The socialist world is opposed by the world of capitalism, in which private ownership and exploitation are predominant. The latter world has no historical prospects and is experiencing a deep general crisis caused by the objective laws and the irreconcilable contradictions of capitalist development. The general crisis of capitalism is a state of its decline and disintegration, a state embracing all capitalist countries, the entire capitalist world from top to bottom: its economy and social system, its policy, ideology and culture. Gripped by this general crisis the capitalist world is finding it increasingly more difficult
77 to retain in ils orbit individual countries that prefer to break away from it and take the road of socialist development.p The beginning of this crisis, ils first stage, was sparked off by the October Socialist Revolution in Russia, as a result of which capitalism ceased to be the only and allembracing world social system. Despite all its efforts, it proved to be unable to hinder the formation of the Soviet Union. The world’s first socialist state withstood the military crusades, the economic blockade, the endless slander campaigns and the ideological sabotage of the imperialists, thereby demonstrating its vitality and invincibility.
The second stage of this general crisis began during World War II and the socialist revolutions that took place in Europe and Asia. Today capitalism is no longer the only world system: socialism has stepped across the boundary of one country, and along with the world capitalist system there is now a world socialist system.
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