118
Nature of the National
Liberation Revolution
 

p Foreign imperialism, which supnressed everv manifestation of P .... , *" mamrestauon OI political and economic independence, held undivided sway in the economic and political life of the colonial countries. The foreign monopolies saw to it that the economy of these countries remained lop-sided 119 and used them as sources of agricultural and mineral raw materials and cheap manpower and as extremely profitable markets.

p These countries played the role of the immediate strategic reserve of imperialism, and many of them were bastions of aggressive imperialist designs against the growing forces of world socialism.

p In the political life of these countries, too, the imperialist monopolies were the supreme masters. They arbitrarily appointed and deposed rulers, dictated laws and ruthlessly crushed every attempt of the oppressed peoples to resist. There could be no question at all of the people enjoying even the most elementary of democratic rights.

p While oppressing the people, throttling all expressions of economic and political independence, imperialism is the mainstay of the internal reactionary forces, primarily of the forces clinging to feudal and pre-feudal relations, namely, the big landowners and the tribal chiefs.

p Thus, imperialism is the principal enemy of the oppressed peoples, and the national liberation revolution is a clearcut anti-imperialist movement.

p Its main objectives are to uproot foreign imperialist political and economic domination, win political and economic independence and set up a sovereign national state.

p •However, monopoly rule cannot be ended without eradicating survivals of feudalism and tribal, pre-feudal relations, which give imperialism its largest foothold in colonial and dependent countries. The national liberation revolution is, therefore, anti-feudal as well, and the eradication of survivals of pre-bourgeois relations, which hinder economic and political development, is another of its prime objectives.

p These objectives cannot be achieved without the support of the broad masses, who are the real makers of history. The uprooting of survivals of colonial rule in political life and the democratisation of social life are the third cardinal objective of the national liberation revolution, which is thus a democratic movement.

p Hence, the national liberation movement is anti-imperialist, anti-feudal and democratic. It accomplishes “democratic tasks, the tasks of overthrowing foreign oppression".  [119•* 

120

The general democratic, anti-imperialist and anti-feudal nature of the national liberation revolution stems not only from its objectives but also from the social forces called upon to achieve these objectives, i.e., the driving forces of the revolution.

* * *
 

Notes

[119•*]   Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 23, p. 59.