p The world’s first socialist state
arose from the October Revolution in Russia. In 1921 the Mongolian People’s Republic came into being and took the road of non-capitalist development with the assistance of the Soviet peoples. A number of countries of Central and Southeast Europe and Asia, which liberated themselves from capitalist rule by struggle and revolution and took the road of socialist construction, broke away from the capitalist system after the Second World War. In the Western Hemisphere the first beacon of socialism was lit in 1959, when heroic Cuba joined the socialist community.

p The world socialist system is young and growing rapidly. Indeed, on the eve of the Second World War it occupied 17 per cent of the earth’s land surface; today it embraces nearly 26 per cent of the land surface of the world with over 35 per cent of the world’s population as against only 9 per cent before the outbreak of the war. It now consists of 14 countries, big and small, in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Today, when the socialist forces are steadily growing, the road to socialism is open to all countries regardless of their level of development, geographical location or the size of their territory or population. Some of the African and Asian countries that have shaken off colonial rule have declared their intention to follow the road of peace and progress, the road of socialism. This is striking evidence that many peoples are already on the road to socialism blazed by the Soviet people. Sooner or later this will be the road of all peoples.