplemented
with socio-economic co-operation.
 The interaction and co-operation of the

fraternal countries proved to be vital and highly
fruitful. It goes without saying that in building
socialism each country depends chiefly on her own
forces, i.e., she uses the creative energy of her
people and her material resources. Practice showed,
however, that the best results are obtained
when a country, while relying on her own forces,
also uses the potentialities of the entire socialist
system to build a new society.
 It is economically unfeasible and even

impossible for each socialist country to create all
branches of industry and agriculture. Much more
expedient is to use the advantages of the
international division of labour and the possibility of
obtaining diverse types of products and raw
materials from other socialist states.
375
 The need for close economic co-operation

between socialist countries is also dictated by the
international conditions attending the building of
socialism and communism. Today, when the
historic competition between the two social systems
is unfolding mainly in the economic field, such
co-operation becomes a vital objective necessity.
Multilateral economic ties enable each socialist
country to stand up to the economic pressure from
the imperialist states and their monopolies, make
better use of her internal resources and assistance
of the entire socialist system and thus greatly
increase the pace and scope of construction of a new
society.
 The history of world socialism has proved that

the successes of each fraternal country and the
growth of the might of the entire socialist
system are closely inter-related. The greater the
economic, political and cultural co-operation of the
socialist countries, the bigger are their successes
in promoting industry, agriculture, culture and
living standards. On the other hand, the greater
the achievements of each country in socialist
construction, the wider is the base for all-round
cooperation and the stronger the socialist system
as a whole.
 As early as the very first years of their existence,

the People's Democracies, thanks to their
economic co-operation with the Soviet Union, were
able rapidly to surmount difficulties in economic
development caused by wartime destruction and
disruption of traditional trade relations with
bourgeois states.
376
 Economic co-operation among the socialist

countries is based first and foremost on the
international socialist division of labour.
 Economic co-operation has many forms: trade,

loans, credits, scientific and technical co-operation,
co-ordination of national economic plans,
interstate specialisation and co-operation of production,
joint construction of large projects, co-operation
in the fields of transport and finances. Its basic
form is specialisation and co-operation of
production within the framework of the socialist
community. Taking into account their production
specialisation, labour resources, available raw
materials and other factors, socialist countries agree
on what they will produce and in what quantities
in order to satisfy their own needs and those of
the other fraternal countries. In view of the
extremely broad range of modern commodities a
single country, let alone a small one, cannot produce
everything she needs. Production of this sort
would have had to be organised on a small scale
and be very expensive.
 Interstate specialisation makes it possible to

concentrate production of similar goods in one or
several socialist countries. Such a division of
labour raises production, cuts production costs,
heightens labour productivity and improves the
quality of goods. At the same time it speeds up
economic growth rates and promotes living
standards in all socialist countries. Thus, economically
less developed countries are able to industrialise
their national economy at a rapid pace.
 The economy of individual states does not
377
develop one-sidedly as a result of interstate

specialisation and co-operation. On the whole their
economies develop comprehensively despite the
priority growth of some branches; they include
such key industries as fuel and power, extractive,
engineering, chemical, light and food, and also
agriculture.
 On the one hand, interstate specialisation and

co-operation make it possible to avoid
unwarranted duplication in the development of production
and, on the other, to build enterprises large enough
to satisfy not only domestic demands, but also
those of other socialist states. By common
agreement shipbuilding is concentrated in Poland, the
USSR and Bulgaria; production of blast-furnace
equipment in the USSR, Poland and
Czechoslovakia; oil equipment mainly in Rumania, the USSR
and Czechoslovakia; equipment for cement
factories in the GDR and Czechoslovakia; equipment
for the leather and footwear industry in
Czechoslovakia, etc.
 At present interstate specialisation and co--

operation of the countries of the socialist community
embrace the production of more than 3,000 types
of machines and equipment. The GDR and
Czechoslovakia co-operate in the production of cars
and lorries; Czechoslovakia and Poland in the
production of textile and agricultural equipment,
metal-cutting machine-tools and building
machines; Bulgaria co-operates with Czechoslovakia
in the manufacture of buses, lorries, engines and
transport equipment; the Soviet Union and
Poland co-operate in the production of automatic
378
equipment, aviation hardware, tractors and farm

machinery; the USSR and Yugoslavia are co--
operating in the manufacture of cars, building
machines, tractors and other branches of
engineering. The Soviet Union is successfully co-operating
with Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia
and Yugoslavia in the production of Lada
passenger cars, and with Czechoslovakia, the GDR
and other countries in the production of electronic
computers.
 The socialist countries are rendering each other

technical assistance in the construction of
industrial enterprises and organisation of production,
and supply the necessary industrial and
agricultural products and raw materials. More than
1,200 enterprises, factory shops and other projects
have been built in the fraternal countries with
Soviet economic and technical assistance, of which
120 were built in Bulgaria, 18 in Czechoslovakia,
20 in the GDR, 53 in Hungary, 167 in Mongolia,
99 in Poland, and 98 in Rumania. A fairly large
number of enterprises and other projects were
built with Soviet assistance in Albania, China, the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Korean
People's Democratic Republic, the Republic of
Cuba and Yugoslavia. Bulgaria produces about 60
per cent of her chemical output, 70 per cent of
non-ferrous metals and more than 90 per cent of
steel at enterprises which were built with Soviet
assistance; Rumania generates 60 per cent of her
total electricity output and manufactures 100 per
cent of her synthetic rubber at enterprises built
with the assistance of the USSR. The Soviet Union
379
supplies diverse industrial output to its friends

on mutually advantageous terms.
 In the first post-war years technical assistance

to the fraternal states was rendered chiefly by the
USSR, but now this is being done by other
socialist states, too. Czechoslovakia is assisting in the
construction of several enterprises in Mongolia;
Poland is taking part in enlarging foundry works
in Hungary and is helping Czechoslovakia build
sugar refineries. Czechoslovakia and the GDR
deliver rolling mill equipment to the Soviet Union;
Rumania and Czechoslovakia supply the USSR
with installations for oil refineries, Hungary
supplies hoisting and material-handling equipment,
and Czechoslovakia, the GDR and Poland----
equipment for the Soviet light industry.
 The Soviet Union is not only the biggest

supplier of raw materials and machinery to other
socialist countries, but also the biggest buyer of
their manufactured goods. During the preceding,
eighth five-year plan period, the Soviet Union
bought equipment for 54 chemical factories from
the fraternal socialist countries. More than 38
per cent of the total tonnage of the Soviet
merchant marine was built in socialist countries. They
also deliver a large variety of consumer goods to
the USSR.
 One of the main objectives of the world

socialist community is to surmount the historically
formed differences in the socio-economic
development of its members. The coming together of
their levels of development gives the socialist
countries enormous advantages; it makes it
380
possible to put an end to economic inequality and

opens broad prospects for the development of the
international socialist division of labour and all
forms of co-operation.
 The socialist community has made important

headway in bringing the levels of economic
development of its members closer to each other.
Suffice it to say that in the past 20 years Bulgaria
and Rumania have raised industrial production
more than 11 times, while in the GDR and
Czechoslovakia it rose five times. Economically
backward in the past, the Mongolian People's
Republic has become an agrarian-industrial state.
With the assistance of the USSR and other
socialist countries Mongolia has built up her own
fuel and power base, a building industry,
several large enterprises of the mining, building
materials, light and food industries, railways and
other transport means and modern communication
lines.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
 The establishment in 1949 of the Council for

Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), which
laid the foundations for the international
socialist system of economy, was a major landmark
in the economic co-operation between the socialist
countries. The CMEA members are Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary, Mongolia,
Poland, Rumania, the USSR. Cuba joined the
Council in 1972. Yugoslavia has been participating in
the work of some of CMEA bodies since 1964.
381
The Council's aims, principles, functions, powers

and structure are set forth in its Charter: to unite
and co-ordinate the efforts of its members,
promote the planned development of their national
economies, accelerate their economic and
technical progress, raise the level of industrialisation of
the industrially less developed countries and
ensure the steady growth of labour productivity and
the continuous rise of the standard of living.
Cooperation of the CMEA countries is based on "The
Basic Principles of the International Socialist
Division of Labour''.
 CMEA conducts its activity on the basis of

socialist internationalism, respect for state
sovereignty, independence and national interests, non--
interference in the internal affairs of member
countries, complete equality and voluntariness, mutual
advantage and comradely mutual assistance.
 CMEA headquarters are in Moscow. Its

principal bodies are the Executive Committee, the
Standing Committees and the Secretariat.
 With the establishment of CMEA the socialist

countries switched from bilateral trade and credit
relations to multilateral co-operation, and from
an exchange of surplus goods and unilateral
assistance to planned commodity exchange and
coordination of economic plans. Such co-ordination
is at present CMEA's chief method of activity.
 Collective economic co-operation is most

advantageous to the CMEA member countries. They
have jointly built the world's largest oil pipeline
Druzhba (Friendship) which carries oil from the
USSR to a number of socialist countries in Europe.
382
As a result the German Democratic Republic,

Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary have built
a modern petrochemical industry. The second line
of the Druzhba scheme has been completed; it
links the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia.
Beginning with 1975 this pipeline will annually
carry nearly 50 million tons of oil to the fraternal
countries. A gas pipeline of unique size is now
under construction. When completed it will bring
Siberian natural gas to Czechoslovakia, Poland,
the GDR, Bulgaria and Hungary. A united power
grid Mir (Peace) with an international control
panel in Prague has been built. It links Bulgaria,
the GDR, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary,
Rumania and the USSR. The resulting annual
economy is equal to the cost of building a 600,000 kw
power station. The member states have accumulated
experience of co-operating in the extractive
industries, transport and in collective financing of
industrial projects. One large project is a cellulose
factory which is being built in the vicinity of
UstIlim in the Soviet Union with the participation
of Bulgaria, the GDR, Hungary, Poland,
Rumania and the USSR.
 Increasing importance is attached to co--

operation in science and technology which are
developing more effectively thanks to the united efforts
of the socialist countries. Today several hundred
Soviet and 840 research organisations of other
socialist countries are jointly working on some
2,000 scientific and technical problems.
 It has proved to be most advantageous to

exchange information on the organisation of
383
production, and scientific and technical documentation.

In the past 20 years the Soviet Union turned over
more than 41,000 sets of scientific and technical
documentation to CMEA member countries. More
than 54,000 specialists from these countries
visited the USSR to study its production experience.
In this period the Soviet Union received more
than 21,000 sets of scientific and technical
documentation from the fraternal countries.
 The International Bank for Economic Co--

operation, the International Investment Bank, the
International Institute of Economic Problems of the
World Socialist System, the Institute of
Standardisation, the Ship Chartering Co-ordinating
Bureau, Intermetal, and other international
organisations of the socialist countries are developing
and strengthening.
 Today the CMEA countries are a powerful,

steadily developing industrial-agrarian complex.
In a single decade (1960--70) the CMEA
countries, which account for 18 per cent of the
territory of the world and 10 per cent of its
population, increased their share in world industrial
output from 28 to 33 per cent. In five years
(1966--70) their industrial output rose almost 50
per cent.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Comprehensive Economic Integration
 The rapid economic growth of the CMEA

countries and their expanding economic ties have
created conditions for promoting still closer
384
cooperation between their economies and uniting

their resources and potentialities. Without all this
the socialist countries would have been unable to
develop at an accelerated pace in the new
historical conditions.
 The new tasks facing the socialist countries

created the need for joint long-term planning of
production in various branches, its more thorough
specialisation and wider co-operation. In
particular joint efforts were required to solve fuel and
power and raw materials problems, since not all
CMEA countries have sufficient natural resources.
It was also vitally important to deepen their
scientific and technical ties so that they could
make the fullest use of the achievements of
the scientific and technological revolution,
including computer techniques, atomic power
engineering, automatic production systems, and
so forth.
 Over the past several years the CPSU, other

fraternal parties, and the highest state bodies of
the CMEA countries have been concentrating their
efforts on improving the forms of economic
cooperation.
 In 1971 the socialist countries united in CMEA

adopted a Comprehensive Programme for the
Further Extension and Improvement of Co-operation
and the Development of Socialist Economic
Integration. Designed to cover a period of 15--20
years it envisages the introduction of a system of
measures in the spheres of production,
consumption and foreign trade.
 Having adopted the Comprehensive Programme,
385
the CMEA countries began to pool their

scientific, technical and production resources in
order to solve key economic problems.
 Today co-ordinated planning is the main
instrument used by CMEA countries to carry through
their economic integration. It includes not only
the co-ordination of national economic plans, but
also the compilation of general forecasts, long-term
co-ordination of plans, and the elaboration of joint
plans for various branches of industry and types
of production. For this purpose the CMEA
countries have established international research
institutes and designing organisations. The CMEA
International Scientific and Technical Information
Centre in Moscow is already functioning. The
exchange of scientific and technical documentation
is increasing and the joint training of scientific
and technical personnel is being conducted on a
broader scale.
 The Comprehensive Programme not only

envisages a gradual approximation and evening out of
the levels of economic development of the CMEA
countries, but also priority development of those
members which due to historical causes were
economically less developed than the others. For
instance, a system of measures is being implemented
to accelerate the economic growth of the
Mongolian People's Republic.
 The multilateral co-operation of socialist states

harmoniously combines their national and
international interests. Economically it is most
advantageous to each country and the entire socialist
community, for it results in an additional annual
25---2052
386
economy of thousands of millions of rubles, speeds

up technical progress, and so forth.
 The development of economic integration

deepens the international socialist division of labour.
A modern structure of the national economies
comes into being and there is a rapprochement of
the national economies in the key branches of
production, science and technology.
 In the historical perspective all this should

result in the establishment of a world socialist
economy. The trend towards the formation of a
single world economy regulated by a common plan,
Lenin underlined, "has already revealed itself
quite clearly under capitalism and is bound to be
further developed and consummated under
socialism".^^*^^
 An earnest of the successful fulfilment of the

Comprehensive Programme is the identical
production relations in all CMEA countries, the
sameness of their political systems and ideology and
their common aim---the building of socialism and
communism under the guidance of Marxist--
Leninist Communist and Workers' parties.
 The economic integration of the socialist

countries is a matter of vast political significance. It is
an inspiring example of a new type of economic
relations---voluntary, harmonious and equitable
co-operation and mutual assistance of a large
group of sovereign states. By strengthening the
economic foundations of the socialist community,
_-_-_
387
economic integration will go a long way towards

consolidating socialism's positions on the world
scene.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
POLITICAL INTERACTION AND UNITY
 OF SOCIALIST COUNTRIES
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 Since the great leaders of the proletariat Karl

Marx and Frederick Engels proclaimed the
slogan "Workers of All Countries, Unite!" the
history of the class struggle, the entire course of the
establishment and development of socialism proved
beyond all doubt that political and ideological
unity is the main source of strength of all fighters
for socialism.
 Born of the need to defend revolutionary gains,

of the joint efforts to solve the most complicated
internal and international problems, the political
co-operation of the peoples of the socialist
countries has become a key factor of the development
and strengthening of the world socialist system,
a factor of peace and progress.
 The political co-operation of the socialist states
has the following principal objectives: all-round
mutual assistance in the building of a new
society, exchange of experience in creative work,
establishment of favourable international conditions
for the construction of socialism and communism,
their joint rebuff to the forces hostile to socialism,
and the provision of all-round assistance and
support for the liberation movement of the peoples.
 By co-operating and interacting on the
25*
388
political scene the socialist countries frustrate the

aggressive designs of the imperialist states; they
help achieve a lessening of international tensions
and direct their efforts towards averting another
world war and strengthening the cause of peace.
To achieve these objectives they come forward
with constructive proposals on disarmament and
the termination of the arms race and actively
participate in resolving conflicts occurring in various
parts of the world.
 Socialist countries exchange vital information,

concert their foreign policies and resolutely
support each other in international organisations. In
the United Nations they actively participate in
discussing universal and complete disarmament,
prohibition of the means of mass destruction,
eradication of the survivals of colonialism and the
fight against racism, settlement of the Indochina
and the Middle East problems, and other crucial
issues.
 In its activity the socialist community is guided

by the principles of peaceful coexistence of states
with different social systems. It is prepared to
cooperate with the capitalist states on the basis of
equality, respect for national sovereignty and
mutual advantage and is promoting such co--
operation in the economic, cultural and other spheres.
Socialist countries attach particular importance to
co-operation with the capitalist and developing
countries in the maintenance of international
security.
 At the same time the world socialist system is

prepared to give a resolute rebuff to aggression
389
whatever its source. When necessary the socialist
community uses its political prestige, its
economic and military strength reliably to block the
road for aggression and help the peoples who have
been attacked to safeguard their freedom and
independence. This peace-loving, genuinely
internationalist policy has the wholehearted approval
and support of progressive world public.
 Since its establishment more than a quarter of

a century ago the socialist system has developed
a comprehensive mechanism of collective
interaction of the fraternal parties and countries and
evolved effective forms of co-ordinating their
efforts in building socialism and communism and
in foreign policy activity.
 Negotiations and conferences on interstate

relations and urgent problems of the contemporary
international situation have become an important
form of the political co-operation of the socialist
countries. Their close contacts and exchange of
views enable the socialist community to work out
its political line, solve general and national
problems and surmount the arising difficulties.
 The vital significance of such co-operation has

become particularly manifest in the course of the
past few years which in many respects proved to
be difficult ones for the socialist system.
 In those years most of the socialist countries

entered a qualitatively new period of social
development, that of creating a developed socialist
society and of solving the grandiose tasks that
faced them. They carried out a deep-going
reorganisation of the economy, introduced economic
390
reforms and re-equipped a large proportion of

industrial enterprises with sophisticated machines
and mechanisms. In order to accomplish all this
the fraternal parties evolved a new approach not
only towards the solution of their domestic
political, economic and ideological problems, but
also to the organisation of international co--
operation.
 In the past decade the growth of the world

socialist system was seriously handicapped by the
aggressive encroachments of the imperialists upon
the peoples of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and
the liberation movement in the Middle East. The
situation called upon socialism to mobilise all its
forces and to display restraint, courage and
determination in order to organise a rebuff to the
aggressor.
 The imperialists in those years undertook a series

of ideological and political subversions against
the socialist countries in the hope of
undermining them from within and weakening the
socialist community.
 The Soviet Union and its friends had to counter

the onslaught of the imperialist forces at a time
when the leadership of China, one of the two
largest socialist states, renounced unity of action in
the struggle against imperialism, adopted a
policy of splitting the anti-imperialist front and
began to act with undisguised hostility towards the
Soviet Union and other socialist countries.
 In these difficult circumstances the Soviet Union

steadfastly developed co-operation with the
fraternal parties and countries and together with
391
other members of the world socialist system

rebuffed imperialism's aggressive encroachments
and made great headway in communist
construction.
 Discharging their internationalist duty, the

CPSU and the Soviet people furnished all-round
support to fighting Vietnam. The Soviet Union
extended military and economic assistance to the
fraternal Vietnamese people thus enabling the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the first
socialist state in Southeast Asia, in the extremely
difficult conditions of US imperialist aggression to
strengthen its military and economic potential and
to set up new sophisticated branches, including the
air force and missile and anti-aircraft units, which
together with the other units of the Vietnamese
People's Army held their ground and dealt a
powerful blow on the aggressors.
 The Communist Party of the Soviet Union and

the Soviet people gave the Vietnamese patriots
great moral and political support. Tens of
thousands of various undertakings were organised in
the USSR, including mass subbotniks and 
voskresniks, whose proceeds were turned over to the
Vietnam Assistance Fund, and meetings and
conferences at which Soviet people expressed their
firm determination to support the cause of the
Vietnamese patriots and condemned the US
imperialists.
 The CPSU and Soviet mass organisations

actively participated in a number of international
meetings in support of the Indochinese peoples.
In this respect a prominent role was played by the
392
1969 International Meeting of Communist and

Workers' Parties; it unanimously adopted a
document on Vietnam which elicited broad response
throughout the world.
 With the support of the Soviet Union and other

socialist states the heroic Vietnamese people scored
major victories in their struggle for freedom and
independence.
 Thanks to the principled policy of the Soviet

Union and other socialist states considerable
headway was achieved in solving such an important
issue as the strengthening of the international
position of the German Democratic Republic---the
bulwark of socialism on German soil. The fact that
many countries established diplomatic relations
with the GDR proves that Western imperialist
circles failed in their attempts to ignore and isolate
the German state of workers and peasants. This
was a major victory of the German Communists,
of all the working people of the GDR, a result
of their courage and fortitude in the struggle for
socialism. Moreover, this victory was also a result
of the solidarity of the Soviet Union and other
socialist countries with the GDR. The fraternal
parties of the socialist countries drew up a
concerted policy on this issue and its implementation
produced the desired results.
 The bonds of fraternal solidarity linking the

Soviet Union and the Republic of Cuba have
strengthened. Despite the unceasing provocations of the
imperialist circles and Cuban emigrants, and the
US economic blockade, Cuba is strengthening her
economy, developing agriculture and industry and
393
steadily improving her system of public

education and health. The Cuban people are building
socialism with the assistance of the Soviet Union
and other countries of the socialist community.
The CPSU Central Committee and the Soviet
Government are consolidating fraternal co--
operation, Party and state contacts with Cuba and this
yields positive results.
 The Soviet Union's ties with the Korean

People's Democratic Republic are continuing to
develop. In their relations with people's Korea, the
CPSU and the Soviet Government are guided by
a sincere desire to assist the fraternal Korean
people in building socialism, solving crucial
problems of industrialisation, strengthening the
country's defensive capability, and in her just struggle
for the reunification of Korea on a peaceful and
democratic basis.
 The CPSU is continuously strengthening its

international ties and unity with all the fraternal
parties and peoples. As a result the Soviet Union
is successfully developing all-round co-operation
with the People's Republic of Bulgaria, the
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the Hungarian
People's Republic, the Mongolian People's Republic,
the Polish People's Republic, and the Socialist
Republic of Rumania. Mutual contacts have attained
unprecedented scope in recent years. The Soviet
Union's co-operation with the Socialist
Federative Republic of Yugoslavia has also considerably
developed in this period.
 The friendly relations between the socialist

countries and their mutual commitments are
394
stipulated in treaties of friendship, co-operation and

mutual assistance and in other treaties and
agreements. In recent years the Soviet Union signed
new treaties of friendship, co-operation and
mutual assistance with Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary and Rumania, thus rounding out the
renewal of its treaty ties with the fraternal countries
in keeping with the heightened level of socialist
international relations. Together with the earlier
concluded treaties with the GDR, Poland and the
Mongolian People's Republic these historic
documents account for a considerable portion of the
comprehensive system of new treaty commitments
undertaken by the fraternal socialist countries.
 The new treaties ensure long-term stability of

the multilateral bonds linking the socialist
countries. They organically combine the national
interests of each country with the international
interests of all countries of the world socialist
community.
 With each passing year, with each stage of

social development, the great principles of
socialist internationalism acquire an ever fuller
meaning. The CPSU, the entire Soviet people are
doing their utmost to make the co-operation of the
socialist countries and their mutual bonds even
stronger and more fruitful. Dwelling on this issue
at the 24th CPSU Congress Leonid Brezhnev said:
"We want to see every fraternal country a
flourishing state, harmoniously combining rapid economic,
scientific and technical growth with a flowering
of socialist culture and rising living standards for
the working people. We want the world socialist
395
system to be a well-knit family of nations,

building and defending the new society together, and
mutually enriching each other with experience
and knowledge, a family, strong and united, which
the people of the world would regard as the
prototype of the future world community of free
nations.''
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Internationalism and Nationalism
 The experience of world socialism shows that

the national interests, if properly understood, do
not run counter to the general interests and aims
of the socialist system; on the contrary, they can
be realised the more successfully, the fuller they
take account of the general aims and tasks of the
socialist countries.
 The Communist parties channel the interstate

relations in the socialist system into all-round,
mutually advantageous co-operation in politics,
economics and culture. A new society is being built
successfully and both national and international
tasks are being effectively resolved where the
ruling Communist Party consistently relies on the
Marxist-Leninist science and the principles of
socialist co-operation tested in practice, where it
educates the masses in the spirit of internationalist
ideas and wages a resolute struggle against all
nationalistic manifestations.
 But if narrow nationalistic interests are brought

to the fore and attempts are made to realise them
at the expense of other countries or to the
396
detriment of internationalist interests, ultimately such

policies backfire against those who pursue them.
 A socialist country which isolates herself from

and even goes to the extent of placing herself in
opposition to the socialist community does so to
both her own detriment and that of the
community as a whole. Such a policy strikes hard at her
national economy because it deprives her of
advantages of the international socialist division of
labour and slows up production growth. In the
final count it may bring her into dependence on
the capitalist world and lead to forfeiture of her
socialist gains.
 Nationalism is the chief political and

ideological weapon employed by international reaction
against the socialist states. Reactionaries of all
hues speculate on national feelings, cultivate
national egoism and other bourgeois prejudices.
 It is very dangerous to underestimate

nationalism: it is tenacious and its advocates are
resourceful and tricky. Nationalism is capable of causing
grave harm to the interests of socialism and
communism unless a consistent struggle is waged
against it.
 How disastrous it may be for a country if the

leadership of her ruling party slides down to
nationalistic positions is clearly seen from the events
which have taken place in China since the
beginning of the 1960s and the foreign policy she has
been pursuing over these years. Without
interfering in China's internal processes, the CPSU
and other fraternal Marxist-Leninist parties have
sincerely sought to help the Chinese Communists
397
and the people of China to cope with the grave

political crisis that gripped the country, to help the
Chinese leaders find the right road. But the
leaders of the Communist Party of China declined all
offers of co-operation and comradely discussion of
controversial questions. Moreover, they demanded
that the fraternal Communist parties renounce
their collectively worked out Marxist-Leninist
course of the world communist movement, and
even went to the extent of insisting that the CPSU
should revise its Programme.
 In opposition to the internationalist policy of

co-operation and mutual assistance of the
socialist countries and their unity in the face of
imperialism, Peking advanced its splitting course and
great-Han aims. It turned down co-ordinated and
united actions with other socialist countries in the
struggle against imperialist aggression in
Indochina and other parts of the world.
 The anti-Leninist policy of the Chinese

leadership seriously impaired Soviet-Chinese relations.
Trade and cultural ties between the two countries
were curtailed. The Maoists made slanderous
charges against the CPSU and the Soviet state,
accusing them of "bourgeois degeneration" and
of plans "to attack China''. The Chinese extremists
went to such lengths as to advance territorial
claims to the USSR, and in the spring and
summer of 1969 provoked armed incidents on the
Soviet-Chinese border.
 Peking adopted a hostile stand towards other

socialist countries and their Communist and
Workers' parties, too. The Chinese leadership is
398
continuing its attacks on Marxist-Leninist parties

accusing them of ``revisionism''; it refuses to
maintain contacts and co-operate with them and
conducts subversive, splitting activities in the world
communist movement. Against the background of
China's continuing hostility towards the countries
of the socialist community, her developing ties
with the biggest capitalist states stand out in
particularly bold relief.
 Following the acceptance of the People's

Republic of China to UN membership, her
representatives have been spreading anti-Soviet slander
from the rostrum of this international
organisation, in effect adopting the position of the more
aggressive imperialist circles.
 The CPSU and other Marxist-Leninist parties

have always been aware that Peking's current
policy plays into the hands of imperialism and
reaction, that China's refusal to act jointly with the
socialist countries and forces in a united
antiimperialist front makes it easier for imperialism
to pursue its line of aggression and war.
 Pledged to their internationalist duty and
historical responsibility, the CPSU and the fraternal
Communist parties during these years firmly
upheld the principles of Marxism-Leninism, worked
for the cohesion of the world socialist
community and vigorously countered the petty-bourgeois,
nationalistic theory and practice of Maoism. And
today, too, the CPSU resolutely follows this
course. It is above all the efforts of the CPSU, of
all Marxist-Leninist parties that helped to
considerably reduce and neutralise the dangerous
399
influence of Maoist theories and the CPC's

political course on the world socialist system and the
entire international communist movement.
 At the same time, displaying restraint and

patience, the CPSU has been working to bring the
Communist Party of China back to Marxist--
Leninist positions and normalise Soviet-Chinese
relations. Acting in the supreme interests of the
Soviet and Chinese peoples, the CPSU and the
Soviet state are advocating a negotiated settlement
of outstanding issues and equal and mutually
advantageous co-operation in those fields where it
is possible today.
 The CPSU and the Soviet state are also

prepared to restore normal relations with Albania,
in the belief that this would benefit both states
and the entire socialist community.
 The splitting activities of the Chinese

leadership failed to stop the objective process of
allround unification and consolidation of the forces
of the world socialist community. Socialist
countries have solidified their ranks to an even greater
extent to make up for the temporary harm suffered
by the world socialist system as a result of the
Maoists' hostile activity.
 Since the establishment of the world socialist

system over a quarter of a century ago and
especially in recent years, the fraternal Communist
parties and socialist countries have accumulated
vast experience and evolved numerous forms of
political interaction which have already proved
their effectivity and practical value.
400
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Co-operation of the Fraternal
 Communist and Workers' Parties
 Fraternal Communist and Workers' parties are

playing the leading role in strengthening the
unity of the countries forming the socialist
community.
 The CPSU is co-operating actively with the

fraternal parties on a wide range of problems.
InterParty co-operation is centred mainly on
exchanging experience in socialist and communist
construction, elaborating ways and means of
deepening the all-round friendly relations between the
socialist countries, and co-ordinating their foreign
policies. In its Report to the 24th CPSU
Congress the Central Committee noted that such
cooperation had enabled the Communist parties of
the socialist countries jointly to work on the
fundamental problems of socialist and communist
construction, find more rational forms of
economic ties, collectively determine a common line in
foreign affairs and exchange views on
ideological and cultural matters.
 The co-operation of the fraternal Communist

and Workers' parties cements the world socialist
community; it has a great positive impact on all
aspects of the mutual relations between socialist
countries and influences world affairs.
 Meetings and contacts between leading Party

officials of the fraternal countries have developed
into a tradition. In recent years they took place
regularly and whenever necessary. This furthers
the mutual understanding between the parties,
401
helps them to find the most effective solutions for

the problems that arise and precludes any
possible misunderstandings.
 Alongside regular meetings and consultations
between leading Party officials and
representatives of Central Committees extensive contacts are
maintained by local organisations of the fraternal
parties in which many thousands of Communists
of the socialist countries participate.
 Co-operation in the sphere of ideology is an

element of inter-Party links. Today, when
imperialist circles are endeavouring to take
advantage of the international detente and the
developing contacts between the peoples to organise
ideological subversion with the view to undermining
socialism, it has become even more necessary to
struggle consistently against bourgeois ideologists,
Right- and ``Left''-wing opportunists and the
Chinese leaders' anti-Leninist conceptions. It is
just as important that in their ideological co--
operation fraternal parties should continue jointly to
elaborate problems of socialist and communist
construction.
 Today the ideological front is one of the most

important sectors of the anti-imperialist struggle.
Imperialism has set in motion a huge propaganda
machinery and is spending vast sums of money in
its efforts to press back, weaken and undermine
socialism. Moreover, lately bourgeois ideologists
have been acting with increasing resourcefulness
and cunning by proclaiming the need to ``
improve'', ``humanise'' and ``liberalise'' socialism,
"defend the national interests" of individual
26---2052
402
socialist countries, and by advancing other false

slogans.
 Seeking to disunite the socialist countries and

place them in opposition to each other, bourgeois
propaganda exploits any deviations from
Marxist-Leninist principles, from the tested course of
 The Communists of the socialist countries

consider it their duty to follow the example set by
Lenin and uphold communist ideology from
principled positions, to wage an uncompromising
struggle against any attempts by world imperialism and
its Right- and ``Left''-\ving revisionist fellow--
travellers to attack the Marxist-Leninist teaching
and the time-tested laws of socialist construction.
In this struggle the fraternal parties have strong
positions.
 Their purposeful efforts have promoted a

vigorous process of the ideological and cultural
drawing together of the peoples of the socialist
community, their cultural enrichment and education
in the spirit of proletarian internationalism. They
are conducting a broad exchange of cultural
values, including books on all subjects, newspapers
and magazines, art exhibitions, theatrical
performances, films and radio and television
programmes. Books are translated and languages are
studied. All this brings the cultural achievements
of each of the fraternal peoples within reach of
all the countries of the socialist community,
multiplies their spiritual wealth and lays the
foundations for a single culture of the world socialist
system.
403
 The common ideological and cultural wealth of

free peoples, their spiritual rapprochement is a
wellspring of the all-round development of the
individual, which is the purpose of the vast and
many-sided work of building socialism and
communism.
 The GPSU attaches great importance to the

study and utilisation of the collective experience
of building a new society. This was underlined by
Leonid Brezhnev at the 24th Party Congress.
"Our stand,'' he said, "is that the co--
operation between the fraternal countries should grow
ever more diverse and gain in depth, that it should
involve ever broader masses of working people,
and that each other's concrete experience should
be more fundamentally studied at every level of
state, social, economic and cultural life.''
 Promoting inter-Party co-operation the CPSU

proceeds from the assumption that each
Communist Party is fully independent in working out
its programme and domestic and foreign policies.
Practice shows that any attempt by any Party to
regard its methods of socialist construction as the
only correct ones and impose its views on other
parties breeds misunderstandings and conflicts,
and in the final analysis weakens the unity of the
Communists. The co-operation of the fraternal
parties is a genuinely Marxist-Leninist co--
operation of equal political organisations which respect
each other's views and experience.
 Needless to say, each Communist Party is fully

entitled to uphold its views and its understanding
of events and to criticise other parties. But such
26*
404
criticism should rest on the principle of socialist

internationalism and, therefore, be friendly,
tactful and constructive.
 The CPSU consistently upholds this Leninist

approach to inter-Party co-operation and always
acts accordingly. The International Meeting of
Communist and Workers' Parties which took place
in Moscow in 1969 spoke up in favour of such an
approach.
 The historical community of socialist countries,

the world socialist system, is developing on the
basis of the close co-operation of the fraternal
parties. The CPSU is doing everything to
strengthen and develop the international alliance of
Communists, of Marxists-Leninists heading
socialist and communist construction.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Warsaw Treaty Organisation
 Established in 1955 as a military and political

alliance of the socialist countries in the face of
the increasing danger and incessant threats of
aggressive imperialist circles, the Warsaw Treaty
Organisation is playing an important role in
enhancing the political co-operation and the
defensive capability of the socialist community.
 The supreme body of the Warsaw Treaty

Organisation is the Political Consultative Committee
(PCC). At its meetings individual countries are
represented by the General (First) Secretaries of
the Central Committees of the Communist parties
and the heads of government. Each socialist
405
country which is a member of the Warsaw Treaty

Organisation has one vote in the PCC.
 The Committee promotes the common interests
of the socialist community and bases its activity
on the principle of independence and sovereignty
of the signatories to the Treaty. It holds periodic
conferences, discusses and passes decisions on the
key problems concerning the strengthening of the
defensive potential of the member states, the
organisation of the united armed forces and the
improvement of their fighting efficiency and
political training.
 Current problems of co-operation in foreign

affairs are considered at conferences of foreign
ministers of the Warsaw Treaty states or their
deputies, and also in the course of bilateral
consultations, talks and exchanges of information.
 Military co-operation within the framework of

the Warsaw Treaty takes place under the general
guidance of the Political Consultative Committee
through the United Command at whose disposal
each member state places an agreed number of
armed forces. The Headquarters of the United
Armed Forces is located in Moscow.
 The Warsaw Treaty Organisation and its

Political Consultative Committee have become a
centre where the European socialist countries, its
members, formulate common policy on crucial
international issues.
 Whenever it proved necessary the leaders of

the Warsaw Treaty countries convened a meeting
of the Political Consultative Committee. At these
meetings they discussed and worked out common
406
positions on crucial international issues and

carried through joint foreign policy actions in
keeping with the obtaining situation.
 The Warsaw Treaty made an important

contribution to the solution of urgent political problems,
and, first and foremost, to the strengthening of
European security. Just a few years ago it seemed
impossible to achieve a detente on that continent,
to start work on the solution of ripe European
problems. But the consistent, concerted policy of
the Warsaw Treaty countries, their persevering
efforts eventually produced positive results.
 The proposals framed at the meetings of the

Political Consultative Committee in Bucharest in
1966, in Budapest in 1969, in Moscow in 1970 and
in Prague early in 1972 comprised an effective
programme of struggle for turning Europe into
a continent of peace and equal international
cooperation.
 The determination of the Warsaw Treaty

countries to improve the European situation was
manifested in their efforts to call an all-European
security conference which if successful could pave
the way for a cutback in the armed forces
stationed in Europe.
 Working for the introduction of effective

measures designed to bring about a detente in Europe,
the Soviet Union and other socialist states
naturally cannot agree to a unilateral reduction of their
defensive capacity. As they maintain
revolutionary vigilance socialist states continuously
strengthen their armed forces which are standing guard
over the gains of socialism.
407
 The interaction of the armed forces of the

socialist states, their combat efficiency and armaments
have considerably improved as a result of the
adoption of collective measures to perfect the
military organisation of the Warsaw Treaty and
a series of joint military exercises conducted in
the past few years which were unprecedented
both in scope and scale, precise execution, and
quantity of weapons involved. Today the military
might of the Warsaw Treaty countries is capable
of smashing any aggressor.
 The Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Co--

operation and Mutual Assistance is a defensive
agreement. The socialist states have repeatedly
suggested to NATO that both these organisations should
be disbanded and replaced with a single system of
European security. But the Western powers
declined to dissolve their military blocs.
 In the absence of a collective European security

system embracing West and East European states,
the Warsaw Treaty Organisation will continue
to be a defensive military alliance of socialist
countries and the main force keeping in check all
those who may try to gamble irresponsibly with
the destinies of the European peoples.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
DEVELOPMENT
 OF THE SOCIALIST COUNTRIES
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 The world socialist system came into being more

than a quarter of a century ago. In this relatively
short period the countries forming it have made
408
great strides in their development. They carried

out fundamental socio-economic transformations
covering a path which in other circumstances
would have required many decades.
 A quarter of a century ago most of the socialist

countries were the scene of an acute class struggle
for power and were confronted with the crucial
problem of choosing the road of social
development. Since then they have consolidated the
dictatorship of the proletariat and the socialist political
and economic system, and their Communist parties
have become the recognised leaders of socialist
society.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Great Social Gains
 of the Peoples of the Socialist Countries
 In the post-war years the Soviet Union and

other socialist countries have made signal progress
in all fields of political and economic activity,
science and culture. The Soviet Union, having
achieved the complete and final victory of
socialism and built a developed socialist society, has
begun the construction of communism. Most of
the fraternal countries have laid foundations of
socialism and many of them have started building
a developed socialist society.
 After winning power the working class and all

working people have to solve many problems of
which the biggest and the most important is the
socialist reorganisation and development of the
national economy.
 History has proved that socialism can be built
409
only through the socialisation of the basic means

of production, steady development of the
productive forces and improvement of the people's
material welfare on the basis of modern industry and
intensive agriculture. Only modern industrial and
agricultural production and an appropriate service
industry can form the material and technical basis
of a developed socialist society. That was why
industrial states (Czechoslovakia and the GDR),
industrial-agrarian (Poland and Hungary) and
agrarian (as China, Bulgaria, Rumania and
Yugoslavia were in the past) had to launch economic
construction, especially in industry, immediately
after the victory of the revolution. This was all the
more urgent also because the Second World War
had undermined the economies of most of these
countries and they had to build a new life
virtually from scratch.
 Socialist social change paved the way for rapid

economic growth of the fraternal states. Many
formerly backward agrarian countries have now
become advanced industrial states which play an
increasingly prominent role in the world.
 The socialist countries owe their rapid

development to the economic and political conditions
created by the socialist revolution. The class
composition of society changed as a result of the
socialist transformations. The capitalists and landowners
quit the political scene and only the friendly
classes, the workers and peasants and the working
intelligentsia, remained.
 In the course of socialist construction the

working class rapidly enlarged and came to play an
410
increasingly important role in society. In pre-war

Poland, for instance, there were just over a
million workers; today her working class numbers
more than seven million. In Hungary the number
of workers almost trebled.
 The working class of the socialist countries is

the most advanced and best organised detachment
of the working people; it has justly become
society's leading and guiding force.
 In recent years the majority of socialist

countries made further important progress in their
development by completing the process of
fundamental socialist changes in both town and country.
The working peasantry in most socialist states has
turned from a class of small producers into a class
of socialist working people engaged in large-scale
agricultural production at co-operatives or state
farms. The bulk of former artisans, handicraftsmen
and merchants now work at producers' co--
operatives and socialist enterprises.
 The intelligentsia has also changed. The

progressively-minded old intelligentsia has taken up
socialist positions. A new, people's intelligentsia
appeared, and many former workers and peasants
have become prominent scientists, cultural workers,
artists and military leaders.
 The socialist system made it possible to

solve the national question, one of the most
complicated issues in multinational states. Both large
and small nations emerged on the path of
all-round development. This strengthened their
friendship and closely rallied them around the
banner of proletarian internationalism.
411
 Socialism has become rooted in the economy and

everyday life, in the socio-political structure of
society and in the consciousness of the peoples. It
has become established firmly and for good in the
countries of the socialist system.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Successes of Industrialisation
 The experience of socialist construction in the

fraternal countries once again confirmed the
correctness of Lenin's words: "A large-scale machine
industry capable of reorganising agriculture is the
only material basis that is possible for socialism."^^*^^
Industrialisation has indeed become the basis for
all the major social and technological changes in
the national economy carried through by the
countries of the socialist system. Most of them used the
accelerated development of industry as the main
lever for promoting the growth of other branches
of the economy, training skilled personnel and
augmenting the ranks of the working class.
 In doing so each socialist country selected the

forms and rates of industrialisation that best
suited her domestic conditions and opportunities, level
of economic development, the available natural
and labour resources and geographic features. The
Mongolian People's Republic and the Republic of
Cuba, for example, began industrialisation by
setting up those industries which serviced agriculture
and processed its products.
 As a result of industrialisation the industry of
_-_-_
412
the socialist countries plays a decisive role in

promoting economic development and living
standards.
 Important changes have taken place in the

structure of industrial production of the fraternal
countries. Industries manufacturing the means of
production now account for a bigger share in the
gross industrial output.
 About 75 per cent of the total production in

the CMEA countries is industrial, and within the
industry a half to three-quarters of the branches
produce metal, equipment and machinery, i.e.,
products on which the increase in the output of
the means of production depends.
 In 1971 industrial production in Bulgaria was

39 times higher than prior to the war, in
Czechoslovakia about eight times, in Hungary over 8.5
times, in the GDR over six times, in the
Mongolian People's Republic over 15 times, in Poland
more than 18 times and in Rumania almost 19
times.
 From 1966 to 1970 industrial output of all

CMEA countries increased 49 per cent. Their
engineering, chemical and power industries are
developing at a particularly rapid pace. Their share
in gross industrial output has risen considerably.
The engineering and chemical industries now
account for 25--50 per cent, and in some countries for
even a greater portion of the total volume of
industrial output. This circumstance has improved
the branch structure of industry and enhanced the
effectivity of the national economy of the socialist
countries.
413
 The CMEA countries are maintaining their fast

rates of industrial growth in the current five-year
plan period (1971--75). Bulgaria plans to increase
industrial output by 55--66 per cent,
Czechoslovakia by 34--36 per cent, Hungary by 32--34 per cent,
the GDR by 34--36 per cent, the Mongolian
People's Republic by 53--56 per cent, Poland by 48--50
per cent, and Rumania by 68--78 per cent. Seventy
to 80 per cent of the growth of industrial
production will be achieved as a result of higher labour
productivity. In order to accelerate technological
progress priority importance is attached to
promoting the development of metallurgical, chemical and
engineering industries (electronics, electrical
engineering, instrument-making, production of
forgeand-press equipment, etc.). The national economy
is being electrified at a rapid pace. Previously the
rate of development of the power industry was
somewhat slower than overall industrial growth,
but now it is the other way round. Several large
power stations were commissioned in the course
of the past few years.
 In two decades (1950--70) the output of

electricity in the socialist countries increased more than
sevenfold. The petrochemical industry is
developing very rapidly as a result of the construction of
large oil refineries and petrochemical factories in
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary,
Poland and Rumania.
 A feature of the economic growth of the CMEA

countries in recent years has been an increase in
the rates of development of consumer goods
industries.
414
 The current stage is marked by intensive

development of production based on a continuous rise
in labour productivity and technological progress.
From 1971 to 1975 GMEA countries plan to attain
an 85 per cent increase in the national income as a
result of a rise in labour productivity.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Socialist Reorganisation of Agriculture
 A house built half of concrete slabs or bricks

and half of adobe or clay will collapse before long.
A new society, too, will not last if there is
largescale socialist industry in towns and small-scale
individual commodity production in the
countryside.
 Socialist society must form a single whole.

This means that besides socialising the means of
production in industry, it is necessary to reorganise
agriculture along socialist lines. Such
reorganisation is an objective requirement of
socialist construction, a regularity which has received
fresh confirmation in the fraternal countries.
 The majority of the socialist states have already

carried through or in the main completed the
socialist reorganisation of agriculture. In Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary, Mongolia and
Rumania---members of CMEA---the socialist
sector accounts for 97 per cent of agricultural
production. The Cuban peasantry is being successfully
transferred to the socialist path of development.
In Poland and Yugoslavia the socialist
reorganisation of agriculture, due to a number of reasons, is
taking place at a slower pace.
415
 Creatively applying the ideas set forth in

Lenin's co-operative plan, the fraternal Communist
and Workers' parties as a rule preferred to guide
the peasantry onto the socialist path without
undue haste. Taking into account the traditions of
private landownership in these countries they
began with the simplest forms of co-operation (credit,
consumer, and supply and marketing) and then
went over to the higher form---production
cooperation. Co-operatives were established only
when the peasants came to see the advantages of
collective farming through personal experience.
 Although the majority of socialist countries

were either wholly or predominantly agrarian in
the past, they had a very low level of agricultural
development. There was intensive agriculture only
in some regions of Czechoslovakia and the GDR.
The economic policy of the Communist and
Workers' parties in the socialist countries is designed to
intensify agriculture, raise production and cut its
costs. Allocations and material and technical
assistance to the countryside are being augmented
and mechanisation of agricultural labour and the
application of fertiliser and the chemical treatment
of crops are being increased. Measures are being
taken to strengthen the co-operatives and state
farms economically and organisationally and keep
them supplied with qualified personnel. The
planning and management of agriculture are being
improved and the farmers' incentives in raising
agricultural production are increasing.
416
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Rise in the Welfare
 and Cultural Level of the People
 Socialism's aim is to promote the all-round

development of the individual and satisfy his
growing requirements. The socialist countries are
solving this problem by securing a continuous rise in
the people's welfare and culture. They allocate
approximately 70--80 per cent of their national
income for the purpose of satisfying the people's
material and cultural requirements. The
remainder goes to make up the accumulation fund,
expand production capacities and build up necessary
reserves.
 The bulk of the accumulation fund is directed

into the personal consumption fund as payment for
labour. At the same time large sums are
channelled into public consumption funds which are
expended on improving cultural facilities and
services, public health, social maintenance, education,
science and culture.
 The People's Republic of China is the only

socialist state where the living standard is still very
low. Grain, fats and textiles are rationed and
other restrictions are still in force there. This is a
result of China's former economic backwardness
and the adventuristic course of the leadership of
the Communist Party of China which is
detrimental to the Chinese people's vital interests.
 The socialist countries have built up an effective

health protection system with a large number of
medical institutions, sanatoriums and rest homes.
Medical service is free of charge. In Bulgaria,
417
Czechoslovakia and Hungary there are more

doctors per 10,000 of the population than in the
USA, Britain, France, Italy, the FRG or Japan.
 A thoroughgoing cultural revolution is under

way in the socialist countries where the masses are
getting a better education, where literature, the
theatre, music and the fine arts have been brought
within reach of millions of people, and where
communist ideology and morality are becoming
increasingly widespread.
 The development of public education stimulates

the all-round cultural growth of the people.
Primary education, and in some countries secondary
education, is compulsory. Free education is
available to all working people and their children
without exception. This is ensured by the continuous
increase in the number of all educational
institutions and the expansion of vocational training.
 Many socialist countries have a greater

proportion of schoolchildren and students than the
advanced capitalist states. In the 1970/71 school year
there were 188 students per 10,000 of the
population in the USSR, 108 in Bulgaria, 78 in Hungary,
81 in the GDR, 101 in Poland, 117 in Yugoslavia,
whereas in the 1969/70 school year Britain had 87
students per 10,000 of the population, the FRG
had 56, and Italy 78.
 The number of theatres, cinemas, clubs and

museums is increasing all the time; more books,
newspapers and magazines are published and the radio
broadcasting and TV systems are developing.
 The growth of culture, which is socialist in

content and national in form, takes place on the basis
27---2052
418
of a critical reassessment of the cultural heritage,

the assimilation of all that is progressive and
democratic in the past culture created by the
preceding generations, and through active perception and
reflection of socialist life.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Political Organisation of Society
 and Forms of Managing Production
 The entire system of state bodies in socialist

countries rests on organs of people's representation.
People's (National) Assemblies are the highest
bodies of power, and the local government bodies
are people's councils. They exercise full state
authority, are vested with the right to pass
decisions on the most important state problems, and
are elected by universal and secret ballot.
 The highest bodies of people's representation

elect either the Presidium of the People's (
National) Assembly or the State Council, the supreme
collective body of state power which is responsible
and accountable to them. In addition to the highest
collective organs of state power, the Republic of
Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the Korean People's
Democratic Republic, Rumania, the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam, and Yugoslavia have the
constitutionally established office of President (Head
of State) who is likewise accountable to the
supreme representative body. Local organs of state
power are regional, area, district and communal
people's councils.
 People's representative bodies form, elect or

appoint organs of state administration, courts and
procurator's offices.
419
 A very important role in rallying society along

the lines of socialist reorganisation is played by
People's (National, Fatherland) Fronts guided by
Communist and Workers' parties. A People's
Front, which is a special form of an alliance of
the working class with the peasantry and the
nonproletarian working people in town and country,
plays an important role in the political activity of
the socialist countries. It promotes the cohesion of
the different classes and sections of the population
and mobilises them to accomplish the tasks of
 The participation of the bodies of the People's

Front in state activity, in organising and
conducting election campaigns and exercising public
control over the state machinery helps the fraternal
Communist and Workers' parties to develop
socialist democracy and enhance the political and
labour activities of the people.
 Essentially People's Democracies were and are

the states of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The
main tasks of the socialist states are to conduct
economic, organisational and educational work,
and ensure favourable external conditions for
socialist construction. The chief trend in the
development of state life in the countries of the socialist
community is all-round deepening and
improvement of socialist democracy.
 The entire activity of organs of state power and

administration in the socialist countries is based
on the principle of democratic centralism. In
economic management this principle is translated into
life mainly with the help of a single state plan.
27*
420
 Forms of production management in the socialist

countries have their specific features. In most of
them production is managed in a centralised
manner according to branches, through corresponding
ministries and other central bodies and state
economic (production) associations.
 Of late economic management has become more

complicated as a result of the increased magnitude
of production and the changes that have taken
place in its structure. Production is becoming more
concentrated as many countries set up large
production (economic) associations and combines.
Much higher demands are made on the quality of
production and it is now on the agenda to raise
it to the level of the world's highest standards.
To achieve this it is necessary to devise new forms
and methods of economic planning and
management on the basis of a deep scientific analysis with
due regard for the achievements of the scientific
and technological revolution.
 Many countries are carrying out economic

reforms embracing a wide range of economic,
scientific and technical measures with the single aim
of bringing the forms and methods of economic
management in line with the growing requirements
of socialist and communist construction. The
socialist countries are improving planning methods,
achieving a correct combination of centralism in
economic management with economic
independence of individual enterprises and industrial
associations, and are striving to make the most
effective use of cost accounting and material incentives
to labour.
421
 Industrial and agricultural production is

managed not only by state bodies, but also by Party
and trade union organisations, production
conferences, factory councils, workers' self-management
conferences, and so forth.
 Practice shows that a combination of state

management of production with diverse forms of the
participation of the working people in
management produces good results and makes it possible
to use the advantages inherent in the socialist
system of the economy more efficiently.
 The 1969 International Meeting of Communist
and Workers' Parties noted: "The socialist world
has now entered a stage of its development when
the possibility arises of utilising on a scale far
greater than ever before the tremendous
potentialities inherent in the new system. This is
furthered by evolving and applying better economic
and political forms corresponding to the
requirements of mature socialist society, which already
rests on the new social structure.''
__ALPHA_LVL2__
COMMUNIST PARTIES---
 THE LEADING FORCE IN
 SOCIALIST COUNTRIES
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 Due to specific historical conditions some

socialist countries have a multiparty system, while
others have only one party. In the USSR there is
only one party, the CPSU, which guides all state
and public activity. In the fraternal European
countries the socialist revolution followed a
different course from that in the USSR. In these
countries broad associations of anti-fascist forces were
422
formed in the course of the national liberation

struggle, and these associations---People's (
National, Fatherland, Democratic) Fronts---included
Communist, Social-Democratic, peasant and
pettybourgeois parties and various social organisations.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Political Parties in Socialist Countries
 When the Communists of the People's

Democracies adopted the course of socialist reorganisation
of society they were supported by a number of
parties representing the toiling peasantry,
intelligentsia and petty-bourgeois sections of the urban
population. At the same time bourgeois parties,
primarily of the wealthy sections of the bourgeoisie
and the reactionary forces, opposed revolutionary
changes and were dissolved.
 In the ensuing political struggle victory was

won by the course of socialist construction with
the result that in some countries Communist and
Social-Democratic parties agreed to unite and to
form a single Marxist-Leninist Party of the
working class.
 Having become convinced that the objectives

of the Communists also corresponded to their
interests, democratic parties began to co-operate
with the Communist parties. In their programmes
they approved the socialist path of development
and recognised the leading role of the Communists.
These parties actively participate in socialist
construction, conducting their work primarily among
the peasants, the intelligentsia and certain
sections of the urban population. They have
423
representatives in parliaments and local government

bodies.
 Poland, for example, in addition to the Polish

United Workers' Party (PUWP), which unites
Communists, also has the United Peasants' Party
and the Democratic Party.
 The United Peasants' Party, the country's

second largest party, operates in the countryside,
where it co-operates with the PUWP in building
up intensive agriculture and creating conditions
for its socialist reorganisation. Its representatives
hold more than a quarter of the seats in the Sejm
(Parliament) and its functionaries are members of
the Council of State and the Council of Ministers.
 The Democratic Party carries on its activity

mainly among the urban intelligentsia, office
workers and artisans. It also has its representatives in
the central and local organs of power.
 The German Democratic Republic has five

parties: the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, which
unites the country's Communists, the Democratic
Peasants' Party (an association representing in the
main the interests of the peasants), the Christian
Democratic Union of Germany (association of
Christian believers advocating peace and progress),
the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (
representing progressive intelligentsia and small
merchants), and the National Democratic Party of
Germany (handicraftsmen, small merchants and
former Wehrmacht officers who have broken with
their past).
 The leading role in the GDR political system is

played by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.
424
 All political parties in the country co-operate

under the slogan "Plan together, work together,
govern together" and form the National Front of
Democratic Germany.
 There is close fraternal co-operation between

the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Bulgarian
Agrarian People's Union---the party of the
peasants. Recognising the leading role of the
Communist Party, the Agrarian People's Union
participates with it in resolving the fundamental
problems of socialist construction in the country. The
Union vigorously encouraged co-operation of
peasant households and the country's industrialisation.
Now that agricultural co-operation has been
completed the Union continues to play an important
role in the country's political life and in socialist
construction. This party holds almost 25 per cent
of seats in the National Assembly and some of its
representatives are members of the Government.
The Union's local organisations closely co-operate
with the Communists in all the most important
fields of human activity.
 In Czechoslovakia in addition to the Communist

Party which in the initial post-war years united
the Communists and Social-Democrats, there are
the Czechoslovak People's Party, the Czechoslovak
Socialist Party, the Slovak Reconstruction Party
and the Slovak Freedom Party.
 In Hungary and Rumania workers' parties

united into a single party, while petty-bourgeois and
peasants' parties have practically quit the political
scene. Mongolia, Cuba and Yugoslavia have a
one-party system.
425
 So, as a result of different historical conditions,

some socialist countries have one party, while
others several. But in either case the existing
political systems are successfully building socialism
because the Communist parties are their leading
and cementing force.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Leading Role of the Communist Parties
 Marxist-Leninist parties are the leading

political force behind all the social changes in the
socialist countries. In their aims, policies and social
composition they are all revolutionary parties of
the working class, its vanguard. Their political
activity is based on Marxist-Leninist theory.
 By guiding the socialist reorganisation of the

economy and culture, the Communist parties have
won lasting prestige among the working people
and are the recognised leaders of the people in
socialist construction. The Communist parties unite
the progressive and most active political and social
forces of the people. In their activities they rely
in the first place on the working class and exert a
profound influence on all sections of the working
people.
 The peoples of the socialist countries owe all

their achievements in the reorganisation of their
social life to the consistent revolutionary activity
of the Communist parties which mobilised and
united the efforts of the working people in the
struggle for socialism. The Communist parties
initiate major state and social measures. They are
the inspirers and political organisers of economic
426
development and play a vastly important role in

promoting the socialist social relations and in
moulding the new man.
 It can be seen from the experience of the

development of world socialism that correct,
MarxistLeninist guidance by the Communist Party is
decisive for socialist and communist construction. This
conclusion has been put on record by the 1969
International Meeting of Communist and Workers'
Parties: "Practice has shown that socialist
transformations and the building of the new society are
a long and complex process, and that the
utilisation of the tremendous possibilities opened up by
the new system depends on the Communist parties
in the leadership of the state, on their ability to
resolve the problems of socialist development the
Marxist-Leninist way.''
 The influence of Marxist-Leninist Communist

and Workers' parties has grown immeasurably in
the years of socialist construction. They have
expanded their social base and consolidated their
proletarian core; the democratic principles of
Party life are developing and improving and the
ideological and organisational unity of Party ranks
has become still stronger. The fraternal parties
have become the recognised leaders of society;
they efficiently guide the entire course of socialist
construction and have the complete trust and
unswerving support of the peoples.
 The Communist and Workers' parties of the

socialist countries are mass parties. The
Bulgarian Communist Party has more than 700,000
members, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
427
1,200,000, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany

nearly two million, the Hungarian Socialist
Workers' Party about 750,000, the Workers' Party of
Korea 2,300,000, the Polish United Workers'
Party about 2,300,000, the Rumanian Communist
Party 2,200,000 and the League of Communists of
Yugoslavia about 1,100,000. Since there are Party
organisations in all towns and villages, at
industrial enterprises, on most state farms, agricultural
co-operatives and in institutions, the Communist
and Workers' parties are in a position consistently
and vigorously to pursue their policy of building
socialism in all spheres of life.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
DECISIVE FACTOR
 OF HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 The establishment of the world system of

socialism is the main achievement of social progress in
our epoch: it plays a determining role in the
progressive development of humanity, in
strengthening the forces of peace, democracy and socialism.
Today there is no spot on the earth where the
revolutionising influence of the socialist countries has
not made itself felt. Closely co-operating with the
international working class and the national
liberation movement, the socialist community is
conducting a large-scale offensive on imperialism.
428
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Force of Example
 The system of socialist states is a guarantee and

the decisive force of the revolutionary renovation
of the world. How do the socialist states help the
world revolutionary movement? In the first place
by force of example, by their successes in socialist
and communist construction. Revolutionary
creativity, such is the main force with which socialism
is changing the world. The developed, mature
socialist society which has been built in the Soviet
Union, and successful socialist construction in other
socialist countries are an inspiring example for
other peoples, and the ideas which have taken
possession of the masses are developing into a
material force.
 The successes of the Soviet Union and other

socialist countries have enabled all the peoples of
the world to see the practical merits of the ideas
for which the Communists are struggling. Now
the world can judge socialism not only by its
programmes and slogans, but also by the benefits it
offers people. The socialist countries are building
a society which is the prototype of the order under
which the whole of humanity will be living in the
future, and are laying the foundations of a new
type of international relations. In all spheres of
life---economic, political and cultural---socialism
demonstrates its advantages over capitalism.
 ``By the force of its example,'' reads the

Statement of the 1960 Meeting of Representatives of
the Communist and Workers' Parties, "the world
socialist system is revolutionising the thinking of
429
the working people in the capitalist countries; it

is inspiring them to fight against capitalism, and
is greatly facilitating that fight.''
 Within a short historical period socialism

abolished exploitation of man by man and national
oppression, opened unprecedented opportunities
for overcoming former backwardness, promoting
the rapid development of the productive forces and
raising people's welfare and culture. Peoples have
become convinced that only socialism asserts
genuine democracy and freedom of the individual,
banishes wars from the life of society and
establishes lasting peace. Against the background of
the successes of the socialist countries it becomes
even more obvious that capitalism, as a social
system, is incapable of solving the basic tasks facing
humanity.
 Comparing socialism and capitalism, many

young national states choose the non-capitalist
path of development. They carry through
political and economic reforms utilising the experience
of the countries forming the world socialist
system. They nationalise large capitalist enterprises,
strengthen the public sector in the economy,
education, health protection and social
maintenance. Drawing on the experience of the
Communist parties, progressive forces in a number of
states establish political organisations to guide the
building of a new society and lead the
workingpeople.
430
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Bulwark of Peace, Freedom
 and Independence of the Peoples
 The socialist system exerts a great influence on

the national liberation movement. As a result of
the consolidation of world socialism and its
determined support and assistance, many formerly
oppressed peoples have been able to throw off the
colonial yoke and win national independence.
 Socialist countries actively co-operate with

newly independent nations in political, economic and
cultural fields.
 There was a time when all, or nearly all, small

states were obliged to stand together with the big
imperialist states and join their military blocs and
alliances. The imperialists imposed their will on
the weaker states, subjugated whole countries and
continents and unleashed wars almost unhindered.
That time has gone for ever. True, imperialism
still seriously hampers the establishment of equal
relations between countries and threatens their
independence, but it finds it increasingly difficult to
pursue its course. The united forces of the
socialist community deprive the imperialists of the
opportunity arbitrarily and with impunity to
command the destinies of the peoples.
 The most convincing example of this has been

the end of the war in Vietnam, the longest and
bloodiest in the past decades. It was brought to
an end in the first place as a result of the courage
and fortitude of the patriotic forces of Vietnam,
as a result of the mass heroism of the Vietnamese
people and thanks to firm support on the part of
the Soviet Union and other socialist countries.
431
 The historical significance of this victory is
enormous and it will make itself felt to an even greater
degree in the future. It is absolutely obvious that
the US aggression in Vietnam is more than just
one of the biggest battles lost by imperialism and
colonialism. The outcome of the fighting in
Vietnam undoubtedly mirrored the new balance of
forces on the world scene and the further
weakening of imperialist positions. In order to achieve a
military victory the imperialists set a huge
military machine in motion. They resorted to mass
extermination of the civilian population and
destruction of towns and villages, sacrificed tens of
thousands of their soldiers and expended almost
$150,000 million, but all to no avail.
 The course and the outcome of the struggle in

Vietnam showed that with the support of the
Soviet Union, other socialist countries and
progressive forces within the capitalist countries
themselves, the freedom-loving peoples could
successfully hold their ground in the face of imperialist
aggression.
 Now it is up to the socialist countries and all

progressive humanity resolutely to support the
governments of the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam and the Republic of South Vietnam in their
efforts to consolidate peace, secure the undeviating
observance of the Paris agreements and help the
Vietnamese people to attain all their national
aspirations.
 Under the influence of the world socialist system

peaceful coexistence of states with different social
systems is becoming an increasingly reliable form
432
of international development. Principles of

equality, independence, territorial integrity, mutual
respect and mutually advantageous co-operation
are gaining firmer ground in international
relations thanks to the efforts of the Soviet Union and
other socialist countries. Relying on the socialist
system many countries are now in a position to
resist the imperialists and pursue an independent
course.
 The peaceful, anti-imperialist policy of the

socialist countries mobilises the forces of peace and
progress throughout the world and rallies them in
the struggle against imperialism and war. This
policy is winning increasing support as the peoples
see that it is the socialist states which advance the
most progressive ideas for establishing lasting
peace in the world. It was the socialist states which
proposed to put a stop to the proliferation of
nuclear weapons, and subsequently to outlaw them.
They also proposed general and complete
disarmament, the dismantling of military bases on
foreign territories, and so forth.
 The working-class and communist movement

has developed and strengthened under the impact
of the successes of the socialist countries. The
achievements of the peoples of the socialist
community building a new life under the guidance of
the Communist parties enhance the prestige of the
Communists throughout the world.
 Examining the course of world development in

recent years it is gratifying to note that it has been
considerably influenced by the world socialist
system, the force that cemented and united all the
__PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__
[433]
SHARE OF SOCIALIST COUNTRIES IN WORLD INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT
(per cent)
about 3
about 10
about 20
about 27
about 40
1917
1937
1950
1955
1972
434
__PARAGRAPH_CONT__
numerous detachments of anti-imperialist

fighters, all the champions of peace and progress. The
socialist countries have enormously contributed to
the achievement of detente in Europe and the
solution of many other world problems.
 The world socialist system with its enormous

economic and cultural potential is the chief
material force, the foundation and bulwark of the
contemporary revolutionary process, so that it is only
natural that its achievements have become a giant
accelerator of social progress.
 The Communist Party of the Soviet Union is

fully aware of the historical responsibility which
devolves on the USSR for the outcome of the
world struggle between socialism and capitalism.
It regards communist construction in the
USSR not only as its internal task, but also as a
great international task whose accomplishment
will benefit the entire socialist system and all
progressive humanity. By paving the way to
communism the Soviet people facilitates and speeds up
the movement of other peoples towards this aim. In
the course of communist construction the forms of
organisation of the new life are tested, difficulties
and ways of surmounting them discovered, and
the best methods of work selected.
 The interests of the Soviet Union and other

socialist countries coincide with the interests and
aspirations of the overwhelming majority of
mankind. By the force of its example the socialist
system is leading humanity towards the triumph of
communism.
435
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Economic Competition Between Socialism
 and Capitalism
 Economic competition is increasingly becoming

one of the main forms of struggle between
socialism and capitalism. The peoples appraise the
merits of a social system primarily by its
achievements in promoting economic development and
raising the people's welfare and culture.
 People prefer a system which will give them a

better life and, in this sphere, i.e., in the sphere of
material production, socialism is confidently
moving towards a decisive victory over capitalism.
 Socialism launched its economic competition

with capitalism in unequal conditions. First, it had
no experience in organising national economy,
whereas capitalism had developed and advanced
as a social system over a period of several
centuries. Second, socialism emerged in a semi--
agrarian country which, moreover, was greatly
weakened by war.
 On the eve of the First World War Russia's

output of pig iron and steel per head of population
was one-eleventh, and of electricity one--
seventeenth, that of the United States. Nevertheless, the
Soviet Union already in the period of its first
fiveyear plans manifested its incontestable advantages
over capitalism and showed that it could surpass
it economically. While it took the United States.
Germany and Britain from 80 to 150 years to raise
industrial production approximately 30-fold, the
Soviet Union did so in 30--40 years, including two
decades covering the years of wars against the
28*
436
foreign invaders and the periods of economic

rehabilitation.
 The time gained in the economic competition

with capitalism is one of the most important
factors of the successes of socialism and a guarantee
of its future victories. The changing correlation
of forces on the world scene is being engendered
to an ever increasing extent by the fact that the
economy of the Soviet Union and the fraternal
countries is the world's most dynamic; its rates of
development are high and stable and promote a
steady rise in the standard of living.
 The socialist countries considerably surpass the

capitalist countries in the rates of economic growth.
In 1972 the industrial output of the socialist
countries was 15 times greater than that produced on
the same territory in 1937, while the capitalist
countries in this period increased their industrial
output by 4.9 times.
 If we compare the output of all socialist

countries today with the output of the socialist
countries in 1937 (i.e., the USSR and Mongolia)
we shall see that their industrial production has
increased 30 times, while the industrial
production of the capitalist states in this period increased
only 4.5 times. Between 1950 and 1970 the
CMEA countries increased their national income
4.8 times compared with the less than threefold
increase registered by the Common Market states.
In 1972, the industrial output of the CMEA
countries was more than eight times higher than in
1950, while in the advanced capitalist states it
increased only threefold. In this period the
437
agriculture of the socialist countries also developed at

a faster rate than anywhere else in the world.
 In 1937 the socialist countries accounted for

approximately a tenth of the world industrial
output; now their share is close on two-fifths.
Industrial output of the socialist countries is equal
to nearly 70 per cent of that of the advanced
capitalist states. The CMEA countries alone
account for approximately a third of the world
industrial output. The socialist countries now
produce about one-third of the world's steel,
cement, cotton fabrics, mineral fertiliser and
tractors, more than a half of its coal, grain and sugar
beet and two-fifths of its cotton and milk.
 Socialism's advantages over capitalism are

indisputable because the balanced development of
socialist economy makes it possible scientifically
to determine its prospects and the direction
of technical progress, organise the efficient
use of equipment and labour resources in the
national economy and specialise and co-operate
production.
 The spontaneous development of the capitalist

economy gives rise to anarchy in production and a
competitive struggle which lead to enormous losses
of labour and material resources. This manifests
itself in crises, continuous underloading of
enterprises, unemployment, etc. Lately economic
development in capitalist countries has become even
more unstable judging by the sharp decline in the
rates of industrial growth in the USA, Japan,
Britain, the FRG and Italy, the aggravation of the
currency crisis and the intensification of the fight
438
for raw materials sources and commodity markets.

Capitalism is undergoing the longest economic
crisis in the past thirty years. Losses caused by
the underloading of production capacities in 1974
were so great that they simply cannot be
estimated. Socialist society, on the other hand, thanks to
its planned economy, has suffered no losses and
is in a position to make the most of its forces and
wealth.
 Between 1966 and 1970 the average annual

industrial growth rates in the CMEA countries
comprised 8.3 per cent as against 6.5 per cent in the
Common Market states and 3.3 per cent in the
USA. In keeping with their five-year plans the
CMEA member countries in 1974 increased
industrial production by over 8 per cent, while the
countries of the European Economic Community
attained an increase of only one per cent.
Industrial production in the USSR rose 8 per cent,
while in the United States it dropped 0.6 per cent.
In the past two decades the share of the CMEA
countries in the world industrial production has
nearly doubled.
 The high rates of economic growth in socialist

countries and the mounting production of key
industrial items inspire confidence that in the near
future the socialist states will surpass the world
capitalist system in the gross volume of industrial
and agricultural production, too.
 Already today the per capita industrial output

in the world socialist system is higher than in the
rest of the world, and it is moving towards
achieving the goal of catching up with and overtaking
439
the advanced capitalist states in per capita

production.
 Czechoslovakia, for example, has overtaken

France, Italy, Sweden and Belgium in per capita
industrial output and the USA, Britain and France
in pig iron and cement production. So far the
socialist countries have not caught up with some of
the more advanced capitalist states in the output
of electricity per head of population, but the gap
is swiftly narrowing. In this respect the USSR,
thf. GDR and Czechoslovakia have already
overtaken France, Belgium, Italy and Japan, and the
GDR is continuing to be ahead of the FRG.
 In some indices of production efficiency and the

level of labour productivity the socialist countries
are still behind the USA and a number of other
highly advanced capitalist countries. This is
partly due to the fact that socialism has been creating
modern productive forces over too short a period.
Yet, thanks to the faster rates of growth of labour
productivity this gap is closing, too.
 The main point of the economic competition

between the two systems is the welfare of the
population, the distribution of material wealth.
Concealing the fact that the capitalist countries achieved
a relatively high level of development largely
through exploitation of subjugated peoples,
predatory wars, unequal trade and usurious loans,
bourgeois propaganda tries to make out that
capitalism offers man the best conditions of life. The
facts, however, disprove this and show the
incontestable advantages of the socialist principle of
distribution of material wealth.
440
 In the United States 60 per cent of the national

wealth belongs to one per cent of the population.
Despite the relatively high average standard of
life large groups of the population (unemployed,
low-paid farm labourers and Black workers) live
in extremely difficult conditions.
 In the socialist countries the standard of life of

working people is continuously rising, although
in a number of indices they are still lagging
behind the most advanced capitalist countries. As
regards health services and social maintenance,
development of culture and public education, the
socialist countries are ahead of them.
 Thus, in the course of historical development

socialism, as a socio-economic system, vividly
demonstrates its advantages over capitalism.
 CG CPSU General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev

said at the 24th CPSU Congress: "The socialist
world has given the communist and working-class
movement experience which is of tremendous and
truly historic importance. This experience shows:
"Socialism, which is firmly established in the
states now constituting the world socialist system,
has proved its great viability in the historical
contest with capitalism.
 ``The formation and strengthening of the world

socialist system has been a powerful accelerator of
historical progress which was started by the Great
October Revolution. Fresh prospects have opened
up for the triumph of socialism all over the world;
life has provided confirmation of the conclusion
drawn by the 1969 International Meeting of
Communist and Workers' Parties that 'the world
441
socialist system is the decisive force in the anti--

imperialist struggle'.
 ``The world socialist system has been making a

great contribution to the fulfilment of a task of
such vital importance for all the peoples as the
prevention of another world war. It is safe to say
that many of the imperialist aggressors' plans were
frustrated thanks to the existence of the world
socialist system and its firm action.''
 In their relations with the capitalist states, the

socialist countries adhere to the policy of peaceful
coexistence. They do not intend to prove the
superiority of their social order by armed force nor to
impose socialism on anyone. The peoples of the
socialist countries also consider that all
controversial international issues should be resolved
peacefully.
 At the same time peaceful coexistence does not

in the least mean that class reconciliation is
possible between such different socio-economic
systems as socialism and capitalism. The exploiting
classes in power in the capitalist countries will
never be reconciled with the fact that the order
which exists in the Soviet Union and other
socialist states rejects everything on which capitalism
rests. Not without reason the exploiting classes
view the successes of socialist society and its
irrefutable advantages over capitalism as a sentence
passed on the capitalist system.
 Being unable to overturn the world socialist

system either militarily or economically, imperialism's
chieftains have launched a frenzied ideological
campaign against socialism. They go to all lengths
442
to undermine the trust of the working people of

the socialist countries in socialist and communist
ideals and embellish capitalism, in order
ideologically to disarm the peoples of the socialist
countries. Imperialist ideologists come forward with
various conceptions and programmes of "
improving socialism" designed to make people believe in
the possibility of a "drawing together" of
socialism and capitalism, and speculate on private--
ownership mentality, indifference to politics,
national narrow-mindedness and other survivals of the
past in the consciousness of some people.
 To promote these perfidious aims the imperialist

states have a huge propaganda machinery with an
extensive network of radio and TV stations,
thousands of newspapers and magazines, numerous
publishing houses and other means of ideological
subversion.
 The Communist parties and the peoples of the

socialist countries are fully aware that the modern
world has become an arena of a bitter and
uncompromising class struggle, a struggle between two
ways of life, two ideologies, a struggle for people's
minds and hearts. Behind these opposing
ideologies are opposing interests and objectives. It is
clear, therefore, that peaceful coexistence between
communist and bourgeois ideologies is
inconceivable. This being the case the Communist parties
consider that one of their most important tasks is
to fight against imperialist ideology and the
survivals of the past in the minds of people.
 The Communists are resolutely upholding their

ideas because only socialist ideology corresponds
443
to the essential requirements of society's

progressive development. Socialist ideology alone can
fully express the interests and aspirations of the
working people, their irresistible desire to build
communism, the most just and perfect society.
Socialist ideology is standing on firm positions for
behind it is the unconquerable truth of life.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Assistance to Developing Countries
 Pledged to the Marxist-Leninist principles of

proletarian internationalism, socialist countries
place their economic and military might and their
political prestige at the service of peace and social
progress. By restraining imperialism's aggressive
aspirations they effectively help the peoples
fighting for national and social liberation and furnish
them extensive moral, political and material
support, including aid in weapons. Such support and
aid has been and is being made available to the
peoples of Vietnam, the Arab states and many
other countries. The young national states regard
the world socialist system as their true and
dependable defender against imperialist
encroachments.
 Only a powerful economic base can ensure

durable political independence. Bearing this in mind
the socialist community helps the young national
states to build up and develop their national
economy, throw off the oppression of imperialist
monopolies and make good their economic lag.
The economic ties between the socialist countries
and the developing states are strengthening from
year to year: foreign trade is expanding, economic,
444
scientific and technical assistance is increasing and

credits are granted on favourable terms.
 The Soviet Union, for example, trades with 70

developing states in Asia, Africa and Latin
America, supplying them with machines and
equipment, raw materials and fuel.
 Socialist countries help the developing states in

building industrial enterprises and other projects,
in designing and prospecting. Sixty developing
Asian, African and Latin American countries are
building more than 2,000 industrial enterprises,
installations and other projects with the
economic and technical assistance of the CMEA
countries.
 In contrast to the imperialist powers who found

it advantageous to keep their colonies and
semicolonies economically backward and dependent,
socialist countries are helping young independent
states build up their industry and train their own
specialists. They sell them equipment and
machines necessary to carry through industrialisation.
More than two-thirds of the economic assistance
of the socialist countries is channelled into
industrial development.
 An important aspect of the socialist community's

economic and technical assistance is that it
promotes the establishment and expansion of the state
sector in the developing countries. This creates
fabourable conditions for promoting the growth of
the productive forces in these countries, helps them
solve economic problems and strengthens the
positions of the national economy in its struggle
against capitalist monopolies.
445
 At present the Soviet Union is assisting
developing states in building more than 700 industrial and
other projects.
 With Soviet assistance India has already built

or is building more than 60 large industrial
enterprises, farms and educational institutions,
including iron and steel works in Bokaro and Bhilai, a
heavy engineering plant in Ranchi and a heavy
electrical equipment factory in Hardwar.
 In the Arab Republic of Egypt 80 industrial

enterprises and other projects have been built and
put in operation with Soviet assistance. Egyptian
and Soviet specialists and workers built the High
Aswan Dam, one of the largest in the world.
 The Soviet Union is extending large-scale

economic and technical assistance to Algeria,
Republic of Guinea, Iran, Iraq, Mali, Syria and other
countries. The GDR, Czechoslovakia, Poland,
Bulgaria, Hungary, Rumania and Yugoslavia are also
assisting developing states.
 Socialist countries grant the young national

states big loans and credits (usually long-term) on
favourable terms. The Soviet Union, for example,
has granted Algeria a long-term credit to finance
the construction of an iron and steel works. Large
credits have been extended to developing
countries by Czechoslovakia, Poland and Yugoslavia.
The total credits granted by the socialist
community amount to more than 4,500 million rubles. The
socialist countries admit to their educational
institutions young people from developing
countries and train specialists for different branches of
the economy and culture.
446
 In these circumstances the imperialist states can

no longer employ brutal and undisguised forms of
colonial exploitation. In some cases they are
compelled to reduce interest rates on credits, prolong
repayment terms, and so forth. Consequently, the
socialist system deals a telling blow at the
imperialist neo-colonialist policy.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The World Proletariat Supports
 the Socialist System
 The Soviet Union and other countries of the

socialist system embody the dream of a working
people's promised land. Now the international
proletariat has such a land. The peoples of the
socialist countries are erecting the edifice of a new world
on vast territories in Europe and Asia, and in
Cuba. The socialist system is not only an inspiring
example for the part of humanity which is living
under capitalism; it is also a mighty material and
ideological force which greatly facilitates the
struggle for peace, democracy and socialism. That
is why the international working class cherishes
and defends the socialist community as the chief
base of the world revolutionary movement.
 It was only natural that the aggression of US

imperialism against the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam produced a great wave of world-wide
indignation. Together with other democratic
sections of working people, the working class in
capitalist countries organised formidable political
demonstrations in support of the Vietnamese people.
Dockers and seamen refused to load weapons to
447
be used in the war against Vietnam and many

countries furnished the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam economic and military aid. The working
class and other anti-imperialist forces formed a
powerful front of struggle against US aggression
which enabled the Vietnamese people not only to
hold their ground but also to be victorious.
 The international proletariat is displaying

special concern for the Republic of Cuba. "Hands off
Cuba,'' demand the workers, peasants and
democratic intelligentsia in reply to the imperialists'
economic blockade and military provocations
against Cuba. This slogan is supported by the
democratic forces of Latin America, the United
States, Canada, Western Europe and the peoples
of the developing countries.
 The world proletariat greatly values the GDR,

the first German socialist state which has ushered
in a new era in the life of the German people. The
efforts of reactionary Western circles to eliminate
the socialist gains of the German people got a
powerful rebuff from both the socialist countries
and broad democratic forces throughout the world.
As a result of the persistent efforts of the working
people of the GDR and the active support of these
efforts by the world socialist community, the
imperialist blockade of the GDR was pierced and
the socialist state of the German people received
international recognition.
 Supported by progressive people throughout the

world the internationalist unity of the socialist
countries and the world working class is
developing and gaining in strength.
448
 There are still many problems to solve and

difficulties to overcome. But the most important
thing is that the majority of the socialist countries,
having built lasting foundations for the new
system, are now shifting to the construction of a
developed socialist society. And however difficult the
internal and external problems of the socialist
community and its individual members may seem,
they do not determine the image of world
socialism. It is determined by the steady growth of the
economic potential and the socio-political maturity
of the socialist countries, their advance towards
socialism and communism, their mounting desire
for political unity and all-round co-operation.
[449]
__NUMERIC_LVL1__
CHAPTER VII
__ALPHA_LVL1__
TRANSITION TO COMMUNISM---
 THE PATH OF MANKIND'S
 DEVELOPMENT
__ALPHA_LVL2__
THE CONTEMPORARY EPOCH---
 THE EPOCH OF TRANSITION
 FROM CAPITALISM TO SOCIALISM
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Essence of the Epoch Ushered
 in by the October Revolution
 In the first chapter we mentioned the fact

that in its historical development mankind passed
through a series of successive stages: the
primitivecommunal, the slave-owning, the feudal and the
capitalist systems. The third chapter dealt with the
new era which was opened in the history of the
peoples of Russia and simultaneously in the
history of the whole of mankind on November 7,
1917.
 In those glorious days Russia launched the
construction of a new society, thus bringing humanity
on to the path of abolishing the exploiting system
and establishing socialism throughout the world.
The transition from capitalism to socialism began
on a world-wide scale.
 Today two main forces, socialism and

capitalism, are standing in opposition to each other. Their
struggle, their competition, has embraced all
spheres of human activity. In the first place they
are competing in the spheres of economic
development and the scientific and technological
29--2052
450
revolution, and also in science and education, health

protection, living standards and other fields. In
this competition socialism is steadily building up
strength and improving its positions. Capitalism,
on the other hand, is declining; it is losing its
positions and its sphere of domination is shrinking.
 The contention between world socialism and

world capitalism, the continually deepening
worldwide struggle between the forces of socialism,
peace and democracy, on the one hand, and the
forces of imperialism, reaction and aggression, on
the other, is called the contemporary revolutionary
process. Clearly it is a continuation of the
revolutionary movement of the past epochs, i.e., of the
age-old struggle of the masses for social justice
and freedom for the people of labour. At the same
time it is a qualitatively new stage of this
struggle, one at which the ideals of the working people
are translated into reality as the world socialist
revolution launched by the October Socialist
Revolution in Russia continues to develop
successfully. It can be said, therefore, that the
worldwide socialist revolution constitutes the substance
of the contemporary revolutionary process.
 Since the October Revolution this process has

passed through several stages in its development
each of which was characterised by society's
advance from capitalism to socialism.
 At the first stage, capitalism, as a result of the

victory of the October Socialist Revolution, lost its
former undivided world supremacy, with the
emergence of a new, socialist system, which is
continuously developing and gaining in strength.
451
 Socialism, which prior to 1917 was only a theory

inspiring revolutionary workers to fight against
capital, after the October Socialist Revolution
became a real, living and rapidly developing society,
the practical cause of millions of people. In an
unprecedentedly short historical period the socialist
system raised the country from age-old
backwardness to the heights of modern social, industrial,
scientific and cultural development. All this
multiplied the attractive force of socialist ideas and
under their influence the revolutionary movement
of the world working class increased in scope and
scale.
 Having emancipated the numerous nations and

nationalities of former tsarist Russia, the Great
October Revolution gave a mighty impetus to the
national liberation struggle of the colonial peoples.
The crisis of the colonial system of imperialism
began after 1917. Capitalism sustained a blow of
tremendous force which sharply exacerbated its
internal contradictions and accelerated its decline
and stagnation.
 Needless to say, capitalism did all it could to

consolidate its internal position and even resorted
to terroristic forms of dictatorship of the
monopolies (nazism in Germany, fascism in Italy).
Imperialism waged ruthless colonial wars in order to
suppress the liberation movement. But all to no
avail. Internal objective contradictions of the
capitalist system continued their destructive work.
Their effect was intensified by the successes of
socialism which was demonstrating its superiority
first and foremost by the fast and stable rates of
29*
452
economic development in the USSR. Between the

First and Second World wars capitalism
experienced further severe political, economic and social
upheavals, the heaviest of which were caused by
the world economic crises of 1929--33 and 1937--38.
 The second stage of the development of the

contemporary revolutionary process is connected with
the Second World War and its results. The
victory of the Soviet Union and the anti-Hitler
coalition over fascism and nazism led to a rapid
growth of democratic and revolutionary forces
throughout the world. The peoples of a number
of European and Asian countries cast off the
capitalist yoke and established People's Democracies
choosing the socialist road of development. This
meant that the sphere of capitalist supremacy
became still narrower, and socialism, which
developed into a world system, became a major factor
of international life.
 At the same time the colonial system began to

fall apart. A very important role in this was
played by the victory of the people's democratic
revolutions in China, Korea and Vietnam and the
added stimuli it gave to the struggle of other
peoples in Asian and African countries. India,
Indonesia and the countries of former French
Indochina demanded independence, forcing
desperately resisting colonialists to retreat.
 Serious changes also took place in the life of

the capitalist states themselves. The influence of
the working class and its vanguard---the
Communist parties---increased. Drawing their lesson from
the war against fascism, the people kept a sharp
453
eye on the manoeuvres of the reaction and more

than once frustrated its attempts to restore the
fascist order in one or another country.
 As a result of all these changes the balance of

forces in the world turned substantially in favour
of democracy and socialism, further deepening the
internal contradictions of the capitalist system.
 Imperialism and above all the USA, capitalism's

chief country and its bulwark, desperately tried to
alter the course of events, to hinder the rapid
growth of socialism and suppress the progressive
forces in the capitalist countries.
 For this purpose it launched the cold war and

set up a system of aggressive military blocs,
including NATO in Europe and North America, and
SEATO in Southeast Asia. The imperialist
strategists proclaimed a policy of "rolling socialism
back''. But the socialist camp steadily gained in
strength in spite of the attempts to undermine it.
Neither did the large-scale anti-communist and
anti-labour campaigns in the capitalist countries
produce any results. The class struggle continued
to expand.
 New and exceptionally important events took

place in the world at the end of the 1950s and the
beginning of the 1960s. It was in those years that
the Cuban revolution, the first socialist revolution
ever to take place in the Western Hemisphere,
ended in victory; it was in those years that world
socialism achieved such significant and striking
gains as the launching of the world's first sputnik
and the world's first manned orbital flight, both
carried out by the Soviet Union; it was in those
454
years that tens of Asian and African nations

smashed the fetters of colonialism and many new
independent states came into being. Finally,
despite counter-measures undertaken by proprietors
and governments subservient to them, class battles
in the capitalist countries entered a new stage,
assuming much greater proportions than ever
before in the post-war history of the working class.

 All this signified that the contemporary

revolutionary process entered its third stage, which,
and this is most important, did not set in as a
result of war, but in the course of peaceful
coexistence and competition between the two systems.
This circumstance exposed the myth long
circulated by the bourgeoisie and the ``Left''-wing
revisionists in the working-class movement, namely
that socialism was a system which only war could
call to life. It proved that the Communists
correctly assert that socialism is bound to triumph
in any conditions because it has indisputable
advantages over capitalism which is doomed to
extinction by its own vices.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Imperialism's Futile Attempts to Adapt Itself
 to New Conditions
 In our day social progress is developing at an

ever increasing pace.
 Imperialism has sustained major setbacks in

the recent decades. Besides losing world
supremacy it has also come up against the powerful
socialist system whose influence in many spheres is
much greater than that of monopoly capital. At
455
the same time wherever capitalist relations are
still predominant, imperialism's positions are
coming under the mounting attacks of the working
class, the peasantry, the intelligentsia and even
the urban petty bourgeoisie. On the whole the
balance of forces in the world is becoming less and
less favourable for the capitalist system.
 Naturally, the successes of the forces fighting

for radical reorganisation of society are causing
modern imperialism to fight back with mounting
fury.
 Imperialism with its huge production

machinery, including a military-industrial complex, is still
a powerful adversary; it has large, well-equipped
armies and a ramified system of propaganda
directed at ideologically brainwashing the people.
All this is used against the forces of socialism,
against the working people.
 Yet, from their own bitter experience,

imperialist politicians know that they will never gain
ascendancy in the struggle against socialism whose
might is increasing at an ever faster pace.
Searching for a way out of the situation modern
imperialism manoeuvres; it tries to be more flexible,
changes its strategy and tactics and resorts to more
refined methods and forms of struggle. Such are
its chief features today. This conclusion reached
by the 24th CPSU Congress is supported by
Marxists-Leninists throughout the world.
 In this connection the CC CPSU Report to the

Congress pointed out: "The features of
contemporary capitalism largely spring from the fact that
it is trying to adapt itself to the new situation in the
456
world. In the conditions of the confrontation with

socialism, the ruling circles of the capitalist
countries are afraid more than they have ever been of
the class struggle developing into a massive
revolutionary movement. Hence, the bourgeoisie's
striving to use more camouflaged forms of
exploitation and oppression of the working people,
and its readiness now and again to agree to
partial reforms in order to keep the masses under its
ideological and political control as far as possible.
The monopolies have been making extensive use
of scientific and technical achievements to fortify
their positions, to enhance the efficiency and
accelerate the pace of production, and to intensify
the exploitation and oppression of the working
people.''
 Bourgeois propagandists and scholars even

maintain that contemporary capitalism has
changed to such a degree that it has ceased to be
capitalism. Obviously, they want to ``prove'' that
revolutionary struggle is no longer necessary, that
the capitalist system is `àutomatically'' becoming
harmless to the working people.
 This is not true. Capitalism has not changed its

nature. It is the selfsame exploiter system alien
to the working people.
 A characteristic feature of contemporary

capitalism is the gigantic growth in the concentration
of capital, i.e., the accumulation of the nation's
wealth in the hands of a steadily narrowing group.
Sixty families in the USA, 100 multi-millionaires
in the FRG and 200 families in France are the
real masters of these countries. Modern monopoly
457
capitalism is the super-exploiter which oppresses

the entire nation.
 Furthermore, it is developing more and more

into state-monopoly capitalism. This means that
the power of the monopolies and the power of
the state have merged into a single mechanism
controlled by capitalist magnates.
 The monopolies use the state primarily for their

own enrichment. The state places advantageous
orders with them and reduces their taxes (all, of
course, at the expense of the working people whose
tax burden is increasing). The state subsidises
industrial enterprises which have become
unprofitable to private capital or are in need of large
capital investments (e.g., railways and coal
mines), and exploits them in the interests of the
monopolies.
 At the same time imperialism with state

assistance tries to attenuate the deep contradictions
undermining the capitalist system. The state carries
through measures regulating the economy in order
to overcome the anarchy of production, avert
economic crises or at least make them less damaging,
and ensure more or less steady rates of economic
growth. The successes of socialism in the
competition with capitalism force the latter to pay more
and more attention to the "state of health" of its
economy.
 Monopoly capitalism also speculates on the

scientific and technological revolution which has
brought about substantial changes in the industrial
structure. New industries---electronic engineering,
atomic power engineering, rocket production and
458
others---have been established. This has called for

enormous capital investments and to a certain
extent livened up production.
 Nevertheless, it should be noted that capitalism

uses scientific and technical achievements chiefly
for the needs of the war industry. Military
allocations have reached unprecedented figures. Over
the past few years NATO has been expending
almost $10,000 million a month or almost $330
million daily on war preparations. In the past five
years the USA spent about $500,000 million on
military needs. Another important reason for such
heavy outlays has been the desire to `ènvigorate''
the economy and secure its faster and more even
development.
 It follows that despite its efforts to adapt itself

to the new situation, capitalism does not change its
essence. That is why neither by manoeuvring nor
by any other means will capitalism succeed in
ridding itself of its chief ailments. The CC Report
to the 24th CPSU Congress made the point that
"adaptation to the new conditions does not mean
that capitalism has been stabilised as a system.
The general crisis of capitalism has continued to
deepen."
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Crisis of Capitalism Is Deepening
 What is a general crisis of capitalism? There

are economic crises which now and then shake
the economy of capitalism, and there are
political crises when the struggle of the classes in one
or another state results in an explosion. The
459
general crisis of capitalism embraces its economy,

policy and ideology. It is not a transient
affliction, but a chronic, steadily progressing disease,
characterised by such a deep exacerbation of all
the contradictions of capitalism that the latter is
no longer able to maintain its sway over the
nations, which one after another sunder their
chains and take the wide road of socialism. The
general crisis of capitalism is an historic period
of the weakening and collapse of the capitalist
system and the victory of the socialist system.
 At each successive stage of its development the

general crisis of capitalism manifested itself in
diverse forms. Its most significant manifestation
in our day is the mounting economic instability
of the capitalist system. Having accelerated the
process of socialisation of production, state--
monopoly capitalism has exacerbated the
contradiction between the social character of modern
productive forces and private capitalist relations of
production. Neither was it an accident that in spite
of all its efforts to regulate the economy,
capitalism suffered three major crises in the post-war
period (1948--49, 1957--58 and 1969--71). The
fourth and biggest post-war crisis broke out in
1974 and is still continuing.
 In 1967 and 1968 a monetary crisis descended

on the capitalist system. Some capitalist states
devalued their currency more than once. The US
dollar, which for many years ``guaranteed'' the
stability of the bourgeois system of international
accounts, was devalued in December 1971 and
February 1973. But the capitalist monetary
460
systern has been unable to regain its former stability,

and exchanges in all Western countries are in a
state of constant fever.
 Modern technical means make it possible to

give all of humanity a prosperous, comfortable
life. But capitalism uses scientific and
technological progress as an instrument of still more
brutal exploitation of the working people, while the
introduction of scientific and technical
achievements leads to a growth of unemployment. In the
beginning of 1975 there were more than 12
million unemployed in advanced capitalist countries.
In February that year the number of unemployed
in the USA was estimated at eight million, and
unemployment is still on the upsurge. At the same
time millions of peasants, farmers and small urban
proprietors are forced into bankruptcy.
 The further aggravation of the general crisis
of capitalism also reveals itself in the
intensification of economic and political contradictions
between the capitalist countries. Capitalism's
postwar history shows that the law of uneven
economic and political development of capitalist
countries formulated by Lenin continues to operate
with unrelenting force. In the first post-war years
the USA took advantage of the weakened
positions of capitalist Europe and Japan to establish
almost complete supremacy over the economy of
the capitalist world. With time, however, the
situation changed. The economic development of
the USA's rivals increased sharply and its share
in world production and trade began to decline.
The competitive struggle became still more acute.
461
 In its search for a way out of the difficulties

the monopoly capital turned to new methods in
dividing and recarving markets and spheres of
influence. For instance, as far back as the 1950s
a closed state-monopoly group---the Common
Market---was formed in Europe. At first it
consisted of the FRG, France, Italy, Belgium, the
Netherlands and Luxemburg, which were later
joined by Great Britain, Denmark and Ireland.
And, of course, the monopolies of these countries
benefited enormously. They acquired temporary
additional stimuli for industrial development and
particularly foreign trade. At the same time,
however, they came up against fresh difficulties and
problems. The trade war between the Common
Market and the other capitalist countries became
more vicious, and rivalry within the Common
Market itself is just as ruthless.
 Nor have the monopolies in other parts of the

world, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin
America, have ceased to fight one another. Acting in
a united front against the working-class
movement and national liberation revolutions
capitalists in the economically advanced countries are
at the same time continuing to fight between
themselves for influence in various parts of the world,
for raw materials sources, chiefly oil, and rare
and non-ferrous metals, and for spheres of
investment.
 The main centres of imperialist rivalry became

clearly defined by the beginning of the 1970s:
they are the USA, Western Europe (chiefly
Common Market countries) and Japan. The
462
economic and political struggle between them is

becoming more and more intense and is
characterised by such methods as the ban imposed by US
official authorities on the import of a steadily
growing list of commodities from Europe and
Japan, the attempts of the European countries to
limit the influx of US capital and acute monetary
conflicts.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Growth of Political Reaction
 in the Capitalist Countries
 The general crisis of capitalism embraces not

only the economy. Modern capitalism lacks
internal stability and is subject to frequent
upheavals in the political sphere, too. This is evidenced
primarily by the fact that imperialism is clearly
losing its ability to rule by the old, so-called
tested methods.
 When the bourgeoisie was rising to power and

fought against the feudal lords its slogans were
liberty, equality, fraternity, i.e., the slogans of
bourgeois democracy. But the transformation of
capitalism from a society of free competition into
imperialism wrought a sharp change in its policies.
Promotion of reaction, persecution and brutal
suppression of revolutionary and democratic forces
became the main political line of the imperialist
states; fascism, the most flagrant, open and
terroristic dictatorship of the monopolies, came into
being.
 But the peoples of the world, those of the

Soviet Union in the first place, dealt fascism a
463
crushing blow in the Second World War. Having

seen for themselves that fascism spells war, death
and destruction, and suppression of the rights
and liberties of man, the peoples resolutely oppose
any fascist trends in politics. Suffice it to recall
the heroic battles of the French working class and
all French democrats to thwart a fascist coup
which reactionary military circles were preparing
in the 1960s, and the selfless struggle of the
Italian working people against neo-fascist sorties.
 In such circumstances imperialism acts more
cautiously, often camouflaging dictatorial methods
of government with parliamentary systems
devoid of democratic substance. It also resorts to
other methods to disguise and embellish the
antipopular, exploitative character of the bourgeois
system. But this does not alter the basic political
tendency of imperialism. The monopolies are still
intent on destroying or at least on curtailing to
the greatest possible extent the democratic rights
of the people and depriving them of elementary
freedoms. Many democratic organisations are
outlawed and, therefore, forced to go underground,
and thousands of fighters for the cause of the
working class and peace are thrown in prisons.
 The political crisis of the contemporary

imperialist bourgeoisie is accompanied by a
deepening crisis of bourgeois ideology. What is meant
by the crisis of bourgeois ideology?
 For many decades the ideologists of

capitalism maintained that private property was
inviolable and that capitalism was eternal. In the past
several decades the world has found that this
464
proposition was false. A third of mankind now

lives without private property, without
capitalism and is much better off than prior to the
abolition of capitalist order.
 Many bourgeois ideological trends are still

trying to prove the alleged superiority of the white
man and claim that white people are destined to
bring civilisation to Asian and African countries.
But bourgeois ``civilisers'' owned colonies for
centuries, and what did they implant there?
Poverty, oppression and ignorance. Only
abolition of colonial oppression has opened the road to
freedom and modern civilisation before the
peoples of Asia and Africa.
 Finally, many bourgeois theories assert that

war is man's natural state and that peace is but
respite between wars. Such theories are obviously
designed to justify imperialist policy and
aggressive wars. War, however, is a natural state only
for the exploiting system. The experience of the
Soviet Union and other socialist countries
convinces the peoples of the world that the new,
highest social system---communism---will rid
humanity of the terrible scourge of war.
 Thus, life itself has overturned and disproved
all the principal premises of bourgeois ideology.
The gap between bourgeois ideology and real life
is widening all the time making this ideology
increasingly anti-popular and reactionary.
 The main aim of modern bourgeois ideology is

to fight communism. Therefore, anti-communism
is its principal trend. Anti-communism has also
become the most important trend of the policy of
465
bourgeois states. Anti-communist ideology

misrepresents the Marxist-Leninist teaching, vilifies the
socialist social system, falsifies the communist
policy and tasks and justifies the persecution of
democratic peace-loving forces and organisations.
The imperialist reaction is concentrating its main
efforts against the Soviet Union in the hope of
discrediting its historical achievements and
slandering the experience of the Soviet people's struggle
for communism. Anti-Sovietism is the cornerstone
of modern anti-communist policy and ideology.
 Anti-communism is one of the most vivid

manifestations of the crisis of bourgeois ideology.
While formerly, at the dawn of capitalism, the
bourgeoisie in its struggle against feudal reaction
did advance some sort of progressive ideas,
anticommunism is an ideology resting exclusively on
destructive principles and it offers the masses no
positive, promising ideas whatsoever. It only ``
rejects'', ``refutes'' and `ànathemises''.
 It is clear, however, that neither anti--

communism nor other vagaries of bourgeois ideology can
save the moribund social system. Violence and
falsification, lies and misrepresentation of facts
cannot halt the objective course of events and
mitigate the social contradictions which are
sundering capitalism. The class struggle in the
capitalist countries is gaining momentum. The
peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America are
intensifying their resistance against imperialist
oppression, and the revolutionary struggle of the masses
for democracy and socialism is mounting in all
countries, in all corners of the capitalist world.
30---2052
466
__ALPHA_LVL2__
REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT
 OF THE WORKING CLASS
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Capitalism's Chief Opponent
 The current far-reaching revolutionary changes

are above all a result of the heroic struggle of the
international working class. In its Report to the
24th CPSU Congress the Central Committee of
the CPSU made the following observation: "The
international working-class movement continues to
play, as it has played in the past, the role of
timetested and militant vanguard of the
revolutionary forces. The events of the past five-year period
in the capitalist world have fully borne out the
importance of the working class as the chief and
strongest opponent of the rule of the monopolies,
and as a centre rallying all the anti-monopoly
forces.''
 With more than 570 million people in its ranks

the working class today is an immense economic
and socio-political force which produces the bulk
of the material values and determines the
character of the contemporary epoch and the main trend
of historical development.
 The world proletariat consists of two main

contingents: the free working class of the socialist
countries and the proletariat of the non-socialist
states which is fighting for its emancipation. They
have the same ideals and a single ultimate aim,
but they live in different conditions and solve
different problems. The close union and mutual
467
support of these two contingents is the key to

their successes and an earnest of their common
victory.
 The working class of the non-socialist world is

heterogeneous. It includes the proletariat of the
industrially developed capitalist states, which has
been tempered in class battles, and the budding
working class of the countries fighting to
consolidate their national independence. Naturally, they
operate in different conditions and employ
different forms and methods of struggle.
 Two basic factors determine the role of the

working class of the industrial states in the world
revolutionary process.
 The first factor is the place which these states

occupy in the capitalist system. Industrially
advanced capitalist states of North America and
Western Europe and also Japan and Australia
are the citadel of modern capitalism accounting
for its main economic, political and military
forces. The final victory of the socialist revolution
on a world scale depends on the liquidation of
the capitalist order in these states.
 All contemporary revolutionary forces are

contributing to the struggle against capitalism, but
each employs its own specific methods and
means.
 The world socialist system is the decisive factor

bridling the reactionary, aggressive forces; it is the
main force and material base of the world
revolutionary struggle.
 Moreover, the socialist system undermines the

mainstays of capitalism by demonstrating the
30*
468
advantages of socialism to millions of people. It

wins the sympathies of the masses and helps
spread socialist ideas.
 Having destroyed the colonial system of

imperialism the national liberation movement is
now undermining the capitalist world by
depriving it of markets and sources of raw materials
and opposing the aggressive policies of monopoly
capital.
 However powerful these forces may be, they

cannot by themselves eliminate the capitalist
system in the imperialist countries. But their
struggle creates favourable conditions for solving
this problem, and it is up to the working class of
the imperialist states to solve it. Only the
working class in alliance with all working people, with
the broadest sections of the population is
powerful enough to overturn the rule of the monopolies
and lead their countries along the path of social
progress.
 The second factor which determines the place
of the working class of the advanced capitalist
states in the world revolutionary movement is the
position it has won, its numerical strength,
discipline, level of organisation and its experience of
revolutionary struggle. Numerically the
proletarians of these countries account for nearly 40 per
cent of the world working class.
 The bourgeoisie and its ideologists are doing all

they can to weaken the proletariat's influence in
society and undermine its self-confidence. Western
bourgeois propagandists claim that its numbers
are decreasing, its role diminishing and its
469
influence is not mounting. Plainly these

assertions hold no water.
 `Àccumulation of capital is ... increase of the

proletariat,"^^*^^ Marx wrote. The development of
modern industry leads to a continuous growth of
the industrial proletariat's ranks. Introduction of
industrial methods in agriculture turns the labour
of agricultural workers into a variety of
industrial labour, and the expansion of the service
industry increases the number of proletarians
employed in it. Finally, more and more
whitecollar workers, engineers and technicians in the
developed capitalist countries are becoming
proletarianised. They are approaching the working
class as regards their social status and are
supporting it in its struggle against capital.
 The following figures are significant: a century

ago four major imperialist powers---the USA,
Britain, France and Germany---had a total of 8.9
million proletarians. By the turn of the century
their number rose to 29.9 million and in the middle
of the 20th century the USA, Britain, France and
the FRG had 87 million proletarians. Today the
total number of industrial and white-collar
workers in industrially advanced countries has
surpassed 220 million, or more than 70 per cent of
their gainfully employed population.
 But, as Marx pointed out, "numbers weigh only

in the balance, if united by combination and led
by knowledge".^^**^^
_-_-_
 ^^*^^ K. Marx, Capital, Vol. I, p. 614.
 ^^**^^ K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works, Vol. II,
Moscow, 1969, p. 17.
470
 The organised working-class movement first

appeared in the industrially advanced capitalist
states. Since the middle of the 19th century the
working class of Western Europe and North
America has accumulated extensive experience of
revolutionary struggle and written notable pages
into the history of the world revolutionary
movement.
 The vanguard organisations of the proletariat---

the Communist parties---were born and tempered
in the flames of class battles. Today there are
more than three million Communists in
industrially advanced capitalist countries. In many of
them Communist parties have become an
influential national force leading wide sections of the
working people.
 Other mass organisations of the working people,

trade unions, co-operative societies, unions of
women and young people, in the first place, also
appeared and developed, and now play an
important role in the social and political life of the
capitalist world.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
New Conditions
 of the Proletariat's Struggle
 The struggle of the working class in advanced

capitalist countries is now unfolding under new
historical conditions characterised by two basic
features. The first is that the gradual
transformation of the socialist system into a decisive force
of world development steadily narrows the
potentialities of imperialism in its struggle against the
471
working class not only on the world scene but also

inside each given country. The second feature
springs from the changed situation in the
imperialist countries themselves, namely, the rapid
growth of state-monopoly capitalism. The
coalescence of the monopolies and the state
intensified the exploitation of the working people and,
consequently, the class struggle.
 The 1969 International Meeting of Communist
and Workers' Parties noted that on the whole
all these developments open fresh opportunities
for the working class and its organised vanguard.
Obviously, however, it is not a simple matter to
take advantage of these opportunities inasmuch as
the working people have to contend with modern
monopoly capitalism, an experienced and cunning
enemy. Yet, despite the efforts of the monopolies,
the balance of forces in the capitalist world is
continuing to swing in favour of democracy and
progress.
 This process, naturally, does not develop on

its own. In present-day conditions it is most
important to heighten the conscious activity of the
working people and concentrate their forces in the
struggle for the set objectives. Therefore, the
Communists attach primary significance to
consolidating the unity of action of all the detachments
of the working-class movement.
 The basic interests of the proletariat demand

that in each country there should be a single
proletarian party committed to Marxist-Leninist
principles. In the capitalist countries, however,
not only Communist but other parties, too, act in
472
behalf of the working class. These are chiefly

Social-Democratic parties.
 The existence of several political parties (and

trade union organisations) of the working class
is above all a result of its heterogeneous social
composition. The ranks of the proletariat are
continuously increased by people from urban and
rural petty-bourgeois sections of the population
who need some time to acquire a revolutionary
world outlook. Some of them are inclined to
support the Social-Democratic, Catholic and other
parties rather than the Communists. What is more,
the monopoly bourgeoisie bribes the small upper
layer of the working class (the so-called workers'
bureaucracy) thereby subordinating it to its own
interests. And it is on these groups that the
reformist Social-Democratic parties place their heaviest
stakes.
 Social-Democratic ideology is essentially

designed to adapt the working-class movement
to the interests of the bourgeois system. And
although in their programmes Social-Democratic
parties purport to work for the liquidation of
capitalism, their leaders are as a rule opposed to
the revolutionary transformation of society. They
maintain that capitalism can be either ``
improved'' or ``corrected'' through the introduction of
partial changes or reforms which do not affect its
substance.
 It should be borne in mind, however, that

Social-Democratic parties largely consist of
proletarians who by no means want to perpetuate the
capitalist order. On the contrary, the example set
473
by socialism and the policy of the fraternal

Communist parties, and finally the increasing strain
of exploitation are making a considerable part of
the Social-Democrats aware of the need to fight
actively for the rights of the working class. At
the same time the practical activity of the
SocialDemocratic parties which cannot satisfy the
fundamental interests of the working man opens the
eyes of the people to the inadequacy and the
unfeasibility of the reformist way.
 The Final Document of the 1969 Moscow

Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties says:
"Communists, who attribute decisive importance
to working-class unity, are in favour of co--
operation with the Socialists and Social-Democrats to
establish an advanced democratic regime today
and to build a socialist society in the future. They
will do everything they can to carry out this
cooperation.'' In their struggle for the unity of the
working people, the Communists have achieved
certain positive results. In France, Italy, Japan and
Finland Communists and all the Left-wing forces
of the working-class movement have invigorated
their joint activity.
 Of course, it will still take a long time to settle

the question of working-class unity chiefly
because of the anti-communism of many
SocialDemocratic leaders and the frenzied resistance of
monopoly capital. Nevertheless, the Communists
are confident that these difficulties are
surmountable and that working-class unity will be
established.
 Carrying on Lenin's traditions the Communist
474
Party of the Soviet Union is doing everything it
can to strengthen the unity of the international
working class. The 24th CPSU Congress
reaffirmed that the CPSU was prepared to develop
co-operation with the Social-Democrats both in the
struggle for peace and democracy and in the
struggle for socialism, without making any
concessions in ideology and revolutionary principles.
Maintaining and expanding its ties with the
Social-Democratic and Socialist parties in different
countries, the CPSU is concerting its activity with
the Communist parties of these states.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
For a Mighty Anti-Monopoly Front
 Important as it is, working-class unity is not

the only factor of the successful struggle against
imperialism, for democracy and socialism.
Another crucial question is that of the proletariat's
allies, i.e., of those forces which together with the
proletariat are capable of waging a victorious
struggle against the monopolies and then
rallying around it to form a mass political army of
the socialist revolution.
 The working class, whose labour is the

principal source of capital's fabulous profits, is the
main object of exploitation. But the monopolies
oppress the entire population of the capitalist
states: peasants and white-collar workers,
intellectuals and shopkeepers; they throttle and
ruin middle and at times even large-scale
475
proprietors who do not belong to monopoly

associations.
 Take any capitalist country, say, the USA.

Capitalist propagandists have praised it to the skies
as a model of prosperity. Yet even US leaders
admit that 27 million Americans (13.3 per cent
of the total population) live in poverty, and from
four to five million people are permanently out
of work. Farmers, urban shopkeepers and other
petty proprietors drift into bankruptcy.
 The main contradiction of modern capitalism

is still that between labour and capital.
Contradictions between the monopoly elite and the whole
nation are also deepening. This means that the
front of the forces vitally concerned with
abolishing monopoly rule is objectively expanding.
 The working class, peasantry, the urban middle
classes and the intelligentsia are the social forces
which can form the anti-monopoly front, a
coalition (alliance) of the opponents of the
monopolies. History itself has destined the working class
to head this coalition and lead the struggle of the
broadest masses of people.
 The immediate objective of these forces is to

restrict and then put an end to the power of the
monopolies and simultaneously consolidate and
enhance the influence of the working class and
democratic, anti-imperialist forces. The abolition
of monopoly rule paves the way for the
establishment of democratic regimes and the
introduction of revolutionary socialist reforms. Thus, the
policy of fighting the monopolies is in fact the
realisation of Lenin's idea of combining the
476
struggle for democracy with the struggle for

socialism.
 If successful this policy considerably extends

the range of means employed in the struggle for
socialism and, in particular, increases the chances
for a peaceful development of the socialist
revolution in advanced capitalist countries.
 This approach to the question has caused a

great deal of discussion in the working-class
movement. The dogmatic ``Left''-wing elements
interpret this conclusion as an indication of a
reformist degeneration of the Marxist-Leninist
parties in Europe and America. Marxists--
Leninists deny this accusation. In their joint
documents the fraternal parties clearly stated their
position. They declared that the transition from
capitalism to socialism is revolutionary in all
cases and that the form of the revolution----
peaceful or armed---depends on the balance of class
forces, the strength of the resistance put up by
the exploiters, and unity of the revolutionary
forces.
 The Communists prefer the peaceful form of

revolution and, as Lenin did, consider it
necessary to "get everything possible done to make sure
the `last' chance for a peaceful development of
the revolution".^^*^^ At the same time they stress the
need to be prepared for any form of struggle. The
strength of the Marxist-Leninist parties lies
precisely in their ability to employ various methods
of struggle, adequately appraise any turn of events
_-_-_
477
and pursue correct revolutionary policies under

any and all circumstances. In all cases no advice
or estimates of the situation can be given from the
outside. This is solely the affair of each
revolutionary detachment and its militant vanguard---
the Marxist-Leninist Party.
 The following question arises: is the

organisation of an anti-monopoly coalition only a remote
prospect, or can it be said that real progress has
already been made in this direction? Life shows
that the anti-monopoly front is being created
before our eyes. The results of presidential,
parliamentary and municipal elections between 1970
and 1975 reflect the changes taking place in
advanced capitalist countries. Left-wing forces,
parties and groups opposed to the monopolies won
considerably more votes in France, Italy, Austria,
Luxemburg, Sweden and Japan than in the
previous years.
 Of course, the process of the formation of

antimonopoly coalitions in advanced capitalist states
is still far from complete. The monopolies do
everything in their power to inhibit it by provoking
dissension between the working class and its
natural allies and put them at loggerheads.
 Yet anti-monopoly alliances are growing and

gaining in strength despite the fact that the
intrigues of the opponents of the working people
sometimes impede the course of developments.
478
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Proletariat on the Offensive
 Taking advantage of the new opportunities and

relying on its own forces and those of its allies
the working class is actively struggling against
the monopolies, for democracy, peace and
socialism. This struggle, as the 24th CPSU Congress
pointed out, is on the upsurge and involves great
masses of working people.
 The strike is still the chief form of the
proletariat's struggle for its rights and interests. There
is a steady increase in the number of strikes
throughout the capitalist world, especially in the
economically advanced states. Between the two
world wars approximately 75 million people took
part in strike battles, while in the post-war years
(1946--72) they involved nearly 470 million people.
 The strike movement has assumed the greatest

proportions in France, Italy, the USA, Japan
and Great Britain.
 In France and Italy, which have longer

traditions of class struggle and powerful Communist
parties, strikes involving millions of people,
including large numbers of students, peasants,
intellectuals and employees as well as proletarians,
took place between 1968 and 1975.
Characteristically, they were directed against the entire system
of state-monopoly rule and not only against one
or another monopoly group.
 In Great Britain, where the class struggle has

attained a high degree of intensity, strikes which
took place in the period from 1969 to 1974 can be
compared only with the famous 1926 strike both
479
as for their scale and the number of people

involved. In the United States the workers' mass
struggle for better material conditions and against
unemployment is intertwined with the movement
of the Black people and the struggle of the youth
against the militaristic policy of monopoly
capital.
 The working-class movement is expanding in

the FRG and Japan. In Spain, Belgium and the
Netherlands the workers have intensified their
struggle for their rights. Even Sweden, Norway
and Denmark, countries which for decades have
been regarded as `èxamples'' of social tranquility,
have become the scene of strike battles.
 There is not a single advanced capitalist

country where no serious strikes take place and where
the "class peace" so desired by the proprietors
really exists. It should be noted that strikes
increase both in number and scope. General
nation-wide strikes are becoming more frequent. In
the past decade they numbered nearly 250. And,
characteristically, an increasing number of strikes
end in the victory of the working people.
 Thus far we have dwelt on the proletariat's

economic struggle, but almost all the actions of
the workers on economic issues acquire a
political character. French miners, for example, start
their strike with demands for higher wages,
better working conditions, and so forth. These
demands are presented to the government for it
owns the coal-mining industry. In some instances
miners demand reforms in the administration of
the state-owned coal industry, a revision of the
480
price system, etc. In both cases the strikers'

demands either directly or indirectly touch upon the
government activity and policy. Aware of its
enhanced strength, the working class imperatively
demands the introduction of democratic
principles in production management, and workers'
control over the activity of the proprietors.
 At the same time the proletariat often comes

forward with purely political demands, primarily
for the preservation and consolidation of
democratic principles and freedoms. More than 60 per
cent of all strikes in capitalist countries now take
place under political slogans, whereas ten years
ago political strikes accounted for not more than
40 per cent of the total number.
 The strike movement of the working class has

an increasing impact on all aspects of life in
capitalist society. It merges with the broad
democratic movements of the working people and
becomes a determining factor of their development.
 The situation in advanced capitalist countries

is growing more tense. "The large-scale actions
by the working class and the working masses
herald fresh class battles which could lead to
fundamental social changes, to the establishment
of the power of the working class in alliance with
the other sections of the working people,'' states
the Resolution of the 24th CPSU Congress.
481
__ALPHA_LVL2__
NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT
 OF THE PEOPLES OF ASIA,
 AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 We have already noted that the third stage of

the general crisis of capitalism is characterised
by the vast scope of the national liberation
movement of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin
America against imperialist oppression. This
struggle led to the collapse of the colonial system
of imperialism.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
What Is a National Liberation Movement
 The exploiting society is characterised by

national as well as social oppression. Some nations,
or rather their ruling classes, oppress and exploit
other, weaker nations. The national liberation
movement is a movement which is engendered by,
and is aimed at, shaking off national oppression.
 The colonial yoke is the most odious and

ruthless form of national oppression. Foreign
conquerors establish their sway over a country and rule
her through a special administration. They plunder
her wealth and savagely exploit her people. Here
is a characteristic figure. According to far from
complete data, between 1760 and 1850 Britain
pumped £500 million out of India. It was the
wealth wrung from the colonies that largely
contributed to the growth of British capitalism.
 The dignity of the enslaved peoples is trampled

and they are declared `ìnferior'' nations and
nations of the "lower order''.
31---2052
482
 The colonialists go to all lengths to stay the

economic development of the countries under their
rule, because the rise of national industry would
have slashed the profits of the foreign monopolies
controlling the economy and markets of these
countries. Moreover, it would have stimulated
the growth of those social forces---the working
class, the national intelligentsia and the national
bourgeoisie---that are capable of challenging the
rule of the colonialists.
 Imperialism imposed colonial oppression in one

form or another on a vast majority of the world's
population. It built up a colonial system which
acquired its final shape at the turn of the century.
In 1939 it embraced countries with an aggregate
population of approximately 1,500 million. It is
hard to imagine that a mere quarter of a century
ago not counting the socialist countries there
were only 11 Asian and African states (today
there are over 80). Almost all of them were
dependent on imperialism, and most of the formally
independent Latin American countries were in a
similar position.
 Britain was the largest colonial power. In 1938

her empire included lands on all the five
continents and covered an area of 14 million square
kilometres; the total population of her colonies
and dependencies was 450 million. For
comparison's sake let us recall that Great Britain's area
was less than 250,000 square kilometres and her
population was approximately 40 million. The
total area of Dutch colonial possessions was 70
times bigger than the Netherlands and their
483
population was eight times larger. The destinies of

almost two-thirds of the earth's population and
of scores of countries were decided by the
colonialists in London, Paris, Brussels, Rome,
Washington and Lisbon.
 The enslaved peoples never reconciled

themselves to their status and fought courageously
against the colonialists. Suffice it to say that the
conquest of India lasted 150 years and the conquest
of Africa almost a century. At the time, however,
the odds were fully on the side of the colonialists.
Capitalism held undivided sway over the world,
the socialist states did not exist, and the military
superiority of the colonialists was enormous.
Besides, the actions of the oppressed peoples were
spontaneous and lacked co-ordination. It seemed
that colonial order had come to stay. Such was
the situation until the October Socialist
Revolution which ushered in the era of victorious
national liberation revolutions and the crisis of the
colonial system.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Who Participates in the National
 Liberation Struggle
 To one degree or another colonial oppression

weighs upon the proletariat, the peasantry, the
national bourgeoisie, the urban petty bourgeoisie
and the national intelligentsia, in fact, upon all
or almost all the sections of the population of the
enslaved countries. This determines their
position and prompts them to take part in the national
liberation struggle. The only exception are the
feudal lords, tribal chiefs, landowners (the
81*
484
mainstay of the colonialists) and a part of the local

bourgeoisie which profits by servicing the foreign
companies. Nevertheless, even these groups are
sometimes and to a certain extent caught up in
the general wave of patriotic enthusiasm.
 The proletariat is the most resolute and

consistent enemy of colonial oppression, the staunchest
fighter for national liberation. Since it has no
selfish interests it most fully expresses the
fundamental aspirations of the entire people of an
enslaved country. The working class suffers
intensely from exploitation and racial oppression at
the hands of foreign capitalists. Under the
colonial rule African workers were paid one--
twentieth or one-twenty-fifth the wages received by
Europeans for the same work.
 The political weight of the proletariat and its

influence on the country's social development is
much greater than its proportion to the whole
population. In almost 50 Asian, African and Latin
American countries the working class has its
Communist parties which hold aloft the banner of the
anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggle.
 All this determines the leading role of the

working class in the national liberation movement.
 Naturally, the colonial status and the resultant

backwardness of the enslaved countries hinders
the formation of the working class which, as a
rule, is relatively small. In many countries,
especially in Africa, it is still in its embryonic stage.
In these countries more than 80 per cent of the
proletarians are engaged in agriculture. Africa
with a total population of about 300 million has
485
only four million industrial workers. Most of them
are employed at small enterprises, frequently of
the handicraft type, and do not become
professional workers. After working in a town for a
number of years they return to agricultural
labour.
 Things are different in some Asian and Latin

American countries where the proletariat has been
developing over a period of several decades and
has become an influential and organised national
force. Latin America has approximately 25
million industrial and agricultural workers and Asia
up to 60 million.
 According to UN figures the number of people

engaged in the industry of economically
backward countries has increased 2.5-fold in the past
quarter-century.
 The peasantry is the main mass force of the

national liberation movement and the proletariat's
chief ally. This is natural, for it makes up more
than two-thirds of the population of colonial
and dependent countries and is capable of
conducting large-scale revolutionary action. Lack of
land, extortions and the arbitrary rule of the
colonial administration, and the domination of
landowners and money-lenders in the countryside
prompt the peasants to participate in the
liberation movement.
 The peasantry of the colonial and semi-colonial

countries is almost wholly illiterate, scattered and
unorganised and is beset by deep-rooted religious
and other prejudices. Yet, it is precisely the
peasants who determine the scope of the national
486
liberation movement. The awakening of the

peasants and their mass action against the
colonialists have played a most important role in bringing
about the collapse of the colonial regimes. Who
will lead the national liberation movement and
consequently determine its course and subsequent
results depends on whom the peasantry will
follow---the working class (where there is no working
class, the revolutionary intelligentsia), or the
bourgeoisie.
 The working class and the bourgeoisie have

different attitudes to the peasantry. In contrast
to the proletariat which strives to form an alliance
with the toiling peasantry regarding it as a
comrade, the national bourgeoisie wants to dominate
the peasants and use them in its own interests.
 The national bourgeoisie strives to extend its

economic and political influence, enrich itself to
the greatest possible extent and gain control over
the country's markets. But at each step it
encounters serious obstacles---the ruinous rivalry of the
foreign monopolies and direct counteraction of
the colonial authorities---and has to be content with
meagre profits, while the lion's share flows out of
the country. In Morocco, for example, on the eve
of the proclamation of independence the local
bourgeoisie owned less than five per cent of the
assets of large capitalist enterprises.
 The national bourgeoisie sees its way out in

liberation from foreign dependence and the
creation of an independent national state, one which
will serve its interests and enable it to exploit its
people without any hindrance. It is in the hope of
487
realising these plans that the national bourgeoisie

is participating in the liberation movement and
trying to subordinate it to its narrow class
objectives. At the same time the national bourgeoisie
knows that its plans are at variance with the
interests of the people and fears their activity.
Frequently this fear is greater than its hostility
towards the foreign enslavers. As a result, the
political behaviour of the bourgeoisie is contradictory.
It strives to drive out the colonialists and yet often
hinders the development of the national liberation
movement lest it loses control over it. As it fights
against the imperialists and their internal
mainstay, namely, the feudal and tribal reaction, it
also regards them as allies in the struggle against
the `èxcessive'' activities and the independence of
the masses. It is this duplicity that accounts for
the inconsistency, vacillations and faint--
heartedness of the national bourgeoisie.
 An active role in the national liberation

movements in many colonies and semi-colonies is played
by the urban petty bourgeoisie which makes up
a fairly large section of the population. Connected
as it is with private property it often gravitates
towards the bourgeoisie. On the other hand, it
usually directly participates in the labour process and
its material situation is very unstable. The
oppression by the colonialists and ruinous
competition with foreign companies and wealthy local
middlemen prompt the urban petty bourgeoisie
to fight for national liberation.
 Although the national intelligentsia is very

small in the majority of colonial and dependent
488
countries, its patriotic circles hold a prominent

place in the national liberation struggle and
keenly react to the racialist policies of the colonialists.
Many leading functionaries of the national
liberation movement belong to the intelligentsia,
including the military intelligentsia.
 Such are the social forces participating in the

national liberation movement. In some subjugated
countries where it has already emerged as an
independent class force, the proletariat stands at
the head of the struggle. In other countries the
leadership is in the hands of the national
bourgeoisie.
 Finally, there are countries where owing to the

weakness of both the proletariat and the
bourgeoisie the struggle is headed by what is known as
revolutionary democracy, i.e., representatives of
the revolutionary intelligentsia supported by the
politically active part of the peasantry and the
urban petty bourgeoisie, and the intermediate
sections of the population.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Collapse of the Colonial System
 The colonial system began to collapse rapidly

after the Second World War. During the first 12
post-war years nearly the whole of enslaved Asia
became free. In the following decade a vigorous
anti-colonial struggle unfolded in Africa. More
than 1,500 million people, or 97 per cent of the
population of the oppressed states, got rid of
colonial and semi-colonial bondage.
[489]
TERRITORY OF COLONIAL AND DEPENDENT COUNTRIES

(per cent of world territory)
490
 The British Empire which was established in
the course of more than three and a half centuries
fell apart in a mere two decades. Today Britain
ru'les 2.2 per cent of the population and 5.5 per
cent of the territory of her former possessions.
By January 1972 France had lost 98.8 per cent
of the territory and 98 per cent of the population
of her colonies; the Netherlands, 92.5 and 99.3 per
cent, respectively. Belgium, Japan and Italy have
lost all their colonial possessions.
 The rapid collapse of the colonial system of

imperialism can be traced to several causes.
 The first cause is the unprecedented growth of

the might, prestige and revolutionising influence
of the world socialist system. The countries of the
socialist community directly support the national
liberation movement, and their very existence
fetters the main forces of imperialism and its war
machine.
 Second, imperialism has suffered serious

material, ideological and political setbacks. The
Second World War, which ended in the rout of its
most aggressive contingents, also seriously
weakened the majority of the victorious capitalist
powers. There was a sharp aggravation of the
general crisis of capitalism, chiefly due to the
emergence of the world socialist system.
 Third, the anti-imperialist, anti-colonial

movements of the populations of the enslaved countries
assumed vast proportions. During the war the
imperialists used the material and manpower
resources of the colonies to further their military
plans and intensified the exploitation of the
491
working people. As a result the resistance of the

enslaved peoples mounted. In the course of the war
the working class in some colonies and semi--
colonies considerably increased, the Communist
parties acted with great vigour and determination and
national revolutionary organisations intensified
their activity.
 Fourth, the advanced detachments of the

working class in the capitalist countries stepped up
their class battles against imperialism in its
centres. They resolutely opposed the colonial policy
of the imperialists and unfolded a solidarity
movement with the fighters for national liberation.
 Fifth, the national liberation movements in
various countries tightened their bonds thus
enhancing the solidarity of the peoples fighting
against imperialism and colonialism.
 Despite the bourgeois propaganda's loud claims

that the imperialists ``granted'' independence to
the enslaved countries, the facts show that
independence was wrested from the colonialists in the
course of long and stubborn struggle conducted
by all progressive forces of the world, and first
and foremost by the enslaved peoples themselves.
 The Statement of the 1960 Meeting of

Representatives of the Communist and Workers'
Parties notes: "The breakdown of the system of
colonial slavery under the impact of the national
liberation movement is a development ranking
second in historic importance only to the
formation of the world socialist system.'' The
achievement of political independence marked a deep
revolutionary change in the lives of peoples of the
492
former colonies. It gave their creative forces an

enormous boost, paved the way for social
progress, the elimination of their monstrous
economic backwardness and the revival and further
development of national culture.
 The peoples of the former colonies and

semicolonies are joining the ranks of the builders of
a new life on earth. Obviously, this is of
paramount importance for the further development of
the world revolution.
 The collapse of the colonial system is having a

beneficial effect on international relations. The
more than 70 young national states which
appeared as a result of the fall of the colonial
empires are a force to be reckoned with. Most of
them adhere to anti-imperialist positions and this
curtails imperialism's influence on world politics
to a still greater extent.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
A New Stage of the National Liberation Movement
 The historic victories of the peoples' anti--

imperialist struggle are indisputable. But does this
mean that national liberation revolutions are over
and colonialism has been abolished? No. It is not
as simple as all that.
 Colonies still exist. The colonialists still
directly rule the peoples of Zimbabwe, South Africa and
a number of other countries. Tens of millions of
people are still oppressed by colonial and racist
regimes, and are fighting courageously for their
liberation.
493
 Furthermore, the independence of a number of

former colonies and semi-colonies is largely
formal. It is true that they proclaimed independence
and abolished colonial regimes and colonial
administrations, that (foreign troops have been
withdrawn (though not everywhere) and
representatives of the native population now stand at the
helm of state. But their policies are still guided
by imperialist forces which now act from behind
the scenes. The peoples of these countries are
continuing their struggle, sometimes arms in hand,
for overthrowing the domination of the neo--
colonialists and removing their puppets from power.
The fight against pro-imperialist dictatorships in
Latin American countries is being conducted with
increasing determination. But even in countries
which have won genuine political independence,
and they constitute the majority, the national
liberation revolution has not yet accomplished all
its tasks and has not brought complete liberation.
When a country wins political independence it
does not necessarily mean that she has disposed
of her dire colonial heritage.
 Bourgeois propaganda is fond of playing up

what it calls the civilising role of the imperialists
in the colonies, and tries to make out that the
colonialists are the benefactors of the enslaved
peoples. Facts show, however, that socio-economic
backwardness, which in some countries is very
great, is a characteristic feature of all former
colonies and semi-colonies. The colonial
administration of the Gold Coast (now Ghana), a former
British colony, admitted that the rate at which
494
the local population was educated would have

required 3,500 years to wipe out illiteracy. In
Zaire, after 60 years of Belgian rule, there was
not a single native doctor, engineer, lawyer or
veterinary surgeon.
 More than two-thirds of the population of the
non-socialist world live in former colonies and
semi-colonies, and yet they account for only five
per cent of its steel, six per cent of pig iron, less
than eight per cent of electricity and ten per cent
of footwear and textiles. Even the per capita
agricultural production in these agrarian
countries is a fraction of that in the industrial
states.
 The imperialist states adjusted the economy of

the subjugated countries to their own needs,
turning them into sources of oil, iron ore, diamonds,
gold, ores of non-ferrous metals, cotton, peanuts,
cocoa beans, coffee, bananas and oranges and other
industrial and agricultural raw materials. This
forcibly imposed specialisation of production
assumed the most ugly forms as each country was
transformed into a supplier of only one or two
products.
 At the same time all, or nearly all, essential

manufactured goods were imported from the
imperialist countries.
 Now, even after the former colonies have won

political independence, the imperialists have
preserved and are trying to extend their dominant
positions in the economy of these countries. In
many of them imperialists control mining and
processing industries, public utilities, insurance
495
companies and other key and most profitable

branches of the economy.
 It follows then, that although the winning of

political independence is a vastly important
achievement, it does not, however, denote the
consummation of the national liberation revolution. This
revolution has entered a new stage, that of
winning economic independence from imperialism.
 At the same time many of the young national

states at this stage of the revolution prove to
be a formidable force in the anti-imperialist
struggle.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Capitalism or Socialism?
 Economic liberation from imperialism means

above all the uprooting of its economic influence
and creation of a national economy. It also means
the creation of conditions for abolishing
backwardness and the one-sided agrarian and raw
material specialisation of the economy of the
liberated countries, promoting a serious growth of
the productive forces. Finally, it means the
training of national personnel capable of assuming
control in all fields of political, economic and
cultural activity.
 In order to achieve these aims the countries

concerned have to~
 dislodge the foreign monopolies from key

economic positions and concentrate them in the
public sector. This has to be done because only the
state sector can resolutely resist the monopolies
496
and effectively promote the development of the

national economy;~
 resolve the agrarian problem to the benefit of

the peasantry;~
 release public life of the fetters of feudal and

pre-feudal relations;~
 launch the development of the national

industry;~
 establish a system of public education which

will place learning and culture within reach of
all people;~
 take steps to democratise public life and raise

living standards;~
 and firmly adhere to anti-imperialist positions

in international affairs in order to secure
favourable external conditions for independent and
progressive development.
 It is these far-reaching socio-economic changes

that make up the general democratic programme
of the revolution at the new stage of its
development.
 Nevertheless, it is also necessary to decide how

these problems should be solved and whether to
take the capitalist road or reject it. Prior to
the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917,
when capitalism was the undivided ruler of the
world, such a question did not and could not arise.
At the time the countries which managed (to win
national independence had no alternative to
capitalism. Today, however, they have---they can
take the socialist road. And it is the new stage of
the national liberation revolution that will reveal
which trend will gain the upper hand.
497
 Class differentiation, aggravation of social

contradictions and the struggle over ways of
further development of the former colonies and
semicolonies are the principal features of the
contemporary stage of the national liberation movement.
"The main thing,'' said General Secretary of the
CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev at the
24th CPSU Congress, "is that the struggle for
national liberation in many countries has in
practical terms begun to grow into a struggle against
exploitative relations, both feudal and
capitalist."
 Although the struggle of the opposing trends in

the socio-economic development of the liberated
countries is a drawn-out process, there are
already marked distinctions in their development.
 Today it is possible to speak of at least three

distinct groups of liberated countries: those that
reject the capitalist way of development,
proclaim the building of socialism as their aim and
carry out deep-going anti-capitalist social
reforms; those that are following the capitalist
road, and lastly those that in a sense occupy an
intermediate place: although their spontaneous
economic development tends to orientate them on
capitalism, their internal situation is uncertain and
the leading class trend in social progress is as yet
indefinite.
 The capitalist way of development jeopardises

prospects for economic liberation for the former
colonies and semi-colonies, retards their
emergence from socio-economic backwardness and
provokes increasingly bitter contradictions. In many
32---2052
498
of the countries following this path the

imperialists have retained and are even consolidating their
positions by broadening co-operation with the
national bourgeoisie. Feudal and pre-feudal relations
are making themselves felt despite the fact that
steps are being taken to restrict them. The
peasantry is becoming inveigled in a new system of
dependence which is being established by the
growing landed bourgeoisie, the kulaks. Some
progress in industrial development is taking place
but the ruling bourgeoisie can neither ensure a
serious economic upsurge nor launch the
construction of the national economy on a wide front.
 What seems to be the matter? In the first place,

the development of capitalism in the young
national states strengthens the bonds of dependence
on the world capitalist economy in which the
liberated countries are in a subordinate position.
The relations prevailing within this economy---
the strong dominating the weak---and the neo--
colonialist policy of the capitalist monopolies force
liberated countries into still greater dependence.
 Furthermore, it should be borne in mind that

the main social force interested in capitalist
development of the liberated countries is the
national bourgeoisie. But it is still extremely weak.
Besides, on account of its duplicity, it is indecisive
and inconsistent and frequently co-operates with
the imperialist monopolies and feudal circles,
instead of attacking them.
 Of course, in present-day conditions the chances

for the development of capitalism in the
liberated countries do not depend solely on the
499
potentialities of the national capital. For world

capitalism it is a matter of paramount importance to
implant capitalist relations and support the local
exploiters. This is one of the principal class
functions of the imperialist `àid'' to the liberated
countries. At the same time the very nature of this aid
and its terms usually manifest imperialism's desire
to stimulate the growth of dependent capital,
which would remain under the general control
of the foreign imperialist monopolies.
 Resorting to devious ways the imperialist

monopolies are continuing to extort a tribute of many
billions from the liberated countries and often act
counter to the official policies of their
governments by waging a ruthless competitive struggle
against local enterprise and supporting the local
conservative groups which are connected with
them and which oppose bourgeois reforms. Some
ruling imperialist circles, because of the extremely
reactionary nature of their policy or for want of
other forces to rely on, are inclined to support
these groups, too.
 Account should be taken of the fact that it is

extremely difficult to bring the former colonies
and semi-colonies out of their extreme
backwardness and poverty. This can be accomplished only
given the solid support of the masses, their
enthusiasm and unqualified determination to
dedicate themselves to this cause. The development
of the liberated countries along the capitalist road
deepens the suffering and privations of the
working people and at the same time promotes the fast
enrichment of the bourgeois powers that be. In
32*
500
their efforts to suppress popular discontent the

ruling groups encroach on elementary democratic
freedoms. Life shows that the capitalist way of
development tends to aggravate conflicts between
nations engendered by the growth of reactionary
nationalism.
 This nationalism often imperils interstate

relations and the internal development of the
liberated countries and is used as an instrument by
the privileged classes and chauvinistic groups in
their struggle against the progressive forces.
 All progressive revolutionary-patriotic forces,

naturally, reject the capitalist way and call for
the completion of the national liberation
revolution and the promotion of socialist development.
Their position is winning the increasing support
of the masses.
 The ways of transition to socialism may vary
depending on social relations and specific
conditions in the former colonies and semi-colonies.
Today many of the liberated countries have the
necessary conditions to follow the non-capitalist
road.
 Marx, Engels and Lenin made the point that in

the epoch of the transition from capitalism to
socialism on a world scale the backward countries
do not necessarily have to pass through the
capitalist stage of development. They can, provided
they rely on the support of states of the
victorious proletariat, shift to socialist construction
bypassing capitalism.
 Naturally, this road to socialism has many

distinctive features. Countries following it eliminate
501
survivals of feudal and other pre-capitalist

relations, and build up a genuinely national
economy with modern productive forces in industry
and agriculture. A nation is formed, a working
class appears and comes to play an increasing
role in public life; scientific socialism wins
stronger positions and national intelligentsia is trained.
In other words, all the historical work which the
modern imperialist states carried out in the
period of capitalism takes place during the
transition to socialism bypassing capitalism.
 That is why the non-capitalist way is

characterised by a number of major democratic tasks.
Their solution is the main content of the first stage
of non-capitalist development. This stage may be
described as democratic. Of course, it is a
special kind of democracy which has an anti--
capitalist as well as anti-imperialist and anti-feudal
orientation and paves the way for the transition
to a higher stage in the course of which mainly
socialist problems are solved. Obviously the
transition to the non-capitalist way has to be guided
by a power which expresses the interests of the
working people and alters the social relations in
conformity with these interests. In the course of
non-capitalist development this power itself
undergoes changes as a result of the steadily
increasing influence of the emergent working class.
 The republics of Soviet Central Asia and the

Mongolian People's Republic built socialism
bypassing capitalism. The rise of the world
socialist system and the weakening of imperialism create
especially favourable international conditions for
502
the non-capitalist development of the former

colonies and semi-colonies.
 In its Report to the 24th Congress the CPSU

Central Committee pointed out that a fairly large
number of Asian and African countries have taken
the non-capitalist path, i.e., a path of building
a socialist society. These countries are carrying
out deep-going socio-economic changes promoting
the interests of the people and strengthening
national independence. They are nationalising the
property of the imperialist monopolies and
strengthening the public sector, which is the economic
basis of their revolutionary-democratic policy. In
Burma, for example, the public sector controls
over 80 per cent of the mining and about 60 per
cent of the manufacturing industries.
 The advanced liberated countries are carrying

through agrarian reforms, establishing state and
co-operative farms, introducing progressive social
and labour legislation and improving conditions
for augmenting the political influence of the
working people.
 Countries which have taken the socialist path

pursue a vigorous anti-imperialist foreign policy
and support the liberation movement of the
oppressed peoples. They maintain friendly relations
with socialist states, relying on their support in
the struggle for independent and progressive
development. Their revolutionary-democratic
parties are promoting ties with the CPSU and other
Marxist-Leninist parties.
 The non-capitalist development of the former

colonies and semi-colonies is a complicated
503
process. The revolutionary authority and all

progressive forces not only face the need fundamentally
to change the existing property relations and the
spiritual life of society; they must also exert
tremendous efforts to build up and develop the
productive forces and simultaneously improve the
welfare of the working people.
 Like any revolution, non-capitalist development
is accompanied by an acute class struggle.
Imperialism and local reactionary elements in these
countries have not abandoned the hope of pushing
them back to the road of capitalist development.
They endeavour to compromise the state's
anticapitalist measures and prove that its
interference in economic affairs is `ìneffective''. Hostile
elements create economic difficulties in the hope
of arousing the discontent of the masses. In their
fight against the revolutionary authority
reactionary circles extensively utilise as yet low level of
political consciousness of fairly wide sections of
the working people, tribal enmity and religious
and nationalistic prejudices. With the help of the
bureaucratic bourgeoisie and corrupt elements in
the state and party machinery the hostile forces
try to reverse the social development of countries
orientated on socialism and sometimes manage to
bring about a reactionary degeneration of
progressive regimes. Finally, the reactionary
elements are not averse to employing armed force and
often place their stakes on pro-imperialist
elements in the army. Being the best organised force,
armies play an especially important role in the
newly liberated countries.
504
 But no matter how difficult problems of social

progress may be in these countries, they can
be solved if the masses are mobilised for the task
and if the democratic and revolutionary forces are
united. The progressive forces in the former
colonies and semi-colonies can draw upon the
experience of the world liberation movement and
the experience of the socialist states. This
experience has been embodied in the theory of
scientific socialism, in the practical achievements of the
socialist states and in the way their economic,
social, state and Party life is organised.
 Today the successful development of the

liberated countries along the road of social progress
depends in ever greater measure on resolute
actions countering the anti-communist and narrow
nationalistic trends fostered by certain circles.
 The Final Document of the 1969 International

Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties
says: "Communists fight for the freedom, national
independence and socialist future of their peoples.
They are bearers of the ideas of scientific
socialism and fight in the vanguard of the national
liberation movement. This movement, the social
progress of the peoples in the newly liberated
countries demand close co-operation between the
Communist and Workers' parties and the other
patriotic and progressive forces. A hostile attitude
to communism, and persecution of Communists
harm the struggle for national and social
emancipation.''
 The struggle against reactionary forces and the

henchmen of imperialism and neo-colonialism is
505
also taking place in many former colonies and

dependencies. Very considerable progress has
been made by the Indian people in this field.
India has nationalised the biggest banks, deprived
the princes of their centuries-old privileges and
strengthened the public sector. Democratic,
Leftwing forces have consolidated their positions.
Serious social changes have taken place in the
Republic of Sri Lanka, and the imperialist plans
of dismembering Nigeria have been frustrated.
 Certain changes have also taken place in the

liberation movement in Latin America. The
peoples of this part of the world are upholding their
independence and fighting against the oppression
of American monopolies with mounting
determination. US imperialism's efforts to inhibit the
growth of the revolutionary movement by
pursuing a policy of scanty reforms carried out with
the assistance of certain local bourgeois circles
are of no avail. Ever larger sections of workers,
peasants, urban petty bourgeoisie and patriotic
intelligentsia are becoming aware that only a
resolute fight against imperialism and revolutionary
break-up of the outdated social order will open
the road to genuine freedom, democracy and
socialism. Even the patriotic sections of the clergy
and the army, which just recently constituted the
bulwark of imperialism and reaction, are
beginning to join the liberation movement.
 The working class led by the Communist

parties plays a vanguard role in the anti-imperialist
struggle in many Latin American countries, and
in rallying all revolutionary forces.
506
 The trend towards an independent foreign

policy course and expansion of ties with the
socialist states is developing with growing
persistence in these countries. The policy of isolation and
blockade of Cuba is heading towards complete
bankruptcy. Latin America is turning into a
major seat of revolutionary struggle, acquiring
increasing international importance in this respect.
 Historic social changes are taking place in all

formerly enslaved countries, faster in some, slower
in others. And in spite of occasional reverses this
process is gaining momentum and strength and
developing in width and depth.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Imperialism Remains the Chief Enemy
 As has always been the case the national

liberation movement encounters the furious resistance
of imperialism which remains the chief enemy of
the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The imperialists cannot reconcile themselves to
the fact that they are losing control over
hundreds of millions of people and are being deprived
of the opportunity of exploiting enormous riches
and utilising extensive territories as military and
strategic bases.
 They are doing their utmost to hold on to the

remaining colonies, counterattacking at the first
opportunity in the hope of encroaching on the
gains made by the peoples. The imperialists strive
to turn the political independence of countries
507
where colonial regimes had been abolished into a

screen behind which they could continue their
sway. For this purpose they employ the usual
colonial methods: they place their henchmen in power,
impose unequal agreements, they resort to
putsches, military occupation and armed
aggression, bribery, blackmail and deception, assassinate
progressive leaders, foment discord between tribes
and nationalities and fan religious strife. If they
could the imperialists would have tried to subdue
the resistance of the peoples of Asia, Africa and
Latin America with fire and sword. But in the
present international situation it is impossible to
stake chiefly on direct military action as a means
of suppressing the freedom of the peoples.
 The existence of the two world systems and the

struggle between them force the imperialists to
manoeuvre, make concessions and to guide
themselves in the relations with the newly liberated
countries not only by considerations of immediate
economic and political advantages, but also by
the interests of their global strategy and plans to
prevent these countries from taking the road of
social progress.
 The system of measures and methods now

employed by imperialism to keep the liberated
countries in subjection has been called neo--
colonialism.
 US imperialism is the main bulwark of

neocolonialism, for it is the American imperialists
who pursue a most extensive neo-colonialist
policy. Their favourite method is to effectuate their
colonial policy behind a screen of democratic
508
veriage and pose as advocates of anti--

colonialism.
 The remaining colonial regimes in Africa and

other parts of the world would have collapsed a
long time ago were it not for support by US
imperialist circles. Many formally sovereign Latin
American states are tied in bondage to American
imperialism.
 Britain, France, West Germany, Japan and

other imperialist states also pursue a neo--
colonialist policy.
 The line of the Maoist leadership in fact helps

imperialist subversion. The Chinese leaders
direct their activities against the union of socialist
states, the international working class and the
national liberation movement. They want to isolate
the national liberation movement from the
political and ideological influence of world socialism
and are blatantly fomenting reactionary--
nationalistic feelings and even racialist tendencies.
 The splitting activities of the Chinese leaders

have enormously harmed the national liberation
movement. The slaughter in Indonesia, the
aggravation of conditions in which the Indochinese
peoples fought against US aggression, the
difficulties in the development of the liberation
movement in other Asian countries, the defeat of the
patriotic forces in some African countries, the
split within many anti-colonial and anti-racialist
organisations and the death of a number of
prominent leaders of the national liberation struggle
in Africa are in one way or another connected
with the great-Han splitting policy of the Chinese
509
leadership. Of late this policy manifested itself

in the attitude of the Maoists to the developments
in the Indian Subcontinent, their support for the
brutal repressions of Pakistani brass against the
people of Bangladesh.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
True Friends and Allies
 Today the national liberation movement is not

fighting imperialism single-handed: it has the
support of the world socialist system and therein lies
its great advantage. This support is one of the
main sources of its sharply increased strength.
Without it the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin
America could have never smashed the colonial
system, they would never be given an opportunity
to free themselves economically from imperialism
and decide their own road of further development.
 It is socialist ideology, the socialist nature of

their social system that determine the position of
the Soviet Union and other socialist states as true
friends and allies of the peoples of Asia, Africa
and Latin America.
 The entire life of the Soviet state, its home and
foreign policies rest on socialist principles which
are irreconcilably hostile to all forms of
oppression. In his report "The Fiftieth Anniversary of
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" General
Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid
Brezhnev dwelt on the specific features of the
alliance between world socialism and the forces
of national liberation in modern conditions, and
the principles underlying their support by the
510
socialist community. ".. .The whole world knows,''

he said, "that acting on Lenin's behests, our
Party and people actively support the national
liberation struggle of the peoples and the
progressive policy of countries liberated from colonial
oppression. In saying this we should like to stress
that in present conditions, as we see it, a policy
is progressive if it firmly repulses neo-colonialism
and works for the consolidation of the sovereignty
and independence of the young states, for their
economic liberation from imperialism, for peace,
for social progress and close solidarity with other
progressive forces of our time, and, first and
foremost, with the socialist countries.''
 How do the socialist states support the national

liberation movement?
 First, they furnish all-round assistance to the

peoples of those countries which have not yet
won political freedom and are fighting against
colonial regimes and puppet dictatorships imposed
on them by the imperialists.
 Second, they support the young national states

in all spheres---political, military, economic and
ideological.
 In the political sphere the co-operation between

socialist states and the liberated countries is
spearheaded against imperialism's efforts to deprive
these countries of the possibility of determining
their own ways of development without foreign
interference. Together with the young national
states the socialist countries oppose all unequal
political relations and all attempts at diktat on the
part of the imperialists.
511
 In the military sphere the socialist states help

the young national states to strengthen their
defensive capacity, build up national armed forces
which would defend their political independence
and national interests.
 In the economic sphere the socialist countries

are rendering former colonies and semi-colonies
all possible support in their efforts to win
independence from imperialism. They furnish them
direct economic and technical assistance, help
them in training national personnel---engineers,
technicians and skilled workers---and in
developing science, culture and public health. With Soviet
assistance developing countries have built or are
building over a hundred cultural institutions.
 Economic co-operation with the socialist

countries has an enormous impact on the relations
between developing states and the imperialist powers,
which are often forced to make serious concessions.
Such assistance on the part of the socialist
countries is of the utmost significance.
 In the ideological sphere the socialist states
help the patriotic forces to fight against the
campaign of "spiritual conquest" which the
imperialists are conducting in the liberated countries. The
help of the socialist states in the training of
personnel and the development of education
contributes to the success of the cultural revolution in
these countries.
 The Soviet Union's relations with the young

national states are based on complete equality and
mutual respect. Socialist countries have especially
close, friendly relations with countries which are
512
carrying through serious socio-economic changes

and are developing along the non-capitalist path.
In its turn the national liberation movement
appreciably helps the Soviet Union and world
socialism by undermining imperialism's economic,
political and ideological positions in vast areas of
the world.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
THE WORLD COMMUNIST MOVEMENT
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 Let us glance at an old map of the world. Vast

territories are covered with the colours of the
imperialist states whose colonies accounted for
almost the whole of Asia and Africa. Now let us
take a look at the latest map of the world. A
quarter of the earth's surface is taken up by the states
of the socialist system. They have been
established in Europe, Asia and the Western
Hemisphere. Colonial territories are tiny islets in an
ocean of independent states most of which came
into existence in the recent decades.
 The fundamental changes taking place in

modern society are engendered by the objective
regularities of its development which manifest
themselves in the course of the conscious activity
of the masses.
 A characteristic feature of our epoch is the

active participation of the masses in the struggle
for a new life. Not more than fifty years ago some
parts of the world were regarded politically
dormant. Even two decades ago there were countries
513
which the capitalists called their reliable bastions

where there were none and could not be any
revolutionary movements.
 Today all continents are scenes of some form

of revolutionary movement of the masses.
Socialist slogans are winning more and more people and
socialism has indeed become the idea of the
century. Even its sworn enemies, in an effort to
conceal their reactionary plans from the people, often
render it lip service.
 Needless to say, not everywhere is this

struggle taking place under the socialist banner, for it
involves the most diverse social forces, each with
its specific objectives and its own notions of the
ideals of progress. But the important thing is that
objectively each of these forces strikes a blow at
capital. In all spheres of life capitalism has
become the main obstacle to progress. In our day
and age all social movements in defence of
freedom and democracy in all its forms also defend
the rights of the individual and, in the final
analysis, contribute to the struggle for the
revolutionary transformation of the world.
 The CPSU Programme reads in part: "

Socialist revolutions, anti-imperialist national liberation
revolutions, people's democratic revolutions, broad
peasant movements, popular struggles to
overthrow fascist and other despotic regimes, and
general democratic movements against national
oppression---all these merge in a single world-wide
revolutionary process undermining and
destroying capitalism.''
33---2052
514
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Force Which Unites All Revolutionaries
 The world communist movement is the

vanguard of the contemporary revolutionary
struggle. Communist parties are active in all parts of
the world and everywhere the communist
movement is an important factor of the unification of
all revolutionary forces. Communists, true
Marxists-Leninists are concentrating their efforts on
the achievement of this union.
 No other political trend has ever encountered

such complicated problems as those which the
communist movement has to contend. This is not
surprising since the Communists were the first in
the history of mankind to launch the socialist
reorganisation of society. As a result they are
constantly under enemy fire, and are not always in a
position to surmount the difficulties engendered by
life. The communist movement keeps developing
despite all obstacles and that is an earnest of its
ultimate success.
 The main source of strength and vitality of the

cause espoused by Communists is their scientific
world outlook, their revolutionary theory----
Marxism-Leninism. As can be seen from its
centuryold history Marxism-Leninism has proved to be
the only teaching capable of correctly
determining the general directions and the motive forces
of progress, because it analyses the general laws
of social development and makes a concrete study
of the specific features of the revolutionary
struggle in separate countries.
 The Communist parties are armed with science--
515
based strategy and tactics of revolutionary

struggle for the triumph of social progress. Thanks to
their strategy and tactics the working people are
in a position to fight successfully in any
conditions and take into account any changes that take
place in the historical situation.
 Proletarian internationalism is another major

source of communism's strength. It is the supreme
expression of the community of basic interests of the
workers of different countries and the foundation
of the international policy of the Communists.
 For decades the capitalists have been using the

poisoned weapon of bourgeois nationalism in their
struggle against the working class. "It is precisely
the nationalistic tendencies, especially those which
assume the form of anti-Sovietism,'' states the CC
Report to the 24th CPSU Congress, "that
bourgeois ideologists and bourgeois propaganda
have placed most reliance on in their fight
against socialism and the communist
movement.'' The working class and the Communists
counter bourgeois nationalism with proletarian
internationalism.
 Today proletarian internationalism denotes in

the first place the solidarity of all revolutionary
detachments in the common fight against
imperialism and reaction, for democracy, national
independence and socialism. In line with its
principles each national detachment of the
revolutionary working-class movement does its utmost to
support the revolutionary development in other
countries, protect the socialist gains of the peoples
and support the socialist world.
33*
516
 Proletarian internationalism is the foundation

of the fraternal mutual assistance of the socialist
countries, the help rendered by world socialism
to the national liberation movement and the
allround mutual support of all the detachments of
the revolutionary army of the proletariat.
Defence of peace and the fight against the threat of
another world war are also an inalienable feature
of proletarian internationalism.
 Finally, in our day the most important

requirements of proletarian internationalism are defence
of the Marxist-Leninist ideology as the
internationalist ideology of the communist movement and
the struggle for the unity of all revolutionary
forces.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
For the Cohesion of Communists
 The world communist movement is the most

influential force of our time. Communism's
ideological enemies in the West often try to disprove
this by referring to the difficulties which have
arisen in the communist movement in recent
years.
 Yes, there are difficulties, and at times they

were very serious. Lately, Marxism-Leninism as
the ideological and theoretical foundation of the
communist movement has come under attack from
various sides. The Chinese leadership launched the
formation of splitter groups in a number of
countries, calling them ``Marxist-Leninist'' parties. It
is endeavouring to unite these groups to
counterpose the world communist movement. Quite often
517
the Trotskyites work hand in glove with these

groups. The tendency towards nationalistic
selfisolation has become increasingly manifest in some
countries and both ``Left''- and Right-wing
opportunists have been waxing of late.
 The bourgeoisie and its ideologists supported

all these trends hostile to communism in an
attempt to further their anti-Soviet aims.
Imperialism pushed opportunist elements in Communist
parties into concluding a sort of an ideological
deal by intimating that it would proclaim them
genuine ``Marxists'' adhering to fully "
independent positions" if they first proved their anti--
Sovietism.
 Developments also show that such people

usually begin to fight against the Communist parties
in their countries, too. This is borne out by the
example of traitors such as Garaudy in France,
Fischer in Austria, Petkoff in Venezuela and the
Manifesto group in Italy. The Communist parties
regard the struggle against both ``Left''- and
Right-wing opportunism as an important factor
of the strengthening of their own ranks.
 The Communist Party of the Soviet Union has

always advocated unity of the communist forces.
The 23rd CPSU Congress (1966) expressed deep
regret over the differences which had arisen and
which played into the hands of the Communists'
enemies. This, in the opinion of the CPSU, clashed
with the interests of all fraternal parties, with
the common interests of the communist movement.
 The CPSU, all Marxist-Leninist parties

concentrated on uniting the communist movement and
518
consolidating its ideological foundation.

Important steps in this direction were the 1967
Conference of the European Communist Parties in
Karlovy Vary and a number of other international
communist meetings which discussed the question
of calling an International Meeting of
Communist and Workers' Parties. The CPSU played a
major role in formulating the idea of convening
the Meeting and carrying it through.
 In this connection the Resolution of the 24th
CPSU Congress says: "The Congress notes
that in the period under review the CC CPSU has
consistently pursued a line towards the cohesion
of the communist ranks on a Marxist-Leninist
basis, and has displayed firmness in standing up for
the internationalist principles of the communist
movement. Together with other Marxist-Leninist
parties the CC CPSU did much work for
preparing and convening the 1969 International
Meeting, which was an important stride forward in
strengthening the Communists' international unity
and consolidating all the anti-imperialist forces,
and has made a major contribution to the
development of a number of propositions of
MarxismLeninism. The CPSU regards the fulfilment of the
programme of anti-imperialist struggle put
forward by the Meeting as an important basis for
strengthening unity of action by the Communist
and Workers' parties, and for enhancing the role
of the communist movement in the present-day
world development. The CPSU favours the
convocation in the future of international meetings as
the need arises.''
519
 The truly world-wide celebrations marking the

50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist
Revolution, the centenary of Lenin's birth, the
50th anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics and the 150th anniversaries of the
births of Marx and Engels contributed enormously
to strengthening the cohesion of the communist
movement. The 1969 Meeting of Communist and
Workers' Parties and the great revolutionary
anniversaries offered additional proof of the viability
of the Marxist-Leninist teaching and gave further
impetus to the struggle of the fraternal parties
for the interests of the working class and all
working people.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Most Influential Movement
 of Our Time
 The measures which were adopted considerably

strengthened the unity of the international
communist movement and invigorated the fruitful
bilateral and multilateral inter-Party ties.
 No other result could have been expected, for

the positions of the communist movement today, its
place in world politics are determined by specific
objective circumstances which are precisely what
ensures its viability.
 The influence of the communist movement in the

modern world is determined above all by the fact
that it expresses the interests of the working people
and is a genuinely international, world-wide
political organisation, more powerful and better
\Velded into a single whole than any other. Today
520
nearly 90 countries have Communist parties with

a total membership of more than 50 million.
 The following fact shows the dynamics of the

development of the communist movement: since
the Second World War the number of
Communists increased 2.5-fold. In 1957 there were 75
Communist and Workers' parties in the world
with a total membership of 33 million. This means
that in a decade and a half their number
increased by over 17 million.
 Communist parties are the ruling parties in the

socialist countries. The successful construction of
communism and socialism in socialist countries
multiplies the power of world communism,
furthers its unity and enhances the influence of the
Communist parties in the world. This circumstance
imposes a special responsibility on Communists
in socialist countries, for everything that these
parties do in one way or another has an impact
on the entire world revolutionary process.
 In many capitalist states Communist parties

have developed into a force to be reckoned with,
and even if they are still unable to determine the
course of the development of their states, their
influence on the domestic scene is becoming
increasingly apparent. In Italy, France, Japan,
India and some other countries the
situation is such that the ruling circles have to heed
communist views on many crucial issues. Further
proof of the mounting influence of the
Communists in the capitalist countries is the increasing
number of votes which are cast for the
Communist parties. In the countries of the non--
521
socialist world where Communist parties are not banned

they poll about 40 million votes.
 In countries where the national liberation
movement is in progress, Communist parties are
fighting for the completion of the national liberation
of the peoples, for social progress. And it is
largely due to the Communist parties that the ideas
of socialism are being regarded with increasing
interest by the national liberation forces.
 The militant contingent of Latin American

Communists is coming to play an increasing role
in the world-wide family of Communists.
Communist parties, particularly in Chile, Uruguay,
Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela, have
developed into a formidable political force. Steeled
in furious clashes with foreign and domestic
reaction Latin American Communists are resolutely
building up a political army of anti-imperialist,
anti-feudal revolutions.
 One of the most important objective factors of

the outstanding role played by world communism
is that in their struggle for the interests of the
working class, of all working people, the
Communists give the fullest expression to mankind's
loftiest aspirations: peace, freedom and the all-round
development of the individual. The Communists
fight consistently to avert another world war.
 The imperialist bourgeoisie is not oblivious to

the growing influence of the communist
movement and is subjecting the Communists to
severest repressions. In almost 40 countries
Communist parties are operating illegally. On several
occasions legal proceedings had been instituted
522
against the Communist Party in the USA. In

Chile, Spain, Paraguay, Haiti, Guatemala and
some other countries the authorities resort to
bloody terror to suppress communist activity. But
all to no avail. Even in underground conditions
the Communist parties continue their energetic
activity, rallying together a wide circle of activists
and organising the struggle for the rights of the
working people, for democratic freedoms and
peace.
 The Communist Party of the Soviet Union,

working together with other Marxist-Leninist
parties, has set itself the aim of further broadening
the influence of the communist movement and
consolidating its unity. In its Resolution, the 24th
CPSU Congress instructed the Central Committee
"to continue steadfastly to work for the
cohesion of the communist movement and for
enhancing its role in the whole anti-imperialist struggle
and to achieve even greater political cohesion of
the communist movement and its ideological
Marxist-Leninist unity''.
__ALPHA_LVL2__
THE STRUGGLE
 OF THE CPSU AND THE SOVIET STATE
 FOR PEACE AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
__ALPHA_LVL3__
[introduction.]
 The foreign policy of the Soviet state, which is

designed to ensure favourable international
conditions for building socialism and communism,
plays a very important role in the great creative
activity which the Soviet people are conducting
under the leadership of the Communist Party.
523
Lenin urged the Party to solve international

issues "from the point of view of the conditions
which best make for the development and
consolidation of the socialist revolution'',"^^*^^ and to take
into account that the image of the modern world
is determined by the "duel between two methods,
two political and economic systems---the
communist and the capitalist".^^**^^ He summoned the
Party consistently to fulfil its internationalist
duty.
 At the same time Lenin, basing himself on the

law of the uneven development of capitalism at
its highest, imperialist stage and the possibility
of socialism first winning in one or several
countries, substantiated the principle of peaceful
coexistence of countries with differing social
systems.
 Soviet foreign policy's revolutionary,

transformative nature stems from the very essence of the
socialist state, from the historical obligation which
the proletariat of Russia assumed when under
the guidance of the Leninist Party it overthrew
the rule of the bourgeoisie and landowners on
one-sixth of the world's surface and opened a
new era in the history of mankind---the era of the
transition from capitalism to socialism.
 The map of the world and the balance of forces

in the world arena have changed considerably
since the October Socialist Revolution in
Russia.
_-_-_


 ^^**^^ Ibid., Vol. 31, p. 456.
524
 The Soviet people's glorious victory in the Great

Patriotic War of 1941--1945 against the nazi
invaders demonstrated the viability of the Soviet
system, and rocked the decaying mainstays of
imperialism in many countries and large areas of
the world, opening before their peoples the road
to genuine freedom and independence and the
construction of a new society.
 The world socialist system became one of the

main factors of social development.
 The important changes that took place in the

world balance of forces were also due to the
collapse of the colonial system of imperialism.
Having smashed the chains of colonialism many young
sovereign states have chosen the non-capitalist
way of development. They have orientated
themselves on socialism, thus becoming the allies of the
socialist countries in their struggle against
imperialism's aggressive policy.
 Finally, the continuing aggravation of the

general crisis of capitalism is characterised by a
steady upsurge of the strike movement of the
working class in the capitalist states and the
mounting struggle of the working people against
monopoly rule. The democratic movement of the
world public for peace and against the arms race
and imperialism's military intrigues is also
gathering momentum.
 To a considerable degree the way to all these

historic changes in the world and in the class
struggle in various sectors of the anti-imperialist
front was paved by the Soviet Union's effective
support for the cause of peace and progress.
525
 In their foreign policy activity the CPSU and

the Soviet Government take account of the
difficulties and contradictions existing in the modern
world. These difficulties and contradictions are
engendered by imperialism's aggressive policy,
particularly in Southeast Asia and the Middle
East. The bourgeoisie is searching for cracks and
loopholes in the common anti-imperialist front in
order to split it up. These difficulties and
contradictions also grow out of a certain
heterogeneity of the forces involved in the turbulent
development of the world revolutionary and liberation
process.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Fundamental Principles of
 Soviet Foreign Policy
 Since its establishment more than half a

century ago, the Soviet state conducts its foreign
policy in keeping with Lenin's principles of
internationalism and active defence of peace. At
various stages this policy was enriched with new
experience and methods, but under all conditions
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the
Soviet Government undeviatingly followed Lenin's
behests and acted in the creative spirit of
 `Às we see it,'' underlined General Secretary

of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev
in his report on the 50th anniversary of the USSR,
"the purpose of our foreign policy is to strengthen
peace, which we need for building communism,
which is required by all socialist countries, by the
526
peoples of all lands. This is why we shall continue

to counteract the policy of aggression and help
to eliminate throughout the world the conditions
that breed aggressive wars.
 `Às we see it, it is the purpose and mission of

our foreign policy to facilitate the exercise by all
the peoples of their inalienable rights and, first
and foremost, their right to independent and
sovereign development, so that they may benefit by
the fruits of modern civilisation.
 `Às we see it, it is the purpose and mission of

our policy on the international scene to side
unfailingly with those who are fighting imperialism
and all forms of exploitation and oppression, for
freedom and human dignity, for democracy and
socialism.''
 Class and socialist in content and aims, the
Leninist foreign policy of the CPSU and the
Soviet state is consistently internationalist,
genuinely democratic and profoundly peaceful.
 It is internationalist because it is permeated

with the spirit of solidarity with the world's
revolutionary forces. The interests of the Soviet
people coincide objectively with the vital
requirements and aspirations of the working people of all
countries. By defending the interests of the
Soviet state, Soviet foreign policy upholds the
interests of the working people of the whole world.
By supporting all revolutionary and national
liberation forces and curtailing the sphere of
imperialist influence, the Soviet state also contributes
to the establishment of more propitious conditions
for the peaceful creative labour of the Soviet
527
people. Thus, a genuinely socialist foreign policy

is an important factor of the development of the
class struggle in the world arena.
 The Soviet Union proves this by word and

deed. Thanks to Soviet foreign policy which
unmasked imperialist conspiracies against peace and
democracy in the initial post-war years the
People's Democracies in Eastern and Central Europe
successfully defended their gains against the
encroachments of internal and external
counterrevolution and launched socialist construction.
Soviet assistance to the Arab peoples in October
1956 checked the Anglo-French-Israeli aggression
whose purpose was to stamp out national
liberation revolutions in the Middle East. In 1958 the
Soviet Union upset US plans of intervention in
the Lebanon. In 1961 and 1962 revolutionary
Cuba managed to safeguard her freedom and
independence in the face of unceasing provocations
and threats by US imperialism thanks to Soviet
support. From the very outset of US aggression
in Southeast Asia, the Soviet Union resolutely
upheld the just cause of patriots of Vietnam and
other countries of Indochina. During the June
1967 Israeli aggression, the Arab peoples once
again received the firm support of the USSR.
 Soviet foreign policy is democratic because it

upholds the equality of all nations, both large
and small. It is an honest policy dictated by the
interests of the working people and not narrow
groups. By its very first foreign political act---
the Decree on Peace---the young Soviet Republic
countered the deceitful diplomacy of imperialism
528
with a straightforward policy addressed to all the

peoples. In 1917 the revolutionary workers' and
peasants' government made public all the secret
treaties entered into by tsarism, and proclaimed
them null and void.
 International relations of the latter half of the

20th century are characterised by an
unprecedented scope of the world-wide struggle for peace.
Credit for this is in no small measure due to
Soviet foreign policy which opened the eyes of the
world public to the danger inherent in
imperialism's aggressive course and showed that there was
another road, one which coincided with the
interests of all peoples.
 Indicative of the peaceableness of Soviet

foreign policy is the fact that in all issues of war and
peace the Soviet Union consistently fights for
peace, security and friendship of peoples. It is
written down in the CPSU Programme that
socialism has offered mankind the only reasonable
principle of maintaining relations between states
at a time when the world is divided into two
systems---Lenin's principle of peaceful coexistence
of states with different social systems. This
principle implies renunciation of war as a means
of settling international disputes, and their
solution by negotiation, renunciation of force or the
threat of force, non-interference in internal
affairs, recognition of the right of every people to
solve all the problems of its country by itself,
inviolability of state borders, respect for the
sovereignty, equality and independence of all
countries, promotion of economic, scientific,
529
technical and cultural co-operation on the basis of

mutual benefit.
 Naturally, the principle of peaceful coexistence

does not mean that two opposing ideologies---
bourgeois and socialist---can live in peace.
Ideological principles are irreconcilable.
 These fundamental features of Soviet foreign

policy are embodied in the tireless activity of the
Soviet state and the CPSU on the international
scene.
 In its decisions the 24th CPSU Congress

approved the basic, time-tested trends of Soviet
foreign policy and mapped out a concrete, effective
programme for a consistent struggle for peace and
universal security.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Co-operation
 with Socialist Countries
 and Revolutionary-Democratic Parties
 In view of its class content and internationalist

character, the Soviet foreign policy is formulated
and effectuated with the utmost consideration for
the interests and aspirations of the working class
in all countries, of the broadest masses of
working people, of all progressive humanity. The
enhanced might and international prestige of the
Soviet Union, the all-round consolidation of the
fraternal community of socialist states, the
powerful upsurge of the working-class movement and
the mounting success of the national liberation
struggle create objective conditions for paralysing
the forces of aggression and imperialism, and
34---2052
530
guiding international developments in a direction

furthering the cause of peace and socialism. The
decisive role in attaining this historic aim is played
by the world community of socialist states.
 The CPSU works unremittingly to promote the

cohesion and development of the world socialist
system. Since its establishment almost three
decades ago, the world socialist system has proved
its viability; it has greatly accelerated world
progress and is vastly contributing to the
achievement of such a vitally important goal for all the
peoples as prevention of another world war.
 The CPSU and the Soviet state likewise attach

undiminishing importance to developing co--
operation with the fraternal socialist states. Of late the
Soviet Union has signed new treaties of
friendship, co-operation and mutual assistance with the
GDR, Poland, Mongolia, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia and Rumania. It also strengthened fraternal
friendship and co-operation with Cuba and
extended its ties with the Korean People's
Democratic Republic and Yugoslavia. The Soviet
people maintain relations of socialist solidarity and
friendship with the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam.
 A major success of the concerted policy

pursued by the fraternal countries has been the
liquidation of the political blockade of the German
Democratic Republic. By the beginning of 1975
it had diplomatic relations with 112 countries.
Chinks are appearing in the wall of "non--
recognition" which the United States built around the
Republic of Cuba 15 years ago, and the
531
international position of the first socialist state in the

Western Hemisphere is steadily gaining in
strength.
 In its Resolution the April 1973 Plenary

Meeting of the CPSU Central Committee expressed
the firm resolve of the CPSU to take all necessary
steps to ensure the further cohesion of the
socialist states and the consolidation and expansion
of all-round, fraternal ties with them.
 But there are difficulties and complications

even in the socialist world, and first and
foremost in Soviet-Chinese relations.
 The CPSU resolutely opposes all attempts to

distort the Marxist-Leninist teaching and to split
the international communist movement and the
ranks of the anti-imperialist fighters. The CPSU
Central Committee and the Soviet Government are
doing their utmost to normalise Soviet-Chinese
relations. On the initiative of the Soviet Union
a meeting of the heads of government of the two
countries took place in September 1969 after which
government delegations met in Peking to resolve
border issues.
 Delivering the CC Report to the 24th CPSU

Congress Leonid Brezhnev said: "We resolutely
reject the slanderous inventions concerning the
policy of our Party and our state which are
being spread from Peking and instilled into the
minds of the Chinese people.... The CPSU will
continue tirelessly to work for the cohesion of the
socialist countries and the world communist
movement on a Marxist-Leninist basis. At the same
time, our Party and the Soviet Government are
34*
532
deeply convinced that an improvement of

relations between the Soviet Union and the People's
Republic of China would be in line with the
fundamental, long-term interests of both countries,
the interests of socialism, the freedom of the
peoples, and stronger peace. That is why we are
prepared in every way to help not only to normalise
relations but also to restore neighbourliness and
friendship between the Soviet Union and the
People's Republic of China and express the
confidence that this will eventually be achieved.''
 The CPSU and the Soviet Government are

taking extensive and diverse steps to expand ties
with the national liberation movement. The
Soviet Union politically and economically supports
the just struggle of the peoples of Asia, Africa
and Latin America for national independence and
social progress, against the encroachments of
imperialism. The socialist countries and developing
states are more fully and actively co-operating in
the field of international diplomacy.
 In its Report to the 24th CPSU Congress the

Central Committee noted that "in the struggle
against imperialism an ever greater role is being
played by the revolutionary-democratic
parties. ..''. This assessment constitutes a basic feature
of the CPSU's attitude to the national liberation
movement. The CPSU vigorously promotes ties
with these parties, confident that this fully meets
the interests of the anti-imperialist movement,
strengthens national independence and promotes
social progress.
533
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Maintenance and Consolidation
 of Peace,
 an Important Aspect
 of Soviet Foreign Policy
 The CPSU and the Soviet state devote primary

attention to the struggle for the elimination of
hotbeds of aggression and prevention of another
world war, for the triumph of the principles of
peaceful coexistence, for lasting peace and
international security.
 The alloy of internationalism and peaceableness

is a basic feature of a genuinely socialist course
in international affairs.
 ``We know,'' Lenin said, "we know only too

well, the incredible misfortunes that war brings
to the workers and peasants."^^*^^ He pointed out
that the purpose of Soviet foreign policy and
propaganda was to put an end to war and not to
involve the peoples in armed clashes.
 This premise found its concentrated expression

in the programme of active defence of peace
worked out at the 24th CPSU Congress. "The
Soviet Union has countered the aggressive policy
of imperialism with its policy of active defence of
peace and strengthening of international security,''
emphasised Leonid Brezhnev as he delivered the
CC Report to the 24th CPSU Congress. "The main
lines of this policy are well known. Our Party, our
Soviet state, in co-operation with the fraternal
socialist countries and other peace-loving states,
and with the wholehearted support of many
_-_-_
534
millions of people throughout the world, have now

for many years been waging a struggle on these
lines, taking a stand for the cause of peace and
friendship among nations.''
 The 24th Congress denned the main tasks and

directions of this struggle in contemporary
conditions.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Measures to Eliminate Hotbeds of War
 and Rebuff to Military Aggression
 Lasting peace is out of the question so long as

there are hotbeds of war in Southeast Asia and
the Middle East, where the imperialist "policy of
strength" has completely exposed its anti-popular
aggressive nature.
 Intent upon crushing the national liberation

movement of the Indochinese peoples, the US
imperialists mobilised huge forces and means and
unleashed direct aggression against the Vietnamese
people. The Soviet Union, following the CPSU's
principled and consistent course formulated in the
decisions of the 23rd and 24th CPSU Congresses,
translated its internationalist solidarity with
the people of Vietnam into reality. When the
imperialist aggressors subjected the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam to devastating air attacks, the
USSR promptly delivered modern anti-aircraft
missiles, artillery and fighter aircraft to the
Vietnamese People's Army. The uninterrupted
deliveries of essential military and civilian freight
from the Soviet Union and other socialist
countries did much to help the DRV organise a rebuff
to the aggressors and provide for its population.
535
Using the entire weight of its international

prestige the Soviet Union, together with other socialist
countries, resolutely supported the political and
diplomatic acts and the realistic and constructive
proposals of the DRV Government and the
Provisional Revolutionary Government of the
Republic of South Vietnam. The agreement on the
cessation of war and the establishment of peace in
Vietnam signed in Paris on January 27, 1973 was
a great victory of the heroic Vietnamese people
over the forces of imperialist aggression, a victory
of the militant solidarity of progressive,
peaceloving forces throughout the world.
 The Soviet Union's policy in the Middle East

is characterised by its consistent solidarity with
the just cause of the Arab peoples and its
readiness to help bring about a political settlement on
the basis of the Security Council's resolutions
which take into account the legitimate interests of
all the Middle East peoples, including the
Palestinian people, and the right to existence for all
states in that part of the world.
 Dwelling on the Middle East problem in his

election speech in Moscow on June 14, 1974,
Leonid Brezhnev said: "The policy of the Soviet
Union and other socialist states and the changed
international climate have been largely
instrumental in creating more favourable conditions for the
struggle against imperialist aggression and for
liquidating the hotbed of war in the Middle East.
Agreement was reached on the disengagement of
troops in the region of the Sinai Peninsula and
the Golan Heights. At the same time it should
536
be seen that only the first steps have been taken.

The main issues of the settlement are to be
discussed at the Geneva Conference. This is an
extremely difficult task. It can be solved only by the
joint efforts of the states participating in the
Conference.''
 In order to ensure lasting peace it is necessary

promptly to rebuff any act of aggression and
international violence. This calls for concerted and
effective actions of all peace-loving states. The
Soviet Union considers that the UN should make
the fullest use of its opportunities. In 1970, at the
jubilee 25th Session of the UN General Assembly,
the Soviet Union and fraternal socialist countries
came forward with an important initiative. On
their proposal a Declaration on the Strengthening
of International Security was worked out and then
approved by an overwhelming majority of UN
members.
 Of special importance are the points of the

Declaration recommending the strengthening of
the UN and enhancement of its effectivity as an
instrument of peace.
 In the opinion of the Soviet Union it is

necessary to achieve such a state of affairs when
repudiation of the use or the threat of force in
relations between states, and the solution of
controversial issues by negotiation would be a law of
international life. The Soviet Union has proposed
that countries sharing this view sign
corresponding bilateral or regional treaties. It is such an
approach which guides the Soviet Union in the
struggle for lasting peace, security and co-operation in
537
Europe, for carrying into life the idea of

collective security in Asia.
 The Soviet Union follows up its determination

to fight tirelessly for peace with concrete acts. In
May 1971 it signed a Treaty of Friendship and
Co-operation with the Arab Republic of Egypt
which proved to be a serious obstacle to
aggressive imperialist actions in this part of the world.
In August 1971 it signed a Treaty of Peace,
Friendship and Co-operation with India and in
April 1972 it signed a Treaty of Friendship and
Co-operation with the Republic of Iraq. They
icflected a basic line pursued by the USSR in its
foreign policy activity, namely, to strengthen
goodneighbourliness and promote co-operation
with other countries, hold consultations with them
in the event of threatening situations, not to enter
into military alliances spearheaded against
friendly countries, and to settle disputes by negotiation.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Struggle for Stable Security in Europe
 No other continent has been ravaged "by wars as

greatly as Europe. The last war alone, which was
unleashed by fascism, carried away millions of
human lives and wrought incalculable destruction.
Twenty million lives, such was the price which the
Soviet people paid for victory.
 Today, too, Europe is still the most explosive

region of the world. It is the scene of operations
of NATO, the chief aggressive bloc of imperialist
powers, and the reactionary elements in West
538
Germany have not given up their revanchist plans.

This means that seats of war danger continue to
exist.
 What must be done to transform Europe into a

region of lasting peace?
 ``To proceed from the final recognition of the

territorial changes that took place in Europe as a
result of the Second World War. To bring about
a radical turn towards detente and peace on this
continent. To ensure the convocation and success
of an all-European conference.
 ``To do everything to ensure collective security

in Europe.''
 That is how the programme of active defence

of peace put forward by the 24th CPSU Congress
answers this question. It takes into account all the
basic premises jointly formulated by fraternal
socialist countries. As far back as July 1966, at a
meeting in Bucharest, the Warsaw Treaty
countries adopted a Declaration on the Consolidation
of Peace and Security in Europe in which they
appealed to all European states to work for the
establishment of a system of collective security
and goodneighbourly relations. Developing this
initiative the Warsaw Treaty countries in March
1969 proposed that an all-European conference
should be convened to examine questions of
security and co-operation. This proposal received
extensive support in West European countries.
 The 24th CPSU Congress reaffirmed the

readiness jointly expressed by the Warsaw Treaty
countries to have a simultaneous annulment of
this Treaty and of the North Atlantic alliance or,
539
as a first step, disbanding of their military

organisations.
 In January 1972 the Warsaw Treaty countries

approved a Declaration on Peace, Security and
Co-operation presenting a concrete programme of
action of all peace-loving European forces and
governments. It emphasised that the system of
European security ought to be based on treaty
obligations between the European states and on
such key principles as inviolability of borders,
rejection of the use of force, peaceful coexistence,
goodneighbourly relations, mutually advantageous
ties, all-out promotion of disarmament, and
support for the United Nations.
 In their bilateral relations with a number of

West European states, the Soviet Union and other
fraternal countries show how principles of
peaceful coexistence and mutually advantageous
cooperation are implemented. A case in point is the
Soviet Union's relations with France and
Finland. Soviet co-operation with these countries in
foreign policy and the economy rests on a firm
foundation and is stipulated in corresponding
treaties.
 An event of major international importance

was Leonid Brezhnev's visit to France in October
1971. The negotiations between the General
Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and
French President Georges Pompidou ended in the
signing of two documents: Principles of Co--
operation Between the USSR and France, and the
Soviet-French Declaration which promoted the
further development of friendly relations between
540
the two countries and their joint contribution to

the cause of security and co-operation in Europe
on the basis of peaceful coexistence.
 The visit of Leonid Brezhnev to France in

December 1974 was marked by the signing of the
Agreement on Economic Co-operation Between
the USSR and France for 1975--1979, which
provided for mutual credits on most favourable
terms.
 Leonid Brezhnev and French President VaMry

Giscard d'Estaing stated that good preconditions
had been established for consummating the
European security and co-operation conference and
signing its final documents at the summit level.
 The Soviet and the French sides supported a

speedy resumption of the Middle East Geneva
Conference and the convocation of a World
Disarmament Conference.
 The normalisation of relations between the

USSR and the FRG and between the latter and
other socialist countries is a matter of paramount
importance for the preservation of peace and
security in Europe. In 1970, the Soviet Union and
Poland signed treaties with the Federal Republic
of Germany. The sides pledged to recognise the
existing territorial and political situation in
Europe and reject the use of force. These treaties
turned the relations between the signatories
towards broad and long-term co-operation to the
great benefit of the present and future generations
of these countries and their neighbours, and are
making it possible to achieve such a state of affairs
that recognition of the inviolability of European
541
borders and non-use of force will become a code

of life on the continent.
 As a result of the initiative and good will on

the part of the Soviet Union, a quadripartite
agreement on West Berlin was signed in September
1971 with the view to abolishing the source of
friction and tension in the heart of Europe. It
stipulates that the sides will respect the allied
agreements defining the special status of West
Berlin entered into by the USSR, the USA, France
and Britain. The quadripartite agreement
reaffirms that West Berlin does not belong to the
Federal Republic of Germany and is based on
respect for the sovereign rights of the German
Democratic Republic, the first socialist state on
German soil.
 Further progress on the way to consolidating

peace in Europe was made in 1972. The treaties
between the USSR and the FRG and Poland and
the FRG were ratified, a complex of agreements
on West Berlin came into force, and a Treaty
on the Basic Principles of Relations Between the
GDR and the FRG was concluded.
 In May 1973 General Secretary of the CPSU

Central Committee, Member of the Presidium of
the USSR Supreme Soviet Leonid Brezhnev
visited the Federal Republic of Germany. This visit,
which contributed largely to strengthening peace
in Europe, was in furtherance of the line defined
by the 1970 Moscow Treaty and the agreement
reached between Leonid Brezhnev and Chancellor
Willy Brandt in Oreanda in 1971. Soviet-West
German negotiations in Bonn resulted in the
542
expansion of economic, scientific and technical and

cultural co-operation between the two states.
Leonid Brezhnev's visit consolidated the change
in the relations between the USSR and a state
which had just a short while ago adhered to
diametrically opposite positions on all major
international issues. This was a shift towards new,
normal peacetime relations and mutually
advantageous co-operation, towards greater mutual
understanding of the need to further detente in
Europe.
 During the visit to the USSR of FRG

Chancellor Helmut Schmidt in October 1974 an
agreement was reached on a further expansion of
economic co-operation between the two countries.
Contracts were signed on the delivery of 60,000
million cubic metres of natural gas from the USSR
to the FRG in 1978 through 2000, and on
purchases by Soviet organisations of one million tons
of large-diameter gas pipes in 1975 and 1976.
 The peaceful initiatives of the Soviet Union and

other socialist countries have created the
necessary conditions and a favourable situation in
Europe for practical preparations for and the
convocation of an all-European conference on security
and co-operation to tackle the basic problems of
strengthening European peace.
 The first stage of the conference on European
security and co-operation was held in 1973 in
Finland. The delegates completed a vast amount
of important work. They drafted proposals for the
ensuing second stage of the conference, which
began in Geneva later that year and was
543
completed in July .1975. From July 30 to August 1,

1975 the third stage of the Conference on Security
and Co-operation in Europe was held in Helsinki,
the capital of Finland. Political leaders and heads
of state from 33 European countries, the USA and
Canada came to a collective agreement, embodied
in the Final Act of the Conference, covering
a wide range of topical concerns, including
peace, security and co-operation in a variety
of fields.
 Lying at the heart of the concluding document

signed at the conference is the Declaration of
Principles, by which signatory states will be
guided in their external relations. These
principles are: sovereign equality and respect for the
rights inherent in sovereignty; non-use of force
or the threat of force; the inviolability of
frontiers; the territorial integrity of states; peaceful
resolution of disputes; non-interference in internal
affairs; respect for the rights of man and the
fundamental freedoms, including freedom of
thought, conscience, religion and belief; equal
rights and the right of peoples to settle their own
future; co-operation between states; the
conscientious fulfilment of obligations under international
law.
 The conference also defined the direction and

practical forms to be taken by co-operation in the
economic and commercial fields, in science and
technology, environmental protection, culture,
education and in contacts between people,
institutions and organisations.
 The USSR likewise attaches great importance
544
to the reducing of armed forces and armaments

in Central Europe.
 The Soviet Union and other socialist countries

have broken the cold war front in Europe. In the
opinion of the CPSU it is quite possible to create
a system of interstate relations in Europe which
would become a practical and attractive example
of coexistence.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
A Ban on Weapons of Mass Destruction
 Following Lenin's behest the Soviet Government

is waging a consistent struggle for disarmament.
One of the most important tasks in this direction
is to outlaw nuclear, chemical and
bacteriological weapons.
 Thanks to the Soviet Union's persistent efforts

a number of international agreements restricting
the nuclear arms race have been concluded, such
as treaties banning nuclear tests in the
atmosphere, in outer space and under water (1963),
prohibiting the proliferation of nuclear weapons
(1968), banning the emplacement of these
weapons in outer space, celestial bodies and also on
the sea-bed and the ocean floor and in the
subsoil thereof (1967 and 1971). On the initiative of
the socialist countries a convention was signed
banning the development, production and
accumulation of bacteriological (biological) weapons
and toxins and providing for their destruction.
The USSR is consistently working for a similar
radical solution of the question of banning and
destroying chemical weapons.
545
 The programme of active defence of peace

formulated by the 24th CPSU Congress sets Soviet
foreign policy the following tasks: to work for an
end to the testing of nuclear weapons, including
underground tests, by everyone everywhere, to
promote the establishment of nuclear-free zones
in various parts of the world, and to work for a
ban on nuclear weapons.
 In the autumn of 1972, the Soviet Union tabled

a resolution on the non-use of force in
international relations and perpetual prohibition of
nuclear weapons for discussion by the 27th UN
General Assembly Session. The need to solve the
question of the non-use of force in general, and
that of banning nuclear weapons in particular, is
dictated by the task of putting an end to any use
of force, leaving no loopholes for potential
violators of peace. Once this is done the security
of each state, whether nuclear or non-nuclear,
large or small, will be equally ensured. At the
same time it would not in the least infringe upon
the right of any nation to resist aggression or
imperialist expansion. The UN General Assembly
in its overwhelming majority voted in favour of
the Soviet proposal and advised the Security
Council to take immediate steps to translate its
decision into life.
__ALPHA_LVL3__
The Struggle to Halt the Arms Race
 The Soviet Union has repeatedly come forward

with the proposal to put an end to race in all
types of weapons, right up to general and
35---2052
546
complete disarmament. At the same time imperialism

is feverishly conducting military preparations, a
source of enormous profits for the monopolists,
in an effort to extricate itself from its ever--
deepening general crisis. Mankind is paying a huge
price for the arms race imposed by the
imperialists. Each year the world spends more than
$200,000 million on the maintenance of armies
and production of armaments. Over a half of this
sum is expended by NATO states.
 Militarism has a world-wide network of

military bases, nuclear warhead dumps and the routes
of air and naval patrols armed with nuclear
weapons. For the purpose of ``surrounding'' the
socialist countries the US set up 429 large and
3,400 small military bases in 30 countries.
 For more than a quarter of a century US naval

vessels are stationed in waters far away from
their country's shores. The 6th Fleet patrolling
the Mediterranean bulwarks the aggressive plans
of the Israeli military circles against the Arab
countries. For many years the US 7th Fleet was
the striking force in the aggressive war against
the peoples of Indochina.
 The consistent efforts of the CPSU and the

Soviet Government to halt the arms race are aimed
at ridding the peoples both of the threat of war
and the heavy burden of military expenditures.
 The Soviet Union made concrete proposals

concerning both a partial cutback in arms and laying
the groundwork for general and complete
disarmament. It calls for the dismantling of foreign
military bases and the introduction of measures
547
reducing the possibility of accidental outbreak of

war or deliberate fabrication of armed incidents
and their development into war.
 In its Peace Programme the Soviet Union calls

for the convocation of a World Disarmament
Conference. Putting forward this proposal it
proceeded from the need to ensure conditions under which
all countries, irrespective of the size of their
territories and populations and military and
economic potentials, will take part in discussing ways
and means of restricting and halting the arms
race, and then destroying the weapons. The Soviet
initiative received world-wide approval; the 27th
UN General Assembly voted in favour of
holding a World Disarmament Conference and
outlined ways how it should be prepared.
 The Soviet Union has entered into negotiations

with the United States on the limitation of
strategic arms. It is working towards halting the
competition between offensive and defensive weapons,
which poses a threat to peace and swallows vast
sums that could be used for peaceful purposes.
The agreement between the USSR and the USA
on the prevention of nuclear war is intended to
save the world from its devastating consequences
for mankind.
 In the struggle for the disarmament the USSR

proceeds from the premise that the solution of all
questions in the course of bilateral and
multilateral negotiations should be based on the principle
of equal security.
35*
548
__ALPHA_LVL3__
Development of International Co-operation
 The Soviet Union's foreign policy combines a

firm rebuff to imperialism's aggressive plans with
a constructive approach to urgent international
problems, an uncompromising ideological
struggle with readiness to develop mutually
advantageous relations with non-socialist states. The sixth
point of the Peace Programme adopted by the
24th CPSU Congress envisages the expansion of
co-operation in the most diverse spheres with all
states and peoples.
 The consistent realisation of the Peace

Programme has led to important changes in the
relations between the Soviet Union and the United
States. The top-level Soviet-American
negotiations in May 1972 in Moscow marked the
beginning of a switch from mistrust to detente, to
a normalisation of relations and mutual co--
operation between the two countries. The Basic
Principles of Mutual Relations Between the USSR and
the USA signed at the Moscow meeting proclaimed
that the sides "will proceed from the common
determination that in the nuclear age there is no
alternative to conducting their mutual relations on
the basis of peaceful coexistence''. This document
contained other important provisions, including
recognition of the principle of equality and equal
security of the sides, rejection of the threat or
use of force, commitment to do everything
possible to avoid military confrontations and prevent
nuclear war.
 These principles have been embodied in a
549
number of bilateral agreements signed in Moscow: on

limitation of strategic arms, on co-operation in
environmental protection, public health,
exploration of outer space, and in diverse fields of
science and technology, all of which are of great
importance not only for the peoples of the USSR
and the USA, but also for all mankind.
 The time that has passed since the Moscow

meeting has shown beyond all doubt that the
measures which were taken at the meeting with the
view to improving Soviet-American relations
were both correct and timely. In the course of the
following months the Soviet Union and the
United States signed several agreements promoting
mutual trade, regulating ocean navigation, etc.
The volume of trade "between the two countries
increased 200 per cent in 1972 alone.
 Fresh proof of the effectiveness of the Soviet

Programme of Peace was the visit to the United
States in June 1973 by General Secretary of the
CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev. The
top-level Soviet-American negotiations which
were held during the visit strengthened and
expanded the foundations for improving the relations
between the two countries which were laid in May
1972 in Moscow.
 The most important result of these

negotiations was the Agreement on the Prevention of
Nuclear War which was signed in Washington.
Aimed at preventing a nuclear clash between the
USSR and the USA it also obligates them to do
everything in their power to prevent a nuclear
war. This Agreement is of historic importance
550
because it signifies a shift from nuclear

confrontation between the USA and the USSR to a policy
of preventing nuclear war and solving
controversial issues by negotiations, and leads to the
creation of an effective system guaranteeing
international security. The readiness of other states to
adhere to the principles of refraining from the
threat or use of force and take resolute measures
to avert nuclear war will prove to be of
exceptional importance for the achievement of
universal security and lasting world peace.
 Soviet and US leaders took a fresh step

towards attaining fuller agreement on the limitation
of the most sophisticated and destructive types of
weapons. They worked out the basic principles of
further negotiations on a broader agreement on
the limitation of strategic arms of much longer
duration.
 During Leonid Brezhnev's visit to the United

States the two sides also signed agreements on
cooperation in the peaceful uses of atomic energy,
agriculture, world ocean studies, transportation,
and so forth. They noted with satisfaction that
preceding agreements on co-operation in other
fields were being carried out in practice, and that
there were broad prospects for developing
mutually advantageous economic relations which
would enable both countries to aim at a total of
$2,000 million to $3,000 million of trade over
the next three years.
 The Political Bureau of the CPSU Central

Committee, the Presidium of the USSR Supreme
Soviet and the USSR Council of Ministers wholly
551
and fully approved the political and practical
results of Soviet-US negotiations. They highly
assessed Leonid Brezhnev's personal contribution to
their achievement, and stated: ''. . .the Soviet
Union will continue consistently to follow the path
indicated by the 24th CPSU Congress. We shall
continue to strengthen relations with our friends
and allies, with the countries of the socialist
community. We shall promote ties and contacts with
countries that have freed themselves from
colonial oppression, help all peoples fighting for peace,
national liberation, democracy and socialism. As
in the past the Soviet Union will render a
resolute rebuff to any intrigues of the aggressive
imperialist forces, to all those who oppose detente,
who advocate a return to the cold war and the
arms race, to all those who sow seeds of enmity
and mistrust among nations.''
 In the course of the third Soviet-American

summit meeting which took place from June 27 to
July 3, 1974, the two sides agreed on the need
firmly to adhere to and implement the main line
charted in the documents signed in 1972 and
1973.
 Paramount attention was given to further

reducing the war danger and limiting strategic
weapons. Continuing the trend of the Soviet--
American basic documents signed in the course of the
preceding meetings the two sides reached
agreement on limiting their anti-missile defences,
underground nuclear weapons tests and on further
efforts to limit strategic offensive arms and to ban
chemical weapons. All this is an important step on
552
the road to stronger peace and mutual trust,

bulwarking and deepening international detente.
 The two sides signed documents confirming

their determination to work together to avert the
war danger and especially war entailing the use
of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction,
limit and finally cease the arms race, particularly
the production of strategic weapons, strengthen
detente and make it world wide.
 During the third meeting the two sides signed

agreements on co-operation in the fields of
public health, power industry, in housing and other
construction, and a long-term agreement on
promoting co-operation in the economic, industrial
and technological fields. These agreements
contribute largely to the further expansion of
bilateral co-operation. The development of relations
between the USSR and the USA on the basis of
full equality and mutual advantage, their
commitment to respect the rights and interests of all
states are an important factor of the continuing
improvement of the international situation and
expansion of international co-operation.
 The two sides noted that a successful outcome

of the conference on security and co-operation
in Europe would go a long way towards ensuring
lasting peace on the continent. A factor of great
importance is confirmation by the USSR and the
USA of their stand that the Middle East
settlement should be based on the resolutions already
adopted by the Security Council and should take
into account the legitimate interests of all the
Middle East peoples, including the Palestinian
553
people, and the right to existence of all the states

in that part of the world.
 In November 1974 near the city of Vladivostok

(the USSR) a working meeting between Leonid
Brezhnev, General Secretary of the CC CPSU,
and US President Gerald R. Ford took place. As
a result of the exchange of opinions an agreement
was reached that further Soviet-American
negotiations on the limitation of strategic offensive
weapons will be based on the following
provisions:~
 1. The new agreement will incorporate the

relevant provisions of the Interim Agreement of
May 26, 1972, which will remain in force until
October 1977.
 2. The new agreement will cover the period

from October 1977 through December 31, 1985.
 3. Based on the principle of equality and equal

security, the new agreement will include the
following limitations:
 a) both sides will be entitled to have a certain

agreed aggregate number of strategic delivery
vehicles;
 b) both sides will be entitled to have a certain

agreed aggregate number of intercontinental
ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic
missiles equipped with multiple independently
targetable warheads.
 4. The new agreement will include a provision

for further negotiations beginning not later than
1980--1981 on the question of further limitations
and possible reductions of strategic arms in the
period after 1985.
554
 The improvement of Soviet-American relations

once again demonstrated that in present-day
conditions controversial international issues cannot
be solved by means of cold war methods. They
can and ought to be solved by negotiation on the
basis of equality and equal security of sides,
mutual respect of interests, and the assertion in
international relations of the principle of peaceful
coexistence of states with differing social systems
and regardless of their size.
 In February 1975 British Prime Minister

Harold Wilson made an official visit to the Soviet
Union. At the summit talks which took place in
Moscow the Soviet and British sides discussed a
wide range of questions and signed the following
important documents: Joint Soviet-British
Statement; Soviet-British Protocol on Consultations;
Soviet-British Declaration on the Non--
proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; Long-Term
Programme for the Development of Economic and
Industrial Co-operation Between the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Programme
for Scientific and Technological Co-operation
Between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland for a Ten-Year Period; and
Agreement Between the Government of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics and the Government of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland on Co-operation in the Field of
Medicine and Public Health.
 The Soviet-British summit meeting will play an
555
important part in promoting stable relations

between the two countries on the basis of peaceful
coexistence, and in stimulating their fruitful and
mutually advantageous co-operation. At the
same time its results will further strengthen
international peace and security, particularly
in Europe.
 Given good will and mutual understanding,

cooperation between states with different social
systems has inexhaustible prospects for development
and can be placed on a long-term basis.
SovietFrench and Soviet-Finnish relations are a case in
point. The Soviet Union and France have signed
a number of agreements on co-operation in the
economic, scientific and technical fields which have
occasioned a considerable expansion of trade and
also promoted joint research, construction of
industrial projects by one country on the territory
of the other, and so forth. The Soviet-Finnish
treaty on the promotion of economic, technical
and industrial co-operation envisages a
twentyyear programme of joint industrial construction,
exchange of scientific and technical experience
and also a steady expansion of trade. The
conclusion of an agreement on the delivery of Soviet
natural gas to Italy, and the construction in the
USSR of an automobile factory with the
participation of Italian specialists evidence the
development of mutually advantageous economic links
between the two countries.
 The Soviet Peace Programme proposes that

European countries pool their efforts to organise
trans-continental transportation, build high--
556
voltage grids and establish a Single European Power

System on this basis.
 Furthermore the Soviet Union attaches great

importance to the unification of the efforts of all
countries in such fields as the conservation of the
environment, prevention and eradication of the
most dangerous diseases and the exploration and
development of outer space.
__b_b_b__
 The programme of active defence of peace

advanced by the 24th CPSU Congress has evoked
great interest in foreign countries and won
vigorous approval of the world public, for its main
points reflect the aspirations of all peace-loving
forces. It further enhanced the attractive force of
Soviet foreign policy which harmoniously
combines socialist internationalism and consistent
defence of peace.
 On the basis of this Programme the Soviet

Union came forward with many important
initiatives in its diplomatic activity. The period since
the 24th CPSU Congress has been characterised by
exceptionally intensive activity in the sphere of
international relations.
 The CPSU, its Leninist Central Committee and

the Political Bureau of the Central Committee are
holding foreign policy issues in the focus of
attention. By their practical activity on the
international scene they are vigorously carrying
through the Programme of Peace. An important
role in promoting Soviet initiatives in the field
of foreign policy following the 24th CPSU
557
Congress was played by Leonid Brezhnev's visits to

France, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Bulgaria, the GDR,
Czechoslovakia, Poland, the FRG and the USA,
and his meeting with FRG Chancellor Willy
Brandt in the Crimea; Nikolai Podgorny's visits
to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Arab
Republic of Egypt, Bulgaria, Afghanistan, Finland
and Turkey; Alexei Kosygin's visits to Algeria,
Canada, the Republic of Cuba, Iraq, Iran,
Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Austria; and by visits,
meetings and other forms of contacts, entered into
by Members and Candidate Members of the
Political Bureau, Central Committee Secretaries and
delegations of the Supreme Soviet and the
Government of the USSR, with statesmen and MP's,
leaders of parties and public organisations of foreign
countries.
 The Soviet Peace Programme has had serious

influence on many trends in world politics. The
most important steps undertaken by the Soviet
Union since the 24th CPSU Congress have
confirmed the effectivity of Soviet foreign policy, its
all-embracing, comprehensive and long-term
character.
 For his tireless efforts in implementing the

Leninist foreign policy Leonid Brezhnev has been
awarded the International Lenin Prize "For the
Promotion of Peace Among Nations''.
 The April 1973 Plenary Meeting of the CPSU

Central Committee discussed the international
activity of the CC CPSU in implementing the
decisions of the 24th Party Congress and unanimously
adopted a resolution fully endorsing the work
558
carried out by the Political Bureau in ensuring

lasting world peace and providing reliable security
for the Soviet people who are engaged in
communist construction. It mentioned Leonid
Brezhnev's great personal contribution to the fulfilment
of these tasks.
 The Plenary Meeting expressed satisfaction at

the solidarity of Marxist-Leninist parties and mass
movements with the activity of the CPSU and
the Soviet Government in carrying through the
Peace Programme. "As it has done in the past,''
notes the Resolution, "the CPSU, in its struggle
against imperialism, in its entire foreign policy,
will steadfastly carry through the socialist,
Leninist line and support the peoples who are
fighting for their right to independence and social
progress.''
 The CC Plenary Meeting approved the efforts

of the CPSU and the Soviet state to promote the
relations between the USSR and non-socialist
countries on the basis of peaceful coexistence. It
qualified them as an important factor of the
expansion and consolidation of positive trends in
international politics.
 At the same time it once again emphasised the

need for unceasing vigilance and preparedness to
rebuff any intrigues on the part of imperialism's
aggressive, reactionary circles.
 The April Plenary Meeting authorised the

Political Bureau steadfastly to continue the foreign
policy line laid down by the 24th CPSU Congress,
work for the full implementation of the Peace
Programme and make irreversible the favourable
559
changes achieved in the international situation.
 The strength, the prestige of the Leninist

foreign policy of the CPSU and the Soviet state
springs from the might of the socialist system, the
dedicated labour of the Soviet people and their
successes in communist construction which ensure
the steady growth of the Soviet Union's
economic, political and military potential. This policy
rests on the prestige and might of the entire
community of fraternal socialist countries, on the
alliance of the great revolutionary forces, on the
support of all peace-loving forces.
 `Òn the basis of the Peace Programme adopted

by the 24th CPSU Congress,'' states the appeal
"To the Peoples of the World" adopted at a joint
meeting of the CPSU Central Committee, the
USSR Supreme Soviet and the RSFSR Supreme
Soviet in celebration of the 50th anniversary of
the formation of the USSR, "we shall tirelessly
work for the consolidation of the socialist
community; for a further relaxation of international
tension and promotion of peaceful coexistence of
states with different social systems; for the
national independence of peoples and mutual respect
and friendship between them; for a better life of
all working people and social progress of the
whole of humanity.''
__ALPHA_LVL0__
The End.
[END]
[560]
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<•>
The founders of the communist teaching opened a great historical truth: in order to p
TOC help the proletariat become aware of its class interests, to arm it ideologically and
organise its struggle for the overthrow of capitalism and the building of a new,
Card
communist society, it was necessary to form a militant, staunch vanguard capable of
raising the broad masses of the working people for a decisive fight against the
Text exploiting classes. What is necessary is the “organisation of the proletarians into a
HTML class, and consequently into a political party”, Marx and Engels proclaimed in their 86
PS outstanding work Manifesto of the Communist Party [ 86•* This conclusion of the
PDF founders of scientific communism armed the working class with an invincible
weapon.
T*
19* Marx and Engels and later Lenin proved that of all the organisations established by p
the proletariat only a political party adhering to the revolutionary positions of
### scientific socialism could correctly express the fundamental interests of the working
class and guide it to victory. The workers would be unable to put an end to
capitalism and build socialist society if they relied solely on trade unions, mutual
insurance funds and similar organisations. To achieve this aim they had to have a
proletarian organisation of the highest type which would not rest content with
fighting for the current economic needs of the working people, but which would set
itself the target of bringing the working class to power and carrying through the
revolutionary transformation of the old system.
The revolutionary party of the Communists was to become such an organisation. p
In the first place the proletariat needs a party so as not to grope its way in the p
revolutionary struggle but to be equipped with such an understanding of the
conditions, the course and the general results of the proletarian movement which
would give it an absolutely clear idea of the aims of this struggle and ways of
attaining them.
In view of its oppressed position which deprived it of the opportunity to engage in p 87

scientific and political activity, the proletariat was unable to develop on its own a
scientific system of concepts giving a correct idea of the development of nature and
society. Such a system, Marxism-Leninism, was evolved by the great representatives
of the revolutionary intelligentsia Marx, Engels and Lenin who studied and critically
reappraised advanced philosophical, political and economic views and generalised the
experience of the workingclass movement.
As a science Marxism-Leninism has provided an integrated and harmonious system p

of views about the objective laws of the development of nature and society, about
the revolutions of oppressed and exploited masses, the winning of political power by
the proletariat (dictatorship of the proletariat), and about the building of socialism
and communism the world over.
It was the mission of the Communist Party to arm the working class with this p
scientific knowledge and revolutionary political views, and promote its socialist
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/2.1.1-Role.of.Organisation.in.the.Class.Struggle[2012-12-25 2:28:24]
consciousness. In order to do this it had to fuse scientific socialism with the

working-class movement, to arm the movement ideologically and theoretically and
help it stand up to and overcome the bourgeois ideology. Attaching the utmost
importance to this task Lenin emphasised: “Without revolutionary theory there can be
no revolutionary movement." [ 87•*
Marx, Engels and Lenin also proved that the working class needed the party in p 88
order to wage a successful economic struggle against the bourgeoisie, for better
living conditions.
Finally, and this is most important, the working class needed the revolutionary p
Marxist-Leninist Party to guide its struggle for the overthrow of the capitalist system,
the assumption of power and the building of socialist society. The embodiment of the
Marxist-Leninist teaching about the Party in revolutionary practice opened a new
phase in the history of mankind.
The establishment of a revolutionary party of the working class was not only a
brilliant idea of the foremost representatives of revolutionary thought. It became an
objective historical necessity at the stage when the proletariat started to develop into
a class and grew aware of its class interests. The conditions of the mounting struggle
against the bourgeoisie urgently demanded its unification into a political organisation.
***

TEXT SIZE
normal
Notes
[ 86•* ] V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 5, p. 369.
[ 87•* ] K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 1 p. 117.
< [introduction.] The Birth of a Revolutionary >

Marxist Party in Russia

<< WHAT KIND OF A PARTY DOES >>

THE WORKING CLASS NEED?

<<< CHAPTER I -- HUMAN SOCIETY: CHAPTER III -- THE >>>

ITS DEVELOPMENT HISTORICAL ROAD OF SOVIET
SOCIETY

Role.of.Organisation.in.the.Class.Struggle

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<•> Marxist Party in Russia

TOC Due to historical circumstances the world’s first Marxist-Leninist Party, a party of a p
new type, was founded in Russia. At the turn of the 20th century the centre of the
Card
revolutionary movement shifted to Russia. A popular revolution against tsarism,
which was destined to develop into a socialist revolution, was in the making.
Text
HTML The proletariat of Russia needed a party to guide its revolutionary movement, unite p
PS all genuinely revolutionary forces and indicate the ways and means of solving the 89
PDF problems facing the proletariat.
T* Lenin realised better than anyone else what splendid opportunities would present p
19* themselves for the victory of the revolution in Russia if the working-class movement
would be led by a militant and well-organised vanguard of the proletariat adhering to
### the positions of scientific socialism. Addressing the revolutionary workers, Lenin
wrote in the newspaper Iskra: “Before us, in all its strength, towers the enemy
fortress which is raining shot and shell upon us, mowing down our best fighters. We
must capture this fortress, and we will capture it, if we unite all the forces of the
awakening proletariat with all the forces of the Russian revolutionaries into one party
which will attract all that is vital and honest in Russia." [ 89•* And Lenin and his
associates working in the difficult conditions of the underground built a party of a
new type which became the militant political vanguard of the proletariat of Russia. It
was called the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which was later
renamed the Communist Party.
The embryo of the revolutionary proletarian party in Russia was the League of p
Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class. Founded by Lenin in St.
Petersburg in 1895 the League played an important role in uniting social-democratic
organisations in a number of industrial centres. The First Congress of social- 90
democratic organisations, which took place in 1898, proclaimed the formation of the
RSDLP. But it was held in the absence of Lenin and his closest associates, who
were in exile at the time, and failed to work out the Party’s programme and rules
and overcome the disunity in the social-democratic movement.
The newspaper Iskra set up by Lenin helped to pave the way for the ideological p
and organisational unification of the Marxists of Russia into a single party. Under
Lenin’s guidance the newspaper rallied around itself on strictly Marxist positions
local Party committees, a cohort of professional revolutionaries, and united the pick
of the revolutionary proletariat of Russia.
The unification of revolutionary Marxist organisations was completed at the Second p

Congress of the RSDLP in the summer of 1903 which founded the proletarian party
of a new type, the Leninist Party. The Congress adopted a MarxistLeninist
programme of struggle for the overthrow of the autocracy and the rule of landowners
and capitalists, and for the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat as an
instrument of the socialist transformation of society.
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Lenin and his associates upheld the idea of establishing a Marxist revolutionary p
party in an acute struggle against the anarchists, Narodniks, Economists and other
proponents of anti-Marxist trends, who were pushing the proletariat on a false path
and did their utmost to persuade the workers that they did not need their own party.
The anarchists, for example, rejected the need of any political organisation in 91
general. The anarchosyndicalists said that the working class should not engage in
politics and that it could get along very well with only the trade unions (syndicates).
The Narodniks, who adhered to liberal positions, advanced a programme of petty
reforms and in fact gave up the struggle against tsarism. The Economists lauded the
elemental strength of the working class and suggested that all efforts should be
concentrated solely on organising the workers’ economic struggle against the
proprietors and the government. Proceeding as they did from false conceptions of the
ways of altering the capitalist reality, all those who called themselves “friends of the
working class" and “friends of the people" actually weakened the proletariat and tried
to leave it without a militant revolutionary party.
The founding of a Marxist-Leninist Party in Russia was a great blow at opportunism

in the proletarian movement and a signal victory of the working class. Lenin’s words
“Give us an organisation of revolutionaries, and we will overturn Russia!" uttered on
the threshold of the 20th century proved to be truly prophetic. The Communist Party
which he created rallied the working class ideologically and politically, correctly
orientated it, framed the strategy and tactics of revolutionary struggle and piloted the
entire course of the socialist revolution. The Great October Socialist Revolution
triumphed under the direct leadership of the Communist Party headed by Vladimir
Lenin.
***

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Class Struggle




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<< • >> The Communist Party and Socialism 92

<•>
Having entered the political scene as a militant vanguard of the working class, p
TOC Lenin’s Party not only “overturned Russia" and set her forth on the path of all-round
renovation and progress, but also inaugurated a turn in the destiny of the whole of
Card
mankind, a turn from capitalism to socialism.
Text By bringing the working class to power the Communist Party fulfilled one of its p
HTML most important tasks, which, however, was only part of its historic mission. Further
PS on, the Party and the working class had new tasks to cope with, more complicated
PDF and immense. They had to guide and organise all work on the revolutionary
restructuring of society, i.e., destroy the old and build a new economic system,
T* strengthen the young socialist state of workers and peasants, cultivate new relations
19* between the people in all fields of human endeavour, promote the general cultural
level of the people and educate them in the spirit of communist consciousness.
###
The Party, as Lenin put it, had the task of “assuming power and leading the whole p
people to socialism, of directing and organising the new system, of being the teacher,
the guide, the leader of all the working and exploited people in organising their
social life without the bourgeoisie and against the bourgeoisie". [ 92•*
Under the guidance of the Communist Party the world’s first socialist society was p 93
built in the Soviet Union. Thus, history irrefutably confirmed the Marxist-Leninist
conclusion that the revolutionary party of the working class is essential for bringing
down the capitalist system and building socialism.
On the eve of the October armed uprising a fairly large number of parties were p
active on the Russian political scene. The Constitutional Democrats (Cadets),
monarchists, Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) advanced their own
programmes for the “reorganisation of Russia" and the “salvation of the Motherland”.
Some urged the restoration of the monarchy and the military-police dictatorship,
others wanted to turn Russia into a type of “Western democracy”, and still others
pinned their hopes on the peasantry believing that the country’s future would be
shaped by what they called a “muzhik revolution”.
Lenin and the Communists were the only ones who realised that 20th century p
Russia could advance only towards socialism, which alone could bring the peoples
out of the blind alley into which imperialism had led them. And as time showed
they did not err.
Created under capitalism to meet the demands of social progress, the Communist p
Party proved to be the sole political organisation capable of waging a consistent
struggle for the interests of the working class and all working people, for the
realisation of socialist and communist ideals.
The CPSU and the Marxist-Leninist parties in other socialist countries are the only p 94
political parties in history which succeeded in bringing society to the high form of
organisation of life known as socialism. Everything that the Soviet people and the
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peoples of socialist countries have achieved in the sphere of social reorganisation, in

the development of the economy and democracy, in raising the material and cultural
level of the people is closely connected with the leading role of the Communist
parties. No other party that advanced the programme of socialist reorganisation of
society was able to carry it out. Experience has proved that without a revolutionary
Marxist-Leninist Party to guide it the working class cannot accomplish a socialist
revolution and build socialist society. That is why both the overt and covert enemies
of communism are conducting a furious political and ideological offensive against
the Communist parties knowing full well that their activity is the most powerful
weapon of the working class in its struggle for the renovation of the world.
How can it be explained that only the Communists proved to be capable of guiding
the profound social transformations and leading society along the path of progress
and civilisation? Wherein lie the wellsprings of the strength and influence of the
Communist parties? In order to answer these questions it is necessary to look not
only into the history of the revolutionary struggle of the working class and its
parties, but also examine the character and nature of the Communist parties as 95
political organisations created for the purpose of effecting genuinely revolutionary
transformations of social life. The explanation is found in the ideological, political
and organisational principles underlying the activity of the Communist parties.
***

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Party in Russia




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<•> DOES THE WORKING CLASS NEED?

[introduction.]
TOC
Card Now the world revolutionary movement draws on the enormous experience of the p
CPSU and other Marxist-Leninist parties and, therefore, it is absolutely clear what
Text the revolutionary vanguard of the working class should be like. But at the end of the
HTML 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, when the working class of Russia was
PS just emerging in the broad arena of political struggle against the autocracy and the
PDF bourgeoisie, this question, naturally, was the subject of fierce debates.
T* The history of the working-class and communist movement showed that the p
19* elaboration and creation of the perfect form of organisation of the proletarian
vanguard was a matter of crucial importance for the working class struggling to
### attain its objectives. And although by the turn of the century, when the revolutionary
struggle entered a period of fresh upsurge, the world working-class movement had
already existed for decades, it had no example on which it could pattern its own
militant vanguard.
The West European Social-Democratic parties, which at the outset of their activity p 96
considerably influenced the working-class movement, had by that time largely
undermined their prestige and lost their former influence. Their inability to guide the
revolutionary struggle manifested itself most forcefully in the imperialist epoch
characterised by the aggravation of all the social contradictions. West European
Social-Democracy slipped down to opportunist positions and became reconciled with
the capitalist system. Instead of preparing the masses for revolutionary action, they
often limited their activity to parliamentary statements and declarations.
There was no longer any doubt that the working class needed a party of a new type
in order to struggle successfully against capitalism. Lenin was the first among the
Marxists to apprehend this. In What Is To Be Done?, One Step Forward, Two Steps
Back and other works he developed the teaching about the revolutionary Marxist
Party and upheld the Marxist principles of building the party of working class in a
decisive struggle against opportunists of diverse hues.
***

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< The Party of a New Type >

<< WHY IS IT NECESSARY FOR WHO MAKES UP THE >>

THE WORKING CLASS TO HAVE COMMUNIST PARTY?
ITS OWN PARTY?

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SOCIETY

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<•>
Lenin defined the main purpose of the party of the working class and designated the p
TOC main trends of its activity. He presented irrefutable arguments confirming the idea
that the Marxist-Leninist Party was destined to fuse the working-class movement 97
Card
with scientific socialism, become the guiding force and the political leader of the
proletariat, its vanguard uniting and directing its class struggle into the channel of
Text socialist revolution. This conclusion is one of the basic tenets of Marxist– Leninist
HTML science.
PS
PDF The Marxist Party, as Lenin showed, is an element of the working class, its p
vanguard. The Party must not be confused with the entire class, just as it is
T* impossible to reckon every striker or sympathiser as being in the Party. Admission to
19* membership of unreliable petty-bourgeois elements or the cluttering up of Party
organisations with just anyone merely wishing to enrol weakens the Party. The Party
### is formed by admitting to its ranks the finest representatives of the working class,
the most conscious, organised and selflessly dedicated to the cause of the revolution.
Only on this condition can the Marxist Party be the vanguard of the working class
and lead the entire proletariat.
The Party is the vanguard also because it is armed with Marxist theory, with a p
knowledge of the laws of social development and class struggle and therefore is in a
position to set the working class correct objectives and designate effective means of
struggle. The Party develops the Marxist theory by creatively applying its premises in
concrete historical conditions.
Lenin worked out the organisational principles of building a Marxist-Leninist Party p

of the working class and formulated the norms of Party life. Substantiating the need
for a clear-cut and efficient organisation of all Party links, Lenin made the point that 98
in capitalist society the working class is confronted with the combined strength of
monopoly capital and the bourgeois state standing guard over its interests. The
exploiting classes have the army, police, courts, prisons, a huge propaganda machine
and vast material means at their disposal. And the working class and its
revolutionary party will be able to overcome this great force only by consolidating
their ranks and attaining a high level of organisation.
History has also shown that the Party has to be just as monolithic and well p
organised after the revolution too to enable the working class in alliance with all the
working people to carry through crucial social reforms in conditions of class society
and successfully build socialism. In order to solve the immense tasks which arise in
the course of socialist construction the Communist Party must have a centralised
structure and exercise centralised guidance of all its organisations and members.
These tasks can be solved only by a Party which due to its high level of
organisation and proletarian self-discipline can extend its influence over all spheres
of public life and together with the working class and other sections of the working
people uphold and carry into effect the ideals of socialism.
Consequently, the Party must not only be an advanced, but also a well-organised p
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contingent whose members display unity of will, action and discipline. “The Party,”
Lenin wrote, “is the politically conscious, advanced section of the class, it is its 99
vanguard. The strength of that vanguard is ten times, a hundred times, more than a
hundred times, greater than its numbers.
“Is that possible? Can the strength of hundreds be greater than the strength of p
thousands?
“It can be, and is, when the hundreds are organised. p
“Organisation increases strength tenfold." [ 99•* p
It is inconceivable that a militant proletarian vanguard, a genuinely revolutionary p

party, should resemble an unorganised amorphous mass. The Party is not only unity
of ideas, of ideological positions, it is also unity of action. And unity of action is
possible only when Party members besides possessing rights are also charged with
definite responsibilities and maintain discipline and organisation. The susceptibility of
the working class to organisation and discipline facilitates the formation of the Party
as the highest form of class organisation of the proletariat.
The fact that organisation is not an aim in itself but a means of attaining an aim,
does not in the least belittle its role. No purposeful collective activity can be
successful without corresponding organisation. And the greater the number of people
involved the greater the need for organisation. An unorganised mass of people, no
matter how great, is nothing more than a throng of individuals.
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< [introduction.] Forms of Party Organisation >


ITS OWN PARTY?


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<•> of Party Organisation

TOC At the same time practice shows that not just any organisation can ensure the p
achievement of specific aims. They are attained only given corresponding
Card
organisation and means. The forms of organisation depend on the tasks which people
set themselves and also on the conditions in which they act. For example, production
Text requires oneman management and implicit subordination of all its participants to the
HTML will of a single person. Or, say, the armed forces can successfully defend the state
PS only if each unit whether large or small is efficiently organised and obeys its
PDF commander. But an entirely different thing is, for instance, a society for the
protection of nature, or a society of anglers and hunters which impose totally
T* different demands on the members.
19*
The Communist Party is a political union of foremost representatives of the working p
### class and other toiling classes and social strata that has set itself the historical
objectives of overthrowing the exploiting system and enforcing wide revolutionary
changes in social life. In order to carry through this vast and enormously
complicated task the Party should have the most perfect form of organisation; it is
imperative that it should be closely united ideologically and organisationally. "The
political consciousness of the advanced contingent,” Lenin emphasised, "is,
incidentally, manifested in its ability to organise. By organising it achieves unity of
will and this united will of an advanced thousand, hundred thousand, million 101
becomes the will of the class." [ 101•*
The organisational strength of the MarxistLeninist Party, therefore, is a factor of p

primary importance both during the struggle for power and after the socialist
revolution, in the period of socialist and communist construction. History offers many
examples showing that no genuinely socialist programme can be carried out if the
organisational structure of the Party and the nature of inner-Party relations do not
fully ensure the complete unity of action of the Communists.
Since its appearance the working-class movement has known various forms of p
organisation. The most effective one and corresponding most fully to the character
and aims of the Communist Party and the conditions and the nature of its activity
proved to be the organisation of the Party according to the principle of democratic
centralism. Set forth in general terms by Marx and Engels, this principle was
thoroughly substantiated and elaborated by Lenin.
Lenin considered that the Party could not fulfil its mission if it did not maintain p
close ties with the working-class masses, with millions of working people. Since the
masses are the decisive force of social progress, the Party will be unable to influence
the course of events without expanding and strengthening these contacts, without the
support of the masses. Neither could it develop and grow stronger itself unless it 102
draws fresh strength from the proletariat, from the working people.
A Marxist revolutionary party differs from the other organisations of the working p
people in that it is the highest form of class organisation of the proletariat. The Party
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is in a position to lead all the other organisations of the proletariat in the common
struggle for the overthrow of the system of exploitation and the establishment of
socialism because it unites the most class-conscious and organised sections of the
working class and has a knowledge of the laws of social development and of the
ways and means of fighting capitalism.
Such are the basic requirements of a revolutionary Marxist party of the working p
class. First formulated by Lenin they have since been adopted by the world
communist movement.
The enemies of communism and their actual allies, Right-wing revisionists, have
been alleging that Lenin’s ideas about the Party and the principles of Party life
formulated at the beginning of the century are outdated and no longer conform to
modern conditions. The experience of the world communist movement, however,
refutes these assertions. Life itself has corroborated Lenin’s views on these issues.
The Marxist-Leninist Party passed its long test in the most diverse historical
conditions: in the period of struggle for power, and in the years of socialist
construction, both in the formerly backward countries such as Mongolia, and in such
industrially advanced countries as the German Democratic Republic. Committed to
Lenin’s principles of Party development, Marxist-Leninist parties are making headway 103
in their revolutionary struggle and the building of socialism and communism.
Developing and modifying certain forms of Party leadership and the organisation of
inner-Party activity in keeping with the historical conditions and the fresh problems
arising before them, the Marxist-Leninist parties undeviatingly adhere to Lenin’s
teaching about the Party.
***

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<< • >> WHO MAKES UP 103

<•> THE COMMUNIST PARTY?

[introduction.]
TOC
Card The success of a Communist Party’s activity depends on the correctness of its
policy, the strength of its links with the masses, efficiency of its forms and methods
Text of work and many other factors. To a large extent it also depends on the people
HTML which the Party unites, on their abilities and aspirations. In other words, a great deal
PS depends on the Party’s social image, its composition. A party is a political
PDF association of representatives of one or several classes and social strata. Just as not
every class is capable of guiding the struggle for the revolutionary transformation of
T* society, so not every party can lead and direct this struggle.
19*
***
###
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< The Class Approach to the >

Development of the Party

<< WHAT KIND OF A PARTY DOES WHAT DEMANDS THE PARTY >>
THE WORKING CLASS NEED? IMPOSES ON COMMUNISTS?


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<•> to the Development of the Party

TOC The communist movement has been in existence for over a hundred years. There is p
the more than 50 years’ experience of socialist construction in the USSR and 25
Card
years of development of a number of other socialist countries. Therefore, it can be
considered to be proved both theoretically and practically that the working class is
Text the one and only class whose objective economic position enables it to fight
HTML consistently and to the end for socialist ideals. It has also been proved theoretically
PS and practically that the revolutionary Marxist-Leninist Party of the working class is
PDF the only party which can guide the working masses towards socialism.
T* Born of its class the party of the proletariat has deep-lying roots not only in the p
19* midst of the workers, but also in other sections of the people. And the more it draws
into its ranks the foremost rep- I resentatives of the peasantry and the intelligentsia
### as well as the workers, the greater its influence in society.
The Great October Revolution, which the Communists led to victory and which put p
the Soviets of Workers’, Peasants’ and Soldiers’ Deputies in power, raised millions
of people of all the toiling classes and sections of society to conscious partic- j
ipation in historic events. The prospects of revolu- ’. tionary socialist changes
inspired a large number of workers, peasants and members of the intelligentsia to
join the Party. This enabled the Party to rely firmly on the masses and draw the 105
entire people into socialist construction.
But Lenin and the Party always took into account that the dictatorship of the p
working class, its leadership, could be effected only through a party in which
workers constituted the majority. This line in Party development has been
consistently enforced since the inception of Soviet power.
In October 1917 about 350,000 Communists launched the offensive on the capitalist p
system. Approximately 60 per cent of them were workers, about 8 per cent peasants
and 32 per cent intelligentsia and people from other sections of society. With such a
social composition of the Party, Lenin pointed out, the Communists rallied around
themselves "the entire vanguard of the proletariat and the overwhelming majority of
the working peopie". [ 105•*
The Party grew as more and more working people were drawn into socialist p
construction and their political awareness and activity increased. Its ranks were
swelled by representatives of the working class and people from the other working
sections of Soviet society. But the Party saw to it that the working class always held
the leading place. It achieved this by special campaigns to enrol workers, by
ideological and political work directed to this end and by modifying the conditions
and practice of enrolling members to give priority to representatives of the working
class.
The CPSU has always approached the question of its development from clearly- p 106
defined class positions. It has absorbed all the best features of the working class, its
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revolutionary energy and organisation, its devotion to the ideas of socialism and
communism and the interests of the working people, its sober mind and efficiency.
The building of a developed socialist society in the USSR changed the class p
structure of Soviet society and promoted the socio-political and moral unity of the
Soviet people. The political and cultural level of the people has risen tremendously.
The Party’s contacts with the masses have become still broader and more p
comprehensive.
From a small group of Marxists-Leninists, the CPSU since the establishment of p

Soviet power has grown into a genuinely mass Party with nearly 15 million full and
probationary members.
One out of every 11 adult Soviet citizens is a Communist. The formation of such a
large and strong Party is a factor of fundamental importance for the working class in
attaining its historic objective. The Party’s contacts with the people and its ability to
solve many practical questions depend largely on the proportion of Communists in
various strata and groups of working people in every branch of the national
economy, in each working body. It is one thing if there are Communists at a
collective farm, and another if there are none at all, or if Communists comprise four
or five per cent of a factory personnel or when they make up a tenth or a fifth of
the workers and engineers.
SOCIAL COMPOSITION OF THE CPSU IN 1973 (per cent) 107

199-1.jpg
Industrial workers Collective farmers

White-collar workers
108
The social structure of the CPSU today includes representatives of practically all p
classes, social strata and groups, of the entire Soviet people: 40.7 per cent of its
members are workers, 14.7 per cent collective farmers and 44.6 per cent are
engineers, agronomists, teachers, doctors, research workers, writers, artists, actors,
and administrative personnel.
While admitting to its membership the foremost representatives of the nation, the p
Party takes care that the working class continues to occupy the leading place in its
composition. It is stated in the Resolution of the 24th CPSU Congress that this
principle fully conforms to the Party’s nature and the place and role of the working
class in Soviet society. The working class is the vanguard of Soviet society, a class
which is employed in the crucial sphere of material production, in industry, and the
role played by the workers in conditions of the scientific and technological revolution
is steadily mounting. Today more than six million workers are Communists.
Ensuring its growth primarily by accepting the workers, the CPSU at the same time p
consistently draws the foremost representatives of the collective-farm peasantry into
its ranks. Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of the national economy
accounting for more than a third of the national income. Its sustained development is
essential for the building of the material and technical basis of communism. The
rural Party organisations are the Party’s powerful mainstay in communist
construction.
The CPSU has always attracted to Party membership the foremost representatives of p 109
the numerous contingents of the Soviet intelligentsia which is playing an important
role in the life of society. In shaping its social structure the Party is striving to
assess correctly the rapid numerical growth of the Soviet intelligentsia, its mounting
role in communist construction, in promoting the scientific and technological
revolution, in the administration and in society’s cultural activities. Specialists in
industry and agriculture, scientists and people in the sphere of culture and the arts
comprised approximately 22 per cent of the people admitted to Party membership
between the 23rd and 24th CPSU Congresses. Today 33 per cent of the engineers,
50 per cent of the agronomists and livestock experts, 25 per cent of the school
teachers and 20 per cent of the doctors are Communists.
The CPSU pays a great deal of attention to the correct placement of Party members.
Communists are assigned to key sectors of communist construction, and at present
about 75 per cent of the CPSU members are employed in the sphere of material
production.
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<•>
The CPSU has always attached great importance to augmenting its membership and p
TOC building up a mass Party. Otherwise it would have been difficult to ensure Party
guidance of all the numerous sections of socialist and communist construction and
Card
successfully solve the problems facing the country. At the same time the Party makes 110
sure that only the best representatives of the working people, capable of being in the
Text vanguard of the working class and the whole people, arc admitted to membership.
HTML
PS Speaking about the need qualitatively to improve the composition of the Party Lenin p
PDF noted: "We must spare no effort to make this vanguard of the proletariat, this army .
. . capable of coping with the tasks that confront it. And it is confronted by tasks of
T* gigantic international and internal importance." [ 110•* It is therefore necessary to
19* take into account not only the social status of those admitted to CPSU membership,
but also their social and political image, i.e., their ideological and political maturity,
### social activity and business and moral qualities.
Fulfilling Lenin’s behest, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is making ever p
higher demands of its members and selects them accordingly. In keeping with the
Party Rules each application to membership is considered individually by primary
Party organisations. This imposes great responsibility on each organisation since it
has to make a thorough appraisal of the merits and demerits of each applicant, assess
his political and labour activity and moral qualities. In this sense the strength of the
Party’s influence depends to an enormous degree on the correct solution of questions
concerning the admittance of new members at each factory, collective farm and
office.
Without advancing any social restrictions to Party membership for representatives of p 111
one or another class or social stratum, the CPSU Rules nevertheless clearly state:
"The Communist Party of the Soviet Union is the tried and tested militant vanguard
of the Soviet people, which unites, on a voluntary basis, the more advanced,
politically more conscious section of the working class, collective-farm peasantry and
intelligentsia of the USSR___Membership of the CPSU is open to any citizen of the
Soviet Union who accepts the Programme and the Rules of the Party, takes an active
part in communist construction, works in one of the Party organisations, carries out
all Party decisions, and pays membership dues.”
This means that any Soviet citizen can be a Party member; nevertheless by far not p
all the applicants are admitted to membership. The CPSU takes into account that the
future Communist must be not only a hard-working person and an honest citizen,
but also an active participant in public and political life. In their overwhelming
majority Soviet people are conscientious and honest. But the Party is a militant
political organisation of Communists, and people are not born but become
Communists. It is their ideological and political training, social and labour activity
and degree of awareness of their public duty that are the main criteria for their
admittance to Party membership.
The CPSU owes its moral strength and mounting prestige to the fact that its p
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members represent the foremost section of the Soviet people and selflessly serve the 112
interests of the working people, and that revolutionary fervour, vigorous political
activity and high awareness of public duty are characteristic features of Communists.
The Party has always maintained that it could best improve its composition by p
purging its membership of alien elements which managed to get into its ranks. Lenin
drew the Party’s attention to this task on more than one occasion believing that
people adhering to hostile class positions, careerists and adventurers should not be
allowed to remain under the banner of the Marxist revolutionary party. ”. . . It was
absolutely inevitable,” he wrote in an article headlined "A Great Beginning”, "that
adventurers and other pernicious elements should hitch themselves to the ruling party.
There never has been, and there never can be, a revolution without that. The whole
point is that the ruling party should be able, relying on a sound and strong advanced
class, to purge its ranks.
“We started this work long ago. It must be continued steadily and p
untiringly." [ 112•*
Carrying out Lenin’s behest the CPSU purges its organisations of people who p
proved to be unworthy of being called Communists. The Party always pays attention
to both political and general education of the Communists. Practically all full and
probationary members study at various levels of the Party education system. Their
curriculum includes Marxist-Leninist philosophy, political economy, scientific
communism, the history of the CPSU, organisational principles and development of 113
the Party, the fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism, the fundamentals of political
science, problems of the world communist movement and international politics, and
economics. Today 50 per cent of Party members have either a higher or secondary
education; about 6.6 million are specialists in various fields of knowledge, including
150,000 of those who hold scientific degrees of doctors or candidates.
It goes without saying that if the Party lacked the necessary number of qualified p
specialists in all fields, it would have been unable either to guide effectively the
development of the economy, science and culture, or successfully build the material
and technical basis of communism, and transform social relations and educate
members of the new society.
As the Soviet women come to play an increasingly active role in social production p
and public and political life, the number of women Party members becomes greater.
Today they account for over 20 per cent of the membership.
The CPSU is a genuinely international party. Its membership includes the best sons p
and daughters of 131 nations and ethnic groups of the country.
Thus, by ensuring the qualitative growth of its ranks, the continuous consolidation
of its social basis and the correct placement of Communists, the CPSU creates all
the necessary conditions for successfully guiding the construction of socialism and
communism.
***

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Development of the Party



SOCIETY

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<< • >> WHAT DEMANDS 114

<•> THE PARTY IMPOSES ON COMMUNISTS?

[introduction.]
TOC
Card The CPSU is the recognised vanguard and leader of the people because its members p
are the true leaders of the masses, selflessly upholding the interests of the working
Text people, promoting their happiness and welfare.
HTML
PS Communists work in all fields performing the most diverse jobs. They are workers p
PDF and state and public figures, collective farmers, doctors, engineers and servicemen of
all ranks. The building of communist society, the most revolutionary and lofty
T* mission of our day and age, inspires Communists to work not for the sake of
19* personal glory, but because they are profoundly dedicated to the Party’s cause.
### The Communists have always been the first to respond to Party appeals: they were p
in the forefront in the years of revolutionary struggle and the building of socialism,
in the period of peaceful construction and in the hard years of war. And today, too,
they are in the forefront. The Soviet Union’s achievements in developing the natural
wealth of Siberia, in space exploration and cultivation of virgin lands, in modernising
technology and solving the most complicated scientific problems, have been attained
as a result of the dedication and revolutionary enthusiasm of millions of Communists
and scores of millions of non-Party people whom they lead.
The number of Party activists is steadily growing. There are people with fiery
hearts, tireless and wilful in all organisations, all sectors of communist construction. 115
Everywhere, in production, in the state administration, in culture, Communists are a
militant force. They set the pace for well-organised work, initiate new developments
in production and public affairs, participate in commissions controlling economic
activity, carry on political education among the population and work in the Soviets,
trade unions, Komsomol and other mass organisations of the working people. No
serious undertaking can be successfully carried out without guidance, assistance and
initiative of Party organisations and Party members.
***

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< The Communists' Labour and Public >

Activity

<< WHO MAKES UP THE HOW THE COMMUNIST PARTY >>

COMMUNIST PARTY? IS ORGANISED


SOCIETY
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<•> Labour and Public Activity

TOC Since the creation of the material and technical basis of communism is the initial p
and most important factor of communist construction it is natural that active
Card
participation in the country’s economic life is also the primary duty of all
Communists.
Text
HTML In socialist society production activity is one of the main spheres where a p
PS Communist can display his Party spirit. A CPSU member who says a lot of good
PDF things about communism but does little to hasten its establishment and does not give
all his strength to further the common cause is a bad Communist, for the simple
T* reason that communism cannot be built solely out of good intentions, but only by
19* dint of hard work.
### Needless to say Soviet Communists have always been in the vanguard of the labour p 116
effort, but today, when the ideals of communism are being translated into reality, it
has become especially important that they should show how to work the communist
way. Here personal example is worth more than the most ardent words. Labour and
communism are inseparable and naturally the extent to which a person fulfils his
public duty is gauged by his attitude to labour.
However important it is to set a personal example at work, a Party member has p

other duties too. A Communist is called a Communist because everywhere and in
everything he is a political fighter, a proponent of Marxist-Leninist ideas, an
organiser of the masses. A true Communist is distinguished by his vigorous public
activity.
The CPSU Programme provides for the gradual transition from state forms of
organisation of life to communist self-government. The attainment of this long-term
target largely depends on the growing participation of the masses in state
administration, on the performance of various public functions by the working people
in their free time, voluntarily and free of charge. It is up to the Communists, as the
most advanced and class-conscious section of the working people, to set an example
in discharging public obligations. Naturally, in order to be able to play the guiding
role in all spheres of political, state, economic and ideological life, such a multi–
million organisation as the CPSU should rationally organise and apportion its work
among its members. One of its main forms is Party assignments whose role should 117
not be underestimated. However small and at times mundane they may seem, they
are both important and significant first and foremost because they are set by the
Party. In many respects the Party’s work among the masses depends on how
successfully Communists fulfil these assignments. By charging members and
probationary members with specific duties, the Party organisation translates the
Party’s policy and directives into reality. Hence the great responsibility of each
Communist entrusted with a specific assignment by his organisation. The rigid
fulfilment of a Party assignment is the law of Party life.
***
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< [introduction.] A Communist Is a Political Fighter >




SOCIETY

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<•>
At the same time the activity of Party members is not confined to the fulfilment of p
TOC assignments. A true Communist is highly conscious of his Party duty; he is a
political fighter who generously gives his strength and ability to the Party and the
Card
people whether fulfilling a specific assignment or not. In all circumstances he is an
active Party propagandist and organiser of the masses. The Party supports such
Text activity because no assignment or instruction can envisage exactly how he should act
HTML in one case or another.
PS
PDF The building of communism is a manifold, allembracing process which calls for the p
broadest initiative in all matters on the part of Communists in keeping with 118
T* communist ideals and the demands of life and Party conscience.
19*
A Communist cannot be a bystander. The petty-bourgeois philosophy of "I meddle p
### not" is alien to a Party member. All that concerns the Soviet state, the Party and the
working people concerns the Communists, too.
Since the Party is an organisation of revolutionary action it draws its strength from p
the fact that its members by their daily activity uphold the reputation of the Party. A
Communist remains a Communist so long as he acts in the interests of the Party.
A Party approach means that a Communist always and everywhere seeks to improve p
things without shirking difficulties.
A Communist has to do much more than merely conscientiously to perform his p

specific job for a wage, for a fixed remuneration. In line with the principles of Party
organisation and activity a Communist, whether he holds a leading post or is a rank-
and-file worker, is entrusted with a share of general Party work. All Communists
without exception are duty bound to work actively among the masses.
There is no better indicator of a Communist’s awareness of his responsibilities as a p

Party member than his attitude to public and to personal interests. A Communist
places the interests of the Party, the state, the people and the collective above his
own. This does not mean, of course, that Communists lead a life of self-denial and
are concerned solely with production and public work. Like all people they have a 119
wide range of cultural and other interests. They derive satisfaction and joy not only
from public activity, but also from family life and purely personal interests and
attachments. They can always draw on the example of the teachers and leaders of
the working people—Karl Marx, Frederick Engels and Vladimir Lenin, who were
ardent revolutionaries but who did not spurn the joys of life.
A Communist, however, has a notable quality characterising his approach to all p

personal matters.
For a Communist public and personal interests are indivisible, but the personal p
never obscures the great cause for which he joined the Party. Whenever necessary he
will forsake his personal wishes and comfort to further the interests of the Party and
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the people. It cannot be otherwise. That is why Communists have such a high
reputation among the people.
The Party is a voluntary union, and people join it only if they wish to do so. On its p
part the CPSU admits only those people who have realised the need to be in the
forward ranks, who are ready at their own free will to devote their strength and
knowledge to the communist cause. The Party is strong because it is a union of
industrious people, for the energetic activity of a Communist is the source of strength
of each Party organisation and the Party as a whole.
The people of the USSR regard the Party as their militant vanguard, and each p
Communist is an example of determination and efficiency.
Today, when the Party is coming to play still greater role as the organiser of p 120
communist construction, it is most important that all Communists and Party
organisations raise their activity to a higher level to cope with the key problems of
social development in the USSR. The creation of the material and spiritual
prerequisites for building communism calls for tremendous creative energy on the
part of the people. It is the primary duty of all Party organisations to generate this
energy in each collective, fuse the efforts of the working people and direct them
towards the achievement of the common aim. And the better each Communist
performs his Party duty, the sooner this task will be accomplished.
Passive attitude and indifference are alien to the very spirit of the Communist Party, p
its ideological and organisational principles and traditions.
“The Party,” said General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev in the CC CPSU Report to
the 24th Party Congress, "cannot accept passivity and indifference. If you are a
Communist your duty is not to shirk difficulties, not to encourage backward attitudes,
but to be a politically conscious and active fighter of the Party. Always and
everywhere—in work, social activities, study and everyday life—a Communist must
remain a Communist and worthily bear the lofty title of member of our Leninist
Party.”
***

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< The Communists' Labour and Public >

Activity




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A.Communist.Is.a.Political.Fighter

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<< • >> HOW THE COMMUNIST PARTY 121

<•> IS ORGANISED

[introduction.]
TOC
Card Having guided the Soviet peoples into socialism the CPSU is now fulfilling its p
mission of directing communist construction. Its progress in this field is very largely
Text due to the fact that the relations between Communists and the innerParty life are
HTML based on principles which make the Party strong and monolithic, bolster its militant
PS spirit, stimulate the political activity of its members and are in keeping with the
PDF character of the political organisation of the vanguard of the Soviet people.
T* The CPSU unites 379,000 Party organisations and millions of Communists. It

19* includes large Party organisations at giant industrial enterprises, and organisations
with only a few Party members. Its members represent various social strata and the
### most diverse occupations. At the same time, the CPSU is an integral social organism.
Each Party organisation is its living cell. It is connected with the entire Party both
ideologically and organisationally, and lives and acts in keeping with the rules
regulating the activity of the Party as a whole. These rules are called Leninist in
honour of the man who laid them down.
***

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< Democratic Centralism >

<< WHAT DEMANDS THE PARTY HOW THE PARTY GUIDES >>
IMPOSES ON COMMUNISTS? SOCIALIST SOCIETY AND THE
STATE


SOCIETY

How.the.Communist.Party.is.Organised

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<•>
The pivotal organisational element of the life and work of Communists is the p
TOC Leninist principle of democratic centralism that combines the broadest independent 122
activity of Party members with respect for the will of the majority, strict discipline
Card
and subordination of lower organisations to those standing at a higher level. It was
democratic centralism that gave the vanguard of the working class of Russia and
Text later of other countries the monolithic stability and strength which made it possible
HTML to wage drawn-out and victorious battles against class enemies and fight successfully
PS for socialism and communism. The CPSU proceeds from the basis that in order
PDF successfully to guide society it is essential that all Party organisations consistently
adhere to the principle of democratic centralism.
T*
19* Democratic centralism is the organic unity of democracy and centralism. Their p
fusion makes the Party capable of vigorous political action, develops the initiative of
### the Communists and at the same time helps the Party act with confidence and
determination.
The need to build a Communist Party on democratic principles stems in the first p
place from the determinant role played by the working class, the working masses in
the historical process. The Marxist-Leninist thesis about the role of the popular
masses in shaping history likewise applies to Party members, the Communists. While
the mass of people is the main force of society, the Communists are the main force
of the Party. Therefore inner-Party relations are built in such a way as to enable the
Communists decisively to influence the elaboration of policy, the formation of all
leading Party bodies and display their initiative. The correct implementation of the 123
principle of democratic centralism in the organisation of inner-Party life makes all
this possible.
Democratism is closely connected with the very nature of the Communist Party. The p
Party is a voluntary political organisation, a union of Communists sharing the same
ideas. Therefore the members of this union have equal rights and share common
duties and responsibilities. All Party members, Lenin noted, participate in all the
affairs of the Party on an equal footing without any exception either directly or
through their representatives.
The Communists are the supreme authority in their organisation and their vote is p
decisive at a Party meeting, just as the vote of their delegates is decisive at a Party
conference or congress. Communists shape the Party’s policy and the decisions of
their organisation. In the final count all inner-Party relations are based on this
Leninist principle.
Party democracy is a system under which Communists feel themselves masters of p

their organisation, competent to conduct all its affairs and be responsible for them. It
is written down in the CPSU Programme: "The development of inner-Party
democracy must ensure greater activity among Communists and enhance their
responsibility for the realisation of the noble ideals of communism. It will promote
the cultivation in them of an inner, organic need to act always and in all matters in
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full accordance with the principles of the Party and its lofty aims."
Inner-Party democracy is guaranteed by the principle of electiveness of all leading p 124

Party bodies, collective Party leadership, mandatory responsibility of the leading
bodies to Party members, publicity of Party life and the equal rights and equal
responsibilities of all Party members. It is also ensured by the fact that all questions
of Party activity are discussed and decided on a broad democratic basis.
In conformity with the CPSU Rules each Communist has the right to discuss freely p
all questions of Party policy and practical matters at Party meetings, conferences and
congresses, at the meetings of Party committees and in the Party press. He can put
forward proposals and openly express and defend his views until his organisation
passes a decision. He has the right to criticise any Communist, whatever his post, at
Party meetings, conferences, congresses and at plenary meetings of Party committees.
Any suppression of criticism or persecution of a person for his critical remarks is
strictly penalised within the Party.
A Party member has the right to be present at Party meetings and sittings of Party p
bureaus and committees when the question of his activity or behaviour is up for
discussion. He is entitled to submit questions, applications and recommendations to
any Party organisation right up to the CPSU Central Committee and demand a
comprehensive reply.
Centralism is no less important in the organisation of the system of inner-Party p

relations. Inner-Party democracy, as Lenin saw it, is closely associated with 125
discipline, which is identical for all Communists, and with centralism in the work of
all Party organisations.
In socialist society, as we have said above, the Communist Party is the organiser of p
all socio-economic transformations. For the Party to be able to embody consistently
the ideals of the working class in all spheres of social activity, all its organisations
must be guided by uniform political and organisational principles, by a single
programme and rules, have a single leading centre and be equally subject to Party
discipline.
Centralism is also necessary because the Party acts as an integral political p

community of people with a single conviction, the Marxist-Leninist world outlook.
Finally, people join the Party so as to act all together and not separately. Not a
single Party member could rely on the Party and the Party itself could not firmly rely
on any Communist if they were not welded together by the unity of organisation.
Any person who does not want to act alone, out of contact with the Party, but
strives for joint effort, relying on the strength of the organisation and the
compounded abilities of the Party’s fighters, must inevitably take into account the
will of his organisation and the whole Party.
That is why the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is a centralised organisation p
with its activity based on ideological, political and organisational principles common
to all its links. It has a single supreme guiding body—the Party Congress—while 126
between the congresses the top Party body is the Central Committee. Decisions of
Party Congresses and of the Central Committee are binding on all Communists. All
Party organisations are subordinated to the Party centre; the decisions and instructions
of higher Party bodies are binding on all lower bodies; the minority in all
organisations and their leading bodies is subordinated to the majority. Centralism also
means that the lower bodies have to report to the higher ones, and that Communists
have to report to their Party organisations. It also implies rigid Party discipline and
equal responsibility to the Party of all its members whatever their posts.
In this respect the revisionists adhere to opposite views. Disregarding facts and p
historical practice they strive to prove that as a principle of organisation of Party life
democratic centralism has outlived itself long ago and should be discarded. Yet
rejection of democratic centralism as the guiding principle of the Party’s
organisational structure, or any extenuation of this principle will expose the Party to
great danger.
While Right-wing revisionists want to reduce the Party to the level of a debating p
society, the “Left”-wing pseudo-revolutionaries are striving to turn it into a military-
bureaucratic organisation implicitly obeying its “leader”. In spite of their outward
distinctions, it is easy to see that the Right and “Left” opportunists are united in their
negation of the Leninist principles of Party development and life which have been 127
tried and tested by the entire world communist movement.
Marxism-Leninism does not regard democracy and centralism as two separate p

principles, but as two facets of a single principle, as a foundation of all inner
relations in the Communist parties. It is impossible to draw an opposition: either
centralism or democratism, for the two cannot be separated. The Central Committee
Report to the 24th CPSU Congress noted: "Both anarchic lack of discipline,
presented as democracy, and bureaucratic centralisation, hindering the promotion of
the initiative and activity of Communists, are equally injurious to the Marxist-
Leninist Party.” Only by developing on the basis of democracy and centralism will
the Party be able to strengthen inner-Party relations.
The strengthening of the Party and the enhancement of its role in society depends p
wholly on the all-round promotion of a democratic atmosphere in all its organisations
and leading bodies, collective discussion of key issues, the increasing role of each
member in the affairs of his organisation, promotion of the initiative of the lower
organisations coupled with the consolidation of centralism and discipline and greater
responsibility for the implementation of the Party’s policy and the decisions of the
Party organisations.
The fact that organisationally the Communist Party develops not in keeping with p
subjective wishes and views, not spontaneously, but on the sound scientific
foundation, according to the objective laws of contemporary social development and 128
in conditions of class struggle, endows it with great strength and advantages over the
bourgeois and reformist parties.
Democratic centralism in the Party rests on the clear-cut structure of its p

organisations. Primary Party organisations set up at places where Communists work
are united into district and city organisations in keeping with the country’s
administrative-territorial division; all district organisations of a region or territory are
united into a regional or territorial organisations, and so forth. The organisation
servicing an area is higher than all the Party organisations servicing its various parts.
This structure, which takes into account the decisive role of the working collectives
in the life of the country and the existing state-administrative pattern, enables the
Party more effectively to guide the activity of Party organisations and influence the
corresponding state, economic and public organisations in attaining the common
goals.
Despite their varied composition and the different conditions in which they operate, p
the organisations of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union comprise a single unit
and have the same Programme and Rules.
In line with the existing administrative– territorial division of the country, the CPSU
unites 14 Communist parties of the constituent republics, 6 territorial, 142 regional,
10 area, 774 city, 480 urban district and 2,832 rural district organisations.
***

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< [introduction.] Election and Accountability of the >

Leading Party Bodies

STATE


SOCIETY

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<•> of the Leading Party Bodies

TOC In the CPSU, leadership from bottom to the top is effected on the basis of self- p
government, and first and foremost on the basis of election and accountability of the
Card
leading Party bodies to the Party masses. ”. .. All officials, all leading bodies, and all
institutions of the Party are subject to election, are responsible to their constituents,
Text and are subjest to recall." [ 129•* This pattern of inner-Party relations promotes the
HTML spirit of comradely co-operation in the Party and is a reliable foundation for Party
PS activity.
PDF
The Communists either directly or through their delegates decide who should be p
T* entrusted with organisational or other leading functions in the primary Party
19* organisation, in the district, city or regional Party committees and in the Central
Committee, who is worthy of such trust and is capable of living up to it. The right
### of Party members to form their leading bodies is a matter of decisive significance.
The Party effectuates its policy through people. And since a Party organisation is
concerned with successfully carrying out its policy which embodies the will of the
Communists in big and small matters, it promotes the most deserving to leading
posts. Lenin considered that such an approach would make the choice "not the result
of clannishness, friendship or force of habit. . . but the result of the considered 130
decision of the ’rank and file’ themselves (i.e., of all the members of the Party) as to
their own political conduct". [ 130•*
The leading bodies of the CPSU organisations are made up of workers, collective p
farmers, representatives of all social strata and groups, of all the nationalities of the
country, people employed in various state, public, economic and cultural sectors. On
the eve of the 24th CPSU Congress 423,000 workers and collective farmers were
elected to the Party bureaus and committees. Of the total number of members and
alternate members of district and city Party committees nearly 40 per cent are
workers and collective farmers. The number of workers and collective farmers has
also increased in the regional and territorial committees and in the Central
Committees of the Communist parties of the constituent republics.
Leading Party bodies periodically report on their activity to Party members at p

conferences and congresses. These reports are scheduled in keeping with the CPSU
Rules.
Reports are an indispensable form of democracy in the CPSU, one of the most p
effective means by which the Communists control the activity of their leading bodies.
These reports give the Communists the opportunity to verify how Party bureaus and
committees fulfil their mandates and suggestions and how the decisions of a Party
organisation and the policy of the Party are carried into effect. This is not only the 131
right but also the duty of Party members. Communists follow Lenin’s instructions
who wrote: ”. . .the Party itself is obliged to see to it that its Rules are observed by
its functionaries. . . . He who cannot demand successfully of his agents the discharge
of their Party duties towards those who entrusted them is unworthy of the name of
Party member." [ 131•*
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One can judge of the extent of this control and the activity of the Communists by p
the activity of the Party members at meetings held to hear reports and elect Party
organisations. Annually more than three million Communists, or almost a quarter of
the total, speak at such meetings and conferences in primary Party organisations.
It has become the practice in many regional and territorial committees and in the p
Central Committees of the Communist parties of the constituent republics to report
on the fulfilment of decisions and their work at statutory plenary meetings of the
Bureau of the Party Committee. In between conferences district and city Party
committees periodically deliver information reports in the biggest Party organisations.
Similarly, regional and territorial Party committees and the Central Committees of
the Communist parties in the constituent republics inform the Party functionaries and
all Communists.
The regular reports of Party bodies, which have become a rule in the CPSU, testify p
to the great viability of Party democracy. The steady growth of the political activity 132
of the Communists, the increasingly principled stand of the Party organisations and
their mounting demands of their members show that the Communists, as fullfledged
members of the Party, not only fulfil the instructions of their chosen representatives,
but also help them and control their activity.
Party organisations always bear in mind that the effect of the Leninist principle of p
accountability depends not only on the need to deliver reports regularly, but above
all on how free, thorough and consistent is the discussion of the activity of the
bureau, committee or secretary of the Party organisation. Reports are not a formality;
their purpose is to enable Communists to sum up the work done, plan ways of
improving it and assess how their representatives fulfilled their obligations. The Party
considers this the most important aspect of the reports.
It goes without saying that inner-Party democracy is not only the observance of p
democratic principles during the elections and reports of Party bodies, or the solution
of problems. Democracy is characteristic of all the work carried on by the entire
Party and its organisations.
The Party attaches great importance to informing all Communists of Party activity,
to improving inner-Party information. The CPSU Central Committee regularly
informs local Party bodies, the functionaries and all Communists as well as broad
sections of the people about the key problems of the Party’s work and the country’s
domestic and international situation. Local Party bodies regularly inform the higher 133
Party bodies, right up to the Central Committee, about their work and problems.
Such information helps the leading Party bodies to size up the situation and to take
into account the experience and opinion of Party organisations and the working
people when resolving problems. Regarding inner-Party information as an important
instrument of leadership and means of education and control, the CPSU takes
measures to make it more operational and effective.
***

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Notes
[ 131•*] Ibid., Vol. 8, p. 224.
< Democratic Centralism Party Discipline and Responsibility >

STATE


SOCIETY

Election.and.Accountability.of.Party.Bodies

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<< • >> Party Discipline and Responsibility 133

<•>
The CPSU pays close attention to another very important aspect of the Leninist p
TOC principle of democratic centralism, namely strict accountability and responsibility of
Party members to their organisation for the fulfilment of Party decisions, observance
Card
of Party discipline and mandatory accountability of the lower bodies to the higher:
the primary Party organisation to the district committee, the latter to the regional
Text committee, and so forth. This is not a formal matter and the Party attaches
HTML fundamental importance to it. The endeavours of the Party and the nation will be
PS successful only with the steady observance of Party discipline by all Party
PDF organisations and bodies from top to bottom. Carelessness and irresponsibility in the
fulfilment of Party decisions are incompatible with the Party’s high mission.
T*
19* The Leninist principle of democratic centralism means uncompromising demands p 134
imposed by both the Party members on the elected leadership, and by the Party
### committees on the Communists. This mutual responsibility is a stimulus of the
Party’s activity and a guarantee of the further enhancement of the role and prestige
of each Party organisation.
Free discussion of matters of Party policy and practical activity in every p

organisation is an essential condition ensuring unity of action of the Communists.
But when the question is solved each Party member is duty bound to carry out the
will of the organisation. When questions have been considered and the decision
adopted all Communists act as one.
Of course, there can be various approaches to questions of practical activity. The p

coincidence of the basic aims and interests of an individual Communist and the Party
does not mean that there is bound to be perfect harmony on all questions. Life has
many complexities, and economic, political and cultural development in a socialist
society is not left to chance. This development is accompanied by many difficulties
and contradictions which have to be overcome. And frequently, in order to fulfil one
or another task in the spirit of Party decisions a Communist has to act with civic
courage, integrity and selflessness.
The CPSU Rules provide guarantees both against the violation of Party discipline p
and against the infringement on the Communists’ rights. These guarantees always
bring out the truth whenever the rights of a Party member are violated. Lenin wrote 135
that it would be " inexcusable to forget that in advocating centralism we advocate
exclusively democratic centralism". [ 135•* The Party’s common will can be created
only democratically.
Mechanical discipline, which the apologists of capitalism claim is maintained by

Soviet Communists, is in fact alien to the CPSU: its discipline is conscious.
***

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< Election and Accountability of the Criticism and Self-Criticism >

Leading Party Bodies

STATE


SOCIETY

Party.Discipline.and.Responsibility

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<< • >> Criticism and Self-Criticism 135

<•>
The CPSU consistently promotes criticism and self-criticism in its practical activity. p
TOC This is necessary due to the objective processes of social life which give rise to
contradictions, and to the errors and shortcomings springing from subjective causes.
Card
The building of socialism and communism is associated with critical and continuous
appraisal of social processes from the point of view of Marxist-Leninist laws. It
Text requires thorough understanding and support of all new phenomena that personify
HTML social progress, and relentless struggle against everything that is obsolete,
PS conservative, all impediments in the way of progress.
PDF
The Party and the Soviet people are justly proud of their successes in communist p 136
T* construction. At the same time the Party teaches the Communists not to be conceited
19* and to regard each achievement only as a step towards fresh victories.
### Lenin regarded the Party’s ability critically to analyse its activity and frankly admit p
and then rectify errors and shortcomings as a sign of its seriousness and fitness to
carry out socialist transformation. Censuring any embellishment of the actual state of
affairs he called on the Communists to be judiciously mistrustful of bragging and not
to ignore shortcomings, but to expose and adjust them.
The Communists undeviatingly follow Lenin’s instruction to study the experience of p

building a new society so as to draw the lessons for the future not only from
successes, but also from shortcomings and errors.
The norms of inner-Party life effective in the CPSU guarantee the extensive p
development of criticism and self-criticism. But, of course, the Communists support
only that kind of criticism which improves Party activity and promotes the solution
of problems.
Party criticism is constructive and especially effective when in addition to censuring

shortcomings and errors it exposes their causes and shows how they can be
remedied. Such an approach is characteristic of CPSU Congresses and Central
Committee Plenary Meetings at which the Party works out concrete measures of
improving the management of the economy, raising the activity of the Party and state
bodies among the people to a higher level, and perfecting the style and methods of 137
Party and state leadership. The introduction of these measures has ensured very
considerable progress in all fields of communist construction.
***

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< Party Discipline and Responsibility Collective Leadership of the Party >

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STATE


SOCIETY

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@LBiz: en/1975/FPS559: 2.5.5-Collective.Leadership.of.the.Party
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>>>
<< • >> Collective Leadership of the Party 137

<•>
Lenin maintained that collective leadership was indispensable for the successful p
TOC activity of the Party and its organisations.
Card Many problems arise in the course of socialist revolution and socialist and p
communist construction. Their solution requires careful consideration, scientific
Text approach and effective leadership of the practical activity of the working people. The
HTML Party has to make a searching and objective analysis of the existing situation, have a
PS thorough knowledge of the nation’s interests, take into account the opinions of large
PDF sections of people and utilise the experience of the masses. There is no better way
of fulfilling all these tasks than by employing the method of collective leadership,
T* one of the fundamental principles of the activity of Marxist-Leninist parties.
19*
The method of collective decisions and actions, stems from the very character of the p
### Communist Party.
Collective leadership makes it possible to rely on the knowledge and experience of p

a large number of Party members. And collective discussion and solution of complex
problems of social development enables the Party to assess them more thoroughly 138
and objectively.
Collective leadership at all levels and links of the CPSU is law. There are regular p
congresses of the CPSU and the Communist parties of the Union republics, regional,
territorial, city and district Party conferences, and general meetings of primary Party
organisations.
Plenary meetings of Party committees and meetings of their executive bodies are p
also held regularly. In the period between the 23rd and 24th Congresses of the
CPSU its Central Committee held 16 plenary meetings to consider important
domestic and foreign policy questions. The meetings of the Political Bureau of the
CPSU Central Committee and the meetings of the CC Secretariat take place once a
week.
The Party sees to it that meetings, conferences, plenary sessions and congresses p
most fully express the will of the Communists of the respective Party organisations
and the Party as a whole. This is ensured by the way the Party meetings, plenary
sessions and conferences are prepared and conducted, by the manner of decision–
making and by an atmosphere stimulating collective work which prevails at the
meetings and conferences.
The CPSU seeks to involve in decision-making all members of Party committees p

and bureaus and every Communist. With this aim in view rank-and-file and
committee members are assigned to prepare agendas for Party meetings and plenary
sessions of Party committees.
The Leninist principle of collective leadership means that in order to enable p 139
Communists, members of Party bodies to discuss and solve questions collectively,
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conditions should be created under which the collegial Party body would be in a
position thoroughly to consider and resolve all issues facing the organisation.
But a collective decision is only the beginning, for if it is not translated into life, p
collectivity will be nothing more than empty talk.
Developed by the Party in the course of its practical activity, the Leninist principles p
of Party life are set down in the CPSU Programme and Rules. "Undeviating
observance of the Leninist standards of Party life and the principle of collective
leadership,” states the CPSU Programme, ’"enhancement of the responsibility of
Party organs and their personnel to the Party rank and file, promotion of the activity
and initiative of all Communists and of their participation in elaborating and realising
the policy of the Party, and the development of criticism and self– criticism, are a
law of Party life. This is an imperative condition of the ideological and
organisational strength of the Party itself, of the unity and solidarity of Party ranks,
of an all-round development of inner-Party democracy and an activisation on this
basis of all Party forces, and of the strengthening of ties with the masses.”
Consistent concern for the observance of Leninist standards and principles of Party
life and the further development of inner-Party relations are a guarantee that the
prestige and influence of the CPSU will continue to grow in the interests of the 140
Soviet people and the communist cause, in the interests of all progressive humanity.
***

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< Criticism and Self-Criticism >

STATE


SOCIETY

Collective.Leadership.of.the.Party

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<< • >> HOW THE PARTY GUIDES 140

<•> SOCIALIST SOCIETY AND THE STATE

[introduction.]
TOC
Card For nearly six decades already the Soviet Union has been confidently advancing
along the path opened by the October Socialist Revolution. And although the front of
Text creative activity runs for thousands of kilometres passing not only through factory
HTML shops and collective-farm fields, but also through the hearts of the people, its
PS progress is calculated in advance and the entire colossal job is meticulously planned
PDF and organised. The country’s advance towards communism is sweeping and
purposeful. The Soviet society owes its dynamism and determination to the political
T* leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
19*
***
###
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< The Guiding Force of the Political >

System of Socialism

<< HOW THE COMMUNIST PARTY THE GROWING ROLE OF THE >>
IS ORGANISED CPSU IN DIRECTING


SOCIETY

How.the.Party.Guides.Socialist.Society.and.State

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<< • >> The Guiding Force 140

<•> of the Political
System of Socialism

TOC
As the vanguard of the working class and the whole nation, the Communist Party of p
Card
the Soviet Union occupies the central place in the political organisation of Soviet
society: it unites the efforts of state bodies and public organisations concentrating
Text them on the solution of problems of communist construction.
HTML
PS By virtue of its character, and the forms and methods of its activity centred on p 141
PDF policy-making, ideological education and political organising of the masses, the
Communist Party is best adapted to perform such guidance. Since there are Party
T* members and Party cells in all state and public organisations, the Party can direct
19* their activity from within, i.e., through the Communists.
### The Party is free from narrow departmental or local interests and therefore can carry p
through the necessary changes in the political, economic and ideological spheres with
the utmost consistency and act in the best interests of the working class and the
whole nation.
Historical experience shows that effective Party guidance of the state and public p
organisations and the success of the Party’s work among the masses depend not only
on the contents of its policy, but also on the mechanism of guidance and the forms
and methods of work the Party employs.
In its relations with the Soviets, the trade unions, the Young Communist League p
and other state institutions and public organisations the Leninist Party firmly adheres
to the positions of socialist democratism. This means that the Party promotes their
activity in every way.
The Communist Party draws the line between its role of political leader and p
organiser of the people, and the functions of state bodies and public organisations.
Relying on their political prestige and the trust of the people, the Party bodies 142
enhance the independence and responsibility of the bodies of people’s power and
public organisations. The Party carries out its decisions in the field of state
administration through Communists working in the Soviets, by way of
recommendations and suggestions to pertinent state and public organisations. This is
fully in keeping with Lenin’s demand "to increase the responsibility and
independence of Soviet officials and of Soviet government institutions, leaving to the
Party the general guidance of the activities of all state bodies. . .". [ 142•*
The Party as the political leader of society regards it as its primary duty to outline p
the main political development and national problems and define the basic tasks of
state and public organs in conformity with the CPSU Programme and general line,
and to carry through its policy in all links of the state and public system.
The CPSU Rules state that Party organisations and their leading bodies guide the p
Soviets, trade unions, the Young Communist League, cooperative societies and other
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public organisations through their Party groups. But there can be no substitution or
mixing of duties and unnecessary duplication. Whoever deviates from this rule, who
interferes in the activity of state and public organisations and tries to command them
or dispenses petty tutelage, consciously or unconsciously belittles the role of the
Party, breeds a sense of irresponsibility among the cadres and injures the common 143
cause.
In their work Party organisations are not supposed to substitute for other bodies. p
And when Party organisations take to this course, their political, ideological and
moral influence over the collective inevitably declines, in the first place because they
are preoccupied with routine managerial functions. This style of work develops
sometimes when a Party organisation forgets that its role is not that of a mere
organiser of the masses, but of their political organiser. The Party formulates policy
and rallies the people to translate it into practice and fulfil the tasks of communist
construction. It promotes capable people to authoritative positions, educates the
masses politically and together with them controls the fulfilment of the adopted
decisions. As regards state administrative and economic-organisational activity, it is
vested in relevant state and economic institutions.
Since the October 1964 Plenary Meeting of the CPSU Central Committee, Party
activity has been characterised by an enhancement of the role of Party organisations
and their leading bodies as organisations and bodies of political guidance, and the
further consolidation of the role and responsibility of state and public bodies.
Following the decisions of the 24th CPSU Congress Party committees increasingly
concentrate on fundamental questions of social and economic development,
enhancement of the political and labour activity of the masses, selection of cadres, 144
control over the fulfilment of the decisions of the Party and Government and on
educational matters. This course fully corresponds to the Leninist understanding of
the mission and the character of Party leadership.
***

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< [introduction.] Forms and Methods of Party >

Guidance



SOCIETY

Guiding.Force.of.the.Political.System

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<< • >> Forms and Methods of Party Guidance 144

<•>
The forms and methods of guidance employed by the CPSU are determined by the p
TOC place it occupies in the political system of socialism, its nature and character as the
political vanguard of society, and by the specific historical conditions in which it
Card
acts.
Text The CPSU always adapts the forms and methods of its activity to the objective p
HTML conditions and targets of each specific period of communist construction. In the pre-
PS war years they had their specific features, during the Second World War they had
PDF other features, and today they are different in many respects from those in the
preceding periods. This is natural.
T*
19* The CPSU has entered the new historical stage with a wealth of experience of work p
among the masses, the experience of building socialist society. By securing the
### complete and final victory of socialism—the establishment of developed socialist
society—in spite of extremely difficult historical conditions, the Party has proved that
it is a farsighted political leader and vanguard of the working people capable of
solving the most complicated problems of transforming the life of society. 145
In its Report to the 24th Congress the CPSU Central Committee made the point that p
"the main thing in the Communist Party’s work is to map out the general prospects
of social development, chart a correct political line and organise the working people
to implement it”.
The Party is always heedful of the direction and the character of social processes. It p
thoroughly analyses them, correlating them with the aims and interests of the
working class and all the people, and takes measures ensuring society’s further
progress towards socialism and communism. The Party’s concern to make every step
in the country’s development correspond to the ideals of socialism and communism
is fully in keeping with the fundamental interests of the entire Soviet nation.
To illustrate the means and methods employed by the CPSU in guiding various p
spheres of social activity, we shall examine its guidance of economic development.
The leading Party bodies, from the Party Congress and the Central Committee down p
to Party conferences and the committee of a primary Party organisation, each in its
sphere, study and consider all the fundamental questions of economic development
and then issue corresponding instructions or recommendations to state and economic
bodies.
What are these questions? The top Party bodies above all deal with the direction, p
volume and rate of economic development, the structure of the national economy, 146
distribution of the productive forces, scientific and technological progress and growth
of labour productivity, and also with questions relating to the national income and its
distribution, budget revenues and expenditures, enhancement of living standards,
improvement of the service industry, the training and appointment of personnel,
educational work, and so forth. CPSU Congresses and Central Committee Plenary
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Meetings consider long-term and current economic development plans, economic

management, the situation in various branches of industry and agriculture and ways
and means of stimulating their development.
For example, the Plenary Meetings of the CPSU Central Committee in March and p
September 1965 drew up measures for improving the planning of production and the
system of material incentives, which ensured a sustained development of industry and
agriculture. The economic policy worked out by the Party over the past few years
and set forth in a comprehensive form in the decisions of the 24th CPSU Congress
has become the foundation of the Party and state economic activity.
Local Party bodies also consider all fundamental economic matters, including the p
introduction of new technology and modernisation of production, scientific
organisation of labour, labour productivity and material and moral incentives.
Primary Party organisations in industry, transport, communications, building, in the p 147

material and technical supplies service, in the sphere of trade, public catering, the
service industry, collective and state farms and other agricultural enterprises, design
and development offices, research institutes and cultural, educational and medical
institutions have the right to control the work of the administration.
Party organisations in ministries, state committees and other national and local p
bodies and departments control the fulfilment of the Party and Government directives
and the observance of Soviet laws. It is their duty to take an active part in
improving the work of the apparatus and instil in all staff-members a sense of
responsibility for their job. Party organisations in offices are called upon to improve
their services to the population, resolutely fight against bureaucracy and red tape,
inform the respective Party bodies about shortcomings in the work of offices and
individual members of the staff irrespective of their posts.
The Party and its organisations check on the effectuation of the economic policy p
and the situation in industries and enterprises in various ways. They receive reports
from economic executives and managers, regularly check up the activity of economic
bodies, analyse efficiency of various economic links, and so on.
Party control, just as Party guidance of economic development in general, is p

designed to help the workers and managers to fulfil their tasks. Party organisations
do not simply expose shortcomings and errors, they always work out measures to 148
eliminate them and together with workers’ collectives take political, organisational,
ideological and other steps to improve production.
Political, ideological and organisational activity of the Communists at enterprises is p

likewise a very important form of Party guidance of economic development. Using
ideological and organisational methods, Communists working in factory shops, on
construction sites and farms and thus directly engaged in the creation of the material
and technical basis of communism carry through the line envisaged in the programme
of communist construction.
The selection, placement and training of top personnel for the economy is another p
important aspect of the Party guidance of economic development. Party committees
and organisations in industries promote to administrative positions people possessing
the necessary political and managerial qualities.
Is it necessary for the Party to delve so deeply into economic matters? Cannot the p
administrations of industrial enterprises, trade unions or the workers successfully cope
with all economic matters on their own?
These questions, both theoretically and practically, arose before the CPSU more than p
once in the course of the 58 years of the existence of Soviet power. The experience
of these years has proved beyond all doubt that Lenin’s point of view in his
controversy over these questions with the anarcho-syndicalists (a petty-bourgeois 149
opportunist trend hostile to the proletariat) was correct. After the socialist revolution
economic problems for the Communist Party, as Lenin said, became "the most
interesting policy" and the "economic policy" had to be moved to the forefront.
The revolutionary transformation of capitalist economic relations into socialist and p

the building of the material and technical basis of socialism and communism are a
complex process. It cannot develop haphazardly either on national scale, or at a
single enterprise. It has to be directed in keeping with the objective laws of social
development and the emerging specific circumstances. And it is the Party and its
organisations which carry on this mission day in and day out.
It is the activity of the Party of Communists that enables the Soviet state to ensure p
the steady economic growth, foster the complex and coherent development of the
productive forces and raise labour productivity and the efficiency of production. And
it is the Marxist-Leninist economic policy of the CPSU that has helped the Soviet
state to bring the backward hinterlands of the nation to the level of the economically
advanced regions of the country, steer clear of parochialism and isolation and have
no unemployment ever since the 1930s.
If the Communist Party had not concentrated its attention on the country’s economic p
development and had not made the principle of democratic centralism the cornerstone
of economic organisation, the Soviet Union would have failed to attain a purposeful 150
cohesive growth of the national economy and get rid of anarchy in economic
development.
No less essential is Party guidance in the spheres of ideology and culture. The p
Communist Party helps the people mould society’s spiritual life in such a way that it
would promote the formation of communist social relations and the education of the
new man in the spirit of communist ideology and morality. The Party, Lenin
underlined, "must never for a moment lose sight of our ultimate goal, but always
carry on propaganda for the proletarian ideology—the theory of scientific socialism,
viz., Marxism—guard it against distortion, and develop it further". [ 150•* In the
light of the above the Party’s support of progressive developments in literature and
art, and its criticism of harmful trends are not only justifiable, but vitally important.
In the acute ideological struggle between socialism and capitalism, the Party fights p
against all manifestations of bourgeois ideology and morality and arms the
Communists and all Soviet people with the scientific Marxist-Leninist world outlook.
Today, Marxist-Leninist propaganda and the political education of the masses acquire
the utmost significance.
Three Programmes of the Party, each corresponding to a crucial historical period in p

the development of socialism (the first adopted in 1903 at the Second Congress, the
second in 1919 at the Eighth Congress and the third in 1961 at the 22nd Congress), 151
are a concentrated expression of revolutionary thought and revolutionary practice.
Expressing as it does the interests of the working class and all other toiling classes p
and social strata, the CPSU concentrates these interests in its policy that reflects the
objective socio-economic requirements of the developing Soviet society. That
accounts for the great political and moral prestige of the CPSU with the Soviet
working class, the collective-farm peasantry and the intelligentsia. All the 250
million inhabitants of the Soviet Union recognise the Leninist Party as their political
leader and give it all support in its undertakings.
Thanks to its immense authority with the Soviet people, the Party is able
successfully to direct the activity of all state, economic and public organisations, of
all working people, and channel all the material and intellectual resources of society
towards the attainment of the common goal.
***

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System of Socialism



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<< • >> THE GROWING ROLE OF THE CPSU 151

<•> IN DIRECTING COMMUNIST
CONSTRUCTION
TOC
[introduction.]
Card
The history of Soviet society shows that the building of a new society is attended p
Text by a further enhancement of the role and importance of the Communist Party.
HTML Suffice it to recall what a "drop in the ocean”, as Lenin put it, was the Party in the
PS first years of Soviet power and compare it with the mighty force which it is today.
PDF
The growth of the role of the Party in guiding Soviet society is a natural 152
T* development which has its specific causes and its effects.
19*
***
###

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< Causes Enhancing the Role of the >

Party

<< HOW THE PARTY GUIDES >>

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<•>
The CPSU Programme states that the enhancement of the role of the Party derives p
TOC in the first place from the growing scale and complexity of the tasks of communist
construction.
Card
Communist transformation of society is a most complex process. It is in fact p
Text extensive creative work by the whole of society conducted in line with a science-
HTML based programme and a single plan. Therefore it is natural that this process can be
PS directed only by such a highly developed social and political organisation connected
PDF with all classes and strata of society as the Communist Party.
T* Equipped with a knowledge of the laws of social development and the experience p
19* of educating and organising the masses, the CPSU can and does embrace the
colossal scope of revolutionary transformations, and comes to understand the
### complexity and depth of the social processes occurring in the course of communist
construction.
The gradual transition to communism, a system with the highest degree of p

development of the productive forces and social relations, naturally calls for a still
higher level of political and organisational leadership.
Another important factor of the growth of the Party’s leading role is the rapid p
development of the activity and consciousness of the masses, and the extensive 153
participation of the people in state administration. The Party is doing its utmost to
encourage the initiative of the people, directing the creative enthusiasm of the masses
towards the solution of the urgent problems of communist construction. Naturally,
this not only increases the scope of the work performed by the Party, but also
directly influences the development of the Party itself and the forms and methods of
its work.
Communist construction is successful when it is conducted on the basis of broad p

socialist democracy with active participation of the working people and public
organisations. This calls for the co-ordination of their efforts and requires the ability
to turn effectively the energy and experience of the masses to the advantage of
social progress. Only the Communist Party can carry out these tasks because it has
no narrow-mindedness or parochial bias and enjoys great prestige among the masses.
Finally, the building of an absolutely new social system involves a profound p

theoretical elaboration of the ways of creating its material and technical basis, the
moulding of new social relations and the education of the individual with a
communist psychology and morality.
While the classics of Marxism-Leninism have given only a very general outline of p
the contours of the communist edifice, its detailed design and blueprints and the
entire programme of social transformations are the job of the Party that has 154
proclaimed the struggle for the realisation of communist ideals as its objective and is
in the leadership of this struggle.
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The transition from socialism to capitalism is an objective process, though not a p

spontaneous one. To help this process it is necessary objectively to appraise the
changes that are taking place, comprehend their dialectics, find the correct direction
and ascertain the motive forces of further development and chart ways for
overcoming difficulties and shortcomings. To do all this the Party has to live up to
its historic mission in the realm of theory, too.
Communism can be built only given a correct, scientific understanding of the aims p
of social development, of the present and the future.
In guiding social processes, the CPSU proceeds from the ideas of scientific p
communism. It takes into account the objective demands of historical development,
defines the main targets, draws up the political course and sets current tasks giving
them the most sensible and optimal expression. As a result the Party is able to
channel social development towards communism and direct the creative activity of
the masses.
The strength of the Party’s influence is immediately associated with its capacity to
understand and to reflect in its policy the laws and demands of social development,
with its ability to correctly solve concrete social problems and elaborate effective
forms and methods of its policy. Since the Soviet people were the first in history to
undertake communist construction and are following new paths, it is natural that the 155
theoretical activity of the Communist Party is very complicated indeed.
***

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Causes.Enhancing.the.Role.of.the.Party

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<•> the Growing Role of the Party

TOC The Communist Party has adequate opportunities and means to exert increasing p
influence in various spheres of social life. It does this in the first place by further
Card
deepening the scientific principles of its policy, improving the forms and methods of
guiding state and public organisations, raising the level of ideological and
Text organisational activity among the masses, perfecting inner-Party relations and
HTML bolstering the vanguard role played by the Communists.
PS
PDF The cornerstone of CPSU leadership of communist construction is the theoretical p
understanding of the social processes taking place in the USSR, and the elaboration
T* of ways, forms and methods of social transformations.
19*
The Party fuses science with the activity of masses ensuring the unity of theory and p
### practice. Enriching Marxism-Leninism with revolutionary practice, with the
experience of socialist construction, the Communist Party searches for and finds the
correct answers to problems of social development and defines its prospects. At the
present stage increasing importance is being attached to the further development of
the theory of scientific communism, prognostication of social development, scientific
elaboration of domestic problems and foreign policy issues, and defence of the 156
revolutionary essence of Marxism-Leninism.
In its Report to the 24th Party Congress, the CPSU Central Committee noted: p
"Theoretical work is a major element of our common internationalist, revolutionary
duty. The struggle between the forces of capitalism and socialism on the world scene
and the attempts of revisionists of all hues to emasculate the revolutionary teaching
and distort the practice of socialist and communist construction require that we
continue to pay undivided attention to the problems and creative development of
theory.”
As it creatively develops Marxism-Leninism the CPSU re-examines earlier p

theoretical conclusions and political decisions which lag behind the changing
conditions. Dogmatism, assertion of outdated theoretical premises and formulas and
of forms of social life which have outlived themselves in practice are alien to the
Communist Party.
In recent years the CPSU conducted extensive theoretical work on the basis of p
Lenin’s ideas and methodology. It has specified ways of creating the material and
technical basis of communism, worked out modern methods of running the national
economy, formulated the trends of the agrarian policy, elaborated on questions
relating to its leading role in society and outlined topical international problems.
Thanks to its extensive links with the masses, the Party is in a position not only to p
put various theoretical conceptions to practical tests, but also to verify whether
society is ripe enough to translate them into life. This is important because a theory 157
is valuable insofar as it can be implemented with the help of the social activity of
people.
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The Party has formulated and is effectuating a policy that correctly mirrors the p
objective socioeconomic requirements of the development of Soviet society.
Guided by Leninist principles, the CPSU has mapped out a long-term general p
course of development of Soviet society, defined the trend and the character of the
changes in the socio-political, ideological and cultural fields, elaborated effective
forms and methods of political guidance of state and public organisations, of all
spheres of human activity in the country. At each new stage in the development of
society, the Party becomes more skilled and efficient in guiding domestic and foreign
affairs of the USSR.
Having built a developed socialist society, the Soviet people are tackling new tasks, p
the tasks of communist construction. This has objectively enhanced the role played
by the Party as a force directing all social processes towards the attainment of a
single goal, that of building communist society.
Each decision taken by Party bodies, each step they make has a far-reaching impact p
on society. Therefore Party committees are obliged to solve all economic, ideological
and cultural matters with scientific thoroughness, to undertake only judiciously
considered steps that correspond to the requirements of communist construction and
the vital interests of the people.
That is why at its 24th Congress the CPSU set the task of scientifically guiding all p 158
sections of work, at all levels down to the primary Party organisation. The Party
urges its leading cadres to master modern methods of management and to ensure that
each decision of its leading bodies should have a sound scientific basis. Today
primary attention is focussed on the ability to organise scientifically the management
of production and raise it to a high level of efficiency, promote scientific and
technological progress and guide all social processes with a high degree of
knowledge and skill.
A key principle of Party leadership is combination of science and politics. The p

CPSU bases its activity on the latest achievements in science, and on a thorough
study of reality and of the internal and external conditions attending the building of
communism.
Communist construction demands that the Party should consistently and thoroughly p
examine all social processes and phenomena and evaluate them in the light of the
present and future conditions, and that it should unremittingly carry on its theoretical
work. The scope and significance of this activity will increase steadily.
The growth of the Party’s prestige and influence at the present stage is largely due p
to the fact that it elaborated and solved a range of crucial problems of the
development of the socialist economy and the further enhancement of the people’s
welfare.
It is no less important today to increase the sense of responsibility among the Party p 159
cadres, make greater demands on them, and strengthen all forms of control, especially
Party control, over the fulfilment of Party and Government decisions and the
realisation of economic and cultural development plans. The Soviet society with its
economic basis and political superstructure is a single social organisation, an integral
social system in which all links are closely interconnected. Therefore the Party
strives to make precision, industriousness and discipline organic to each collective
and each worker whatever his job.
The role of the Communist Party in a socialist society increases as the Party
develops and improves its activity, its forms and methods of work and organisation
of inner-Party life. This headway is ensured by the line adopted at the 24th CPSU
Congress of further improving the methods of Party guidance of society, strict
observance of the Leninist standards of Party life, further consolidation of Party
ranks and all-round consolidation of its links with the working class, with the whole
Soviet nation.
***

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What.Ensures.the.Growing.Role.of.the.Party

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<< • >> CHAPTER III 160

<•> THE HISTORICAL ROAD
OF SOVIET SOCIETY

TOC
[introduction.]
Card
In his "Notes of a Publicist" Lenin compared those who accomplished the October p
Text Socialist Revolution, the builders of a new life, with a traveller ascending a steep
HTML and unexplored mountain. On his way to the coveted top, the traveller encountered
PS unheard-of difficulties and dangers, and was even forced into temporary retreat in
PDF
order to search for a more reliable path. The enemies hooted and not all his friends
realised the necessity of this manoeuvre. The going was very, very difficult... .
T*
19*
The bourgeoisie, when it came to power in its time, received what Lenin described p
### as a " welldesigned and tested vehicle, a well-prepared road and previously tested
appliances”, for many of the prerequisites of capitalism had matured in the depths of
the feudal system, while the proletariat, when it came to power, had "no vehicle, no
road, absolutely nothing that had been tested beforehand". [ 160•*
From heights which they have attained and are now looking back at the 58 years of p 161
their development, the Soviet people are justly proud of their history and their
accomplishments. The multinational Soviet people consciously and purposefully, in an
organised manner and with great inspiration, shaped their history and under the
leadership of the Communist Party built a new and better life for all working people.
It is true that something could have been done faster and better and with smaller
outlays. But in order correctly to appraise what has been achieved it should be borne
in mind that each step was a step into the unknown and that each milestone was
passed in a determined struggle. "Socialism built in battles”, as the poet Vladimir
Mayakovsky wrote, became not only a monument to its builders, but something
incomparably greater—a beacon for all the peoples. Those who are following the
Soviet people’s road to the cherished heights are able to facilitate their progress by
drawing on the experience of the Soviet Union.
***

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PARTY--- THE POLITICAL FEATURES OF THE SOVIET
LEADER OF THE STRUGGLE UNION'S DEVELOPMENT AT
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<•>
The history of the Soviet land and a new era in the history of mankind began on p
TOC November 7, 1917, the day when the socialist revolution was accomplished in Russia.
Card
The developments of that period are described in history books, literary works, in p
the reminiscences of veteran revolutionary fighters, and depicted in documentary and
Text feature films, all of which provide a better idea of tensity and dynamism of the 162
HTML events, of their magnitude and their impact on history. The substance of what had
PS taken place was described in the terse phrases of the appeal of the Revolutionary
PDF
Military Committee written by Lenin: "The Provisional Government has been
deposed. State power has passed into the hands of the organ of the Petrograd Soviet
T*
of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies.. . .
19*
### “The cause for which the people have fought, namely, the immediate offer of a p
democratic peace, the abolition of landed proprietorship, workers’ control over
production, and the establishment of Soviet power—this cause has been
secured." [ 162•* Thus dawned the era of great transformations.
The Great October Socialist Revolution was not a fortuity, a "zigzag of history”, as p
the enemies of socialism sometimes call it. It was prepared by the entire course of
world socio-economic development. Studying the laws of social development the
great thinkers Marx, Engels and Lenin predicted the inevitability of socialism
replacing capitalism through revolution.
The classics of Marxism-Leninism created the scientific theory of socialism, they p

proved that capitalism was the last form of oppression of man by man, that it would
be inevitably replaced by socialism and that the new system would win through
proletarian revolution.
Advanced social thought became an action in the period of the revolution because p
masses of working people assimilated the theory of revolution. 163
The replacement of capitalism by socialism became an unavoidable necessity when p

private ownership of the means of production turned into impediment to the
development of the productive forces. Organising production on an ever increasing
scale for the sake of greater profits, capitalism involuntarily created its own
gravedigger—the working class—and promoted its growth, cohesion and
organisation.
Russia became the first country to accomplish socialist revolution and establish the p
dictatorship of the proletariat due to several reasons: it was in Russia that at a
specific period of time the basic contradictions of imperialism became most acute,
that the oppression of the capitalists and the landowners was most brutal, and that
police despotism and national oppression was most insufferable. That was how the
objective conditions for the revolution matured in the country; but that was not
enough to ensure its victory.
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An exceptionally important role was also played by subjective factors, namely, the p
ability of the working class to stand at the head of the masses rising in revolt for
power, and the existence of an experienced party of the working class armed with
advanced revolutionary theory and enjoying the confidence of the masses.
The working class of Russia proved to be all prepared to carry out the great p
historical mission and exploit, which fell to its lot. It developed into the most
revolutionary contingent of the world proletariat and drew upon its militant 164
experience; it created its own vanguard—the Party of Communists which equipped
the masses with the advanced theory of struggle for a better future and guided them
to victory; it managed to find a loyal ally—the toiling peasantry of Russia— which
made up the bulk of her population.
The October Socialist Revolution was not a coup at the top—it was carried out by p
the masses in their own interests. The people did not want to live the old way, they
became imbued with the ideals of freedom and were determined to fight for them to
the end. And so they swept away the rule of the landowners and capitalists and
smashed the armies of counter-revolutionary whiteguard generals and the armies of
the interventionists from 14 countries which poured their troops into the country to
crush the revolution.
The storming of the Winter Palace, the grim battles at Perekop, Kakhovka and p
Volochayevka, the exploits of the heroes of the revolution and the civil war will live
for ever in the memory of the Soviet people. They draw upon these glorious
examples to educate their sons and daughters to love freedom, to be brave and
utterly faithful to their socialist homeland and the Communist Party.
Vladimir Lenin has gone down in history as a great scientist, leader and organiser p
of the popular masses, and founder of the Communist Party. A revolutionary in the
highest sense of the word, he was a theoretician and practician, strategist and
tactician, a great humanitarian and a principled fighter, he was all that a political 165
leader should be. His genius illumines all the victories of the people both on the
field of battle and in peaceful endeavour. Having led the masses to victory in the
revolution and the civil war, the Party which he founded armed the people with
scientificallygrounded scheme of a future society and inspired them to launch
creative activity on a scale previously unknown to history.
Yes, the revolution did not end with the victory over the enemy and the p
establishment of the power of Soviets: it went ahead in the entire national economy
and first and foremost in industry where the people laid the foundations for socialist
industry, without which no victory of socialism was possible. Lenin wrote that "the
only possible economic foundation of socialism is large-scale machine industry.
Whoever forgets this is no Communist.” [ 165•*
The revolution also continued in the rural areas where it was necessary to transform p
the petty peasant economy into large-scale socialist agriculture, and turn the peasant
into a conscious builder of communism, without which it was also impossible to
build a new society.
The revolution continued in the cultural sphere, in the entire spiritual life of the p
people. Not only was it vitally important to teach people to read and write but also
to make socialist ideology predominant in all spheres of society’s spiritual life, to
educate cadres of scientists and specialists. It was necessary to build up a socialist 166
culture, which would absorb all the best that had already been created and which
would also constitute a new phase in the spiritual development of the whole of
humanity.
Without suspending her struggle against internal enemies, devastated by the p

imperialist and civil wars, famine-stricken and impoverished, surrounded on all sides
by imperialist armies, Russia embarked on another great historical exploit with the
enthusiasm which only a liberated people could display.
“Our cause,” Lenin wrote, "is assured because the people have themselves set about p
building a new, socialist Russia." [ 166•*
Tracing the 50-year history of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Leonid p
Brezhnev in a report delivered at a joint meeting of the CC CPSU, the USSR
Supreme Soviet and the RSFSR Supreme Soviet on December 21, 1972 noted: "It is
the history of the unprecedented growth and allround development of the state born
of the Socialist Revolution, which is now one of the mightiest powers in the
world." [ 166•**
It was Lenin who advanced the plan of establishing the Soviet state. He formulated p
the fundamental theoretical propositions on nationalstate construction and directed the
establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
The famous Declaration of Rights of the Peoples of Russia, which was adopted a p 167
few days after the October Socialist Revolution, proclaimed the equality and
sovereignty of the peoples of Russia, the right of nations to free self-determination
up to and including secession and the establishment of independent states, the
abolition of all manner of national and national-religious privileges and restrictions,
the free development of the national minorities, and the need for a voluntary alliance
of the peoples of Russia and their complete mutual trust. The joint revolutionary
struggle of the working masses against class enemies and imperialist intervention
welded the peoples of Russia and her national outskirts into a close-knit political,
military, economic and diplomatic union whose establishment was stipulated in a
number of treaties between them.
In the course of the ensuing historical development the trends towards unification p
increased and strengthened. The working class, the working people of all nationalities
sought to strengthen their unity, realising that in order speedily to rehabilitate the
productive forces undermined by the wars, to overcome their backwardness and
improve living standards they would have to pool their efforts. Moreover, it was
absolutely essential for them to unite to the fullest extent possible in view of the
continued threat of fresh imperialist intervention. Thus, the vital interests of all
Soviet peoples, the very logic of the struggle for socialism in the country demanded
the formation of a united miltinational socialist state.
But, as Leonid Brezhnev said, the establishment of such a state required the Party’s p 168
organising role, correct policy and purposeful activity.
Indeed, the Communist Party did have the necessary theoretical basis for such a p
policy—the Marxist-Leninist doctrine on the national question. This doctrine
constituted an important component of the theory of socialist revolution.
On October 30, 1922, the First All-Union Congress of Soviets opened in Moscow. p
In response to the proposals put forward by the congresses of Soviets in the Ukraine,
Byelorussia, Transcaucasia and the RSFSR it adopted its historic decision setting up
the world’s first multinational socialist state—the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
On the same day Moscow was chosen as the capital of the Soviet Union.
Mentioning the exceptional importance of the Congress’s decision, Leonid Brezhnev

underlined: "December 30, 1922, is a truly historic date in the life of our state, an
important milestone in the life of all the Soviet peoples, their great festival.”
***

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Notes
[ 166•** ] L. I. Brezhnev, The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist

Republics, Moscow, 1972, p. 5.
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When the Communist Party came to power it already had a science-based p

TOC programme of fundamental economic changes.
Card
The second Programme of the Communist Party (adopted at its Eighth Congress in p
March 1919) defined the basic tasks for the entire period of transition from 169
Text capitalism to socialism: it called for the completion of the process of expropriating
HTML the bourgeoisie, the transformation of all the means of production into public
PS property, the utmost stabilisation and development of the socialist sector of the
PDF
economy, the introduction of measures to raise the productivity of small individual
peasant farms, and for all-round support for state farms and other collective
T*
agricultural associations. As a result of these measures, private ownership of the
19*
means of production was abolished, the proletarian state gained command positions
### in the national economy and established public ownership of the means of
production.
A major element of the plan for socialist construction was the State Plan for the p
Electrification of Russia (GOELRO) proposed by Lenin and approved by the Eighth
Congress of Soviets in December 1920. This first single plan of economic
development was worked out and approved at the height of the civil war and
provided for the construction of 30 large power stations with a total rating of
1,500,000 kw within a period of 10 to 20 years. It also envisaged the creation of an
advanced technological basis of socialism, a considerable increase in industrial
production, the electrification of transport and agriculture. Lenin called the GOELRO
plan the Party’s second programme.
The main trends of the Soviet state’s economic policy in the transition period, which p
were defined by Lenin and approved by the 10th Congress of the Communist Party 170
in 1921, have gone down in history as the New Economic Policy (NEP). They were
designed to defend the revolution, save the country from economic dislocation and
famine, build the foundation for the socialist economy and gradually oust and get rid
of the capitalist elements.
During the civil war Soviet power had to gear the country’s life to a military p
footing, to effectuate the policy of War Communism, which meant the nationalisation
of both large and mediumsized industrial enterprises, and the introduction of the
surplus-appropriation system, i.e., the requisition of surplus grain and other products
for the needs of the state at fixed prices. With the introduction of NEP the surplus-
appropriation system was replaced by a tax in kind which enabled the peasants to
market a considerable portion of their products and consequently stimulated the
growth of agricultural production. The revival of private enterprise within certain
limits and the promotion of other measures which were in keeping with the
peculiarities of the historical situation by no means exhausted the substance and the
significance of the New Economic Policy.
In a report at a meeting marking the 50th anniversary of the October Socialist p

Revolution, Leonid Brezhnev underlined that the principles of socialist management
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mapped out at the 10th Party Congress have preserved their significance to the
present day. Lenin’s premises concerning the combination of centralised planning
with the development of the initiative of working people, the utilisation of 171
commodity-money relations, autonomous economic accounting and material
incentives in labour, and the fusion of the interests of the whole of society with the
interests of each individual member are still among the most important guidelines in
the Party’s economic policy.
At the end of 1925 the Communist Party held its 14th Congress which set the p
course towards socialist industrialisation that became the principal cause of the Party
and the whole Soviet people.
By then many capitalist states had already passed the stage of industrial p
development. But in the USSR industrialisation differed from capitalist
industrialisation both as regards its socioeconomic content and the methods by which
it was carried out. The purpose of industrial development in capitalist countries was
to strengthen the bourgeois exploiting system and the relations of domination and
subordination. The distinctive feature of industrialisation in the USSR was the
establishment of large-scale industry to ensure the victory of socialism over
capitalism inside the country. Socialist industrialisation gave rise to new relations of
production, comradely co-operation and friendship. It was fully in keeping with the
interest of the millions of workers and peasants and steadily improved the welfare of
the people.
Socialist industrialisation sharply differed from capitalist also as regards its methods. p
Capitalist countries started out by developing light industries and then gradually built
up the heavy industry with the result that it took them a long time to complete the 172
process. The Soviet state was too pressed for time to follow this course. The Party
always bore in mind Lenin’s warning that the capitalist encirclement presented a
grave threat to the Soviet Union. And since an attack by the capitalists could come
any time, the USSR had to begin by building up the heavy industry and develop it
at an accelerated pace.
The main distinction, however, and the most important condition of the success of p
industrialisation in the USSR was that it became a nationwide task in which the
Soviet people displayed the utmost consciousness, discipline and fortitude. Life was
difficult. Bread was rationed, there was a shortage of clothes, footwear and housing
and thrift was practised at work and at home. But people knew what they were
working for; they were confident of success and at times accomplished the seemingly
impossible. Large numbers of people volunteered for work at the construction sites
of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Station, the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine,
the Turkestan-Siberian Railway, the Kharkov, Chelyabinsk and Stalingrad Tractor
factories, the Gorky and Moscow motor works and to build the city of Komsomolsk-
on-Amur and the Berezniki Chemical Complex—where the mainstays of socialist
industry were being established.
By 1927, the total industrial output in the USSR surpassed the 1913 level. Taking p
into account the scope of industrial development, the CPSU turned to long-term
planning. The First Five-Year Plan which was worked out in 1928 provided for the 173
creation of the economic foundation of socialism, the ousting of capitalist elements
from all spheres of the national economy and the transformation of the USSR into
an industrial-agrarian power. And each successive five-year plan was a major step in
enhancing the country’s industrial might.
The great enthusiasm of the working masses and the scope of socialist emulation p
brought to the fore thousands upon thousands of heroes of labour —shock-workers
and Stakhanovites—who had mastered the new equipment and acquired a totally new
attitude to work. The names of the first Stakhanovites in industry and transport— A.
G. Stakhanov (the initiator of the movement), A. Kh. Busygin, A. I. Gurgenidze, S.
Djanbatyrov, N. A. Izotov, M. N. Mazai, S. G. Khachatryan, O. Khodjayev and
many others—were known throughout the land. Their dedication to the cause of
socialist construction is an example for Soviet people today, too, and their traditions
are passed on by one generation of the working class to another.
Socialism could not be built solely on the basis of heavy industry; it was also p
necessary to reorganise the village along socialist lines. And in order to solve this
exceptionally difficult task the Party had to help the peasants to get rid of their
deeply-rooted private-ownership mentality and narrow-mindedness. In this respect
they differed from the industrial workers who had no private means of production. A
peasant with such an outlook had to be turned into an active participant in collective
labour and social life. Coercive measures, and Soviet power had no intention of 174
using them, would have yielded no results. What had to be done was to make the
peasant realise the need of making voluntary decisions which would benefit the
whole of society and simultaneously further his own fundamental interests. Finally, it
was necessary to crush the resistance of the kulaks, the last and the most numerous
exploiting class.
It was Lenin who found the way to the solution of this immensely important p
economic and social problem. It lay through co-operation which under the
dictatorship of the proletariat and the predominance of public ownership in the means
of production could and did become an effective form of blending the personal
interests of the peasant with those of the society as a whole, transforming small
peasant households into large-scale socialist farms and drawing the peasants into the
work of socialist construction.
In 1927, the Communist Party held its 15th Congress which voted for the p
collectivisation of agriculture. Like any other important undertaking, collectivisation
did not run smoothly and precipitated a bitter struggle. The complex social situation
in the countryside, namely, the stratification of the peasantry into poor and middle
peasants and the kulaks and the lack of equipment and experience proved to be very
serious obstacles. Moreover, there were subjective difficulties and errors, undue haste
and attempts to forestall events, and also the fierce and, at times, bloody resistance
of the kulaks. The bulk of the peasants were in favour of collectivisation, trusted the
Communist Party and followed its lead. Time showed that the Party’s policy was 175
correct and farsighted.
The establishment of the collective-farm system mirrored the radical social changes p
that had taken place in the way of life in the countryside and in the minds and
psychology of millions of peasants. The Stakhanovite movement developed rapidly in
agriculture where the examples set by its initiators P. N. Angelina, K. A. Borodin,
M. V. Gnatenko, M. S. Demchenko, M. Y. Yefremov and F. Yunusov were taken up
by the broad masses of peasants and state-farm workers.
The victory of the Leninist policy of industrialisation and collectivisation had a p

great sociopolitical impact. It resulted in the creation of the economic foundation of
socialism in town and country, the establishment of a sound basis for the
development of new social relations, enhanced the country’s defensive capabilities
and strengthened the moral and political unity of the whole Soviet people.
All this would have been impossible, however, if the Party had not vigorously p
launched the cultural revolution from the first days of the October Socialist
Revolution. It should be borne in mind that in 1917 three-quarters of Russia’s
population were illiterate. And if the lag in this sphere had not been overcome, any
headway in industry and agriculture would have been inconceivable. The All-Russia
Extraordinary Committee for the Elimination of Illiteracy and the Down with
Illiteracy society were set up in the country, and the trade unions, the Komsomol, 176
teachers, engineers, students and office employees took part in the drive for literacy.
The Communist Party’s great efforts to promote higher education and enhance the p
role of science in socialist construction resulted in a rapid growth in the number of
universities and institutes; the number of research workers increased to over 90,000
by the end of the Second Five-Year Plan, and the Academy of Sciences began to
function fruitfully.
The elimination of illiteracy, the spread of public education, the appearance of a p

new intelligentsia, the development of science, literature and art, and the
enhancement of the socialist consciousness of the masses, such were the main results
of the Party’s activity in the course of the cultural revolution.
The socialist revolution paved the way for the solution of the national question. p
Having smashed the "prison of peoples”, as bourgeois-landowner Russia was called,
the October Revolution liberated all the nationalities inhabiting her. The economic
and cultural ties of all the peoples strengthened in the course of peaceful socialist
construction. In 1922, as we know, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a
voluntary union of peoples welded in the struggle for common interests, was
founded.
“The formation of the USSR,” states the Resolution of the CC CPSU "On p
Preparations for the 50th Anniversary of the Formation of the USSR”, "occupies an
outstanding place in the history of the Soviet state. It was an event of immense 177
political significance and equally far-reaching socioeconomic consequences. This
historic event represented a convincing victory for the ideas of proletarian
internationalism and was the fruitful result of the implementation of the Communist
Party’s Leninist nationalities policy. The formation of the Soviet Union was one of
the decisive factors which ensured favourable conditions for the reconstruction of
society on a socialist basis, for building up the economies and developing the culture
of all Soviet republics, and for strengthening the defence might and the international
standing of the multinational state of working people.”
The formation of the USSR was dictated by the objective course of historical p
development. "The struggle against the enemies of the Revolution and for the victory
of socialism in our country,” said Leonid Brezhnev, "required the closest unity of the
peoples that had flung off the yoke of tsarism, the bourgeoisie and the
landowners." [ 177•*
On the basis of a searching scientific analysis Lenin showed that in order to survive p
in the face of world imperialism the Soviet republics had to form a tightly-knit
union. He said that the preservation and strengthening of the union of socialist
republics was a measure "necessary for us" and "for the world communist proletariat
in its struggle against the world bourgeoisie and its defence against bourgeois
intrigues". [ 177•**
Without a union of Soviet republics and their close economic co-operation it would p 178
have been impossible to rehabilitate the productive forces wrecked by imperialism, to

create a single socialist economy regulated by a single plan, to secure a rational
social division of labour and the effective utilisation of natural wealth to the benefit
of all the peoples of the country.
Without a close union of Soviet republics it would have been impossible to achieve p
a steady improvement in the welfare of the working people and the all-round
development and burgeoning of the culture of all nations and nationalities of the
land.
The formation of the multinational socialist state was an outstanding result of the p
revolutionary effort of all the Soviet peoples headed by the working class and guided
by the Communist Party. It was a result of the Party’s theoretical and practical work
and the multifold activity of the Soviet peoples and mirrored their aspirations.
All this enormous creative work carried on by the working class in alliance with the p
peasantry and in co-operation with the intelligentsia under the guidance of the
Communist Party took place in complex conditions, political as well as economic.
The capitalist encirclement was pregnant with the threat of war. The situation p
worsened sharply when the fascists came to power in Italy and Germany and when
the imperialist camp pushed them eastward, against the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union based its foreign policy on Lenin’s ideas of the struggle for peace p
and peaceful coexistence of countries with different social and economic systems. 179
Lenin said that the Soviet state had to pursue a flexible foreign policy and take
advantage of the conflicts and contradictions in the enemy’s camp so as to safeguard
the country against a fresh capitalist intervention. At the same time he considered
essential in every way to support the revolutionary struggle of the working class and
the anti– imperialist national liberation movement, and enhance the country’s
defensive capacity.
The Communist Party and the working class steered the course towards socialist p
construction in the face of desperate resistance by “Left”- and Right-wing
opportunists and national-deviationists who strove to push the country off the
Leninist path. The ideological and political rout of Trotskyism, which fostered
mistrust for the working class of the USSR by asserting that the victory of the
proletarian revolution in the West was an essential condition for the victory of
socialism in the USSR, was a significant achievement. The Trotskyites wanted to
deprive the Party and the Soviet people of the prospect of building socialism in the
USSR and negated its significance for the world revolutionary movement. Using
“Left”-wing ultra-revolutionary phraseology as screen, they strove to impose an
adventuristic course on the Party in order to doom the building of socialism in the
USSR to failure and artificially to "spur on" revolutions in other countries. They
demanded the introduction of anti-democratic, para-military methods of guiding the
masses inside the country and the rejection of the Leninist principle of democratic 180
centralism.
At the same time the Party had to fight Rightwing opportunists who were against p
the rapid pace of industrialisation and opposed the collectivisation of agriculture and
the elimination of the kulaks as a class. The Communist Party rebuffed the petty-
bourgeois adventurism of the Trotskyites and the capitulatory tactics of the Right
opportunists.
The abolition of the exploiting classes, industrialisation, collectivisation and the p
cultural revolution—these were the links of a single revolutionary process which

basically altered the relations between classes and between nations in the country. A
new social system based on the alliance between the working class, the collective-
farm peasantry and the people’s intelligentsia was formed, and by the end of the
thirties the principles of socialism became firmly established in all spheres of social
life.
On December 5, 1936, the Extraordinary Eighth Ail-Union Congress of Soviets p

adopted the Fundamental Law of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which
reflected the fact that socialism had triumphed in the USSR. Since then December 5
has annually been observed throughout the country as Constitution Day.
What are the basic principles of socialism and the characteristic features of the new
society?
***

normal
TEXT SIZE
Notes
[ 177•*] L. I. Brezhnev, The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist

Republics, p. 5.
[ 177•** ] V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 36, p. 609.
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The economic foundation of the new social system of which socialism is the initial p
TOC stage is public ownership in the means of production. Under socialism there are no
Card antagonistic classes consisting of people who own the means of production and those
who sell their labour power to them. All people jointly own the means of production;
at the same time each person is the master and the worker and all people have equal
Text rights to public property.
HTML
PS There are two forms of public ownership in the Soviet Union. First, there is state p
PDF
property which includes the land and its mineral wealth, forests, waters, factories and
state farms, railways and other transport facilities, and so forth.
T*
19*
Second, there is co-operative and collectivefarm property. Collective farms are p
### established on land which belongs to the state but it is allotted to them for
permanent use. Collective farmers jointly own tractors, combines and other farm
machines, production and cultural and service premises, productive cattle, and,
naturally, the products which they produce.
These two forms of ownership are matched by two types of socialist enterprises: p
state enterprises and collective farms, and also enterprises of producers’ and
consumers’ co-operatives.
Historically co-operative and collective-farm ownership appeared as group p

ownership but in specific conditions—conditions of the dictatorship of the proletariat
and the domination of public ownership in the means of production, including the 182
land. Under the influence of these decisive factors co-operation and co-operative
ownership acquired features fundamentally different from those characteristic of
group ownership in the capitalist system of production. Collective farms have
indivisible funds which form the backbone of all collective-farm property and are
not subject to distribution. Collective farms sell their products at fixed prices in
accordance with the plans which are handed down to them. It can be said, therefore,
that collective farms constitute a part of the single planned system of the economy.
In addition to these two forms of public socialist property there is also personal p
property to which all members of Soviet society are entitled and which includes their
earned incomes and savings, items of personal use and household articles and also
houses and cattle owned by collective farmers and state-farm workers.
Sometimes personal property is erroneously identified with private property although p

these two forms of property have absolutely nothing in common with each other.
Private property is engendered by the exploiting system and makes it possible to use
and enslave the labour of others and exploit people for the purpose of enrichment.
Personal property has a totally different social origin and its main source is personal
labour.
Public ownership in the means of production determines the relations of people in p

the process of production, its purpose and the principles of distribution of the created
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/3.3-Principles.of.Socialism[2012-12-25 2:30:19]
product.
Under socialism labour is a collective process which takes place in keeping with a p 183
single plan and is characterised by mutual assistance for the sake of the ever fuller
satisfaction of the requirements of all members of society and the all-round
development of the individual.
It is labour that makes the individual really great in socialist society which respects p
all those who work conscientiously in their chosen fields. To distinguish the best and
to inspire others to follow their example, there have been instituted in the USSR the
title of Hero of Socialist Labour, the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and the
Medal for Labour Valour, the Medal for Distinction in Labour and the Medal for
Valiant Labour.
In capitalist society a person depends on his wealth and consequently on the power p
he wields.
Due to its very nature socialist society does not tolerate idlers and parasites, the p
human drones, for socialism and labour are indivisible. Its immutable law is "he who
does not work, neither shall he eat”.
In socialist society there is no, nor can there be, unemployment. The state takes care p
of the needs of the working people: it improves their conditions of work, mechanises
production processes, helps to raise their skill and promotes their welfare. And what
is most important, socialism as befitting a judicious master conserves and multiplies
socially useful labour.
Labour is the most important prerequisite for the development of any society, p
including socialist, of course. Since without labour it is impossible to build the 184
material and technical basis of the new society and satisfy the material and spiritual
requirements of the people, Soviet society is vitally concerned with raising the labour
productivity of each worker. Lenin regarded a steady growth of labour productivity
as an essential condition for socialism’s victory over capitalism. He explained that
high labour productivity depends in the first place on the continuous introduction of
science and technology into production, the mechanisation and electrification of
production, correct organisation of labour and wages and the promotion of a socialist
attitude to labour.
How is the jointly produced product distributed and what is the incentive to work in p
socialist society? These questions are connected with the principle of distribution
according to work.
Inasmuch as public ownership in the means of production is characteristic of p

socialist society, it is society which is the owner of the created product. All that is
produced in a year is called gross social product which the economists, after
evaluating it in rubles, call gross output. Is the entire gross output channelled to
satisfy human needs? Of course not. First of all it is necessary to compensate for the
expended means of production, to return their value to production, for otherwise it
will have to wind up, which, naturally, cannot be allowed to happen. What remains
is the newly made product, or national income— the foundation of .society’s wealth.
The following calculation shows how national income is formed. Let us assume that p 185
in a year’s time the country produced 400,000 million rubles’ worth of coal, steel,
oil, machines, bread, meat, footwear, clothes and other material values. This will be
the gross social product which can be expressed both in material (physical) and
value (money) form. But this product did not appear all of a sudden, out of nothing.
To produce it society expended raw and other materials, fuel, machines, tools,
production premises, seeds and so on. Now, let us say that the volume of the
expended means of production was worth 240,000 million rubles. And since national
income is the gross social product minus the part that goes to replace the expended
means of production it amounts in this case to 160,000 million rubles (400,000
million rubles minus 240,000 million rubles).
The volume and the rates of growth of national income directly depend on the level p
of labour productivity and on how the means of production are used. The better
Soviet people work, the more economically they expend raw and other materials and
the more rationally they use machines and other equipment, the bigger is the national
income. And the bigger the national income the more means become available for
satisfying the requirements of the state, industrial and other enterprises and citizens.
National income divides into the accumulation and the consumption fund. The first p
is used to expand production, construct industrial and other enterprises, houses, build
cultural and welfare facilities, set up state reserves, and so on. The second is used to 186
satisfy the continuously rising material and spiritual requirements of Soviet people. A
certain part of it makes up the social consumption funds which are jointly utilised by
Soviet people, while the bulk of it is distributed among all working people according
to their labour.
The principle of distribution is simple and clear: equal pay for equal work. Each p
person receives his share of the distributed portion of national income, depending on
the quality and quantity of labour done, that is, according to his own contribution to
the common effort. This principle will remain in force right up to the transition to
communism, under which people will work according to their ability and receive
according to their needs, whatever the results of their labour.
Distribution according to labour does not yet do away with economic inequality of p
the members of society. Equality consists in that all people may work and be
remunerated according to their work. But people have different abilities and some
have larger families than others. Consequently, some will be better off materially
than others.
This, naturally, gives rise to the question: is it not possible to reject the principle of p
remuneration according to labour and change over to the distribution of material
values regardless of how much or well a person works? No, and primarily because
the level of the productive forces is not yet sufficient to create an abundance of
material values and to distribute them according to one’s needs. On the other hand, 187
labour has not yet become the vital necessity for all people and it may well happen
that some would become idlers and use the wealth of society, while others would
have to work for them. This would amount to a specific form of exploitation.
Furthermore, members of socialist society have different skills, different experience
and consequently work differently: some do complex jobs while the work of others is
simple, requiring neither special knowledge, skill, nor extensive experience. Let us
assume that a skilled worker and a novice were paid equal wages for their labour. If
everyone is remunerated equally, why then study, work better and produce more? It
is easy to see that this would inevitably lead to a decline in qualified labour,
stagnation and even winding up of production. Hence, equal distribution in these
conditions would inhibit social progress and is therefore unacceptable for socialist
society.
Under socialism the state controls the measure of labour and the measure of p
consumption, and its system of wages makes a worker interested in the results of his
work, encourages him to improve his skill, work better and more productively. This
benefits society—which receives more from each of its members, and the worker
himself—who receives more for his labour.
The Communist Party and the Soviet Government are seeking consistently to apply p
the principle of remuneration according to work and improve the forms of
remuneration. An increase in pay for work depends directly on a rise in labour 188
productivity, on the extent to which a worker participates in the development of
production. A wage must be earned in the full sense of the word. A flexible system
of remuneration is being introduced which makes it possible promptly to reward the
worker for his initiative and with the help of corresponding stimuli encourage
industrial, office and other workers to develop their initiative. The system of rating
wages has to be simple and clear so that each factory and office worker easily
discerns the connection between labour productivity and wages. The economic reform
currently under way in the USSR creates conditions for considerably heightening the
material interest of industrial and office workers in the economic results of their
enterprise’s activity. We shall return to this later in the book.
Wages are the main form of remunerating the labour of industrial and office p
workers in the USSR. As regards the work of collective farmers it was until recently
assessed and remunerated somewhat differently—according to work-day units. After
deduction of the share of the product to the indivisible and other public funds and
payments to the state, the remaining portion of the jointly produced agricultural
output was divided by the number of work-day units.
This system, however, did not guarantee steady earnings, and so the CC CPSU and p
the USSR Council of Ministers in their Resolution "On Enhancing the Material
Interest of Collective Farmers in Developing Social Production" recommended the 189
collective farmers to change to a guaranteed remuneration of labour. This has been
accomplished in the main. The collectively created product, naturally, is still the
foundation for guaranteed remuneration, the only difference being that the money for
remunerating labour is set aside not in the last but in the first place.
The role played by material incentives to labour is very great indeed, but Soviet p
workers, collective farmers and intellectuals are motivated by vast moral forces—
their high political awareness, ardent Soviet patriotism and the desire to see their
land still more powerful and prosperous. We shall discuss the substance and the role
played by moral stimuli at the present stage of social development in subsequent
chapters.
The political foundation of Soviet socialist society is the alliance of the working p
class and the peasantry; the political form which embodies this alliance are the
Soviets of Working People’s Deputies.
The principal weapon with which the working people of the USSR destroyed the p
old political system, suppressed the resistance of the exploiting classes and decisively
altered the destiny of their country was the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
The political power of the working class led by its vanguard—the Communist Party
— is the main condition for the building of socialist society.
And when the exploiting classes had been liquidated and the victory of socialism p
resulted in the inviolable ideological and political unity of society, the Soviet state 190
which arose as the dictatorship of the proletariat, became the state of the whole
people, the political organisation of the people in which the leading role is played by
the working class.
“If the creative enthusiasm of the revolutionary classes had not given rise to the p
Soviets,” Lenin wrote, "the proletarian revolution in Russia would have been a
hopeless cause... ." [ 190•*
Led by the Communist Party the Soviets are genuinely people’s organs of power. p
The whole people elects the Soviets, and it is its best representatives that sit on
them; the Soviets conduct their activity with the support and in the interests of the
people.
The social and national composition of the Soviets attest to their genuinely p
democratic and representative character. Let us glance at the higher organ of power,
the USSR Supreme Soviet elected on June 16, 1974. In its present composition it has
1,517 deputies; 767 of them are in the Soviet of the Union and 750 in the Soviet of
Nationalities. Among the deputies are 498 workers (32.8 per cent) and 271 collective
farmers (17.9 per cent). In all, there are 769 workers and collective farmers (50.7 per
cent) in both Soviets.
From top to bottom state affairs are managed today by more than 2,000,000 deputies p
with the assistance of 25,000,000 activists.
Nothing of the sort exists in capitalist countries where power is wielded by the p 191
exploiting classes which keep the working people away from state affairs. What is
the social composition of bourgeois parliaments? The current US Congress, for
instance, includes more than 200 bankers, businessmen and wealthy landowners and
not a single worker. The situation is approximately the same in the representative
bodies in other bourgeois states.
The Soviets are the organs of socialist democracy. The word “democracy” means p
government by the people. According to Marxism-Leninism, democracy is of a class
nature. There is no freedom in general just as there is no democracy in general. The
Soviet Union is the first country in the world where democracy corresponding to the
interests of all working people emerged and became firmly established. Born of the
great revolution, Soviet power is the government by the people and for the people.
The democratic character of Soviet society finds expression in the political rights p
and freedoms of Soviet citizens.
All citizens of the USSR who have reached the age of 18 have the right to elect p
and be elected to organs of Soviet power irrespective of property status, race or
nationality, sex, religion, education, domicile, social origin, or past activity.
Elections in the USSR are equal. This means that every Soviet citizen has one vote; p
women enjoy the right to elect and to be elected on equal terms with men.
Elections of deputies are direct. The p

•
COMPOSITION OF THE LOCAL SOVIETS (percent) 192
199-3.jpg
Industrial workers and collective

farmers White-collar workers 193
•
Constitution of the USSR states that all Soviets of Working People’s Deputies, from
the rural and town Soviets to the USSR Supreme Soviet, shall be elected by citizens
by direct vote. In other words, all Soviet electors directly participate in the elections
to all representative bodies.
All deputies are elected by secret ballot. This means that a voter may cast his ballot p
in a booth all by himself so that how and for whom he voted remains a secret.
Elections in capitalist states have a totally different character. "If we look more p
closely into the machinery of capitalist democracy,” Lenin wrote, "we see
everywhere, in the ‘petty’—- supposedly petty—details of the suffrage (residential
qualification, exclusion of women, etc.), in the technique of the representative
institutions, in the actual obstacles to the right of assembly (public buildings are not
for ‘paupers’!), in the purely capitalist organisation of the daily press, etc., etc.—we
see restriction after restriction upon democracy. These restrictions, exceptions,
exclusions, obstacles for the poor seem slight, especially in the eyes of one who has
never known want himself and has never been in close contact with the oppressed
classes in their mass life (and nine out of ten, if not ninety-nine out of a hundred,
bourgeois publicists and politicians come under this category); but in their sum total
these restrictions exclude and squeeze out the poor from politics, from active
participation in democracy." [ 193•*
Let us take the United States of America, for example. Its electoral system has set p 194
a record of sorts for the number of various electoral qualifications. Here are some of
them.
Property status, according to which people lacking the required property p

qualifications are barred from voting, is still in force in some states. In others, poor
people living in state-operated or private charity homes are deleted from election
lists. Still others have requirements of residence which prohibit people from voting if
they have lived a shorter period in the given area than required by the Election Act.
This enables the authorities to exclude seasonal workers and the unemployed roaming
the country in search of jobs from the election lists.
In most US states only people who have reached the age of 21 have the right to p
vote; this means that a considerable portion of young people is deprived of franchise.
There are also many other obstacles and requirements which in fact deprive millions p
of working people of the right to vote. US legislative bodies demand that an elector
should be able to read and correctly interpret the Constitution. In California a voter
must be able to sign his name; in the state of New York he must fill out a
questionnaire, and in Alabama he must be able to read, write and interpret any
article of the Constitution in English. Similar election requirements exist in other
states.
Convincing proof of the broad democratic rights exercised by Soviet people is their p
steadily mounting political activity and interest in state affairs. This is manifested, in 195
particular, in the activity of the electorate. The following figures illustrate this point.
In June 1974, 99.98 per cent of the voters took part in the elections to the USSR
Supreme Soviet. In 1969, more than 95 per cent of the local Soviets reported back
on their work to the electorate; 37.4 million people attended 207,384 meetings at
which Executive Committees made their reports.
A characteristic feature of the Soviet socialist society are the broad political p
freedoms enjoyed by Soviet citizens, namely, freedom of speech, of the press, of
assembly and rallies, street processions and demonstrations. The working people in
capitalist states can only dream of the rights which the Constitution of the USSR,
the country’s fundamental law, grants Soviet citizens.
The Soviet state grants all people the right to work. In other words, all Soviet p
citizens have the right to guaranteed employment and payment for their work in
accordance with its quantity and quality. This is one of the greatest gains of the
Soviet people who unlike millions of working people in the capitalist countries have
no cause to worry about the future. The last labour exchange in the USSR ceased
functioning in 1929. Alongside the right to work, the Soviet state grants all working
people the right to rest. This right, as all the others, is ensured by a wide range of
state measures including a fixed working day, paid holidays, a large number of
sanatoriums, holiday homes, clubs, theatres, libraries and parks.
Soviet citizens have the right to maintenance in old age and also in the event of p 196
sickness or disability. The state ensures this right by extensively developing the
social security and pension systems and free medical service.
The Soviet state grants all citizens the right to education. This means that the p
children of workers, collective farmers and the intelligentsia can enter any school,
college, university or any other educational institution they want and study there free
of charge.
There is genuine national equality in the USSR. The Soviet state steadfastly p
promotes the economic, cultural and political development of all nationalities. Any
restriction of rights, the establishment of privileges on the grounds of race or
nationality and any advocacy of racial or national exclusiveness is punishable by law.
Socialism has essentially altered the status of women; the socialist state has created p
all conditions for encouraging their cultural growth and all-round development;
Soviet women have equal rights with men in work, remuneration, rest, social
security, education, and so forth.
Women in the USSR have broad opportunities for creative activity; they have p
mastered numerous occupations which formerly were out of their reach, and are
actively participating in managing state affairs.
Granting broad democratic rights and freedoms to its members, Soviet society also p
imposes important duties on them. These rights and duties are closely interconnected
and interdependent. It cannot be otherwise in a state where the welfare of an 197
individual depends on the prosperity of the entire people, while the fulfilment by all
citizens of their basic duties ensures the development of the socialist society and the
state system.
Another characteristic feature of the rights and duties proclaimed in the Constitution p
of the USSR is that they apply to all Soviet citizens in equal measure. It cannot
come to pass in socialist society, as is the case in an exploiting society, that some
citizens would be accorded only rights and freedoms, while others would have only
duties to fulfil.
What are the duties which society imposes on Soviet citizens? p
One of the basic duties of Soviet citizens is to work for the benefit of society and p
maintain labour discipline. The Constitution of the USSR states: "Work in the USSR
is a duty and a matter of honour for every able-bodied citizen. .. .” By applying the
principle "he who does not work, neither shall he eat" Soviet society proclaims war
on idlers and shirkers, on people parasitic upon the labour of others.
It is also the duty of all citizens of the USSR to safeguard and consolidate socialist p
property and since this property belongs to the whole people it is sacred and
inviolable. Those who plunder public property weaken the might of the state,
wittingly or unwittingly.
The Constitution of the USSR proclaims that, defence of the country is the sacred p
duty of all citizens and they fulfil this duty with honour.
Soviet workers, peasants and intellectuals are welded together by communist p 198
ideology and a profound community of interests, views and aims. These relations of
friendly, fraternal co-operation took shape, matured and strengthened in the course of
socialist construction, in the course of the struggle for the country’s industrialisation
and collectivisation of agriculture and the accomplishment of the cultural revolution.
It is these relations that constitute the foundation of their sociopolitical and
ideological unity.
The highest expression of the moral and political unity of Soviet society is the fact p
that the Soviet people are closely rallied around the Communist Party. They know
that the Party has no interests other than those of the people and wholeheartedly
support all its undertakings, and its policy, regarding it as being correct, sciencebased
and fully in line with their interests. Without the close unity of the Communists and
the broad masses of the working people there would have been no victory of the
Revolution in 1917, no rout of the interventionists and internal counter-revolution in
the civil war, no industrialisation of the country and no collectivisation of agriculture.
Without this unity of the Party and the people, the Soviet people would have been
unable to smash fascism in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, build socialism
and launch communist construction.
Having completed the building of the edifice of socialism by the end of the thirties,
the Soviet people had great plans for the future and dreamed of making another 199
stride forward. In 1939, at its 18th Congress, the Communist Party outlined the first
steps in the transition to the next phase, namely, the building of communist society.
But the Soviet Union’s gains gave no peace to those who had dreamed of crushing
the revolution when it was still in its cradle; imperialism would not concede defeat.
War broke out. In its course the Soviet people underwent the grimmest test in its
history.
***

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[ 193•*] V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 25, pp. 460–61.
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<< • >> The Exploit of the Soviet People 199

<•> in the Great Patriotic War

TOC On June 22, 1941, nazi Germany wantonly, without a declaration of war and in p
Card violation of the non-aggression treaty attacked the USSR. A battle unprecedented
both in scope and scale unfolded between the striking force of imperialism and the
Text
world’s first socialist power.
HTML
PS
The Communist Party anticipated the possibility of a military clash with imperialism p
PDF and was preparing the country and the people for defence. The Soviet people’s
victory in the Great Patriotic War was ensured by the socio-economic gains achieved
T* in the course of the first five-year plan periods, by the ideological and political unity
19* of Soviet society forged in the course of socialist construction.
### Drunk with his lust for world domination, the enemy was treacherous, well armed p
and powerful, having the wealth of practically the whole of Europe at his disposal.
But the Soviet people defeated Emacs-File-stamp: 200
"/home/ysverdlov/leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/20071205/299.tx" him because they
confronted him not only with their military-industrial might, but also with their
revolutionary, humane ideology. Nazism came up against a free nation united by the
conscious discipline of like-minded people and lofty social ideals. The Communist
Party inspired them to fight for the socialist cause, for their land, and organised a
powerful front and a reliable rear. The whole country turned into a military camp.
A State Defence Committee headed by Stalin was set up for the purpose of speedily p
mobilising the country’s forces to resist and smash the enemy. All power in the
country, all military, administrative and economic leadership, was vested in this
extraordinary body.
It was incredibly difficult at the front and in the rear. The heroism of the people p
acquired a mass character.
Can all of us imagine today what it meant for four long years to go into attack p
under a hail of bullets, to soak and freeze in the trenches, to live in partisan camps
and strike the enemy from forests and marshes?
Can all of us imagine today how courageous a person had to be and what he p
thought when he blocked the gun-port of an enemy pillbox with his body to save the
lives of his comrades, as did Private Alexander Matrosov and hundreds of others
after him? Can all of us imagine today what it meant to ram an enemy aircraft in
the air as did Victor Talalikhin and then hundreds of other pilots who followed his
example? Can all of us imagine today what great faith one had to have in the cause 201
of the people and its ultimate victory to endure inhuman tortures and to die without
betraying one’s comrades and with proudly raised heads as did the partisans Zoya
Kosmodemyanskaya, Liza Chaikina and members of the underground Komsomol
organisation, the Young Guard, which operated on temporarily occupied Soviet
territory?
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Soviet young people and their vanguard, the Leninist Komsomol, displayed courage p
and heroism in defending their socialist homeland. Soviet people will always cherish
the names of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Liza Chaikina, Oleg Koshevoi, Alexander
Chekalin, Parfenty Grechany, Dasha Dyachenko, Vladimir Morgunenko, Frosya
Zenkova, Zinaida Portnova, Manshuk Mametova, Maryte Melnykaite, Alexei
Shumavtsov and many, many others whose deeds are immortal. One of the most
important factors of our victory was the inviolable friendship of the Soviet peoples.
“The union and friendship of all its [the USSR’s—Ed.] nations and nationalities,” p
said Leonid Brezhnev in his report "The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics”, "have stood the severe trials of the Great Patriotic War, in the
course of which the sons and daughters of the same Soviet Motherland did not only
succeed in safeguarding with honour their socialist gains, but also saved world
civilisation from the barbarity of fascism, thereby lending powerful support to the
peoples’ liberation struggle.”
Things were unbelievably difficult on the homefront. People did not get enough p 202
sleep and food; wives replaced their husbands in factories and worked unheedful of
time, and juveniles replaced their fathers and brothers who had gone to the front.
Not for a moment did work stop at factories. At times people worked even during air
raids, supplying the Soviet Army with increasing quantities of the most up-to-date
weapons. Beginning with 1943 the Soviet Union began producing more and better
equipment and weapons than Germany. In spite of the extreme shortage of
manpower and machinery and the damage caused by the war, collective and state
farms supplied the country with the grain she needed for victory.
The heroic defence of the Brest Fortress, the great battles of Odessa and Sevastopol, p
at the approaches to Moscow, at the walls of Leningrad and Stalingrad, at
Novorossiisk, in the Orel-Kursk salient, on the Dnieper and the Vistula have gone
down in history as examples of the military art and valour, of courage and heroism
not only of the military, but also of the civilian population. The Communist Party
inspired and organised the victory over the nazi invaders. It was a genuinely fighting
party. The Communists were in the forefront of the people’s struggle against fascism,
setting examples of endurance, courage and fortitude. About two million Communists
were killed in action.
Fascism was smashed. Nazi Germany surrendered, and the world which lived under p
the threat of the most merciless bondage imaginable and even complete annihilation 203
of whole peoples breathed with relief and joy. The road to freedom, national
independence and social progress was now open to many peoples and countries.
A large number of nations contributed to the victory over fascism. But the greatest p
burden was shouldered by the Soviet Union which did more than any other country
to save the world from Hitlerism. The role played by the Soviet people in the victory
in the Second World War is beyond compare. Their heroic exploit once again
showed the world that there were no forces which could have defeated a free people
and overturn its socialist social system.
Fulfilling its allied commitment, the USSR on August 8, 1945, declared war on p
Japan. The Soviet Army dealt a shattering blow on the Japanese Armed Forces and
on September 2, 1945, Japan signed the instrument of unconditional surrender. The
Second World War was over.
Each year on May 9, the Soviet Union pays tribute to its war dead by observing a p
minute of silence, a minute in the course of which people recall 1,418 fighting days
and nights, the sorrow of irretrievable losses and the joy of victory.
The Soviet people revere the memory of their sons and daughters who died in the p
fighting at Moscow, the Brest Fortress, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Kiev, Sevastopol,
Odessa, Warsaw, Belgrade, Prague, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia, Vienna, Berlin, on
nameless heights and river crossings, on the difficult roads of war and partisan trails.
The Unknown Soldier in whose memory the eternal flame burns at the Kremlin p 204
Wall symbolises the reverence which the bereaved mother has for her fallen son, the
wife for her husband, the sister for her brother, the grandson for his grandfather.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a shrine honoured by the whole multinational p
Soviet people.
Their grateful memory will for ever retain the exploit of those who had fought in p
the Great Patriotic War, of all those who stood their ground in the terrible hour of
danger and sacrificed everything for their homeland, for the sake of happiness and
life in the world.
Expressing their admiration for the great exploit of millions of their countrymen and
boundless respect for those who fell in the battle for the freedom and independence
of their socialist homeland, Soviet people manifest their readiness at any moment to
rise to defend the gains of the October Socialist Revolution, and by their labour to
multiply the country’s might.
***

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<•>
Some circles in the imperialist camp reckoned that the USSR would be unable to p
TOC heal its war wounds unassisted and would consequently fall into dependence on the
Card capitalist states. But these calculations, too, went awry.
The USSR suffered incalculable losses and destruction in the war. To this day p
Text Soviet people mourn the death of their near and dear ones. No loss is heavier than 205
HTML the death of relatives and friends. No sight is more distressing than that of destroyed
PS fruits of labour into which a person had put his strength and talent and perhaps even
PDF
his whole life. No smell is more acrid than that of smouldering ruins. Returning from
the front the Soviet soldiers saw their land in ruins, tortured by flames and metal.
T*
The joy of victory and a bitter feeling of loss mingled in the hearts of all people.
19*
### They realised that there could be no better monument to those who died in the war p
than rehabilitated factories, blossoming fields and a happy life of their children,
brothers, friends. So once again Soviet people rolled up their sleeves to clear the
debris and build whole cities anew.
Those years abound in examples of labour heroism. In 1948 the Soviet Union had p
in the main attained the pre-war level of production in industry and in 1950 in
agriculture. A few years later, having completely healed the war wounds, the Soviet
people created conditions for further progress.
The harnessing of atomic energy was an outstanding achievement of Soviet science p

and technology. In those years industrial development in the USSR was characterised
by the introduction of advanced technology and production lines, accelerated
development of the power industry, engineering and the chemical industry, the rise of
electronics and radio electronics and other new branches, and the complex
mechanisation and automation of production.
The CPSU took the necessary steps to accelerate the growth of agricultural p 206
production. This was a very difficult task because of the damage caused by the war,
and a major achievement in this direction was the development of virgin lands in the
eastern regions of the country.
Thanks to the increase in material production it became possible to carry through p

many measures to improve the welfare of the people.
The 20th GPSU Congress (February 1956) made a comprehensive analysis of the p
Soviet Union’s international and domestic situation, summed up the results of the
Party’s activities since the 19th Congress and outlined the prospects of communist
construction.
It discussed the question of overcoming the Stalin personality cult and eliminating p
its consequences and adopted a resolution approving the Central Committee’s great
efforts to restore the Leninist standards of Party life and promote inner-Party
democracy. The Congress called for the maximum promotion of socialist democracy,
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@LBiz: en/1975/FPS559: 3.5-Further.Progress
persistent efforts to improve the work of all governmental organisations, central and
local, and strengthen their ties with the masses.
The Soviet Union confidently moved towards new achievements in communist p

construction.
Now side by side with it advanced other countries which were building socialist
society. The formation of the mighty socialist camp was a great victory of the
international working class, of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism.
***

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<< • >> The International Significance 207

<•> of the Experience of Socialist
Construction in the USSR
TOC
Card Underscoring the international significance of the revolutionary changes in the p

Soviet Union, Lenin said that this experience would never be forgotten. "It has gone
Text down in history,” he wrote, "as socialism’s gain, and on it the future world
HTML revolution will erect its socialist edifice." [ 207•*
PS
PDF Life itself has proved the correctness of this conclusion. It was in the USSR that the p
characteristic features and general regularities of socialist construction have first
T* manifested themselves. Now they are creatively being applied in countries which are
19* building socialism, and are consequently of international significance.
### What are the principal lessons to be drawn from the struggle of the CPSU and the p
Soviet people for the victory of socialism?
The experience of the USSR has demonstrated that the transition from capitalism to p
socialism can take place only as a result of socialist revolution and the establishment
of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Despite the assertions of revisionists and
reformists, socialism cannot peacefully grow out of capitalism. It can be victorious
only if the working class in alliance with all working people overthrows the capitalist
system and wins political power.
The experience of the USSR has confirmed the exceptional importance of the p
Marxist-Leninist conclusion regarding the necessity of abolishing private property and 208
establishing public ownership in the means of production. Only public ownership in
the means of production does away with production anarchy and opens the way for a
planned and uninterrupted development of the economy on the basis of scientific and
technological progress. Socialism alters the very purpose of social production:
exploitation and oppression give way to co-operation and mutual assistance between
the friendly classes, and this opens up broad opportunities for improving the well-
being of the working people, and promoting science, culture and art.
The experience of the USSR has confirmed that only the socialist reorganisation of p
agriculture can rid the peasant masses of poverty and want and ensure their
prosperity and cultural development. The transition of small peasant households to the
road of establishing large-scale socialised agriculture is a vital necessity, a historical
regularity of social development.
The experience of the USSR shows that socialist construction encounters the bitter p
resistance of the overthrown exploiting classes and that international imperialism
vigorously supports the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie inside the country. Defence
of socialism against the counterrevolutionary forces is the primary duty of the
workers’ and peasants’ state. Any revolution, Lenin used to say, is worth something
only if it can defend itself.
p 209
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The experience of the USSR shows that only a victorious socialist revolution puts
an end to all national oppression and creates conditions for a voluntary, fraternal
union of nations and nationalities into a single state.
The experience of the USSR shows that socialism can be built only under the p
leadership of the Marxist-Leninist Party. Armed with Marxist-Leninist theory, the
Communist Party defines the principal trends and tasks of socialist construction and
formulates and carries through a scientifically-based domestic and foreign policy. The
Party guides the entire economic, socio– political and spiritual life of society.
The historical experience of the USSR and other countries of the socialist system
has demonstrated that enhancement of the organising activity of the Marxist-Leninist
Party is an essential factor of successful socialist construction, an earnest of further
progress on the road to communism.
***

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<< • >> CHAPTER IV 210

<•> THE MAIN FEATURES
OF THE SOVIET UNION’S
TOC DEVELOPMENT
Card AT THE PRESENT STAGE

THE ECONOMY OF A DEVELOPED

Text
HTML SOCIALIST SOCIETY

PS [introduction.]
PDF
T*
In order to reach his destination, to steer a correct course, a seafarer has to know p
19* his exact position at any given moment, the strength of the current, the direction of
the wind and other conditions in which he has to act. Thanks to his knowledge of
### the laws of nature, for instance, of the laws governing the movement of the celestial
bodies, he orientates himself in space and time and uses navigational instruments to
chart his course.
In the ocean of social life people also have to take their bearings, comprehend the p
specific features of their time and ascertain the trends of social development, in order
to be able to act consciously and promote social progress.
At times it is more difficult to cognise the present than the past. Looking closely at p
an oil painting we see only dabs of various colours, meaningless and chaotic. But let
us move back a few steps and the painting stands out in complete detail. In the same
way the picture of life is easier understood if we move from it somewhat, not in 211
space, however, but in time.
We have, however, to foresee the future on the basis of our knowledge of the past. p
And this is very important. Is this possible, have we the necessary instruments? Yes,
we have.
Applying its knowledge of the laws of social development and using the instruments p
of scientific analysis, the Communist Party continuously investigates social processes
and on this basis maps out its policy and orientates the Soviet people in their
advance towards ever new achievements in communist construction. The 24th CPSU
Congress formulated its decisions on the basis of a far-reaching scientific analysis of
the present stage of social development. In its Report to the 24th Congress the
CPSU Central Committee characterised the present day as a period of developed
socialism.
What are the main features of this stage? In what way does it differ from the latter p
half of the thirties when socialism had already been built in the USSR?
As regards the substance of the socialist system, there are no distinctions: public
ownership of the means of production was predominant then and it is predominant
now; socialist principles governed all spheres of human relations then and they do so
now. Today, just as in the late thirties, there is no exploitation of man by man. But
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by comparing the present day and what has been recorded in the documentary films
of the thirties we shall see what great changes have occurred even in the very 212
appearance of the country, its factories and fields, city streets and villages, and
simply in the style of clothes and the furnishings of apartments. Of course, the main
distinction is not that the inconspicuous ANT-25 on which Valery Chkalov and his
crew flew through the North Pole to America has been replaced by the mighty
Antaeus capable of carrying 800 passengers, or the supersonic TU-144, or that even
the Gorky Automobile Factory, once the pride of the country, seems different in
comparison with the giant Volga Motor Works which manufactures Lada cars. Take
a closer look at what is behind the external changes and you will see that the
difference between the two periods of socialism is evidenced both in the productive
forces, in social relations and in man himself. And these are not simply quantitative,
but also profound qualitative changes.
***

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and New Demands

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Experience of Socialist Construction PARTY'S ECONOMIC POLICY
in the USSR

<<< CHAPTER III -- THE CHAPTER V -- MOULDING OF >>>

HISTORICAL ROAD OF SOVIET THE NEW MAN ---ONE OF THE
SOCIETY MAIN TASKS IN COMMUNIST
CONSTRUCTION

Economy.of.a.Developed.Socialist.Society

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<< • >> New Opportunities in the Economy 212

<•> and New Demands

TOC The 24th CPSU Congress focussed its attention in the first place on the new p
magnitude of the country’s economy, on its new opportunities and on the demands
Card
which society makes of it.
Text The Soviet people have created a powerful industry, socialist agriculture and p
HTML advanced science. The USSR daily produces a social product worth nearly 2,000
PS million rubles (i.e., the entire output of industry, collective and state farms in terms 213
PDF of value), or ten times more than at the end of the thirties. In 1950 Soviet industrial
output was less than 30 per cent of that of the United States, the most powerful
T* capitalist state, whereas in 1970 it was over 75 per cent. The gap is shrinking
19* steadily and by the end of the five-year plan for 1971–1975 the Soviet Union’s
aggregate industrial and agricultural output will surpass the contemporary level of
### production in the USA. This will be a very important milestone in the economic
competition between socialism and capitalism.
Let us take a look at the economic progress made by the entire socialist camp. In p
1970, the volume of industrial production of the socialist states was approximately 13
times higher than it was on the same territory in 1937. It should be noted that in the
capitalist countries production in this period increased 4.5 times.
The new level of the Soviet national economy is characterised by the following p
figures: compared with the thirties steel output increased almost six times, electricity
approximately 12 times, oil and gas dozens of times. Clearly the Soviet Union has
every opportunity to solve a wider range of problems than it had ever tackled before,
those which it could only dream of in the thirties.
Economic growth is accompanied by increasing social demands on the economy. p

Further on we shall dwell on the changes and development of human requirements.
In the meantime let us note that the wealthier the society, the more diverse and
complex are the requirements of its members. A hungry person dreams only of 214
something to eat and a naked person wants warm clothes, but a person who is
neither hungry nor cold cares about his tastes; he will follow the fashion and take
the opinions of other people into consideration. He buys only what he wants and not
simply anything that is offered in shops. And this fact has to be taken into account,
although it is becoming more and more difficult, in planning new factories, to keep
up with the demands and tastes of people.
The 24th CPSU Congress noted that while surging ahead in some spheres of
production, even in the very important ones, the Soviet Union cannot let others lag
behind. While channelling enormous funds into the development of production,
science and education, the USSR has also to concentrate greater efforts and means
on raising the welfare of the Soviet people. This is what the Congress meant when it
discussed the need and the possibility of dealing with a wider range of problems in
the period of developed socialism. Explaining the substance of the shift in the
economic policy, Leonid Brezhnev said: "The central task today is to effect a radical
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/4.1.1-New.Opportunities.in.the.Economy.and.New.Demands[2012-12-25 2:30:42]
change of orientation, to switch the accent to intensive methods of economic

management and thereby achieve a considerable rise of efficiency in the economy.
The thing here is that economic growth should be increasingly fostered by an
enhancement of labour productivity and an acceleration of scientific and
technological progress, by the fuller utilisation of operating production capacities, by
increasing the return on every ruble invested in the economy, on every ton of utilised 215
metal, fuel, cement and fertiliser." [ 215•* That was how the problem was set forth
in the decisions of the 24th CPSU Congress and the December (1972) Plenary
Meeting of the CPSU Central Committee and also in the materials of the joint
meeting marking the 50th anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
***

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Republics, p. 72.
< [introduction.] The Scientific and Technological >

Revolution and Socialism

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<< • >> The Scientific and Technological 215

<•> Revolution and Socialism

TOC The specific features of development of the Soviet Union at the present stage are p
largely determined by the scientific and technological revolution.
Card
The scientific and technological revolution has several basic trends. One of them is p
Text the development of new sources of energy—atomic and thermonuclear. It is common
HTML knowledge that the Soviet Union has a fairly large number of big atomic power
PS stations; it has the world’s largest nuclear-powered icebreakers Lenin and Arktika and
PDF atomic submarines.
T* Another trend is man’s penetration and exploration of outer space. This great p
19* process was inaugurated by the Soviet Union which launched the first artificial
satellite of the earth and orbited the first manned spaceship with Yuri Gagarin on
### board.
The third trend is the development and introduction of a new technology, more p 216
efficient than the ordinary mechanical processing of materials. It no longer simply
alters the form of a substance but transforms its molecular and atomic structure and
changes one substance into another. This takes place in the production of polymers
and various plastic materials.
Modern production imperatively demands raw materials with technical and physical p
properties different from those of natural materials. Plastics and chemical fibres may
have preset properties such as increased strength, resistance to heat and oxidation.
The following example illustrates the merits of synthetic materials: fibre-glass
impregnated with a special resin is almost as durable as steel, 66 per cent lighter and
does not rust.
Finally, the scientific and technological revolution is to reorganise production as a p

whole on the basis of automation. Therein lies the main trend of it because without
automation there can be no talk about the development of atomic energy, space
exploration and the transition to new technologies, for, as a rule, they exclude man’s
direct participation in the production process. Here is an example.
The chemical processes occurring during the production of, say, plastics simply p
cannot be manually controlled because the slightest inaccuracy in temperature or
pressure may easily lead to undesirable changes in the properties of materials. In
many other industries, too, improvements in machinery and technologies come into 217
conflict with the limited abilities of the human organism. A lathe or milling machine
operator, for example, sets the machine in motion, stops it, fixes and removes parts
and devices. This means that the operation of the machine depends on the speed of
his movements and reaction, on his strength and endurance, all of which have their
limits. It follows, therefore, that the very development of production raises the
problem of freeing man from direct participation in the labour process and giving
latitude for the further development of technology. This objective process coincides
with the humanistic ideals of Soviet society, with its desire to free man from
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/4.1.2-Scientific.and.Technological.Revolution[2012-12-25 2:30:45]
arduous work and provide conditions for his creative work and all-round
development.
Automatic machines which control the entire labour process appeared in response to p
the demands of life itself. Machines of the old, classic type consist of three units:
motor, transmission and tools which directly process the objects of labour. Automatic
machines have a fourth, selfregulating unit which controls the machine, thus
dispensing with the functions formerly performed by a worker. Scientists, designers
and industrial workers have created not only separate machines, but automatic lines
consisting of a number of machines performing not one but many operations.
Moreover, there are now automatic shops and even whole factories. Automatic
interplanetary stations are being used in space exploration.
Thus man’s role in production is undergoing a radical change. He ceases to be a p

direct link in the labour process, but watches this process in the capacity of 218
controller and regulator. Such, for instance, is the job of a specialist who watches the
conversion of resins into a plastic or chemical fibre, or the job of an operator in a
hothouse where watering, spray nutrition, temperature and humidity are automatically
regulated.
The fundamental modification of man’s role in the production process is the p

principal content, the quintessence of the scientific and technological revolution.
Obviously, this change can only take place on the basis of the latest scientific
achievements, when science directly participates in production, when the labour of
scientists and workers merges into a single whole.
Examining man’s position in the system of production we discern a peculiar spiral. p
Let us begin with the mediaeval guildsman. His craft bordered on art, and his skill, p
work habits, taste and proficiency determined the quantity and quality of his articles
whose beauty we all admire to this day. Very often he proudly affixed his signature
to them. Now let us take a look at Charlie Chaplin’s hero in the film Modern Times.
From the beginning to the end of the working day he performed a single movement
with his arms as he tightened bolts on the conveyor, which moved faster and faster
because the proprietor was after greater profits. Eventually the worker began to
imagine that there were bolts instead of buttons on a girl’s dress and even thought
that the foreman has a bolt instead of his nose. Such labour stupefies and cripples a
worker and turns him into a human machine. The number of mental cases among the 219
workers of the famous Konosuke Matsushita electronics empire rises in direct
proportion to the growing speed of the conveyor. Here man is an appendage to the
machine and is replaced just as a worn-out machine part is replaced. Yet it should
be noted that here a specific role is played not only by the character of labour but
also by the organisation of society, a question which will be discussed further on in
the book.
Finally, let us take a look at a worker at a modern automated enterprise. His job is p
that of a programmer, adjuster, technologist, designing engineer and even researcher.
As modern technology advances from semi-automatic machines to complete
automation of production it becomes increasingly his task to set assignments to
electronic equipment, adopt controlling decisions with the help of computers and
renew equipment and processes. The decisive role in material production gradually
passes from man’s muscle power to his ability to solve complicated creative
problems. This requires diversified technical and scientific knowledge and that is why
foremost Soviet workers enter vocational schools and institutes, or keep abreast of
the developments in their given occupation by reading the necessary literature.
Clearly the development of production depends in increasing measure on man’s p

knowledge and skill, just as was the case with the mediaeval craftsman but only at a
totally different level of development of the productive forces. It is hardly worth 220
mentioning that the production section entrusted to a worker expands all the time; it
needs more means of production and consequently the responsibility for its economic
results rises. For example, to break a spade is not the same thing as to damage an
excavator, and to damage an excavator is not the same thing as to damage a
production line. Even the briefest stoppage of a sophisticated machine leads to
considerable losses. And in this connection one can easily imagine what an
important role man will have to play in agricultural production, too.
Consequently production itself makes ever greater demands of a modern worker, p

such as a higher level of knowledge, greater interest in his work and higher
responsibility.
And since man’s role in production and his attitude to work change in the course of p
the scientific and technological revolution, the very structure of society, the socio-
economic conditions come to play an increasing part in its further progress. The
question of man’s position in society —that of man who sells his labour power and
is deprived of all rights, or that of master of production—is acquiring ever greater
importance for the development of production; for the working man this question is
of vital significance.
Scientific and technological progress and social progress go side by side in Soviet
society, determining and even assisting each other. Taking this into account, the 24th
CPSU Congress put on record: "The task we face ... is one of historical importance:
organically to fuse the achievements of the scientific and technical revolution with 221
the advantages of the socialist economic system....”
***

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and New Demands Production




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<•>
Any social phenomenon, according to the founders of Marxism-Leninism, should be p
TOC viewed from class positions. This means that in economics it is necessary in the first
place to ascertain who, i.e., what class, owns the means of production, and in
Card
politics who is in power. Public ownership in the means of production is the basis of
production relations under socialism. This is characteristic of all stages of socialism,
Text including communism, its highest phase. The principle of distribution according to
HTML labour operates during the first phase, including developed socialism. But relations of
PS production do not remain unchanged, and socialist society, as Engels noted in one of
PDF his letters, is not something that is petrified or immutable, but should be regarded as
being subject to continuous changes and transformations. Analysing the processes
T* occurring in production and society, the CPSU consciously takes measures to adapt
19* the relations of production as best as possible to the level of development of the
productive forces.
###
At the present stage it is most important skilfully to combine centralised planning p
with the independent, creative activity of each Soviet industrial enterprise. There was
a time when all planned targets, from the volume of production to its organisation in
individual sectors, were handed down to the enterprise. The product still to be 222
produced was already earmarked and the consumer could not refuse it, being, in
effect, deprived of the right to choose. This was dictated by internal and external
conditions, and even more by the situation in the war years when the country’s
central bodies kept strict count of every kilogramme of metal and coal, and
consumer goods were rationed. But the more intricate the economy, the more affluent
the society and the wider the range of commodities available to the consumer, the
more important it becomes to grant an industrial enterprise the opportunity to display
greater initiative in production matters. It is no longer possible to hand down
production and sales plans listing millions of different commodities—their sort, size,
fashion—to all enterprises in the country. USSR central planning agencies only set
the indicators for key items. For example, they plan the amount of footwear or
fabrics to be produced in the coming year, but the question of the fashions and sizes
of the footwear and the colour and pattern of the fabrics is decided by the factories
and their customers—trading organisations. To a certain extent this principle is
applied in the production of the means of production, the instruments of labour.
Industrial development puts forward ever new demands some of which are difficult
to predict and this, too, calls for flexible correction of plans.
It is important that each industrial enterprise should produce articles really needed p
by the consumer—whether an individual buyer or a factory —in adequate quantities
and of the highest quality. Therefore, at present it is essential that all enterprises 223
should establish direct contacts with their suppliers and consumers. These contacts
are taken into account and modified if necessary by managers and planning agencies.
The successful fulfilment of the new tasks facing the enterprises has an impact on p
value indicators, such as the aggregate sum of realised products, profitability. These
indicators play a steadily increasing role in assessing the work of an enterprise. The
economic reform launched in the USSR in 1965 on the CPSU’s initiative makes the
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level of income and the welfare of the collective of an enterprise increasingly

dependent on the economic results of its business activity. The production
development assets of an enterprise, the fund for social and cultural measures and
the material incentive fund depend directly on the sales and the size of profits.
It should be noted that although the principle of distribution according to the work p
done has not changed in the course of the reform, it is now being implemented to
the fullest benefit of society. To get a better idea of this principle let us quote N. A.
Baturin, the chairman of the Kushalino Collective Farm in Kalinin Region, Deputy to
the USSR Supreme Soviet:
“Elaborating the schemes of the organisation and remuneration of labour we make p

every effort to extend the boundaries in which each person will be able to display
his individual abilities, initiative and responsibility for his job and exercise his rights
as master of production.
“Our principle in remunerating labour is to make the collective farmer interested in p 224
his work as an individual worker, as a member of his team and as a member of the
entire collective responsible for the overall result of his activity. We have a three-
stage system of material incentives. As an individual worker, a collective farmer
receives a bonus for the output over and above the plan... (the plan is fixed on the
basis of average production indicators on the farm); as a member of a team he
receives a bonus if his team exceeds the aggregate production plan in terms of
value: the increase in the payment fund is proportional to the overfulfilment of the
production plan. Finally, all collective farmers are equally entitled to receive on
every earned ruble part of the profits assigned for distribution. In this way we try
harmoniously to combine the interests of every individual worker, every team and
the farm as a whole.”
Something similar is taking place in the whole of society. Now distribution p

according to labour no longer simply denotes payment for the time spent at work or
for the items produced. The income of each worker also depends on the cost price of
the item, on whether it is sold and on its quality. Thus, if each worker concerns
himself with improving the work of the entire collective, introducing advanced
techniques and technology, raising the quality of the output and its sales, he will
earn more and society, too, will benefit.
Of course, this does not at all belittle the significance of the individual merits of a p
worker or his responsibility for his job. The purpose of the incentive system is to 225
estimate the contribution of each worker to the achievements of the entire collective
as fully as possible. But with the scientific and technological revolution in progress
and socialisation of the means of production, work becomes increasingly a collective
effort, and that means that the final result of the productive activity of a large
collective can largely depend on the performance of an individual worker or
specialist. In these conditions no room remains for slipshodness, wastefulness,
carelessness and for indifference towards them and the results of collective labour.
That is why it is necessary to search for material and moral incentives suitable to the
requirements of modern production.
Let us emphasise once again that improvement in the relations of production is an

objective necessity arising from the development of the productive forces. And today
the commoditymoney relations between people in the process of planned production
and distribution conform most fully to the level of development of the productive
forces. The 24th CPSU Congress pointed out that the improvement of the relations
of production and the economic reform in the Soviet Union will continue. Acquiring
a deeper knowledge of the laws of development of social production, each working
man and woman can to an increasing extent promote the improvement of production
relations.
***

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<•> of External Factors

TOC In many respects the specific features of the present historical stage are determined p
also by external factors, the most important being the expanding economic integration
Card
of socialist countries. “Integration” means unification. But an economic community is
based above all on the distribution of various industries between countries. Some, for
Text example, concentrate on the production of turbines, others on the manufacture of
HTML motor vehicles. A machine can be assembled from parts manufactured in various
PS countries. This cuts production costs in each country and in the long run proves to
PDF be advantageous to all. Specialisation of production promotes mutual economic
interest and stable ties between the partners. On the whole, economic development in
T* the socialist community is best regulated on the basis of concerted plans. And,
19* finally, there comes a period when various countries pool their efforts and means to
solve specific economic problems, as, for instance, the construction of the Druzhba
###
(Friendship) Oil Pipeline. We shall examine the co-operation of socialist countries
further down.
On the other hand, the economic, scientific and technological competition between p
the two world systems has sharply intensified and is exerting an enormous influence
on all processes taking place in the world, and the Soviet state has to take this
feature of the contemporary period into account in all spheres of its activity.
Above we have examined some of the most important features of the economy of p 227
developed socialism. As the 24th CPSU Congress pointed out, the Soviet Union has
attained a level of production which has enabled it practically to launch the building
of the material and technical basis of communism. This new level demands a further
improvement in the management of the entire national economy and all social
processes, a precise definition of today’s tasks and ways of fulfilling them. They
must be absolutely clear to all members of society. That was why the 24th GPSU
Congress discussed as a single whole the following questions:
the main aims towards which the CPSU is orientating the development of the Soviet p
economy;
the resources that must be mobilised to ensure the further rapid rise of social p
production;
the question of improving the mechanism of economic management in order to

secure successful economic growth.
***

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<•> OF THE PARTY’S ECONOMIC POLICY

[introduction.]
TOC
Card Karl Marx considered that the full development of human forces was the "end in p
itself" of the development of society based on social justice. When Lenin worked on
Text the Party’s first programme he formulated the premise that socialism was a planned
HTML organisation of social production designed to ensure the welfare and all-round 228
PS development of all members of society. However difficult the tasks which had to be
PDF solved at each stage in the history of the Soviet Union, the CPSU has always had in
mind the supreme aim—man and his well-being. ”. . . Under socialism,” it was
T* emphasised at the 24th CPSU Congress, "the fullest possible satisfaction of the
19* people’s material and cultural requirements is the supreme aim of social production.”
### It is true that in the period of industrialisation the Soviet people had to tighten their p
belts and do without many essentials. But they deliberately exposed themselves to
these privations realising that the satisfaction of their material and cultural
requirements could not be regarded as the principal task of that period. Let us
explain this.
Both in substance and significance the promotion of people’s welfare is a multifold p

task which cannot be viewed from the position of the consumer alone. The
requirements of a Soviet individual are also by no means a simple concept. Here is
an example. A collective farm can either distribute among its members, say, 100
thousand rubles which they had earned, or spend them on tractors. Let us imagine
that the collective farmers having spent all the money on food and other items will
be unable to buy the necessary farm machinery to till the fields. In that case the
farm will take in a poor harvest and begin to downgrade. But we can also assume
that the following may happen: by spending all the money on new machinery, the
collective farm will fail in making the people interested in promoting the growth of 229
production, it will not create conditions for the fruitful work of the tractor drivers
themselves, for their training, neither will it build a club, school or whatever else the
farm needs, and the expenditures on the tractors will not yield the expected results.
This means that only the collective farmers themselves, after thoroughly considering
which, personal or social, requirements of each member as master of the farm have
to be satisfied in the first place, can arrive at the correct decision. And if half of the
100 thousand rubles is spent on the purchase of tractors in conformity with scientific
calculations and the decision of the collective itself, will not this increase the wealth
of the collective farm? And will not this decision in the long run promote the
people’s welfare? We can distribute and consume only that what has been produced.
But production calls for a continual renewal of the means of production. Satisfaction
of the people’s requirements in the means of production forms the basis for meeting
all their requirements.
Man’s requirements are diverse and their levels vary. While a person is at home p
with his family his requirements are personal and are centred on the purchase of one
or another thing for the house, books, saving money for holidays, etc. When he is at
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work his requirements acquire a different quality: he is interested in seeing his

collective work in normal economic, sanitary, technical, aesthetic and psychological
conditions. Returning from work he pays attention to buildings, squares, the rhythm 230
of city transport, considers the possibility of going to a theatre or a sports stadium.. .
. Here his requirements attain a higher level. On a regional scale, i.e., within the
limits of a certain territory, his requirements become even broader, including his
desire to preserve the natural wealth, improve climatic conditions and promote
cultural development. Finally, at the highest level, that of the whole of society, his
requirements come to embrace the need to strengthen the country’s defensive
capability, encourage scientific research essential for the longterm development of
society, improve the main proportions of economic development which enable
separate branches and enterprises to select the most promising variants of production.
It would be a mistake, of course, not to distinguish between the accumulation and p

consumption funds, otherwise it would be impossible to understand all the new
elements introduced into the social and economic policy by the 24th CPSU Congress.
The relation between these funds was not the same at all times. And this is very p
significant.
Yes, the policy of the CPSU has always been designed to improve people’s welfare, p
but the possibilities for satisfying their requirements differed in various periods and
for a long time were very limited due to specific historical factors. Today, however,
they are much greater and it is now possible simultaneously to promote the
development of the economy and satisfy people’s requirements to a much greater
extent.
In the course of the seventh and the preceding five-year plan periods (with the p 231
exception of the first post-war five-year plan) the accumulation fund increased at a
considerably faster rate than the consumption fund. In the period of the Eighth Five-
Year Plan (1966–1970) the difference in their rates of growth was reduced to a
minimum; the consumption fund increased by 40.5 per cent, and the accumulation
fund by 41.9 per cent. In the course of the ninth five-year plan period the
consumption fund will increase faster than the accumulation fund (40 and 37 per
cent respectively). In the seventh five-year plan period the consumption fund
increased by 31,400 million rubles, in the eighth by 56,800 million and in the ninth
it will rise by 75,000–81,000 million rubles. This rise is ensured by the planned
increase in the growth rates of social production. As a result of the accelerated
growth of the consumption fund, the share of accumulation in the national income
will decline somewhat by 1975, while the share of production accumulation (i.e., the
growth of the basic production assets and stocks of commodity values) will remain
on the same level as in the eighth five-year plan period.
A characteristic feature of the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1971–1975) is an increase in p

that portion of investments which go to develop the facilities for consumer goods
production and everyday services. The share of manufactured consumer goods in the
gross industrial output will also expand. The considerable shift towards fuller
satisfaction of people’s requirements is also expressed in the fact that considerable 232
labour resources are being drawn into the service industry.
These changes are engendered by both the country’s growing possibilities and the p
new demands of production itself.
The link between successes in economic development and the growing welfare of p
the people is self-evident: the greater the successes, the higher is the standard of life.
The distinctive feature of contemporary stage of development of Soviet production
and society is that the growth of people’s welfare is becoming ever more essential
for the successful development of the economy itself and turning into an important
economic factor of the growth of production in the USSR.
As we know, modern production raises rapidly increasing demands not only as p

regards technological equipment, but above all as regards the worker himself who
creates and controls the machines. Machines immeasurably augment man’s power,
but are themselves the work of the human intellect and hands. Man is the main
productive force and its development is most important for boosting production.
"Investment into man”, as scientists now say, i.e., the creation of conditions for
raising the educational and cultural level of a worker and for promoting his all-round
development, is most profitable today.
Thus, we observe here once again the coincidence of the humanistic ideals of Soviet
society and its desire to promote the all-round development of the individual with
the objective trends in the development of social production.
***

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<•>
The Communist Party’s line of raising the welfare of the Soviet people has nothing p
TOC in common with the ideals of the so-called consumer society which is being widely
propagandised by Western bourgeois ideologists. Their chief argument is that
Card
consumption can allegedly be an aim in itself for man, that there are no desires other
than to purchase the most expensive, the most modern things, preferably those which
Text neighbours and friends do not have, and that the source of human happiness and joy
HTML lies in the hunt for these commodities. At the same time they claim that acquisition
PS of things is the motive force of progress. It is to be regretted that in the USSR, too,
PDF there are people who attach too much importance to the fact that under communism
everything will be free of charge and people will just take what they want from
T* shops.
19*
Of course, the Communist Party and the Soviet state strive to raise the living p
### standard of Soviet society to a high level and want that already now Soviet people
could use all the benefits of civilisation. But in the final count their main concern is
that in the happy future which the USSR is building people would consider all this
normal and would not even be concerned about things or dream of saving money to
buy a car. Their minds would be occupied with other matters, and in the first place
with acquiring a deeper knowledge of the world in its complexity and beauty, from
microparticles to the boundless expanses of outer space, from the depths of the earth 234
to the most distant stars. Work will become life’s prime necessity and people will set
greater store on spiritual values such as knowledge and art and the ability to be
useful to other members of society. Concern for the satisfaction of human
requirements under socialism and communism is in fact concern for establishing
conditions under which man’s creative individuality would develop to the full.
Man’s requirements are changing more and more perceptibly, and it is of the utmost
importance to take these changes into account no matter how difficult this may be.
Results of investigations show that physiologically determined material requirements
are coming to occupy a relatively decreasing place in the aggregate of requirements.
The fact of the matter is that a person does not want to buy just an ordinary coat,
but a fashionable one, not just a chair or table but a modern set of furniture. In
making his choice he is no longer principally guided by the requirements of the
organism but, as specialists say, by "social standards”, i.e., by the concept of what is
good and what is bad, which has formed in the given period as a result of
association with other people. This is also true of spiritual values. Even economic
stimulation should be viewed from the point of view of unity of its two aspects—
material and moral. For example, a wage increase not only denotes a rise in the sum
of material benefits: it is also a source of satisfaction for a person who regards it as
sign of social recognition of his services. But that is not all. The spiritual life of 235
person in socialist society is incomparably richer, broader and more diversified than
in capitalist society for the simple reason that the Soviet man is master of his land
and his future. His interests are based on lofty social ideals which permeate all his
aspirations. Perhaps the most important thing as regards human requirements is that a
person does not simply want to possess a greater amount of material values, but that
he wants to increase his influence on production and distribution. The 24th CPSU
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Congress laid special emphasis on the need for broader participation of the masses in
the management of production and public life in the country.
***

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Plan


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<•> of the Ninth Five-Year Plan

TOC The Ninth Five-Year Economic Development Plan of the USSR for 1971–1975 p
takes into account the changes in the character of social requirements.
Card
In this period the incomes of the working people will rise: the average monthly p
Text wage of workers and office employees will rise by 22.4 per cent, and the collective
HTML farmers’ incomes from social production will go up by 30.6 per cent. A system of
PS measures will be introduced to raise the real incomes of working people—wage
PDF increases for low-bracket working people, higher scholarship grants, and so forth. In
the period from 1971 to 1974 alone about 47 million people had their wages raised, 236
T* and more than 30 million had their pensions, scholarships and other grants increased.
19*
For example, a family of four which in 1970 received various benefits to the p
### average sum of 3,200 rubles from the consumption fund of the national income, will
be receiving these benefits to the sum of 4,300 rubles by the end of the ninth five-
year plan period.
The 24th CPSU Congress paid special attention to consumer goods production and p
the study of demand in order to enable working people to spend their earnings to
their greatest advantage. This is taken into account by directors of enterprises,
specialists and also by every worker.
Besides a growth in wages there will be a further increase in the social consumption p
funds in the ninth five-year plan period. In the preceding five years they increased
more than 1.5 times and in 1970 comprised 262 rubles per head of population as
against 182 rubles in 1965. In the ninth five-year plan period social consumption
funds will increase 40.6 per cent, and it is not accidental that their growth is faster
than the growth in wages. To a considerable degree social consumption funds level
out the possibility of Soviet people to satisfy such vital requirements as medical care,
education and social security.
Concern for people’s health is not confined to medical care: measures are being p
taken to improve working conditions, everyday services and rest and leisure facilities.
The five-year plan envisages a further improvement of facilities for mass forms of 237
physical culture and sports and the promotion of tourism; new river, sea, railway,
motor and air tourist routes will be organised, and more hotels, garages and other
facilities for tourists will be built.
In keeping with the plan, important headway will also be made in the field of p
public education. The transition to universal secondary education will be completed
in the main in 1975. Higher and specialised secondary education schools will train
about nine million specialists, including experts in new fields of science and
technology and for the rapidly developing branches of production and the service
industry.
One of the most important factors of the people’s welfare is the pace at which the p
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housing problem is being solved. Between 1966 and 1970 apartment houses with 518
million square metres of living space were built and 55 million Soviet citizens
improved their housing conditions. In the ninth five-year period another 565–575
million square metres of housing will be built. In the first four years of the plan a
total of 434.6 million square metres were put up and approximately 43 million
people moved into new flats.
An extensive programme for bettering utilities and town improvement will be carried p
into effect in the course of the Ninth Five-Year Plan. Homes in towns and urban-
type settlements will have gas to the extent of 65–75 per cent and rural homes to the
extent of 40–50 per cent. The water supply of towns and urban-type settlements will 238
be improved and domestic consumption of electric power will rise.
Over the eighth five-year period the extent of everyday services increased more than p
two times, including three times in the villages, and their rate of development will be
approximately the same under the Ninth Five-Year Plan.
In 1966–1970 10,000 million rubles were spent on measures to raise the welfare of p
the people, whereas 22,000 million rubles will be spent on similar measures under
the Ninth Five-Year Plan.
The above is a concrete expression of the CPSU line of raising the welfare of the p
Soviet people.
It is common knowledge, however, that it is possible to consume only that what is p

produced. This applies equally to the individual and to society as a whole. Naturally,
therefore, when we refer to the satisfaction of personal requirements, we have in
mind only effective demand. A person who works best receives more and better
articles of personal use. As regards society as a whole, it is natural that the extent to
which its requirements are satisfied depends on the efficiency of social production as
a whole.
What are the main sources of growth, the resources that should be mobilised to
enable Soviet society to attain its immediate and long-term targets?
***

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<< • >> THE SOURCE OF MEANS 239

<•> FOR FULFILLING
SOCIAL TASKS
TOC
Extensive or Intensive Development?

Card
It is possible to secure a considerable rise in the material and cultural level of the p
Text Soviet people only on the basis of high rates of development and greater efficiency
HTML of socialist production, scientific and technological progress and accelerated growth
PS of labour productivity. Labour alone can be the source of growth of social welfare.
PDF
But simply conscientious labour, the application of physical efforts is not enough p
T* nowadays. In our age of the scientific and technological revolution, the success of
19*
production and consequently the improvement of the living standard depend on
### rational labour drawing on the latest scientific achievements, calculating labour
involving the economy of rapidly mounting production costs, creative labour based
on a continuous search for optimal solutions.
The CPSU draws the attention of the people to the fact that there are very limited p
possibilities for extensive development in the country, and that the main emphasis
should be laid on the intensification of production, on raising its efficiency. What
does this mean?
Extensive development implies the bringing of new lands under the plough, the p
employment of additional manpower and the building of new factories. Clearly such
development cannot be boundless; its limits are obvious right from the start. 240
Intensive development as applied to production means a relative increase in p

investments per hectare, expenditures on fertilisers and farm machinery, and the
introduction of new equipment and technologies at factories making it possible to
obtain more products from the same production areas. The crux of the task of raising
the efficiency of production is to achieve a considerable increase in the volume of
production and national income per each unit of labour, material and financial
outlays. That is also what raising the productivity of social labour in the final
analysis amounts to.
Higher labour productivity in the ninth fiveyear plan period should account for at p
least 80 per cent of the increase in the national income, 87–90 per cent in industrial
production, 95 per cent in building and assembly and the entire increase in railway
freight carriage. The envisaged growth in farm output must be secured entirely by
raising the productivity of labour.
The successful achievement of the five-year plan targets and the entire development p
of production and society depend on the growth of labour productivity.
Perhaps everybody has at least an idea of the importance of the growth of labour p
productivity. "In the last analysis,” Lenin wrote shortly after the establishment of
Soviet power, "productivity of labour is the most important, the principal thing for
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the victory of the new social system. . . . Capitalism can be utterly vanquished, and
will be utterly vanquished by socialism creating a new and much higher productivity 241
of labour. This is a very difficult matter and must take a long time; but it has been
started, and that is the main thing." [ 241•*
Sometimes, however, this important economic category is oversimplified and this p

leads to all sorts of curious things. Here is an example.
A factory purchased new equipment, but the annual depreciation deductions from p
the cost of these mechanisms and the expenses connected with their exploitation
considerably exceed the economy on wages. Can we speak of a growth in labour
productivity in this case, even if more products are now turned out per worker?
In a way yes, because in physical terms (the number of items per working hour), p
labour productivity has increased. But will a good manager regard this as an
achievement and will he strive for such a growth in labour productivity? In this case
it turns out that such productivity as a means contradicts the aim. If such a "growth
of labour productivity" leads to losses, how can it promote the growth of the
country’s national income and lead to a better satisfaction of working people’s
requirements?
Karl Marx has a very precise definition: " Productive power has reference ... to ... p
the efficacy of any special productive activity during a given time being dependent
on its productiveness." [ 241•**
Does this mean that efficacy is always measured in items, centners, cubic metres per p 242
person? Of course, not. The increase in the volume of output in physical terms is
only one aspect of the matter, though a very important one. According to Marx, if
the output is not sold at all then the labour expended on it can be considered lost
and is not recognised as labour. And, of course, it is not worthwhile speaking about
any growth of the productivity of such labour.
The factory wants to know whether its output has been sold, and at what price, and p
what amount of labour has been saved, not only live labour, but also that embodied
in the means of production (raw materials, machines and buildings). What is
important in determining the growth of labour productivity at an industrial enterprise
is its expression in value terms, which takes account of all these factors. From this
point of view it once again turns out that each Soviet worker, each collective farmer
ought to be concerned not only about increasing production but also about improving
its quality, that he ought to be thrifty and take care not only of his own work place,
but also of his enterprise as a whole. In addition to employing his muscular energy,
he must also work creatively and with a will.
What are the basic ways of raising the efficiency of social production and labour
productivity?
***

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[ 241•** ] K. Marx, Capital, Vol. I, Moscow, 1971, p. 46.
< Application of Science and >

Technology. Scientific Organisation
of Labour

<< THE SUPREME AIM OF THE ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT AND >>

PARTY'S ECONOMIC POLICY "WORK FOR ONESELF"


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<< • >> Application of Science and Technology. 243

<•> Scientific Organisation of Labour

TOC In our age of the scientific and technological revolution it is of primary importance p
to promote science and use its achievements in practice. A careful study of the
Card
requirements modern production makes of technological equipment, sources of power
and objects of labour shows that all these questions can be solved only on a
Text scientific basis. Solution of many problems, including the creation of new equipment
HTML and technology, calculation of the optimal conditions of work of highlyproductive
PS machines, rational use of equipment and organisation of labour, depends wholly on
PDF the collective efforts of scientists and practical workers. And today very many
scientists become practical workers in the full sense of the word and are placed in
T* charge of ever new branches of production.
19*
From the point of view of scientific and technological progress, the major task of p
### people directly engaged in production is to speed up the replacement of obsolete
machines. Obsolescence means that a machine is not necessarily worn out; but since
there already exist more efficient machines, those who employ outdated equipment
may find themselves far behind and lose the economic competition.
A characteristic feature of the Ninth Five-Year Plan is the steadily increasing supply p
of modern instruments of labour to industrial enterprises. Their output will rise 1.6
times and it is planned to design about 25,000 and launch the production of more 244
than 19,000 new types of machines, mechanisms, apparatuses and devices.
One of the most urgent tasks is the mechanisation of labour-consuming jobs, the p
replacement of manual labour with machines and automated lines. Mechanisation will
be comprehensive.
In agriculture, an increase in the efficiency of production can be achieved only p

through comprehensive mechanisation coupled with chemicalisation (i.e., the use of
fertilisers, chemical weedkillers and pesticides) and melioration (land improvement).
Scientific organisation of labour (SOL) is an important means of enhancing the p

efficiency of production. Usually this work begins with the drafting of SOL plans for
each work place. After that plans are drawn up for production sections, shops and,
finally, for the whole enterprise.
Here, too, a comprehensive approach to the problem produces the greatest effect. A p
sciencebased organisation of production must be combined with a rational
organisation of labour at each work place. SOL planning is a powerful disciplining
means of raising the efficiency of all links of the production process.
The Communist Party’s appeal to enhance the efficiency of production has met with p
a broad response from industrial and agricultural workers in the USSR as may be
judged, for instance, by the very substantial growth in the number of inventions. In
1974 approximately 3.9 million inventions and rationalisation proposals were 245
introduced in various branches of the national economy. As a result, an annual
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economy of 4,000 million rubles was achieved.
Rationalisation proposals and inventions are a most important factor of scientific

and technological progress.
***

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<< • >> Improvement 245

<•> of the Location and Structure of Production

TOC A great deal can be done to raise the efficiency of production by improving its p
location and structure, i.e., the correlation and the territorial distribution of the
Card
various branches of production.
Text This concerns the whole of society in the first place. It is most important correctly p
HTML to decide what branches of production should be given priority. As regards the heavy
PS industry branches, such a decision leads to changes in many other branches, for the
PDF heavy industry manufactures the means of production for all branches and thus
determines their rates of development, too.
T*
19* The selection of the site for a factory is another question. For instance, when Soviet p
planning agencies began examining the problem of selecting a site for the automobile
### factory which now manufactures the Lada car they had the choice of more than 30
towns. As a result of detailed calculations which took into account a very large
number of factors, including expenditures connected with the transportation of raw
materials, finished cars and the availability of labour resources, only six towns 246
remained on the list. Then with the help of modern computers 16 variants of
calculations were made with regard to each of these six towns and only after that the
planning agencies took the decision substantiated in every detail to put up the factory
in Togliatti on the Volga.
The location and structure of production is of importance for individual branches,

republics and towns. It is also taken up and solved in its own way at individual
enterprises. A collective farm offers the best example illustrating this point. No one
can deny that it is unprofitable to cultivate water melons in Arkhangelsk Region
(north of the USSR). But very serious calculations have to be made before it can be
decided how best to combine the cultivation of wheat and sugar-beet on a collective
farm in the black-earth belt of Russia, how to combine the development of
marketable grain production with livestock breeding, and how to combine, in
livestock breeding, its branches, say, the production of meat and eggs. Production
efficiency, i.e., the input-output ratio, depends to a very great extent on the correct
structure of production.
***

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< Application of Science and The Use of Production Assets and >
Technology. Scientific Organisation Investments
of Labour



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<< • >> The Use of Production Assets 246

<•> and Investments

TOC The Soviet Union’s existing production assets are a source of its vast economic p
strength and provide it with enormous opportunities for further development.
Card
Production assets include buildings, machines and equipment, and a great deal here p 247
Text depends on the volume of output they produce annually, daily and hourly.
HTML
PS The efforts to keep machines and equipment operating at their full capacity, to p
PDF increase inter-repair periods, to cut down repair time (naturally not at the expense of
quality), and to ensure effective maintenance of equipment and buildings spell
T* additional profits, increased efficiency of social production. One can judge of the
19* tremendous reserves latent in the fixed production assets by their value which today
equals almost 740,000 million rubles.
###
The 24th CPSU Congress emphasised the need to raise the shift coefficient. At p
times new factories are built, while similar enterprises already in commission operate
in one shift. This is a sheer waste of money, and the workers themselves can
recommend the managers and specialists how to improve the organisation of
production and raise the shift coefficient.
In order to increase the efficiency of social production it is very important to p

improve the use of investments, i.e., the money spent on the construction of
factories, state farms, and so forth. In the sphere of material production the Soviet
Union is now building more than any other country in the world; the task now is to
speed up the returns on the money expended and to make them as large as possible.
This depends on the location of production capacities and the rates of construction p
and the rates of mastering newly built enterprises. It is important to see how much 248
is spent on the construction of new enterprises and on the renewal of plant. The
latter outlays are usually more effective.
The task of raising the efficiency of production is a complex one involving all p
aspects of economic life without exception; and the Communist Party and the Soviet
Government take this circumstance into account. At its Plenary Meeting in December
1969, the CPSU Central Committee emphasised that it was necessary to further the
policy of economy, increase the personal responsibility of each Soviet worker for the
common cause and enhance labour discipline. All industrial and other enterprises in
the Soviet Union have ample opportunities to save on raw and other materials,
electric power, fuel and tools. No smaller reserves can be tapped through the
rationalisation of technological processes, and a more advantageous arrangement of
machines, lathes and transportation facilities.
The 24th CPSU Congress pointed out the imperative need for industrial workers to p
make a definite change in their approach to economic questions, and modify some of
their habitual conceptions. There was a time when due to specific conditions priority
was given to quantitative indicators: the point was to produce so many tons of steel,
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so many tons of oil, so many tons of coal.
Of course, the quantitative aspect is still important, but now it is much more
important to take account of the indicators relating to the quality of production and 249
the economic results of the activity of industrial enterprises.
***

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< Improvement of the Location and Economic Education >

Structure of Production




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<< • >> Economic Education 249

<•>
Today, with the intensification of production in the USSR, it is especially important p
TOC to promote the economic education of cadres, of all Soviet working people.
Card It is no longer possible to manage the economy without a thorough knowledge of p
economics, the contemporary economic policy and a clear idea of the tasks being
Text fulfilled. Accordingly, in order to raise economic management to a higher level, the
HTML CPSU Central Committee adopted a Resolution "On the Improvement of the
PS Economic Education of Working People”, emphasising the need to establish a well-
PDF organised nation-wide system of economic education of cadres in all branches of the
economy: specialists, workers, office employees, collective farmers, and all working
T* people in general, with due regard for the type of enterprise and branch of
19* production and the nature of work performed by all categories of working people.
### The main emphasis is placed on the study of the economic policy of the CPSU, the p
laws of social development, Leninist principles and methods of economic
management, and the economics and organisation of production. Economic education
is also designed to help people acquire a knowledge of economics proper, teach them
to run the economy efficiently, raise labour productivity and enhance its level of 250
organisation.
The Resolution notes that economic education should dovetail with the organisation p
of the entire economic activity of enterprises and raise the level of economic
management. It also makes the point that working people should continuously
improve their skill and that their freshly acquired knowledge should be embodied in
concrete achievements. If all working people acquire the habit of making economic
analysis, if they steadfastly improve methods of labour and their skill, and rationally
use national wealth it would only be to the benefit of the state and each member of
Soviet society.
The main purpose of giving working people an economic education is to enable p

them to combine their knowledge of economic laws and the economic policy of the
CPSU with the concrete tasks of the struggle for the fulfilment of economic
development plans.
Higher efficiency of social production in large measure depends on the further p

improvement in the system of management of the socialist economy and is
necessitated by the rapid development of production in the USSR.
What are the tasks facing the Soviet people in this field?
***

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< The Use of Production Assets and >
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<< • >> ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT AND 251

<•> "WORK FOR ONESELF"

[introduction.]
TOC
Card The improvement of the system of economic management is a key question of the p
Communist Party’s economic policy, and as such was formulated with the utmost
Text clarity at the 24th CPSU Congress:
HTML
PS “This is essentially a matter of how best to organise the activity of society in p
PDF accelerating economic and social development, in ensuring the fullest use of the
available possibilities, and in rallying even closer together hundreds of thousands of
T* collectives, and tens of millions of working people round the main aims of the
19* Party’s policy. Consequently, questions relating to management affect not only a
narrow circle of executives and specialists, but all Party, government and economic
### organisations and all collectives of working people.”
In April 1973, the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers p
adopted a Resolution "On Certain Measures for Improving the Management of
Industry”, which is of great importance for boosting industrial development in the
USSR. These measures are designed to open up fresh opportunities for the further
concentration and specialisation of production and accelerating of scientific and
technological progress in all branches of Soviet industry. Economic management
bodies will have closer ties with enterprises, the rights and duties of various
economic links will be more precisely defined and the administrative machinery will 252
become more efficient. In the final analysis these measures will lead to a further
upsurge in the entire national economy.
The Resolution not only defines the field of management and its basic tasks, but
also lays special emphasis on the need to draw all working people into economic
management. This is a most important requirement arising from the very nature of
production relations under socialism and the specific features of the present stage of
its development.
***

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< Scientific Management >

<< THE SOURCE OF MEANS FOR THE SOCIO-POLITICAL >>

FULFILLING SOCIAL TASKS DEVELOPMENT OF SOVIET
SOCIETY


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<•>
As production becomes increasingly complex it is more and more difficult to p
TOC manage it. Precisely this factor engendered the science of management, which has
developed into a separate branch of knowledge and is now being applied on an ever
Card
wider scale. It embraces methods of collecting and processing information and helps
define the level at which a decision has to be taken (enterprise, branch, society).
Text Based on new analytical methods the science of management makes it possible to
HTML consider phenomena in life as a system and in their interconnection. It uses methods
PS of scientific prognostication, i.e., of forecasting the possible variants of development,
PDF and modern planning methods.
T* Electronic computers play an exceptionally important role in improving economic p
19* management. The management of the economy, a branch of production or an 253
individual enterprise can be successful only if the leading bodies are promptly
### supplied with information about the state of affairs in them, rapidly process this
information and, knowing the situation, take appropriate decisions. As production
increases the flow of economic, technological, technical and other information
increases to such a degree that it is simply impossible to receive and process it in
good time with the help of ordinary methods. Now technical devices are being
employed which speedily gather and process necessary information. And that is not
all. If one feeds a preset programme of operations into a machine it will rapidly
produce an answer informing how effective one or another decision will be and will
even give a comparative analysis of several variants of decisions. Electronic
computers, some of which perform up to 10,000,000 arithmetical operations a second,
need just a few hours to do the work which scores of economists and planning
specialists need many days to complete.
What do electronic computers do at industrial enterprises? Here is a concrete p

example. The Uralmash Works in Sverdlovsk has more than 100 shops and dozens
of production subsections working on thousands of orders. Each machine produced at
the works has thousands of components and each component undergoes dozens of
operations in the course of its making. In order to organise the rhythmic work of all
the equipment it is necessary to know exactly how things stand with the production
of each component and unit, keep track of a vast number of inter-shop links and 254
ensure that each machine-tool is working at full capacity.
Recently the first stage of an automated management system consisting of several p

sub-systems was commissioned at the Uralmash Works. One sub-system takes care
of the engineering preparations, the second handles routine recording and registration,
the third plans maintenance and supply, the fourth takes care of techno-economic
planning, the fifth does accounting operations and the sixth handles personnel
matters. The entire course of production becomes visible, enabling the managerial
bodies to see what previously was hidden from their eyes. For instance, they see the
load of each lathe not only for the day but for a month ahead; they see how well
each work place is supplied with raw materials and tools. Timely information, the
computation of the efficacy of the possible variants of decisions enable the
management to take prompt measures and furnish timely economically and
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technically substantiated solutions to problems that arise in the course of production.
Automated management systems are being introduced on a steadily increasing scale p

in the national economy. An automated management system of an entire branch of
production is being introduced, for example, at the USSR Ministry of Instrument-
Making, Automation Facilities and Control Systems. With the help of electronic
computers it draws up long-term development plans, selects sites for enterprises,
draws up their production plans, processes information about the operation of 255
enterprises, makes calculations in the field of maintenance and supply, sales, and so
forth.
The greatest economic effect is produced by the employment of electronic computers p

in managing the economy as a whole. Thanks to the socialist public ownership of
the means of production there are ample possibilities in this sphere. The State
Planning Committee of the USSR has set up the Main Computer Centre whose staff
largely made up of economists and mathematicians is already working on a series of
nation-wide problems.
Nevertheless, it should always be borne in mind that a machine, however p

sophisticated, is only a machine and has to be operated by man. If, for instance, the
machine is to solve the problem of deriving maximum profit, it will not take
measures to enable man to work well, provide facilities for his rest, take steps to
prevent industrial accidents, see to it that the speed of the conveyor does not affect
the workers’ nervous system, and so forth. But all these “restrictions” can be coded
and fed into the machine. It may produce a variant which is orientated on high
profits, but which cannot be implemented without taking into account human
possibilities and requirements. In other words, electronic computers are merely
technical devices and the important thing is who uses them and for what purpose,
that is, who owns them and whom they serve.
There can be no doubt that a capitalist proprietor for whom the amassment of
maximum profits is the sole purpose of production may easily use the latest 256
computing devices as a means of more adroitly underpaying the workers. At the
same time it is clear that in a society where the working people are the masters of
production, the application of sophisticated computers invariably furthers their
interests; it does not clash with the development of democratic principles of
management and promotes their fullest and consistent implementation. Participation of
the masses is the basic and most important factor which distinguishes socialist
economic management from management of capitalist production.
***

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SOCIETY


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<< • >> Both Master and Worker 256

<•>
If we ask ourselves the question what exactly enables Soviet society to raise labour p
TOC productivity to a higher level than that in capitalist production, wherein lies the key
to the solution of the general task formulated by Lenin, we shall logically turn to the
Card
socio-economic sphere, to the problems of human relations.
Text Indeed, is land in the Soviet Union richer than that, say, in the USA? Evidently not, p
HTML and in general natural conditions are not decisive. Japan is a case in point. Though
PS by no means rich in minerals Japan not long ago overtook the Federal Republic of
PDF Germany and became the world’s third biggest producer of steel. In agriculture, too,
high labour productivity is not necessarily typical of countries with fertile lands: in
T* the USA, the FRG and a number of other advanced capitalist countries land may not
19* be more fertile than in Pakistan but labour productivity in agriculture is incomparably 257
higher. Turning to science and technology it is clear that the USSR and the capitalist
### countries have equal opportunities for promoting their development with the
exception of socio– economic conditions, the structure of society itself which gives
the Soviet people unquestionable advantages. And therein lies the principal
distinction.
Let us continue the comparison: perhaps the USSR will increase investments to p
develop its productive forces at a faster rate? This is necessary, of course. But where
will the USSR get the required means? An increase in the accumulation funds
resulting from a deliberate reduction of consumption is an emergency measure and
can be enforced for a limited period only; the main source of accumulation lies
precisely in greater labour productivity. Now let us look at the question from a
different angle: perhaps, on the contrary, the Soviet state by paying higher wages will
heighten the interest of Soviet people in the results of their work and thereby greatly
develop production? It is absolutely true that the Soviet Government is anxious to
raise wages, but this, too, depends solely on the growth of labour productivity. So
what do we have, a vicious circle? Nothing of the sort, for this circle is sundered as
soon as we turn to the sphere of production relations, to the question of man’s place
in production.
At the beginning of the chapter we said that man’s role in production increases p
tremendously as a result of the scientific and technological revolution. Accordingly, 258
we arrived at the conclusion that a society which gives latitude for developing the
main productive force, thus making people interested in acquiring and applying
scientific knowledge in practice and developing a new attitude to labour, will derive
the biggest benefit. In this respect the possibilities which are inherent in socialist
society do not exist under capitalism.
Bourgeois philosophers, sociologists and psychologists have come forward with p

some interesting pronouncements. The American economist, Charles Killingsworth, is
convinced that automation has tremendously increased the importance of investment
in man as a factor of economic development. Alfred Sauvy, a French demographer,
draws the conclusion on the basis of his studies that the principal factor of progress
is not capital, as was formerly believed, but knowledge and the ability of people to
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create wealth. This evokes a certain degree of pessimism in the opinions of other
people. The American psychologist, Frederick Herzberg, speaks of the great
importance of getting the worker to believe that what is advantageous to his firm is
advantageous to himself. At the same time, however, he acknowledges that there is
no practical way of achieving this because the interests of a private firm clash with
the interests of the worker. US industrialists have ol late begun to complain about
the "decline in the morals" of the workers who have no wish to work with the
enthusiasm and energy expected of them.
In capitalist society, proprietors resort to all possible means to make the workers p
interested in improving their attitude to work, and even go to the extent of 259
distributing a portion of the profits among them, but only in proportions which do
not damage their own interests. Propaganda is also used for the same purpose, i.e., to
mislead a person into thinking that he is not an exploited hired worker but an equal
member of society, to make him change his attitude to work and thus raise his
productivity and make him work more intensively. To achieve this, capitalist
propaganda tries to prove that being members of an "industrial society" workers and
capitalists have “common” interests.
Such measures of influencing the workers should not be underestimated. But, of p

course, they do not resolve the main contradiction, namely the contradiction between
the social nature of labour and the private capitalist form of appropriating its results,
between wage labour and capital. The proprietor and his hired worker inevitably
stand in opposition to each other inasmuch as the latter due to his psychology seeks
"to lighten the burden of labour or to obtain at least some little bit from the
bourgeoisie". [ 259•* No matter how hard capitalist ideologists may try to embellish
wage labour relations, their substance does not change and, therefore, as Marx wrote,
a worker in his work "does not affirm himself but denies himself, does not feel
content but unhappy, does not develop freely his physical and mental energy but 260
mortifies his body and ruins his mind". [ 260•* Wage labour, Marx wrote, like
slave and serf labour is the lower form of labour which must give way to associated,
i.e., united labour "carried out voluntarily, willingly and with enthusiasm”. Compare
this point of view with that of the French scientist, Fran9ois Corre, who writes that
daily work is worse than hard labour for the majority of people today. This view is
echoed by the US sociologist, Robert Dubin, who maintains that a worker who
performs one and the same operation at the conveyor belt is in fact a cog in a
machine. But Lenin’s words stand out in sharp contrast to these thoughts: "We must
organise all labour, no matter how toilsome or messy it may be, in such a way that
every worker and peasant will be able to say: I am part of the great army of free
labour, and shall be able to build up my life without the landowners and capitalists,
able to help establish a communist system." [ 260•**
It goes without saying that the Soviet state has always tried and is doing so today p
to reduce messy, monotonous, arduous labour to a minimum. Designers and scientists
in many fields are working in this direction. Much is already being done to reduce
the incidence of industrial injuries, and a new branch of science, industrial aesthetics,
has come into being. But the basic difference between the views of the authors 261
whom we have just quoted is obvious. Bourgeois economists and sociologists regard
the transformation of man into a “cog” of a machine, and the “dehumanisation” of
labour as a natural development which cannot be averted because it is allegedly
determined by scientific and technological progress. And while there are people who
regard this process as characteristic of only a certain phase of development, others
have even a gloomier outlook for the future. For example, Jacques Ellul, a French
sociologist, maintains that a human being can no longer use machinery in his own
interests because it has become an aim in itself and people have to adapt themselves
to it even if many spiritual values are destroyed in the process.
The classics of Marxism-Leninism regard the exploitation of the worker by the p

capitalist as the main cause of the dehumanisation of labour.
Lenin pointed out that any labour can be a source of joy and satisfaction if the p
worker becomes the master of production and is a participant in the collective
building of a new society. In this case the worker himself seeks to raise the
efficiency of production and to improve his working conditions, for both are in his
own interests.
With the transition of power to the workers and peasants every factory and village p
became, as Lenin put it, "a field in which the working man can reveal his talents,
unbend his back a little, rise to his full height, and feel that he is a human being.
For the first time after centuries of working for others, of forced labour for the
exploiter, it has become possible to work for oneself. . . ." [ 262•* For the first 262
time in history the owner of the means of production and the worker become
embodied in a single person. Lenin saw in this the unity of material and moral
factors determining man’s attitude to social production and a condition for
developing socialist emulation. The latter’s advantage over capitalist rivalry consists
in that it involves the working masses who, and not a handful of capitalists, reap the
fruits of the emulation which simultaneously solves not only material but also moral
and educational problems. The new feeling of being one of those who collectively,
not individually, own property could only be engendered in specific social conditions
and cultivated in the course of long years. A working man acquired a definite urge
to participate in production management. This is a social gain and in a sense a
social problem.
Bourgeois sociologists say that something similar is taking place in the sentiments of
certain sections of the workers at capitalist enterprises. Naturally, however, it is
difficult to compare a requirement consciously developed by socialist society with a
requirement which is frequently concealed and suppressed under capitalism. The urge
to manage production is another form of the requirement for the means of
production, which corresponds to the contemporary level of socialisation of the
means of production and not to the level of domestic craft. Capitalism cannot satisfy
this urge and remain capitalism at the same time. But socialism can, because of the 263
public ownership of the means of production in socialist society, and this
requirement is, in one way or another, continuously satisfied. It is another matter that
a search is being made for its ever fuller satisfaction in the changing conditions. And
the Party pays great attention to this question.
***

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[ 260•*] K. Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Moscow, 1959, p.

72.
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TOC The new, socialist society also creates new principles of labour discipline. The p
organisation of social labour under serfdom was based on the discipline of the club
Card
held over the heads of the extremely ignorant and oppressed labourers plundered and
humiliated by a handful of landowners. The capitalist organisation of social labour
Text has always been dependent upon the discipline of hunger.
HTML
PS “The communist organisation of social labour,” wrote Lenin, "the first step towards p
PDF which is socialism, rests, and will do so more and more as time goes on, on the free
and conscious discipline of the working people themselves. .. ." [ 263•*
T*
19* Dwelling on the principles of the new production discipline Lenin noted that it was p
a " discipline of faith ... a discipline of comradeship, a discipline of the utmost
### mutual respect, a discipline of independence and initiative. . .". [ 264•* The 264
difference between the discipline of this kind and enforced discipline is very well
described in a figurative expression: soldiers can be ordered to march smartly but
there is a distinction between the sincere co-operation of enthusiasts and a show of
accommodation effected under fear of punishment.
The following incident took place at an iron and steel factory near Philadelphia in p
the United States nearly a hundred years ago. A worker asked an engineer what was
the purpose of the products he made and how they were used. Keep silent, the
engineer replied. No one is asking you to think as well as work. There are people
who are paid to do this.
The engineer was Frederick Winslow Taylor, the man who had developed a system p
of labour organisation with a view to the most efficient planning of the working day
and the most rational utilisation of the means of production. The Taylor system
evoked world-wide approval and proprietors in many countries introduced it at their
factories. In spite of the scornful condemnation and bigoted attacks by “Left”
Communists, Lenin advocated that it should be studied and taught in Russia and
systematically tested and adapted. At the same time he disclosed the basic difference
in the utilisation of the new methods of scientific organisation of labour in capitalist
countries and in the USSR. In capitalist countries these methods further the most 265
brutal capitalist exploitation, the intensification of the sweating system with the
resulting growth of capitalist profits. In the Soviet Union rational methods of labour
promote its efficiency, on the one hand, and facilitate labour itself, on the other.
Both are beneficial to working people themselves.
Scientific organisation of labour has become an integral part of the organisation of p

production throughout the world. But the substance of the Taylor system contained
an element which is best described as strict differentiation between the duties of the
management and those of the rankand-file workers. It was the duty of the
management to think about technology and the organisation of production, while the
workers were to perform prescribed operations and receive remuneration for each
operation or for each item produced. Today Western scientists are no longer
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/4.4.3-Conscious.Discipline.of.the.Masses[2012-12-25 2:31:45]
unanimous in their views on this matter. Some say that in this respect Taylorism has
become hopelessly out of date and that the worker must think and be interested in
promoting the growth of production. As regards the views of these specialists
concerning the interest of the workers, we have already examined them earlier in/the
book. At the same time there are views which revive the old practice on a new
foundation; these are all sorts of so-called elitist conceptions. What is meant here is
not merely the higher aristocratic circles in their former sense, but technical experts.
Therefore, another word, “technocracy”, i.e., rule by top technical experts, is
sometimes used. But let us not analyse these theories as applied to bourgeois society, 266
particularly since the views that power is already passing irom the owners into the
hands of the experts are clearly erroneous. It is more important to look into another
matter.
Even in socialist countries there are scientists who think that it is impossible or p
difficult to combine the principles of scientific management and democracy in the
management of production. The one is placed in opposition to the other. The
adherents of this concept regard science and scientific disciplines as the "main
principle" of the organisation of production, as something which is above democracy.
These views are incorrect for the following reasons.
Their overestimation of the role played by technical experts is in a way connected p

with technological progress. But those who think along these lines pay no attention
to the fact that technological progress also sharply enhances the professional skill and
the level of technical and general knowledge not only of the intelligentsia, but also
of the workers, and, in the final count, erases the distinctions between physical and
mental labour.
It goes without saying that the development of science and technology deepens the p
specialisation of production and, hence, of the workers. Already today a chemist
finds it increasingly difficult to understand a physicist, let alone a literary worker or
a physician. And it can be surmised that as time goes on a chemist doing research in
a certain field will be less able to understand his counterpart working in another. 267
This does not mean, however, that mutual understanding between people will be
reduced to such an extent that they will be unable jointly to resolve key problems of
economic development. As for numerous questions of social development, it is
simply impossible to solve them without the participation of the entire mass of
working people.
“. . .The more difficult, the greater, the more responsible this new historical problem p
is,” Lenin wrote, "the larger must be the number of those enlisted for the purpose of
taking an independent part in solving it." [ 267•* The combination of science and
democracy in management is the demand of the times.
In point of fact it is the conscious discipline of working people united by a common

idea and a common aim which forms the cementing foundation of socialist
production. At its 24th Congress the CPSU noted that one of its paramount tasks
was to foster in Soviet people the new, communist attitude to work.
***

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[ 263•*] Ibid., Vol. 29, p. 420.
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We would be idealists, however, if we were to think that conscious discipline p
TOC appears outside the sphere of material interests, that the sense of being the master of
production, the realisation of " working for oneself" are permanently present in a 268
Card
person. Conscious discipline rests on the coincidence of the material and spiritual
interests of the individual, the collective and society. This is expressly what makes
Text conscious discipline a reality. Specific contradictions between the interests of the
HTML individual and the collective, and the collective and society can and do arise, but
PS they are resolved mainly through the continuous improvement of production relations.
PDF That is the purpose of the economic reform now under way in the Soviet Union. It
is designed to raise the interest of the enterprise in attaining the results essential for
T* society, namely, to manufacture the necessary amount of high-quality products in a
19* most economical way. And the individual becomes increasingly interested in the
successful operation of the enterprise.
###
The 24th CPSU Congress noted that the improvement of the relations of production p
is a continuously developing process.
First and foremost the CPSU calls for maximum efforts to improve planning which p
should rest on a more precise study of social requirements, more accurate scientific
forecasts of the processes of economic development and on an all-round analysis and
evaluation of different variants of decisions and their possible consequences.
Special significance is attached to long-term planning, since important economic and p

social tasks often require more than five years to fulfil. For example, it takes more
than five years to build an iron and steel or a chemical plant. The Congress has set
the task of working out long-term economic development plans which should be tied 269
in with five-year and annual plans.
The Congress considered it important to raise individual responsibility for p

assignments and examined the question of rights and responsibilities.
Noting the importance and the efficiency of the measures introduced under the p
economic reform to increase material incentives, the 24th CPSU Congress defined
currently the most important aspects deserving particular attention. First, economic
conditions have to be created that would induce ministries and enterprises to assume
optimal commitments, i.e., adopt maximum plans and make more rational use of
investments and labour resources; second, it is necessary to secure the utmost
acceleration of scientific and technological progress and growth of labour
productivity, and third, to stimulate the interest of the working people in improving
the quality of output.
In this connection the Congress pointed out the need consistently to observe
autonomous economic accounting principles, and not only at enterprises but also at
higher economic levels, viz., associations, main boards and production branches. The
point is that the principle of distribution according to work should be more fully
implemented at all economic levels so that people who have attained better economic
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results and thus contributed more to society should be better remunerated. It is

planned to provide enterprises with broader possibilities for giving incentives to those
workers and production collectives who make the largest contribution to the 270
development of production, combine trades and adopt a master-like and thrifty
attitude to social wealth.
***

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[introduction.]
TOC
Card The characteristic features of developed socialism are certainly not confined solely
to changes in the socialist economy. The 24th CPSU Congress made a searching
Text socio-political analysis of the present stage of social development and set forth the
HTML tasks connected with the formation of new relations in Soviet society and the
PS moulding of the new man. In the preceding chapter we touched upon these questions
PDF insofar as the need to do so stemmed from an analysis of socialist production, its
aims and the role of the individual in production. Now, we shall examine the
T* changes in the social structure of Soviet society and the tasks of the further
19* development of socialist democracy and the moulding of the individual.
### ***

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< The Social Structure of Society >

<< ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT AND >>

"WORK FOR ONESELF"


CONSTRUCTION

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Political.Development.of.Soviet.Society

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<•>
In order to describe the social structure of society it is necessary to define and p
TOC characterise its classes, social sections and groups, and their mutual relationship. It is
absolutely clear from the materials of the 24th CPSU Congress that in this respect
Card
Soviet society is not immobile and is subject to changes which require constant
study. The Congress made the point that the Party’s policy yields the desired results 271
Text only when it fully takes into account the interests of both the entire people and its
HTML various classes and social groups, and directs these interests into a single common
PS channel.
PDF
The Party’s policy is designed to help bring the working class, the collective-farm p
T* peasantry and the intelligentsia closer together, gradually erasing the essential
19* distinctions between town and country and between brainwork and manual labour.
Long arid difficult as it is, this process is a key factor in the building of a classless
### communist society.
The drawing together of all classes and social groups in the Soviet Union, the moral p
and political upbringing of the Soviet people and the strengthening of their social
unity are being achieved on the basis of Marxist-Leninist ideology, which expresses
the socialist interests and communist ideals of the working class.
The working class has been and remains the main productive force of socialist p
society. This is not an artificially created privilege, but a result of the objective laws
of social development.
In the first place the working class is the most numerous in Soviet society. It is p
growing all the time and becoming more educated, conscious and politically active.
Let us trace the growth of the Soviet working class since 1928 when the USSR had p
8.5 million workers, or 12.5 per cent of the employed population. By 1939–1940, as
a result of industrialisation the working class numbered 22.8 million, i.e., 32.5 per 272
cent of the working population. In the course of the Eighth Five-Year Plan (1966–
1970) alone, the number of workers increased by eight million so that by the
beginning of 1971 they made up 55 per cent of the employed population. The
numerical growth of the working class is continuing in the ninth five-year plan
period.
Nevertheless, the working class plays the leading role in the system of socialist p
social relations not only because of its numbers; its revolutionary spirit, discipline,
organisation and collectivism have turned it into the vanguard of the social forces,
and it is consolidating this position as it increases its general culture, level of
education and political activity. The growth of the cultural level of the working class
is convincingly shown, in particular, by the last two censuses. In 1959 there were
386 workers with a higher or secondary education per 1,000; in 1970 this figure was
550.
The reason why these and other qualitative changes in the working class merit very p
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serious attention is that some people are inclined to believe that as the scientific and
technological revolution continues to develop the intelligentsia will become the
leading force of society because science plays an ever greater role in social
production. It is true that the number of scientists, engineers, technicians is increasing
in the Soviet Union and so is the scope of their activity. Yet it is the working class
which has been and remains the leading social force for reasons we have already
mentioned—consistency in building socialism and communism, organisation and 273
revolutionary spirit. One cannot fail to observe that it is in the course of the
scientific and technological revolution that the working class, due to objective
processes, turns into an increasingly important vehicle of scientific and technological
progress and comes to play an increasing part in social relations.
Turning once more to the changes which take place in the worker in connection p
with the development of the productive forces, it should be noted that in recent years
they have been occurring at an especially rapid pace. In 1925, for example, skilled
and highly-skilled workers in the USSR comprised a mere 18 per cent of the total
number of workers. In 1965, taking the 3rd and 4th ratings as the average level and
the 5th and 6th ratings as a high level of qualification, workers holding these ratings
comprised 65.2 per cent of the total. The scientist who comes to work at a factory
with his plans, and the designer who creates new machines and equipment are ably
assisted by the modern worker who no longer merely performs his job, but whose
creative thought enables him to participate in the development of new machines and
technology. Inventors and innovators from among the workers come forward with
important ideas designed to speed up the development of production.
Finally, it should be noted that many industrial workers must have a higher p
education in order to cope with their jobs. A classical example is the operator of a
walking excavator. Who is he? Usually a worker with an engineer’s diploma. As 274
time goes on the educational and cultural level of the working class will rise, and
that means that it is not losing its leading position in society but consolidating it to
an ever greater degree.
In this connection sociologists made an interesting comparison between Pskov in the p

USSR and Jackson in the USA, towns with many common features. It turned out
that in Jackson one out of every ten people worked and studied, and one out of
every two in Pskov. Employed men (up to 25 years of age) in the USSR devote 1.3
hours a week to study, compared with 0.5 hour in the United States; as regards
employed women they study 1.1 hours a week in the USSR and 0.1 hour in the
United States. The mass education of workers combining study with work is a
characteristic feature of socialist society.
There are convincing figures showing the high level of social activity of the p
working class in the USSR: workers account for more than 40 per cent of the CPSU
members and for 36.5 per cent of the total number of deputies to local Soviets.
Practically all workers participate in trade union activity.
The Report of the CC CPSU to the 24th GPSU Congress states: "The Party will p
continue to direct its efforts to securing the growth and strengthening of the
influence of the working class in all spheres of the life of our society and to making
its activity and initiative more fruitful.”
Soviet society’s political foundation is the alliance of the working class with the p
peasantry. The collective-farm peasantry is a large class and it, too, has not 275
remained unchanged.
New machines and mechanisms, increasing consumption of electric power, p

application of chemical products are transforming agricultural labour into a variety of
industrial labour, and the CPSU is taking steps to speed up this process. The building
of large mechanised stock-breeding complexes, the founding of agricultural-industrial
associations, the strengthening of inter– collectivefarm links, the formation of mixed
state- and collective-farm associations and enterprises are giving rise to substantial
social changes whose principal content is the drawing together of the working class
and the peasantry both as regards the substance of their labour and social status. The
peasants’ way of life is changing considerably and their cultural level is rising. On
the eve of the Great Patriotic War only six per cent of the working people in the
countryside had a higher or secondary education whereas at the end of 1970, over 50
per cent of the rural population had a complete secondary or higher education.
Of course, a great deal is yet to be done to further promote agricultural p

development on the basis of the latest technique. The improvement of living
standards in rural areas also calls for unremitting attention. All this is important for
the further economic development of the USSR and the solution of social problems
in the countryside, primarily the programmatic task of drawing it closer to town.
The Soviet intelligentsia, whose numbers are growing rapidly, is contributing in an p 276
ever increasing measure to the consolidation of a developed socialist society. This is
a natural process engendered by the Party’s policy of raising the cultural and
educational standard of the people to a still higher level. A gratifying fact not only
because it shows that the Party line is being carried into effect, but also because it
proves that the state has every opportunity to continue its economic development.
To a great extent the Soviet intelligentsia, particularly the scientific and technical p
intelligentsia, is replenished from among the workers and peasants. The following
fact was mentioned at the 24th CPSU Congress: at the Pervouralsk Pipe Works 42
per cent of the engineers and technicians were of working-class stock, 32 per cent of
peasant stock and 26 per cent from the families of office employees. The situation is
approximately the same at other industrial enterprises in the country. And this is
further proof of the drawing together of the working class, the peasantry and the
intelligentsia.
In its policy the CPSU takes into consideration the interests of such large social p
groups as young people, women and pensioners. The 24th CPSU Congress defined
what should be done for these groups in the first place. Effective measures are being
taken to improve working conditions for women and to lighten their household
chores; the state is taking increasing care of children. For people of the older
generation it is important not to worry about their security when they are no longer 277
able to work and to be assured that their knowledge and experience are used to the
benefit of society. As regards the young people, their dream is to extend their
activity and have a wider choice of occupations. The Communist Party and the
Soviet Government take all this into account in their plans.
One of socialism’s greatest achievements is the practical implementation by the p

Party of the Leninist nationalities policy. Its great triumph has been the celebration
of the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union as a state form of the fraternal alliance
of many peoples. All Soviet nations and nationalities have the right and opportunities
to develop. At the same time all nations and nationalities, while respecting one
another’s national features, are continuing to draw closer together.
The 24th CPSU Congress noted that a new historical community of people, the p
Soviet people, took shape in the country during the years of socialist construction. It
is a hitherto unknown union of peoples, various classes and social groups, a union
based on friendship and co-operation which appeared and became consolidated on the
basis of socialism’s great victories. The Soviet people are welded together by a
common MarxistLeninist ideology and the lofty aims of building communism.
An economic complex organically embracing the economies of all the republics, p

territories and regions united by a single plan and the community of aims of socialist
production has been established in the USSR. An identical social structure, in which 278
the working class occupies the leading place, and a single political system, whose
guiding nucleus is the Communist Party with its international composition, ideology
and policy, have taken shape in all the republics.
Soviet culture, whose single socialist content is expressed in a magnificent diversity p

of national forms, is making rapid progress. Alongside the free development of
national languages, the Russian language is gaining country-wide recognition and is
becoming increasingly widespread as an instrument of intercourse and exchange of
spiritual values between nations.
All the socialist nations have risen to a higher stage of development. It may be said p
that the best national qualities and those features, which appeared as a result of the
co-operation of the Soviet people, have merged in their way of life, in their
ideological and moral make-up and psychology. Internationalist features play a
leading role in the mutual enrichment and the flourishing of the nations.
All these facts clearly indicate that much has been achieved in the Soviet Union p
towards internationalising the way of life of various peoples in all the decisive
directions of social development. The socio-economic, ideological, political, cultural
and moral community of people—the Soviet people—is in a way the total result of
the economic and socio-political changes which have taken place in the USSR in the
course of nearly 60 years.
From this historic fact it follows of necessity that the further burgeoning of Soviet p 279
nations can only proceed by way of strengthening this community, in conditions of
their growing cohesion and also by drawing together and then harmoniously fusing
the best national and common features in their way of life.
The decisions of the 24th CPSU Congress orientate the Party towards this policy
line in the field of the development of nations and national relations. This line
corresponds to the basic interests of the working people of all the Soviet republics
and is in keeping with the objective principles of communist construction.
***

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< [introduction.] Strengthening of the Soviet State. >

Development of Socialist Democracy


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TOC The development of Soviet society is accompanied by the strengthening of its p

political organisation, the Soviet state, and socialist democracy. Having accomplished
Card
its great historical mission, the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat has
overgrown into a socialist state of the whole people with the working class retaining
Text its vanguard role. The CPSU is working purposefully on problems of socialist
HTML statehood and socialist democracy; and the 24th Congress has set specific immediate
PS tasks in this field.
PDF
The organs of people’s power—the Soviets of Working People’s Deputies—are the p
T* foundation of the socialist state and the fullest embodiment of its democratic nature.
19* Today the Soviets, numBering over two million deputies, pass collective decisions on 280
the basic problems of development of the whole of society, their republics, regions,
### cities and villages. Deputies take part in formulating these decisions as members of
standing and ad hoc committees of Soviets. Committees are formed of competent
people who are themselves interested in fulfilling the task assigned to their respective
committees. If, for instance, it is necessary to solve a question concerning miners,
the committee assigned to prepare a decision of the USSR Supreme Soviet or the
city Soviet will inevitably include deputies who are professional miners; in just the
same way collective farmers participate in committees of one or another Soviet
whenever matters concerning collective farms are up for discussion. Every deputy is
bound to report back to his electors on his work. And, of course, great importance is
attached to the organising role played by the deputies in their constituencies, and to
their direct work among the collectives in their cities and districts.
In recent years the rights of the local bodies of Soviet power—district, city, rural p
and village Soviets—have been extended, enabling them, for example, to exert a
greater influence on the work of the enterprises and organisations situated in their
territory. The material and technical basis of the Soviets has also been strengthened.
In its Report to the 24th CPSU Congress the Party Central Committee raised a p
question of the utmost importance for the further promotion of socialist democracy,
namely, the pressing need for a special law defining the status, powers and rights of 281
deputies—from the Supreme to the village Soviets—and also the duties of officials
with regard to deputies. Such a law has already been worked out and passed by the
USSR Supreme Soviet. It enhances the authority of the deputies and enables them to
exert a greater influence on all developments and processes taking place in the life of
society, and more effectively to fulfil the mandates of their electors. At the same
time the electors can place greater demands on their representatives in the Soviets
and exercise more effective control over the way they utilise their possibilities to
fulfil the tasks facing them.
In addition to the deputies, the Soviets have an army of 25 million activists, p

comprising about 10 per cent of the country’s total population. It can be said with
confidence that the successful work of the Soviets depends to an enormous extent on
the initiative, activity, persistence and civic consciousness of each member of Soviet
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society. The improvement of the work of the Soviets is the concern of all Soviet
people.
The CPSU attaches great importance to perfecting Soviet legislation, and the p
preliminary discussion of all the most important bills and the participation of millions
of citizens in the elaboration of literally all laws have become common practice in
the USSR.
The 24th CPSU Congress called for the further improvement of the work of the p
state machinery. The introduction of modern means and methods of administration
begun in recent years and the employment of computers provide conditions for a 282
more rational organisation of the administrative apparatus, reducing its maintenance
costs and personnel. Underlying the great service rendered by the employees of the
Soviet state machinery in organising the creative activity of society, the Congress
called for decisive actions against callous officials, bureaucrats and boors. It is
necessary to expose such people and to achieve more efficiency in the work of the
administrative apparatus.
“The way we see it,” states the CC Report to the 24th CPSU Congress, "efficiency p
in administration organically combines an attentive, solicitous attitude to the needs
and cares of the working people with a prompt consideration of their applications
and requests. An atmosphere of good will and of respect for man must reign in
every institution.” Great humaneness is one of the principal features of administration
in socialist society. It is the duty of every official, whatever post he may hold and
whatever specific tasks are assigned to him at any given moment, never to forget the
most important thing: whatever is being done in Soviet society always furthers the
interests of the people.
An important role in the system of Soviet socialist democracy is played by the p

organs of people’s control, in whose work millions of factory and office workers and
collective farmers take part. The Congress emphasised that the CPSU will continue
doing everything to secure the steadfast implementation of Lenin’s precepts as
regards constant and effective control by the broad masses over the entire 283
development of production and society.
Working people in the USSR participate in the administration of society not only p
through state organs but also through a ramified network of mass organisations, the
trade unions and the Komsomol in the first place.
Soviet trade unions embrace almost 100 million members, or practically the entire p
working class, the whole of the intelligentsia and numerous sections of rural
workers. The trade unions play a major role in solving many problems of economic
development—from the drawing up of state plans to the management of each
enterprise.
Addressing the 15th Congress of Soviet Trade Unions, General Secretary of the p
CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev said: "One of the main features of the
Soviet trade unions is that they directly and actively participate in promoting the
development of the whole of society, boosting production and raising its efficiency
and in managing the national economy.” They also do a great deal to promote a
communist attitude to labour and social property among industrial and office
workers, satisfy the cultural and everyday requirements of working people and
protect their health.
The 24th Congress once again made the point that the safeguarding of the legitimate p
interests of working people remains one of the basic tasks of the trade unions. They
can do much to eliminate violations of labour legislation, improve safety 284
arrangements and the rating and remuneration of labour. On behalf of the workers
they conduct negotiations with the administration and see to it that collective
agreements are carried out to the letter.
Trade union activity has heightened perceptibly in connection with the economic p
reform under way in the country and also due to the fact that the labour collective—
the principal production cell of society—is coming to play a steadily increasing role
in the further enhancement of socialist democracy.
As the rights of enterprises are extended, the labour collective increases its influence p
on the organisation of production at its enterprise and on the distribution of its
funds. It is also playing an ever greater role in drawing up plans for its own branch
of production; its activity also influences the structure of the whole of social
production. It uses its enterprise’s social and cultural fund to finance the construction
of housing, kindergartens, clubs and sports facilities, thus improving life in the entire
town, or workers’ settlement, not to mention the village. It is the field of struggle for
stimulating the labour and social activity of Soviet people.
As the 24th CPSU Congress pointed out, the Party attaches great importance to p
strengthening socialist legality and law and order, and to educating citizens in the
spirit of the rules of socialist community relations. Respect for law must become the
personal conviction of every individual; this particularly applies to officials. No
attempt to deviate from, or to circumvent, the law, whatever the motive, is to be 285
tolerated. Nor is it possible to tolerate any violation of the rights of individuals and
infringement of the dignity of citizens. "For us Communists, champions of the most
humane ideals, this is a matter of principle,” it was noted in the CC Report to the
24th CPSU Congress.
Questions of democracy are the crux of the ideological and political struggle p
between the socialist and the capitalist world. Bourgeois ideologists and revisionists
try to impose their own “ideals” of democracy on the socialist countries and newly
liberated countries, setting capitalist society as an example, a society where all the
apparent “freedoms” are in the final count made to serve the interests of the ruling
minority, primarily the interests of the big monopolists. This model does not suit the
working people. Socialist ideals do not imply democracy for the minority, democracy
in general, but democracy for the working people, i.e., socialist democracy. The
meaning of socialist democracy lies in the participation of the masses in the
administration of the state and all public affairs.
The development of socialist democracy is a complicated process consciously guided p

by the CPSU whose constant concern is that every person should feel that he is a
citizen in the full sense of the word, a citizen interested in the cause of the entire
nation and bearing his share of the responsibility. In order to solve this task it is of
the utmost importance to promote the development of the individual, to change man
himself, his consciousness and to mould a citizen worthy of the new society. And 286
here there is an intricate dialectical connection. Democracy can develop only given
specific conditions and a definite level of social maturity; at the same time
democracy itself is the condition of the successful activity of society and the
development of the individual. The higher an individual’s self-discipline the more
fertile the soil for the improvement of society; and the faster society improves the
higher the conscious discipline of the masses. This is a dialectic process inherent in
socialist society alone and based on the unity of the economic and spiritual interests
of the individual, the collective and society.
We have traced an intricate chain: man– collective-society-man. Or: man- p

production-man. The success of production depends on the individual, while
production in socialist society is conducted in the interests of the individual. Man is
both the aim and the means of the evolution.
Soviet people can regard the following words of the founders of scientific
communism as their motto: " ‘History’ is not a person apart, using man as a means
for its own particular aims; history is nothing but the activity of man pursuing his
aims.” [ 286•*
***

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Notes
[ 286•*] K. Marx and F. Engels, The Holy Family, Moscow, 1956, p. 125.
< The Social Structure of Society >


"WORK FOR ONESELF"


CONSTRUCTION

Strengthening.of.the.Soviet.State

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<< • >> CHAPTER V 287

<•> MOULDING OF THE NEW MAN
—ONE OF THE MAIN TASKS
TOC IN COMMUNIST CONSTRUCTION

Card
MARXISM-LENINISM ON THE EDUCATION
OF THE NEW MAN
Text
HTML [introduction.]

PS
PDF The problem of educating a man of the future was a stumbling block for many p
progressive scientists prior to Marx. Fully aware that a new, communist society
T* would be inconceivable without a new man, the great thinkers justly considered that
19*
the man of the future would be a harmoniously developed personality who would
### display a new attitude to labour and people and concern for the promotion of general
welfare; he would have lofty spiritual requirements and would be free of the deceit,
cruelty and prejudices of the old, bourgeois world. But in their dreams they came up
against what appeared to them an irreconcilable contradiction. On the one hand,
people are such as life makes them, and life in a society of private owners breeds
bourgeois morality, base instincts, a psychology of avarice, and jungle laws in
relations between people. On the other hand, it is these people who will have to
build a new society, free of exploitation and oppression, to live and work in it and
be guided in their activity by the loftiest standards of morality and justice.
Failing to find effective ways of resolving this contradiction some of these thinkers 288
pinned their hopes on enlightened reformers who would evolve perfect forms of
human behaviour and simply present them ready-made to the people. Others thought
that first it was necessary to improve the morality of the people and only then
launch the construction of a new life. But both the ones and the others dwelled in
utopia. The first because they wanted to change the life of the people without the
participation of the people themselves, and the second, because they thought it
possible to educate millions of people and rid them of the abominations of the old,
capitalist world without uprooting it. In the history of social thought their theoretic
conjectures are known as Utopian socialism.
***

normal
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Notes
< Socio-Political Practice and >

Education

<< THE SOCIO-POLITICAL THE 24th CPSU CONGRESS ON >>

DEVELOPMENT OF SOVIET COMMUNIST EDUCATION
SOCIETY

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FEATURES OF THE SOVIET SOCIALIST SYSTEM

UNION'S DEVELOPMENT AT
THE PRESENT STAGE

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<< • >> Socio-Political Practice 288

<•> and Education

TOC What distinguished Marxism from Utopian socialism, Lenin pointed out, was that p
the latter wanted to build a new society not out of the human material produced by
Card
the sanguinary, vile, plundering, shopkeepers’ capitalism, but out of uncommonly
virtuous people bred in special hothouses and hotbeds. The real force capable of
Text transforming society and people was, as Marx and Engels stressed, only revolutionary
HTML struggle illuminated by scientific theory, the participation of the masses themselves in
PS building a new life. The founders of scientific communism arrived at the most 289
PDF important conclusion that in order both to foster communist consciousness in the
people and transform the old society, a mass alteration of the people is necessary,
T* "an alteration which can only take place in a practical movement, a revolution. .
19* .". [ 289•*
### Lenin, too, attached great importance to sociopolitical practice and the introduction p
of socialist ideology into the mass movement in promoting the education of a new
man.
He insisted on this long before the October Socialist Revolution: "Surely there is no p
need to prove to Social-Democrats that there can be no political education except
through political struggle and political action." [ 289•**
He emphasised the enormous educational impact of socio-political practice after the p

October Revolution, too. Only when the proletariat "learns, not from books, not from
meetings or lectures, but from the practical work of government ... it will constitute
a force which will brush away capitalism and all its survivals as easily as straw or
dust". [ 289•***
He wrote that only in practical matters would the working people begin to learn by p
their own experience how to build socialism and create a new social discipline.
These Marxist-Leninist precepts provide the key to a scientific understanding of the p 290
essence of education: it must steadily improve and perfect the means of ideological
influence, daily and consistently involve the working people in direct and vigorous
socio-political activity and thus enable the masses to gain their own political
experience, which is essential for the development of lofty socialist consciousness, of
high ideological qualities.
By changing the world man also changes his inner make-up. Let us recall the great p
lines from the revolutionary anthem of the working class L’Internationale:
“No God, no king, no politician Will win for us a better day; So let us p
drop the old tradition, Forge weapons for the coming fray—–"
With their own hands the working class, the working people of Russia accomplished p
the great revolution, smashed the bourgeois-landowner system and then built a
developed socialist society.
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Gradually the revolutionary struggle and socialist construction emancipated man not p
only from economic exploitation and social oppression, but also from egoism,
knavish baseness and iniquity which society based on private ownership had
implanted in the hearts of people over the centuries.
Therefore the great history of the October Revolution, of the labour heroism of the p
five-year plans and the stern ordeals of the war, is also the history of the birth and
the education of the new man. It was in the struggle for the triumph of the great 291
ideas of the October Revolution that the Soviet character, the character of a
revolutionary, a conscious worker, a staunch soldier and humanist, was moulded.
After the war a note was found in the ruins of the Brest Fortress which the German p
troops subjected to a long siege in 1941. It read: "There were five of us: Serov, I.
Grutov, Bogolyub, Mikhailov, Selivanov. We have fought our first battle. 22. VI.
1941—03.15 hours. We shall fight to our death!”
There were five of them, but behind them stood millions. The whole Soviet people p
rose to a sacred war against the nazi invaders.
The Soviet character has manifested itself to the full in peacetime too, at top- p
priority construction projects, at factories, on collective- and statefarm fields, in
spaceships and on state borders.
The Soviet character is an alloy of such superb qualities as dedication to the p

communist cause, socialist patriotism and internationalism, conscientious labour, a
high sense of public duty, vigorous social and political activity, intolerance of
exploitation and oppression and of national and racial prejudices, and class solidarity
with the working people of all countries.
A questionnaire circulated by Soviet sociologists contained, among others, the p

following question: what feature of the Soviet character can be considered the most
important? "A sense of responsibility for the homeland, for its future,” replied Pilot-
Cosmonaut of the USSR, Twice Hero of the Soviet Union V. A. Shatalov. "Soviet 292
patriotism,” wrote Hero of Socialist Labour, initiator of the patriotic Stakhanovite
movement A. G. Stakhanov. "Internationalism,” replied veteran Party member F. N.
Matveyev who took part in the storming of the Winter Palace in October 1917. The
socialist system and the Leninist Communist Party brought up generations of people
with a high level of political awareness and thorough ideological grounding, a sense
of collectivism and comradeship, Soviet patriotism and proletarian internationalism.
This world of feelings of the Soviet man is deeply expressed in Alexander
Tvardovsky’s forceful lines:
“I love this world, great and demanding; p

In it, my country’s son am I.
I share her vision of ascending
To chosen summits in the sky.
I’m with her on the long, long journey,
No burden is too hard for me.”
What is it that moulds the Soviet character which has absorbed the entire wealth of
revolutionary, fighting and labour traditions of the Soviet people? It is the Soviet,
socialist way of life and communist ideology.
***

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Notes
[ 289•*] K. Marx and F. Engels, The German Ideology, Moscow, 1968, p. 87.
[ 289•***] Ibid., Vol. 28, p. 420.
< [introduction.] The Soviet Way of Life--- the Basis >

of Communist Education

<< THE 24th CPSU CONGRESS ON >>

COMMUNIST EDUCATION


THE PRESENT STAGE

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<< • >> The Soviet Way of Life— 292

<•> the Basis of Communist Education

TOC A new, Soviet way of life has developed and sunk roots in the USSR since the p
establishment of Soviet power. Already today socialism’s socio-political and spiritual 293
Card
values have far surpassed all the past achievements of mankind. By contrast in the
advanced capitalist countries with their relatively high standards of consumption,
Text capitalism has been unable to solve fundamental social problems and millions of
HTML people there live in poverty and fear of unemployment.
PS
PDF Capitalist society is dominated by spontaneous laws of social development. They p
break and cripple millions of human lives, inevitably generating an atmosphere of
T* despair and gloom. The monopoly bourgeoisie exploits and deliberately cultivates
19* these sentiments, for it needs morally impoverished people who have lost all hope
for the future, and seeks support for its ideology among those who lack moral
### principles. Man— the creator of modern civilisation—becomes a tiny cog in the
giant business machine. The production of moral cliches, the moral degradation of
society are an inalienable element of capitalist reality.
Socialism, which is a splendid example of a humanistic society, shows the working p

people of the non-socialist world the only road towards progress, facilitates their
class struggle against capitalism and imperialism, and makes the communist ideals,
the ideals of revolutionary humanism, even more attractive. Humanism is an intrinsic
part of the Soviet way of life. It is embodied in the new system of social values
created by socialism.
Today not only theory but also the practice of building a new world provides an p
answer to the question as to what Marxist humanism and the socialist way of life 294
are. Socialism and communism is Marxist humanism in action.
The process of socialism’s growing over into communism shows that the main p
objective of the new world is, to quote Marx, "the development of human strength”,
i.e., of the human personality, the attainment of complete welfare and free
development of all members of society. It is socialism that combines the satisfaction
of people’s material requirements with the development of human abilities and
spiritual values. The socialist world outlook and way of life reject both the bourgeois
cult of money and things, which leads to moral impoverishment and reduces the
wealth and fullness of human life to material well-being, and the haughty
indifference to the people’s essential requirements under the false banner of
“revolutionariness” so characteristic of the various forms of petty-bourgeois
socialism.
We find it necessary to place special emphasis on the latter circumstance also p

because some “revolutionaries” allege that concern for the welfare of the working
people is tantamount to revisionism, a departure from Marxism-Leninism. The
following two quotations show Lenin’s view on these questions. Countering petty-
bourgeois praters he emphasised that "the question of a higher standard of living is
also a question of principle, and a most important one". [ 294•* Developing this
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thought he wrote: "The masses are drawn into the movement, participate vigorously 295
in it, value it highly and display heroism, self-sacrifice, perseverance and devotion to
the great cause only if it makes for improving the economic condition of those who
work." [ 295•*
The socialist way of life is based on the principle "from each according to his p
ability, to each according to his work”. Under socialism social progress sheds its
antagonistic nature; its fruits are no longer at the disposal of only a select circle of
people, but of all members of society whose sole suzerain is labour. All people are
obliged to work, and all have a single source of spiritual enrichment and material
welfare.
In socialist society labour ceases to be a strictly personal affair, a source of p

existence; it becomes a social act which moulds and educates man himself.
Humanism which is inherent in the socialist way of life is vividly expressed in p

concern for all members of society. The fundamental socio– economic and political
transformation of society has changed the entire system of human relations. The
great poet and humanist Vladimir Mayakovsky dreamed of the time when "the earth
would respond to the first call: ‘Comrade’ ”. Under communism society will be
governed by the humanistic principle "man is to man a friend, comrade and brother”.
Socialist humanism is complete equality of all nations, the fraternal friendship of p

peoples. Internationalism and revolutionary humanism are inseparable. This was 296
underlined in his day by Frederick Engels who wrote: "By virtue of their nature, the
proletarians are en masse free of national prejudices and all their spiritual
development is essentially humanistic and anti– nationalist. The proletarians alone are
capable of putting an end to national isolation, the awakening proletariat alone can
establish brotherhood between different nations." [ 296•* Lenin spoke of this with
the utmost clarity: ”. . .we are out-and-out internationalists and are striving for the
voluntary alliance of the workers and peasants of all nations." [ 296•**
Relations of comradely mutual assistance and co-operation appeared and are p

developing in socialist society where millions of working people awakened to
creative activity in the economic, political and spiritual fields.
Speaking of the all-round development of the personality as a most important p

principle of humanism, we must stress that the person’s inner qualities depend on the
wealth of social relations in which he participates. But even in Soviet society a great
deal depends on the individual himself. He can lock himself up within the confines
of his strictly personal and sometimes egoistic interests, or he can make his spiritual
world rich and variegated like the society in which he lives and works. And the
wealthier the inner content of a person the more he gives to society, the greater his 297
concern for social interests and the more interesting his life. Soviet society is vitally
interested in the all-round spiritual enrichment of all working people, for creative
activity depends on the mind, labour, initiative and abilities of millions upon millions
of people.
Realising that all the gold in the world cannot stop the growth of the influence of p
communist ideals, bourgeois ideologists vilify Soviet society, its policy, ideology and
morality. They portray the communist world as one in which humane feelings are
allegedly censured as "old-fashioned reactionary sentiments”.
But their efforts to asperse the ideals of the Soviet people are futile. Humaneness is p
an inalienable moral feature of the builders of the most humane social order in the
world. Under socialism, the man of labour—the creator of all the material and
spiritual wealth—is himself the greatest social value. The Soviet way of life fosters
lofty moral and political qualities in people, builds new relations between them and
creates new moral principles which promote the communist cause and make mankind
even more humane. Unfettered labour, the entire socio-political atmosphere in Soviet
society mould high civic qualities in all Soviet people: the realisation that they are
the masters of their land and personally responsible for the common cause.
The fulfilment of the decisions adopted at the 24th CPSU Congress will offer fresh
and convincing proof that socialism, and socialism alone, is the system under which 298
personal, collective and nation-wide interests merge in a single torrent. The Ninth
Five-Year Economic Development Plan, which reflects the vital interests of the
Soviet people, and the capability of socialism to ensure the growth of material and
cultural benefits for all members of society reveal the superiority of the new system
in the socio-economic and cultural fields, in its way of life. Socialism has become
synonymous of humane social development.
***

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Notes
[ 294•*] V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 18, p.
[ 295•*] Ibid., p. 85.
[ 296•*] K. Marx, F. Engels, Werke, Bd. 2, S. 614.
< Socio-Political Practice and The Creative Role of Socialist >

Education Ideology


COMMUNIST EDUCATION


THE PRESENT STAGE

Basis.of.Communist.Education


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<< • >> The Creative Role 298

<•> of Socialist Ideology

TOC Even if our enemies did acknowledge that we achieved miracles in the development p
of agitation and propaganda, Lenin wrote shortly after the revolution, this should not
Card
be understood outwardly that we had many agitators and expended a great deal of
paper, but inwardly that the truth which was in this agitation was driven into the
Text heads of all. And there is no getting away from this truth.
HTML
PS Socialist ideology—Marxism-Leninism—carries the full strength of this truth. In p
PDF days of jubilation and national calamities, in periods of peaceful labour and the grim
years of war, the Party’s true word was a tocsin which inspired the Soviet people
T* and helped them to surmount all difficulties and obstacles.
19*
Socialist ideology gives a scientific, realistic and comprehensive understanding of
### the world in its
complexity and contradictoriness. "We must not create illusions or myths for 299
ourselves; this would be entirely incompatible with the materialist conception of
history and the class point of view," [ 299•* Lenin wrote.
Socialist ideology teaches people to see the world as it is and as it should be. It p
discloses the connection between historical periods, asserts unity of word and deed,
thought and action, and makes human activity purposeful.
“The great advantage of the Communists and generally of all politically conscious p
citizens of our society,” said General Secretary of the CG CPSU Leonid Brezhnev,
"is that they have a sound understanding of the substance and direction of social
development and clearly see the objectives that the country has set itself and the road
along which we are travelling." [ 299•**
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels performed a scientific feat by creating the p
revolutionary ideology of the working class. Marxism became the first teaching in
the history of social thought to place ideological problems on the sound foundation
of a scientific analysis of social facts and class interests.
Lenin emphasised on more than one occasion that socialism, being the ideology of p
the class struggle of the proletariat, is subject to the general conditions of the rise,
development and Emacs-File-stamp: 300
"/home/ysverdlov/leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/20071205/399.tx" consolidation of
ideology, i.e., it rests on the entire wealth of human knowledge, presupposes a high
level of scientific development and requires scientific research.
The creation of the revolutionary ideology of the working class was preceded by all- p
embracing critical work of the mind directed at assimilating all the spiritual values
accumulated by mankind, without which socialism, as a scientific ideology, could
have never come into existence. The scientific nature of proletarian ideology
presupposed a most careful attitude to progressive spiritual heritage of the preceding
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epochs. "Marxism,” Lenin wrote, "has won its historic significance as the ideology of
the revolutionary proletariat because, far from rejecting the most valuable
achievements of the bourgeois epoch, it has, on the contrary, assimilated and
refashioned everything of value in the more than two thousand years of the
development of human thought and culture." [ 300•*
Like Marx, Lenin maintained that socialist ideology was " ’in its essence critical p
and revolutionary’. And this latter quality is indeed completely and unconditionally
inherent in Marxism." [ 300•** This means that socialist ideology is a creative
ideology which will not endure stagnancy of thought and which is continuously
enriched by new conclusions and premises corresponding to the changing reality.
It is this kind of ideology which is capable of being a reliable guide in the p 301
revolutionary struggle and the building of a new society.
The revolutionary-critical spirit of socialist ideology finds its practical expression p

above all in such features of the Soviet way of life as uncompromising assertion of
socialist ideals, a clearly defined ideological content, unequivocal social positions,
and irreconcilable opposition to bourgeois ideology and all forms of man’s spiritual
enslavement. This revolutionary-critical spirit calls for active intrusion into life,
continuous practical self-verification of the results achieved and the ability to
surmount difficulties and obstacles.
The Communist Party has always encouraged an innovatory, Leninist approach to p

the study of complicated social phenomena. Therefore, boldness of thought is just as
essential for a Marxist scientist as courage for a soldier in battle.
Lenin believed that ideology should give a complete picture of our reality, precisely p
formulate the actual process and meet scientific requirements, that it was "impossible
’to study the real state of affairs’ without qualifying it, without appraising it from the
Marxist, or the liberal, or the reactionary, etc., point of view!" [ 301•*
Since these appraisals depend on the class interests of people, they can be very p
different indeed.
A Marxist class approach has nothing in common with arbitrary assessments. Such p
an approach and such appraisals are called subjectivistic. The objectivistic approach, 302
which is widely employed by bourgeois scientists and propagandists and which on
the surface seems to be the direct opposite of the subjectivistic one, ignores class
and concrete historical aspects. What appears to be an unbiased portrayal of events
and phenomena is in fact one-sided, for only those are mentioned which are
advantageous to the bourgeoisie.
Bourgeois ideologists are particularly anxious to evade the question: who benefits p
from one or another turn of events? For instance, thousands upon thousands of pages
have been written in the West about the assassination of US President John
Kennedy, complete with innumerable details including even the way his wife was
dressed at the time of the murder. But at the same time the monopoly press shies
away from discussing the political motives behind the assassination and offers no
explanation why violence, bribery and killings are so widespread in the social and
political life of bourgeois society. And so thousands of minor details are used to
lend a semblance of credibility, to divert attention from the principal social reasons
whose disclosure is not in the interests of the monopoly bourgeoisie.
In contrast to both the subjectivistic and objectivistic approaches to reality, the p
Marxist approach is based on a strictly scientific analysis of social development and

expresses the class positions of the workers. Such an approach presupposes the
disclosure of social antagonisms and social contradictions, ascertainment of society’s
motive forces and the main trends of social progress, and all-round consideration of 303
class interests. Marxism, Lenin wrote, "demands of all serious policy . .. that it be
based on and grounded in facts capable of exact and objective verification". [ 303•*
It is essential that views on social phenomena should be based on an absolutely
objective analysis of reality and actual development.
Conducting their propaganda and agitation among the masses Party organisations in
the USSR adhere to scientific views on history, on the basic problems of the times.
This enables them to arm the working people with an advanced ideology capable of
guiding them in the impetuous torrent of life.
***

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Notes
[ 299•** ] L. I. Brezhnev, The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist

Republics, p. 81.
[ 300•** ] Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 327.
[ 301•*] Ibid., Vol. 19, p. 123.
< The Soviet Way of Life--- the Basis Development of the Consciousness >
of Communist Education of the Masses Is the Main Content
of Ideological Work


COMMUNIST EDUCATION


THE PRESENT STAGE

Creative.Role.of.Socialist.Ideology

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<< • >> Development of the Consciousness 303

<•> of the Masses Is the Main Content
of Ideological Work

TOC
Lenin taught that the development of people’s consciousness remained the basis and p
Card
the main content of all ideological work, and the task of educating and persuading
the people would always be one of the main problems of administration. These
Text instructions disclose the role played by ideological work in the life of the Party and
HTML in the guidance of social processes; they define its content—the development of the
PS consciousness of the masses, its task—the education of people, and its method—
PDF persuasion.
T* There are many aspects to ideological work. The CPSU studies life and on this p 304
19* basis develops revolutionary theory, propagandises communist ideals, organises the
working people for the solution of specific tasks of economic and cultural
### development. To study, propagandise and organise—such is the three-in-one task of
ideological education.
Ideological and educational work is focussed directly on man, on his consciousness, p

and actively influences the formation of the people’s world outlook, their views and
sentiments. That is why the CPSU attaches so much importance to it in all sectors of
communist construction, whether in production, economy, science and culture,
everyday life or leisure of the people. Ideology examines all social phenomena from
the standpoint of their impact on the consciousness, behaviour and psychology of the
people.
Marx, Engels and Lenin devoted profound attention to socio-psychological p

phenomena. This enabled them to draw up a precise programme of political action
and on its basis build up Party propaganda and agitation.
A major task of the ideological work is to combine lofty ideals with everyday p
matters, and programme targets with the solution of concrete dayto-day problems in
all spheres of life. The approach to the solution of this problem differs with each
successive stage of revolutionary struggle and socialist and communist construction.
The reason is obvious: every fresh stage in social development is not a copy of the
preceding one, but always has many new features in the economy, technology and 305
culture, in the entire mode of life, and consequently, in the substance and forms of
ideological and educational work. It is a matter of the greatest significance that all
this should be taken into account in propaganda and agitation which must persuade
the individual by influencing his mind and feelings, so that he would act in
conformity with the requirements of socialist ideology and communist morality and
thus live up to the demands of the times.
A person can “learn” ideas, but if they do not become his inner conviction, a
stimulus to practical activity, such a person is not a fighter, but a phrase-monger, a
prater whose "ideological convictions" go no deeper than the tip of his tongue. This
gives rise to the question: how can the effectiveness of education, of propaganda and
agitation be gauged? ”. . .By what criteria,” Lenin wrote, "are we to judge the real
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/5.1.4-Consciousness.Is.the.Main.Ideological.Work[2012-12-25 2:32:17]
’thoughts and feelings’ of real individuals? Naturally, there can be only one such
criterion—the actions of these individuals. And since we are dealing only with social
’thoughts and feelings’, one should add: the social actions of individuals, i.e., social
facts." [ 305•* As Lenin saw it, the most dependable and objective criteria of the
effectiveness of education, of ideological work are the social actions of individuals,
their practical activity. And the most important criterion is the socio-political and
moral atmosphere which took shape in the society as a result of the multifold
activity of the CPSU, including its ideological and educational work. The practical 306
results of the ideological and educational work find their concrete expression in
diverse social phenomena and above all in the level of consciousness, organisation
and responsibility of people, in their attitude to labour and public property, in the
level of production standards and organisation, everyday life and leisure, in the
improvement of affairs in all sectors of communist construction.
***

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< The Creative Role of Socialist >

Ideology


COMMUNIST EDUCATION


THE PRESENT STAGE

Consciousness.Is.the.Main.Ideological.Work

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<< • >> THE 24th CPSU CONGRESS 306

<•> ON COMMUNIST EDUCATION

[introduction.]
TOC
Card In its Resolution on the CC Report, the 24th GPSU Congress set the task of making p
the " propagation of Communist ideals and of the concrete tasks of our construction
Text more active and purposeful”.
HTML
PS Soviet society has reached a stage of development when the level of consciousness, p
PDF scientific knowledge, thought, behaviour and attitude to labour are increasingly
influencing the growth of the productive forces and the further improvement of
T* social relations. In other words, spiritual factors are speeding up Soviet society’s
19* advance towards communism to an ever increasing extent, and the heightening role
of the consciousness factor in modern conditions is manifesting itself more and more
### as a regularity of the development of the communist formation.
The 24th CPSU Congress gave all-round consideration to the question of promoting p
the spiritual activity of Soviet society. Judging by the profound treatment of 307
ideological and educational matters in the CC Report, the attention they received in
the speeches of the delegates and the decisions passed by the Congress, it is clear
that the Party attaches enormous significance to the moulding of the new man.
Such serious attention to problems of education, to questions of ideology and p

ideological work is a traditional feature of the CPSU and Leninism. It conforms to
one of the basic principles of socialist society, namely: "A great project—the
building of communism—cannot be advanced without the harmonious development
of man himself. Communism is inconceivable without a high level of culture,
education, sense of civic duty and inner maturity of people just as it is inconceivable
without the appropriate material and technical basis." [ 307•* In this way the CPSU
once again underlined the importance of ideological and educational work for the
fulfilment of its programme. It invariably connects all problems on which it is
working, whether in the fields of foreign policy, economy, social development,
culture and education, with educational issues and draws on the enormous
potentialities inherent in the Soviet social system, in its ideology, morality and way
of life.
The reason is clear: the more diversified and dynamic is the life of society and the
greater the tasks which have to be resolved, the higher are the demands of the 308
human personality and the greater the need for knowledge, conviction, and creativity
ot the masses, for their unity and purposeful activity. "The very essence of
communism,” noted GG GPSU General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, "is determined
by the fact that citizens are politically conscious to a high degree, have a sense of
responsibility to society and possess other lofty moral qualities. That is why the
education of all citizens in the spirit of social consciousness is one of the cardinal
components of the building of communism." [ 308•*
***
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Notes
[ 307•*] 24th Congress of the CPSU, Moscow, 1971, p. 100.
[ 308•*] L. I. Brezhnev, The Fiftieth Anniversary o[ the Union of Soviet Socialist

Republics, p. 79.
< Specific Features of Ideological and >

Educational Work in Present-Day
Conditions

<< MARXISM-LENINISM ON THE FORMATION OF A COMMUNIST >>

EDUCATION OF THE NEW MAN WORLD OUTLOOK


THE PRESENT STAGE

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<< • >> Specific Features of Ideological 308

<•> and Educational Work
in Present-Day Conditions

TOC
Relying on the gains of socialism, the CPSU has set the task of further promoting p
Card
the all-round development of the individual.
Text As it goes ahead with this task the Party does not rely on objective factors alone. p
HTML Indisputably, the moral and political make-up of Soviet people is moulded by the
PS entire socialist way of life, by the entire course of affairs in society. The 24th
PDF Congress also paid attention to the fact that in many ways the moulding and
education of the individual depends on purposeful, manifold ideological activity.
T*
19* The Congress underlined that the magnitude and character of production, p
technological, economic and social tasks facing Soviet society, the entire course of 309
### social development, call for a substantial enhancement of the role played by spiritual
factors and, consequently, for the further promotion of all forms of ideological work.
This means that the content, forms and methods of propaganda and education should
be brought in line with the enhanced social experience of the working people, their
political activity, level of culture and education.
Therefore, it is of primary importance to raise the efficiency of ideological and p

educational work, to make it more purposeful, concrete and businesslike. "Our
cardinal task in this sphere,” said Leonid Brezhnev at the 24th CPSU Congress, "is
to be able really to convey our ideological conviction in full to the masses, and
approach the work of the communist education of the Soviet man in a really creative
manner.”
Ensuring the continuity of the development of Soviet society, the decisions of the p
24th CPSU Congress channel the energy of the Party, of all working people, towards
effecting major changes in all spheres of human activity. This calls for greater
initiative and a new attitude to work. It often happens in our dynamic age that
specific knowledge, experience and traits acquired in the past suddenly become
obsolete and ineffective, a circumstance which calls for a prompt psychological
reorganisation, ability to appraise life realistically, bring one’s knowledge up to date
with the least possible delay and display the highest initiative in all matters. In the
epoch of the scientific and technological revolution each ought to perform his job 310
with a knowledge of the achievements of scientific thought.
Inertness of thought, adherence to formulas lagging behind the rapidly changing p

reality inhibit the necessary changes and diminish their effectiveness. No less
detrimental is the other extreme—impatience and subjectivism, the desire to translate
into practice immature ideas, or those lacking a thorough scientific grounding.
It is, therefore, most important to develop in all working people a profound p

understanding of the content and nature of the present-day tasks, mature and flexible
thinking and an innovatory, creative attitude to labour in all fields. That accounts for
the greatly enhanced role and responsibility of ideological work. Of course, the
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difficulties of present-day life differ from those in the preceding periods of the
country’s history. They spring in the first place from the fact that today it is
necessary to solve tasks of unprecedented magnitude and scale. Life forges ahead
surmounting contradictions and difficulties. And although in terms of the society as a
whole their nature is not antagonistic, they are often fairly serious and not painless.
There is much to be surmounted, especially in the sphere of consciousness.
The complexity of the problems which need to be solved becomes infinitely greater p
in view of the fact that the Soviet people are building communism in conditions of
an acute ideological struggle between the two world systems. All major world events, 311
wherever they occur, in one way or another have an impact on the life of Soviet
people and on their consciousness. Bourgeois propaganda is doing its utmost to
present them in a distorted light, and the advocates of revisionist ideas, wittingly or
unwittingly, are helping it in its efforts. Historical experience shows that any
underestimation, however small, of the danger of bourgeois ideology and revisionism
is impermissible.
In modern conditions ideological work should above all thoroughly assess the p
situation with all its complexities and contradictions, anticipate the possibility of
negative influences on the formation and development of socialist consciousness and
block the way to these influences.
The 24th CPSU Congress creatively solved such topical questions of ideological p
work as, for example:
the relationship between the principles of the socialist way of life and the means of p
education in fostering communist education, and unity of economic and ideological
and political work;
the role played by ideological-educational methods in solving economic and socio- p

political problems;
socialist interests and communist ideals of the working class as a basis for further p
strengthening the unity of the Soviet society;
ways and means for actively determining material and spiritual requirements, the p
system of social values;
further development of socialist labour incentives; p 312
the interconnection between the growing level of culture and education and the need p
to improve its methods and forms;
the enhancement of the role of the working collective in all spheres of human p
endeavour; the collective as a medium where the personality is moulded, as a social
link connecting the interests of the individual and society as a whole;
the enhancement of the role of political information in public affairs, especially in p

ideological activity.
The 24th CPSU Congress developed and concretised the tasks in the sphere of p
communist education of the working people set forth in the CPSU Programme.
Now ideological and educational work is being conducted in a developed socialist p

society where conditions are favourable both for moulding the new man and for
promoting socialism’s ideological offensive in the world arena.
This situation conducive to the intensification of political and ideological work has p
been engendered by the entire preceding development of the Soviet state. A factor of
especial importance has been the consolidation and development of the moral and
political atmosphere which took shape in the Party and the country following the
October 1964 Plenary Meeting of the CPSU Central Committee—an atmosphere of
cohesion, efficiency and comradely mutual understanding, solicitude for the people 313
and trust coupled with a high degree of exactingness and integrity.
The enormous work performed by the Party and the people in recent years has p
resulted in a substantial improvement in material welfare and further development of
social consciousness. Positive changes are manifest everywhere.
Turning to the basic features of the present-day ideological and political situation, p
the following should be mentioned:
the social activity, production and labour initiative of the working people have risen p
considerably, and socialist emulation for the fulfilment of the ninth five-year plan
targets has attained wide scope;
rapid changes are taking place in the socioclass structure of developed socialism; all p
classes and social groups are drawing together at a swift pace, the moral and
political unity of all nations and nationalities of the Soviet Union, the unity of the
new historical community—the Soviet people —has become stronger still. Soviet
people observed the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union with a great upsurge in
political activity and fresh labour successes;
the implementation of the Peace Programme advanced by the 24th CPSU Congress p
and the detente in international relations have created propitious conditions on the
world scene for the creative labour of the Soviet people, for strengthening socialism’s
ideological positions in the world.
Such are some of the objective factors of the situation in which ideological and p 314
political work is being conducted. And undoubtedly, this situation provides fresh
opportunities for improving ideological work in very many fields and for moulding a
communist world outlook, educating the people in the spirit of Soviet patriotism and
socialist internationalism, strengthening socialist standards of social life and enriching
the revolutionary traditions of Soviet society.
The 24th CPSU Congress noted that in recent years both Right-wing and “Left” p
revisionists had intensified their attacks on Marxism-Leninism as an internationalist
teaching, on the general principles and history of socialism and especially on the
leading role of the Communist Party. Bourgeois propaganda is extensively playing up
all sorts of Right-wing revisionist and Maoist conceptions and technocratic theories.
It is broadly forecasting a “crisis” of socialism and the communist movement and
heroising all sorts of renegades.
As a result of this propaganda and due to certain other reasons, some men of letters p
have turned to the notorious ideas of “deheroising” the past and “reinterpreting”
crucial phases of Soviet history connected with the victory and the nature of the
October Socialist Revolution, collectivisation and industrialisation and the Great
Patriotic War.
It also became clear that some people did not understand the positive results of the p
enormous work performed by the CPSU in recent years, especially after the Plenary
Meeting of its Central Committee in October 1964, to surmount the negative 315
consequences of the personality cult and subjectivist errors, promote the Leninist
standards of social and Party life and further strengthen the social and ideological
unity of Soviet society.
All this diverted attention (regardless of the subjective intentions and motivations of p
their proponents) from the Party’s constructive course and was harmful to the cause
of communist education. The 24th CPSU Congress gave a clear and exhaustive
ideological and political assessment of these phenomena. "Essentially,” stressed the
CC CPSU Report, "both these cases were attempts to belittle the significance of
what the Party and the people had already accomplished, and divert attention from
current problems, from the Party’s constructive guideline and the creative work of
Soviet people.”
The CPSU has always considered it most important to approach the historical past
and present-day life from class positions, to make a Marxist-Leninist appraisal of the
history of the multinational Soviet socialist state and wage a relentless struggle
against bourgeois and pettybourgeois ideology. For the Soviet people it is both a
question of their ideological principles and concern for the correct, communist
education of the rising generations. The Party’s documents marking the 50th
anniversary of the October Socialist Revolution, the centenary of Lenin’s birth and
the 50th anniversary of the USSR made up the ideological and theoretical foundation
enabling Party organisations to unfold extensive work to foster socialist patriotism
and internationalism among the people and make a principled appraisal of any 316
deviations from historical truth. The Party resolved both domestic and foreign policy
issues because it firmly adhered to clearly defined ideological positions and
conducted extensive ideological activity.
***

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< [introduction.] >

<< MARXISM-LENINISM ON THE FORMATION OF A COMMUNIST >>

EDUCATION OF THE NEW MAN WORLD OUTLOOK


THE PRESENT STAGE

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<< • >> FORMATION OF A COMMUNIST 316

<•> WORLD OUTLOOK

[introduction.]
TOC
Card The CC Report to the 24th CPSU Congress points up that "the formation of a p
communist world outlook in the broad mass of the people and their education in the
Text spirit of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism are the core of all ideological and
HTML educational work by the Party”.
PS
PDF The CPSU has made enormous headway in this direction. But in present-day p
conditions it is necessary more than ever before to foster a scientific, communist
T* world outlook in the people. Communist construction is a deep-going process
19* involving the broadest masses of the people, and as we have already noted, their
level of spiritual development and culture, political and moral consciousness has an
### enormous impact on the whole of social practice, economy, production and everyday
life. That is why it is most important that all Soviet people should have a scientific
world outlook. This question is raised because of the increasing rate of social
development and the rapidly changing economic and socio-political picture of the
world. An acute class struggle is in progress in the world. The volume of knowledge 317
is increasing swiftly, scientific hypotheses and conceptions are being replaced by new
ones, and the How of the most diverse information is mounting steadily.
In order to get his bearings in social phenomena in their entire complexity, to be p

able to distinguish between real and false values and to be a conscious ideological
fighter and worker, a person has to have clear ideological guidelines.
A scientific world outlook is also the antipode of religious prejudices which still
persist among certain sections of the population. Needless to say, these prejudices are
gradually vanishing under the influence of the Soviet way of life, the enhanced
culture, education and consciousness of the people.
***

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< Mastering Revolutionary Theory >

<< THE 24th CPSU CONGRESS ON WAYS AND MEANS OF >>

COMMUNIST EDUCATION EDUCATION


THE PRESENT STAGE

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<< • >> Mastering Revolutionary Theory 317

<•>
In all matters, whether economic, political, moral and ethical or cultural, the p
TOC Communist Party invariably relies on the eternally living, developing Marxist-Leninist
theory. In view of the dynamism and complexity of social processes there is an ever
Card
growing need for scientific provision. This means that the extent and significance of
theoretical activity will continue to increase. This is essential for further progress, for
Text without revolutionary theory there is no revolutionary practice. The CPSU could not
HTML have guided the people along the road of socialist and communist construction if it
PS did not rely on the great strength of the revolutionary theory of Marxism– Leninism. 318
PDF
The 24th CPSU Congress noted that the Party had activated its ideological and p
T* theoretical work and improved the Marxist-Leninist education of the Communists.
19*
The CPSU directs its theoretical thought at further developing Lenin’s ideological p
### legacy, studying the vital problems of the advancement of Soviet society, communist
construction and the world revolutionary process. Together with other Marxist-
Leninist parties it has further elaborated the strategy and tactics of the anti-imperialist
struggle and developed Lenin’s teaching about the alliance of all revolutionary forces.
The CPSU’s enormous theoretical work enriches its propaganda, ideologically equips p
the Communists and all Soviet people with revolutionary scientific thought.
In the course of the past few years much has been done to enhance the ideological p
education of the Communist Party members and non-Party Soviet citizens. The
uniform system of Party study ensuring a consistent mastery of the MarxistLeninist
theory and the CPSU policy has lived up to expectations. Millions of people are
enhancing their ideological and theoretical knowledge at Evening Universities of
Marxism-Leninism, study circles and political schools, under the instruction of a
million-strong army of Party propagandists.
The founders of Marxism-Leninism stressed that ever since socialism became a p

science it had to be treated as such, meaning that it had to be studied. Lenin 319
maintained that a superficial study of revolutionary theory, the reduction of this
"most serious, difficult and great work" to a mere memorisation of ready-made
formulas and assessments, was disastrous and contradicted the very substance of a
revolutionary world outlook.
Ideological steeling and communist conviction are the product of a long and p
intensive process of thinking, the study of revolutionary theory, the works of Marx,
Engels and Lenin and Party documents. It was Lenin who said: "We should consult
Marx.”
The practice of socialist and communist construction, and the key developments and p
processes taking place in the world most convincingly attest to the vital,
revolutionary-transforming strength of Leninism—the revolutionary Marxism of our
epoch. Each page of Lenin’s works sparkles with his eternally living creative
thought.
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As we study Lenin’s works we become cognisant of revolutionary dialectics in its p

entire depth and complexity as a teaching about development in its fullest form free
of one-sidedness. By studying Lenin we master his method of analysing reality, his
scientific approach to the solution of social problems, and learn to determine ways of
accomplishing present-day tasks which are both innovatory and exceptionally
complex.
Life today imposes special demands on theoretical grounding. Without profound and p
continuously expanding knowledge it is impossible effectively to solve practical
problems, whether economic, cultural or educational. A thorough study of theory is a 320
tested means for successfully solving practical issues. Not without reason is it said
that nothing is more practicable than a fundamental theoretical grounding.
In our day, when the volume of information is increasing at such a rapid pace, it is p
particularly important to be able to interpret the entire diversity of facts and
developments from the standpoint of the revolutionary theory of Marxism-Leninism.
A knowledge of the natural sciences, technology and culture does not of its own p
accord ensure mastery of the scientific Marxist-Leninist world outlook. It is necessary
to mould this knowledge into a comprehensive system of views on the modern
world. The learning by rote of various world outlook conceptions unsubstantiated by
the latest knowledge is likewise far removed from the Marxist understanding of the
world. That is why the CPSU regards political training and the enhancement of the
educational and cultural level of masses as an organic whole; they should not be
viewed separately, nor should they be placed in opposition to each other.
Undoubtedly, a thorough knowledge of Marxism-Leninism is essential for all, and p

particularly for the young people. In order to be able to build a new society, young
people have to acquire a high degree of class-consciousness, firm character,
perspicacity and a broad political outlook. And the best way they can do this is by
studying Marxism-Leninism.
A deep study of this teaching which is important for all, the mastery of socialism’s
practice as Lenin’s school of building a new world are indispensable for the 321
ideological education of the young people. It is impossible to become a conscious
fighter for communism without an adequate ideological and theoretical grounding. It
is also necessary to combine the acquired knowledge with practical activity.
Knowledge becomes a force only when it has passed the rigid test of social practice,
when it is implemented in big and small matters, when it becomes a firm conviction
which nothing can shake.
***

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< [introduction.] The Moulding of Soviet Patriotism >

and Socialist Internationalism




THE PRESENT STAGE

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<< • >> The Moulding 321

<•> of Soviet Patriotism
and Socialist Internationalism

TOC
Socialism has reared generations of people who dedicate their strength and minds to p
Card
the cause of communist construction, who are steadfastly consolidating and
developing the internationalist principles of Soviet society resting on the unity of
Text socialist economy, politics and culture. The Party has always worked to form the
HTML internationalist Soviet way of life, to educate the people in the spirit of friendship
PS and fraternity. "It stands to the Party’s credit,” Leonid Brezhnev underlined, "that
PDF millions upon millions of Soviet men of every nation and nationality have adopted
internationalism—once the ideal of a handful of Communists—as their deep
T* conviction and standard of behaviour. This was a true revolution in social thinking, 322
19* and one which it is hard to overestimate." [ 322•*
### Patriotism and internationalism are organically fused in the make-up of the Soviet p
man. All citizens of the USSR, whatever the republic they may be living in, are
children of a single socialist Motherland, and everything that has been created on
their native land is the product of their labour. The various nationalities of the Soviet
Union are members of a single multinational family which is known as the Soviet
people.
United in a fraternal alliance, holding aloft the banner of proletarian p

internationalism, the peoples of the Soviet Union have covered a glorious road of
heroic struggle and creative labour, of great victories and accomplishments.
Generations have appeared in the country who experienced neither national
oppression nor racial discrimination.
The 24th CPSU Congress pointed out that the Party attaches major significance to p
educating all working people in the spirit of Soviet patriotism, pride for their socialist
homeland, for the great accomplishments of the Soviet people, in the spirit of
internationalism, implacability towards manifestations of nationalism, chauvinism,
national narrow-mindedness, in the spirit of respect for all nations and nationalities.
Of fundamental importance for the internationalist education of the working people
are the ideological-theoretical and political conclusions contained in Leonid 323
Brezhnev’s report "The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics”.
It is quite natural that the CPSU should attach so much attention to these problems, p
for the multinational socialist society, the fraternal family of Soviet peoples are
welded together by bonds of socialist internationalism and patriotism, a common
socialist mode of life, common political principles and a single Marxist-Leninist
ideology. Therefore, the CPSU has always adopted an uncompromising stand towards
everything that is inimical to its internationalist ideology and policy, towards any
manifestations of bourgeois nationalism.
In the Soviet Union there are no socio-class foundations for nationalism, but this p
does not mean that less attention should be paid to the internationalist education of
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the people. Nationalistic prejudices still crop up in tendencies to parochialism,

idealisation of the past and desire to conserve or revive obsolete customs.
It should be remembered, the CPSU warns, that nationalistic prejudices, exaggerated p

or distorted national feelings, are exceptionally tenacious and deeply embedded in the
psychology of politically immature people. They persist even when objective premises
for any antagonisms in relations between nations have long ceased to exist.
The nationalities question is an object of an acute ideological and political struggle p

between socialist and capitalist worlds, between MarxistLeninist and bourgeois
ideologies. Today, in conditions of a sharp class struggle between the two systems, 324
socialism’s enemies are placing increasing stakes on nationalism. Resorting to all and
any means in an effort to weaken socialism’s positions, divert the attention of the
working people in capitalist countries from the class struggle and suppress the
national liberation movement, the imperialists foment racialism, preach Zionism and
anti-semitism and strive to alienate the various detachments of the working class on
national grounds.
Reactionary forces are endeavouring to implant nationalistic views into the minds of p
the peoples of the socialist countries, too, and use nationalism in an effort to
undermine the socialist system. It should be borne in mind that as an ideology
nationalism is exceptionally tenacious and imperialist propaganda spares neither
strength nor means to revive and activate nationalistic conceptions and prejudices.
Nationalism speculates on the idea of patriotism and strives to introduce a
nationalistic spirit into it.
The Soviet man is proud of his land because of the socialist gains of the Soviet p
people, of their revolutionary, democratic, progressive traditions. From the culture of
the past the Soviet people take only its democratic and progressive aspects, its
genuine spiritual values, and reject everything reactionary with which the exploiting
classes enslaved the toiling people and disunited them along national lines.
It follows, therefore, that all that is socialist and internationalist is patriotic in the p
opinion of the Soviet people. As far as past history is concerned, they regard as 325
patriotic everything that was revolutionary, democratic and progressive.
Socialist patriotism is incompatible with any manifestations of national narrow- p

mindedness and chauvinism. It embraces a new, internationalist content and
transcends the bounds of national affiliation. The report "The Fiftieth Anniversary of
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" sets down the important conclusion that half
a century after the formation of the USSR we can speak of the great sense of
patriotism of the Soviet people, of the national pride of the Soviet man. This is a
great, all-embracing feeling. It is immensely rich in content having absorbed all the
finest accomplishments of the labour, courage and creative genius of millions of
Soviet people—the labour achievements of workers and collective farmers, the
outstanding discoveries of scientists, the immortal creations of the folk art of each of
the fraternal nations. And the farther the Soviet people advance in the building of
communism and the more diverse and stronger become the economic and cultural
ties linking all the peoples of the USSR, the stronger and deeper will be the noble
sentiment of the great community—the national pride of the Soviet man.
Any departure, whether conscious or unconscious, from the socialist essence of p

Soviet patriotism is a deviation towards bourgeois nationalism. And bourgeois
nationalism and proletarian internationalism, according to Lenin, are not only two 326
opposite policies, but also two world outlooks. [ 326•* The time that has elapsed
since Lenin wrote this did not and could not erase this difference. The Communists
have a reliable weapon with which to counter nationalistic tendencies wherever they
originate. Lenin made the point that in order to oppose nationalistic manifestations it
is necessary to act from the position of proletarian internationalism. He always
upheld the idea that the important thing was "not to ‘proclaim’ internationalism, but
to be able to be an internationalist in deed. . .". [ 326•** Leninism demands that
Communists should know how to link each practical step with the basic interests of
socialism, to "fight against small-nation narrow-mindedness, seclusion and isolation,
consider the whole and the general, subordinate the particular to the general
interest". [ 326•***
All Communists, whatever their nationality, have a common internationalist duty. p
Patriotism and internationalism are organically united in the minds of Soviet people.
In order to educate patriots-internationalists it is necessary to educate people in the
spirit of the inviolable fraternity of peoples, of respect for the working people of all
countries and hatred for exploitation and oppression, in the spirit of class solidarity
and fraternal mutual assistance.
***

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Notes

Republics, pp. 34–35.
[ 326•*] See: V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 20, p. 26.
[ 326•** ] Ibid., Vol. 24, p. 82.
[ 326•***] Ibid., Vol. 22, p. 347.
< Mastering Revolutionary Theory Strengthening of the Principles of >

Socialist Community Relations.
Moral and Political Education




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<•> of the Principles
of Socialist Community Relations.
TOC
Card
The CPSU has always combined its entire activity to mould the new man with a p
high level of consciousness with efforts to foster and strengthen communist morality,
Text which, as Lenin put it, enables man to rise still higher. Every aspect of ideological
HTML and educational activity, whether the fostering of Soviet patriotism and proletarian
PS internationalism or a conscious attitude to labour and public property, is in effect
PDF moral and political education.
T* Soviet society is not unconcerned with how a person works and how he behaves in p
19* everyday life, in his relations with his comrades and other people. The Communist
Party attaches fundamental importance to the moral education of the people, to the
### strengthening of the laws and rules of socialist community relations, and to
educating all working people in the spirit of respect for socialist legality.
The Soviet social system asserts the dignity of the individual, the responsibility of p
the man and citizen. Having emancipated people from oppression and poverty
socialism opened up the most propitious opportunities for the development of their
moral qualities. "However,” said Leonid Brezhnev, "all this does not mean that the
political, educational and ideological tasks facing our socialist society have been
carried out. It is no secret that to this day social sores, inherited from the past and 328
essentially alien to socialism, such as an unconscientious attitude to work, slackness,
indiscipline, greed and various violations of the norms of the socialist way of life
not infrequently make themselves felt.”
Full-blooded social and private life depends wholly on the strict observance of the p
laws of socialist community living, maintenance of strict discipline, efficient labour
and cultural behaviour. Respect for human dignity, for the old people, for women,
decorous behaviour, self-discipline and good taste are elementary standards of
morality which are inherited and developed by the morality of socialist society.
In his work "The Immediate Tasks of the Soviet Government" written as far back p
as 1918, Lenin disclosed the enormous social role played by the elementary rules of
community living in the building of a new society. He showed that such precepts as
"do not steal”, "do not be lazy”, "observe the strictest labour discipline”, "keep
regular accounts of money”, "manage economically" are of the utmost importance for
the entire nation. The consolidation of elementary norms of community living and
moral standards, their practical implementation, according to Lenin, was directly
connected with the loftiest ideals, with the transition of society to communist
construction.
There is no democracy if there are no social norms, there are no rights if there are p
no duties, there is no freedom if there is no responsibility, no social discipline and
organisation.
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Any attempt to separate these issues, let alone place them in opposition to each p 329
other, is untenable.
There is a saying: everyone to his own taste. That is true but only if tastes do not p
contradict the way of life, standards of morality and conceptions. But a man’s tastes
are not only his personal business but also a social one. One cannot live in a society
without observing its social norms. That is why imperialist propagandists are going
to such great lengths to instil the tastes prevailing in bourgeois society and its anti-
humanitarian morals in the young people of the socialist and developing countries.
For this purpose they play up sex, pornography, individualism, violence and
dissipation, i.e., a life free of any moral norms and obligations to society. And this
amoralism, repudiation of moral norms and ideals, is presented as a "contemporary
mode of conduct" of a young person.
There is simple logic behind this: in its efforts to influence the tastes and habits of p
the younger generation, bourgeois propaganda seeks to modify their views, make
them indifferent to social affairs and turn them into cynics and individualists whose
behaviour would be motivated solely by selfinterest of the most dubious character.
Soviet society not only argues against such tastes and ideals, if one may call them
such, but fights against them because they are incompatible with communist morality,
with the Soviet people’s ideas of life values; it fights them in the first place by
cultivating good tastes and publicly censuring bad ones. Therefore, the moral shaping
of the individual should begin as early as possible so that from his childhood days a 330
person should be reared in the spirit of respect for people, in the spirit of
comradeship and honesty, and be self-collected and upright. These simple norms of
morality form a foundation for more complex moral principles. But if the foundation
has a flaw, the result will inevitably be the moral undoing of the individual.
A most important and responsible role in the moral education of Soviet young p
people is played by the family, the school, Komsomol and Young Pioneer
organisations, cultural institutions, propaganda organs, literature and art.
The living standard and the cultural level of the population are steadily rising in the p
USSR. People are now able to improve their diet, dress better and enhance their
recreational facilities. Annually millions of families move into new flats. All
conditions have been created for normal, healthy and vigorous activities.
Cases of anti-social behaviour, particularly alcoholism, are largely due to the still p
existing liberal attitude to these vices, which is incompatible with the dignity of the
Soviet man, his moral principles and the entire way of life in the USSR.
In this connection let us recall a thought expressed by Marx who maintained that p
the consciousness of an individual degenerates under the influence of two factors
which at first sight seem to eliminate each other: the first is when people see a
crime but do not see the punishment, and the second, when people see the
punishment bu* do not see the crime.
Without doubt it is necessary to employ measures of compulsion against people still p 331
harbouring the survivals of the past in their minds and whose actions are socially
dangerous. "Any display of weakness, hesitation or sentimentality in this respect
would be an immense crime against socialism," [ 331•* Lenin wrote. But he also
pointed out that "laws alone are not enough. A vast amount of educational,
organisational and cultural work is required; this cannot be done rapidly by
legislation but demands a vast amount of work over a long period." [ 331•**
Dwelling on the shortcomings in the struggle against anti-social behaviour, he wrote:

"What hinders the fight against this? Our laws? Our propaganda? On the contrary!
We have any number of laws! Why then have we achieved no success in this
struggle? Because it cannot be waged by propaganda alone. It can be done if the
masses of the people help." [ 331•***
Lenin’s approach to the struggle against antisocial acts was specified by the 24th p
CPSU Congress: "It is necessary to continue the struggle against what we call the
survivals of the past in the minds and actions of people. This requires the constant
attention of the Party and of all politically-conscious advanced forces in our society.”
In its decisions the 24th CPSU Congress emphasised the need more resolutely to p
direct the educational impact of the collective and of public opinion towards
overcoming the survivals of the past in the minds and actions of people both in 332
everyday life and at work. More often than not it is a person who shows no interest
in public life and locks himself in a shell of egoistic interests who is beset with
obsolete morals, prejudices and harmful habits.
Today, when we talk about the need to fight against various negative social p
phenomena, against cases of anti-social behaviour we do not imply that they
constitute a serious threat to Soviet society. But if nothing is done to counter them,
they may lead to complications. Lenin noted that the fight against petty-bourgeois
survivals in the minds of people is one of the most difficult aspects of the Party’s
educational work.
A decisive factor promoting the development of socialist consciousness, discipline p

and organisation, and the eradication of the survivals of the past in the minds of
people, is the practical experience of the masses, the direct participation of the
working people in management and their self-education and self-discipline.
Moral education has a direct bearing on spare time activity. In his speech at the p
15th Congress of Soviet Trade Unions, CC CPSU General Secretary Leonid
Brezhnev placed special emphasis on this fact: ”,Marx used to say that free time is a
gauge of social wealth. But free time can be regarded as genuine social wealth only
when it is used to promote the all-round development of the individual, of his
abilities, and thus to enhance the material and spiritual potential of the whole of
society to a still greater extent. Socialism has created the necessary conditions for 333
this; it has given the Soviet man sufficient time for rest, for raising his educational
and cultural level, promoting his health and physical strength, for bringing up
children and other useful activities.”
Leisure is not a time for idleness, but a time which should be used for the p
maximum personal and social benefit. Therefore it is most important, especially for
the young people, to learn to value time, to value every hour, for it is hard to make
up for the time lost in one’s youthful days.
When Sergei Lazo, a legendary hero of the civil war, was 21 he jotted down the p
following plan of study and spare time activity for himself: "First, a thorough
acquaintance with mathematics, mechanics, astronomy, physics, chemistry ... a broad
acquaintance with natural science in general. An acquaintance with jurisprudence and
history. Russian and foreign literature. Study German, English, French. Correct mode
of living ... two hours of physical work daily, physical exercises, cold-water
rubdown; sleep eight hours, but not less than seven. Attend lectures, theatres, visit
museums and picture galleries and libraries___ Absolutely no visitors during the day;
not to spend all evenings with friends. Play chess, participate in public activities at
the university; attend meetings without fail. . .. Dress modestly as befitting a student,
but not too warmly—–At night—philosophy, poetry, art. Travel as much as possible.
Sports: rowing, bicycling, motorcycling, swimming, gymnastics, skiing, and also
photography. . . .”
Free time is a priceless treasure which is granted to all. It is of the utmost p 334
importance that each person should utilise it to the best advantage. And this means
that leisure should be used to extend knowledge and culture, to enjoy wholesome
rest, to take part in interesting and useful activities.
Summing up it can be said that moral and political education is in fact education in p
the spirit of the moral code of the builder of communism which comprises the
following principles:
devotion to the communist cause; love of the socialist Motherland and of the other p
socialist countries;
conscientious labour for the good of society—he who does not work, neither shall p
he eat;
concern on the part of everyone for the preservation and giowth of public wealth; p
a high sense of public duty; intolerance of actions harmful to the public interest; p
collectivism and comradely mutual assistance: one for all and all for one; p
humane relations and mutual respect between individuals—man is to man a friend, p

comrade and brother;
honesty and truthfulness, moral purity, modesty, and unpretentiousness in social and p
private life;
mutual respect in the family, and concern for the upbringing of children; p
an uncompromising attitude to injustice, parasitism, dishonesty, careerism and p

money-grubbing;
friendship and brotherhood among all peoples of the USSR; intolerance of national p
and racial hatred;
an uncompromising attitude to the enemies of communism, peace and the freedom p 335
of nations;
fraternal solidarity with the working people of all countries, and with all peoples.
***

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Notes
[ 331•** ] Ibid., Vol. 29, p. 179.
[ 331•***] Ibid., Vol. 33, p. 75.
< The Moulding of Soviet Patriotism The Struggle Against Bourgeois >
and Socialist Internationalism Ideology and Right- and ``Left''-
Wing Revisionism




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<< • >> The Struggle Against Bourgeois Ideology 335

<•> and Right- and “Left”-Wing Revisionism

TOC The present-day ideological struggle over key problems of our day and age is p
taking place along a broad front and in complicated conditions. The CPSU is
Card
consistently upholding the communist teaching, its internationalist character and the
Leninist principles of socialist construction. This is vitally important, all the more so
Text because both the ideologists of imperialism and Right- and “Left”-wing revisionists
HTML have intensified their attacks on Marxism-Leninism in recent years. In these
PS circumstances the fight against all forms of revisionism has acquired particular
PDF significance.
T* In our age many peoples and states standing at different stages of development have p
19* taken the road of social emancipation, and broad non– proletarian sections are
joining the working class in the anti-imperialist struggle. At the same time the
### complexity of the revolutionary process and the formation of a new society, the
diversity of socioeconomic conditions, the limited political experience and views of
various social groups and the influence of bourgeois ideology can create difficulties
at certain stages of the liberation struggle and socialist construction. In these
circumstances it is of the utmost importance to adopt clear-cut ideological positions, 336
for any "evasiveness, and shilly-shallying with regard to socialist ideology inevitably
play into the hands of bourgeois ideology". [ 336•*
Experience shows that it is precisely such "evasiveness and shilly-shallying" that p

breed all sorts of anti-Marxist, anti-Leninist conceptions, which, in spite of their
outward diversity and dissimilarity, have a common class content. Ideologically, they
are attempts to replace Marxism– Leninism with social-reformist or social-
chauvinistic theories. Politically, they are attempts to employ petty-bourgeois
prejudices and nationalistic feelings to further anti-socialist objectives.
It is not the first time that Communists have to deal with similar ideological and p
political zigzags and vacillations. In their time Marx, Engels and Lenin waged an
uncompromising struggle against bourgeois and petty-bourgeois distortions of
scientific socialism. Marxism-Leninism developed and became steeled in clashes with
bourgeois ideology, with Right- and “Left”-wing opportunism, with liberal and
“ultra-revolutionary” verbiage. Ever since the appearance of the working-class
movement, Engels noted, the struggle had been systematically conducted along its
three co-ordinated and interconnected directions: theoretical, political and practical-
economic. Emphasising the fundamental significance of the conclusion formulated by
Engels, Lenin wrote that scientific communism recognises not two forms of the great
struggle of the working class "(political and economic)... but three, placing the 337
theoretical struggle on a par with the first two". [ 337•*
Revolutionary Marxism’s struggle against revisionism at the end of the 19th century p
foreshadowed the great class battles of the contemporary period. Socialism’s historic
victories were also great victories of Marxism-Leninism which radically altered the
balance of forces on the world scene.
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/5.3.4-Struggle.Against.Bourgeois.Ideology[2012-12-25 2:32:44]
Together with fraternal socialist states, the Soviet Union has always advocated a p
lasting peace between nations and opposed the notorious cold war policy. But
peaceful coexistence between socialist and capitalist countries does not imply a
reconciliation between bourgeois and socialist ideologies.
The experience of the class struggle demonstrated the vitality and political p
farsightedness of Lenin’s idea that any departure from the principles of proletarian
ideology inevitably weakened the leading positions of the working class in the
economy, politics and culture, and that underestimation of the Party’s ideological
work misled the working people politically and was used by socialism’s enemies for
launching a counter– offensive against socialism. Therefore it is the duty of the
Communists, of all working people of the socialist countries, to maintain unceasing
revolutionary vigilance and resolutely oppose any manifestations of bourgeois and
petty-bourgeois ideas.
“In the Party’s ideological work,” states the Resolution of the 24th CPSU Congress, p 338
"the main emphasis should be on the propagation of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism
and on mounting a relentless offensive against bourgeois and revisionist ideology.”
The struggle against this ideology produces the best results when it is purposeful and
creative in essence. The criticism of bourgeois attacks on the theory and practice of
communist construction in the USSR becomes much more convincing if it is backed
up by the vigorous creative development of social science and rests on Marxist-
Leninist theory. That is how the 24th CPSU Congress posed this question.
Bourgeois ideologists are endeavouring to make the world believe that the scientific p
and technological revolution allegedly leads to the formation of what they call a
hybrid society, when capitalism and socialism shed their basic distinctions. They
claim that scientific and technological progress will make people give up their social
and class ideals with the result that opposing ideologies will "die a natural death”.
Such sermons are accompanied by the most abominable slander of socialism and its p
principles and aims, and by unrestrained praise of the capitalist way of life.
Imperialism is mustering all its resources to stem the advance of socialist ideas, and p
bourgeois propaganda is doing its best to stupefy the minds of the toiling masses
and enslave them spiritually.
The capitalist way of life and vigorous propaganda of amoralism breed an appalling p
avalanche of crime and violence. The first to slip into moral degradation is a part of 339
the young people. Bourgeois society which is so boastful of its wealth exposes its
anti-humane substance to an ever increasing extent.
However, there is a spiritual force in the world which counterposes these ugly p
processes. This force is socialist ideology and culture which assert the civic dignity
of the individual and the lofty responsibility of being a man and tell the world the
truth about the Soviet way of life and socialism’s great gains.
The communist ideals which the Soviet people are asserting are the most humane in
the history of mankind. Yet it is necessary to fight for them, as for all other ideals,
and to work long and hard in order to translate them into reality.
***

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Notes
[ 337•*] Ibid., Vol. 5, p. 370.
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<•>
Mass Information and Propaganda

TOC The CPSU has a great variety of means at its disposal with which to accomplish p
Card the ideological and educational tasks set by its 24th Congress.
Under the guidance of the CPSU the Soviets of Working People’s Deputies, trade p
Text
HTML
unions, the Young Communist League, various mass organisations and cultural and
PS educational establishments are conducting extensive work in the sphere of communist
PDF education of the people.
T* Literature and art play an important and noble role in shaping the world outlook of p 340
19* the Soviet man and his moral make-up.
### It is impossible to promote the communist education of the working people and p
successfully combat bourgeois ideology without the wellorganised work of such key
media of information and propaganda as the press, television and radio.
The press, television and radio embrace and mirror the entire diversity of social p
relations: the economy, politics, culture, way of life and international relations.
The Soviet press is an important instrument of cognising reality, a source and an p

effective means of disseminating objective information and a collective propagandist
and organiser. Consequently, it influences the shaping of a person’s world outlook
and his appraisal of the reality and events, and draws millions of people into
discussing and solving social problems.
Soviet propaganda and information organs are genuinely popular in character. p
Radio and television are coming to play an ever greater role in the life of the p
country. The capacity of broadcasting stations has increased considerably in recent
years, and the total length of TV transmission lines has more than doubled in the
past five years, bringing TV programmes to the homes of almost the whole of the
country’s population.
By informing the country about the Soviet people’s political, economic and social p
gains, their progress in science and culture, by raising topical problems, disclosing
shortcomings and presenting serious issues in a manner comprehensible to all 341
sections of the population, the Soviet press, radio and television propagandise the
Soviet way of life, and help the CPSU to educate a multi-million army of
ideological fighters building a new society.
Adherence to Party principles, efficiency, truthfulness and close bonds with and p
reliance on the masses, such are the time-tested principles and traditions of the
Soviet press.
The 24th CPSU Congress emphasised the need to expand and improve the system p
of information. The CPSU looks upon information as a key instrument for guiding
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/5.4.1-Mass.Information.and.Propaganda[2012-12-25 2:32:48]
economic and cultural development.
An extensive and effective system of information corresponds to the objectives p

which Soviet society seeks to attain and to those values which the Soviet social
system asserts.
“Our idea,” wrote Lenin, "is that a state is strong when the people are politically p
conscious. It is strong when the people know everything, can form an opinion of
everything and do everything consciously." [ 341•*
This opinion is especially topical today in view of the sharp rise in the cultural and p
ideological level of the Soviet people, the scale of economic and cultural
development and the need to solve interconnected issues in their ever-increasing
complexity. In this connection, alongside sciencebased and carefully considered
solutions, there is an urgent need for conscious, active participation of millions of 342
people in managing the affairs of society, on the one hand, and for capable guidance
of their efforts, on the other.
Moreover, the working people themselves, the production collectives, verify whether
one or another decision is based on scientific premises, and supplement them by
giving their opinion. In this way information is an important factor of the
development of socialist democracy, an instrument for promoting communist
education.
***

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Notes
< The Role of the Production >

Collective as a Teacher and
Educator

<< FORMATION OF A COMMUNIST >>

WORLD OUTLOOK


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<•> Production Collective as a Teacher and Educator

TOC There is no better teacher and educator than the socialist production collective. It is p
at industrial enterprises, construction sites, collective and state farms and offices that
Card
people acquire new, socialist qualities and enter into new relations. Soviet reality
proves that Marx was absolutely correct when he said that "only in community with
Text others has each individual the means of cultivating his gifts in all directions; only in
HTML the community, therefore, is personal freedom possible". [ 342•*
PS
PDF The responsibility of each person to his collective, and the responsibility of the p
collective to each worker—such is an intrinsic feature of the Soviet way of life.
T*
19* A socialist collective is a unit where the success of the Soviet economic p 343
development plans is decided to a considerable extent, where people become
### accustomed to participation in management and where the finest moral and political
qualities of the individual are fostered.
The development of the practice of social planning and the rich experience in this p
sphere accumulated by many enterprises have enormously enhanced the educational
role played by the production collective. Social planning broadens the participation of
the working people in management, organisation of labour and the promotion of
culture and everyday facilities. It combines national economic plans with present-day
realities and the potentialities of a production collective and shows the working
people that the interests of society, the collective and the individual are closely
linked. Thanks to social planning the masses are carried "forward with a clear and
vivid perspective (entirely scientific at its foundations)". [ 343•*
The production collectives bear great responsibility for the state of affairs in all p
spheres— production, everyday life, education and culture. The extensive
participation of working people in production management and the affairs of the
collective is an earnest and an essential factor of the successful solution of the tasks
facing the collective.
In its documents adopted in recent years, the CPSU Central Committee underlined p 344
the need to ensure close connection between nation-wide tasks and the concrete tasks
and affairs of a given collective and each of its members. For this to happen it is
necessary to arm all working people with a knowledge of the Communist Party’s
economic and social policy, and to make each individual realise that his interests and
those of the production collective and society as a whole are closely and inseparably
connected. Only when the entire collective and each of its members are fully
mobilised to solve the tasks facing the country, to probe for and utilise their reserves
and resolutely surmount shortcomings, will it be possible to solve the problem of
moulding moral and political qualities in the people.
Such an approach encourages initiative and socialist enterprise. It is therefore most p

important to extend the democratic principles underlying the activity of the collective
and systematically to draw the working people into discussing and practically
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resolving all key production, technical, economic, social, cultural and everyday
issues. This purpose is served by workers’ meetings, standing production conferences,
collective agreements, and the activity of social organisations at enterprises.
A production collective also plays an important role in solving social problems,

improving living and working conditions and safety techniques, raising the
educational, economic and professional training of the workers and organising
wholesome and interesting spare time activities.
***

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[ 342•*] K. Marx and F. Engels, The German Ideology, p. 93.
< Mass Information and Propaganda Unity of Ideological and Economic >
Activity


WORLD OUTLOOK


THE PRESENT STAGE

The.Production.Collective.as.Teacher.and.Educator

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<< • >> Unity of Ideological 345

<•> and Economic Activity

TOC The Communist Party’s ideological and political work has always been closely p
bound up with its efforts to solve socio-economic problems. Just as the economy
Card
cannot exist without politics, there can be no communist education of the working
people without their active participation in economic development, production and
Text social life.
HTML
PS In its Report to the 24th Congress, the CPSU Central Committee made the point p
PDF that cultural and educational work should be inseverably connected with economic
and administrative activity and stressed that all workers should think about the
T* educational impact of their economic and administrative decisions.
19*
This is a most important proposition. p
###
The Party regards the communist education of the people as the core of its p
ideological and educational work, a nation-wide task in which there are no minor
details. Since the 24th Congress, the CPSU Central Committee has adopted a number
of decisions, including "On the Further Improvement of the Organisation of Socialist
Emulation”, "On the Improvement of the Economic Education of the Working
People”, and "On the Participation of Administrative, Engineering and Technical
Personnel of the Cherepovets Metallurgical Works in the Ideological and Political
Education of the Members of the Collective”, with the view still closer to fusing
economic and ideological and educational work, further enhancing the creative 346
initiative and activity of the masses, and promoting the growth of the ideological,
professional and cultural levels of all Soviet working people.
Lenin ascribed great importance to Party decisions which provide exhaustive, p

systematic and precise answers to the most important questions. The documents
adopted by the CC CPSU have translated the Congress’s decisions on ideological
and educational work into practical guidelines for production collectives. The CG
CPSU resolutions are designed to raise the role played by Party organisations and
production collectives in achieving a comprehensive solution of economic and
educational problems. And since economic development is a matter of vital
importance for hundreds of millions of people, the social and ideological and
educational impact of the concrete results of economic management can hardly be
overestimated.
Scientific organisation of labour, rhythmic work at enterprises, efficient organisation p

of emulation, the capability of the administrator and his relations with people are
very important educational factors.
The principle of the unity of economic management and education is fully expressed p
in Lenin’s premise that communism begins where rank– andfile working people do
their utmost to raise labour productivity and see to it that not a single pood (16
kilos) of grain, coal, iron and other products is wasted. Not only are good
management and thrift important for the economy, they are also great ideological and 347
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moral factors. However wealthy Soviet society may be, it will always display the
greatest care for all that has been created by people’s labour.
It is clear that thrift is both an important principle of socialist economic

management and a sign of a highly conscientious attitude to labour and to its fruits.
It follows, that in life itself economic problems are closely intertwined with moral
and educational factors.
***

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< The Role of the Production Socialist Emulation---School of >

Collective as a Teacher and Educator Communist Education


WORLD OUTLOOK


THE PRESENT STAGE

Unity.of.Ideological.and.Economic.Activity

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>>>
<< • >> Socialist Emulation—School of 347

<•> Communist Education

TOC Each stage of Soviet society’s development produces its labour heroes and specific p
forms of emulation. Many of the past forms of emulation still exist, but that does
Card
not mean that they have remained unchanged. A closer scrutiny of the content of the
emulation and its origins at various stages reveals the distinction between them.
Text Emulation for raising labour productivity and the effectivity of production and for
HTML enhancing the technical level of Soviet people on a mass scale is of particular
PS importance today.
PDF
In its Resolution "On the Further Improvement of the Organisation of Socialist p
T* Emulation”, the CC CPSU noted that in present-day conditions emulation should be
19* directed at the achievement of the most optimal correlation between socialist
commitments and the production plan, at terminating the harmful practice of adopting
### understated plans, at the fullest utilisation of production reserves. 348
Labour competition, labour rivalry, such is the essence of socialist emulation. Its p
success largely depends on the observance of Lenin’s principles of emulation, i.e., all
results should be made public and compared and assistance should be furnished to
those lagging behind. In view of the scientific and technological progress, the
profound changes in the economy and the character of labour, and the need for a
comprehensive solution of production problems, it is often difficult for an individual
worker to apply new methods of labour, achieve record production results, and so
forth, without the participation of his workmates. In our day a great deal of value is
placed on the experience of whole production collectives and not only on the
experience of their foremost members. The significance of advanced experience has
increased immeasurably and even a rise of only one per cent in labour productivity,
or in the saving of raw and other materials and of working time, becomes a matter
of mounting importance.
Yet, in view of the fact that in the age of the scientific and technological revolution p
advanced experience very rapidly becomes outdated and its “lifespan” decreases
sharply, it is absolutely essential to popularise the achievements of the innovators
and leading workers as broadly and swiftly as possible.
In its Resolution the CC CPSU regards correct guidance of socialist emulation as a p

matter of the greatest importance. It stresses that the commitments undertaken by the 349
working people should mirror their initiative and experience, encourage them to
display their creative abilities, make better use of reserves and potentialities and
adopt intensive plans.
The participation of all the working people in drawing up socialist commitments, p

controlling and checking their fulfilment and summing up the results of the emulation
helps to promote the growth of labour productivity and fuller use of reserves, and
also to develop democratic principles of the emulation and the enlistment of ever
broader masses in production management.
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Schools of communist labour have proved to be very effective in drawing the p

working people into socialist emulation and the movement for the communist attitude
to labour. In these schools the ideological and political education of the workers,
collective farmers and office employees is combined with the study of advanced
production experience and the fundamentals of socialist economic management.
In our day the need for moulding social consciousness is also imperatively dictated p
by economic factors. Scientific and technological progress imposes the highest
demands on the individual, both on his professional training and on his labour
discipline, precision and organisational efficiency. Lacking these qualities it is
impossible to tackle the extremely complicated problems raised by life itself.
In order to fulfil the set plans, Lenin wrote, it is necessary to find in ourselves p 350
sufficient consciousness, ideological firmness and selflessness.
Ideological and educational work bolsters the economic programme of the CPSU,
and mobilises the inexhaustible energies inherent in the Soviet man—a dedicated
fighter, worker and builder.
***

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< Unity of Ideological and Economic >

Activity


WORLD OUTLOOK


THE PRESENT STAGE

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MAP

>>>
<< • >> CHAPTER VI 351

<•> THE WORLD SOCIALIST SYSTEM

FORMATION
TOC
OF THE WORLD SOCIALIST SYSTEM
Card
[introduction.]

Text
HTML
The victory won by the workers and peasants of Russia in October 1917 and the p
PS successes of the Soviet Union in building a new life showed all the peoples the way
PDF to social and national emancipation and inspired them to fight against capitalism. But
for a long time the working people of other countries were unable to bring this fight
T* to a victorious conclusion. The only people’s democratic system to be established
19* soon after the October Socialist Revolution was that in Mongolia in 1921. The
revolution in advanced capitalist countries, about which Marx and Engels had dreamt,
### did not take place. The world bourgeoisie suppressed the revolution in Germany,
drowned in blood the young Hungarian Republic and brutally crushed revolutionary
action in other countries. Nevertheless, reactionaries could no longer reverse the
course of history.
A decisive battle between imperialism’s most reactionary forces and the new social
system— socialism—was fought in the course of the Second World War. In the hope 352
of regaining lost positions, the imperialist reaction for many years nurtured plans of
war against the USSR and of achieving the restoration of capitalism in Russia. Nazi
Germany in alliance with fascist Italy and imperialist Japan undertook to carry
through these plans. The imperialists also wanted to recarve the world, seize foreign
territories, suppress the mounting working-class and democratic movement in
capitalist countries and smash the Communist parties which headed the struggle for
peace and social progress. These insane plans fell through. Rising to the Great
Patriotic War the Soviet people in a hard and selfless struggle, jointly with its allies,
smashed the main forces of world reaction —the nazi invaders and their imperialist
accomplices.
***

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< People's Democratic and Socialist >

Revolutions in European and Asian
Countries and in Cuba

<< WAYS AND MEANS OF ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION >>

EDUCATION AND MUTUAL ASSISTANCE

<<< CHAPTER V -- MOULDING OF CHAPTER VII -- TRANSITION TO >>>

THE NEW MAN ---ONE OF THE COMMUNISM--- THE PATH OF
MAIN TASKS IN COMMUNIST MANKIND'S DEVELOPMENT
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CONSTRUCTION

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>>>
<< • >> People’s Democratic 352

<•> and Socialist Revolutions
in European and Asian Countries
and in Cuba
TOC
Card
The victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War paved the way for the p
victory of people’s democratic and then socialist revolutions in a number of capitalist
Text countries. How did this happen?
HTML
PS In the beginning of the Second World War nazi Germany seized the countries of p
PDF Central and Southeast Europe. The Japanese imperialists held sway over a number of
Asian states. The German and Japanese invaders tried to destroy all remnants of
T* democracy and freedom and implant the fascist order in the occupied countries.
19*
Headed by the working class and Communists the working people rose to the war p 353
### against nazism and Japanese militarism. This national liberation struggle especially
gained in strength when the Soviet Army drove the German fascist invaders out of
the USSR and began liberating other states occupied by nazi Germany.
The Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War and the rout of the Japanese p
imperialists created favourable conditions for people’s democratic and socialist
revolutions. Having thrown off the nazi yoke with the help of the Soviet Army, the
peoples of Poland, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Albania, Hungary and
Rumania, led by the working class and its MarxistLeninist parties, launched a
struggle for liberation from capitalist exploitation.
After taking power into their own hands the working people first nationalised the p
industry, dealing a decisive blow against the bourgeoisie inside each given country
and putting an end to the domination of foreign capital. The nationalised industry
which became the property of the whole people formed the material and production
basis of the new, people’s democratic system. Agrarian reforms were launched and
land was given to those who tilled it.
As a result of the radical social changes in town and country socialist revolutions p
were successfully accomplished in the European People’s Democracies—Albania,
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Rumania and Yugoslavia.
In 1949 the German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in Eastern Germany. It p 354
carried out democratic reforms and also joined the family of socialist states.
The rout of German fascism and Japanese militarism and the emergence of new p
socialist states created conditions for the consummation of the people’s revolution in
China. Under the guidance of the Communist Party the working people of China in
the course of several decades persistently fought for emancipation from exploitation
by the national and foreign bourgeoisie and landowners. In the autumn of 1949 the
Chinese revolution was accomplished and the People’s Republic of China was
formed.
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Radical democratic reforms were also carried out in North Korea. After the Soviet
Army liberated Korea from the Japanese invaders the Korean people took power in
the north of the country, where the Korean People’s Democratic Republic was
proclaimed in 1948.
The liberation of Vietnam from the Japanese invaders was also marked by the p
establishment of a democratic republic. It was headed by the patriotic forces which
had selflessly fought against the Japanese invaders during the war. For nine years
following the end of the war the Vietnamese people had to fight arms in hand for
their freedom against the encroachments of the French colonialists. In 1945 the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam was established in the north of the country.
The People’s Republic of China, the Korean People’s Democratic Republic and the p
Democratic Republic of Vietnam took the road of socialist construction. And so in 355
the middle of the 20th century a community of socialist countries—the world
socialist system—emerged in the world.
In 1959 revolutionary Cuba became the first country on the American continent to p
fall away from the capitalist world.
The victory of socialist revolutions in several European and Asian countries and in p
Cuba is the greatest event in world history since October 1917. Socialism, which first
won in the Soviet Union, developed into a world social and economic system.
“The emergence of socialism beyond the bounds of one country,” said Leonid p
Brezhnev in his report "Fifty Years of Great Achievements of Socialism”, "and the
establishment of a system of socialist states marked a sharp turn in world
development. This victory weakened the forces of imperialism still more. It instilled
in the hearts of the masses greater confidence in the Tightness of socialism and the
invincibility of its great ideals. New conditions for a further upswing of the
revolutionary and liberation struggle, for all democratic movements arose in the
world under the influence of living and developing socialism and the magnetic force
of its example." [ 355•*
Since their emergence more than a quarter of a century ago the socialist countries
have carried through the most profound social changes and accumulated vast 356
experience of socialist construction. This experience is instructive and is of world
historic importance.
***

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[ 355•*] L. I. Brezhnev, Following Lenin’s Course, Moscow, 1972, p. 42.
< [introduction.] General Laws of Transition to >

Socialism

<< ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION >>

AND MUTUAL ASSISTANCE


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Revolutions.in.Europe,Asia,Cuba

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>>>
<< • >> General Laws 356

<•> of Transition to Socialism

TOC The development of socialist countries shows first of all that in spite of the fact that p
each one of them made its own way towards socialism, the very transition to the
Card
new social system and also socialism’s development into a world system are the
result of a law-governed historical process. This process—the transition from
Text capitalism to socialism—is the main content of our epoch.
HTML
PS In the course of historical development peoples become more and more convinced p
PDF that the capitalist system has no future. Mankind’s genuine progress is connected
with socialism and it is Marxism-Leninism that shows the only correct road to
T* socialism for the peoples of all countries and continents.
19*
Socialism’s enemies have expended a great deal of strength and means in their p
### efforts to undermine the working people’s trust in socialism and communism. They
tried and are still trying to prove that Marxist-Leninist teaching about socialism is
inapplicable to industrially developed countries. But the experience of Czechoslovakia
and the German Democratic Republic has disproved these assertions. Bourgeois
propaganda has also claimed that socialist revolutions are impossible without world 357
military conflicts. The example of Mongolia and Cuba has disproved these
fabrications, too.
Thus history has shown in practice that in our time any nation, regardless of the p
level of its economic development, size of territory and population, can take the path
of socialism.
The process of socialist transformations in all countries is governed by a number of p

general laws:
leadership of the working people by the working class and its core, the Marxist- p
Leninist Party, in carrying through any form of proletarian revolution and in
establishing one or another form of the dictatorship of the proletariat;
alliance of the working class with the bulk of the peasantry and other sections of p
the working people;
abolition of capitalist property and the establishment of public ownership of the p

basic means of production;
socialist reorganisation of agriculture; p
planned development of the national economy aimed at building socialism and p

communism and raising the living standard of the working people;
accomplishment of socialist revolution in ideology and culture, and creation of a p

numerous intelligentsia devoted to the working class, the working people and the
cause of socialism;
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abolition of national oppression and establishment of equality and fraternal p

friendship among the nations;
defence of the gains of socialism against the encroachments of both internal and p 358
foreign enemies;
solidarity of the given country’s working class with the working classes of other p
countries, i.e., proletarian internationalism.
The concrete historical conditions under which power was won and the transition to p
socialism took place in the Soviet Union differed from those in other countries.
Nevertheless, in all countries the leading force of the revolution was the working
class headed by its Marxist-Leninist Party, and its allies were the peasantry and
other sections of the working people. The dictatorship of the proletariat was
established in one form or another in all countries. In the USSR and other socialist
countries economic development was based on the socialisation of the basic means of
production. Many other transformations in other socialist countries were similar in
character to those which had taken place in their time in the USSR. This means that
general laws have an objective character and spring from the conditions in which the
struggle for socialism is taking place.
Some of these laws remain in operation until socialist society has been built and p
not only in the transition period. Others arise in the course of the development of
socialism. They characterise a more mature socialist society and the beginning of the
transition to communism and include among others the creation of the material and
technical basis of communism, the gradual growing over of socialist social relations
into communist relations, the obliteration of essential distinctions between town and 359
country and between mental and manual labour, the extension of socialist democracy,
and the growth of society’s socio-political and moral unity.
The revolutionary struggle and the development of the socialist countries have p
shown that general laws play a decisive role in the building of a new life. Any
disregard for or deviation from them inevitably poses a threat to the revolutionary
gains and greatly harms the cause of socialism, the interests of the working class
and all working people. China is a case in point.
So long as the Chinese leadership adhered to the fundamental principles of socialist p

construction and maintained broad international ties with the Soviet Union and other
socialist countries, the People’s Republic of China successfully went ahead with
socialist construction. The situation deteriorated sharply at the end of the 1950s when
the chauvinistic line gained the upper hand in Peking and the Chinese leadership
advanced the adventuristic objective of making a "big leap forward" and moving into
communism within a short period of time. The Chinese leadership ignored the
Marxist-Leninist tenet that it is impossible to build communism bypassing socialism.
Neither did they take China’s real economic possibilities into account.
Encountering the resistance of the Communist Party and the people, the Maoists p
routed the Party and the state apparatus and thus aggravated the crisis which gripped
all aspects of life in China. The Communist Party in effect ceased to play the 360
leading role in society and the working class lost its vanguard positions. The
dictatorship of the proletariat was undermined and the principles of socialist
democracy were trampled upon. Nationalism and chauvinism became predominant in
ideology and foreign policy and voluntarism gained the upper hand in economic
management. All these factors perverted the course of socialist construction, seriously
inhibited China’s development and placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of the
Chinese people.
By deviating from the general laws guiding the transition to socialism and grossly p
violating the Marxist-Leninist methods of building a new society the Chinese leaders
enormously harm the interests of the working people of China and undermine
socialism’s prestige on the world scene.
What Mao Tse-tung and his associates do and preach has nothing in common with p
MarxismLeninism, with scientific communism. But inasmuch as the Chinese leaders
allegedly act in the name of socialism this leads to confusion in the minds of some
sections of the revolutionary antiimperialist movement, especially in countries which
still have to choose what path of social development they will follow.
The ideology and practice of the Mao Tse-tung group enable bourgeois propaganda p
to portray socialism as a society subject to tyranny and arbitrary rule, where the
interests of the people and the dignity and rights of man are trampled and poverty
lauded as the greatest virtue.
The Czechoslovak Communist Party drew an object lesson from the political crisis p 361
which descended on the country in 1968, a lesson which disclosed the full extent of
the danger arising from the violation of the common laws of socialist construction,
notably the danger invited by the weakening of the leading role of the Communist
Party and of the principles of planned economy. At the time Right-wing revisionist
and anti-socialist forces tried to push Czechoslovakia off the highroad of socialist
construction under the pretext of “improving” socialism. These perfidious plans were
frustrated thanks to the vigilance of the Czechoslovak working class, the fortitude
and integrity of the loyal forces in the Communist Party and the fraternal assistance
of the socialist countries.
We know from history that any improvement and development of the political and p
economic system of socialist society should rest on a consistent creative application
of the laws of socialist development.
Disregard for the collective experience of the socialist states and general laws as p
well as for national features under any and all pretexts inevitably tears the ruling
party’s policy away from life, from the actual requirements of social development.
In order to bring the working class and all working people to the victory of
socialism, the Communist Party should be able correctly to apply the general laws to
the concrete historical conditions in its country. General laws are not cliches which 362
can be mechanically applied to any country at will. In each country they manifest
themselves in different ways and assume their specific forms.
***

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< People's Democratic and Socialist Characteristic Features of the >

Revolutions in European and Asian Transition to Socialism in Individual
Countries and in Cuba Countries



CONSTRUCTION

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<< • >> Characteristic Features 362

<•> of the Transition to Socialism
in Individual Countries

TOC
The experience of the socialist countries confirmed Lenin’s words that all nations p
Card
would come to socialism "in not exactly the same way, each will contribute
something of its own to some form of democracy, to some variety of the dictatorship
Text of the proletariat .. .". [ 362•*
HTML
PS Real, living socialism has turned out to be more complex and diverse than could p
PDF have been theoretically imagined several decades ago. The peculiarities of the ways
and forms of socialist construction were determined by the differences in the
T* histories, levels of economic development, degree of maturity of the working class
19* and its vanguard, the spread of culture and education and in the national traditions
of individual countries. Let us examine some of these peculiarities.
###
The October Socialist Revolution in Russia was accomplished by an armed uprising. p
After that the working people had to defend their revolutionary gains in a bitter
struggle against internal and international reaction. The civil war and foreign
intervention in Soviet Russia lasted nearly five years.
The course of events in the European People’s Democracies showed that under p 363
specific conditions a socialist revolution can be accomplished in some countries
without an armed uprising and in others without civil war. The peoples of China,
Cuba and North Vietnam had to win power by force of arms, but the transition from
the democratic to the socialist revolution was comparatively peaceful.
In its essence the socialist revolution is humane. p
The proletariat does not regard armed struggle as an aim in itself, but as a forced p
measure against the exploiter classes which oppose socialist reforms by armed
strength. In some countries which had taken the socialist path of development,
reactionary elements made an attempt to regain their lost positions by force of arms.
This happened in Poland where in the first post-war years the counter-revolution
tried to unleash civil war, in Rumania where it also undertook armed action, and in
Hungary where the bourgeoisie tried to recover its forfeited positions by an armed
putsch. All these attempts failed.
There are also differences in the methods used to carry out social transformations. p
In the Soviet Union industry, transport and banks were nationalised immediately after
the socialist revolution, but in the People’s Democracies the basic means of
production were socialised gradually. First the state confiscated the property of war
criminals and those capitalists who had collaborated with the nazi invaders, and then
carried out a stage– bystage nationalisation of the other large industrial enterprises, 364
transport, means of communication and banks. In some other countries, owing to
specific conditions, the state had to buy a part of the property from the capitalists.
Wherever this happened mixed state and capitalist enterprises were established.
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Why did people’s democratic rule in some countries choose this way of socialist p
reorganisation? Was it unable to confiscate all the capitalist property and turn it over
to the people? The experience of some countries showed that during the transition
period it is more expedient under certain conditions to buy the property of the
capitalists in order to make use of their means, knowledge and experience in
production management in the interests of the people and the cause of socialism. The
example of the GDR, Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia and some other countries showed
that the socialist reorganisation of a range of economic branches and improvement of
the service industry required lengthy preparations and flexibility.
As in the Soviet Union, the decisive role in socialist reorganisations in the fraternal p
countries is played by the working class which leads the working peasantry. But here
artisans, handicraftsmen, shopkeepers and other non-proletarian sections of the
population take an active part in building a new life. In the final count the basic
interests of these groups coincide with those of all working people.
As regards the rural bourgeoisie—the kulaks— their liquidation in the People’s p

Democracies did not require any extensive administrative measures. In 365
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Rumania the kulaks were granted the right to join the
cooperatives at a certain stage of agricultural co– operation.
Enlisting various sections of the urban and rural bourgeoisie into political and p
economic activity the people’s rule took into account their ability to shift to socialist
positions only over a certain period of time. And since they did not counteract the
assertion of the new relations, they were regarded as full-fledged members of
society.
Of course, the enlistment of non-proletarian classes in socialist construction and the p

attempts to reach mutual understanding with them did not signify cessation or
weakening of the class struggle. It continued, but its methods changed as coercion
increasingly gave way to education and persuasion by example. This policy of broad
class alliances guided by Communists yielded good results.
In the USSR the people voted that the Communist Party should be the country’s p
sole ruling party. In the course of socialist revolution and the civil war only Lenin’s
Party consistently worked for socialism and peace, whereas all the other political
parties sided with counter-revolution and imperialist reaction. The masses turned
away from them and they had to quit the social arena.
A different situation took shape in other socialist countries. In some of them, p

alongside the Communist parties, other parties participated in reorganising society
along socialist lines. Today these parties in alliance with the Communists are actively 366
participating in socialist construction. These countries have either biparty or
multiparty systems.
Another characteristic feature of the transition of most European People’s p

Democracies to socialism was that the dictatorship of the proletariat was established
and consolidated with the aid of certain elements of bourgeois democracy—-
parliaments and bourgeois-democratic laws. In these countries people’s rule had no
cause to resort to such drastic political measures as disfranchisement of the former
exploiting classes.
And, lastly, unlike the Soviet Union, not all land was nationalised in the European p
socialist countries, in China and the Korean People’s Democratic Republic. A large
part of the land confiscated from the landowners, the clergy and war criminals was
turned over to the landless and land-hungry peasants.
The experience of socialist construction is the common property of the socialist p

community, of the working people of all countries, and it is being enriched with
each passing year. Complete socialism, which Lenin wrote about, is based on the
aggregate experience of all countries, which includes the general laws and the
specific features of the transition of different countries to socialism.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union always willingly shares its achievements
in reorganising social life along socialist lines with its friends. At the same time it
studies the experience of the fraternal parties and countries with profound attention 367
and interest and adopts all that corresponds to Soviet conditions and serves the cause
of communist construction.
***

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<•>
What is the system of socialist countries? In the first place it is a qualitatively new p
TOC historical community of countries and peoples. History knows many short-lived and
lasting associations and unions of peoples and states, but none of them can compare
Card
in character, strength and potentialities with the socialist system. Its very appearance
promoted the rise of friendly relations among the socialist nations. The world system
Text of capitalism appeared and developed in a vicious struggle among states in the
HTML course of which the strong subjugated and exploited the weak. The socialist system
PS came into being and became consolidated with the Soviet Union’s vigorous support
PDF for the young socialist states.
T* Socialism introduced a community of aims and ideals into interstate relations and its p
19* victory in the fraternal countries led to the establishment of a uniform social and
state system, where power belongs to the working people headed by the working
### class. All these countries have established public ownership of the instruments and
means of production and thus did away with exploitation of man by man. The aim
of socialist production is to promote the happiness and welfare of the people.
Marxism-Leninism is the common ideology of the peoples of the socialist countries 368
and the building of communism is their common historical objective.
Socialist countries are united by their struggle against imperialism, for peace and p
national independence, for securing international conditions favouring the construction
of socialism and communism, and by their support for the communist and working-
class movement.
All this creates the objective foundation for lasting, friendly relations between them. p
The abolition of capitalist property and the establishment of socialist social relations p
eliminated the grounds for national enmity and national oppression and created
conditions for the rise of the great socialist union of the peoples. Marx’s prophetic
words have come true: "In order to really unite the peoples must have common
interests. In order that their interests should be common the existing property
relations must be abolished, for the existing property relations mean exploitation of
some peoples by others—-" [ 368•*
It follows then, that the world system of socialism is an historically shaped p

community of states based on one type of economic and political system, on the
coincidence of the fundamental interests and aims of the peoples. It is a political and
economic community of free and independent states united by bonds of socialist
solidarity and proletarian internationalism.
The fraternal co-operation of the socialist countries develops on the basis of p 369
common interests and aims and it is equally in the interest of both small and big
nations. This co-operation guarantees the consolidation of each country’s national
sovereignty. It helps them to advance and surmount temporary difficulties and bring
their socio-economic and cultural levels closer together.
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In contrast to the capitalist world where the more rapid development of one country p
aggravates the contradictions between states and intensifies their rivalry, the successes
of each socialist country advance and strengthen the socialist system as a whole.
Unlike the economy of world capitalism which develops through a series of booms p
and depressions, crises and upheavals, the economy of world socialism develops
steadily and more rapidly.
The capitalist states build their relations on might makes right. Imperialism grossly p
violates the general democratic principles of relations between countries, viz.,
equality, respect for state independence and territorial integrity, non– interference in
each other’s internal affairs. In the socialist community these principles are not only
fully observed, but are also enriched by fraternal friendship and mutual assistance.
Proletarian internationalism has become a norm of interstate relations between the
socialist countries.
In the socialist community there are no special rights or privileges: all countries, p
whether big or small, take into consideration their own interests and those of the
other countries, of the socialist system as a whole.
The socialist countries are developing extensive economic relations. They closely p 370
co-operate in science, technology and culture and render each other diplomatic and
military assistance.
Yet, it cannot be said that their co-operation is entirely smooth and unimpeded. p
There are some distinctions between the socialist countries and they have to
surmount specific difficulties and contradictions some of which are engendered by
objective causes and are connected in the first place with the fact that the members
of the socialist community have different levels of economic development, different
economic structures, different historical and cultural traditions, and so forth. In
addition to a group of industrial states, the socialist community also includes
agrarianindustrial and agrarian countries.
In some cases difficulties in the relations between the socialist states can be traced p
to subjective causes, to errors in the activity of the leaders of individual members of
the community.
Another source of difficulties is the fact that the world socialist system is p
developing in a complicated international situation, in a bitter class struggle against
imperialism. In their striving to inhibit socialist construction and the drawing together
of the socialist states, the imperialists are counteracting the socialist world in every
possible way. They try to foment nationalistic and other prejudices and sow
dissension in the socialist community.
Although socialist states are united on the key issues, it does not mean that p
differences in views and interests on certain questions of domestic and foreign policy 371
may not arise between them at one time or another.
As it develops the socialist system sometimes comes up against survivals of the past p
due to the prolonged domination of relations of exploitation. Moreover, these
survivals constitute the nutrient medium breeding recurrences of nationalism and
other phenomena alien to socialism. As can be judged from events in China, these
survivals are tenacious and capable of seriously harming the socialist community.
The fraternal parties are striving to surmount the contradictions in the relations p
between the socialist countries by joint effort and to prevent temporary divergence of
interests and opinions from developing into fundamental differences. Provided parties
and states follow the correct, MarxistLeninist policy, the coincidence of the basic
interests and aims of the peoples of the socialist states enables them to surmount the
existing contradictions and build their relations on principles of complete equality,
mutual advantage and comradely mutual assistance.
The CPSU realistically appraises the situation in the world socialist system. It is p
aware of its great achievements and at the same time does not ignore unsolved
problems. "The present-day socialist world ... is still a young and growing social
organism, where not everything has settled and where much still bears the marks of
earlier historical epochs,” reads the CC Report to the 24th CPSU Congress. "The
socialist world is forging ahead and is continuously improving. Its development 372
naturally runs through struggle between the new and the old, through the resolution
of internal contradictions. The experience that has been accumulated helps the
fraternal parties to find correct and timely resolution of the contradictions and
confidently to advance along the path indicated by Marx, Engels and Lenin, the great
teachers of the proletariat.”
Together with other Marxist-Leninist parties, the CPSU is doing everything it can to p
enable the countries of the socialist community to co– ordinate their activity in
crucial spheres of social life to an ever greater extent, and to work out more
effective forms of reaching joint solutions on questions of common interest.
The Soviet Union has greatly helped to consolidate people’s rule in the socialist p
countries, to create an atmosphere of friendship and mutual respect in the socialist
system. In line with their internationalist duty, the Soviet people are continuously
assisting the nations which have taken the path of socialist development. Soviet
power in Russia after the October Socialist Revolution could only rely on the moral
and political support of the proletariat in other countries, whereas the working people
of the People’s Democracies have relied on the Soviet Union’s powerful political,
economic and military support.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Government are putting in p
a great deal of effort to enhance the cohesion of the socialist countries and
strengthen the world socialist system. On the initiative of the CPSU Central 373
Committee, for example, socialist countries take decisions on most important
questions of common interest after collective consultations. All this promotes the
solidarity of the socialist countries.
At the same time it should be borne in mind that the formation of relations between p
socialist countries is a complicated process. There are two closely interacting lines in
the development of the world socialist system. On the one hand, each socialist
country relies on her manpower, material and spiritual resources and on the
advantages of socialism as she strengthens her state independence and develops her
own economy and culture; on the other hand, life leads the socialist countries
towards ever broader co-operation and closer rapprochement. The harmonious
combination of these two processes and the close co-ordination of national and
international objectives are in the interests of both individual countries and of the
socialist community as a whole.
The realisation of the common interests and aims of the socialist system promotes p
the fullest satisfaction of correctly assessed national interests, creates the best possible
conditions for the flowering of each nation and for the all-round progress of each
socialist country.
The content and forms of relations between the socialist states change in accordance
with their social development, the international situation and the nature of the
internal and external problems facing them. In the first years after the victory of 374
people’s democratic revolutions the most urgent problems were military and political
ones: defence of the socialist countries against imperialist encroachments and the
strengthening of the shoots of the new social system.
***

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[ 368•*] K. Marx, F. Engels, Werke, Bd. 4, S. 416.
< Characteristic Features of the >

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[introduction.]
TOC
Card As a result of the consolidation of socialism in the People’s Democracies and the p
development of economic relations between them their military and political alliance
Text was gradually supplemented with socio-economic co-operation.
HTML
PS The interaction and co-operation of the fraternal countries proved to be vital and p
PDF highly fruitful. It goes without saying that in building socialism each country depends
chiefly on her own forces, i.e., she uses the creative energy of her people and her
T* material resources. Practice showed, however, that the best results are obtained when
19* a country, while relying on her own forces, also uses the potentialities of the entire
socialist system to build a new society.
###
It is economically unfeasible and even impossible for each socialist country to p
create all branches of industry and agriculture. Much more expedient is to use the
advantages of the international division of labour and the possibility of obtaining
diverse types of products and raw materials from other socialist states.
The need for close economic co-operation between socialist countries is also p 375
dictated by the international conditions attending the building of socialism and
communism. Today, when the historic competition between the two social systems is
unfolding mainly in the economic field, such co-operation becomes a vital objective
necessity. Multilateral economic ties enable each socialist country to stand up to the
economic pressure from the imperialist states and their monopolies, make better use
of her internal resources and assistance of the entire socialist system and thus greatly
increase the pace and scope of construction of a new society.
The history of world socialism has proved that the successes of each fraternal p
country and the growth of the might of the entire socialist system are closely inter-
related. The greater the economic, political and cultural co-operation of the socialist
countries, the bigger are their successes in promoting industry, agriculture, culture
and living standards. On the other hand, the greater the achievements of each
country in socialist construction, the wider is the base for all-round cooperation and
the stronger the socialist system as a whole.
As early as the very first years of their existence, the People’s Democracies, thanks p
to their economic co-operation with the Soviet Union, were able rapidly to surmount
difficulties in economic development caused by wartime destruction and disruption of
traditional trade relations with bourgeois states.
Economic co-operation among the socialist countries is based first and foremost on p 376
the international socialist division of labour.
Economic co-operation has many forms: trade, loans, credits, scientific and technical p
co-operation, co-ordination of national economic plans, interstate specialisation and
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co-operation of production, joint construction of large projects, co-operation in the

fields of transport and finances. Its basic form is specialisation and co-operation of
production within the framework of the socialist community. Taking into account
their production specialisation, labour resources, available raw materials and other
factors, socialist countries agree on what they will produce and in what quantities in
order to satisfy their own needs and those of the other fraternal countries. In view of
the extremely broad range of modern commodities a single country, let alone a small
one, cannot produce everything she needs. Production of this sort would have had to
be organised on a small scale and be very expensive.
Interstate specialisation makes it possible to concentrate production of similar goods p

in one or several socialist countries. Such a division of labour raises production, cuts
production costs, heightens labour productivity and improves the quality of goods. At
the same time it speeds up economic growth rates and promotes living standards in
all socialist countries. Thus, economically less developed countries are able to
industrialise their national economy at a rapid pace.
The economy of individual states does not develop one-sidedly as a result of p 377
interstate specialisation and co-operation. On the whole their economies develop
comprehensively despite the priority growth of some branches; they include such key
industries as fuel and power, extractive, engineering, chemical, light and food, and
also agriculture.
On the one hand, interstate specialisation and co-operation make it possible to avoid p
unwarranted duplication in the development of production and, on the other, to build
enterprises large enough to satisfy not only domestic demands, but also those of
other socialist states. By common agreement shipbuilding is concentrated in Poland,
the USSR and Bulgaria; production of blast-furnace equipment in the USSR, Poland
and Czechoslovakia; oil equipment mainly in Rumania, the USSR and
Czechoslovakia; equipment for cement factories in the GDR and Czechoslovakia;
equipment for the leather and footwear industry in Czechoslovakia, etc.
At present interstate specialisation and co– operation of the countries of the socialist p
community embrace the production of more than 3,000 types of machines and
equipment. The GDR and Czechoslovakia co-operate in the production of cars and
lorries; Czechoslovakia and Poland in the production of textile and agricultural
equipment, metal-cutting machine-tools and building machines; Bulgaria co-operates
with Czechoslovakia in the manufacture of buses, lorries, engines and transport
equipment; the Soviet Union and Poland co-operate in the production of automatic 378
equipment, aviation hardware, tractors and farm machinery; the USSR and
Yugoslavia are co– operating in the manufacture of cars, building machines, tractors
and other branches of engineering. The Soviet Union is successfully co-operating
with Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia in the production of
Lada passenger cars, and with Czechoslovakia, the GDR and other countries in the
production of electronic computers.
The socialist countries are rendering each other technical assistance in the p
construction of industrial enterprises and organisation of production, and supply the
necessary industrial and agricultural products and raw materials. More than 1,200
enterprises, factory shops and other projects have been built in the fraternal countries
with Soviet economic and technical assistance, of which 120 were built in Bulgaria,
18 in Czechoslovakia, 20 in the GDR, 53 in Hungary, 167 in Mongolia, 99 in
Poland, and 98 in Rumania. A fairly large number of enterprises and other projects
were built with Soviet assistance in Albania, China, the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam, the Korean People’s Democratic Republic, the Republic of Cuba and
Yugoslavia. Bulgaria produces about 60 per cent of her chemical output, 70 per cent
of non-ferrous metals and more than 90 per cent of steel at enterprises which were
built with Soviet assistance; Rumania generates 60 per cent of her total electricity
output and manufactures 100 per cent of her synthetic rubber at enterprises built with
the assistance of the USSR. The Soviet Union supplies diverse industrial output to its 379
friends on mutually advantageous terms.
In the first post-war years technical assistance to the fraternal states was rendered p
chiefly by the USSR, but now this is being done by other socialist states, too.
Czechoslovakia is assisting in the construction of several enterprises in Mongolia;
Poland is taking part in enlarging foundry works in Hungary and is helping
Czechoslovakia build sugar refineries. Czechoslovakia and the GDR deliver rolling
mill equipment to the Soviet Union; Rumania and Czechoslovakia supply the USSR
with installations for oil refineries, Hungary supplies hoisting and material-handling
equipment, and Czechoslovakia, the GDR and Poland—- equipment for the Soviet
light industry.
The Soviet Union is not only the biggest supplier of raw materials and machinery to p
other socialist countries, but also the biggest buyer of their manufactured goods.
During the preceding, eighth five-year plan period, the Soviet Union bought
equipment for 54 chemical factories from the fraternal socialist countries. More than
38 per cent of the total tonnage of the Soviet merchant marine was built in socialist
countries. They also deliver a large variety of consumer goods to the USSR.
One of the main objectives of the world socialist community is to surmount the p
historically formed differences in the socio-economic development of its members.
The coming together of their levels of development gives the socialist countries
enormous advantages; it makes it possible to put an end to economic inequality and 380
opens broad prospects for the development of the international socialist division of
labour and all forms of co-operation.
The socialist community has made important headway in bringing the levels of
economic development of its members closer to each other. Suffice it to say that in
the past 20 years Bulgaria and Rumania have raised industrial production more than
11 times, while in the GDR and Czechoslovakia it rose five times. Economically
backward in the past, the Mongolian People’s Republic has become an agrarian-
industrial state. With the assistance of the USSR and other socialist countries
Mongolia has built up her own fuel and power base, a building industry, several
large enterprises of the mining, building materials, light and food industries, railways
and other transport means and modern communication lines.
***

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COUNTRIES


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Operation.and.Mutual.Assistance

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<< • >> Council for Mutual Economic Assistance 380

<•>
The establishment in 1949 of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), p
TOC which laid the foundations for the international socialist system of economy, was a
major landmark in the economic co-operation between the socialist countries. The
Card
CMEA members are Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary, Mongolia,
Poland, Rumania, the USSR. Cuba joined the Council in 1972. Yugoslavia has been
Text participating in the work of some of CMEA bodies since 1964. The Council’s aims, 381
HTML principles, functions, powers and structure are set forth in its Charter: to unite and
PS co-ordinate the efforts of its members, promote the planned development of their
PDF national economies, accelerate their economic and technical progress, raise the level
of industrialisation of the industrially less developed countries and ensure the steady
T* growth of labour productivity and the continuous rise of the standard of living.
19* Cooperation of the CMEA countries is based on "The Basic Principles of the
International Socialist Division of Labour”.
###
CMEA conducts its activity on the basis of socialist internationalism, respect for p
state sovereignty, independence and national interests, non– interference in the
internal affairs of member countries, complete equality and voluntariness, mutual
advantage and comradely mutual assistance.
CMEA headquarters are in Moscow. Its principal bodies are the Executive p
Committee, the Standing Committees and the Secretariat.
With the establishment of CMEA the socialist countries switched from bilateral trade p
and credit relations to multilateral co-operation, and from an exchange of surplus
goods and unilateral assistance to planned commodity exchange and coordination of
economic plans. Such co-ordination is at present CMEA’s chief method of activity.
Collective economic co-operation is most advantageous to the CMEA member p

countries. They have jointly built the world’s largest oil pipeline Druzhba
(Friendship) which carries oil from the USSR to a number of socialist countries in
Europe. As a result the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Czechoslovakia and 382
Hungary have built a modern petrochemical industry. The second line of the Druzhba
scheme has been completed; it links the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. Beginning
with 1975 this pipeline will annually carry nearly 50 million tons of oil to the
fraternal countries. A gas pipeline of unique size is now under construction. When
completed it will bring Siberian natural gas to Czechoslovakia, Poland, the GDR,
Bulgaria and Hungary. A united power grid Mir (Peace) with an international control
panel in Prague has been built. It links Bulgaria, the GDR, Czechoslovakia, Poland,
Hungary, Rumania and the USSR. The resulting annual economy is equal to the cost
of building a 600,000 kw power station. The member states have accumulated
experience of co-operating in the extractive industries, transport and in collective
financing of industrial projects. One large project is a cellulose factory which is
being built in the vicinity of UstIlim in the Soviet Union with the participation of
Bulgaria, the GDR, Hungary, Poland, Rumania and the USSR.
Increasing importance is attached to co– operation in science and technology which p
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are developing more effectively thanks to the united efforts of the socialist countries.
Today several hundred Soviet and 840 research organisations of other socialist
countries are jointly working on some 2,000 scientific and technical problems.
It has proved to be most advantageous to exchange information on the organisation p

of production, and scientific and technical documentation. In the past 20 years the 383
Soviet Union turned over more than 41,000 sets of scientific and technical
documentation to CMEA member countries. More than 54,000 specialists from these
countries visited the USSR to study its production experience. In this period the
Soviet Union received more than 21,000 sets of scientific and technical
documentation from the fraternal countries.
The International Bank for Economic Co– operation, the International Investment p
Bank, the International Institute of Economic Problems of the World Socialist
System, the Institute of Standardisation, the Ship Chartering Co-ordinating Bureau,
Intermetal, and other international organisations of the socialist countries are
developing and strengthening.
Today the CMEA countries are a powerful, steadily developing industrial-agrarian

complex. In a single decade (1960–70) the CMEA countries, which account for 18
per cent of the territory of the world and 10 per cent of its population, increased
their share in world industrial output from 28 to 33 per cent. In five years (1966–70)
their industrial output rose almost 50 per cent.
***

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<•>
The rapid economic growth of the CMEA countries and their expanding economic p
TOC ties have created conditions for promoting still closer cooperation between their 384
economies and uniting their resources and potentialities. Without all this the socialist
Card
countries would have been unable to develop at an accelerated pace in the new
historical conditions.
Text
HTML The new tasks facing the socialist countries created the need for joint long-term p
PS planning of production in various branches, its more thorough specialisation and
PDF wider co-operation. In particular joint efforts were required to solve fuel and power
and raw materials problems, since not all CMEA countries have sufficient natural
T* resources. It was also vitally important to deepen their scientific and technical ties so
19* that they could make the fullest use of the achievements of the scientific and
technological revolution, including computer techniques, atomic power engineering,
### automatic production systems, and so forth.
Over the past several years the CPSU, other fraternal parties, and the highest state p
bodies of the CMEA countries have been concentrating their efforts on improving the
forms of economic cooperation.
In 1971 the socialist countries united in CMEA adopted a Comprehensive p

Programme for the Further Extension and Improvement of Co-operation and the
Development of Socialist Economic Integration. Designed to cover a period of 15–20
years it envisages the introduction of a system of measures in the spheres of
production, consumption and foreign trade.
Having adopted the Comprehensive Programme, the CMEA countries began to pool p 385
their scientific, technical and production resources in order to solve key economic
problems.
Today co-ordinated planning is the main instrument used by CMEA countries to p

carry through their economic integration. It includes not only the co-ordination of
national economic plans, but also the compilation of general forecasts, long-term co-
ordination of plans, and the elaboration of joint plans for various branches of
industry and types of production. For this purpose the CMEA countries have
established international research institutes and designing organisations. The CMEA
International Scientific and Technical Information Centre in Moscow is already
functioning. The exchange of scientific and technical documentation is increasing and
the joint training of scientific and technical personnel is being conducted on a
broader scale.
The Comprehensive Programme not only envisages a gradual approximation and p

evening out of the levels of economic development of the CMEA countries, but also
priority development of those members which due to historical causes were
economically less developed than the others. For instance, a system of measures is
being implemented to accelerate the economic growth of the Mongolian People’s
Republic.
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The multilateral co-operation of socialist states harmoniously combines their national p

and international interests. Economically it is most advantageous to each country and
the entire socialist community, for it results in an additional annual economy of 386
thousands of millions of rubles, speeds up technical progress, and so forth.
The development of economic integration deepens the international socialist division p

of labour. A modern structure of the national economies comes into being and there
is a rapprochement of the national economies in the key branches of production,
science and technology.
In the historical perspective all this should result in the establishment of a world p
socialist economy. The trend towards the formation of a single world economy
regulated by a common plan, Lenin underlined, "has already revealed itself quite
clearly under capitalism and is bound to be further developed and consummated
under socialism". [ 386•*
An earnest of the successful fulfilment of the Comprehensive Programme is the p

identical production relations in all CMEA countries, the sameness of their political
systems and ideology and their common aim—the building of socialism and
communism under the guidance of Marxist– Leninist Communist and Workers’
parties.
The economic integration of the socialist countries is a matter of vast political

significance. It is an inspiring example of a new type of economic relations—
voluntary, harmonious and equitable co-operation and mutual assistance of a large
group of sovereign states. By strengthening the economic foundations of the socialist
community, economic integration will go a long way towards consolidating 387
socialism’s positions on the world scene.
***

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<< • >> POLITICAL INTERACTION AND UNITY 387

<•> OF SOCIALIST COUNTRIES

[introduction.]
TOC
Card Since the great leaders of the proletariat Karl Marx and Frederick Engels proclaimed p
the slogan "Workers of All Countries, Unite!" the history of the class struggle, the
Text entire course of the establishment and development of socialism proved beyond all
HTML doubt that political and ideological unity is the main source of strength of all fighters
PS for socialism.
PDF
Born of the need to defend revolutionary gains, of the joint efforts to solve the p
T* most complicated internal and international problems, the political co-operation of the
19* peoples of the socialist countries has become a key factor of the development and
strengthening of the world socialist system, a factor of peace and progress.
###
The political co-operation of the socialist states has the following principal p
objectives: all-round mutual assistance in the building of a new society, exchange of
experience in creative work, establishment of favourable international conditions for
the construction of socialism and communism, their joint rebuff to the forces hostile
to socialism, and the provision of all-round assistance and support for the liberation
movement of the peoples.
By co-operating and interacting on the political scene the socialist countries frustrate p 388
the aggressive designs of the imperialist states; they help achieve a lessening of
international tensions and direct their efforts towards averting another world war and
strengthening the cause of peace. To achieve these objectives they come forward with
constructive proposals on disarmament and the termination of the arms race and
actively participate in resolving conflicts occurring in various parts of the world.
Socialist countries exchange vital information, concert their foreign policies and p
resolutely support each other in international organisations. In the United Nations
they actively participate in discussing universal and complete disarmament,
prohibition of the means of mass destruction, eradication of the survivals of
colonialism and the fight against racism, settlement of the Indochina and the Middle
East problems, and other crucial issues.
In its activity the socialist community is guided by the principles of peaceful p

coexistence of states with different social systems. It is prepared to cooperate with
the capitalist states on the basis of equality, respect for national sovereignty and
mutual advantage and is promoting such co– operation in the economic, cultural and
other spheres. Socialist countries attach particular importance to co-operation with the
capitalist and developing countries in the maintenance of international security.
At the same time the world socialist system is prepared to give a resolute rebuff to p
aggression whatever its source. When necessary the socialist community uses its 389
political prestige, its economic and military strength reliably to block the road for
aggression and help the peoples who have been attacked to safeguard their freedom
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and independence. This peace-loving, genuinely internationalist policy has the

wholehearted approval and support of progressive world public.
Since its establishment more than a quarter of a century ago the socialist system has p
developed a comprehensive mechanism of collective interaction of the fraternal
parties and countries and evolved effective forms of co-ordinating their efforts in
building socialism and communism and in foreign policy activity.
Negotiations and conferences on interstate relations and urgent problems of the p

contemporary international situation have become an important form of the political
co-operation of the socialist countries. Their close contacts and exchange of views
enable the socialist community to work out its political line, solve general and
national problems and surmount the arising difficulties.
The vital significance of such co-operation has become particularly manifest in the p
course of the past few years which in many respects proved to be difficult ones for
the socialist system.
In those years most of the socialist countries entered a qualitatively new period of p
social development, that of creating a developed socialist society and of solving the
grandiose tasks that faced them. They carried out a deep-going reorganisation of the
economy, introduced economic reforms and re-equipped a large proportion of 390
industrial enterprises with sophisticated machines and mechanisms. In order to
accomplish all this the fraternal parties evolved a new approach not only towards the
solution of their domestic political, economic and ideological problems, but also to
the organisation of international co– operation.
In the past decade the growth of the world socialist system was seriously p
handicapped by the aggressive encroachments of the imperialists upon the peoples of
Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and the liberation movement in the Middle East. The
situation called upon socialism to mobilise all its forces and to display restraint,
courage and determination in order to organise a rebuff to the aggressor.
The imperialists in those years undertook a series of ideological and political p

subversions against the socialist countries in the hope of undermining them from
within and weakening the socialist community.
The Soviet Union and its friends had to counter the onslaught of the imperialist p
forces at a time when the leadership of China, one of the two largest socialist states,
renounced unity of action in the struggle against imperialism, adopted a policy of
splitting the anti-imperialist front and began to act with undisguised hostility towards
the Soviet Union and other socialist countries.
In these difficult circumstances the Soviet Union steadfastly developed co-operation p

with the fraternal parties and countries and together with other members of the world 391
socialist system rebuffed imperialism’s aggressive encroachments and made great
headway in communist construction.
Discharging their internationalist duty, the CPSU and the Soviet people furnished p
all-round support to fighting Vietnam. The Soviet Union extended military and
economic assistance to the fraternal Vietnamese people thus enabling the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam, the first socialist state in Southeast Asia, in the extremely
difficult conditions of US imperialist aggression to strengthen its military and
economic potential and to set up new sophisticated branches, including the air force
and missile and anti-aircraft units, which together with the other units of the
Vietnamese People’s Army held their ground and dealt a powerful blow on the
aggressors.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet people gave the p
Vietnamese patriots great moral and political support. Tens of thousands of various
undertakings were organised in the USSR, including mass subbotniks and
voskresniks, whose proceeds were turned over to the Vietnam Assistance Fund, and
meetings and conferences at which Soviet people expressed their firm determination
to support the cause of the Vietnamese patriots and condemned the US imperialists.
The CPSU and Soviet mass organisations actively participated in a number of p

international meetings in support of the Indochinese peoples. In this respect a
prominent role was played by the 1969 International Meeting of Communist and 392
Workers’ Parties; it unanimously adopted a document on Vietnam which elicited
broad response throughout the world.
With the support of the Soviet Union and other socialist states the heroic p
Vietnamese people scored major victories in their struggle for freedom and
independence.
Thanks to the principled policy of the Soviet Union and other socialist states p
considerable headway was achieved in solving such an important issue as the
strengthening of the international position of the German Democratic Republic—the
bulwark of socialism on German soil. The fact that many countries established
diplomatic relations with the GDR proves that Western imperialist circles failed in
their attempts to ignore and isolate the German state of workers and peasants. This
was a major victory of the German Communists, of all the working people of the
GDR, a result of their courage and fortitude in the struggle for socialism. Moreover,
this victory was also a result of the solidarity of the Soviet Union and other socialist
countries with the GDR. The fraternal parties of the socialist countries drew up a
concerted policy on this issue and its implementation produced the desired results.
The bonds of fraternal solidarity linking the Soviet Union and the Republic of Cuba p
have strengthened. Despite the unceasing provocations of the imperialist circles and
Cuban emigrants, and the US economic blockade, Cuba is strengthening her
economy, developing agriculture and industry and steadily improving her system of 393
public education and health. The Cuban people are building socialism with the
assistance of the Soviet Union and other countries of the socialist community. The
CPSU Central Committee and the Soviet Government are consolidating fraternal co–
operation, Party and state contacts with Cuba and this yields positive results.
The Soviet Union’s ties with the Korean People’s Democratic Republic are p
continuing to develop. In their relations with people’s Korea, the CPSU and the
Soviet Government are guided by a sincere desire to assist the fraternal Korean
people in building socialism, solving crucial problems of industrialisation,
strengthening the country’s defensive capability, and in her just struggle for the
reunification of Korea on a peaceful and democratic basis.
The CPSU is continuously strengthening its international ties and unity with all the p
fraternal parties and peoples. As a result the Soviet Union is successfully developing
all-round co-operation with the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, the Czechoslovak
Socialist Republic, the Hungarian People’s Republic, the Mongolian People’s
Republic, the Polish People’s Republic, and the Socialist Republic of Rumania.
Mutual contacts have attained unprecedented scope in recent years. The Soviet
Union’s co-operation with the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia has also
considerably developed in this period.
The friendly relations between the socialist countries and their mutual commitments p
are stipulated in treaties of friendship, co-operation and mutual assistance and in 394
other treaties and agreements. In recent years the Soviet Union signed new treaties of
friendship, co-operation and mutual assistance with Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary and Rumania, thus rounding out the renewal of its treaty ties with the
fraternal countries in keeping with the heightened level of socialist international
relations. Together with the earlier concluded treaties with the GDR, Poland and the
Mongolian People’s Republic these historic documents account for a considerable
portion of the comprehensive system of new treaty commitments undertaken by the
fraternal socialist countries.
The new treaties ensure long-term stability of the multilateral bonds linking the p
socialist countries. They organically combine the national interests of each country
with the international interests of all countries of the world socialist community.
With each passing year, with each stage of social development, the great principles
of socialist internationalism acquire an ever fuller meaning. The CPSU, the entire
Soviet people are doing their utmost to make the co-operation of the socialist
countries and their mutual bonds even stronger and more fruitful. Dwelling on this
normal
issue at the 24th CPSU Congress Leonid Brezhnev said: "We want to see every
fraternal country a flourishing state, harmoniously combining rapid economic,
scientific and technical growth with a flowering of socialist culture and rising living
standards for the working people. We want the world socialist system to be a well- 395
knit family of nations, building and defending the new society together, and mutually
enriching each other with experience and knowledge, a family, strong and united,
which the people of the world would regard as the prototype of the future world
community of free nations.”
***

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Notes
< Internationalism and Nationalism >

<< ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION DEVELOPMENT OF THE >>

AND MUTUAL ASSISTANCE SOCIALIST COUNTRIES


CONSTRUCTION

Interaction.and.Unity.of.Socialist.Countries

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<< • >> Internationalism and Nationalism 395

<•>
The experience of world socialism shows that the national interests, if properly p
TOC understood, do not run counter to the general interests and aims of the socialist
system; on the contrary, they can be realised the more successfully, the fuller they
Card
take account of the general aims and tasks of the socialist countries.
Text The Communist parties channel the interstate relations in the socialist system into p
HTML all-round, mutually advantageous co-operation in politics, economics and culture. A
PS new society is being built successfully and both national and international tasks are
PDF being effectively resolved where the ruling Communist Party consistently relies on
the Marxist-Leninist science and the principles of socialist co-operation tested in
T* practice, where it educates the masses in the spirit of internationalist ideas and wages
19* a resolute struggle against all nationalistic manifestations.
### But if narrow nationalistic interests are brought to the fore and attempts are made to p
realise them at the expense of other countries or to the detriment of internationalist 396
interests, ultimately such policies backfire against those who pursue them.
A socialist country which isolates herself from and even goes to the extent of p
placing herself in opposition to the socialist community does so to both her own
detriment and that of the community as a whole. Such a policy strikes hard at her
national economy because it deprives her of advantages of the international socialist
division of labour and slows up production growth. In the final count it may bring
her into dependence on the capitalist world and lead to forfeiture of her socialist
gains.
Nationalism is the chief political and ideological weapon employed by international p

reaction against the socialist states. Reactionaries of all hues speculate on national
feelings, cultivate national egoism and other bourgeois prejudices.
It is very dangerous to underestimate nationalism: it is tenacious and its advocates p

are resourceful and tricky. Nationalism is capable of causing grave harm to the
interests of socialism and communism unless a consistent struggle is waged against
it.
How disastrous it may be for a country if the leadership of her ruling party slides p
down to nationalistic positions is clearly seen from the events which have taken
place in China since the beginning of the 1960s and the foreign policy she has been
pursuing over these years. Without interfering in China’s internal processes, the
CPSU and other fraternal Marxist-Leninist parties have sincerely sought to help the
Chinese Communists and the people of China to cope with the grave political crisis 397
that gripped the country, to help the Chinese leaders find the right road. But the
leaders of the Communist Party of China declined all offers of co-operation and
comradely discussion of controversial questions. Moreover, they demanded that the
fraternal Communist parties renounce their collectively worked out Marxist-Leninist
course of the world communist movement, and even went to the extent of insisting
that the CPSU should revise its Programme.
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In opposition to the internationalist policy of co-operation and mutual assistance of p

the socialist countries and their unity in the face of imperialism, Peking advanced its
splitting course and great-Han aims. It turned down co-ordinated and united actions
with other socialist countries in the struggle against imperialist aggression in
Indochina and other parts of the world.
The anti-Leninist policy of the Chinese leadership seriously impaired Soviet-Chinese p

relations. Trade and cultural ties between the two countries were curtailed. The
Maoists made slanderous charges against the CPSU and the Soviet state, accusing
them of "bourgeois degeneration" and of plans "to attack China”. The Chinese
extremists went to such lengths as to advance territorial claims to the USSR, and in
the spring and summer of 1969 provoked armed incidents on the Soviet-Chinese
border.
Peking adopted a hostile stand towards other socialist countries and their Communist p
and Workers’ parties, too. The Chinese leadership is continuing its attacks on 398
Marxist-Leninist parties accusing them of “revisionism”; it refuses to maintain
contacts and co-operate with them and conducts subversive, splitting activities in the
world communist movement. Against the background of China’s continuing hostility
towards the countries of the socialist community, her developing ties with the biggest
capitalist states stand out in particularly bold relief.
Following the acceptance of the People’s Republic of China to UN membership, her p

representatives have been spreading anti-Soviet slander from the rostrum of this
international organisation, in effect adopting the position of the more aggressive
imperialist circles.
The CPSU and other Marxist-Leninist parties have always been aware that Peking’s p
current policy plays into the hands of imperialism and reaction, that China’s refusal
to act jointly with the socialist countries and forces in a united antiimperialist front
makes it easier for imperialism to pursue its line of aggression and war.
Pledged to their internationalist duty and historical responsibility, the CPSU and the p
fraternal Communist parties during these years firmly upheld the principles of
Marxism-Leninism, worked for the cohesion of the world socialist community and
vigorously countered the petty-bourgeois, nationalistic theory and practice of Maoism.
And today, too, the CPSU resolutely follows this course. It is above all the efforts of
the CPSU, of all Marxist-Leninist parties that helped to considerably reduce and
neutralise the dangerous influence of Maoist theories and the CPC’s political course 399
on the world socialist system and the entire international communist movement.
At the same time, displaying restraint and patience, the CPSU has been working to p
bring the Communist Party of China back to Marxist– Leninist positions and
normalise Soviet-Chinese relations. Acting in the supreme interests of the Soviet and
Chinese peoples, the CPSU and the Soviet state are advocating a negotiated
settlement of outstanding issues and equal and mutually advantageous co-operation in
those fields where it is possible today.
The CPSU and the Soviet state are also prepared to restore normal relations with p
Albania, in the belief that this would benefit both states and the entire socialist
community.
The splitting activities of the Chinese leadership failed to stop the objective process p
of allround unification and consolidation of the forces of the world socialist
community. Socialist countries have solidified their ranks to an even greater extent to
make up for the temporary harm suffered by the world socialist system as a result of
the Maoists’ hostile activity.
Since the establishment of the world socialist system over a quarter of a century
ago and especially in recent years, the fraternal Communist parties and socialist
countries have accumulated vast experience and evolved numerous forms of political
interaction which have already proved their effectivity and practical value.
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***

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< [introduction.] Co-operation of the Fraternal >

Communist and Workers' Parties




CONSTRUCTION

Internationalism.and.Nationalism

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<< • >> Co-operation of the Fraternal 400

<•> Communist and Workers’ Parties

TOC Fraternal Communist and Workers’ parties are playing the leading role in p
strengthening the unity of the countries forming the socialist community.
Card
The CPSU is co-operating actively with the fraternal parties on a wide range of p
Text problems. InterParty co-operation is centred mainly on exchanging experience in
HTML socialist and communist construction, elaborating ways and means of deepening the
PS all-round friendly relations between the socialist countries, and co-ordinating their
PDF foreign policies. In its Report to the 24th CPSU Congress the Central Committee
noted that such cooperation had enabled the Communist parties of the socialist
T* countries jointly to work on the fundamental problems of socialist and communist
19* construction, find more rational forms of economic ties, collectively determine a
common line in foreign affairs and exchange views on ideological and cultural
### matters.
The co-operation of the fraternal Communist and Workers’ parties cements the p
world socialist community; it has a great positive impact on all aspects of the mutual
relations between socialist countries and influences world affairs.
Meetings and contacts between leading Party officials of the fraternal countries have p
developed into a tradition. In recent years they took place regularly and whenever
necessary. This furthers the mutual understanding between the parties, helps them to 401
find the most effective solutions for the problems that arise and precludes any
possible misunderstandings.
Alongside regular meetings and consultations between leading Party officials and p
representatives of Central Committees extensive contacts are maintained by local
organisations of the fraternal parties in which many thousands of Communists of the
socialist countries participate.
Co-operation in the sphere of ideology is an element of inter-Party links. Today, p

when imperialist circles are endeavouring to take advantage of the international
detente and the developing contacts between the peoples to organise ideological
subversion with the view to undermining socialism, it has become even more
necessary to struggle consistently against bourgeois ideologists, Right- and “Left”-
wing opportunists and the Chinese leaders’ anti-Leninist conceptions. It is just as
important that in their ideological co– operation fraternal parties should continue
jointly to elaborate problems of socialist and communist construction.
Today the ideological front is one of the most important sectors of the anti- p
imperialist struggle. Imperialism has set in motion a huge propaganda machinery and
is spending vast sums of money in its efforts to press back, weaken and undermine
socialism. Moreover, lately bourgeois ideologists have been acting with increasing
resourcefulness and cunning by proclaiming the need to “ improve”, “humanise” and
“liberalise” socialism, "defend the national interests" of individual socialist countries, 402
and by advancing other false slogans.
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Seeking to disunite the socialist countries and place them in opposition to each p
other, bourgeois propaganda exploits any deviations from Marxist-Leninist principles,
from the tested course of socialist construction.
The Communists of the socialist countries consider it their duty to follow the p
example set by Lenin and uphold communist ideology from principled positions, to
wage an uncompromising struggle against any attempts by world imperialism and its
Right- and “Left”-\ving revisionist fellow– travellers to attack the Marxist-Leninist
teaching and the time-tested laws of socialist construction. In this struggle the
fraternal parties have strong positions.
Their purposeful efforts have promoted a vigorous process of the ideological and p
cultural drawing together of the peoples of the socialist community, their cultural
enrichment and education in the spirit of proletarian internationalism. They are
conducting a broad exchange of cultural values, including books on all subjects,
newspapers and magazines, art exhibitions, theatrical performances, films and radio
and television programmes. Books are translated and languages are studied. All this
brings the cultural achievements of each of the fraternal peoples within reach of all
the countries of the socialist community, multiplies their spiritual wealth and lays the
foundations for a single culture of the world socialist system.
The common ideological and cultural wealth of free peoples, their spiritual p 403
rapprochement is a wellspring of the all-round development of the individual, which
is the purpose of the vast and many-sided work of building socialism and
communism.
The GPSU attaches great importance to the study and utilisation of the collective p
experience of building a new society. This was underlined by Leonid Brezhnev at
the 24th Party Congress. "Our stand,” he said, "is that the co– operation between the
fraternal countries should grow ever more diverse and gain in depth, that it should
involve ever broader masses of working people, and that each other’s concrete
experience should be more fundamentally studied at every level of state, social,
economic and cultural life.”
Promoting inter-Party co-operation the CPSU proceeds from the assumption that p
each Communist Party is fully independent in working out its programme and
domestic and foreign policies. Practice shows that any attempt by any Party to regard
its methods of socialist construction as the only correct ones and impose its views
on other parties breeds misunderstandings and conflicts, and in the final analysis
weakens the unity of the Communists. The co-operation of the fraternal parties is a
genuinely Marxist-Leninist co– operation of equal political organisations which
respect each other’s views and experience.
Needless to say, each Communist Party is fully entitled to uphold its views and its p
understanding of events and to criticise other parties. But such criticism should rest 404
on the principle of socialist internationalism and, therefore, be friendly, tactful and
constructive.
The CPSU consistently upholds this Leninist approach to inter-Party co-operation p

and always acts accordingly. The International Meeting of Communist and Workers’
Parties which took place in Moscow in 1969 spoke up in favour of such an
approach.
The historical community of socialist countries, the world socialist system, is
developing on the basis of the close co-operation of the fraternal parties. The CPSU
is doing everything to strengthen and develop the international alliance of
Communists, of Marxists-Leninists heading socialist and communist construction.
***

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Notes
< Internationalism and Nationalism The Warsaw Treaty Organisation >




CONSTRUCTION

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operation.of.Communist.and.Workers.Parties

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>>>
<< • >> The Warsaw Treaty Organisation 404

<•>
Established in 1955 as a military and political alliance of the socialist countries in p
TOC the face of the increasing danger and incessant threats of aggressive imperialist
circles, the Warsaw Treaty Organisation is playing an important role in enhancing the
Card
political co-operation and the defensive capability of the socialist community.
Text The supreme body of the Warsaw Treaty Organisation is the Political Consultative p
HTML Committee (PCC). At its meetings individual countries are represented by the General
PS (First) Secretaries of the Central Committees of the Communist parties and the heads
PDF of government. Each socialist country which is a member of the Warsaw Treaty 405
Organisation has one vote in the PCC.
T*
19* The Committee promotes the common interests of the socialist community and bases p
its activity on the principle of independence and sovereignty of the signatories to the
### Treaty. It holds periodic conferences, discusses and passes decisions on the key
problems concerning the strengthening of the defensive potential of the member
states, the organisation of the united armed forces and the improvement of their
fighting efficiency and political training.
Current problems of co-operation in foreign affairs are considered at conferences of p

foreign ministers of the Warsaw Treaty states or their deputies, and also in the
course of bilateral consultations, talks and exchanges of information.
Military co-operation within the framework of the Warsaw Treaty takes place under p
the general guidance of the Political Consultative Committee through the United
Command at whose disposal each member state places an agreed number of armed
forces. The Headquarters of the United Armed Forces is located in Moscow.
The Warsaw Treaty Organisation and its Political Consultative Committee have p
become a centre where the European socialist countries, its members, formulate
common policy on crucial international issues.
Whenever it proved necessary the leaders of the Warsaw Treaty countries convened p
a meeting of the Political Consultative Committee. At these meetings they discussed
and worked out common positions on crucial international issues and carried through 406
joint foreign policy actions in keeping with the obtaining situation.
The Warsaw Treaty made an important contribution to the solution of urgent p

political problems, and, first and foremost, to the strengthening of European security.
Just a few years ago it seemed impossible to achieve a detente on that continent, to
start work on the solution of ripe European problems. But the consistent, concerted
policy of the Warsaw Treaty countries, their persevering efforts eventually produced
positive results.
The proposals framed at the meetings of the Political Consultative Committee in p

Bucharest in 1966, in Budapest in 1969, in Moscow in 1970 and in Prague early in
1972 comprised an effective programme of struggle for turning Europe into a
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continent of peace and equal international cooperation.
The determination of the Warsaw Treaty countries to improve the European situation p
was manifested in their efforts to call an all-European security conference which if
successful could pave the way for a cutback in the armed forces stationed in Europe.
Working for the introduction of effective measures designed to bring about a detente p
in Europe, the Soviet Union and other socialist states naturally cannot agree to a
unilateral reduction of their defensive capacity. As they maintain revolutionary
vigilance socialist states continuously strengthen their armed forces which are
standing guard over the gains of socialism.
The interaction of the armed forces of the socialist states, their combat efficiency p 407
and armaments have considerably improved as a result of the adoption of collective
measures to perfect the military organisation of the Warsaw Treaty and a series of
joint military exercises conducted in the past few years which were unprecedented
both in scope and scale, precise execution, and quantity of weapons involved. Today
the military might of the Warsaw Treaty countries is capable of smashing any
aggressor.
The Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Co– operation and Mutual Assistance is a p

defensive agreement. The socialist states have repeatedly suggested to NATO that
both these organisations should be disbanded and replaced with a single system of
European security. But the Western powers declined to dissolve their military blocs.
In the absence of a collective European security system embracing West and East
European states, the Warsaw Treaty Organisation will continue to be a defensive
military alliance of socialist countries and the main force keeping in check all those
who may try to gamble irresponsibly with the destinies of the European peoples.
***

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< Co-operation of the Fraternal >

Communist and Workers' Parties




CONSTRUCTION

The.Warsaw.Treaty.Organisation

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<< • >> DEVELOPMENT 407

<•> OF THE SOCIALIST COUNTRIES

[introduction.]
TOC
Card The world socialist system came into being more than a quarter of a century ago. In p
this relatively short period the countries forming it have made great strides in their 408
Text development. They carried out fundamental socio-economic transformations covering
HTML a path which in other circumstances would have required many decades.
PS
PDF A quarter of a century ago most of the socialist countries were the scene of an
acute class struggle for power and were confronted with the crucial problem of
T* choosing the road of social development. Since then they have consolidated the
19* dictatorship of the proletariat and the socialist political and economic system, and
their Communist parties have become the recognised leaders of socialist society.
### normal
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< The Great Social Gains of the >

Peoples of the Socialist Countries

<< POLITICAL INTERACTION AND COMMUNIST PARTIES--- THE >>

UNITY OF SOCIALIST LEADING FORCE IN SOCIALIST
COUNTRIES COUNTRIES


CONSTRUCTION

Development.of.the.Socialist.Countries

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<< • >> The Great Social Gains 408

<•> of the Peoples of the Socialist Countries

TOC In the post-war years the Soviet Union and other socialist countries have made p
signal progress in all fields of political and economic activity, science and culture.
Card
The Soviet Union, having achieved the complete and final victory of socialism and
built a developed socialist society, has begun the construction of communism. Most
Text of the fraternal countries have laid foundations of socialism and many of them have
HTML started building a developed socialist society.
PS
PDF After winning power the working class and all working people have to solve many p
problems of which the biggest and the most important is the socialist reorganisation
T* and development of the national economy.
19*
History has proved that socialism can be built only through the socialisation of the p 409
### basic means of production, steady development of the productive forces and
improvement of the people’s material welfare on the basis of modern industry and
intensive agriculture. Only modern industrial and agricultural production and an
appropriate service industry can form the material and technical basis of a developed
socialist society. That was why industrial states (Czechoslovakia and the GDR),
industrial-agrarian (Poland and Hungary) and agrarian (as China, Bulgaria, Rumania
and Yugoslavia were in the past) had to launch economic construction, especially in
industry, immediately after the victory of the revolution. This was all the more urgent
also because the Second World War had undermined the economies of most of these
countries and they had to build a new life virtually from scratch.
Socialist social change paved the way for rapid economic growth of the fraternal p
states. Many formerly backward agrarian countries have now become advanced
industrial states which play an increasingly prominent role in the world.
The socialist countries owe their rapid development to the economic and political p
conditions created by the socialist revolution. The class composition of society
changed as a result of the socialist transformations. The capitalists and landowners
quit the political scene and only the friendly classes, the workers and peasants and
the working intelligentsia, remained.
In the course of socialist construction the working class rapidly enlarged and came p
to play an increasingly important role in society. In pre-war Poland, for instance, 410
there were just over a million workers; today her working class numbers more than
seven million. In Hungary the number of workers almost trebled.
The working class of the socialist countries is the most advanced and best organised p
detachment of the working people; it has justly become society’s leading and guiding
force.
In recent years the majority of socialist countries made further important progress in p
their development by completing the process of fundamental socialist changes in both
town and country. The working peasantry in most socialist states has turned from a
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class of small producers into a class of socialist working people engaged in large-
scale agricultural production at co-operatives or state farms. The bulk of former
artisans, handicraftsmen and merchants now work at producers’ co– operatives and
socialist enterprises.
The intelligentsia has also changed. The progressively-minded old intelligentsia has p
taken up socialist positions. A new, people’s intelligentsia appeared, and many former
workers and peasants have become prominent scientists, cultural workers, artists and
military leaders.
The socialist system made it possible to solve the national question, one of the most p
complicated issues in multinational states. Both large and small nations emerged on
the path of all-round development. This strengthened their friendship and closely
rallied them around the banner of proletarian internationalism.
Socialism has become rooted in the economy and everyday life, in the socio- 411
political structure of society and in the consciousness of the peoples. It has become
established firmly and for good in the countries of the socialist system.
***

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< [introduction.] Successes of Industrialisation >


COUNTRIES COUNTRIES


CONSTRUCTION

Great.Social.Gains.of.the.Socialist.Countries

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<< • >> Successes of Industrialisation 411

<•>
The experience of socialist construction in the fraternal countries once again p
TOC confirmed the correctness of Lenin’s words: "A large-scale machine industry capable
of reorganising agriculture is the only material basis that is possible for
Card
socialism." [ 411•* Industrialisation has indeed become the basis for all the major
social and technological changes in the national economy carried through by the
Text countries of the socialist system. Most of them used the accelerated development of
HTML industry as the main lever for promoting the growth of other branches of the
PS economy, training skilled personnel and augmenting the ranks of the working class.
PDF
In doing so each socialist country selected the forms and rates of industrialisation p
T* that best suited her domestic conditions and opportunities, level of economic
19* development, the available natural and labour resources and geographic features. The
Mongolian People’s Republic and the Republic of Cuba, for example, began
### industrialisation by setting up those industries which serviced agriculture and
processed its products.
As a result of industrialisation the industry of the socialist countries plays a decisive p 412
role in promoting economic development and living standards.
Important changes have taken place in the structure of industrial production of the p
fraternal countries. Industries manufacturing the means of production now account for
a bigger share in the gross industrial output.
About 75 per cent of the total production in the CMEA countries is industrial, and p
within the industry a half to three-quarters of the branches produce metal, equipment
and machinery, i.e., products on which the increase in the output of the means of
production depends.
In 1971 industrial production in Bulgaria was 39 times higher than prior to the war, p
in Czechoslovakia about eight times, in Hungary over 8.5 times, in the GDR over six
times, in the Mongolian People’s Republic over 15 times, in Poland more than 18
times and in Rumania almost 19 times.
From 1966 to 1970 industrial output of all CMEA countries increased 49 per cent. p
Their engineering, chemical and power industries are developing at a particularly
rapid pace. Their share in gross industrial output has risen considerably. The
engineering and chemical industries now account for 25–50 per cent, and in some
countries for even a greater portion of the total volume of industrial output. This
circumstance has improved the branch structure of industry and enhanced the
effectivity of the national economy of the socialist countries.
The CMEA countries are maintaining their fast rates of industrial growth in the p 413
current five-year plan period (1971–75). Bulgaria plans to increase industrial output
by 55–66 per cent, Czechoslovakia by 34–36 per cent, Hungary by 32–34 per cent,
the GDR by 34–36 per cent, the Mongolian People’s Republic by 53–56 per cent,
Poland by 48–50 per cent, and Rumania by 68–78 per cent. Seventy to 80 per cent
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of the growth of industrial production will be achieved as a result of higher labour

productivity. In order to accelerate technological progress priority importance is
attached to promoting the development of metallurgical, chemical and engineering
industries (electronics, electrical engineering, instrument-making, production of
forgeand-press equipment, etc.). The national economy is being electrified at a rapid
pace. Previously the rate of development of the power industry was somewhat slower
than overall industrial growth, but now it is the other way round. Several large power
stations were commissioned in the course of the past few years.
In two decades (1950–70) the output of electricity in the socialist countries p

increased more than sevenfold. The petrochemical industry is developing very rapidly
as a result of the construction of large oil refineries and petrochemical factories in
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary, Poland and Rumania.
A feature of the economic growth of the CMEA countries in recent years has been p
an increase in the rates of development of consumer goods industries.
The current stage is marked by intensive development of production based on a 414

continuous rise in labour productivity and technological progress. From 1971 to 1975
GMEA countries plan to attain an 85 per cent increase in the national income as a
result of a rise in labour productivity.
***

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< The Great Social Gains of the Socialist Reorganisation of >

Peoples of the Socialist Countries Agriculture


COUNTRIES COUNTRIES


CONSTRUCTION

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<< • >> Socialist Reorganisation of Agriculture 414

<•>
A house built half of concrete slabs or bricks and half of adobe or clay will p
TOC collapse before long. A new society, too, will not last if there is largescale socialist
industry in towns and small-scale individual commodity production in the
Card
countryside.
Text Socialist society must form a single whole. This means that besides socialising the p
HTML means of production in industry, it is necessary to reorganise agriculture along
PS socialist lines. Such reorganisation is an objective requirement of socialist
PDF construction, a regularity which has received fresh confirmation in the fraternal
countries.
T*
19* The majority of the socialist states have already carried through or in the main p
completed the socialist reorganisation of agriculture. In Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the
### GDR, Hungary, Mongolia and Rumania—members of CMEA—the socialist sector
accounts for 97 per cent of agricultural production. The Cuban peasantry is being
successfully transferred to the socialist path of development. In Poland and
Yugoslavia the socialist reorganisation of agriculture, due to a number of reasons, is
taking place at a slower pace.
Creatively applying the ideas set forth in Lenin’s co-operative plan, the fraternal p 415
Communist and Workers’ parties as a rule preferred to guide the peasantry onto the
socialist path without undue haste. Taking into account the traditions of private
landownership in these countries they began with the simplest forms of co-operation
(credit, consumer, and supply and marketing) and then went over to the higher form
—production cooperation. Co-operatives were established only when the peasants
came to see the advantages of collective farming through personal experience.
Although the majority of socialist countries were either wholly or predominantly

agrarian in the past, they had a very low level of agricultural development. There
was intensive agriculture only in some regions of Czechoslovakia and the GDR. The
economic policy of the Communist and Workers’ parties in the socialist countries is
designed to intensify agriculture, raise production and cut its costs. Allocations and
material and technical assistance to the countryside are being augmented and
mechanisation of agricultural labour and the application of fertiliser and the chemical
treatment of crops are being increased. Measures are being taken to strengthen the
co-operatives and state farms economically and organisationally and keep them
supplied with qualified personnel. The planning and management of agriculture are
being improved and the farmers’ incentives in raising agricultural production are
increasing.
***

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Level of the People


COUNTRIES COUNTRIES


CONSTRUCTION

Socialist.Reorganisation.of.Agriculture

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MAP
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<< • >> Rise in the Welfare 416

<•> and Cultural Level of the People

TOC Socialism’s aim is to promote the all-round development of the individual and p
satisfy his growing requirements. The socialist countries are solving this problem by
Card
securing a continuous rise in the people’s welfare and culture. They allocate
approximately 70–80 per cent of their national income for the purpose of satisfying
Text the people’s material and cultural requirements. The remainder goes to make up the
HTML accumulation fund, expand production capacities and build up necessary reserves.
PS
PDF The bulk of the accumulation fund is directed into the personal consumption fund as p
payment for labour. At the same time large sums are channelled into public
T* consumption funds which are expended on improving cultural facilities and services,
19* public health, social maintenance, education, science and culture.
### The People’s Republic of China is the only socialist state where the living standard p
is still very low. Grain, fats and textiles are rationed and other restrictions are still in
force there. This is a result of China’s former economic backwardness and the
adventuristic course of the leadership of the Communist Party of China which is
detrimental to the Chinese people’s vital interests.
The socialist countries have built up an effective health protection system with a p
large number of medical institutions, sanatoriums and rest homes. Medical service is
free of charge. In Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Hungary there are more doctors per 417
10,000 of the population than in the USA, Britain, France, Italy, the FRG or Japan.
A thoroughgoing cultural revolution is under way in the socialist countries where p

the masses are getting a better education, where literature, the theatre, music and the
fine arts have been brought within reach of millions of people, and where communist
ideology and morality are becoming increasingly widespread.
The development of public education stimulates the all-round cultural growth of the p
people. Primary education, and in some countries secondary education, is compulsory.
Free education is available to all working people and their children without
exception. This is ensured by the continuous increase in the number of all
educational institutions and the expansion of vocational training.
Many socialist countries have a greater proportion of schoolchildren and students p

than the advanced capitalist states. In the 1970/71 school year there were 188
students per 10,000 of the population in the USSR, 108 in Bulgaria, 78 in Hungary,
81 in the GDR, 101 in Poland, 117 in Yugoslavia, whereas in the 1969/70 school
year Britain had 87 students per 10,000 of the population, the FRG had 56, and Italy
78.
The number of theatres, cinemas, clubs and museums is increasing all the time; p
more books, newspapers and magazines are published and the radio broadcasting and
TV systems are developing.
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The growth of culture, which is socialist in content and national in form, takes
place on the basis of a critical reassessment of the cultural heritage, the assimilation 418
of all that is progressive and democratic in the past culture created by the preceding
generations, and through active perception and reflection of socialist life.
***

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< Socialist Reorganisation of Political Organisation of Society and >

Agriculture Forms of Managing Production


COUNTRIES COUNTRIES


CONSTRUCTION

Welfare.and.Cultural.Level.of.the.People

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<< • >> Political Organisation of Society 418

<•> and Forms of Managing Production

TOC The entire system of state bodies in socialist countries rests on organs of people’s p
representation. People’s (National) Assemblies are the highest bodies of power, and
Card
the local government bodies are people’s councils. They exercise full state authority,
are vested with the right to pass decisions on the most important state problems, and
Text are elected by universal and secret ballot.
HTML
PS The highest bodies of people’s representation elect either the Presidium of the p
PDF People’s ( National) Assembly or the State Council, the supreme collective body of
state power which is responsible and accountable to them. In addition to the highest
T* collective organs of state power, the Republic of Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the Korean
19* People’s Democratic Republic, Rumania, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and
Yugoslavia have the constitutionally established office of President (Head of State)
### who is likewise accountable to the supreme representative body. Local organs of
state power are regional, area, district and communal people’s councils.
People’s representative bodies form, elect or appoint organs of state administration, p

courts and procurator’s offices.
A very important role in rallying society along the lines of socialist reorganisation is p 419
played by People’s (National, Fatherland) Fronts guided by Communist and Workers’
parties. A People’s Front, which is a special form of an alliance of the working
class with the peasantry and the nonproletarian working people in town and country,
plays an important role in the political activity of the socialist countries. It promotes
the cohesion of the different classes and sections of the population and mobilises
them to accomplish the tasks of socialist construction.
The participation of the bodies of the People’s Front in state activity, in organising p
and conducting election campaigns and exercising public control over the state
machinery helps the fraternal Communist and Workers’ parties to develop socialist
democracy and enhance the political and labour activities of the people.
Essentially People’s Democracies were and are the states of the dictatorship of the p
proletariat. The main tasks of the socialist states are to conduct economic,
organisational and educational work, and ensure favourable external conditions for
socialist construction. The chief trend in the development of state life in the countries
of the socialist community is all-round deepening and improvement of socialist
democracy.
The entire activity of organs of state power and administration in the socialist p
countries is based on the principle of democratic centralism. In economic
management this principle is translated into life mainly with the help of a single
state plan.
Forms of production management in the socialist countries have their specific p 420
features. In most of them production is managed in a centralised manner according
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to branches, through corresponding ministries and other central bodies and state
economic (production) associations.
Of late economic management has become more complicated as a result of the p

increased magnitude of production and the changes that have taken place in its
structure. Production is becoming more concentrated as many countries set up large
production (economic) associations and combines. Much higher demands are made on
the quality of production and it is now on the agenda to raise it to the level of the
world’s highest standards. To achieve this it is necessary to devise new forms and
methods of economic planning and management on the basis of a deep scientific
analysis with due regard for the achievements of the scientific and technological
revolution.
Many countries are carrying out economic reforms embracing a wide range of p
economic, scientific and technical measures with the single aim of bringing the forms
and methods of economic management in line with the growing requirements of
socialist and communist construction. The socialist countries are improving planning
methods, achieving a correct combination of centralism in economic management
with economic independence of individual enterprises and industrial associations, and
are striving to make the most effective use of cost accounting and material incentives
to labour.
Industrial and agricultural production is managed not only by state bodies, but also p 421
by Party and trade union organisations, production conferences, factory councils,
workers’ self-management conferences, and so forth.
Practice shows that a combination of state management of production with diverse p

forms of the participation of the working people in management produces good
results and makes it possible to use the advantages inherent in the socialist system of
the economy more efficiently.
The 1969 International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties noted: "The
socialist world has now entered a stage of its development when the possibility
arises of utilising on a scale far greater than ever before the tremendous potentialities
inherent in the new system. This is furthered by evolving and applying better
economic and political forms corresponding to the requirements of mature socialist
society, which already rests on the new social structure.”
***

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< Rise in the Welfare and Cultural >

Level of the People


COUNTRIES COUNTRIES


CONSTRUCTION

Political.Organisation.and.Managing.Production

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<< • >> COMMUNIST PARTIES— 421

<•> THE LEADING FORCE IN
SOCIALIST COUNTRIES
TOC
[introduction.]
Card
Due to specific historical conditions some socialist countries have a multiparty

Text system, while others have only one party. In the USSR there is only one party, the
HTML CPSU, which guides all state and public activity. In the fraternal European countries
PS the socialist revolution followed a different course from that in the USSR. In these
PDF
countries broad associations of anti-fascist forces were formed in the course of the 422
national liberation struggle, and these associations—People’s ( National, Fatherland,
T*
Democratic) Fronts—included Communist, Social-Democratic, peasant and
19*
pettybourgeois parties and various social organisations.
###
***

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< Political Parties in Socialist >

Countries

<< DEVELOPMENT OF THE DECISIVE FACTOR OF >>

SOCIALIST COUNTRIES HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT


CONSTRUCTION

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MAP

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<< • >> Political Parties in Socialist Countries 422

<•>
When the Communists of the People’s Democracies adopted the course of socialist p
TOC reorganisation of society they were supported by a number of parties representing the
toiling peasantry, intelligentsia and petty-bourgeois sections of the urban population.
Card
At the same time bourgeois parties, primarily of the wealthy sections of the
bourgeoisie and the reactionary forces, opposed revolutionary changes and were
Text dissolved.
HTML
PS In the ensuing political struggle victory was won by the course of socialist p
PDF construction with the result that in some countries Communist and Social-Democratic
parties agreed to unite and to form a single Marxist-Leninist Party of the working
T* class.
19*
Having become convinced that the objectives of the Communists also corresponded p
### to their interests, democratic parties began to co-operate with the Communist parties.
In their programmes they approved the socialist path of development and recognised
the leading role of the Communists. These parties actively participate in socialist
construction, conducting their work primarily among the peasants, the intelligentsia
and certain sections of the urban population. They have representatives in parliaments 423
and local government bodies.
Poland, for example, in addition to the Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP), p
which unites Communists, also has the United Peasants’ Party and the Democratic
Party.
The United Peasants’ Party, the country’s second largest party, operates in the p
countryside, where it co-operates with the PUWP in building up intensive agriculture
and creating conditions for its socialist reorganisation. Its representatives hold more
than a quarter of the seats in the Sejm (Parliament) and its functionaries are
members of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers.
The Democratic Party carries on its activity mainly among the urban intelligentsia, p
office workers and artisans. It also has its representatives in the central and local
organs of power.
The German Democratic Republic has five parties: the Socialist Unity Party of p
Germany, which unites the country’s Communists, the Democratic Peasants’ Party
(an association representing in the main the interests of the peasants), the Christian
Democratic Union of Germany (association of Christian believers advocating peace
and progress), the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany ( representing progressive
intelligentsia and small merchants), and the National Democratic Party of Germany
(handicraftsmen, small merchants and former Wehrmacht officers who have broken
with their past).
The leading role in the GDR political system is played by the Socialist Unity Party p
of Germany.
p 424
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All political parties in the country co-operate under the slogan "Plan together, work
together, govern together" and form the National Front of Democratic Germany.
There is close fraternal co-operation between the Bulgarian Communist Party and p
the Bulgarian Agrarian People’s Union—the party of the peasants. Recognising the
leading role of the Communist Party, the Agrarian People’s Union participates with it
in resolving the fundamental problems of socialist construction in the country. The
Union vigorously encouraged co-operation of peasant households and the country’s
industrialisation. Now that agricultural co-operation has been completed the Union
continues to play an important role in the country’s political life and in socialist
construction. This party holds almost 25 per cent of seats in the National Assembly
and some of its representatives are members of the Government. The Union’s local
organisations closely co-operate with the Communists in all the most important fields
of human activity.
In Czechoslovakia in addition to the Communist Party which in the initial post-war p

years united the Communists and Social-Democrats, there are the Czechoslovak
People’s Party, the Czechoslovak Socialist Party, the Slovak Reconstruction Party and
the Slovak Freedom Party.
In Hungary and Rumania workers’ parties united into a single party, while petty- p
bourgeois and peasants’ parties have practically quit the political scene. Mongolia,
Cuba and Yugoslavia have a one-party system.
So, as a result of different historical conditions, some socialist countries have one 425
party, while others several. But in either case the existing political systems are
successfully building socialism because the Communist parties are their leading and
cementing force.
***

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< [introduction.] Leading Role of the Communist >

Parties




CONSTRUCTION

Political.Parties.in.Socialist.Countries

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<< • >> Leading Role of the Communist Parties 425

<•>
Marxist-Leninist parties are the leading political force behind all the social changes p
TOC in the socialist countries. In their aims, policies and social composition they are all
revolutionary parties of the working class, its vanguard. Their political activity is
Card
based on Marxist-Leninist theory.
Text By guiding the socialist reorganisation of the economy and culture, the Communist p
HTML parties have won lasting prestige among the working people and are the recognised
PS leaders of the people in socialist construction. The Communist parties unite the
PDF progressive and most active political and social forces of the people. In their
activities they rely in the first place on the working class and exert a profound
T* influence on all sections of the working people.
19*
The peoples of the socialist countries owe all their achievements in the p
### reorganisation of their social life to the consistent revolutionary activity of the
Communist parties which mobilised and united the efforts of the working people in
the struggle for socialism. The Communist parties initiate major state and social
measures. They are the inspirers and political organisers of economic development 426
and play a vastly important role in promoting the socialist social relations and in
moulding the new man.
It can be seen from the experience of the development of world socialism that p
correct, MarxistLeninist guidance by the Communist Party is decisive for socialist
and communist construction. This conclusion has been put on record by the 1969
International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties: "Practice has shown that
socialist transformations and the building of the new society are a long and complex
process, and that the utilisation of the tremendous possibilities opened up by the new
system depends on the Communist parties in the leadership of the state, on their
ability to resolve the problems of socialist development the Marxist-Leninist way.”
The influence of Marxist-Leninist Communist and Workers’ parties has grown p

immeasurably in the years of socialist construction. They have expanded their social
base and consolidated their proletarian core; the democratic principles of Party life
are developing and improving and the ideological and organisational unity of Party
ranks has become still stronger. The fraternal parties have become the recognised
leaders of society; they efficiently guide the entire course of socialist construction
and have the complete trust and unswerving support of the peoples.
The Communist and Workers’ parties of the socialist countries are mass parties. The
Bulgarian Communist Party has more than 700,000 members, the Communist Party
of Czechoslovakia 1,200,000, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany nearly two 427
million, the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party about 750,000, the Workers’ Party of
Korea 2,300,000, the Polish United Workers’ Party about 2,300,000, the Rumanian
Communist Party 2,200,000 and the League of Communists of Yugoslavia about
1,100,000. Since there are Party organisations in all towns and villages, at industrial
enterprises, on most state farms, agricultural co-operatives and in institutions, the
Communist and Workers’ parties are in a position consistently and vigorously to
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pursue their policy of building socialism in all spheres of life.
***

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Countries




CONSTRUCTION

Leading.Role.of.the.Communist.Parties

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<< • >> DECISIVE FACTOR 427

<•> OF HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

[introduction.]
TOC
Card The establishment of the world system of socialism is the main achievement of
social progress in our epoch: it plays a determining role in the progressive
Text development of humanity, in strengthening the forces of peace, democracy and
HTML socialism. Today there is no spot on the earth where the revolutionising influence of
PS the socialist countries has not made itself felt. Closely co-operating with the
PDF international working class and the national liberation movement, the socialist
community is conducting a large-scale offensive on imperialism.
T*
19* ***

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< Force of Example >

<< COMMUNIST PARTIES--- THE >>

LEADING FORCE IN SOCIALIST
COUNTRIES


CONSTRUCTION

Decisive.Factor.of.Historical.Development

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<< • >> Force of Example 428

<•>
The system of socialist states is a guarantee and the decisive force of the p
TOC revolutionary renovation of the world. How do the socialist states help the world
revolutionary movement? In the first place by force of example, by their successes in
Card
socialist and communist construction. Revolutionary creativity, such is the main force
with which socialism is changing the world. The developed, mature socialist society
Text which has been built in the Soviet Union, and successful socialist construction in
HTML other socialist countries are an inspiring example for other peoples, and the ideas
PS which have taken possession of the masses are developing into a material force.
PDF
The successes of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries have enabled all the p
T* peoples of the world to see the practical merits of the ideas for which the
19* Communists are struggling. Now the world can judge socialism not only by its
programmes and slogans, but also by the benefits it offers people. The socialist
### countries are building a society which is the prototype of the order under which the
whole of humanity will be living in the future, and are laying the foundations of a
new type of international relations. In all spheres of life—economic, political and
cultural—socialism demonstrates its advantages over capitalism.
“By the force of its example,” reads the Statement of the 1960 Meeting of p
Representatives of the Communist and Workers’ Parties, "the world socialist system
is revolutionising the thinking of the working people in the capitalist countries; it is 429
inspiring them to fight against capitalism, and is greatly facilitating that fight.”
Within a short historical period socialism abolished exploitation of man by man and p
national oppression, opened unprecedented opportunities for overcoming former
backwardness, promoting the rapid development of the productive forces and raising
people’s welfare and culture. Peoples have become convinced that only socialism
asserts genuine democracy and freedom of the individual, banishes wars from the life
of society and establishes lasting peace. Against the background of the successes of
the socialist countries it becomes even more obvious that capitalism, as a social
system, is incapable of solving the basic tasks facing humanity.
Comparing socialism and capitalism, many young national states choose the non-
capitalist path of development. They carry through political and economic reforms
utilising the experience of the countries forming the world socialist system. They
nationalise large capitalist enterprises, strengthen the public sector in the economy,
education, health protection and social maintenance. Drawing on the experience of
the Communist parties, progressive forces in a number of states establish political
organisations to guide the building of a new society and lead the workingpeople.
***

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Independence of the Peoples


COUNTRIES


CONSTRUCTION

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<< • >> Bulwark of Peace, Freedom 430

<•> and Independence of the Peoples

TOC The socialist system exerts a great influence on the national liberation movement. p
As a result of the consolidation of world socialism and its determined support and
Card
assistance, many formerly oppressed peoples have been able to throw off the colonial
yoke and win national independence.
Text
HTML Socialist countries actively co-operate with newly independent nations in political, p
PS economic and cultural fields.
PDF
There was a time when all, or nearly all, small states were obliged to stand together p
T* with the big imperialist states and join their military blocs and alliances. The
19* imperialists imposed their will on the weaker states, subjugated whole countries and
continents and unleashed wars almost unhindered. That time has gone for ever. True,
### imperialism still seriously hampers the establishment of equal relations between
countries and threatens their independence, but it finds it increasingly difficult to
pursue its course. The united forces of the socialist community deprive the
imperialists of the opportunity arbitrarily and with impunity to command the destinies
of the peoples.
The most convincing example of this has been the end of the war in Vietnam, the p
longest and bloodiest in the past decades. It was brought to an end in the first place
as a result of the courage and fortitude of the patriotic forces of Vietnam, as a result
of the mass heroism of the Vietnamese people and thanks to firm support on the part
of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries.
The historical significance of this victory is enormous and it will make itself felt to p 431
an even greater degree in the future. It is absolutely obvious that the US aggression
in Vietnam is more than just one of the biggest battles lost by imperialism and
colonialism. The outcome of the fighting in Vietnam undoubtedly mirrored the new
balance of forces on the world scene and the further weakening of imperialist
positions. In order to achieve a military victory the imperialists set a huge military
machine in motion. They resorted to mass extermination of the civilian population
and destruction of towns and villages, sacrificed tens of thousands of their soldiers
and expended almost $150,000 million, but all to no avail.
The course and the outcome of the struggle in Vietnam showed that with the p
support of the Soviet Union, other socialist countries and progressive forces within
the capitalist countries themselves, the freedom-loving peoples could successfully
hold their ground in the face of imperialist aggression.
Now it is up to the socialist countries and all progressive humanity resolutely to p

support the governments of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of
South Vietnam in their efforts to consolidate peace, secure the undeviating
observance of the Paris agreements and help the Vietnamese people to attain all their
national aspirations.
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Under the influence of the world socialist system peaceful coexistence of states with p
different social systems is becoming an increasingly reliable form of international 432
development. Principles of equality, independence, territorial integrity, mutual respect
and mutually advantageous co-operation are gaining firmer ground in international
relations thanks to the efforts of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries.
Relying on the socialist system many countries are now in a position to resist the
imperialists and pursue an independent course.
The peaceful, anti-imperialist policy of the socialist countries mobilises the forces of p
peace and progress throughout the world and rallies them in the struggle against
imperialism and war. This policy is winning increasing support as the peoples see
that it is the socialist states which advance the most progressive ideas for establishing
lasting peace in the world. It was the socialist states which proposed to put a stop to
the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and subsequently to outlaw them. They also
proposed general and complete disarmament, the dismantling of military bases on
foreign territories, and so forth.
The working-class and communist movement has developed and strengthened under p
the impact of the successes of the socialist countries. The achievements of the
peoples of the socialist community building a new life under the guidance of the
Communist parties enhance the prestige of the Communists throughout the world.
Examining the course of world development in recent years it is gratifying to note p

that it has been considerably influenced by the world socialist system, the force that
cemented and united all the
•
SHARE OF SOCIALIST COUNTRIES IN WORLD INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT (per 433
cent) about 3 about 10 about 20 about 27 about 40
499-1.jpg
1917
1937 1950 1955 1972 434
•
numerous detachments of anti-imperialist fighters, all the champions of peace and
progress. The socialist countries have enormously contributed to the achievement of
detente in Europe and the solution of many other world problems.
The world socialist system with its enormous economic and cultural potential is the p
chief material force, the foundation and bulwark of the contemporary revolutionary
process, so that it is only natural that its achievements have become a giant
accelerator of social progress.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union is fully aware of the historical p
responsibility which devolves on the USSR for the outcome of the world struggle
between socialism and capitalism. It regards communist construction in the USSR
not only as its internal task, but also as a great international task whose
accomplishment will benefit the entire socialist system and all progressive humanity.
By paving the way to communism the Soviet people facilitates and speeds up the
movement of other peoples towards this aim. In the course of communist
construction the forms of organisation of the new life are tested, difficulties and
ways of surmounting them discovered, and the best methods of work selected.
The interests of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries coincide with the
interests and aspirations of the overwhelming majority of mankind. By the force of
its example the socialist system is leading humanity towards the triumph of
communism.
***

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Socialism and Capitalism


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CONSTRUCTION

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<•> and Capitalism

TOC Economic competition is increasingly becoming one of the main forms of struggle p
between socialism and capitalism. The peoples appraise the merits of a social system
Card
primarily by its achievements in promoting economic development and raising the
people’s welfare and culture.
Text
HTML People prefer a system which will give them a better life and, in this sphere, i.e., in p
PS the sphere of material production, socialism is confidently moving towards a decisive
PDF victory over capitalism.
T* Socialism launched its economic competition with capitalism in unequal conditions. p

19* First, it had no experience in organising national economy, whereas capitalism had
developed and advanced as a social system over a period of several centuries.
### Second, socialism emerged in a semi– agrarian country which, moreover, was greatly
weakened by war.
On the eve of the First World War Russia’s output of pig iron and steel per head p
of population was one-eleventh, and of electricity one– seventeenth, that of the
United States. Nevertheless, the Soviet Union already in the period of its first
fiveyear plans manifested its incontestable advantages over capitalism and showed
that it could surpass it economically. While it took the United States. Germany and
Britain from 80 to 150 years to raise industrial production approximately 30-fold, the
Soviet Union did so in 30–40 years, including two decades covering the years of
wars against the foreign invaders and the periods of economic rehabilitation. 436
The time gained in the economic competition with capitalism is one of the most p
important factors of the successes of socialism and a guarantee of its future
victories. The changing correlation of forces on the world scene is being engendered
to an ever increasing extent by the fact that the economy of the Soviet Union and
the fraternal countries is the world’s most dynamic; its rates of development are high
and stable and promote a steady rise in the standard of living.
The socialist countries considerably surpass the capitalist countries in the rates of p
economic growth. In 1972 the industrial output of the socialist countries was 15
times greater than that produced on the same territory in 1937, while the capitalist
countries in this period increased their industrial output by 4.9 times.
If we compare the output of all socialist countries today with the output of the p
socialist countries in 1937 (i.e., the USSR and Mongolia) we shall see that their
industrial production has increased 30 times, while the industrial production of the
capitalist states in this period increased only 4.5 times. Between 1950 and 1970 the
CMEA countries increased their national income 4.8 times compared with the less
than threefold increase registered by the Common Market states. In 1972, the
industrial output of the CMEA countries was more than eight times higher than in
1950, while in the advanced capitalist states it increased only threefold. In this period
the agriculture of the socialist countries also developed at a faster rate than anywhere 437
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else in the world.
In 1937 the socialist countries accounted for approximately a tenth of the world p
industrial output; now their share is close on two-fifths. Industrial output of the
socialist countries is equal to nearly 70 per cent of that of the advanced capitalist
states. The CMEA countries alone account for approximately a third of the world
industrial output. The socialist countries now produce about one-third of the world’s
steel, cement, cotton fabrics, mineral fertiliser and tractors, more than a half of its
coal, grain and sugar beet and two-fifths of its cotton and milk.
Socialism’s advantages over capitalism are indisputable because the balanced p

development of socialist economy makes it possible scientifically to determine its
prospects and the direction of technical progress, organise the efficient use of
equipment and labour resources in the national economy and specialise and co-
operate production.
The spontaneous development of the capitalist economy gives rise to anarchy in p

production and a competitive struggle which lead to enormous losses of labour and
material resources. This manifests itself in crises, continuous underloading of
enterprises, unemployment, etc. Lately economic development in capitalist countries
has become even more unstable judging by the sharp decline in the rates of
industrial growth in the USA, Japan, Britain, the FRG and Italy, the aggravation of
the currency crisis and the intensification of the fight for raw materials sources and 438
commodity markets. Capitalism is undergoing the longest economic crisis in the past
thirty years. Losses caused by the underloading of production capacities in 1974 were
so great that they simply cannot be estimated. Socialist society, on the other hand,
thanks to its planned economy, has suffered no losses and is in a position to make
the most of its forces and wealth.
Between 1966 and 1970 the average annual industrial growth rates in the CMEA p
countries comprised 8.3 per cent as against 6.5 per cent in the Common Market
states and 3.3 per cent in the USA. In keeping with their five-year plans the CMEA
member countries in 1974 increased industrial production by over 8 per cent, while
the countries of the European Economic Community attained an increase of only one
per cent. Industrial production in the USSR rose 8 per cent, while in the United
States it dropped 0.6 per cent. In the past two decades the share of the CMEA
countries in the world industrial production has nearly doubled.
The high rates of economic growth in socialist countries and the mounting p
production of key industrial items inspire confidence that in the near future the
socialist states will surpass the world capitalist system in the gross volume of
industrial and agricultural production, too.
Already today the per capita industrial output in the world socialist system is higher p
than in the rest of the world, and it is moving towards achieving the goal of
catching up with and overtaking the advanced capitalist states in per capita 439
production.
Czechoslovakia, for example, has overtaken France, Italy, Sweden and Belgium in p
per capita industrial output and the USA, Britain and France in pig iron and cement
production. So far the socialist countries have not caught up with some of the more
advanced capitalist states in the output of electricity per head of population, but the
gap is swiftly narrowing. In this respect the USSR, thf. GDR and Czechoslovakia
have already overtaken France, Belgium, Italy and Japan, and the GDR is continuing
to be ahead of the FRG.
In some indices of production efficiency and the level of labour productivity the p
socialist countries are still behind the USA and a number of other highly advanced
capitalist countries. This is partly due to the fact that socialism has been creating
modern productive forces over too short a period. Yet, thanks to the faster rates of
growth of labour productivity this gap is closing, too.
The main point of the economic competition between the two systems is the welfare p
of the population, the distribution of material wealth. Concealing the fact that the
capitalist countries achieved a relatively high level of development largely through
exploitation of subjugated peoples, predatory wars, unequal trade and usurious loans,
bourgeois propaganda tries to make out that capitalism offers man the best conditions
of life. The facts, however, disprove this and show the incontestable advantages of
the socialist principle of distribution of material wealth.
In the United States 60 per cent of the national wealth belongs to one per cent of p 440
the population. Despite the relatively high average standard of life large groups of
the population (unemployed, low-paid farm labourers and Black workers) live in
extremely difficult conditions.
In the socialist countries the standard of life of working people is continuously p

rising, although in a number of indices they are still lagging behind the most
advanced capitalist countries. As regards health services and social maintenance,
development of culture and public education, the socialist countries are ahead of
them.
Thus, in the course of historical development socialism, as a socio-economic system, p

vividly demonstrates its advantages over capitalism.
CG CPSU General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev said at the 24th CPSU Congress: p
"The socialist world has given the communist and working-class movement
experience which is of tremendous and truly historic importance. This experience
shows: "Socialism, which is firmly established in the states now constituting the
world socialist system, has proved its great viability in the historical contest with
capitalism.
“The formation and strengthening of the world socialist system has been a powerful p
accelerator of historical progress which was started by the Great October Revolution.
Fresh prospects have opened up for the triumph of socialism all over the world; life
has provided confirmation of the conclusion drawn by the 1969 International Meeting
of Communist and Workers’ Parties that ’the world socialist system is the decisive 441
force in the anti– imperialist struggle’.
“The world socialist system has been making a great contribution to the fulfilment p
of a task of such vital importance for all the peoples as the prevention of another
world war. It is safe to say that many of the imperialist aggressors’ plans were
frustrated thanks to the existence of the world socialist system and its firm action.”
In their relations with the capitalist states, the socialist countries adhere to the policy p
of peaceful coexistence. They do not intend to prove the superiority of their social
order by armed force nor to impose socialism on anyone. The peoples of the socialist
countries also consider that all controversial international issues should be resolved
peacefully.
At the same time peaceful coexistence does not in the least mean that class p
reconciliation is possible between such different socio-economic systems as socialism
and capitalism. The exploiting classes in power in the capitalist countries will never
be reconciled with the fact that the order which exists in the Soviet Union and other
socialist states rejects everything on which capitalism rests. Not without reason the
exploiting classes view the successes of socialist society and its irrefutable
advantages over capitalism as a sentence passed on the capitalist system.
Being unable to overturn the world socialist system either militarily or p

economically, imperialism’s chieftains have launched a frenzied ideological campaign
against socialism. They go to all lengths to undermine the trust of the working 442
people of the socialist countries in socialist and communist ideals and embellish
capitalism, in order ideologically to disarm the peoples of the socialist countries.
Imperialist ideologists come forward with various conceptions and programmes of "
improving socialism" designed to make people believe in the possibility of a
"drawing together" of socialism and capitalism, and speculate on private– ownership
mentality, indifference to politics, national narrow-mindedness and other survivals of
the past in the consciousness of some people.
To promote these perfidious aims the imperialist states have a huge propaganda p
machinery with an extensive network of radio and TV stations, thousands of
newspapers and magazines, numerous publishing houses and other means of
ideological subversion.
The Communist parties and the peoples of the socialist countries are fully aware p
that the modern world has become an arena of a bitter and uncompromising class
struggle, a struggle between two ways of life, two ideologies, a struggle for people’s
minds and hearts. Behind these opposing ideologies are opposing interests and
objectives. It is clear, therefore, that peaceful coexistence between communist and
bourgeois ideologies is inconceivable. This being the case the Communist parties
consider that one of their most important tasks is to fight against imperialist ideology
and the survivals of the past in the minds of people.
The Communists are resolutely upholding their ideas because only socialist ideology
corresponds to the essential requirements of society’s progressive development. 443
Socialist ideology alone can fully express the interests and aspirations of the working
people, their irresistible desire to build communism, the most just and perfect
society. Socialist ideology is standing on firm positions for behind it is the
unconquerable truth of life.
***

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Independence of the Peoples


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CONSTRUCTION

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<< • >> Assistance to Developing Countries 443

<•>
Pledged to the Marxist-Leninist principles of proletarian internationalism, socialist p
TOC countries place their economic and military might and their political prestige at the
service of peace and social progress. By restraining imperialism’s aggressive
Card
aspirations they effectively help the peoples fighting for national and social liberation
and furnish them extensive moral, political and material support, including aid in
Text weapons. Such support and aid has been and is being made available to the peoples
HTML of Vietnam, the Arab states and many other countries. The young national states
PS regard the world socialist system as their true and dependable defender against
PDF imperialist encroachments.
T* Only a powerful economic base can ensure durable political independence. Bearing p
19* this in mind the socialist community helps the young national states to build up and
develop their national economy, throw off the oppression of imperialist monopolies
### and make good their economic lag. The economic ties between the socialist countries
and the developing states are strengthening from year to year: foreign trade is
expanding, economic, scientific and technical assistance is increasing and credits are 444
granted on favourable terms.
The Soviet Union, for example, trades with 70 developing states in Asia, Africa and p
Latin America, supplying them with machines and equipment, raw materials and fuel.
Socialist countries help the developing states in building industrial enterprises and p
other projects, in designing and prospecting. Sixty developing Asian, African and
Latin American countries are building more than 2,000 industrial enterprises,
installations and other projects with the economic and technical assistance of the
CMEA countries.
In contrast to the imperialist powers who found it advantageous to keep their p

colonies and semicolonies economically backward and dependent, socialist countries
are helping young independent states build up their industry and train their own
specialists. They sell them equipment and machines necessary to carry through
industrialisation. More than two-thirds of the economic assistance of the socialist
countries is channelled into industrial development.
An important aspect of the socialist community’s economic and technical assistance p

is that it promotes the establishment and expansion of the state sector in the
developing countries. This creates fabourable conditions for promoting the growth of
the productive forces in these countries, helps them solve economic problems and
strengthens the positions of the national economy in its struggle against capitalist
monopolies.
At present the Soviet Union is assisting developing states in building more than 700 p 445
industrial and other projects.
With Soviet assistance India has already built or is building more than 60 large p
industrial enterprises, farms and educational institutions, including iron and steel
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works in Bokaro and Bhilai, a heavy engineering plant in Ranchi and a heavy
electrical equipment factory in Hardwar.
In the Arab Republic of Egypt 80 industrial enterprises and other projects have been p
built and put in operation with Soviet assistance. Egyptian and Soviet specialists and
workers built the High Aswan Dam, one of the largest in the world.
The Soviet Union is extending large-scale economic and technical assistance to p

Algeria, Republic of Guinea, Iran, Iraq, Mali, Syria and other countries. The GDR,
Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Rumania and Yugoslavia are also
assisting developing states.
Socialist countries grant the young national states big loans and credits (usually p
long-term) on favourable terms. The Soviet Union, for example, has granted Algeria
a long-term credit to finance the construction of an iron and steel works. Large
credits have been extended to developing countries by Czechoslovakia, Poland and
Yugoslavia. The total credits granted by the socialist community amount to more than
4,500 million rubles. The socialist countries admit to their educational institutions
young people from developing countries and train specialists for different branches of
the economy and culture.
In these circumstances the imperialist states can no longer employ brutal and 446
undisguised forms of colonial exploitation. In some cases they are compelled to
reduce interest rates on credits, prolong repayment terms, and so forth. Consequently,
the socialist system deals a telling blow at the imperialist neo-colonialist policy.
***

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< Economic Competition Between The World Proletariat Supports the >
Socialism and Capitalism Socialist System


COUNTRIES


CONSTRUCTION

Assistance.to.Developing.Countries

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<•> the Socialist System

TOC The Soviet Union and other countries of the socialist system embody the dream of a p
working people’s promised land. Now the international proletariat has such a land.
Card
The peoples of the socialist countries are erecting the edifice of a new world on vast
territories in Europe and Asia, and in Cuba. The socialist system is not only an
Text inspiring example for the part of humanity which is living under capitalism; it is also
HTML a mighty material and ideological force which greatly facilitates the struggle for
PS peace, democracy and socialism. That is why the international working class
PDF cherishes and defends the socialist community as the chief base of the world
revolutionary movement.
T*
19* It was only natural that the aggression of US imperialism against the Democratic p
Republic of Vietnam produced a great wave of world-wide indignation. Together
### with other democratic sections of working people, the working class in capitalist
countries organised formidable political demonstrations in support of the Vietnamese
people. Dockers and seamen refused to load weapons to be used in the war against 447
Vietnam and many countries furnished the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
economic and military aid. The working class and other anti-imperialist forces
formed a powerful front of struggle against US aggression which enabled the
Vietnamese people not only to hold their ground but also to be victorious.
The international proletariat is displaying special concern for the Republic of Cuba. p
"Hands off Cuba,” demand the workers, peasants and democratic intelligentsia in
reply to the imperialists’ economic blockade and military provocations against Cuba.
This slogan is supported by the democratic forces of Latin America, the United
States, Canada, Western Europe and the peoples of the developing countries.
The world proletariat greatly values the GDR, the first German socialist state which p
has ushered in a new era in the life of the German people. The efforts of reactionary
Western circles to eliminate the socialist gains of the German people got a powerful
rebuff from both the socialist countries and broad democratic forces throughout the
world. As a result of the persistent efforts of the working people of the GDR and
the active support of these efforts by the world socialist community, the imperialist
blockade of the GDR was pierced and the socialist state of the German people
received international recognition.
Supported by progressive people throughout the world the internationalist unity of p

the socialist countries and the world working class is developing and gaining in
strength.
There are still many problems to solve and difficulties to overcome. But the most 448
important thing is that the majority of the socialist countries, having built lasting
foundations for the new system, are now shifting to the construction of a developed
socialist society. And however difficult the internal and external problems of the
socialist community and its individual members may seem, they do not determine the
image of world socialism. It is determined by the steady growth of the economic
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potential and the socio-political maturity of the socialist countries, their advance
towards socialism and communism, their mounting desire for political unity and all-
round co-operation.
***

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COUNTRIES


CONSTRUCTION

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<< • >> CHAPTER VII 449

<•> TRANSITION TO COMMUNISM—
THE PATH OF MANKIND’S
TOC DEVELOPMENT

Card
THE CONTEMPORARY EPOCH—
THE EPOCH OF TRANSITION
Text
HTML FROM CAPITALISM TO SOCIALISM

PS The Essence of the Epoch Ushered

PDF in by the October Revolution

T*
19* In the first chapter we mentioned the fact that in its historical development mankind p
passed through a series of successive stages: the primitivecommunal, the slave-
### owning, the feudal and the capitalist systems. The third chapter dealt with the new
era which was opened in the history of the peoples of Russia and simultaneously in
the history of the whole of mankind on November 7, 1917.
In those glorious days Russia launched the construction of a new society, thus p
bringing humanity on to the path of abolishing the exploiting system and establishing
socialism throughout the world. The transition from capitalism to socialism began on
a world-wide scale.
Today two main forces, socialism and capitalism, are standing in opposition to each p
other. Their struggle, their competition, has embraced all spheres of human activity.
In the first place they are competing in the spheres of economic development and the
scientific and technological revolution, and also in science and education, health 450
protection, living standards and other fields. In this competition socialism is steadily
building up strength and improving its positions. Capitalism, on the other hand, is
declining; it is losing its positions and its sphere of domination is shrinking.
The contention between world socialism and world capitalism, the continually p
deepening worldwide struggle between the forces of socialism, peace and democracy,
on the one hand, and the forces of imperialism, reaction and aggression, on the
other, is called the contemporary revolutionary process. Clearly it is a continuation of
the revolutionary movement of the past epochs, i.e., of the age-old struggle of the
masses for social justice and freedom for the people of labour. At the same time it is
a qualitatively new stage of this struggle, one at which the ideals of the working
people are translated into reality as the world socialist revolution launched by the
October Socialist Revolution in Russia continues to develop successfully. It can be
said, therefore, that the worldwide socialist revolution constitutes the substance of the
contemporary revolutionary process.
Since the October Revolution this process has passed through several stages in its p
development each of which was characterised by society’s advance from capitalism
to socialism.
At the first stage, capitalism, as a result of the victory of the October Socialist p
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Revolution, lost its former undivided world supremacy, with the emergence of a
new, socialist system, which is continuously developing and gaining in strength.
Socialism, which prior to 1917 was only a theory inspiring revolutionary workers to p 451
fight against capital, after the October Socialist Revolution became a real, living and
rapidly developing society, the practical cause of millions of people. In an
unprecedentedly short historical period the socialist system raised the country from
age-old backwardness to the heights of modern social, industrial, scientific and
cultural development. All this multiplied the attractive force of socialist ideas and
under their influence the revolutionary movement of the world working class
increased in scope and scale.
Having emancipated the numerous nations and nationalities of former tsarist Russia, p
the Great October Revolution gave a mighty impetus to the national liberation
struggle of the colonial peoples. The crisis of the colonial system of imperialism
began after 1917. Capitalism sustained a blow of tremendous force which sharply
exacerbated its internal contradictions and accelerated its decline and stagnation.
Needless to say, capitalism did all it could to consolidate its internal position and p
even resorted to terroristic forms of dictatorship of the monopolies (nazism in
Germany, fascism in Italy). Imperialism waged ruthless colonial wars in order to
suppress the liberation movement. But all to no avail. Internal objective
contradictions of the capitalist system continued their destructive work. Their effect
was intensified by the successes of socialism which was demonstrating its superiority
first and foremost by the fast and stable rates of economic development in the 452
USSR. Between the First and Second World wars capitalism experienced further
severe political, economic and social upheavals, the heaviest of which were caused
by the world economic crises of 1929–33 and 1937–38.
The second stage of the development of the contemporary revolutionary process is p

connected with the Second World War and its results. The victory of the Soviet
Union and the anti-Hitler coalition over fascism and nazism led to a rapid growth of
democratic and revolutionary forces throughout the world. The peoples of a number
of European and Asian countries cast off the capitalist yoke and established People’s
Democracies choosing the socialist road of development. This meant that the sphere
of capitalist supremacy became still narrower, and socialism, which developed into a
world system, became a major factor of international life.
At the same time the colonial system began to fall apart. A very important role in p
this was played by the victory of the people’s democratic revolutions in China,
Korea and Vietnam and the added stimuli it gave to the struggle of other peoples in
Asian and African countries. India, Indonesia and the countries of former French
Indochina demanded independence, forcing desperately resisting colonialists to retreat.
Serious changes also took place in the life of the capitalist states themselves. The p
influence of the working class and its vanguard—the Communist parties—increased.
Drawing their lesson from the war against fascism, the people kept a sharp eye on 453
the manoeuvres of the reaction and more than once frustrated its attempts to restore
the fascist order in one or another country.
As a result of all these changes the balance of forces in the world turned p
substantially in favour of democracy and socialism, further deepening the internal
contradictions of the capitalist system.
Imperialism and above all the USA, capitalism’s chief country and its bulwark, p
desperately tried to alter the course of events, to hinder the rapid growth of socialism
and suppress the progressive forces in the capitalist countries.
For this purpose it launched the cold war and set up a system of aggressive military p
blocs, including NATO in Europe and North America, and SEATO in Southeast
Asia. The imperialist strategists proclaimed a policy of "rolling socialism back”. But
the socialist camp steadily gained in strength in spite of the attempts to undermine it.
Neither did the large-scale anti-communist and anti-labour campaigns in the capitalist
countries produce any results. The class struggle continued to expand.
New and exceptionally important events took place in the world at the end of the p
1950s and the beginning of the 1960s. It was in those years that the Cuban
revolution, the first socialist revolution ever to take place in the Western Hemisphere,
ended in victory; it was in those years that world socialism achieved such significant
and striking gains as the launching of the world’s first sputnik and the world’s first
manned orbital flight, both carried out by the Soviet Union; it was in those years that 454
tens of Asian and African nations smashed the fetters of colonialism and many new
independent states came into being. Finally, despite counter-measures undertaken by
proprietors and governments subservient to them, class battles in the capitalist
countries entered a new stage, assuming much greater proportions than ever before in
the post-war history of the working class.
All this signified that the contemporary revolutionary process entered its third stage,
which, and this is most important, did not set in as a result of war, but in the course
of peaceful coexistence and competition between the two systems. This circumstance
exposed the myth long circulated by the bourgeoisie and the “Left”-wing revisionists
in the working-class movement, namely that socialism was a system which only war
could call to life. It proved that the Communists correctly assert that socialism is
bound to triumph in any conditions because it has indisputable advantages over
capitalism which is doomed to extinction by its own vices.
***

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< Imperialism's Futile Attempts to >

Adapt Itself to New Conditions

<< DECISIVE FACTOR OF REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT >>

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORKING CLASS

<<< CHAPTER VI -- THE WORLD >>>

SOCIALIST SYSTEM

Essence.of.Epoch.Ushered.in.by.October.Revolution

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<< • >> Imperialism’s Futile Attempts to Adapt Itself 454

<•> to New Conditions

TOC In our day social progress is developing at an ever increasing pace. p
Card Imperialism has sustained major setbacks in the recent decades. Besides losing p
world supremacy it has also come up against the powerful socialist system whose
Text influence in many spheres is much greater than that of monopoly capital. At the 455
HTML same time wherever capitalist relations are still predominant, imperialism’s positions
PS are coming under the mounting attacks of the working class, the peasantry, the
PDF intelligentsia and even the urban petty bourgeoisie. On the whole the balance of
forces in the world is becoming less and less favourable for the capitalist system.
T*
19* Naturally, the successes of the forces fighting for radical reorganisation of society p
are causing modern imperialism to fight back with mounting fury.
###
Imperialism with its huge production machinery, including a military-industrial p
complex, is still a powerful adversary; it has large, well-equipped armies and a
ramified system of propaganda directed at ideologically brainwashing the people. All
this is used against the forces of socialism, against the working people.
Yet, from their own bitter experience, imperialist politicians know that they will p
never gain ascendancy in the struggle against socialism whose might is increasing at
an ever faster pace. Searching for a way out of the situation modern imperialism
manoeuvres; it tries to be more flexible, changes its strategy and tactics and resorts
to more refined methods and forms of struggle. Such are its chief features today.
This conclusion reached by the 24th CPSU Congress is supported by Marxists-
Leninists throughout the world.
In this connection the CC CPSU Report to the Congress pointed out: "The features p
of contemporary capitalism largely spring from the fact that it is trying to adapt itself
to the new situation in the world. In the conditions of the confrontation with 456
socialism, the ruling circles of the capitalist countries are afraid more than they have
ever been of the class struggle developing into a massive revolutionary movement.
Hence, the bourgeoisie’s striving to use more camouflaged forms of exploitation and
oppression of the working people, and its readiness now and again to agree to partial
reforms in order to keep the masses under its ideological and political control as far
as possible. The monopolies have been making extensive use of scientific and
technical achievements to fortify their positions, to enhance the efficiency and
accelerate the pace of production, and to intensify the exploitation and oppression of
the working people.”
Bourgeois propagandists and scholars even maintain that contemporary capitalism p

has changed to such a degree that it has ceased to be capitalism. Obviously, they
want to “prove” that revolutionary struggle is no longer necessary, that the capitalist
system is “automatically” becoming harmless to the working people.
This is not true. Capitalism has not changed its nature. It is the selfsame exploiter p
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/7.1.2-Imperialisms.Attempts.to.Adapt.to.New.Conditions[2012-12-25 2:34:54]
system alien to the working people.
A characteristic feature of contemporary capitalism is the gigantic growth in the p

concentration of capital, i.e., the accumulation of the nation’s wealth in the hands of
a steadily narrowing group. Sixty families in the USA, 100 multi-millionaires in the
FRG and 200 families in France are the real masters of these countries. Modern
monopoly capitalism is the super-exploiter which oppresses the entire nation. 457
Furthermore, it is developing more and more into state-monopoly capitalism. This p

means that the power of the monopolies and the power of the state have merged into
a single mechanism controlled by capitalist magnates.
The monopolies use the state primarily for their own enrichment. The state places p
advantageous orders with them and reduces their taxes (all, of course, at the expense
of the working people whose tax burden is increasing). The state subsidises industrial
enterprises which have become unprofitable to private capital or are in need of large
capital investments (e.g., railways and coal mines), and exploits them in the interests
of the monopolies.
At the same time imperialism with state assistance tries to attenuate the deep p
contradictions undermining the capitalist system. The state carries through measures
regulating the economy in order to overcome the anarchy of production, avert
economic crises or at least make them less damaging, and ensure more or less steady
rates of economic growth. The successes of socialism in the competition with
capitalism force the latter to pay more and more attention to the "state of health" of
its economy.
Monopoly capitalism also speculates on the scientific and technological revolution p

which has brought about substantial changes in the industrial structure. New
industries—electronic engineering, atomic power engineering, rocket production and 458
others—have been established. This has called for enormous capital investments and
to a certain extent livened up production.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that capitalism uses scientific and technical p

achievements chiefly for the needs of the war industry. Military allocations have
reached unprecedented figures. Over the past few years NATO has been expending
almost $10,000 million a month or almost $330 million daily on war preparations. In
the past five years the USA spent about $500,000 million on military needs. Another
important reason for such heavy outlays has been the desire to “envigorate” the
economy and secure its faster and more even development.
It follows that despite its efforts to adapt itself to the new situation, capitalism does
not change its essence. That is why neither by manoeuvring nor by any other means
will capitalism succeed in ridding itself of its chief ailments. The CC Report to the
24th CPSU Congress made the point that "adaptation to the new conditions does not
mean that capitalism has been stabilised as a system. The general crisis of capitalism
has continued to deepen."
***

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< The Essence of the Epoch Ushered The Crisis of Capitalism Is >
in by the October Revolution Deepening

<< REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT >>

OF THE WORKING CLASS


SOCIALIST SYSTEM

Imperialisms.Attempts.to.Adapt.to.New.Conditions

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<< • >> The Crisis of Capitalism Is Deepening 458

<•>
What is a general crisis of capitalism? There are economic crises which now and p
TOC then shake the economy of capitalism, and there are political crises when the struggle
of the classes in one or another state results in an explosion. The general crisis of 459
Card
capitalism embraces its economy, policy and ideology. It is not a transient affliction,
but a chronic, steadily progressing disease, characterised by such a deep exacerbation
Text of all the contradictions of capitalism that the latter is no longer able to maintain its
HTML sway over the nations, which one after another sunder their chains and take the wide
PS road of socialism. The general crisis of capitalism is an historic period of the
PDF weakening and collapse of the capitalist system and the victory of the socialist
system.
T*
19* At each successive stage of its development the general crisis of capitalism p
manifested itself in diverse forms. Its most significant manifestation in our day is the
### mounting economic instability of the capitalist system. Having accelerated the process
of socialisation of production, state– monopoly capitalism has exacerbated the
contradiction between the social character of modern productive forces and private
capitalist relations of production. Neither was it an accident that in spite of all its
efforts to regulate the economy, capitalism suffered three major crises in the post-war
period (1948–49, 1957–58 and 1969–71). The fourth and biggest post-war crisis
broke out in 1974 and is still continuing.
In 1967 and 1968 a monetary crisis descended on the capitalist system. Some p
capitalist states devalued their currency more than once. The US dollar, which for
many years “guaranteed” the stability of the bourgeois system of international
accounts, was devalued in December 1971 and February 1973. But the capitalist
monetary systern has been unable to regain its former stability, and exchanges in all 460
Western countries are in a state of constant fever.
Modern technical means make it possible to give all of humanity a prosperous, p

comfortable life. But capitalism uses scientific and technological progress as an
instrument of still more brutal exploitation of the working people, while the
introduction of scientific and technical achievements leads to a growth of
unemployment. In the beginning of 1975 there were more than 12 million
unemployed in advanced capitalist countries. In February that year the number of
unemployed in the USA was estimated at eight million, and unemployment is still on
the upsurge. At the same time millions of peasants, farmers and small urban
proprietors are forced into bankruptcy.
The further aggravation of the general crisis of capitalism also reveals itself in the p
intensification of economic and political contradictions between the capitalist
countries. Capitalism’s postwar history shows that the law of uneven economic and
political development of capitalist countries formulated by Lenin continues to operate
with unrelenting force. In the first post-war years the USA took advantage of the
weakened positions of capitalist Europe and Japan to establish almost complete
supremacy over the economy of the capitalist world. With time, however, the
situation changed. The economic development of the USA’s rivals increased sharply
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/7.1.3-The.Crisis.of.Capitalism.Is.Deepening[2012-12-25 2:34:58]
and its share in world production and trade began to decline. The competitive
struggle became still more acute.
In its search for a way out of the difficulties the monopoly capital turned to new p 461
methods in dividing and recarving markets and spheres of influence. For instance, as
far back as the 1950s a closed state-monopoly group—the Common Market—was
formed in Europe. At first it consisted of the FRG, France, Italy, Belgium, the
Netherlands and Luxemburg, which were later joined by Great Britain, Denmark and
Ireland. And, of course, the monopolies of these countries benefited enormously.
They acquired temporary additional stimuli for industrial development and particularly
foreign trade. At the same time, however, they came up against fresh difficulties and
problems. The trade war between the Common Market and the other capitalist
countries became more vicious, and rivalry within the Common Market itself is just
as ruthless.
Nor have the monopolies in other parts of the world, especially in Asia, Africa and p
Latin America, have ceased to fight one another. Acting in a united front against the
working-class movement and national liberation revolutions capitalists in the
economically advanced countries are at the same time continuing to fight between
themselves for influence in various parts of the world, for raw materials sources,
chiefly oil, and rare and non-ferrous metals, and for spheres of investment.
The main centres of imperialist rivalry became clearly defined by the beginning of
the 1970s: they are the USA, Western Europe (chiefly Common Market countries)
and Japan. The economic and political struggle between them is becoming more and 462
more intense and is characterised by such methods as the ban imposed by US
official authorities on the import of a steadily growing list of commodities from
Europe and Japan, the attempts of the European countries to limit the influx of US
capital and acute monetary conflicts.
***

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Adapt Itself to New Conditions Capitalist Countries




SOCIALIST SYSTEM

The.Crisis.of.Capitalism.Is.Deepening

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<< • >> Growth of Political Reaction 462

<•> in the Capitalist Countries

TOC The general crisis of capitalism embraces not only the economy. Modern capitalism p
lacks internal stability and is subject to frequent upheavals in the political sphere,
Card
too. This is evidenced primarily by the fact that imperialism is clearly losing its
ability to rule by the old, so-called tested methods.
Text
HTML When the bourgeoisie was rising to power and fought against the feudal lords its p
PS slogans were liberty, equality, fraternity, i.e., the slogans of bourgeois democracy.
PDF But the transformation of capitalism from a society of free competition into
imperialism wrought a sharp change in its policies. Promotion of reaction,
T* persecution and brutal suppression of revolutionary and democratic forces became the
19* main political line of the imperialist states; fascism, the most flagrant, open and
terroristic dictatorship of the monopolies, came into being.
###
But the peoples of the world, those of the Soviet Union in the first place, dealt p
fascism a crushing blow in the Second World War. Having seen for themselves that 463
fascism spells war, death and destruction, and suppression of the rights and liberties
of man, the peoples resolutely oppose any fascist trends in politics. Suffice it to
recall the heroic battles of the French working class and all French democrats to
thwart a fascist coup which reactionary military circles were preparing in the 1960s,
and the selfless struggle of the Italian working people against neo-fascist sorties.
In such circumstances imperialism acts more cautiously, often camouflaging p

dictatorial methods of government with parliamentary systems devoid of democratic
substance. It also resorts to other methods to disguise and embellish the antipopular,
exploitative character of the bourgeois system. But this does not alter the basic
political tendency of imperialism. The monopolies are still intent on destroying or at
least on curtailing to the greatest possible extent the democratic rights of the people
and depriving them of elementary freedoms. Many democratic organisations are
outlawed and, therefore, forced to go underground, and thousands of fighters for the
cause of the working class and peace are thrown in prisons.
The political crisis of the contemporary imperialist bourgeoisie is accompanied by a p

deepening crisis of bourgeois ideology. What is meant by the crisis of bourgeois
ideology?
For many decades the ideologists of capitalism maintained that private property was p
inviolable and that capitalism was eternal. In the past several decades the world has
found that this proposition was false. A third of mankind now lives without private 464
property, without capitalism and is much better off than prior to the abolition of
capitalist order.
Many bourgeois ideological trends are still trying to prove the alleged superiority of p
the white man and claim that white people are destined to bring civilisation to Asian
and African countries. But bourgeois “civilisers” owned colonies for centuries, and
what did they implant there? Poverty, oppression and ignorance. Only abolition of
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colonial oppression has opened the road to freedom and modern civilisation before
the peoples of Asia and Africa.
Finally, many bourgeois theories assert that war is man’s natural state and that p
peace is but respite between wars. Such theories are obviously designed to justify
imperialist policy and aggressive wars. War, however, is a natural state only for the
exploiting system. The experience of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries
convinces the peoples of the world that the new, highest social system—communism
—will rid humanity of the terrible scourge of war.
Thus, life itself has overturned and disproved all the principal premises of bourgeois p
ideology. The gap between bourgeois ideology and real life is widening all the time
making this ideology increasingly anti-popular and reactionary.
The main aim of modern bourgeois ideology is to fight communism. Therefore, anti- p
communism is its principal trend. Anti-communism has also become the most
important trend of the policy of bourgeois states. Anti-communist ideology 465
misrepresents the Marxist-Leninist teaching, vilifies the socialist social system,
falsifies the communist policy and tasks and justifies the persecution of democratic
peace-loving forces and organisations. The imperialist reaction is concentrating its
main efforts against the Soviet Union in the hope of discrediting its historical
achievements and slandering the experience of the Soviet people’s struggle for
communism. Anti-Sovietism is the cornerstone of modern anti-communist policy and
ideology.
Anti-communism is one of the most vivid manifestations of the crisis of bourgeois p

ideology. While formerly, at the dawn of capitalism, the bourgeoisie in its struggle
against feudal reaction did advance some sort of progressive ideas, anticommunism is
an ideology resting exclusively on destructive principles and it offers the masses no
positive, promising ideas whatsoever. It only “ rejects”, “refutes” and “anathemises”.
It is clear, however, that neither anti– communism nor other vagaries of bourgeois
ideology can save the moribund social system. Violence and falsification, lies and
misrepresentation of facts cannot halt the objective course of events and mitigate the
social contradictions which are sundering capitalism. The class struggle in the
capitalist countries is gaining momentum. The peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin
America are intensifying their resistance against imperialist oppression, and the
revolutionary struggle of the masses for democracy and socialism is mounting in all
countries, in all corners of the capitalist world.
***

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Deepening




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<•> OF THE WORKING CLASS

Capitalism’s Chief Opponent

TOC
Card The current far-reaching revolutionary changes are above all a result of the heroic p
struggle of the international working class. In its Report to the 24th CPSU Congress
Text the Central Committee of the CPSU made the following observation: "The
HTML international working-class movement continues to play, as it has played in the past,
PS the role of timetested and militant vanguard of the revolutionary forces. The events
PDF of the past five-year period in the capitalist world have fully borne out the
importance of the working class as the chief and strongest opponent of the rule of
T* the monopolies, and as a centre rallying all the anti-monopoly forces.”
19*
With more than 570 million people in its ranks the working class today is an p
### immense economic and socio-political force which produces the bulk of the material
values and determines the character of the contemporary epoch and the main trend of
historical development.
The world proletariat consists of two main contingents: the free working class of the p
socialist countries and the proletariat of the non-socialist states which is fighting for
its emancipation. They have the same ideals and a single ultimate aim, but they live
in different conditions and solve different problems. The close union and mutual 467
support of these two contingents is the key to their successes and an earnest of their
common victory.
The working class of the non-socialist world is heterogeneous. It includes the p

proletariat of the industrially developed capitalist states, which has been tempered in
class battles, and the budding working class of the countries fighting to consolidate
their national independence. Naturally, they operate in different conditions and
employ different forms and methods of struggle.
Two basic factors determine the role of the working class of the industrial states in p
the world revolutionary process.
The first factor is the place which these states occupy in the capitalist system. p
Industrially advanced capitalist states of North America and Western Europe and also
Japan and Australia are the citadel of modern capitalism accounting for its main
economic, political and military forces. The final victory of the socialist revolution
on a world scale depends on the liquidation of the capitalist order in these states.
All contemporary revolutionary forces are contributing to the struggle against p

capitalism, but each employs its own specific methods and means.
The world socialist system is the decisive factor bridling the reactionary, aggressive p
forces; it is the main force and material base of the world revolutionary struggle.
Moreover, the socialist system undermines the mainstays of capitalism by p

demonstrating the advantages of socialism to millions of people. It wins the 468
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sympathies of the masses and helps spread socialist ideas.
Having destroyed the colonial system of imperialism the national liberation p

movement is now undermining the capitalist world by depriving it of markets and
sources of raw materials and opposing the aggressive policies of monopoly capital.
However powerful these forces may be, they cannot by themselves eliminate the p
capitalist system in the imperialist countries. But their struggle creates favourable
conditions for solving this problem, and it is up to the working class of the
imperialist states to solve it. Only the working class in alliance with all working
people, with the broadest sections of the population is powerful enough to overturn
the rule of the monopolies and lead their countries along the path of social progress.
The second factor which determines the place of the working class of the advanced p
capitalist states in the world revolutionary movement is the position it has won, its
numerical strength, discipline, level of organisation and its experience of
revolutionary struggle. Numerically the proletarians of these countries account for
nearly 40 per cent of the world working class.
The bourgeoisie and its ideologists are doing all they can to weaken the proletariat’s p
influence in society and undermine its self-confidence. Western bourgeois
propagandists claim that its numbers are decreasing, its role diminishing and its 469
influence is not mounting. Plainly these assertions hold no water.
“Accumulation of capital is ... increase of the proletariat," [ 469•* Marx wrote. The p
development of modern industry leads to a continuous growth of the industrial
proletariat’s ranks. Introduction of industrial methods in agriculture turns the labour
of agricultural workers into a variety of industrial labour, and the expansion of the
service industry increases the number of proletarians employed in it. Finally, more
and more whitecollar workers, engineers and technicians in the developed capitalist
countries are becoming proletarianised. They are approaching the working class as
regards their social status and are supporting it in its struggle against capital.
The following figures are significant: a century ago four major imperialist powers— p
the USA, Britain, France and Germany—had a total of 8.9 million proletarians. By
the turn of the century their number rose to 29.9 million and in the middle of the
20th century the USA, Britain, France and the FRG had 87 million proletarians.
Today the total number of industrial and white-collar workers in industrially
advanced countries has surpassed 220 million, or more than 70 per cent of their
gainfully employed population.
But, as Marx pointed out, "numbers weigh only in the balance, if united by p
combination and led by knowledge". [ 469•**
The organised working-class movement first appeared in the industrially advanced p 470
capitalist states. Since the middle of the 19th century the working class of Western
Europe and North America has accumulated extensive experience of revolutionary
struggle and written notable pages into the history of the world revolutionary
movement.
The vanguard organisations of the proletariat— the Communist parties—were born p

and tempered in the flames of class battles. Today there are more than three million
Communists in industrially advanced capitalist countries. In many of them
Communist parties have become an influential national force leading wide sections of
the working people.
Other mass organisations of the working people, trade unions, co-operative societies,
unions of women and young people, in the first place, also appeared and developed,
and now play an important role in the social and political life of the capitalist world.
***

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[ 469•*] K. Marx, Capital, Vol. I, p. 614.
[ 469•** ] K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works, Vol. II, Moscow, 1969, p. 17.
< New Conditions of the Proletariat's >

Struggle

<< THE CONTEMPORARY EPOCH--- NATIONAL LIBERATION >>

THE EPOCH OF TRANSITION MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLES
FROM CAPITALISM TO OF ASIA, AFRICA AND LATIN
SOCIALISM AMERICA


SOCIALIST SYSTEM

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<•> of the Proletariat’s Struggle

TOC The struggle of the working class in advanced capitalist countries is now unfolding p
under new historical conditions characterised by two basic features. The first is that
Card
the gradual transformation of the socialist system into a decisive force of world
development steadily narrows the potentialities of imperialism in its struggle against
Text the working class not only on the world scene but also inside each given country. 471
HTML The second feature springs from the changed situation in the imperialist countries
PS themselves, namely, the rapid growth of state-monopoly capitalism. The coalescence
PDF of the monopolies and the state intensified the exploitation of the working people
and, consequently, the class struggle.
T*
19* The 1969 International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties noted that on p
the whole all these developments open fresh opportunities for the working class and
### its organised vanguard. Obviously, however, it is not a simple matter to take
advantage of these opportunities inasmuch as the working people have to contend
with modern monopoly capitalism, an experienced and cunning enemy. Yet, despite
the efforts of the monopolies, the balance of forces in the capitalist world is
continuing to swing in favour of democracy and progress.
This process, naturally, does not develop on its own. In present-day conditions it is p
most important to heighten the conscious activity of the working people and
concentrate their forces in the struggle for the set objectives. Therefore, the
Communists attach primary significance to consolidating the unity of action of all the
detachments of the working-class movement.
The basic interests of the proletariat demand that in each country there should be a p
single proletarian party committed to Marxist-Leninist principles. In the capitalist
countries, however, not only Communist but other parties, too, act in behalf of the 472
working class. These are chiefly Social-Democratic parties.
The existence of several political parties (and trade union organisations) of the p
working class is above all a result of its heterogeneous social composition. The ranks
of the proletariat are continuously increased by people from urban and rural petty-
bourgeois sections of the population who need some time to acquire a revolutionary
world outlook. Some of them are inclined to support the Social-Democratic, Catholic
and other parties rather than the Communists. What is more, the monopoly
bourgeoisie bribes the small upper layer of the working class (the so-called workers’
bureaucracy) thereby subordinating it to its own interests. And it is on these groups
that the reformist Social-Democratic parties place their heaviest stakes.
Social-Democratic ideology is essentially designed to adapt the working-class p

movement to the interests of the bourgeois system. And although in their
programmes Social-Democratic parties purport to work for the liquidation of
capitalism, their leaders are as a rule opposed to the revolutionary transformation of
society. They maintain that capitalism can be either “ improved” or “corrected”
through the introduction of partial changes or reforms which do not affect its
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substance.
It should be borne in mind, however, that Social-Democratic parties largely consist p

of proletarians who by no means want to perpetuate the capitalist order. On the
contrary, the example set by socialism and the policy of the fraternal Communist 473
parties, and finally the increasing strain of exploitation are making a considerable
part of the Social-Democrats aware of the need to fight actively for the rights of the
working class. At the same time the practical activity of the SocialDemocratic parties
which cannot satisfy the fundamental interests of the working man opens the eyes of
the people to the inadequacy and the unfeasibility of the reformist way.
The Final Document of the 1969 Moscow Meeting of Communist and Workers’ p
Parties says: "Communists, who attribute decisive importance to working-class unity,
are in favour of co– operation with the Socialists and Social-Democrats to establish
an advanced democratic regime today and to build a socialist society in the future.
They will do everything they can to carry out this cooperation.” In their struggle for
the unity of the working people, the Communists have achieved certain positive
results. In France, Italy, Japan and Finland Communists and all the Left-wing forces
of the working-class movement have invigorated their joint activity.
Of course, it will still take a long time to settle the question of working-class unity p
chiefly because of the anti-communism of many SocialDemocratic leaders and the
frenzied resistance of monopoly capital. Nevertheless, the Communists are confident
that these difficulties are surmountable and that working-class unity will be
established.
Carrying on Lenin’s traditions the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is doing 474
everything it can to strengthen the unity of the international working class. The 24th
CPSU Congress reaffirmed that the CPSU was prepared to develop co-operation with
the Social-Democrats both in the struggle for peace and democracy and in the
struggle for socialism, without making any concessions in ideology and revolutionary
principles. Maintaining and expanding its ties with the Social-Democratic and
Socialist parties in different countries, the CPSU is concerting its activity with the
Communist parties of these states.
***

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<•>
Important as it is, working-class unity is not the only factor of the successful p
TOC struggle against imperialism, for democracy and socialism. Another crucial question
is that of the proletariat’s allies, i.e., of those forces which together with the
Card
proletariat are capable of waging a victorious struggle against the monopolies and
then rallying around it to form a mass political army of the socialist revolution.
Text
HTML The working class, whose labour is the principal source of capital’s fabulous profits, p
PS is the main object of exploitation. But the monopolies oppress the entire population
PDF of the capitalist states: peasants and white-collar workers, intellectuals and
shopkeepers; they throttle and ruin middle and at times even large-scale proprietors 475
T* who do not belong to monopoly associations.
19*
Take any capitalist country, say, the USA. Capitalist propagandists have praised it to p
### the skies as a model of prosperity. Yet even US leaders admit that 27 million
Americans (13.3 per cent of the total population) live in poverty, and from four to
five million people are permanently out of work. Farmers, urban shopkeepers and
other petty proprietors drift into bankruptcy.
The main contradiction of modern capitalism is still that between labour and capital. p
Contradictions between the monopoly elite and the whole nation are also deepening.
This means that the front of the forces vitally concerned with abolishing monopoly
rule is objectively expanding.
The working class, peasantry, the urban middle classes and the intelligentsia are the p
social forces which can form the anti-monopoly front, a coalition (alliance) of the
opponents of the monopolies. History itself has destined the working class to head
this coalition and lead the struggle of the broadest masses of people.
The immediate objective of these forces is to restrict and then put an end to the p
power of the monopolies and simultaneously consolidate and enhance the influence
of the working class and democratic, anti-imperialist forces. The abolition of
monopoly rule paves the way for the establishment of democratic regimes and the
introduction of revolutionary socialist reforms. Thus, the policy of fighting the
monopolies is in fact the realisation of Lenin’s idea of combining the struggle for 476
democracy with the struggle for socialism.
If successful this policy considerably extends the range of means employed in the p
struggle for socialism and, in particular, increases the chances for a peaceful
development of the socialist revolution in advanced capitalist countries.
This approach to the question has caused a great deal of discussion in the working- p
class movement. The dogmatic “Left”-wing elements interpret this conclusion as an
indication of a reformist degeneration of the Marxist-Leninist parties in Europe and
America. Marxists– Leninists deny this accusation. In their joint documents the
fraternal parties clearly stated their position. They declared that the transition from
capitalism to socialism is revolutionary in all cases and that the form of the
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revolution—- peaceful or armed—depends on the balance of class forces, the strength

of the resistance put up by the exploiters, and unity of the revolutionary forces.
The Communists prefer the peaceful form of revolution and, as Lenin did, consider p
it necessary to "get everything possible done to make sure the ‘last’ chance for a
peaceful development of the revolution". [ 476•* At the same time they stress the
need to be prepared for any form of struggle. The strength of the Marxist-Leninist
parties lies precisely in their ability to employ various methods of struggle,
adequately appraise any turn of events and pursue correct revolutionary policies 477
under any and all circumstances. In all cases no advice or estimates of the situation
can be given from the outside. This is solely the affair of each revolutionary
detachment and its militant vanguard— the Marxist-Leninist Party.
The following question arises: is the organisation of an anti-monopoly coalition only p

a remote prospect, or can it be said that real progress has already been made in this
direction? Life shows that the anti-monopoly front is being created before our eyes.
The results of presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections between 1970 and
1975 reflect the changes taking place in advanced capitalist countries. Left-wing
forces, parties and groups opposed to the monopolies won considerably more votes in
France, Italy, Austria, Luxemburg, Sweden and Japan than in the previous years.
Of course, the process of the formation of antimonopoly coalitions in advanced p

capitalist states is still far from complete. The monopolies do everything in their
power to inhibit it by provoking dissension between the working class and its natural
allies and put them at loggerheads.
Yet anti-monopoly alliances are growing and gaining in strength despite the fact that
the intrigues of the opponents of the working people sometimes impede the course of
developments.
***

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<< • >> The Proletariat on the Offensive 478

<•>
Taking advantage of the new opportunities and relying on its own forces and those p
TOC of its allies the working class is actively struggling against the monopolies, for
democracy, peace and socialism. This struggle, as the 24th CPSU Congress pointed
Card
out, is on the upsurge and involves great masses of working people.
Text The strike is still the chief form of the proletariat’s struggle for its rights and p
HTML interests. There is a steady increase in the number of strikes throughout the capitalist
PS world, especially in the economically advanced states. Between the two world wars
PDF approximately 75 million people took part in strike battles, while in the post-war
years (1946–72) they involved nearly 470 million people.
T*
19* The strike movement has assumed the greatest proportions in France, Italy, the p
USA, Japan and Great Britain.
###
In France and Italy, which have longer traditions of class struggle and powerful p
Communist parties, strikes involving millions of people, including large numbers of
students, peasants, intellectuals and employees as well as proletarians, took place
between 1968 and 1975. Characteristically, they were directed against the entire
system of state-monopoly rule and not only against one or another monopoly group.
In Great Britain, where the class struggle has attained a high degree of intensity, p
strikes which took place in the period from 1969 to 1974 can be compared only with
the famous 1926 strike both as for their scale and the number of people involved. In 479
the United States the workers’ mass struggle for better material conditions and
against unemployment is intertwined with the movement of the Black people and the
struggle of the youth against the militaristic policy of monopoly capital.
The working-class movement is expanding in the FRG and Japan. In Spain, p

Belgium and the Netherlands the workers have intensified their struggle for their
rights. Even Sweden, Norway and Denmark, countries which for decades have been
regarded as “examples” of social tranquility, have become the scene of strike battles.
There is not a single advanced capitalist country where no serious strikes take place p
and where the "class peace" so desired by the proprietors really exists. It should be
noted that strikes increase both in number and scope. General nation-wide strikes are
becoming more frequent. In the past decade they numbered nearly 250. And,
characteristically, an increasing number of strikes end in the victory of the working
people.
Thus far we have dwelt on the proletariat’s economic struggle, but almost all the p
actions of the workers on economic issues acquire a political character. French
miners, for example, start their strike with demands for higher wages, better working
conditions, and so forth. These demands are presented to the government for it owns
the coal-mining industry. In some instances miners demand reforms in the
administration of the state-owned coal industry, a revision of the price system, etc. 480
In both cases the strikers’ demands either directly or indirectly touch upon the
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government activity and policy. Aware of its enhanced strength, the working class
imperatively demands the introduction of democratic principles in production
management, and workers’ control over the activity of the proprietors.
At the same time the proletariat often comes forward with purely political demands, p
primarily for the preservation and consolidation of democratic principles and
freedoms. More than 60 per cent of all strikes in capitalist countries now take place
under political slogans, whereas ten years ago political strikes accounted for not more
than 40 per cent of the total number.
The strike movement of the working class has an increasing impact on all aspects p
of life in capitalist society. It merges with the broad democratic movements of the
working people and becomes a determining factor of their development.
The situation in advanced capitalist countries is growing more tense. "The large-
scale actions by the working class and the working masses herald fresh class battles
which could lead to fundamental social changes, to the establishment of the power of
the working class in alliance with the other sections of the working people,” states
the Resolution of the 24th CPSU Congress.
***

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<< • >> NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT 481

<•> OF THE PEOPLES OF ASIA,
AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA
TOC
[introduction.]
Card
We have already noted that the third stage of the general crisis of capitalism is
Text characterised by the vast scope of the national liberation movement of the peoples of
HTML Asia, Africa and Latin America against imperialist oppression. This struggle led to
PS the collapse of the colonial system of imperialism.
PDF
***
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< What Is a National Liberation >

Movement

<< REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT THE WORLD COMMUNIST >>

OF THE WORKING CLASS MOVEMENT


SOCIALIST SYSTEM

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<< • >> What Is a National Liberation Movement 481

<•>
The exploiting society is characterised by national as well as social oppression. p
TOC Some nations, or rather their ruling classes, oppress and exploit other, weaker
nations. The national liberation movement is a movement which is engendered by,
Card
and is aimed at, shaking off national oppression.
Text The colonial yoke is the most odious and ruthless form of national oppression. p
HTML Foreign conquerors establish their sway over a country and rule her through a special
PS administration. They plunder her wealth and savagely exploit her people. Here is a
PDF characteristic figure. According to far from complete data, between 1760 and 1850
Britain pumped £500 million out of India. It was the wealth wrung from the colonies
T* that largely contributed to the growth of British capitalism.
19*
The dignity of the enslaved peoples is trampled and they are declared “inferior” p
### nations and nations of the "lower order”.
The colonialists go to all lengths to stay the economic development of the countries p 482
under their rule, because the rise of national industry would have slashed the profits
of the foreign monopolies controlling the economy and markets of these countries.
Moreover, it would have stimulated the growth of those social forces—the working
class, the national intelligentsia and the national bourgeoisie—that are capable of
challenging the rule of the colonialists.
Imperialism imposed colonial oppression in one form or another on a vast majority p

of the world’s population. It built up a colonial system which acquired its final
shape at the turn of the century. In 1939 it embraced countries with an aggregate
population of approximately 1,500 million. It is hard to imagine that a mere quarter
of a century ago not counting the socialist countries there were only 11 Asian and
African states (today there are over 80). Almost all of them were dependent on
imperialism, and most of the formally independent Latin American countries were in
a similar position.
Britain was the largest colonial power. In 1938 her empire included lands on all the p
five continents and covered an area of 14 million square kilometres; the total
population of her colonies and dependencies was 450 million. For comparison’s sake
let us recall that Great Britain’s area was less than 250,000 square kilometres and her
population was approximately 40 million. The total area of Dutch colonial
possessions was 70 times bigger than the Netherlands and their population was eight 483
times larger. The destinies of almost two-thirds of the earth’s population and of
scores of countries were decided by the colonialists in London, Paris, Brussels,
Rome, Washington and Lisbon.
The enslaved peoples never reconciled themselves to their status and fought
courageously against the colonialists. Suffice it to say that the conquest of India
lasted 150 years and the conquest of Africa almost a century. At the time, however,
the odds were fully on the side of the colonialists. Capitalism held undivided sway
over the world, the socialist states did not exist, and the military superiority of the
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colonialists was enormous. Besides, the actions of the oppressed peoples were
spontaneous and lacked co-ordination. It seemed that colonial order had come to
stay. Such was the situation until the October Socialist Revolution which ushered in
the era of victorious national liberation revolutions and the crisis of the colonial
system.
***

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<< • >> Who Participates in the National 483

<•> Liberation Struggle

TOC To one degree or another colonial oppression weighs upon the proletariat, the p
peasantry, the national bourgeoisie, the urban petty bourgeoisie and the national
Card
intelligentsia, in fact, upon all or almost all the sections of the population of the
enslaved countries. This determines their position and prompts them to take part in
Text the national liberation struggle. The only exception are the feudal lords, tribal chiefs,
HTML landowners (the mainstay of the colonialists) and a part of the local bourgeoisie 484
PS which profits by servicing the foreign companies. Nevertheless, even these groups are
PDF sometimes and to a certain extent caught up in the general wave of patriotic
enthusiasm.
T*
19* The proletariat is the most resolute and consistent enemy of colonial oppression, the p
staunchest fighter for national liberation. Since it has no selfish interests it most fully
### expresses the fundamental aspirations of the entire people of an enslaved country.
The working class suffers intensely from exploitation and racial oppression at the
hands of foreign capitalists. Under the colonial rule African workers were paid one–
twentieth or one-twenty-fifth the wages received by Europeans for the same work.
The political weight of the proletariat and its influence on the country’s social p
development is much greater than its proportion to the whole population. In almost
50 Asian, African and Latin American countries the working class has its Communist
parties which hold aloft the banner of the anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggle.
All this determines the leading role of the working class in the national liberation p
movement.
Naturally, the colonial status and the resultant backwardness of the enslaved p
countries hinders the formation of the working class which, as a rule, is relatively
small. In many countries, especially in Africa, it is still in its embryonic stage. In
these countries more than 80 per cent of the proletarians are engaged in agriculture.
Africa with a total population of about 300 million has only four million industrial 485
workers. Most of them are employed at small enterprises, frequently of the handicraft
type, and do not become professional workers. After working in a town for a number
of years they return to agricultural labour.
Things are different in some Asian and Latin American countries where the p
proletariat has been developing over a period of several decades and has become an
influential and organised national force. Latin America has approximately 25 million
industrial and agricultural workers and Asia up to 60 million.
According to UN figures the number of people engaged in the industry of p

economically backward countries has increased 2.5-fold in the past quarter-century.
The peasantry is the main mass force of the national liberation movement and the p
proletariat’s chief ally. This is natural, for it makes up more than two-thirds of the
population of colonial and dependent countries and is capable of conducting large-
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/7.3.2-Who.Participates.in.National.Liberation.Struggle[2012-12-25 2:35:27]
scale revolutionary action. Lack of land, extortions and the arbitrary rule of the
colonial administration, and the domination of landowners and money-lenders in the
countryside prompt the peasants to participate in the liberation movement.
The peasantry of the colonial and semi-colonial countries is almost wholly illiterate, p
scattered and unorganised and is beset by deep-rooted religious and other prejudices.
Yet, it is precisely the peasants who determine the scope of the national liberation 486
movement. The awakening of the peasants and their mass action against the
colonialists have played a most important role in bringing about the collapse of the
colonial regimes. Who will lead the national liberation movement and consequently
determine its course and subsequent results depends on whom the peasantry will
follow—the working class (where there is no working class, the revolutionary
intelligentsia), or the bourgeoisie.
The working class and the bourgeoisie have different attitudes to the peasantry. In p
contrast to the proletariat which strives to form an alliance with the toiling peasantry
regarding it as a comrade, the national bourgeoisie wants to dominate the peasants
and use them in its own interests.
The national bourgeoisie strives to extend its economic and political influence, p
enrich itself to the greatest possible extent and gain control over the country’s
markets. But at each step it encounters serious obstacles—the ruinous rivalry of the
foreign monopolies and direct counteraction of the colonial authorities—and has to
be content with meagre profits, while the lion’s share flows out of the country. In
Morocco, for example, on the eve of the proclamation of independence the local
bourgeoisie owned less than five per cent of the assets of large capitalist enterprises.
The national bourgeoisie sees its way out in liberation from foreign dependence and p
the creation of an independent national state, one which will serve its interests and
enable it to exploit its people without any hindrance. It is in the hope of realising 487
these plans that the national bourgeoisie is participating in the liberation movement
and trying to subordinate it to its narrow class objectives. At the same time the
national bourgeoisie knows that its plans are at variance with the interests of the
people and fears their activity. Frequently this fear is greater than its hostility
towards the foreign enslavers. As a result, the political behaviour of the bourgeoisie
is contradictory. It strives to drive out the colonialists and yet often hinders the
development of the national liberation movement lest it loses control over it. As it
fights against the imperialists and their internal mainstay, namely, the feudal and
tribal reaction, it also regards them as allies in the struggle against the “excessive”
activities and the independence of the masses. It is this duplicity that accounts for the
inconsistency, vacillations and faint– heartedness of the national bourgeoisie.
An active role in the national liberation movements in many colonies and semi- p
colonies is played by the urban petty bourgeoisie which makes up a fairly large
section of the population. Connected as it is with private property it often gravitates
towards the bourgeoisie. On the other hand, it usually directly participates in the
labour process and its material situation is very unstable. The oppression by the
colonialists and ruinous competition with foreign companies and wealthy local
middlemen prompt the urban petty bourgeoisie to fight for national liberation.
Although the national intelligentsia is very small in the majority of colonial and p
dependent countries, its patriotic circles hold a prominent place in the national 488
liberation struggle and keenly react to the racialist policies of the colonialists. Many
leading functionaries of the national liberation movement belong to the intelligentsia,
including the military intelligentsia.
Such are the social forces participating in the national liberation movement. In some p
subjugated countries where it has already emerged as an independent class force, the
proletariat stands at the head of the struggle. In other countries the leadership is in
the hands of the national bourgeoisie.
Finally, there are countries where owing to the weakness of both the proletariat and
the bourgeoisie the struggle is headed by what is known as revolutionary democracy,
i.e., representatives of the revolutionary intelligentsia supported by the politically
active part of the peasantry and the urban petty bourgeoisie, and the intermediate
sections of the population.
***

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<< • >> The Collapse of the Colonial System 488

<•>
The colonial system began to collapse rapidly after the Second World War. During
TOC the first 12 post-war years nearly the whole of enslaved Asia became free. In the
following decade a vigorous anti-colonial struggle unfolded in Africa. More than
Card
1,500 million people, or 97 per cent of the population of the oppressed states, got rid
of colonial and semi-colonial bondage.
Text
HTML TERRITORY OF COLONIAL AND DEPENDENT COUNTRIES (per cent of 489
PS 499-2.jpg
PDF
T*
19*
###
world territory)
490
The British Empire which was established in the course of more than three and a p
half centuries fell apart in a mere two decades. Today Britain ru’les 2.2 per cent of
the population and 5.5 per cent of the territory of her former possessions. By January
1972 France had lost 98.8 per cent of the territory and 98 per cent of the population
of her colonies; the Netherlands, 92.5 and 99.3 per cent, respectively. Belgium, Japan
and Italy have lost all their colonial possessions.
The rapid collapse of the colonial system of imperialism can be traced to several p
http://www.leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/7.3.3-Collapse.of.the.Colonial.System[2012-12-25 2:35:31]
causes.
The first cause is the unprecedented growth of the might, prestige and p
revolutionising influence of the world socialist system. The countries of the socialist
community directly support the national liberation movement, and their very existence
fetters the main forces of imperialism and its war machine.
Second, imperialism has suffered serious material, ideological and political setbacks. p
The Second World War, which ended in the rout of its most aggressive contingents,
also seriously weakened the majority of the victorious capitalist powers. There was a
sharp aggravation of the general crisis of capitalism, chiefly due to the emergence of
the world socialist system.
Third, the anti-imperialist, anti-colonial movements of the populations of the p

enslaved countries assumed vast proportions. During the war the imperialists used the
material and manpower resources of the colonies to further their military plans and
intensified the exploitation of the working people. As a result the resistance of the 491
enslaved peoples mounted. In the course of the war the working class in some
colonies and semi– colonies considerably increased, the Communist parties acted with
great vigour and determination and national revolutionary organisations intensified
their activity.
Fourth, the advanced detachments of the working class in the capitalist countries p
stepped up their class battles against imperialism in its centres. They resolutely
opposed the colonial policy of the imperialists and unfolded a solidarity movement
with the fighters for national liberation.
Fifth, the national liberation movements in various countries tightened their bonds p
thus enhancing the solidarity of the peoples fighting against imperialism and
colonialism.
Despite the bourgeois propaganda’s loud claims that the imperialists “granted” p
independence to the enslaved countries, the facts show that independence was wrested
from the colonialists in the course of long and stubborn struggle conducted by all
progressive forces of the world, and first and foremost by the enslaved peoples
themselves.
The Statement of the 1960 Meeting of Representatives of the Communist and p

Workers’ Parties notes: "The breakdown of the system of colonial slavery under the
impact of the national liberation movement is a development ranking second in
historic importance only to the formation of the world socialist system.” The
achievement of political independence marked a deep revolutionary change in the
lives of peoples of the former colonies. It gave their creative forces an enormous 492
boost, paved the way for social progress, the elimination of their monstrous
economic backwardness and the revival and further development of national culture.
The peoples of the former colonies and semicolonies are joining the ranks of the p
builders of a new life on earth. Obviously, this is of paramount importance for the
further development of the world revolution.
The collapse of the colonial system is having a beneficial effect on international

relations. The more than 70 young national states which appeared as a result of the
fall of the colonial empires are a force to be reckoned with. Most of them adhere to
anti-imperialist positions and this curtails imperialism’s influence on world politics to
a still greater extent.
***

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<< • >> A New Stage of the National Liberation Movement 492

<•>
The historic victories of the peoples’ anti– imperialist struggle are indisputable. But p
TOC does this mean that national liberation revolutions are over and colonialism has been
abolished? No. It is not as simple as all that.
Card
Colonies still exist. The colonialists still directly rule the peoples of Zimbabwe, p
Text South Africa and a number of other countries. Tens of millions of people are still
HTML oppressed by colonial and racist regimes, and are fighting courageously for their
PS liberation.
PDF
Furthermore, the independence of a number of former colonies and semi-colonies is p 493
T* largely formal. It is true that they proclaimed independence and abolished colonial
19* regimes and colonial administrations, that (foreign troops have been withdrawn
(though not everywhere) and representatives of the native population now stand at
### the helm of state. But their policies are still guided by imperialist forces which now
act from behind the scenes. The peoples of these countries are continuing their
struggle, sometimes arms in hand, for overthrowing the domination of the neo–
colonialists and removing their puppets from power. The fight against pro-imperialist
dictatorships in Latin American countries is being conducted with increasing
determination. But even in countries which have won genuine political independence,
and they constitute the majority, the national liberation revolution has not yet
accomplished all its tasks and has not brought complete liberation. When a country
wins political independence it does not necessarily mean that she has disposed of her
dire colonial heritage.
Bourgeois propaganda is fond of playing up what it calls the civilising role of the p
imperialists in the colonies, and tries to make out that the colonialists are the
benefactors of the enslaved peoples. Facts show, however, that socio-economic
backwardness, which in some countries is very great, is a characteristic feature of all
former colonies and semi-colonies. The colonial administration of the Gold Coast
(now Ghana), a former British colony, admitted that the rate at which the local 494
population was educated would have required 3,500 years to wipe out illiteracy. In
Zaire, after 60 years of Belgian rule, there was not a single native doctor, engineer,
lawyer or veterinary surgeon.
More than two-thirds of the population of the non-socialist world live in former p
colonies and semi-colonies, and yet they account for only five per cent of its steel,
six per cent of pig iron, less than eight per cent of electricity and ten per cent of
footwear and textiles. Even the per capita agricultural production in these agrarian
countries is a fraction of that in the industrial states.
The imperialist states adjusted the economy of the subjugated countries to their own p
needs, turning them into sources of oil, iron ore, diamonds, gold, ores of non-ferrous
metals, cotton, peanuts, cocoa beans, coffee, bananas and oranges and other industrial
and agricultural raw materials. This forcibly imposed specialisation of production
assumed the most ugly forms as each country was transformed into a supplier of
only one or two products.
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At the same time all, or nearly all, essential manufactured goods were imported p
from the imperialist countries.
Now, even after the former colonies have won political independence, the p
imperialists have preserved and are trying to extend their dominant positions in the
economy of these countries. In many of them imperialists control mining and
processing industries, public utilities, insurance companies and other key and most 495
profitable branches of the economy.
It follows then, that although the winning of political independence is a vastly p

important achievement, it does not, however, denote the consummation of the
national liberation revolution. This revolution has entered a new stage, that of
winning economic independence from imperialism.
At the same time many of the young national states at this stage of the revolution
prove to be a formidable force in the anti-imperialist struggle.
***

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< The Collapse of the Colonial System Capitalism or Socialism? >




SOCIALIST SYSTEM

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<•>
Economic liberation from imperialism means above all the uprooting of its p
TOC economic influence and creation of a national economy. It also means the creation of
conditions for abolishing backwardness and the one-sided agrarian and raw material
Card
specialisation of the economy of the liberated countries, promoting a serious growth
of the productive forces. Finally, it means the training of national personnel capable
Text of assuming control in all fields of political, economic and cultural activity.
HTML
PS In order to achieve these aims the countries concerned have to p
PDF
dislodge the foreign monopolies from key economic positions and concentrate them p
T* in the public sector. This has to be done because only the state sector can resolutely
19* resist the monopolies and effectively promote the development of the national 496
economy;
###
resolve the agrarian problem to the benefit of the peasantry; p
release public life of the fetters of feudal and pre-feudal relations; p
launch the development of the national industry; p
establish a system of public education which will place learning and culture within p
reach of all people;
take steps to democratise public life and raise living standards; p
and firmly adhere to anti-imperialist positions in international affairs in order to p

secure favourable external conditions for independent and progressive development.
It is these far-reaching socio-economic changes that make up the general democratic p

programme of the revolution at the new stage of its development.
Nevertheless, it is also necessary to decide how these problems should be solved p

and whether to take the capitalist road or reject it. Prior to the Great October
Socialist Revolution of 1917, when capitalism was the undivided ruler of the world,
such a question did not and could not arise. At the time the countries which
managed (to win national independence had no alternative to capitalism. Today,
however, they have—they can take the socialist road. And it is the new stage of the
national liberation revolution that will reveal which trend will gain the upper hand.
Class differentiation, aggravation of social contradictions and the struggle over ways p 497
of further development of the former colonies and semicolonies are the principal
features of the contemporary stage of the national liberation movement. "The main
thing,” said General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev at
the 24th CPSU Congress, "is that the struggle for national liberation in many
countries has in practical terms begun to grow into a struggle against exploitative
relations, both feudal and capitalist."
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Although the struggle of the opposing trends in the socio-economic development of p

the liberated countries is a drawn-out process, there are already marked distinctions
in their development.
Today it is possible to speak of at least three distinct groups of liberated countries: p

those that reject the capitalist way of development, proclaim the building of socialism
as their aim and carry out deep-going anti-capitalist social reforms; those that are
following the capitalist road, and lastly those that in a sense occupy an intermediate
place: although their spontaneous economic development tends to orientate them on
capitalism, their internal situation is uncertain and the leading class trend in social
progress is as yet indefinite.
The capitalist way of development jeopardises prospects for economic liberation for p
the former colonies and semi-colonies, retards their emergence from socio-economic
backwardness and provokes increasingly bitter contradictions. In many of the 498
countries following this path the imperialists have retained and are even
consolidating their positions by broadening co-operation with the national
bourgeoisie. Feudal and pre-feudal relations are making themselves felt despite the
fact that steps are being taken to restrict them. The peasantry is becoming inveigled
in a new system of dependence which is being established by the growing landed
bourgeoisie, the kulaks. Some progress in industrial development is taking place but
the ruling bourgeoisie can neither ensure a serious economic upsurge nor launch the
construction of the national economy on a wide front.
What seems to be the matter? In the first place, the development of capitalism in p
the young national states strengthens the bonds of dependence on the world capitalist
economy in which the liberated countries are in a subordinate position. The relations
prevailing within this economy— the strong dominating the weak—and the neo–
colonialist policy of the capitalist monopolies force liberated countries into still
greater dependence.
Furthermore, it should be borne in mind that the main social force interested in p
capitalist development of the liberated countries is the national bourgeoisie. But it is
still extremely weak. Besides, on account of its duplicity, it is indecisive and
inconsistent and frequently co-operates with the imperialist monopolies and feudal
circles, instead of attacking them.
Of course, in present-day conditions the chances for the development of capitalism p

in the liberated countries do not depend solely on the potentialities of the national 499
capital. For world capitalism it is a matter of paramount importance to implant
capitalist relations and support the local exploiters. This is one of the principal class
functions of the imperialist “aid” to the liberated countries. At the same time the
very nature of this aid and its terms usually manifest imperialism’s desire to
stimulate the growth of dependent capital, which would remain under the general
control of the foreign imperialist monopolies.
Resorting to devious ways the imperialist monopolies are continuing to extort a p

tribute of many billions from the liberated countries and often act counter to the
official policies of their governments by waging a ruthless competitive struggle
against local enterprise and supporting the local conservative groups which are
connected with them and which oppose bourgeois reforms. Some ruling imperialist
circles, because of the extremely reactionary nature of their policy or for want of
other forces to rely on, are inclined to support these groups, too.
Account should be taken of the fact that it is extremely difficult to bring the former
colonies and semi-colonies out of their extreme backwardness and poverty. This can
be accomplished only given the solid support of the masses, their enthusiasm and
unqualified determination to dedicate themselves to this cause. The development of
the liberated countries along the capitalist road deepens the suffering and privations
of the working people and at the same time promotes the fast enrichment of the
bourgeois powers that be. In Emacs-File-stamp: 500
"/home/ysverdlov/leninist.biz/en/1975/FPS559/20071205/559.tx" their efforts to
suppress popular discontent the ruling groups encroach on elementary democratic
freedoms. Life shows that the capitalist way of development tends to aggravate
conflicts between nations engendered by the growth of reactionary nationalism.
This nationalism often imperils interstate relations and the internal development of p
the liberated countries and is used as an instrument by the privileged classes and
chauvinistic groups in their struggle against the progressive forces.
All progressive revolutionary-patriotic forces, naturally, reject the capitalist way and p
call for the completion of the national liberation revolution and the promotion of
socialist development. Their position is winning the increasing support of the masses.
The ways of transition to socialism may vary depending on social relations and p
specific conditions in the former colonies and semi-colonies. Today many of the
liberated countries have the necessary conditions to follow the non-capitalist road.
Marx, Engels and Lenin made the point that in the epoch of the transition from p
capitalism to socialism on a world scale the backward countries do not necessarily
have to pass through the capitalist stage of development. They can, provided they
rely on the support of states of the victorious proletariat, shift to socialist
construction bypassing capitalism.
Naturally, this road to socialism has many distinctive features. Countries following it p
eliminate survivals of feudal and other pre-capitalist relations, and build up a 501
genuinely national economy with modern productive forces in industry and
agriculture. A nation is formed, a working class appears and comes to play an
increasing role in public life; scientific socialism wins stronger positions and national
intelligentsia is trained. In other words, all the historical work which the modern
imperialist states carried out in the period of capitalism takes place during the
transition to socialism bypassing capitalism.
That is why the non-capitalist way is characterised by a number of major p

democratic tasks. Their solution is the main content of the first stage of non-capitalist
development. This stage may be described as democratic. Of course, it is a special
kind of democracy which has an anti– capitalist as well as anti-imperialist and anti-
feudal orientation and paves the way for the transition to a higher stage in the course
of which mainly socialist problems are solved. Obviously the transition to the non-
capitalist way has to be guided by a power which expresses the interests of the
working people and alters the social relations in conformity with these interests. In
the course of non-capitalist development this power itself undergoes changes as a
result of the steadily increasing influence of the emergent working class.
The republics of Soviet Central Asia and the Mongolian People’s Republic built p
socialism bypassing capitalism. The rise of the world socialist system and the
weakening of imperialism create especially favourable international conditions for the 502
non-capitalist development of the former colonies and semi-colonies.
In its Report to the 24th Congress the CPSU Central Committee pointed out that a p
fairly large number of Asian and African countries have taken the non-capitalist path,
i.e., a path of building a socialist society. These countries are carrying out deep-
going socio-economic changes promoting the interests of the people and
strengthening national independence. They are nationalising the property of the
imperialist monopolies and strengthening the public sector, which is the economic
basis of their revolutionary-democratic policy. In Burma, for example, the public
sector controls over 80 per cent of the mining and about 60 per cent of the
manufacturing industries.
The advanced liberated countries are carrying through agrarian reforms, establishing p
state and co-operative farms, introducing progressive social and labour legislation and
improving conditions for augmenting the political influence of the working people.
Countries which have taken the socialist path pursue a vigorous anti-imperialist p
foreign policy and support the liberation movement of the oppressed peoples. They
maintain friendly relations with socialist states, relying on their support in the
struggle for independent and progressive development. Their revolutionary-democratic
parties are promoting ties with the CPSU and other Marxist-Leninist parties.
The non-capitalist development of the former colonies and semi-colonies is a p

complicated process. The revolutionary authority and all progressive forces not only 503
face the need fundamentally to change the existing property relations and the
spiritual life of society; they must also exert tremendous efforts to build up and
develop the productive forces and simultaneously improve the welfare of the working
people.
Like any revolution, non-capitalist development is accompanied by an acute class p

struggle. Imperialism and local reactionary elements in these countries have not
abandoned the hope of pushing them back to the road of capitalist development.
They endeavour to compromise the state’s anticapitalist measures and prove that its
interference in economic affairs is “ineffective”. Hostile elements create economic
difficulties in the hope of arousing the discontent of the masses. In their fight
against the revolutionary authority reactionary circles extensively utilise as yet low
level of political consciousness of fairly wide sections of the working people, tribal
enmity and religious and nationalistic prejudices. With the help of the bureaucratic
bourgeoisie and corrupt elements in the state and party machinery the hostile forces
try to reverse the social development of countries orientated on socialism and
sometimes manage to bring about a reactionary degeneration of progressive regimes.
Finally, the reactionary elements are not averse to employing armed force and often
place their stakes on pro-imperialist elements in the army. Being the best organised
force, armies play an especially important role in the newly liberated countries.
But no matter how difficult problems of social progress may be in these countries, p 504
they can be solved if the masses are mobilised for the task and if the democratic
and revolutionary forces are united. The progressive forces in the former colonies
and semi-colonies can draw upon the experience of the world liberation movement
and the experience of the socialist states. This experience has been embodied in the
theory of scientific socialism, in the practical achievements of the socialist states and
in the way their economic, social, state and Party life is organised.
Today the successful development of the liberated countries along the road of social p
progress depends in ever greater measure on resolute actions countering the anti-
communist and narrow nationalistic trends fostered by certain circles.
The Final Document of the 1969 International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ p
Parties says: "Communists fight for the freedom, national independence and socialist
future of their peoples. They are bearers of the ideas of scientific socialism and fight
in the vanguard of the national liberation movement. This movement, the social
progress of the peoples in the newly liberated countries demand close co-operation
between the Communist and Workers’ parties and the other patriotic and progressive
forces. A hostile attitude to communism, and persecution of Communists harm the
struggle for national and social emancipation.”
The struggle against reactionary forces and the henchmen of imperialism and neo- p
colonialism is also taking place in many former colonies and dependencies. Very 505
considerable progress has been made by the Indian people in this field. India has
nationalised the biggest banks, deprived the princes of their centuries-old privileges
and strengthened the public sector. Democratic, Leftwing forces have consolidated
their positions. Serious social changes have taken place in the Republic of Sri Lanka,
and the imperialist plans of dismembering Nigeria have been frustrated.
Certain changes have also taken place in the liberation movement in Latin America. p
The peoples of this part of the world are upholding their independence and fighting
against the oppression of American monopolies with mounting determination. US
imperialism’s efforts to inhibit the growth of the revolutionary movement by pursuing
a policy of scanty reforms carried out with the assistance of certain local bourgeois
circles are of no avail. Ever larger sections of workers, peasants, urban petty
bourgeoisie and patriotic intelligentsia are becoming aware that only a resolute fight
against imperialism and revolutionary break-up of the outdated social order will open
the road to genuine freedom, democracy and socialism. Even the patriotic sections of
the clergy and the army, which just recently constituted the bulwark of imperialism
and reaction, are beginning to join the liberation movement.
The working class led by the Communist parties plays a vanguard role in the anti- p
imperialist struggle in many Latin American countries, and in rallying all
revolutionary forces.
The trend towards an independent foreign policy course and expansion of ties with p 506
the socialist states is developing with growing persistence in these countries. The
policy of isolation and blockade of Cuba is heading towards complete bankruptcy.
Latin America is turning into a major seat of revolutionary struggle, acquiring
increasing international importance in this respect.
Historic social changes are taking place in all formerly enslaved countries, faster in
some, slower in others. And in spite of occasional reverses this process is gaining
momentum and strength and developing in width and depth.
***

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< A New Stage of the National Imperialism Remains the Chief >
Liberation Movement Enemy




SOCIALIST SYSTEM

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<< • >> Imperialism Remains the Chief Enemy 506

<•>
As has always been the case the national liberation movement encounters the p
TOC furious resistance of imperialism which remains the chief enemy of the peoples of
Asia, Africa and Latin America. The imperialists cannot reconcile themselves to the
Card
fact that they are losing control over hundreds of millions of people and are being
deprived of the opportunity of exploiting enormous riches and utilising extensive
Text territories as military and strategic bases.
HTML
PS They are doing their utmost to hold on to the remaining colonies, counterattacking p
PDF at the first opportunity in the hope of encroaching on the gains made by the peoples.
The imperialists strive to turn the political independence of countries where colonial 507
T* regimes had been abolished into a screen behind which they could continue their
19* sway. For this purpose they employ the usual colonial methods: they place their
henchmen in power, impose unequal agreements, they resort to putsches, military
### occupation and armed aggression, bribery, blackmail and deception, assassinate
progressive leaders, foment discord between tribes and nationalities and fan religious
strife. If they could the imperialists would have tried to subdue the resistance of the
peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America with fire and sword. But in the present
international situation it is impossible to stake chiefly on direct military action as a
means of suppressing the freedom of the peoples.
The existence of the two world systems and the struggle between them force the p
imperialists to manoeuvre, make concessions and to guide themselves in the relations
with the newly liberated countries not only by considerations of immediate economic
and political advantages, but also by the interests of their global strategy and plans
to prevent these countries from taking the road of social progress.
The system of measures and methods now employed by imperialism to keep the p
liberated countries in subjection has been called neo– colonialism.
US imperialism is the main bulwark of neocolonialism, for it is the American p

imperialists who pursue a most extensive neo-colonialist policy. Their favourite
method is to effectuate their colonial policy behind a screen of democratic veriage 508
and pose as advocates of anti– colonialism.
The remaining colonial regimes in Africa and other parts of the world would have p
collapsed a long time ago were it not for support by US imperialist circles. Many
formally sovereign Latin American states are tied in bondage to American
imperialism.
Britain, France, West Germany, Japan and other imperialist states also pursue a p
neo– colonialist policy.
The line of the Maoist leadership in fact helps imperialist subversion. The Chinese p
leaders direct their activities against the union of socialist states, the international
working class and the national liberation movement. They want to isolate the
national liberation movement from the political and ideological influence of world
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socialism and are blatantly fomenting reactionary– nationalistic feelings and even
racialist tendencies.
The splitting activities of the Chinese leaders have enormously harmed the national
liberation movement. The slaughter in Indonesia, the aggravation of conditions in
which the Indochinese peoples fought against US aggression, the difficulties in the
development of the liberation movement in other Asian countries, the defeat of the
patriotic forces in some African countries, the split within many anti-colonial and
anti-racialist organisations and the death of a number of prominent leaders of the
national liberation struggle in Africa are in one way or another connected with the
great-Han splitting policy of the Chinese leadership. Of late this policy manifested 509
itself in the attitude of the Maoists to the developments in the Indian Subcontinent,
their support for the brutal repressions of Pakistani brass against the people of
Bangladesh.
***

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< Capitalism or Socialism? True Friends and Allies >




SOCIALIST SYSTEM

Imperialism.Remains.the.Chief.Enemy

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<< • >> True Friends and Allies 509

<•>
Today the national liberation movement is not fighting imperialism single-handed: it p
TOC has the support of the world socialist system and therein lies its great advantage.
This support is one of the main sources of its sharply increased strength. Without it
Card
the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America could have never smashed the
colonial system, they would never be given an opportunity to free themselves
Text economically from imperialism and decide their own road of further development.
HTML
PS It is socialist ideology, the socialist nature of their social system that determine the p
PDF position of the Soviet Union and other socialist states as true friends and allies of the
peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
T*
19* The entire life of the Soviet state, its home and foreign policies rest on socialist p
principles which are irreconcilably hostile to all forms of oppression. In his report
### "The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" General
Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev dwelt on the specific
features of the alliance between world socialism and the forces of national liberation
in modern conditions, and the principles underlying their support by the socialist 510
community. ".. .The whole world knows,” he said, "that acting on Lenin’s behests,
our Party and people actively support the national liberation struggle of the peoples
and the progressive policy of countries liberated from colonial oppression. In saying
this we should like to stress that in present conditions, as we see it, a policy is
progressive if it firmly repulses neo-colonialism and works for the consolidation of
the sovereignty and independence of the young states, for their economic liberation
from imperialism, for peace, for social progress and close solidarity with other
progressive forces of our time, and, first and foremost, with the socialist countries.”
How do the socialist states support the national liberation movement? p
First, they furnish all-round assistance to the peoples of those countries which have p
not yet won political freedom and are fighting against colonial regimes and puppet
dictatorships imposed on them by the imperialists.
Second, they support the young national states in all spheres—political, military, p
economic and ideological.
In the political sphere the co-operation between socialist states and the liberated p
countries is spearheaded against imperialism’s efforts to deprive these countries of the
possibility of determining their own ways of development without foreign
interference. Together with the young national states the socialist countries oppose all
unequal political relations and all attempts at diktat on the part of the imperialists.
In the military sphere the socialist states help the young national states to strengthen p 511
their defensive capacity, build up national armed forces which would defend their
political independence and national interests.
In the economic sphere the socialist countries are rendering former colonies and p
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semi-colonies all possible support in their efforts to win independence from

imperialism. They furnish them direct economic and technical assistance, help them
in training national personnel—engineers, technicians and skilled workers—and in
developing science, culture and public health. With Soviet assistance developing
countries have built or are building over a hundred cultural institutions.
Economic co-operation with the socialist countries has an enormous impact on the p
relations between developing states and the imperialist powers, which are often
forced to make serious concessions. Such assistance on the part of the socialist
countries is of the utmost significance.
In the ideological sphere the socialist states help the patriotic forces to fight against p
the campaign of "spiritual conquest" which the imperialists are conducting in the
liberated countries. The help of the socialist states in the training of personnel and
the development of education contributes to the success of the cultural revolution in
these countries.
The Soviet Union’s relations with the young national states are based on complete
equality and mutual respect. Socialist countries have especially close, friendly
relations with countries which are carrying through serious socio-economic changes 512
and are developing along the non-capitalist path. In its turn the national liberation
movement appreciably helps the Soviet Union and world socialism by undermining
imperialism’s economic, political and ideological positions in vast areas of the world.
***

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< Imperialism Remains the Chief >

Enemy




SOCIALIST SYSTEM

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<< • >> THE WORLD COMMUNIST MOVEMENT 512

<•>
[introduction.]

TOC Let us glance at an old map of the world. Vast territories are covered with the p
Card colours of the imperialist states whose colonies accounted for almost the whole of
Asia and Africa. Now let us take a look at the latest map of the world. A quarter of
Text the earth’s surface is taken up by the states of the socialist system. They have been
HTML established in Europe, Asia and the Western Hemisphere. Colonial territories are tiny
PS islets in an ocean of independent states most of which came into existence in the
PDF recent decades.
T* The fundamental changes taking place in modern society are engendered by the p
19* objective regularities of its development which manifest themselves in the course of
the conscious activity of the masses.
###
A characteristic feature of our epoch is the active participation of the masses in the p
struggle for a new life. Not more than fifty years ago some parts of the world were
regarded politically dormant. Even two decades ago there were countries which the 513
capitalists called their reliable bastions where there were none and could not be any
revolutionary movements.
Today all continents are scenes of some form of revolutionary movement of the p
masses. Socialist slogans are winning more and more people and socialism has
indeed become the idea of the century. Even its sworn enemies, in an effort to
conceal their reactionary plans from the people, often render it lip service.
Needless to say, not everywhere is this struggle taking place under the socialist p
banner, for it involves the most diverse social forces, each with its specific
objectives and its own notions of the ideals of progress. But the important thing is
that objectively each of these forces strikes a blow at capital. In all spheres of life
capitalism has become the main obstacle to progress. In our day and age all social
movements in defence of freedom and democracy in all its forms also defend the
rights of the individual and, in the final analysis, contribute to the struggle for the
revolutionary transformation of the world.
The CPSU Programme reads in part: " Socialist revolutions, anti-imperialist national
liberation revolutions, people’s democratic revolutions, broad peasant movements,
popular struggles to overthrow fascist and other despotic regimes, and general
democratic movements against national oppression—all these merge in a single
world-wide revolutionary process undermining and destroying capitalism.”
***

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< The Force Which Unites All >
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Revolutionaries

<< NATIONAL LIBERATION THE STRUGGLE OF THE CPSU >>

MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLES AND THE SOVIET STATE FOR
OF ASIA, AFRICA AND LATIN PEACE AND INTERNATIONAL
AMERICA SECURITY


SOCIALIST SYSTEM

The.World.Communist.Movement

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<< • >> The Force Which Unites All Revolutionaries 514

<•>
The world communist movement is the vanguard of the contemporary revolutionary p
TOC struggle. Communist parties are active in all parts of the world and everywhere the
communist movement is an important factor of the unification of all revolutionary
Card
forces. Communists, true Marxists-Leninists are concentrating their efforts on the
achievement of this union.
Text
HTML No other political trend has ever encountered such complicated problems as those p
PS which the communist movement has to contend. This is not surprising since the
PDF Communists were the first in the history of mankind to launch the socialist
reorganisation of society. As a result they are constantly under enemy fire, and are
T* not always in a position to surmount the difficulties engendered by life. The
19* communist movement keeps developing despite all obstacles and that is an earnest of
its ultimate success.
###
The main source of strength and vitality of the cause espoused by Communists is p
their scientific world outlook, their revolutionary theory—- Marxism-Leninism. As
can be seen from its centuryold history Marxism-Leninism has proved to be the only
teaching capable of correctly determining the general directions and the motive
forces of progress, because it analyses the general laws of social development and
makes a concrete study of the specific features of the revolutionary struggle in
separate countries.
The Communist parties are armed with science– based strategy and tactics of p 515
revolutionary struggle for the triumph of social progress. Thanks to their strategy and
tactics the working people are in a position to fight successfully in any conditions
and take into account any changes that take place in the historical situation.
Proletarian internationalism is another major source of communism’s strength. It is p

the supreme expression of the community of basic interests of the workers of
different countries and the foundation of the international policy of the Communists.
For decades the capitalists have been using the poisoned weapon of bourgeois p
nationalism in their struggle against the working class. "It is precisely the
nationalistic tendencies, especially those which assume the form of anti-Sovietism,”
states the CC Report to the 24th CPSU Congress, "that bourgeois ideologists and
bourgeois propaganda have placed most reliance on in their fight against socialism
and the communist movement.” The working class and the Communists counter
bourgeois nationalism with proletarian internationalism.
Today proletarian internationalism denotes in the first place the solidarity of all p
revolutionary detachments in the common fight against imperialism and reaction, for
democracy, national independence and socialism. In line with its principles each
national detachment of the revolutionary working-class movement does its utmost to
support the revolutionary development in other countries, protect the socialist gains of
the peoples and support the socialist world.
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Proletarian internationalism is the foundation of the fraternal mutual assistance of p 516

the socialist countries, the help rendered by world socialism to the national liberation
movement and the allround mutual support of all the detachments of the
revolutionary army of the proletariat. Defence of peace and the fight against the
threat of another world war are also an inalienable feature of proletarian
internationalism.
Finally, in our day the most important requirements of proletarian internationalism

are defence of the Marxist-Leninist ideology as the internationalist ideology of the
communist movement and the struggle for the unity of all revolutionary forces.
***

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<•>
The world communist movement is the most influential force of our time. p
TOC Communism’s ideological enemies in the West often try to disprove this by referring
to the difficulties which have arisen in the communist movement in recent years.
Card
Yes, there are difficulties, and at times they were very serious. Lately, Marxism- p
Text Leninism as the ideological and theoretical foundation of the communist movement
HTML has come under attack from various sides. The Chinese leadership launched the
PS formation of splitter groups in a number of countries, calling them “Marxist-Leninist”
PDF parties. It is endeavouring to unite these groups to counterpose the world communist
movement. Quite often the Trotskyites work hand in glove with these groups. The 517
T* tendency towards nationalistic selfisolation has become increasingly manifest in some
19* countries and both “Left”- and Right-wing opportunists have been waxing of late.
### The bourgeoisie and its ideologists supported all these trends hostile to communism p
in an attempt to further their anti-Soviet aims. Imperialism pushed opportunist
elements in Communist parties into concluding a sort of an ideological deal by
intimating that it would proclaim them genuine “Marxists” adhering to fully "
independent positions" if they first proved their anti– Sovietism.
Developments also show that such people usually begin to fight against the p
Communist parties in their countries, too. This is borne out by the example of
traitors such as Garaudy in France, Fischer in Austria, Petkoff in Venezuela and the
Manifesto group in Italy. The Communist parties regard the struggle against both
“Left”- and Right-wing opportunism as an important factor of the strengthening of
their own ranks.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union has always advocated unity of the p
communist forces. The 23rd CPSU Congress (1966) expressed deep regret over the
differences which had arisen and which played into the hands of the Communists’
enemies. This, in the opinion of the CPSU, clashed with the interests of all fraternal
parties, with the common interests of the communist movement.
The CPSU, all Marxist-Leninist parties concentrated on uniting the communist p

movement and consolidating its ideological foundation. Important steps in this 518
direction were the 1967 Conference of the European Communist Parties in Karlovy
Vary and a number of other international communist meetings which discussed the
question of calling an International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties. The
CPSU played a major role in formulating the idea of convening the Meeting and
carrying it through.
In this connection the Resolution of the 24th CPSU Congress says: "The Congress p
notes that in the period under review the CC CPSU has consistently pursued a line
towards the cohesion of the communist ranks on a Marxist-Leninist basis, and has
displayed firmness in standing up for the internationalist principles of the communist
movement. Together with other Marxist-Leninist parties the CC CPSU did much
work for preparing and convening the 1969 International Meeting, which was an
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important stride forward in strengthening the Communists’ international unity and

consolidating all the anti-imperialist forces, and has made a major contribution to the
development of a number of propositions of MarxismLeninism. The CPSU regards
the fulfilment of the programme of anti-imperialist struggle put forward by the
Meeting as an important basis for strengthening unity of action by the Communist
and Workers’ parties, and for enhancing the role of the communist movement in the
present-day world development. The CPSU favours the convocation in the future of
international meetings as the need arises.”
The truly world-wide celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Great 519
October Socialist Revolution, the centenary of Lenin’s birth, the 50th anniversary of
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the 150th anniversaries of the births of
Marx and Engels contributed enormously to strengthening the cohesion of the
communist movement. The 1969 Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties and
the great revolutionary anniversaries offered additional proof of the viability of the
Marxist-Leninist teaching and gave further impetus to the struggle of the fraternal
parties for the interests of the working class and all working people.
***

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< The Force Which Unites All The Most Influential Movement of >
Revolutionaries Our Time


AMERICA SECURITY


SOCIALIST SYSTEM

For.the.Cohesion.of.Communists

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<< • >> The Most Influential Movement 519

<•> of Our Time

TOC The measures which were adopted considerably strengthened the unity of the p
international communist movement and invigorated the fruitful bilateral and
Card
multilateral inter-Party ties.
Text No other result could have been expected, for the positions of the communist p
HTML movement today, its place in world politics are determined by specific objective
PS circumstances which are precisely what ensures its viability.
PDF
The influence of the communist movement in the modern world is determined above p
T* all by the fact that it expresses the interests of the working people and is a genuinely
19* international, world-wide political organisation, more powerful and better \Velded
into a single whole than any other. Today nearly 90 countries have Communist 520
### parties with a total membership of more than 50 million.
The following fact shows the dynamics of the development of the communist p
movement: since the Second World War the number of Communists increased 2.5-
fold. In 1957 there were 75 Communist and Workers’ parties in the world with a
total membership of 33 million. This means that in a decade and a half their number
increased by over 17 million.
Communist parties are the ruling parties in the socialist countries. The successful p
construction of communism and socialism in socialist countries multiplies the power
of world communism, furthers its unity and enhances the influence of the Communist
parties in the world. This circumstance imposes a special responsibility on
Communists in socialist countries, for everything that these parties do in one way or
another has an impact on the entire world revolutionary process.
In many capitalist states Communist parties have developed into a force to be p

reckoned with, and even if they are still unable to determine the course of the
development of their states, their influence on the domestic scene is becoming
increasingly apparent. In Italy, France, Japan, India and some other countries the
situation is such that the ruling circles have to heed communist views on many
crucial issues. Further proof of the mounting influence of the Communists in the
capitalist countries is the increasing number of votes which are cast for the
Communist parties. In the countries of the non– socialist world where Communist 521
parties are not banned they poll about 40 million votes.
In countries where the national liberation movement is in progress, Communist p

parties are fighting for the completion of the national liberation of the peoples, for
social progress. And it is largely due to the Communist parties that the ideas of
socialism are being regarded with increasing interest by the national liberation forces.
The militant contingent of Latin American Communists is coming to play an p

increasing role in the world-wide family of Communists. Communist parties,
particularly in Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela, have developed
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into a formidable political force. Steeled in furious clashes with foreign and domestic
reaction Latin American Communists are resolutely building up a political army of
anti-imperialist, anti-feudal revolutions.
One of the most important objective factors of the outstanding role played by world p
communism is that in their struggle for the interests of the working class, of all
working people, the Communists give the fullest expression to mankind’s loftiest
aspirations: peace, freedom and the all-round development of the individual. The
Communists fight consistently to avert another world war.
The imperialist bourgeoisie is not oblivious to the growing influence of the p

communist movement and is subjecting the Communists to severest repressions. In
almost 40 countries Communist parties are operating illegally. On several occasions
legal proceedings had been instituted against the Communist Party in the USA. In 522
Chile, Spain, Paraguay, Haiti, Guatemala and some other countries the authorities
resort to bloody terror to suppress communist activity. But all to no avail. Even in
underground conditions the Communist parties continue their energetic activity,
rallying together a wide circle of activists and organising the struggle for the rights
of the working people, for democratic freedoms and peace.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union, working together with other Marxist-
Leninist parties, has set itself the aim of further broadening the influence of the
communist movement and consolidating its unity. In its Resolution, the 24th CPSU
Congress instructed the Central Committee "to continue steadfastly to work for the
cohesion of the communist movement and for enhancing its role in the whole anti-
imperialist struggle and to achieve even greater political cohesion of the communist
movement and its ideological Marxist-Leninist unity”.
***

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AMERICA SECURITY


SOCIALIST SYSTEM

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<•> OF THE CPSU AND THE SOVIET STATE
FOR PEACE AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
TOC
[introduction.]
Card
The foreign policy of the Soviet state, which is designed to ensure favourable p
Text international conditions for building socialism and communism, plays a very
HTML important role in the great creative activity which the Soviet people are conducting
PS under the leadership of the Communist Party. Lenin urged the Party to solve 523
PDF
international issues "from the point of view of the conditions which best make for
the development and consolidation of the socialist revolution”," [ 523•* and to take
T*
into account that the image of the modern world is determined by the "duel between
19*
two methods, two political and economic systems—the communist and the
### capitalist". [ 523•** He summoned the Party consistently to fulfil its internationalist
duty.
At the same time Lenin, basing himself on the law of the uneven development of p
capitalism at its highest, imperialist stage and the possibility of socialism first
winning in one or several countries, substantiated the principle of peaceful
coexistence of countries with differing social systems.
Soviet foreign policy’s revolutionary, transformative nature stems from the very p
essence of the socialist state, from the historical obligation which the proletariat of
Russia assumed when under the guidance of the Leninist Party it overthrew the rule
of the bourgeoisie and landowners on one-sixth of the world’s surface and opened a
new era in the history of mankind—the era of the transition from capitalism to
socialism.
The map of the world and the balance of forces in the world arena have changed p
considerably since the October Socialist Revolution in Russia.
The Soviet people’s glorious victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 p 524
against the nazi invaders demonstrated the viability of the Soviet system, and rocked
the decaying mainstays of imperialism in many countries and large areas of the
world, opening before their peoples the road to genuine freedom and independence
and the construction of a new society.
The world socialist system became one of the main factors of social development. p
The important changes that took place in the world balance of forces were also due p
to the collapse of the colonial system of imperialism. Having smashed the chains of
colonialism many young sovereign states have chosen the non-capitalist way of
development. They have orientated themselves on socialism, thus becoming the allies
of the socialist countries in their struggle against imperialism’s aggressive policy.
Finally, the continuing aggravation of the general crisis of capitalism is characterised p

by a steady upsurge of the strike movement of the working class in the capitalist
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states and the mounting struggle of the working people against monopoly rule. The
democratic movement of the world public for peace and against the arms race and
imperialism’s military intrigues is also gathering momentum.
To a considerable degree the way to all these historic changes in the world and in p
the class struggle in various sectors of the anti-imperialist front was paved by the
Soviet Union’s effective support for the cause of peace and progress.
In their foreign policy activity the CPSU and the Soviet Government take account 525
of the difficulties and contradictions existing in the modern world. These difficulties
and contradictions are engendered by imperialism’s aggressive policy, particularly in
Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The bourgeoisie is searching for cracks and
loopholes in the common anti-imperialist front in order to split it up. These
difficulties and contradictions also grow out of a certain heterogeneity of the forces
involved in the turbulent development of the world revolutionary and liberation
process.
***

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[ 523•** ] Ibid., Vol. 31, p. 456.
< Fundamental Principles of Soviet >

Foreign Policy

<< THE WORLD COMMUNIST >>

MOVEMENT


SOCIALIST SYSTEM

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<< • >> Fundamental Principles of 525

<•> Soviet Foreign Policy

TOC Since its establishment more than half a century ago, the Soviet state conducts its p
foreign policy in keeping with Lenin’s principles of internationalism and active
Card
defence of peace. At various stages this policy was enriched with new experience
and methods, but under all conditions the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and
Text the Soviet Government undeviatingly followed Lenin’s behests and acted in the
HTML creative spirit of Marxism-Leninism.
PS
PDF “As we see it,” underlined General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee p
Leonid Brezhnev in his report on the 50th anniversary of the USSR, "the purpose of
T* our foreign policy is to strengthen peace, which we need for building communism,
19* which is required by all socialist countries, by the peoples of all lands. This is why 526
we shall continue to counteract the policy of aggression and help to eliminate
### throughout the world the conditions that breed aggressive wars.
“As we see it, it is the purpose and mission of our foreign policy to facilitate the p
exercise by all the peoples of their inalienable rights and, first and foremost, their
right to independent and sovereign development, so that they may benefit by the
fruits of modern civilisation.
“As we see it, it is the purpose and mission of our policy on the international scene p
to side unfailingly with those who are fighting imperialism and all forms of
exploitation and oppression, for freedom and human dignity, for democracy and
socialism.”
Class and socialist in content and aims, the Leninist foreign policy of the CPSU p
and the Soviet state is consistently internationalist, genuinely democratic and
profoundly peaceful.
It is internationalist because it is permeated with the spirit of solidarity with the p

world’s revolutionary forces. The interests of the Soviet people coincide objectively
with the vital requirements and aspirations of the working people of all countries. By
defending the interests of the Soviet state, Soviet foreign policy upholds the interests
of the working people of the whole world. By supporting all revolutionary and
national liberation forces and curtailing the sphere of imperialist influence, the Soviet
state also contributes to the establishment of more propitious conditions for the
peaceful creative labour of the Soviet people. Thus, a genuinely socialist foreign 527
policy is an important factor of the development of the class struggle in the world
arena.
The Soviet Union proves this by word and deed. Thanks to Soviet foreign policy p
which unmasked imperialist conspiracies against peace and democracy in the initial
post-war years the People’s Democracies in Eastern and Central Europe successfully
defended their gains against the encroachments of internal and external
counterrevolution and launched socialist construction. Soviet assistance to the Arab
peoples in October 1956 checked the Anglo-French-Israeli aggression whose purpose
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was to stamp out national liberation revolutions in the Middle East. In 1958 the
Soviet Union upset US plans of intervention in the Lebanon. In 1961 and 1962
revolutionary Cuba managed to safeguard her freedom and independence in the face
of unceasing provocations and threats by US imperialism thanks to Soviet support.
From the very outset of US aggression in Southeast Asia, the Soviet Union
resolutely upheld the just cause of patriots of Vietnam and other countries of
Indochina. During the June 1967 Israeli aggression, the Arab peoples once again
received the firm support of the USSR.
Soviet foreign policy is democratic because it upholds the equality of all nations, p
both large and small. It is an honest policy dictated by the interests of the working
people and not narrow groups. By its very first foreign political act— the Decree on
Peace—the young Soviet Republic countered the deceitful diplomacy of imperialism 528
with a straightforward policy addressed to all the peoples. In 1917 the revolutionary
workers’ and peasants’ government made public all the secret treaties entered into by
tsarism, and proclaimed them null and void.
International relations of the latter half of the 20th century are characterised by an p
unprecedented scope of the world-wide struggle for peace. Credit for this is in no
small measure due to Soviet foreign policy which opened the eyes of the world
public to the danger inherent in imperialism’s aggressive course and showed that
there was another road, one which coincided with the interests of all peoples.
Indicative of the peaceableness of Soviet foreign policy is the fact that in all issues p
of war and peace the Soviet Union consistently fights for peace, security and
friendship of peoples. It is written down in the CPSU Programme that socialism has
offered mankind the only reasonable principle of maintaining relations between states
at a time when the world is divided into two systems—Lenin’s principle of peaceful
coexistence of states with different social systems. This principle implies renunciation
of war as a means of settling international disputes, and their solution by negotiation,
renunciation of force or the threat of force, non-interference in internal affairs,
recognition of the right of every people to solve all the problems of its country by
itself, inviolability of state borders, respect for the sovereignty, equality and
independence of all countries, promotion of economic, scientific, technical and 529
cultural co-operation on the basis of mutual benefit.
Naturally, the principle of peaceful coexistence does not mean that two opposing p
ideologies— bourgeois and socialist—can live in peace. Ideological principles are
irreconcilable.
These fundamental features of Soviet foreign policy are embodied in the tireless p
activity of the Soviet state and the CPSU on the international scene.
In its decisions the 24th CPSU Congress approved the basic, time-tested trends of
Soviet foreign policy and mapped out a concrete, effective programme for a
consistent struggle for peace and universal security.
***

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< [introduction.] Co-operation with Socialist Countries >

and Revolutionary-Democratic
Parties


MOVEMENT


SOCIALIST SYSTEM

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<•> with Socialist Countries
and Revolutionary-Democratic Parties

TOC
In view of its class content and internationalist character, the Soviet foreign policy p
Card
is formulated and effectuated with the utmost consideration for the interests and
aspirations of the working class in all countries, of the broadest masses of working
Text people, of all progressive humanity. The enhanced might and international prestige of
HTML the Soviet Union, the all-round consolidation of the fraternal community of socialist
PS states, the powerful upsurge of the working-class movement and the mounting
PDF success of the national liberation struggle create objective conditions for paralysing
the forces of aggression and imperialism, and guiding international developments in a 530
T* direction furthering the cause of peace and socialism. The decisive role in attaining
19* this historic aim is played by the world community of socialist states.
### The CPSU works unremittingly to promote the cohesion and development of the p
world socialist system. Since its establishment almost three decades ago, the world
socialist system has proved its viability; it has greatly accelerated world progress and
is vastly contributing to the achievement of such a vitally important goal for all the
peoples as prevention of another world war.
The CPSU and the Soviet state likewise attach undiminishing importance to p
developing co– operation with the fraternal socialist states. Of late the Soviet Union
has signed new treaties of friendship, co-operation and mutual assistance with the
GDR, Poland, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Rumania. It also strengthened
fraternal friendship and co-operation with Cuba and extended its ties with the
Korean People’s Democratic Republic and Yugoslavia. The Soviet people maintain
relations of socialist solidarity and friendship with the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam.
A major success of the concerted policy pursued by the fraternal countries has been p
the liquidation of the political blockade of the German Democratic Republic. By the
beginning of 1975 it had diplomatic relations with 112 countries. Chinks are
appearing in the wall of "non– recognition" which the United States built around the
Republic of Cuba 15 years ago, and the international position of the first socialist 531
state in the Western Hemisphere is steadily gaining in strength.
In its Resolution the April 1973 Plenary Meeting of the CPSU Central Committee p
expressed the firm resolve of the CPSU to take all necessary steps to ensure the
further cohesion of the socialist states and the consolidation and expansion of all-
round, fraternal ties with them.
But there are difficulties and complications even in the socialist world, and first and p
foremost in Soviet-Chinese relations.
The CPSU resolutely opposes all attempts to distort the Marxist-Leninist teaching p
and to split the international communist movement and the ranks of the anti-
imperialist fighters. The CPSU Central Committee and the Soviet Government are
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doing their utmost to normalise Soviet-Chinese relations. On the initiative of the

Soviet Union a meeting of the heads of government of the two countries took place
in September 1969 after which government delegations met in Peking to resolve
border issues.
Delivering the CC Report to the 24th CPSU Congress Leonid Brezhnev said: "We p
resolutely reject the slanderous inventions concerning the policy of our Party and our
state which are being spread from Peking and instilled into the minds of the Chinese
people.... The CPSU will continue tirelessly to work for the cohesion of the socialist
countries and the world communist movement on a Marxist-Leninist basis. At the
same time, our Party and the Soviet Government are deeply convinced that an 532
improvement of relations between the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of
China would be in line with the fundamental, long-term interests of both countries,
the interests of socialism, the freedom of the peoples, and stronger peace. That is
why we are prepared in every way to help not only to normalise relations but also to
restore neighbourliness and friendship between the Soviet Union and the People’s
Republic of China and express the confidence that this will eventually be achieved.”
The CPSU and the Soviet Government are taking extensive and diverse steps to p
expand ties with the national liberation movement. The Soviet Union politically and
economically supports the just struggle of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin
America for national independence and social progress, against the encroachments of
imperialism. The socialist countries and developing states are more fully and actively
co-operating in the field of international diplomacy.
In its Report to the 24th CPSU Congress the Central Committee noted that "in the
struggle against imperialism an ever greater role is being played by the
revolutionary-democratic parties. ..”. This assessment constitutes a basic feature of
the CPSU’s attitude to the national liberation movement. The CPSU vigorously
promotes ties with these parties, confident that this fully meets the interests of the
anti-imperialist movement, strengthens national independence and promotes social
progress.
***

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< Fundamental Principles of Soviet The Maintenance and Consolidation >

Foreign Policy of Peace, an Important Aspect of
Soviet Foreign Policy


MOVEMENT


SOCIALIST SYSTEM

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<< • >> The Maintenance and Consolidation 533

<•> of Peace,
an Important Aspect
of Soviet Foreign Policy
TOC
Card
The CPSU and the Soviet state devote primary attention to the struggle for the p
elimination of hotbeds of aggression and prevention of another world war, for the
Text triumph of the principles of peaceful coexistence, for lasting peace and international
HTML security.
PS
PDF The alloy of internationalism and peaceableness is a basic feature of a genuinely p
socialist course in international affairs.
T*
19* “We know,” Lenin said, "we know only too well, the incredible misfortunes that p
war brings to the workers and peasants." [ 533•* He pointed out that the purpose of
### Soviet foreign policy and propaganda was to put an end to war and not to involve
the peoples in armed clashes.
This premise found its concentrated expression in the programme of active defence p
of peace worked out at the 24th CPSU Congress. "The Soviet Union has countered
the aggressive policy of imperialism with its policy of active defence of peace and
strengthening of international security,” emphasised Leonid Brezhnev as he delivered
the CC Report to the 24th CPSU Congress. "The main lines of this policy are well
known. Our Party, our Soviet state, in co-operation with the fraternal socialist
countries and other peace-loving states, and with the wholehearted support of many 534
millions of people throughout the world, have now for many years been waging a
struggle on these lines, taking a stand for the cause of peace and friendship among
nations.”
The 24th Congress denned the main tasks and directions of this struggle in
contemporary conditions.
***

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< Co-operation with Socialist Countries Measures to Eliminate Hotbeds of >

and Revolutionary-Democratic Parties War and Rebuff to Military
Aggression


MOVEMENT


SOCIALIST SYSTEM
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<< • >> Measures to Eliminate Hotbeds of War 534

<•> and Rebuff to Military Aggression

TOC Lasting peace is out of the question so long as there are hotbeds of war in p
Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where the imperialist "policy of strength" has
Card
completely exposed its anti-popular aggressive nature.
Text Intent upon crushing the national liberation movement of the Indochinese peoples, p
HTML the US imperialists mobilised huge forces and means and unleashed direct aggression
PS against the Vietnamese people. The Soviet Union, following the CPSU’s principled
PDF and consistent course formulated in the decisions of the 23rd and 24th CPSU
Congresses, translated its internationalist solidarity with the people of Vietnam into
T* reality. When the imperialist aggressors subjected the Democratic Republic of
19* Vietnam to devastating air attacks, the USSR promptly delivered modern anti-aircraft
missiles, artillery and fighter aircraft to the Vietnamese People’s Army. The
### uninterrupted deliveries of essential military and civilian freight from the Soviet
Union and other socialist countries did much to help the DRV organise a rebuff to
the aggressors and provide for its population. Using the entire weight of its 535
international prestige the Soviet Union, together with other socialist countries,
resolutely supported the political and diplomatic acts and the realistic and
constructive proposals of the DRV Government and the Provisional Revolutionary
Government of the Republic of South Vietnam. The agreement on the cessation of
war and the establishment of peace in Vietnam signed in Paris on January 27, 1973
was a great victory of the heroic Vietnamese people over the forces of imperialist
aggression, a victory of the militant solidarity of progressive, peaceloving forces
throughout the world.
The Soviet Union’s policy in the Middle East is characterised by its consistent p
solidarity with the just cause of the Arab peoples and its readiness to help bring
about a political settlement on the basis of the Security Council’s resolutions which
take into account the legitimate interests of all the Middle East peoples, including the
Palestinian people, and the right to existence for all states in that part of the world.
Dwelling on the Middle East problem in his election speech in Moscow on June 14, p
1974, Leonid Brezhnev said: "The policy of the Soviet Union and other socialist
states and the changed international climate have been largely instrumental in
creating more favourable conditions for the struggle against imperialist aggression
and for liquidating the hotbed of war in the Middle East. Agreement was reached on
the disengagement of troops in the region of the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan
Heights. At the same time it should be seen that only the first steps have been taken. 536
The main issues of the settlement are to be discussed at the Geneva Conference. This
is an extremely difficult task. It can be solved only by the joint efforts of the states
participating in the Conference.”
In order to ensure lasting peace it is necessary promptly to rebuff any act of p

aggression and international violence. This calls for concerted and effective actions
of all peace-loving states. The Soviet Union considers that the UN should make the
fullest use of its opportunities. In 1970, at the jubilee 25th Session of the UN
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General Assembly, the Soviet Union and fraternal socialist countries came forward
with an important initiative. On their proposal a Declaration on the Strengthening of
International Security was worked out and then approved by an overwhelming
majority of UN members.
Of special importance are the points of the Declaration recommending the p

strengthening of the UN and enhancement of its effectivity as an instrument of
peace.
In the opinion of the Soviet Union it is necessary to achieve such a state of affairs p
when repudiation of the use or the threat of force in relations between states, and the
solution of controversial issues by negotiation would be a law of international life.
The Soviet Union has proposed that countries sharing this view sign corresponding
bilateral or regional treaties. It is such an approach which guides the Soviet Union in
the struggle for lasting peace, security and co-operation in Europe, for carrying into 537
life the idea of collective security in Asia.
The Soviet Union follows up its determination to fight tirelessly for peace with
concrete acts. In May 1971 it signed a Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation with
the Arab Republic of Egypt which proved to be a serious obstacle to aggressive
imperialist actions in this part of the world. In August 1971 it signed a Treaty of
Peace, Friendship and Co-operation with India and in April 1972 it signed a Treaty
of Friendship and Co-operation with the Republic of Iraq. They icflected a basic line
pursued by the USSR in its foreign policy activity, namely, to strengthen
goodneighbourliness and promote co-operation with other countries, hold
consultations with them in the event of threatening situations, not to enter into
military alliances spearheaded against friendly countries, and to settle disputes by
negotiation.
***

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of Peace, an Important Aspect of Europe
Soviet Foreign Policy


MOVEMENT


SOCIALIST SYSTEM

Measures.to.Eliminate.Hotbeds.of.War-

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<< • >> The Struggle for Stable Security in Europe 537

<•>
No other continent has been ravaged "by wars as greatly as Europe. The last war p
TOC alone, which was unleashed by fascism, carried away millions of human lives and
wrought incalculable destruction. Twenty million lives, such was the price which the
Card
Soviet people paid for victory.
Text Today, too, Europe is still the most explosive region of the world. It is the scene of p
HTML operations of NATO, the chief aggressive bloc of imperialist powers, and the
PS reactionary elements in West Germany have not given up their revanchist plans. This 538
PDF means that seats of war danger continue to exist.
T* What must be done to transform Europe into a region of lasting peace? p

19*
“To proceed from the final recognition of the territorial changes that took place in p
### Europe as a result of the Second World War. To bring about a radical turn towards
detente and peace on this continent. To ensure the convocation and success of an all-
European conference.
“To do everything to ensure collective security in Europe.” p
That is how the programme of active defence of peace put forward by the 24th p
CPSU Congress answers this question. It takes into account all the basic premises
jointly formulated by fraternal socialist countries. As far back as July 1966, at a
meeting in Bucharest, the Warsaw Treaty countries adopted a Declaration on the
Consolidation of Peace and Security in Europe in which they appealed to all
European states to work for the establishment of a system of collective security and
goodneighbourly relations. Developing this initiative the Warsaw Treaty countries in
March 1969 proposed that an all-European conference should be convened to
examine questions of security and co-operation. This proposal received extensive
support in West European countries.
The 24th CPSU Congress reaffirmed the readiness jointly expressed by the Warsaw p
Treaty countries to have a simultaneous annulment of this Treaty and of the North
Atlantic alliance or, as a first step, disbanding of their military organisations. 539
In January 1972 the Warsaw Treaty countries approved a Declaration on Peace, p

Security and Co-operation presenting a concrete programme of action of all peace-
loving European forces and governments. It emphasised that the system of European
security ought to be based on treaty obligations between the European states and on
such key principles as inviolability of borders, rejection of the use of force, peaceful
coexistence, goodneighbourly relations, mutually advantageous ties, all-out promotion
of disarmament, and support for the United Nations.
In their bilateral relations with a number of West European states, the Soviet Union p
and other fraternal countries show how principles of peaceful coexistence and
mutually advantageous cooperation are implemented. A case in point is the Soviet
Union’s relations with France and Finland. Soviet co-operation with these countries
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in foreign policy and the economy rests on a firm foundation and is stipulated in
corresponding treaties.
An event of major international importance was Leonid Brezhnev’s visit to France p

in October 1971. The negotiations between the General Secretary of the CPSU
Central Committee and French President Georges Pompidou ended in the signing of
two documents: Principles of Co– operation Between the USSR and France, and the
Soviet-French Declaration which promoted the further development of friendly
relations between the two countries and their joint contribution to the cause of 540
security and co-operation in Europe on the basis of peaceful coexistence.
The visit of Leonid Brezhnev to France in December 1974 was marked by the p
signing of the Agreement on Economic Co-operation Between the USSR and France
for 1975–1979, which provided for mutual credits on most favourable terms.
Leonid Brezhnev and French President VaMry Giscard d’Estaing stated that good p
preconditions had been established for consummating the European security and co-
operation conference and signing its final documents at the summit level.
The Soviet and the French sides supported a speedy resumption of the Middle East p
Geneva Conference and the convocation of a World Disarmament Conference.
The normalisation of relations between the USSR and the FRG and between the p
latter and other socialist countries is a matter of paramount importance for the
preservation of peace and security in Europe. In 1970, the Soviet Union and Poland
signed treaties with the Federal Republic of Germany. The sides pledged to recognise
the existing territorial and political situation in Europe and reject the use of force.
These treaties turned the relations between the signatories towards broad and long-
term co-operation to the great benefit of the present and future generations of these
countries and their neighbours, and are making it possible to achieve such a state of
affairs that recognition of the inviolability of European borders and non-use of force 541
will become a code of life on the continent.
As a result of the initiative and good will on the part of the Soviet Union, a p
quadripartite agreement on West Berlin was signed in September 1971 with the view
to abolishing the source of friction and tension in the heart of Europe. It stipulates
that the sides will respect the allied agreements defining the special status of West
Berlin entered into by the USSR, the USA, France and Britain. The quadripartite
agreement reaffirms that West Berlin does not belong to the Federal Republic of
Germany and is based on respect for the sovereign rights of the German Democratic
Republic, the first socialist state on German soil.
Further progress on the way to consolidating peace in Europe was made in 1972. p
The treaties between the USSR and the FRG and Poland and the FRG were ratified,
a complex of agreements on West Berlin came into force, and a Treaty on the Basic
Principles of Relations Between the GDR and the FRG was concluded.
In May 1973 General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Member of the p
Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet Leonid Brezhnev visited the Federal
Republic of Germany. This visit, which contributed largely to strengthening peace in
Europe, was in furtherance of the line defined by the 1970 Moscow Treaty and the
agreement reached between Leonid Brezhnev and Chancellor Willy Brandt in
Oreanda in 1971. Soviet-West German negotiations in Bonn resulted in the expansion 542
of economic, scientific and technical and cultural co-operation between the two
states. Leonid Brezhnev’s visit consolidated the change in the relations between the
USSR and a state which had just a short while ago adhered to diametrically opposite
positions on all major international issues. This was a shift towards new, normal
peacetime relations and mutually advantageous co-operation, towards greater mutual
understanding of the need to further detente in Europe.
During the visit to the USSR of FRG Chancellor Helmut Schmidt in October 1974 p
an agreement was reached on a further expansion of economic co-operation between
the two countries. Contracts were signed on the delivery of 60,000 million cubic
metres of natural gas from the USSR to the FRG in 1978 through 2000, and on
purchases by Soviet organisations of one million tons of large-diameter gas pipes in
1975 and 1976.
The peaceful initiatives of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries have p
created the necessary conditions and a favourable situation in Europe for practical
preparations for and the convocation of an all-European conference on security and
co-operation to tackle the basic problems of strengthening European peace.
The first stage of the conference on European security and co-operation was held in p
1973 in Finland. The delegates completed a vast amount of important work. They
drafted proposals for the ensuing second stage of the conference, which began in
Geneva later that year and was completed in July .1975. From July 30 to August 1, 543
1975 the third stage of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe was
held in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Political leaders and heads of state from 33
European countries, the USA and Canada came to a collective agreement, embodied
in the Final Act of the Conference, covering a wide range of topical concerns,
including peace, security and co-operation in a variety of fields.
Lying at the heart of the concluding document signed at the conference is the p
Declaration of Principles, by which signatory states will be guided in their external
relations. These principles are: sovereign equality and respect for the rights inherent
in sovereignty; non-use of force or the threat of force; the inviolability of frontiers;
the territorial integrity of states; peaceful resolution of disputes; non-interference in
internal affairs; respect for the rights of man and the fundamental freedoms,
including freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief; equal rights and the
right of peoples to settle their own future; co-operation between states; the
conscientious fulfilment of obligations under international law.
The conference also defined the direction and practical forms to be taken by co- p
operation in the economic and commercial fields, in science and technology,
environmental protection, culture, education and in contacts between people,
institutions and organisations.
The USSR likewise attaches great importance to the reducing of armed forces and p 544
armaments in Central Europe.
The Soviet Union and other socialist countries have broken the cold war front in
Europe. In the opinion of the CPSU it is quite possible to create a system of
interstate relations in Europe which would become a practical and attractive example
of coexistence.
***

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< Measures to Eliminate Hotbeds of A Ban on Weapons of Mass >

War and Rebuff to Military Destruction
Aggression


MOVEMENT


SOCIALIST SYSTEM

Struggle.for.Stable.Security.in.Europe

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<< • >> A Ban on Weapons of Mass Destruction 544

<•>
Following Lenin’s behest the Soviet Government is waging a consistent struggle for p
TOC disarmament. One of the most important tasks in this direction is to outlaw nuclear,
chemical and bacteriological weapons.
Card
Thanks to the Soviet Union’s persistent efforts a number of international agreements p
Text restricting the nuclear arms race have been concluded, such as treaties banning
HTML nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water (1963), prohibiting
PS the proliferation of nuclear weapons (1968), banning the emplacement of these
PDF weapons in outer space, celestial bodies and also on the sea-bed and the ocean floor
and in the subsoil thereof (1967 and 1971). On the initiative of the socialist
T* countries a convention was signed banning the development, production and
19* accumulation of bacteriological (biological) weapons and toxins and providing for
their destruction. The USSR is consistently working for a similar radical solution of
### the question of banning and destroying chemical weapons.
The programme of active defence of peace formulated by the 24th CPSU Congress p 545
sets Soviet foreign policy the following tasks: to work for an end to the testing of
nuclear weapons, including underground tests, by everyone everywhere, to promote
the establishment of nuclear-free zones in various parts of the world, and to work
for a ban on nuclear weapons.
In the autumn of 1972, the Soviet Union tabled a resolution on the non-use of force
in international relations and perpetual prohibition of nuclear weapons for discussion
by the 27th UN General Assembly Session. The need to solve the question of the
non-use of force in general, and that of banning nuclear weapons in particular, is
dictated by the task of putting an end to any use of force, leaving no loopholes for
potential violators of peace. Once this is done the security of each state, whether
nuclear or non-nuclear, large or small, will be equally ensured. At the same time it
would not in the least infringe upon the right of any nation to resist aggression or
imperialist expansion. The UN General Assembly in its overwhelming majority voted
in favour of the Soviet proposal and advised the Security Council to take immediate
steps to translate its decision into life.
***

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< The Struggle for Stable Security in The Struggle to Halt the Arms Race >
Europe


MOVEMENT


SOCIALIST SYSTEM
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A.Ban.on.Weapons.of.Mass.Destruction

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@LBiz: en/1975/FPS559: 7.5.7-Struggle.to.Halt.the.Arms.Race
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<< • >> The Struggle to Halt the Arms Race 545

<•>
The Soviet Union has repeatedly come forward with the proposal to put an end to p
TOC race in all types of weapons, right up to general and complete disarmament. At the 546
same time imperialism is feverishly conducting military preparations, a source of
Card
enormous profits for the monopolists, in an effort to extricate itself from its ever–
deepening general crisis. Mankind is paying a huge price for the arms race imposed
Text by the imperialists. Each year the world spends more than $200,000 million on the
HTML maintenance of armies and production of armaments. Over a half of this sum is
PS expended by NATO states.
PDF
Militarism has a world-wide network of military bases, nuclear warhead dumps and p
T* the routes of air and naval patrols armed with nuclear weapons. For the purpose of
19* “surrounding” the socialist countries the US set up 429 large and 3,400 small military
bases in 30 countries.
###
For more than a quarter of a century US naval vessels are stationed in waters far p
away from their country’s shores. The 6th Fleet patrolling the Mediterranean
bulwarks the aggressive plans of the Israeli military circles against the Arab
countries. For many years the US 7th Fleet was the striking force in the aggressive
war against the peoples of Indochina.
The consistent efforts of the CPSU and the Soviet Government to halt the arms race p
are aimed at ridding the peoples both of the threat of war and the heavy burden of
military expenditures.
The Soviet Union made concrete proposals concerning both a partial cutback in p
arms and laying the groundwork for general and complete disarmament. It calls for
the dismantling of foreign military bases and the introduction of measures reducing 547
the possibility of accidental outbreak of war or deliberate fabrication of armed
incidents and their development into war.
In its Peace Programme the Soviet Union calls for the convocation of a World p
Disarmament Conference. Putting forward this proposal it proceeded from the need
to ensure conditions under which all countries, irrespective of the size of their
territories and populations and military and economic potentials, will take part in
discussing ways and means of restricting and halting the arms race, and then
destroying the weapons. The Soviet initiative received world-wide approval; the 27th
UN General Assembly voted in favour of holding a World Disarmament Conference
and outlined ways how it should be prepared.
The Soviet Union has entered into negotiations with the United States on the p
limitation of strategic arms. It is working towards halting the competition between
offensive and defensive weapons, which poses a threat to peace and swallows vast
sums that could be used for peaceful purposes. The agreement between the USSR
and the USA on the prevention of nuclear war is intended to save the world from its
devastating consequences for mankind.
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In the struggle for the disarmament the USSR proceeds from the premise that the
solution of all questions in the course of bilateral and multilateral negotiations should
be based on the principle of equal security.
***

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Destruction operation


MOVEMENT


SOCIALIST SYSTEM

Struggle.to.Halt.the.Arms.Race


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<< • >> Development of International Co-operation 548

<•>
The Soviet Union’s foreign policy combines a firm rebuff to imperialism’s p
TOC aggressive plans with a constructive approach to urgent international problems, an
uncompromising ideological struggle with readiness to develop mutually advantageous
Card
relations with non-socialist states. The sixth point of the Peace Programme adopted
by the 24th CPSU Congress envisages the expansion of co-operation in the most
Text diverse spheres with all states and peoples.
HTML
PS The consistent realisation of the Peace Programme has led to important changes in p
PDF the relations between the Soviet Union and the United States. The top-level Soviet-
American negotiations in May 1972 in Moscow marked the beginning of a switch
T* from mistrust to detente, to a normalisation of relations and mutual co– operation
19* between the two countries. The Basic Principles of Mutual Relations Between the
USSR and the USA signed at the Moscow meeting proclaimed that the sides "will
### proceed from the common determination that in the nuclear age there is no
alternative to conducting their mutual relations on the basis of peaceful coexistence”.
This document contained other important provisions, including recognition of the
principle of equality and equal security of the sides, rejection of the threat or use of
force, commitment to do everything possible to avoid military confrontations and
prevent nuclear war.
These principles have been embodied in a number of bilateral agreements signed in p 549
Moscow: on limitation of strategic arms, on co-operation in environmental protection,
public health, exploration of outer space, and in diverse fields of science and
technology, all of which are of great importance not only for the peoples of the
USSR and the USA, but also for all mankind.
The time that has passed since the Moscow meeting has shown beyond all doubt p
that the measures which were taken at the meeting with the view to improving
Soviet-American relations were both correct and timely. In the course of the
following months the Soviet Union and the United States signed several agreements
promoting mutual trade, regulating ocean navigation, etc. The volume of trade
"between the two countries increased 200 per cent in 1972 alone.
Fresh proof of the effectiveness of the Soviet Programme of Peace was the visit to p
the United States in June 1973 by General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee
Leonid Brezhnev. The top-level Soviet-American negotiations which were held
during the visit strengthened and expanded the foundations for improving the
relations between the two countries which were laid in May 1972 in Moscow.
The most important result of these negotiations was the Agreement on the p
Prevention of Nuclear War which was signed in Washington. Aimed at preventing a
nuclear clash between the USSR and the USA it also obligates them to do
everything in their power to prevent a nuclear war. This Agreement is of historic
importance because it signifies a shift from nuclear confrontation between the USA 550
and the USSR to a policy of preventing nuclear war and solving controversial issues
by negotiations, and leads to the creation of an effective system guaranteeing
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international security. The readiness of other states to adhere to the principles of

refraining from the threat or use of force and take resolute measures to avert nuclear
war will prove to be of exceptional importance for the achievement of universal
security and lasting world peace.
Soviet and US leaders took a fresh step towards attaining fuller agreement on the p
limitation of the most sophisticated and destructive types of weapons. They worked
out the basic principles of further negotiations on a broader agreement on the
limitation of strategic arms of much longer duration.
During Leonid Brezhnev’s visit to the United States the two sides also signed p
agreements on cooperation in the peaceful uses of atomic energy, agriculture, world
ocean studies, transportation, and so forth. They noted with satisfaction that
preceding agreements on co-operation in other fields were being carried out in
practice, and that there were broad prospects for developing mutually advantageous
economic relations which would enable both countries to aim at a total of $2,000
million to $3,000 million of trade over the next three years.
The Political Bureau of the CPSU Central Committee, the Presidium of the USSR p
Supreme Soviet and the USSR Council of Ministers wholly and fully approved the 551
political and practical results of Soviet-US negotiations. They highly assessed Leonid
Brezhnev’s personal contribution to their achievement, and stated: ”. . .the Soviet
Union will continue consistently to follow the path indicated by the 24th CPSU
Congress. We shall continue to strengthen relations with our friends and allies, with
the countries of the socialist community. We shall promote ties and contacts with
countries that have freed themselves from colonial oppression, help all peoples
fighting for peace, national liberation, democracy and socialism. As in the past the
Soviet Union will render a resolute rebuff to any intrigues of the aggressive
imperialist forces, to all those who oppose detente, who advocate a return to the cold
war and the arms race, to all those who sow seeds of enmity and mistrust among
nations.”
In the course of the third Soviet-American summit meeting which took place from p
June 27 to July 3, 1974, the two sides agreed on the need firmly to adhere to and
implement the main line charted in the documents signed in 1972 and 1973.
Paramount attention was given to further reducing the war danger and limiting p
strategic weapons. Continuing the trend of the Soviet– American basic documents
signed in the course of the preceding meetings the two sides reached agreement on
limiting their anti-missile defences, underground nuclear weapons tests and on further
efforts to limit strategic offensive arms and to ban chemical weapons. All this is an
important step on the road to stronger peace and mutual trust, bulwarking and 552
deepening international detente.
The two sides signed documents confirming their determination to work together to p
avert the war danger and especially war entailing the use of nuclear and other
weapons of mass destruction, limit and finally cease the arms race, particularly the
production of strategic weapons, strengthen detente and make it world wide.
During the third meeting the two sides signed agreements on co-operation in the p
fields of public health, power industry, in housing and other construction, and a
long-term agreement on promoting co-operation in the economic, industrial and
technological fields. These agreements contribute largely to the further expansion of
bilateral co-operation. The development of relations between the USSR and the USA
on the basis of full equality and mutual advantage, their commitment to respect the
rights and interests of all states are an important factor of the continuing
improvement of the international situation and expansion of international co-
operation.
The two sides noted that a successful outcome of the conference on security and co- p
operation in Europe would go a long way towards ensuring lasting peace on the
continent. A factor of great importance is confirmation by the USSR and the USA of
their stand that the Middle East settlement should be based on the resolutions already
adopted by the Security Council and should take into account the legitimate interests
of all the Middle East peoples, including the Palestinian people, and the right to 553
existence of all the states in that part of the world.
In November 1974 near the city of Vladivostok (the USSR) a working meeting p
between Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the CC CPSU, and US President
Gerald R. Ford took place. As a result of the exchange of opinions an agreement
was reached that further Soviet-American negotiations on the limitation of strategic
offensive weapons will be based on the following provisions:
1. The new agreement will incorporate the relevant provisions of the Interim p
Agreement of May 26, 1972, which will remain in force until October 1977.
2. The new agreement will cover the period from October 1977 through December p
31, 1985.
3. Based on the principle of equality and equal security, the new agreement will p
include the following limitations:
a) both sides will be entitled to have a certain agreed aggregate number of strategic p
delivery vehicles;
b) both sides will be entitled to have a certain agreed aggregate number of p

intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles equipped
with multiple independently targetable warheads.
4. The new agreement will include a provision for further negotiations beginning not p
later than 1980–1981 on the question of further limitations and possible reductions of
strategic arms in the period after 1985.
The improvement of Soviet-American relations once again demonstrated that in p 554

present-day conditions controversial international issues cannot be solved by means
of cold war methods. They can and ought to be solved by negotiation on the basis of
equality and equal security of sides, mutual respect of interests, and the assertion in
international relations of the principle of peaceful coexistence of states with differing
social systems and regardless of their size.
In February 1975 British Prime Minister Harold Wilson made an official visit to the p
Soviet Union. At the summit talks which took place in Moscow the Soviet and
British sides discussed a wide range of questions and signed the following important
documents: Joint Soviet-British Statement; Soviet-British Protocol on Consultations;
Soviet-British Declaration on the Non– proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; Long-Term
Programme for the Development of Economic and Industrial Co-operation Between
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland; Programme for Scientific and Technological Co-operation
Between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland for a Ten-Year Period; and Agreement Between the
Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Government of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Co-operation in the Field
of Medicine and Public Health.
The Soviet-British summit meeting will play an important part in promoting stable p 555
relations between the two countries on the basis of peaceful coexistence, and in
stimulating their fruitful and mutually advantageous co-operation. At the same time
its results will further strengthen international peace and security, particularly in
Europe.
Given good will and mutual understanding, cooperation between states with different p
social systems has inexhaustible prospects for development and can be placed on a
long-term basis. SovietFrench and Soviet-Finnish relations are a case in point. The
Soviet Union and France have signed a number of agreements on co-operation in the
economic, scientific and technical fields which have occasioned a considerable
expansion of trade and also promoted joint research, construction of industrial
projects by one country on the territory of the other, and so forth. The Soviet-
Finnish treaty on the promotion of economic, technical and industrial co-operation
envisages a twentyyear programme of joint industrial construction, exchange of
scientific and technical experience and also a steady expansion of trade. The
conclusion of an agreement on the delivery of Soviet natural gas to Italy, and the
construction in the USSR of an automobile factory with the participation of Italian
specialists evidence the development of mutually advantageous economic links
between the two countries.
The Soviet Peace Programme proposes that European countries pool their efforts to p
organise trans-continental transportation, build high– voltage grids and establish a 556
Single European Power System on this basis.
Furthermore the Soviet Union attaches great importance to the unification of the p
efforts of all countries in such fields as the conservation of the environment,
prevention and eradication of the most dangerous diseases and the exploration and
development of outer space.
The programme of active defence of peace advanced by the 24th CPSU Congress p
has evoked great interest in foreign countries and won vigorous approval of the
world public, for its main points reflect the aspirations of all peace-loving forces. It
further enhanced the attractive force of Soviet foreign policy which harmoniously
combines socialist internationalism and consistent defence of peace.
On the basis of this Programme the Soviet Union came forward with many p
important initiatives in its diplomatic activity. The period since the 24th CPSU
Congress has been characterised by exceptionally intensive activity in the sphere of
international relations.
The CPSU, its Leninist Central Committee and the Political Bureau of the Central p
Committee are holding foreign policy issues in the focus of attention. By their
practical activity on the international scene they are vigorously carrying through the
Programme of Peace. An important role in promoting Soviet initiatives in the field of
foreign policy following the 24th CPSU Congress was played by Leonid Brezhnev’s 557
visits to France, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Bulgaria, the GDR, Czechoslovakia, Poland,
the FRG and the USA, and his meeting with FRG Chancellor Willy Brandt in the
Crimea; Nikolai Podgorny’s visits to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Arab
Republic of Egypt, Bulgaria, Afghanistan, Finland and Turkey; Alexei Kosygin’s

visits to Algeria, Canada, the Republic of Cuba, Iraq, Iran, Sweden, Norway,
Denmark and Austria; and by visits, meetings and other forms of contacts, entered
into by Members and Candidate Members of the Political Bureau, Central Committee
Secretaries and delegations of the Supreme Soviet and the Government of the USSR,
with statesmen and MP’s, leaders of parties and public organisations of foreign
countries.
The Soviet Peace Programme has had serious influence on many trends in world p
politics. The most important steps undertaken by the Soviet Union since the 24th
CPSU Congress have confirmed the effectivity of Soviet foreign policy, its all-
embracing, comprehensive and long-term character.
For his tireless efforts in implementing the Leninist foreign policy Leonid Brezhnev p
has been awarded the International Lenin Prize "For the Promotion of Peace Among
Nations”.
The April 1973 Plenary Meeting of the CPSU Central Committee discussed the p
international activity of the CC CPSU in implementing the decisions of the 24th
Party Congress and unanimously adopted a resolution fully endorsing the work 558
carried out by the Political Bureau in ensuring lasting world peace and providing
reliable security for the Soviet people who are engaged in communist construction. It
mentioned Leonid Brezhnev’s great personal contribution to the fulfilment of these
tasks.
The Plenary Meeting expressed satisfaction at the solidarity of Marxist-Leninist p

parties and mass movements with the activity of the CPSU and the Soviet
Government in carrying through the Peace Programme. "As it has done in the past,”
notes the Resolution, "the CPSU, in its struggle against imperialism, in its entire
foreign policy, will steadfastly carry through the socialist, Leninist line and support
the peoples who are fighting for their right to independence and social progress.”
The CC Plenary Meeting approved the efforts of the CPSU and the Soviet state to p
promote the relations between the USSR and non-socialist countries on the basis of
peaceful coexistence. It qualified them as an important factor of the expansion and
consolidation of positive trends in international politics.
At the same time it once again emphasised the need for unceasing vigilance and p
preparedness to rebuff any intrigues on the part of imperialism’s aggressive,
reactionary circles.
The April Plenary Meeting authorised the Political Bureau steadfastly to continue p
the foreign policy line laid down by the 24th CPSU Congress, work for the full
implementation of the Peace Programme and make irreversible the favourable 559
changes achieved in the international situation.
The strength, the prestige of the Leninist foreign policy of the CPSU and the Soviet p
state springs from the might of the socialist system, the dedicated labour of the
Soviet people and their successes in communist construction which ensure the steady
growth of the Soviet Union’s economic, political and military potential. This policy
rests on the prestige and might of the entire community of fraternal socialist
countries, on the alliance of the great revolutionary forces, on the support of all
peace-loving forces.
“On the basis of the Peace Programme adopted by the 24th CPSU Congress,” states
the appeal "To the Peoples of the World" adopted at a joint meeting of the CPSU
Central Committee, the USSR Supreme Soviet and the RSFSR Supreme Soviet in
celebration of the 50th anniversary of the formation of the USSR, "we shall
tirelessly work for the consolidation of the socialist community; for a further
relaxation of international tension and promotion of peaceful coexistence of states
with different social systems; for the national independence of peoples and mutual
respect and friendship between them; for a better life of all working people and
social progress of the whole of humanity.”
***

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< The Struggle to Halt the Arms Race >


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SOCIALIST SYSTEM

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A Abc of Dialectical and Historical Materialism

A Abc of Dialectical and Historical Materialism
Contents
A Abc of Planning: Fundamentals of the theory and methodology of economic planning, An
A About Andrei Tarkovsky
Index A About Lenin: Lenin in Soviet Literature
Card A Account to the Party and the People:, An
A Across the Soviet Union: Impressions of the USSR
Formats: A Activeness and Self-Education
Text A Actors Without Makeup
PS A Advocates of Colonialism
PDF A Aesthetics and Poetics
A Aesthetics, Art, Life: A collection of articles
A Aesthetics: A Textbook
Other
A Afghanistan Weighs Heavy on My Heart: The reminiscences of soldiers who fought in Afghanistan
Titles:
T*
A Afghanistan, the Revolution Continues
A Afghanistan: Between the past and future
Years: A Afghanistan: Past and present
19* A Africa Today: Progress, difficulties, perspectives
A Africa: Politics Economy Ideology
A Africa: Progress, problems, prospects:
### A African Communists Speak: Articles and documents from "The African Communist"
MAP A African Countries’ Foreign Policy.
A After 14,000 Wars
A Against Dogmatism and Sectarianism in the Working-Class Movement
A Against Liquidationism
A Against Right-Wing and Left-Wing Opportunism, Against Trotskyism
A Against Trotskyism: The struggle of Lenin and the CPSU against Trotskyism
A Against U.S. Aggression for National Salvation
A Against the Threat of Another World War
A Age-Group and Pedagogical Psychology
A Aggressive Broadcasting, Evidence Facts Documents: Psychological Warfare
A Agony of a Dictatorship: Nicaraguan Chronicle, The
A Agostinho Neto
A Agrarian India Betwen the World Wars
A Agrarian Reforms and Hired Labour in Africa
A Agrarian Relations in the USSR
A Agricultural Co-operatives: Their role in the development of socialist agriculture in the Soviet Union
A Agriculture in the U.S.S.R
A Aim of A Lifetime:, The
A Albert Einstein’s Philosophical Views and the Theory of Relativity
A Albert Einstein: Creator and rebel
A Alexei Tolstoy Collected Works In Six Volumes:
A All About The Telescope
A Along the Path Blazed in Helsinki
A Alternatives to Positivism.
A Always a Journalist
A Ambient Conflicts: Chapters from the history of relations between countries with different social system
A American Age of Reason: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, The
A American Literary Criticism: An anthology
A American Model on the Scales of History, The
A American Utopia, The
A American Youth Today
A Americans: As seen by a Soviet writer, The
A Anarchism and Anarcho-Syndicalism
A Anatomy of Lies [Amnesty International], The
A Anatomy of the Middle East Conflict
A Ancient Civilisations of East and West
A Andromeda: A Space Age Tale
A Anglo-Bulgarian Relations During the Second World War
A Anthology of Soviet Short Stories: In Two Volumes: Volume One.
A Anthology of Soviet Short Stories: In Two Volumes: Volume Two.
http://www.leninist.biz/en/TAZ[2012-12-25 2:36:46]
A Anthony Eden
A Anti-Communism Today
A Anti- Communism, the Main Line of Zionism
A Anti-Hitler Coalition:, The
A Antitank Warfare
A Anton Chekhov and His Times
A Anton Makarenko: His life and his work in education
A Arab Struggle For Economic Independence
A Arduous Beginning, The
A Are Our Moscow Reporters Giving Us the Facts About the USSR?
A Aristotle
A Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, The
A Arms Trade: A new level of danger, The
A Arms and Dollars: Roots of U.S. foreign policy
A Army and Social Progress, The
A Army and the Revolutionary Transformation of Society, The
A Art Festivals, USSR
A Art and Social Life
A Art and Society: Collection of articles
A Artistic Creativity, Reality and Man.
A Artistic Truth and Dialectics of Creative Work
A As Military Adviser in China
A As the People Willed: A documented account of how the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was founded (1917–1922)
A Ascent: Careers in the USSR, The
A Asian Dilemma: A Soviet view and Myrdal’s concept
A Asian Dilemma: The essence of social progress in the transitional period
A Astronomy for Entertainment
A At the Bidding of the Heart:
A At the Centr\ve of Political Storms: The memoirs of a Soviet diplomat
A At the Turning Points of History: Some lessons of the struggle against revisionism within the Marxist-Leninist movement
A Atlantis
A Atomic Nucleus
A Authoritarianism and Democracy
A Avengers:
A Awakening to Life: Forming behaviour and the mind in deaf-blind children
A Azerbaijanian Poetry, Classic Modern, Traditional:
B Badges and Trophies in Soviet Sports
B Basic Economic Law of Modern Capitalism, The
B Basic Principles of Dialectical and Historical Materialism, The
B Basic Principles of Operational Art and Tactics: A Soviet view, The
B Basic Principles of the Organisation of Soviet Agriculture, The
B Basic Problems of the Marxist-Leninst Theory: Symposium of Lectures
B Basics of Marxist-Leninist Theory
B Battle for the Caucasus
B Battle of Ideas in the Modern World., The
B Battle of Kursk, The
B Before the Nazi Invasion: Soviet Diplomacy in September 1939–June 1941
B Beginning: Lenin’s Childhood and Youth, The
B Behind the Facade of the Masonic Temple:
B Behind the Scenes of Third Reich Diplomacy.
B Benefactors of Peace
B Big Business and the Economic Cycle:
B Big Changes in the USSR: Leafing through the Soviet Journal Kommunist
B Biosphere and Politics, The
B Birth of Nations, The
B Birth of a Genius: The Development of the Personality and World Outlook of Karl Marx
B Black Book and Schwambrania:, The
B Blacks in United States History
B Bolshevik Party’s Struggle Against Trotskyism (1903–February 1917), The
B Bolshevik Party’s Struggle Against Trotskyism in the Post-October Period., The
B Bolshevik-led Socialist Revolution, March–October 1917, The
B Bolsheviks and the Armed Forces in Three Revolutions:, The
B Book About Artists
B Book About Bringing Up Children, A
B Book About Russia: In the union of equals:, A
B Books in the Service of Peace, Humanism, and Progress
B Books in the USSR
B Boris Kustodiev: The Artist and His Work
B Boris Pasternak: Selected writings and letters.
B Bourgeois Economic Thought 1930s–1970s
B Bourgeois Nations and Socialist Nations
B Breadwinners, The
B Brief Course of Dialectical Materialism: Popular outline, A
B British Foreign Policy During World War II 1939–1945
B Broad-Casting Pirates or Abuse of the Microphone:
B Builder of Socialism and Figher Against Fascism, The
B Bureaucracy in India
B Bureaucracy, Triumph and Crisis: New thinking
B Bureaucrats in Power–Ecological Collapse
B By: ANNA LOUISE STRONG
B By: JASON W. SMITH
C Camp of Socialism and the Camp of Capitalism, The
C Can Man Change the Climate?
C Can Socialists & Communists Co-Operate?
C Canada–USA: Problems and contradictions in North American economic integration
C Capital Accumulation and Economic Growth in Developing Africa
C Capitalism and the Ecological Crisis
C Capitalism at the End of the Century
C Capitalism, Socialism and Scientific and Technical Revolution
C Capitalism, the Technological Revolution, and the Working Class
C Capitalist Economy
C Case for Perestroika: Articles from the monthly Kommunist , The
C Categories and Laws of the Political Economy of Communism
C Caught in the Act
C Causality and the Relation of States in Physics
C Cause of My Life., The
C Caution: Zionism!:
C Cecil Rhodes and His Time
C Central Asia and Kazakhstan Before and After the October Revolution
C Central Asia and Kazakstan[d] Before and After the October Revolution: Reply to falsifiers of history
C Central Asia in Modern Times:
C Central V.I. Lenin Museum
C Centralised Planning of the Economy
C Ch’ing Empire and the Russian State in the 17th Century, The
C Challenges of Our Time: Disarmament and social progress, The
C Champions of Peace
C Changing Face of the Earth:, The
C Chapters from the History of Russo-Chinese Relations 17th–19th Centuries
C Child Development and Education
C Child, Adults, Peers: Patterns of communication
C Children and Sport in the USSR
C Children and Sport in the USSR
C Chile, Corvalan, Struggle.
C Chile: CIA Big Business
C China Theatre in World War II: 1939–1945., The
C China and Her Neighbours from Ancient Times to the Middle Ages:
C Choice Facing Europe, The
C Choice for Children, A
C Christ–Myth or Reality?
C Christian Ecumenism
C Christianity and Marxism
C Cia Target: The USSR
C Cia in Asia: Covert operations against India and Afghanistan., The
C Cia in Latin America, The
C Cia in the Dock., The
C Citizenship of the USSR: A legal study.
C City Invincible
C City of the Yellow Devil: Pamphlets, articles and letters about America, The
C Civil Codes of the Soviet Republics., The
C Civil Law and the Protection of Personal Rights in the USSR
C Civil War in Russia: Its causes and significance, The
C Civil War in the United States, The
C Civilisation and Global Problems
C Civilisation and the Historical Process
C Civilisation, Science, Philosophy:
C Civilisation, science, philosophy : theme of the 17th World Congress of Philosophy
C Classes and Nations
C Classes and the Class Struggle in the USSR, 1920s–1930s
C Classic Soviet Plays
C Classical Islamic Philosophy
C Cmea Countries and Developing States: Economic cooperation
C Cmea Today: From economic co-operation to economic integration
C Cmea and Third Countries: Legal aspects of co-operation

C Cmea and the Strategy of Acceleration
C Cmea: International Significance of Socialist Integration
C Co-operative Movement in Asia and Africa:, The
C Collapse of the Russian Empire 1917, The
C Comet in the Night: The story of Alexander Ulyanov’s heroic life and tragic death as told by his contemporaries
C Coming World Order, The
C Comintern and the East: A critique of the critique, The
C Comintern and the East: The struggle for the Leninist strategy and tactics in national liberation movements, The
C Comintern and the East: strategy and tactics in national liberation movements, The
C Communism IN THE UNITED STATES— A BIBLIOGRAPHY
C Communism and Cultural Heritage
C Communism and Freedom
C Communism as a Social Formation
C Communism: Questions and Answers: 1
C Communism: Questions and Answers: 7
C Communism: Questions and answers: 4
C Communist :: 1938 (VOL. XVII), The
C Communist Morality
C Communist Party (Cuba): (Collection of documents)
C Communist Party in Socialist Society: A critique of bourgeois concepts , The
C Communist Response to the Challenge of Our Time, The
C Communists and the Youth: Study of revolutionary education
C Comprehensive Programme for the Further Extension and Improvement of Co-Operation and the Development of Socialist Economic Integration by the CMEA Member Countries
C Comprehensive Science of Man: Studies and solutions, A
C Comrade Stalin—the Continuer of Lenin’s Great Work
C Concept of Common Heritage of Mankind: From new thinking to new practice.
C Concepts of Regional Development
C Concise Psychological Dictionary, A
C Confrontation or Compromise?: The meaning of worker participation in the management of capitalist enterprises
C Conjugation of Russian Verbs
C Conservation of Nature
C Conservatism in U.S. Ideology and Politics
C Consolidation of the Socialist Countries Unity
C Conspiracy Against Delgado: A History of One Operation by the CIA and the PIDE
C Conspiracy Against the Tsar: A Portrait of the Decembrists
C Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
C Constitutional Law and Political Institutions.
C Contemporary Anti-Communism: Policy and ideology.
C Contemporary Bourgeois Legal Thought: A Marxist evaluation of the basic concepts
C Contemporary Capitalism and the Middle Classes
C Contemporary Capitalism: New developments and contradictions
C Contemporary International Law: Collection of articles.
C Contemporary Political Science in the USA and Western Europe
C Contemporary Revolutionary Process: Theoretical Essays, The
C Contemporary Trotskyism: Its anti-revolutionary nature
C Contemporary World History 1917–1945, A
C Contemporary World Situation and Validity of Marxism
C Contradictions of Agrarian Integration in the Common Market
C Correction of the Convicted: Law, theory, practice
C Correspondence Between the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Presidents of the USA and the Prime Ministers of Great Britain During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945:
VOLUME 1:
C Correspondence Between the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Presidents of the USA and the Prime Ministers of Great Britain During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945:
VOLUME 2:
C Cpsu and the Soviet State in Developed Socialist Society, The
C Cpsu in the Struggle for Unity of All Revolutionary and Peace Forces, The
C Cpsu’s Nationalities Policy: Truth and lies, The
C Cpsu: Ideological, political and organisational principles., The
C Cpsu: Party of Proletarian Internationalism
C Cpsu: Topical Aspects of History and Policy, The
C Criminalistics
C Crisis of Capitalism and the Conditions of the Working People., The
C Crisis of World Capitalism
C Critique of Anti-Marxist Theories
C Critique of Mao Tse-Tung’s Theoretical Conceptions., A
C Critique of Masarykism, A
C Cultural Changes in Developing Countries
C Cultural Exchange: 10 years after Helsinki
C Cultural Life of the Soviet Worker: A Sociological Study, The
C Culture and Perestroika
C Culture for the Millions
C Current Problems of Contemporary Capitalism

D Danger: NATO
D De Gaulle: His Life and Work
D Death Can Wait
D Decisions of the Central Committee, C.P.S.U.(B.) on Literature and Art (1946-1948)
D Dedication: Stories about Soviet men and women
D Definition (Logico-Methodological Problems)
D Demography in the Mirror of History
D Denis Diderot
D Destiny of Capitalism in the Orient
D Destiny of the World: The socialist shape of things to come, The
D Destruction of Reason, The
D Destructive POLICY [Policy of Chinese leadership], A
D Destructive Policy, A
D Detente and Anti-communism
D Detente and the World Today: 26th CPSU Congress:
D Developed Socialism: Theory and practice
D Developed Socialist Society: Basic features and place in history.
D Developing Countries from the Standpoint of Marxist Political Economy
D Developing Countries’ Social Structure, The
D Developing Nations At the Turn of Millennium.
D Development by J.V. Stalin of the Marxist-Leninist Theory of the National Question, The
D Development of Revolutionary Theory by the CPSU.
D Development of Rights and Freedoms in the Soviet State, The
D Development of Soviet Law and Jurisprudence:, The
D Development of the Monist View of History., The
D Dialectical Logic: Essays on its history and theory
D Dialectical Materialism and the History of Philosophy
D Dialectical Materialism.
D Dialectical Materialism: Popular lectures
D Dialectics in Modern Physics
D Dialectics of the Abstract and the Concrete in Marx’s Capital, The
D Dialogue For Peace
D Dialogue of Cultures or Cultural Expansion?
D Dictionary for Believers and Nonbelievers., A
D Dictionary of Ethics., A
D Dictionary of International Law, A
D Dictionary of Philosophy (1967)
D Dictionary of Philosophy (1984)
D Dictionary of Political Economy., A
D Dictionary of Scientific Communism., A
D Difficult Mission: War Memoirs: Soviet Admiral in Great Britain during the Second World War.
D Dilemma of Balanced Regional Development in India
D Diplomacy of Aggression: Berlin–Rome–Tokyo Axis, its rise and fall.
D Diplomatic Battles Before World War II
D Disarmament and the Economy
D Disarmament: the Command of the Times
D Discovering the Soviet Union
D Discovery of the Century
D Distribution of the Productive Forces: General schemes, theory and practice
D Dmitry Shostakovich: About himself and his times
D Do The Russians Want War?
D Documents and Materials Relating to the Eve of the Second World War:
D Documents and Resolutions: the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Moscow, February 23–March 3, 1981
D Domination in 2,545 Endgame Studies.
D Dramas of the Revolution.
D Drawings by Soviet Children
D Dynamic Stability: The Soviet economy today
D Dynamic Twentieth Century, The
E Early Centuries of Russian History
E Early Russian Architecture
E Early Stories
E East After the Collapse of the Colonial System, The
E Eastern Societies: Revolution, Power, Progress:
E Echoes of the A-Blast
E Ecology and Development
E Ecology: Political Institutions and Legislation: environmental law in the USSR
E Economic “Theories” of Maoism., The
E Economic Aspects of Capitalist Integration
E Economic Aspects of Social Security in the USSR, The
E Economic Cycle: Postwar Development, The
E Economic Development and Perspective Planning

E Economic Geography of the Ocean
E Economic Geography of the Socialist Countries of Europe:
E Economic Geography of the World
E Economic Geography of the World
E Economic Geography: Theory and methods
E Economic Growth and the Market in the Developing Countries
E Economic History: The Age of Imperialism (1870–1917), An
E Economic Inequality of Nations
E Economic Integration: Two approaches
E Economic Law
E Economic Neocolonialism: Problems of South-East Asian Countries’ Struggle for Economic Independence
E Economic Policy During the Construction of Socialism in the USSR
E Economic Substantiation of the Theory of Socialism, The
E Economic System of Socialism, The
E Economic Theories and Reality
E Economic Zone: An International Legal Aspect, The
E Economics, Politics, the Class Struggle, International Relations
E Economies of Rich and Poor Countries, The
E Economies of the Countries of Latin America
E Economy of the Soviet Union Today: Socialism Today, The
E Education in the U.S.S.R.
E Education of the Soviet Soldier: Party-political work in the Soviet armed forces.
E Einstein and the Philosophical Problems of 20th-Century Physics
E Einstein
E Elements of Political Knowledge.
E Elitist Revolution or Revolution of the Masses?
E Elyuchin
E Emotions, Myths and Theories.
E End of Ideology Theory: Illusions and reality:, The
E End of the Third Reich., The
E Engels: A short biography
E English Revolution of the 17th Century through Portraits of Its Leading Figures, The
E Enigma of Capital: A Marxist viewpoint., The
E Environment: International Aspects
E Envoy of the Stars: Academician Victor Ambartsumyan
E Epoch of the Collapse of Capitalism and the Development of Socialism
E Era of Man or Robot?
E Ernesto Che Guevara
E Essays in Contemporary History, 1917–1945
E Essays in Contemporary History, 1946–1990
E Essays in Political Economy: Imperialism and the developing countries
E Essays in Political Economy: Socialism and the socialist orientation
E Essays on Linguistics: Language systems and structures
E Estonia, One of the United Family.
E Eternal Man: Reflections, dialogues, portraits
E Ethics of Science: Issues and controversies, The
E Ethics.
E Ethiopia: Population, resources, economy
E Ethnic Problems of the Tropical Africa: Can they be solved?
E Ethnocultural Development of African Countries
E Ethnocultural Processes and National Problems in the Modern World.
E Ethnogenesis and the Biosphere
E Europe 1939:
E Europe and Detente
E Europe and the Communists
E European Security and Co-Operation:
E European Security: Social aspects
E Evgeny Vakhtangov
E Exercises in Russian syntax with explanatory notes: [no date [ca. 1960]].
E Experience of Industrial Management in the Soviet Union, The
E Experience of the CPSU: Its World Significance.
E Export of Counter-Revolution: Past and present, The
F Face to Face With America: The story of N.S. Khrushchov’s [Khrushchev’s] visit to U.S.A., September 15–27, 1959
F Facts About the USSR
F Failure of Three Missions: British diplomacy and intelligence in the efforts to overthrow Soviet government in Central Asia and Transcaucasia...
F Fate of Man, The
F Faust versus Mephistopheles?
F Felix Dzerzhinsky: A biography.
F Female Labour Under Socialism: The Socio-Economic Aspects
F Feudal Society and Its Culture
F Few Salient Points or Things That Agitate Us: A collection of articles, A

F Fifty Fighting Years: The Communist Party of South Africa, 1921–1971
F Fifty Soviet Poets
F Fifty Years of a New Era:
F Fighters for National Liberation: Political profiles
F Fighting Red Tape in the USSR
F Figures for Fun:
F Film Trilogy About Lenin, A
F Final Reckoning, Nuremburg Diaries, The
F Finale: A Retrospective Review of Imperialist Japan’s Defeat in 1945
F Finance and Credit in the USSR
F First Breath of Freedom, The
F First Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba:
F First Days of the October [sic. ABEBOOKS], The
F First Man in Space:
F Firsthand News
F Five Years’ Progress in Agricultural Production and the Tasks for the Future: Report
F Following Lenin’s Course: Speeches and articles
F Following the Course of All-round Perfection of Socialism
F For All Time and All Men [Karl Marx]
F For Man’s Happiness: The forum of Soviet Communists
F For a Nuclear-Free World
F For a Restructuring of International Economic Relations: 20th anniversary of UNCTAD
F Foreign Comrades in the October Revolution: Reminiscences
F Formation of the Socialist Economic System
F Foundations of Marxist Aesthetics
F Founding Fathers of the United States: Historical portraits
F Fourth Congress of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party:, The
F Fraternal Family of Nations:, A
F Frederick Engels: A Biography
F Frederick Engels: His Life and Work
F Freedom and the Artist
F Freedom of Conscience in the USSR
F From Anti-Imperialism to Anti-Socialism: The evolution of Peking’s foreign policy
F From Childhood to Centenarian
F From Geneva to Reykjavik
F From Helsinki to Belgrade:
F From Keynes to Neoclassical Synthesis:
F From Literacy Classes to Higher Education
F From Madrid to Vienna: Follow-up report of the Soviet Committee for European Security and Cooperation on the Helsinki Final Act
F From Revisionism to Betrayal: A criticism of Ota Sik’s economic views
F From Socialism to Communism
F From Tsarist General to Red Army Commander
F From Wooden Plough to Atomic Power: The Story of Soviet Industrialisation.
F From the History of Soviet-Chinese Relations in the 1950’s: Concerning the discussion of Mao Zedong’s role
F From the Missionary Days to Reagan: US China Policy
F Fundamental Law of the U.S.S.R., The
F Fundamental Problems of Marxism
F Fundamentals of Corrective Labour Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics: Statute on remand in custody
F Fundamentals of Criminalistics
F Fundamentals of Dialectical Materialism
F Fundamentals of Dialectics
F Fundamentals of Ergonomics
F Fundamentals of Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics
F Fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism • Manual
F Fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism • Manual
F Fundamentals of Marxist-Leninist Philosophy (1974), The
F Fundamentals of Marxist-Leninist Philosophy (1982), The
F Fundamentals of Marxist-Leninist Theory and Tactics of Revolutionary Parties
F Fundamentals of Philosophy
F Fundamentals of Political Economy (1980)
F Fundamentals of Political Economy (1983), The
F Fundamentals of Political Economy: Popular course
F Fundamentals of Political Science: Textbook for primary political education.
F Fundamentals of Scientific Communism
F Fundamentals of Scientific Management of Socialist Economy
F Fundamentals of Scientific Socialism
F Fundamentals of Soviet State Law
F Fundamentals of Sports Training
F Fundamentals of the Socialist Theory of the State and Law
F Future of Society:, The
F Future of the USSR’s Economic Regions, The

F Futurology Fiasco: A Critical Study of non-Marxist Concepts of How Society Develops
G General Chernyakhovsky
G General Council of The First International 1864–1866: The London conference 1865 minutes
G General Crisis of Capitalism
G General Theory of Law: Social and philosophical problems, The
G Generalisation and Cognition
G Genesis of the Soviet Federative State (1917–1925)
G Genocide
G Geographical Prognostication: Problems and prospects
G Geography and Ecology: A collection of articles, 1971–1981
G Geography of the Soviet Union: Physical background, population, economy
G Georgi Dimitrov Selected Works (Volume 1):
G Georgi Dimitrov Selected Works (Volume 2):
G Georgi Dimitrov Selected Works (Volume 3)
G Georgi Dimitrov: An eminent theoretician and revolutionary
G Georgi Plekhanov Selected Philosophical Works (Volume I):
G Georgi Plekhanov Selected Philosophical Works (Volume II):
G Georgi Plekhanov Selected Philosophical Works (Volume III):
G Georgi Plekhanov Selected Philosophical Works (Volume IV):
G Georgi Plekhanov Selected Philosophical Works (Volume V):
G German Imperialism: Its past and present
G Germany:
G Glance at Historical Materialism, A
G Global engineering.
G Global Ecology
G Global Problems and the Future of Mankind
G Global Problems of Our Age
G Global Problems of Our Age
G Glory Eternal: Defence of Odessa 1941
G Going Beyond the Square: Notes by an economist
G Gorky Collected Works in Ten Volumes:
G Gorky and His Contemporaries:
G Government Regulation of the Private Sector in the USSR
G Great Baikal Amur Railway, The
G Great Construction Works of Communism and the Remaking of Nature
G Great Heritage: The classical literature of Old Rus, The
G Great March of Liberation, The
G Great Mission of Literature and Art, The
G Great October Revolution and World Social Progress, The
G Great October Revolution and the Intelligentsia:, The
G Great October Revolution and the Working Class, National Liberation and General Democratic Movements, The
G Great October Socialist Revolution, The
G Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, 1941–1945:
G Grounds for Optimism
G Growing Up Human
G Growing Up in the Soviet Union from the Cradle to Coming of Age
G Guarantee of Peace
H Hague Congress of the First International, September 2–7, 1872:, The
H Handbook of Philosophy, A
H Hands Up! Or Public Enemy No. 1
H Hans Kohn Analyses the Russian Mind
H Hashar
H Hatredmongers: Anti-Soviet activity of the Lithuanian Clerical EmigrÃ©s
H Health Protection in the USSR.
H Heartbeat of Reform: Soviet jurists and political scientists discuss the progress of Perestroika:, The
H Henry Thoreau
H Henry Winston: Profile of a U.S. communist
H Higher Education and Computerisation
H Highlights of a Fighting History: 60 Years of the Communist Party, USA
H Historical Experience of the CPSU in Carrying Out Lenin’s Co-operative Plan
H Historical Knowledge: A Systems-Epistemological Approach.
H Historical Materialism ( by Cornforth )
H Historical Materialism (1969)
H Historical Materialism: An outline of Marxist theory of society.
H Historical Materialism: Basic problems.
H Historical Materialism: Theory, methodology, problems.
H Historical Science in Socialist Countries:
H Historical Science in the USSR: New research:
H History OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION / BOLSHEVIKS / SHORT COURSE
H History OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL
H History Versus Anti-History: A critique of the bourgeois falsification of the postwar history of the CPSU.
H History and Politics: American historiography on Soviet society
H History in the Making: Memoirs of World War II Diplomacy
H History of Afganistan
H History of Ancient Philosophy: Greece and Rome
H History of Classical Sociology, A
H History of India (2 v.), A
H History of Old Russian Literature, A
H History of Psychology, A
H History of Realism, A
H History of Religion
H History of Science: Soviet research, The
H History of Soviet Foreign Policy 1945–1970
H History of the Ancient World.
H History of the Middle Ages
H History of the October Revolution
H History of the Three Internationals
H History of the USA Since World War I
H History of the USSR in three parts: PART I:
H History of the USSR in three parts: PART II:
H History of the USSR in three parts: PART III:
H History of the USSR: An outline of socialist construction
H History of the USSR: Elementary course
H History of the USSR: The era of socialism
H Ho Chi Minh Selected Writings, 1920–1969:
H Ho Chi Minh.
H Honour Eternal: Second World War Memorials
H How Many Will the Earth Feed?
H How Socialism Began: Russia Under Lenin’s Leadership 1917–1923
H How Soviet Economy Won Technical Independence
H How Wars End: Eye-witness accounts of the fall of Berlin
H How the National Question Was Solved in Soviet Central Asia
H How the Revolution Was Won:
H How the Soviet Economy Is Run:
H How to Study Historical Materialism
H How to Study the Theory of Scientific Communism:
H Human Relations Doctrine: Ideological weapon of the monopolies.
H Human Rights and Freedoms in the USSR
H Human Rights and International Relations
H Human Rights, What We Argue About
H Human Rights: Continuing the discussion
H Humanism of Art., The
H Humanism, Atheism: Principles and Practice
H Humanism: Its Philosophical, Ethical and Sociological Aspects.
I I Hereby Apply for an Apartment
I I Saw the New World Born: John Reed
I Icon Painting: State Museum of Palekh Art.
I Ideals and Spiritual Values of Socialist Society, The
I Ideological Struggle Today
I Ideological Struggle and Literature:, The
I Ideology and Social Progress
I Ideology and Tactics of Anti-Communism: Myths and Reality, The
I Illusion of Equal Rights: Legal Inequality in the Capitalist World, An
I Image of India: The Study of Ancient Indian Civilisation in the USSR, The
I Immortality: Verse By Soviet Poets Who Laid Down Their Lives in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945
I Imperial China: Foreign-policy conceptions and methods
I Imperialism and the Developing Countries
I Improvement of Soviet Economic Planning
I In Disregard of the Law
I In Pursuit of Social Justice
I In Search of Harmony
I In Search of Holy Mother Russia
I In Southern Africa
I In the Forecasters’ Maze
I In the Grip of Terror
I In the Name of Life: Reflections of a Soviet Surgeon
I In the Name of Peace
I In the World of Music
I India: Independence and oil
I India: Social and Economic Development (18th–20th Century)
I India: Spotlight on Population
I Indian Economy, The

I Indian Philosophy in Modern Times
I Individual and Society, The
I Individual and the Microenvironment, The
I Individual in Socialist Society, The
I Industrial Revolution in the East, The
I Industrialisation of Developing Countries
I Industrialisation of India
I Inflation Under Capitalism Today
I Information Abused: Critical essays
I Insane Squandering: The Social and Economic Consequences of the Arms Race
I Integration of Science., The
I Intensifying Production: Acceleration factors
I Inter-American Relations from Bolivar to the Present
I Interaction of Sciences in the Study of the Earth, The
I International Covenants on Human Rights and Soviet Legislation
I International Humanitarian Law
I International Law of the Sea, The
I International Law: A textbook
I International Law
I International MEETING OF COMMUNIST AND WORKERS’ PARTIES – MOSCOW 1969
I International Monetary Law
I International Monopolies and Developing Countries
I International Solidarity with the Spanish Republic 1936–1939:
I International Space Law.
I International Terrorism and the CIA: Documents, Eyewitness Reports, Facts
I International Trade and the Improvement of the Standard of Living in the West
I International Working-Class Movement, Volume 1: The Origins of the Proletariat and Its Evolution as a Revolutionary Class, The
I International Working-Class Movement, Volume 2: The Working-Class Movement in the Period of Transition to Imperialism (1871–1904), The
I International Working-Class Movement, Volume 3: Revolutionary battles of the early 20th Century, The
I International Working-Class Movement, Volume 4: The Socialist Revolution in Russia and the International Working Class (1917–1923), The
I International Working-Class Movement, Volume 5: The Builder of Socialism and Fighter Against Fascism, The
I International Working-Class Movement, Volume 6: The Working-Class Movement in the Developed Capitalist Countries After the Second World War (1945–1979), The
I International Working-Class and Communist Movement: Historical Record (1830s to mid-1940s)
I Interpreting America: Russian and Soviet Studies of the History of American Thought
I Introduction to Physics
I Invitation to a Dialogue
I Islam and Muslims in the Land of the Soviets
J Jawaharlal Nehru and His Political Views
J Jawaharlal Nehru
J Joint Jubilee Meeting of the CPSU Central Committee, Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, Moscow November 3, 1967
J Jonestown Carnage: A CIA crime, The
K Kampuchea: From Tragedy to Rebirth
K Karl Marx and Modern Philosophy: Collection of Articles
K Karl Marx and Our Time: Articles and speeches
K Karl Marx and Our Time: The struggle for peace and social progress
K Karl Marx’s Great Discovery: The dual-nature-of-labour doctrine:
K Karl Marx: A Biography
K Karl Marx: Short biography.
K Keynesianism Today:
K Klement Gottwald Selected Writings 1944–1949
K Komsomol: Questions and Answers, The
K Konstantin Stanislavsky, 1863–1963: Man and Actor:
K Kwame Nkrumah
L Labour Protection at Soviet Industrial Enterprises
L Labour in the USSR: Problems and solutions
L Land of Soviets, The
L Landmarks in History: The Marxist Doctrine of Socio-Economic Formations
L Landmarks of Marxist Socio-Economic Foundations
L Last Nuclear Explosion: Forty years of struggle against nuclear tests, The
L Last of the Romans and European Culture, The
L Law and Force in the International System
L Law and Legal Culture in Soviet Society
L Law, Morality and Man:
L Law, Progress, and Peace: A journalist’s observations on the influence of Soviet law on the progressive development of international law
L Leap Through the Centuries, A
L Leftist Terrorism: Are the Leftist Terrorists Really Left?
L Legal Regulation of Soviet Foreign Economic Relations, The
L Legislation in the USSR
L Legislative Acts of the USSR: Book 3
L Lenin About the Press
L Lenin COLLECTED WORKS (International), V.I.

L Lenin Collected Works
L Lenin In Our Life.
L Lenin In Profile: World writers and artists on Lenin
L Lenin On Participation of the People in Government
L Lenin Prize Winners: Soviet stars theatre, music, art
L Lenin Selected Works
L Lenin Talks to America.
L Lenin Through the Eyes of Lunacharsky
L Lenin Through the Eyes of the World:
L Lenin and Books
L Lenin and Gorky: Letters, reminiscences, articles.
L Lenin and Library Organisation.
L Lenin and Modern Natural Science.
L Lenin and National Liberation in the East
L Lenin and Problems of Literature.
L Lenin and USSR Foreign Politics
L Lenin and the Bourgeois Press
L Lenin and the Leagues of Struggle
L Lenin and the Soviet Peace Policy: Articles and Speeches 1944–80.
L Lenin and the World Revolutionary Process
L Lenin in London: Memorial places
L Lenin in Soviet Literature; A Remarkable Year, etc.
L Lenin in Soviet Poetry
L Lenin on Labour Under Socialism: The Great Legacy of Marxism-Leninism
L Lenin on Language
L Lenin on religion, V.I.
L Lenin on the Intelligentsia
L Lenin on the Unity of the International Communist Movement
L Lenin’s "What the ‘Friends of the People’ Are and How They Fight the Social-Democrats"
L Lenin’s “Materialism and Empirio-Criticism”
L Lenin’s “The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky”
L Lenin’s Behests and the Making of Soviet Latvia
L Lenin’s Comrades-In-Arms:
L Lenin’s Doctrine of National Liberation Revolutions and Modern World
L Lenin’s Geneva Addresses
L Lenin’s Ideas and Modern International Relations
L Lenin’s Plan of Building Socialism in the USSR
L Lenin’s Political Testament
L Lenin’s Teaching on the World Economy and Its Relevance to Our Times
L Lenin’s Theory of Non-capitalist Development and the Experience of Mongolia:
L Lenin’s Theory of Revolution
L Lenin: A Biography
L Lenin: A Short Biography., V.I.
L Lenin: Comrade and man
L Lenin: Great and Human
L Lenin: His life and work: Documents and photographs, V.I.
L Lenin: Revolution and the World Today
L Lenin: The Founder of the Soviet Armed Forces
L Lenin: The Great Theoretician.
L Lenin: The Revolutionary.
L Lenin: The Story of His Life, V. I.
L Lenin: Youth and The Future
L Lenin: a Biography
L Leningrad Does Not Surrender
L Leninism and Contemporary Problems of the Transition from Capitalism to Socialism.
L Leninism and Modern China’s Problems
L Leninism and Revolution: Reply to Critics
L Leninism and Today’s Problems of the Transition to Socialism
L Leninism and the Agrarian Peasant Question in Two Volumes: Volume One:
L Leninism and the Agrarian Peasant Question in Two Volumes: Volume Two:
L Leninism and the Battle of Ideas.
L Leninism and the National Question
L Leninism and the Revolutionary Process
L Leninism and the World Revolutionary Working-Class Movement (1971):
L Leninism and the World Revolutionary Working-Class Movement (1976):
L Leninism: The Banner of Liberation and Progress of Nations
L Leninist Standards of Party Life.
L Leninist Theory of Reflection and the Present Day, The
L Leninist Theory of Revolution and Social Psychology
L Leninist Theory of Socialist Revolution and the Contemporary World.
L Let Us Live in Peace and Friendship

L Let the Blood of Man Not Flow
L Let the Living Remember: Soviet War Poetry
L Letters From the Dead:
L Lev Vygotsky.
L Liberation Mission of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Second World War
L Liberation of Europe, The
L Liberation
L Lie of a Soviet War Threat, The
L Life and Activities of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: A lofty example of serving mankind, The
L Life and Death of Martin Luther King, The
L Life and Work of Walt Whitman: A Soviet view
L Life of Lenin
L Life, Art and America: Narratives and stories, articles
L Life, We’re All in It Together
L Lifelong Cause, A
L Literature and the New Thinking
L Living Ocean, The
L Living and Effective Teaching of Marxism-Leninism:, The
L Logic Made Simple: A dictionary
L Logic
L Lomonosov’s Philosophy
L Long Road: Sino-Russian economic contacts from ancient times to 1917, The
L Looking Into the Future
M Macro-Economic Models
M Mad Love
M Made in USSR
M Mahitahi = Work Together: Some peoples of the Soviet Union
M Main Trends in Philosophy: A theoretical analysis of the history of philosophy., The
M Major Ethnosocial Trends in the USSR
M Making of the Marxist Philosophy from Idealism and Revolutionary Democracy to Dialectical Materialism and Scientific Communism, The
M Man After Work: Social problems of daily life and leisure time.
M Man At Work: The Scientific and Technological Revolution, the Soviet Working Class and Intelligentsia
M Man and His Stages of Life
M Man and Man’s World: the categories of “man” and “world” in the system of scientific world outlooks
M Man and Nature: The ecological crisis and social progress
M Man and Sea Warfare
M Man and Society
M Man and the Scientific and Technological Revolution
M Man as the Object of Education: An Essay in Pedagogical Anthropology (Selected extracts)
M Man at the Limit: Eye-witness reports
M Man’s Dreams are Coming True.
M Man’s Potential: Sketches
M Man’s Road to Progress: Talks on political topics
M Man, Science and Society
M Man, Science, Humanism: A New Synthesis
M Man, Society and the Environment:
M Man: His Behaviour and Social Relations
M Management of Socialist Production
M Mankind and the Year 2000: Current problems
M Manoeuvre in Modern Land Wafare
M Manpower Resources and Population Under Socialism
M Manzhou Rule in China
M Mao Tse-Tung: A political portrait
M Mao Tse-Tung: An ideological and psychological portrait
M Mao’s Betrayal
M Maoism As It Really Is:
M Maoism Through the Eyes of Communists
M Maoism Unmasked: Collection of Soviet Press Articles
M Maoism and Its Policy of Splitting the National Liberation Movement
M Maoism and Mao’s Heirs
M Maoism: The Curse of China
M Market of Socialist Economic Integration: Selected conference papers, The
M Marshal of the Soviet Union G. Zhukov (Volume 2):
M Marx & Engles Collected Works
M Marx • Engels • Marxism [Lenin]
M Marx Engels On Religion
M Marx and Engels Through the Eyes of Their Contemporaries
M Marx’s “Critique of the Gotha Programme”
M Marx’s Theory of Commodity and Surplus-Value: Formalised exposition
M Marxism and the Renegade Garaudy
M Marxism-Leninism on Proletarian Internationalism

M Marxism-Leninism on War and Army
M Marxism-Leninism on War and Peace
M Marxism-Leninism on the Non-Capitalist Way
M Marxism-Leninism: A Flourishing Science
M Marxism-Leninism: The International teaching of the working class
M Marxist Conception of Law, The
M Marxist Philosophy at the Leninist Stage
M Marxist Philosophy: A Popular Outline.
M Marxist Philosophy
M Marxist-Leninist Aesthetics and Life:
M Marxist- Leninist Aesthetics and the Arts
M Marxist-Leninist Philosophy (1978)
M Marxist-Leninist Philosophy (1980)
M Marxist- Leninist Philosophy: Diagrams, tables, illustrations for students of Marxist-Leninist theory.
M Marxist- Leninist Teaching of Socialism and the World Today, The
M Marxist-Leninist Theory of Society:, The
M Mass Information in the Service of Peace and Progress
M Mass Media in the USSR
M Mass Organisations in the U.S.S.R.
M Materialism and the Dialectical Method ( by Cornforth 1971)
M Materialismus Militans: Reply to Mr. Bogdanov
M Maxim Gorky Letters
M Maxim Litvinov
M May Day Traditions
M Meaning and Conceptual Systems.
M Meaning of Life, The
M Mechanisation of Soviet Agriculture: The economic effect, The
M Meeting of European Communist and Workers’ Parties for Peace and Disarmament, Paris, 28–29 April, 1980
M Meeting of Representatives of the Parties and Movements participating in the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution
M Meeting the Challenge: Soviet youth in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945
M Meetings with Sholokhov
M Memoirs of Wartime Minister of Navy
M Men at War
M Methodology of History
M Methodology of Law
M Middle East: Oil and Policy, The
M Mikhail Bulgakov and His Times: Memoirs, Letters
M Milestones of Soviet Foreign Policy 1917–1967.
M Militant Solidarity, Fraternal Assistance:
M Militarism and Science
M Militarism in Peking’s Policies
M Military-Industrial Complex of the USA, The
M Millionaires and Managers
M Miracle of the Age
M Moby Dick, or the Whale
M Modern History of China., The
M Modern History of the Arab Countries
M Modern History, 1640–1870
M Modern State and Politics, The
M Modern Theories of International Economic Relations
M Moiseyev’s Dance Company
M Monetary Crisis Of Capitalism: Origin, Development
M Monism and Pluralism in Ideology and in Politics (Abridged).
M Monopoly Press: Or, How American journalism found itself in the vicious circle of the “crisis of credibility”, The
M Morality and Politics: Critical essays on contemporary views about the relationship between morality and politics in bourgeois sociology
M Moscow Diary, A
M Moscow Soviet, The
M Moscow, Stalingrad, 1941–1942: Recollections, stories, reports.
M Multilateral Economic Co-Operation of Socialist States:, The
M Music Education in the Modern World:
M Musical Journey Through the Soviet Union, A
M My Day and Age: selected poems
M Mysteries of the Deeps [i.E. Deep]:
M Mystery of Pearl Harbor: Facts and Theories, The
M Myth About Soviet Threat: cui bono?
M Myth, Philosophy, Avant-Gardism:
N N. Lobachevsky and His Contribution to Science
N Namibia, A Struggle for Independence:
N National Economic Planning
N National Folk Sports in the USSR
N National Languages in the USSR: Problems and Solutions

N National Liberation Movement in West Africa
N National Liberation Revolutions Today: Part I:
N National Liberation Revolutions Today: Part II
N National Liberation: Essays on Theory and Practice
N National Sovereignty and the Soviet State
N Nationalities Question: Lenin’s Approach:, The
N Nations and Internationalism
N Nations and Social Progress
N Nato: A Bleak Picture
N Nato: Threat to World Peace
N Nature Reserves in the USSR
N Nature of Science: An epistemological analysis., The
N Nearest Neighbour is 170 KM Away: A journey into the Soviet Union, The
N Neo-Colonialism on the Warpath
N Neo-Freudians In Search of “Truth”.
N Neocolonialism and Africa in the 1970s
N Neocolonialism: Methods and manoeuvres.
N Nep, a Modern View
N Never Say Die
N New Approach to Economic Integration, A
N New Constitution of the USSR, The
N New Information Order or Psychological Warfare?, A
N New International Economic Order
N New Life Begun: Prose, poetry and essays of the 1920s–1930s, A
N New Realities and the Struggle of Ideas
N New Scramble for Africa, The
N New Soviet Legislation on Marriage and the Family
N Newly Free Countries in the Seventies, The
N Nihilism Today.
N Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay: Traveller, scientist and humanist
N Nikolai Vavilov: The Great Sower:
N Nine Modern Soviet Plays
N Nineteenth Century American Short Stories
N Non-Capitalist Development: An Historical Outline
N Non-aligned Movement, The
N Noncapitalist Way: Soviet Experience and the Liberated Countries, The
N Normalization of World Trade and the Monetary Problem
N North Russian Architecture
N Not For War We Raise Our Sons: A collection of letters to the Soviet Peace Fund and the Soviet Women’s Committee
N Notes on Indian History (664–1858)
N Nuclear Disarmament
N Nuclear Engineering Before and After Chernobyl:
N Nuclear Space Age: The Soviet viewpoint, The
N Nuclear Strategy and Common Sense
N Nuclear WAR: THE MEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES
N Nuremberg Epilogue, The
O Ocean and Its Resources
O October Revolution and Africa, The
O October Revolution and the Arts:, The
O October Revolution and the Working-Class, National Liberal, and General Democratic Movements, The
O October Storm and After:, The
O October Storm and After:, The
O Of Human Values: Soviet literature today
O Old, the New, the Eternal: Reflections on art, The
O On Communist Education
O On Education: Selected articles and speeches
O On Historical Materialism • A Collection [Marx-Engels-Lenin]
O On Just and Unjust Wars
O On Labour-Oriented Education and Instruction
O On Literature and Art
O On Proletarian Internationalism
O On Relations Between Socialist and Developing Countries
O On The Art and Craft of Writing
O On The Principle Of Mutual Advantage:
O On a Military Mission to Great Britain and the USA
O On the “Manifesto of the Communisty Party” of Marx and Engels
O On the Communist Programme
O On the Edge of an Abyss: From Truman to Reagan, the doctrines and realitites of the Nuclear Age
O On the Eve of World War II: A foreign policy study
O On the Intelligentsia
O On the International Working-Class and Communist Movement

O On the Paris Commune
O On the Path of Cultural Progress: Culture of the socialist world
O On the Side of a Just Cause: Soviet assistance to the heroic Vietnamese people
O On the Soviet State Apparatus
O On the Threshold of the Twenty-First Century: The technological revolution and literature
O On the Track of Discovery. [Series 1] [n.d. [1960’s]]:
O On the Unity of the International Communist Movement
O On the Upgrade: Living standards in the Soviet Union
O On the Way to Knowledge: Man, the Earth, outer space, acceleration
O One Is Not Born a Personality.
O One True Luxury: Research into communication pattern of Soviet schoolchildren, The
O One Way Ticket to Democracy:
O Optimal Functioning System for a Socialist Economy
O Orbits of the Global Economy, The
O Organisation and Management: A sociological analysis of Western theories
O Organisation of Domestic Trade in the USSR
O Organisation of Industry and Construction in the USSR
O Organisation of Statistics in the U.S.S.R.
O Organisation of Statistics in the USSR
O Organization of African Unity: 25 years of struggle
O Organizations: Communist Party, USA
O Origin and Principles of Scientific Socialism
O Origin of Man, The
O Origin of the Human Race., The
O Origins of the Proletariat and Its Evolution as a Revolutionary Class, The
O Our Course: Peace and Socialism
O Our Course: Peace and Socialism
O Our Lives, Our Dreams: Soviet women speak:
O Our Rights: Political and economic guarantees:
O Outer Space: Politics and law
O Outline History of Africa, An
O Outline History of the Communist International (1971)
O Outline History of the Soviet Working Class
O Outline Political History of the Americas
O Outline Theory of Population, An
O Outline of Soviet Labour Law, An
O Overseas Chinese Bourgeoisie: A Peking tool in southeast Asia.
O Overseas Expansion of Capital:, The
P Pacific Community: An Outlook, The
P Palekh: Village of Artists
P Palestine Problem: Aggression, resistance, ways of settlement, The
P Palestine Question: Document adopted by the United Nations and other international organisations and conferences, The
P Panorama of the Soviet Union
P Part Played By Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man, The
P Passing Age: The ideology and culture of the late bourgeois epoch, The
P Path of Valour., The
P Path to Peace: A view from Moscow, The
P Patrice Lumumba: Fighter for Africa’s freedom
P Peace Prospects From Three Worlds
P Peace Strategy in the Nuclear Age
P Peace and Disarmament. Academic Studies. 1980
P Peace and Disarmament: Academic Studies, special issue 1987:
P Peace and Disarmament
P Peaceful Coexistence: Contemporary international law of peaceful coexistence
P Peking Reaches Out: A Study of Chinese Expansionism
P People’s Army, The
P People’s Control in Socialist Society
P People’s Democracy, A New Form of Political Organization of Society
P People’s Theater: From the Box Office to the Stage
P Peoples of the North and Their Road to Socialism, The
P Perestroika In Action:
P Perestroika: The Crunch is Now
P Permanent Blush of Shame: A Trip to the East and West, A
P Personal Property in the USSR
P Personal Subsidiary Farming Under Socialism
P Petty-Bourgeois Revolutionism (Anarchism, Trotskyism and Maoism)
P Phenomenon of the Soviet Cinema
P Philosophical Conception of Man:, The
P Philosophical Concepts in Natural Science.

P Philosophical Foundations of Scientific Socialism
P Philosophical Problems of Elementary Particle Physics
P Philosophical Traditions Today.
P Philosophical Views of Mao Tse-Tung: A Critical Analysis, The
P Philosophy and Scientific Cognition
P Philosophy and Social Theory: An Introduction to Historical Materialism
P Philosophy and Sociology.
P Philosophy and the Ecological Problems of Civilisation
P Philosophy and the World-Views of Modern Sciences
P Philosophy in the USSR: Problems of dialectical materialism.
P Philosophy of Dialectical Materialism., The
P Philosophy of Optimism: Current problems
P Philosophy of Revolt: Criticism of left radical ideology., The
P Philosophy of Survival, The
P Philososphy in the USSR: Problems of historical materialism
P Physics of Interstellar Space: A popular-science outline
P Pioneers of Space
P Plain-Spoken Facts, The
P Planet of Reason: A Sociological Study of Man-Nature Relationship, The
P Planning a Socialist Economy
P Planning in Developing Countries: Theory and methodology
P Planning in the USSR: Problems of theory and organisation
P Planning of Manpower in the Soviet Union
P Plato
P Please Accept my Donation: Collection of Letters to the Soviet Peace Fund
P Pluto’s Chain: Explorations of the Kamchatka-Kuril volcanic belt
P Polar Diaries
P Policy Keeping the World on Edge, A
P Policy of Peaceful Coexistence in Action, The
P Policy of Provocation and Expansion: A collection of documents and articles, published in the Soviet press, dealing with China’s policy of annexation and its territorial claims to other countries, A
P Policy of the Soviet Union in the Arab World:, The
P Politcal Economy (1983)
P Political Consciousness in the U.S.A.: Traditions and evolutions.
P Political Economy (1989)
P Political Economy of Capitalism (1974), The
P Political Economy of Capitalism (1985)
P Political Economy of Revolution:, The
P Political Economy of Socialism (1967)
P Political Economy of Socialism (1985)
P Political Economy: A Condensed Course
P Political Economy: A beginner’s course
P Political Economy: A study aid
P Political Economy: Capitalism
P Political Economy: Socialism.
P Political Map of the World, The
P Political Reality and Political Consciousness.
P Political Systems, Development Trends: Theme of the 11th World Congress of political sciences
P Political Terms: A short guide
P Political Terrorism: An Indictment of Imperialism.
P Political Thought of Ancient Greece
P Political Work in the Soviet Army
P Politico-Economic Problems of Capitalism.
P Population Biology: Progress and problems of studies on natural populations
P Population and Socio-Economic Development
P Population of the USSR: A socio-economic survey, The
P Population, Economics, and Politics: The socio-economic development of the European members of the CMEA
P Populism: Its past, present and future.
P Present-Day China: Socio-economic problems, collected articles.
P Present- Day Ethnic Processes in the USSR
P Present- Day Problems in Asia and Africa: Theory - Politics - Personalities
P Present- day Non-Marxist Political Economy:
P Press Is a Great Force, The
P Prevent War, Safeguard Peace. [ca. 1962]
P Prevention of War: Doctrines, concepts, prospects
P Principles of Criminology, The
P Principles of Philosophy, The
P Principles of the Theory of Historical Process in Philosophy.
P Priorities of Soviet Foreign Policy Today, The
P Privileged Generation: Children in the Soviet Union, The

P Problem of the Ideal: The nature of mind and its relationship to the brain and social medium, The
P Problems of Africa Today
P Problems of Common Security
P Problems of Contemporary Aesthetics: A collection of articles
P Problems of Leninism
P Problems of Modern Aesthetics:
P Problems of Socialist Theory
P Problems of Soviet School Education
P Problems of War and Peace: A critical analysis of bourgeois theories.
P Problems of the Communist Movement: Some Questions of Theory and Method.
P Problems of the Development of Mind.
P Problems of the History of Philosophy.
P Proceedings of the First Congress of the Yemeni Socialist Party:
P Profession of the Stage-Director, The
P Profiles in Labour: Essays about heroes of socialist labour
P Programme of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union:, The
P Protestant Ethic and the “Spirit” of Capitalism and Other Writings, The
P Psychiatry
P Psychological Research in USSR: Volume 1
P Psychological War, The
P Psychology (1989)
P Psychology As You May Like It
P Psychology in the Soviet Union: A Historical Outline.
P Psychology of Experiencing: An analysis of how critical situations are dealt with, The
P Psychology of Learning: Theories of learning and programmed instruction, The
P Psychology of Management of Labour Collectives, The
P Psychology of Phantasy:, The
P Psychology of Thinking, The
P Public Education in Soviet Azerbaijan: Appraisal of an achievement
P Public Education in the U.S.S.R.
P Public Enterprises in Developing Countries: Legal status
P Public Sector in Developing Countries:, The
P Publishing in the Soviet Union
P Pulse of Time, The
Q Questions of the Methodology of History:
R R&D in Social Reproduction.
R Races and Peoples: Contemporary ethnic and racial problems.
R Races of Mankind, The
R Racism: An ideological weapon of imperialism.
R Rational Utilization of Natural Resources and the Protection of the Environment, The
R Re-reading Dostoyevsky
R Reader on Social Sciences (ABC #1), A
R Reader on the History of the USSR (1917–1937)., A
R Real Socialism and Ideological Struggle
R Real Truth: Profiles of Soviet Jews, The
R Recent History of the Labor Movement in the United States 1918–1939
R Recreational Geography in the USSR
R Red Carnation., The
R Red Star and Green Crescent
R Reflections on Security in the Nuclear Age: A Dialogue Between Generals East and West
R Relativity and Man
R Religion and Social Conflicts in the U.S.A.
R Religion in the World Today
R Remarkable Year: The Blue Notebook: Retracing Lenin’s Steps., A
R Reminiscences of a Kremlin Commandant. [no date, ca. 1965.]
R Rendezvous in Space: Soyuz Apollo
R Renovation of Traditions: (traditions and innovations of Socialist realism in Ukrainian prose)
R Report of the Central Committee of the CPSU to the XXVI Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Immediate Tasks of the Party in Home and Foreign Policy
R Report to the Nineteenth Party Congress on the Work of the Central Committee of the C.P.S.U.(B.)
R Requirements of Developed Socialist Society
R Responsiblity for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity:
R Resumption and Development of International Economic Relations, The
R Retracing Lenin’s Steps
R Revolution in Laos: Practice and Prospects
R Revolutionaries of India in Soviet Russia: Mainspring of the Communist movement in the East
R Revolutionary Battles of the Early 20th Century
R Revolutionary COMMUNIST PARTY, USA
R Revolutionary Democracy and Communists in the East
R Revolutionary Democracy in Africa

R Revolutionary Movement of Our Time and Nationalism., The
R Revolutionary Process in the East:, The
R Revolutionary Vanguard:, The
R Riddle of the Origin of Consciousness., The
R Riddle of the Self, The
R Riddles of Three Oceans, The
R Right of the Accused to Defence in the USSR, The
R Right-Wing Revisionism Today
R Rights Accruing From Loss of Health
R Rights of Soviet Citizens: Collected normative acts
R Rights of the Individual in Socialist Society, The
R Rise and Fall of the Gunbatsu: A Study in Military History, The
R Rise and Growth of the Non-Aligned Movement, The
R Rise of Socialist Economy: The experience of the USSR, other socialist, and socialist-oriented developing countries, The
R Road to Communism:, The
R Road to Great Victory: Soviet Diplomacy 1941–1945
R Road to Nirvana, The
R Road to Stable Peace in Asia, The
R Road to Victory: The Struggle For National Independence, Unity, Peace and Socialism in Vietnam, The
R Role of Advanced Ideas in Development of Society
R Role of Socialist Consciousness in the Development of Soviet Society, The
R Role of the State in Socio-Economic Reforms in Developing Countries, The
R Role of the State in the Socialist Transformation of the Economy of the U.S.S.R., The
R Rules of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
R Russia and Her People: Recollections in Tranquillity
R Russia and the West: 19th Century
R Russian Discovery of America, A
R Russian History in Tales
R Russian Museum: A Guide, The
R Russian Orthodox Church (1982), The
R Russian Orthodox Church 10th to 20th Centuries, The
R Russian Revolution: The Comic Book Version, The
R Russian Revolution: What actually happened?, The
R Russian Revolutionary Tradition, The
R Russian Thinkers: Essays on Socio–Economic Thought in the 18th and 19th Centuries
R Russians Abroad
S Sacred Lyre: Essays on the life and work of Alexander Pushkin
S Safeguard of Peace: Soviet armed forces:, A
S Salyut Project, The
S Saturn Is Almost Invisible
S Scandinavian Social Democracy Today
S School of Classical Dance
S Science AT THE CROSS ROADS
S Science Fiction and Adventure Stories by Soviet Writers
S Science Fiction: English and American Short Stories
S Science In Its Youth: Pre-Marxian political economy, A
S Science Policy: Problems and trends
S Science Serves the Nation:
S Science and Morality
S Science and Philosophy
S Science and Society.
S Science and Soviet People’s Education
S Science and Technology, Humanism and Progress:
S Science in the USSR:
S Science, Technology and the Economy
S Scientific Communism (1986)
S Scientific Communism (A Popular Outline)
S Scientific Communism and Its Falsification by the Renegades
S Scientific Communism: A textbook
S Scientific Intelligentsia in the USSR: (structure and dynamics of personnel), The
S Scientific Management of Society (1971), The
S Scientific Management of Society
S Scientific and Technical Progress and Socialist Society
S Scientific and Technical Progress in the USA:
S Scientific and Technical Revolution: Economic aspects
S Scientific and Technological Progress and Social Advance
S Scientific and Technological Revolution and the Revolution in Education, The
S Scientific and Technological Revolution: Its impact on management and education, The
S Scientific and Technological Revolution: Its role in today’s world, The
S Scientific and Technological Revolution: Social Effects and Prospects, The
S Scientific-Technological Revolution and the Contradictions of Capitalism., The

S Sdi: Key to security or disaster
S Search in Pedagogics: Discussions of the 1920’s and Early 1930s, A
S Second International, 1889–1914: The History and heritage, The
S Second Session of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.:
S Second World War: A Politico-Military Survey, The
S Secret War Against Cuba
S Secret War Against Soviet Russia, The
S Secret Weapon in Africa
S Secrets from Whitehall and Downing Street
S Secrets of the Second World War.
S Seeking Rational Solutions: Discussions old and new
S Selected Pedagogical Works
S Selected Philosophical Works
S Selected Speeches and Articles
S Selected Works in Geography
S Selected Writings: Linguistics, poetics
S Selections from Shaw: A fearless champion of truth.
S Selections from Shaw: A fearless champion of truth
S Semantic Philosophy of Art
S Sentinels of Peace
S Sergei Prokofiev: Materials, Articles, Interviews
S Serving the People.
S Seven Days in May
S Seven Essays on Life and Literature
S Shakespeare in the Soviet Union: A collection of articles.
S Sholokhov: A critical appreciation
S Short Course on Political Economy, A
S Short Economic History of the USSR, A
S Short History of Geographical Science in the Soviet Union, A
S Short History of Soviet Society, A
S Short History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union., A
S Short History of the National-Liberation Movement in East Africa, A
S Short History of the USSR (1987), A
S Short History of the USSR: A popular outline, A
S Short History of the USSR: Part I., A
S Short History of the USSR: Part II., A
S Short History of the World in Two Volumes, A
S Short History of the World in Two Volumes, A
S Siberia, 60 Degrees East of Greenwich: Oil and people
S Siberia: Achievements, Problems, Solutions
S Siberia: Epic of the Century
S Silent Death (Chemical weapons/warfare), The
S Simon Bolivar
S Sino-Soviet Relations 1945-1973:
S Sketches of the Soviet Union
S Social Democracy and Southern Africa, 1960s–1980s
S Social Informaton and the Regulation of Social Development
S Social Insurance in the U.S.S.R.
S Social Organisations in the Soviet Union: Political and legal organisational aspects
S Social Partnership or Class Struggle?: Theory, Legislation & Practice
S Social Problems of Man’s Environment: Where We Live and Work
S Social Programme of the Ninth Five-Year Plan
S Social Psychology and History
S Social Psychology and Propaganda
S Social Psychology
S Social Science
S Social Sciences: Information system., The
S Social Security in the USSR
S Social Structure of Soviet Society, The
S Social and Economic Geography: An essay in conceptual terminological systematisation
S Social and State Structure of the U.S.S.R., The
S Socialism As a Social System
S Socialism Theory and Practice:
S Socialism and Capitalism: Score and Prospects
S Socialism and Communism: Selected passages, 1956–63
S Socialism and Communism
S Socialism and Culture: A collection of articles
S Socialism and Democracy: A Reply to opportunists
S Socialism and Energy Resources
S Socialism and Humanism
S Socialism and Law: Law in society

S Socialism and Optimism
S Socialism and State Administration
S Socialism and Wealth
S Socialism and the Individual
S Socialism and the Newly Independent Nations
S Socialism and the Rational Needs of the Individual
S Socialism and the State
S Socialism in the USSR: How it was built
S Socialism’s Historic Mission and the World Today
S Socialism: A new theoretical vision
S Socialism: Crisis or renewal?
S Socialism: Foreign Policy in Theory and Practice
S Socialism: Its Role in History.
S Socialism: One-party and multi-party system
S Socialism: Questions of Theory
S Socialist Community at a New Stage, The
S Socialist Community: A new type of relations among nations, The
S Socialist Countries’ Economy in the 1970s, The
S Socialist Countries: Important Changes, The
S Socialist Culture and Man
S Socialist Democracy: Aspects of theory
S Socialist Humanism, Culture, Personality:
S Socialist Ideal and Real Socialism, The
S Socialist Ideology
S Socialist Integration
S Socialist International, The
S Socialist Internationalism (1978)
S Socialist Internationalism: Theory and practice of international relations of a new type
S Socialist Life Style and the Family
S Socialist Literatures, Problems of Development
S Socialist Long-Term Economic Planning.
S Socialist Management: The Leninist concept.
S Socialist Nationalisation of Industry.
S Socialist Organisation of Labour
S Socialist Policy of Peace: Theory and practice
S Socialist Realism and the Modern Literary Process
S Socialist Realism in Literature and Art:
S Socialist Revolution [MarxEngels], The
S Socialist Revolution and Its Defense, The
S Socialist Revolution in Russia and the Intelligentsia, The
S Socialist Revolution in Russia and the International Working Class (1917–1923), The
S Socialist Self-Government
S Socialist Society In the Present Stage: Proceedings of a section meeting
S Socialist Society: Its social justice
S Socialist Society: Scientific principles of development
S Socialist Way of Development in Agriculture, The
S Socialist Way of Life: Problems and perspectives
S Socialist World System, The
S Socialist- Oriented State: Instrument of Revolutionary Change, A
S Society and Economic Relations
S Society and Individual: Give and take
S Society and Nature: Socio-ecological problems
S Society and Youth
S Society and the Environment: A Soviet view
S Society of the Future
S Sociological Theory and Social Practice:
S Sociology of Culture, The
S Sociology of Revolution: A Marxist view
S Sociology: Problems of theory and method.
S Soldier’s Duty, A
S Soldier’s Memoirs:, A
S Solving the National Question in the USSR
S Some Aspects of Party-Political Work in the Soviet Armed Forces
S Some Basic Rights of Soviet Citizens
S Some Questions Concerning the Struggle of Counter-Revolutionary Trotskyism Against Revolutionary Leninism
S South Africa Against Africa, 1966–1986
S Southeast Asia: History, economy, policy.
S Southern Africa: Apartheid, Colonialism, Aggression.
S Soviet Agriculture
S Soviet Ambassador Reports Back, The
S Soviet Armed Forces Yesterday and Today, The

S Soviet Army, The
S Soviet Banker’s Notes, A
S Soviet Circus: A Collection of articles, The
S Soviet Collective Farm (a sociological study), The
S Soviet Communist Forum: (World response to the 25th CPSU congress)
S Soviet Constitution and the Myths of Sovietologists, The
S Soviet Constitution: A dictionary, The
S Soviet Court, The
S Soviet Democracy and Bourgeois Sovietology
S Soviet Democracy in the Period of Developed Socialism
S Soviet Economic Reform: Progress and problems.
S Soviet Economy Forges Ahead: Ninth five-year plan 1971–1975.
S Soviet Economy: Results and prospects
S Soviet Employee’s Rights in Law
S Soviet Family Budgets
S Soviet Finance: Principles, Operation
S Soviet Financial System
S Soviet Fine Arts
S Soviet Foreign Policy Volume I:
S Soviet Foreign Policy Volume II:
S Soviet Foreign Policy: A brief review 1955–65.
S Soviet Foreign Policy: Objectives and principles
S Soviet Foreign Trade: Today and tomorrow
S Soviet Form of Popular Government, The
S Soviet Frontiers of Tomorrow
S Soviet General Staff at War 1941–1945: Book 1, The
S Soviet General Staff at War 1941–1945: Book 2, The
S Soviet Geographical Explorations and Discoveries
S Soviet Geography Today: Aspects of theory
S Soviet Geography Today: Physical Geography
S Soviet Historical Science: New research
S Soviet Industry
S Soviet Land Legislation.
S Soviet Legislation on Children’s Rights.
S Soviet Legislation on Women’s Rights:
S Soviet Literature–Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
S Soviet Literature: Problems and People
S Soviet Lithuania on the Road to Prosperity
S Soviet Man: The making of a socialist type of personality
S Soviet Nationalities and Policy and Bourgeois Historians: The formation of the Soviet multinational state (1917–1922) in contemporary American historiography
S Soviet Navy in War and Peace, The
S Soviet North: In the Land of the Midnight Sun; the Arctic; News from High Latitudes
S Soviet North: Present Development and Prospects, The
S Soviet Officers
S Soviet Parliament: A reference book, The
S Soviet Peace Efforts on the Eve of World War II
S Soviet Peace Efforts on the Eve of World War II
S Soviet Peace Policy, 1917–1939
S Soviet Peasantry: An outline history (1917–1970), The
S Soviet People as I Knew Them
S Soviet People: A new historical community, The
S Soviet Planned Economy, The
S Soviet Policy for Asian Peace and Security
S Soviet Political System Under Developed Socialism, The
S Soviet Political System: Perceptions and perspectives
S Soviet Psychology
S Soviet Reality in the Seventies
S Soviet Rock: 25 Years in the Underground + 5 Years of Freedom
S Soviet Russia Opts for Peace
S Soviet Russian Literature 1917–1977: Poetry and Prose - Selected Reading
S Soviet Russian Stories of the 1960s and 1970s
S Soviet Scene 1987: A collection of press articles and interviews
S Soviet School of Courage and Warcraft, The
S Soviet Science and Technique in the Service of Building Communism in the U.S.S.R.
S Soviet Socialist Democracy
S Soviet Society: Philosophy of Development
S Soviet Stars in the World of Music
S Soviet State and Law., The
S Soviet State as a Subject of Civil Law, The
S Soviet State, The
S Soviet Trade Unions: A collection of background materials, The

S Soviet Trade Unions: Yesterday Today Tomorrow
S Soviet Ukraine
S Soviet Union 50 Years Statistical Returns
S Soviet Union Today, The
S Soviet Union and Africa, The
S Soviet Union and European Security, The
S Soviet Union and International Economic Cooperation, The
S Soviet Union and the Manchurian Revolutionary Base (1945–1949), The
S Soviet Union as Americans See It 1917–1977, The
S Soviet Union: Political and Economic Reference Book.
S Soviet Volunteers in China 1925–1945
S Soviet Way of Life, The
S Soviet Women (Some aspects of the status of women in the USSR)
S Soviet Women: A portrait.
S Soviet Worker, The
S Soviet Writers Look At America
S Soviet Youth and Socialism.
S Soviet Youth: A socio-political outline.
S Soviet–U.S. Relations, 1933–1942
S Soviets of People’s Deputies: Democracy and administration
S Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies on the Eve of the October Revolution, March–October 1917
S Soweto: Life and Struggles of a South African Township
S Space Age, The
S Space Flights Serve Life on Earth
S Specialisation and Co-Operation of the Socialist Economies
S Sport and Society
S Stanislavsky
S State Law of the Socialist Countries: Socialism Today, The
S State Monopoly Capitalism and Labour Law
S State Monopoly Incomes Policy: Conception and Practice (In the Context of Great Britain)
S State Property in the USSR: Legal aspects
S State Structure of the USSR
S State and Communism, The
S State and Nations in the USSR, The
S State of Israel: A Historical, Economic and Political Study , The
S State, Democracy and Legality in the USSR: Lenin’s ideas today, The
S State-Monopoly Capitalism and the Labour Theory of Value.
S Steeled in the Storm: Essays on the history of the Komsomol
S Steep Steps: A Journalist’s Notes, The
S Stories About Lenin and the Revolution
S Stories About the Party of Communists Under Whose Leadership the Peoples of Russia Overthrew...
S Straight from the Heart: The writer and the time series
S Strategy of Economic Development in the USSR, The
S Strategy of Transnational Corporations, The
S Stride Across a Thousand Years:, A
S Strong in Spirit, The
S Struggle for Socialism in the World
S Studies in Psychology: The collective and the individual.
S Study of Soviet Foreign Policy, A
S Subject, Object, Cognition.
S Submarines in Arctic Waters
S Sukhomlinsky on Education, V.
S Surrealism
S System of Physical Education in the USSR, The
S Systems Theory: Philosophical and Methodological Problems
C Cp of China :: THE POLEMIC ON THE GENERAL LINE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIST MOVEMENT
T Tales of the Ancient World:
T Talking About the Future: Can We Develop Without Disaster
T Talking About the Future: Is Mankind Heading for a Raw Materials Crisis?
T Talks on Soviet Democracy.
T Teacher’s Experience: Stanislav Shatsky: A collection, A
T Teaching of Political Economy: A critique of non-Marxian theories, The
T Teaching: Calling and skills.
T Teaching
T Technological Neo-colonialism
T Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam Conferences., The
T Television In the West and Its Doctrines.
T Ten Years of the Ethiopian Revolution
T Territorial Industrial Complexes: Optimisation models and general aspects
T Territorial Organisation of Soviet Economy, The
T Terrorism and International Law

T That Curious World of Nature: Geography for entertainment
T The LAND OF SOCIALISM TODAY TOMORROW
T The POLICY OF NON-ALIGNMENT
T Theatre, Music, Art (1967–1970)
T Their Point of View: Young Americans in the USSR
T Theoretical Aspects of Linguistics
T Theoretical Physics
T Theories of Surplus Value:
T Theory and Practice of Proletarian Internationalism, The
T Theory and Tactics of the International Communist Movement
T Theory of Earth’s Origin: Four lectures
T Theory of Growth of a Socialist Economy, The
T Theory of Knowledge ( by Cornforth ), The
T Theory of Population: Essays in Marxist research., The
T Theory of the State and Law
T There Shall be Retribution: Nazi war criminals and their protectors
T They Came to Stay: North Americans in the USSR
T They Found Their Voice: Stories from Soviet Nationalities with No Written Language Before the 1917 October Revolution
T They Knew Lenin: Reminiscenses of Foreign Contemporaries
T They Sealed Their Own Doom
T Third Soviet Generation
T Third World War? Threats, real, and imaginary, A
T Third World: Problems and Prospects, current stage of the national-liberation struggle, The
T Thirty Years of Victory
T This Amazing Amazing Amazing But Knowable Universe
T This NATION AND SOCIALISM ARE ONE
T This Nation and Socialism Are One
T This Whole Human Rights Business
T This is My Native Land: A Soviet journalists travels
T Three Centuries of Russian Poetry
T Three Leaders: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi
T Three Men in a Boat to Say Nothing of the Dog
T Through the Russian Revolution
T Time For a New Way of Thinking
T Time to Speak Out, The
T To Be an Individual–Is It the Lot of Only a Chosen Few?
T To Children I Give My Heart
T Tomorrow Will Be Too Late: Dialogue on the threshold of the third millennium
T Topsy-Turvy Planet, or, Paramon’s Incredible Tale of Travel and Adventure, A
T Towards Freedom and Progress: The triumph of Soviet power in Central Asia
T Towards Social Homogeneity
T Towards Technologies of the Future
T Towns for People
T Tracing Martin Bormann
T Trade Among Capitalist Countries
T Trade Unions in Socialist Society
T Trade Unions, Disarmament, Conversion
T Trade and Coexistence
T Transition from Capitalism to Socialism, The
T Transnational Corporations And Militarism
T Travel to Distant Worlds
T Travels to New Guinea: Diaries Letters Documents.
T Tretyakov Art Gallery: A Guide
T Triumph of Lenin’s Ideas: Proceedings of Plenary Session
T Triumph of the Leninist Ideas of Proletarian Internationalism:
T Truth About Afghanistan:, The
T Truth About Cultural Exchange: 10 Years After Helsinki, The
T Turning-Point of World War II:, The
T Twentieth Century Capitalism
T Two Directions of Socio-economic Development in Africa
T Two Hundred Days of Fire: Accounts by participants and witnesses of the battle of Stalingrad
T Two Worlds–Two Monetary Systems
U U.S. Budget and Economic Policy.
U U.S. Labour Unions Today: Basic problems and trends.
U U.S. Military Doctrine, The
U U.S. Monopolies and Developing Countries
U U.S. Negroes in Battle: From Little Rock to Watts
U U.S. Neocolonialism in Africa
U U.S. Policies in the Indian Ocean
U U.S. Policy in Latin America: Postwar to present.
U U.S. Two-Party System: Past and present:, The

U U.S. War Machine and Politics, The
U Ultras in the USA., The
U Ulyanov Family, The
U Unbreakable Union of Soviet Republics, The
U Undaunted Heroes: A Vietnam diary, The
U Undeclared War: Imperialism vs. Afghanistan:, The
U Union of Soviet Writers: Aims, Organisation, Activities, The
U United Soviet People, The
U Unity, Solidarity, Internationalism: International Communist Unity:
U Universe and Civilisation, The
U Universe, The
U Us Monopolies and Developing Countries
U Usa and Western Europe: Economic Relations After World War II, The
U Usa versus Western Europe: New Trends
U Usa, Western Europe, Japan: a triangle of rivalry, The
U Usa: Anatomy of the Arms Race
U Usa: Imperialists and Anti-Imperialists: The great foreign policy debate at the turn of the Century
U Usa: Militarism and the Economy
U Ussr - USA - Sports Encounters
U Ussr Builds for the Future, The
U Ussr Economy in 1976–1980, The
U Ussr Proposes Disarmament (1920s–1980s), The
U Ussr State Industry During the Transition Period
U Ussr Tenth Five-Year Plan Building Projects
U Ussr Through Indian Eyes
U Ussr and Countries of Africa
U Ussr and Developing Countries: Economic Cooperation, The
U Ussr and International Copyright Protection, The
U Ussr and International Economic Relations:, The
U Ussr in World Politics., The
U Ussr–FRG Relations: A new stage
U Ussr–USA Trade Unions Compared
U Ussr’s Activities in the UN for Peace, Security and Co-Operation, 1945–1985, The
U Ussr, Reorganisation and Renewal
U Ussr, the USA, and the People’s Revolution in China, The
U Ussr: A Dictatorship or a Democracy?, The
U Ussr: A Short History., The
U Ussr: A Time of Change: Scholars, Writers and Artists Speak
U Ussr: A genuine united nations, The
U Ussr: A guide for businessmen
U Ussr: Education, Science and Culture., The
U Ussr: For Peace Against Aggression:
U Ussr: Geography of the eleventh five-year plan period
U Ussr: Public Health and Social Security., The
U Ussr: Questions and Answers
U Ussr: Sixty Years of the Union: 1922–1982
U Ussr: Youth of the Eighties
V Vietnam Story, The
V Village Children: A Soviet experience
V Vladimir Favorsky
V Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: A biography
V Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: Life and works
V Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: Pages from his life with reminiscences of his associates
V Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
V Vladimir Mayakovsky: Innovator
V Vladimir Vysotsky: Hamlet with a guitar
W Wanted...
W War Is Their Business: The U.S. Military-Industrial Complex:
W War of Ideas in Contemporary International Relations:, The
W War’s Unwomanly Face
W Wars and Population
W Washington Crusaders On the March
W Washington Silhouettes: A political round-up
W Washington Versus Havana
W Way Society Develops, The
W We Are From Friendship University [nd (mid 1960s)]
W We Choose Peace
W Weaponry in Space: The dilemma of security
W Welfare the Basic Task: Five Year Plan, 1971–1975
W West Berlin: In memory of those Soviet officers and men who fell in the battle to liberate Berlin
W West Berlin: Yesterday and Today

W West European Integration: Its policies and international relations
W Western Aid: Myth and Reality
W Western Europe Today: Economics, politics, the class struggle, international relations
W What Are Classes and the Class Struggle? (ABC #14)
W What Are They After in Peking?
W What Are Trade Unions? (ABC #21)
W What If Everything You Thought You Knew About AIDS Was Wrong?
W What Is Capitalism? (ABC #8)
W What Is Communism? (ABC #10)
W What Is Democratic Centralism?
W What Is Democratic Socialism?
W What Is Dialectical Materialism? (ABC #6)
W What Is Good and What is Bad
W What Is Historical Materialism? (ABC #7)
W What Is Labour? (ABC #11)
W What Is Marxism-Leninism? (ABC #2)
W What Is Personality? (ABC #23)
W What Is Philosophy? (ABC #4)
W What Is Political Economy? (ABC #3)
W What Is Property? (ABC #13)
W What Is Revolution? (ABC #17)
W What Is Scientific Communism? (ABC #5)
W What Is Socialism? (ABC #9)
W What Is Surplus Value? (ABC #12)
W What Is The Party? (ABC #15)
W What Is The Scientific and Technological Revolution? (ABC #22)
W What Is The State? (ABC #16)
W What Is The Transition Period? (ABC #18)
W What Is The Working People’s Power? (ABC #19)
W What Is The World Socialist System? (ABC #20)
W What Is What? (ABC #24)
W What Maoism is Really Like
W What Real Socialism Means to the People:
W What’s What in World Politics: A reference book
W Where All Roads Into Space Begin:
W Where Are Trotskyites Leading the Youth?
W Where Human Rights Are Real.
W Where It’s Coldest
W Where the Old Are Young: Long life in the Soviet Caucasus
W White Book:, The
W White House and the Black Continent, The
W Whither and With Whom? Essays from the ideological front
W Who’s Who in the Soviet Cinema: Seventy Different Portraits
W Why We Returned to the Soviet Union: Testimonies from Russian emigrÃ©s
W Wilfred Grenfell: His life and work
W Will We Survive?
W Winning for Peace: The great victory–its world impact
W Winston Churchill
W Witness to War:
W Women Today
W Women in Science
W Women in the USSR: On the UN Decade for Women
W Women of a New World
W Words of Friends: Greetings extended to the XXVIth Congress of the CPSU, The
W Work and Love
W Workers in Society: Polemical essays
W Workers’ Control Over Production: Past and present.
W Working Class Movement in the Period of Transition to Imperialism (1871–1904), The
W Working Class and Social Progress:, The
W Working Class and its Allies, The
W Working Class and the Contemporary World:, The
W Working Class and the Trade Unions in the USSR:, The
W Working Class in Socialist Society:, The
W Working Class—The Leading Force of the World Revolutionary Process:, The
W Working-Class Movement in the Developmed Capitalist Countries After the Second World War (1945–1979), The
W Working-Class Struggle for Peace and Social Progress:, The
W Working-Class and National-Liberation Movements:
W World Capitalist Economy: Structural changes:, The
W World Communist Movement: An outline of strategy and tactics, The
W World Energy Problem, The
W World MARXIST REVIEW

W World Market Today, The
W World Revolutionary Movement of the Working Class
W World Revolutionary Process, The
W World Socialist Movement & Anti-Communism., The
W World Socialist System and Anti-Communism, The
W World Socialist System:, The
W World War II: Myths and the Realities.
W World War II: The Decisive Battles of the Soviet Army
W World Without Arms?, A
W World of Man In the World of Nature, The
W Wormwood [Hitler-era anti-semitism & postwar Zionism]
W Writer’s Creative Individuality and the Development of Literature, The
Y Yakov Sverdlov
Y Year 2000: End of the human race?, The
Y Year of Victory
Y Yellow Devil: Gold and capitalism., The
Y Young Communist International and Its Origins, The
Y Young Teens Blaze Paths to Peace: The story of the first global children’s festival for peace, friendship co-operation
Y Young in the Revolution:, The
Y Your First Move: Chess for beginners.
Y Youth and Politics
Y Youth and the Party: Documents
Z Zionism Stands Accused
Z Zionism: Enemy of peace and social progress

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<<< Fundamentals of Political Science TEXTbOOK @AT LENINIST

### 16 The Structure of Socio-Economic Formations

23 Society and Nature

The Law of the Conformity of the Production Relations to the

29 Development of Socio-Economic Formations

44 The Communist Socio-Economic Formation

THE ACTIVITY OF PEOPLE IN HISTORY

55 Factors Determining the Activity of People

59 Classes and Social Groups. The Struggle of Classes

66 Classes Under Socialism

68 Society, the Individual and the Collective

75 Spiritual Life of Society

THE COMMUNIST PARTY— THE POLITICAL LEADER OF

WHY IS IT NECESSARY FOR THE WORKING CLASS TO

85 The Role of Organisation in the Class Struggle

88 The Birth of a Revolutionary Marxist Party in Russia

92 The Communist Party and Socialism

WHAT KIND OF A PARTY DOES THE WORKING CLASS

96 The Party of a New Type

100 Forms of Party Organisation

WHO MAKES UP THE COMMUNIST PARTY?

104 The Class Approach to the Development of the Party

109 The Growth of the Party Ranks

WHAT DEMANDS THE PARTY IMPOSES ON COMMUNISTS?

115 The Communists’ Labour and Public Activity

117 A Communist Is a Political Fighter

HOW THE COMMUNIST PARTY IS ORGANISED

121 Democratic Centralism

129 Election and Accountability of the Leading Party Bodies

133 Party Discipline and Responsibility

135 Criticism and Self-Criticism

137 Collective Leadership of the Party

HOW THE PARTY GUIDES SOCIALIST SOCIETY AND THE

140 The Guiding Force of the Political System of Socialism

144 Forms and Methods of Party Guidance

THE GROWING ROLE OF THE CPSU IN DIRECTING

152 Causes Enhancing the Role of the Party

155 What Ensures the Growing Role of the Party

THE HISTORICAL ROAD OF SOVIET SOCIETY

161 The Dawn of a New Era

168 Socialist Construction

181 Principles of Socialism

204 Further Progress

The International Significance of the Experience of Socialist

THE MAIN FEATURES OF THE SOVIET UNION’S

THE ECONOMY OF A DEVELOPED SOCIALIST SOCIETY

212 New Opportunities in the Economy and New Demands

215 The Scientific and Technological Revolution and Socialism

221 Changes in the Relations of Production

226 The Influence of External Factors

THE SUPREME AIM OF THE PARTY’S ECONOMIC POLICY

233 Formation of Requirements

235 The Tasks of the Ninth Five-Year Plan

THE SOURCE OF MEANS FOR FULFILLING SOCIAL TASKS

239 Extensive or Intensive Development?

Application of Science and Technology. Scientific Organisation

245 Improvement of the Location and Structure of Production

246 The Use of Production Assets and Investments

249 Economic Education

ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT AND "WORK FOR ONESELF"

252 Scientific Management

256 Both Master and Worker