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p In the Soviet Union nations developed not through a growth of national partitions national narrowness and egoism, as in capitalist society, but through a continuous drawing together, through increasing reciprocal assistance and friendship. The two interrelated progressive trends of the national question operating under socialism and during the building of communism are, on the one hand, the all-round advancement of each nation, the further growth of its economy and culture and the improvement of its social relations, and, on the other, the 277 ever closer drawing together of socialist nations on the basis of proletarian internationalism and Soviet patriotism.

p A new community of people, the Soviet people, has taken shape in the Soviet Union as a result of the operation of these trends. This community of socialist nations is free from social and national antagonisms, hostility and distrust. It has a single economic foundation: socialist ownership and a single Marxist-Leninist philosophy. Welded together economically, socially, politically and ideologically and united round the Communist Party and the socialist state this great community is today a close-knit family bent upon achieving one goal, namely, communism. The state form of this community is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

p The formation of this community by no means implies the levelling of nations, the repudiation of national entities, and national languages and cultures. National entities are preserved and developed. They are an inalienable part of the Soviet people as a whole, who form a new entity, which embraces all that is general, stable and important in the economic, political and cultural life of each socialist nation. Complete equality of nations and the combining of the interests of the U.S.S.R. with those of each national republic are a major element of the nationalities policy of the C.P.S.U. and the Soviet Government. “The Party,” states the Programme of the C.P.S.U., “will continue its policy ensuring the actual equality of all nations and nationalities with full consideration for their interests and devoting special attention to those areas of the country which are in need of more rapid development.”

p Fraternal co-operation and reciprocal assistance, which are unprecedented in world history, have taken shape on the basis of the undivided predominance of socialist relations of production in the Soviet Union. Born during the joint struggle against tsarism, withstanding the stern test of time and becoming fully formed as a result of the triumph of socialism, the friendship among the Soviet peoples has become the mighty driving force of socialist society and one of the greatest sources of its power and strength.

p The building of communist society has ushered in a new phase in the development of national relations in the U.S.S.R., a phase characterised by the further development and drawing together of nations and the achievement of 278 harmonious unity among them. The building of the material and technical basis of communism, the development and improvement of socialist social relations and the upsurge of socialist culture are leading to closer unity among the Soviet peoples.

p The creation of the material and technical basis of communism furthers the all-round economic development of the Union republics, improves the division of labour between them, extends existing and forms new economic relations. The communist economy now being built up requires the closest possible relations between the Soviet republics. In proportion to the advance towards communism, each of them will be making an increasing contribution towards the development of the country’s productive forces, the promotion of scientific and technical progress and raising the standard of living, with the result that there will be a further economic drawing together of the socialist nations. This drawing together is facilitated by the building of new industrial centres, the discovery and tapping of natural wealth, the development of virgin land and remote areas and the expansion of all means of transport and communications.

p As the Soviet socialist nations draw closer together, the boundaries between the Union republics within the U.S.S.R. lose their former significance. Frontiers between socialist republics are not those of national insulation, economic rivalry and political strife as under capitalism. They are open to intercourse, economic co-operation, political unity and cultural exchanges between nations. One can appreciate that because in the Soviet Union all nations enjoy equal rights, their life is built up on a single socialist foundation and their material and spiritual requirements are satisfied equally. Common interests unite them into a single family and, together, shoulder to shoulder, they advance towards a common goal.

p For its national composition every Soviet republic is becoming more and more multinational and this is another factor testifying to the steady drawing together of the peoples of the U.S.S.R. In every republic people of different nationalities work and live side by side as brothers. The personnel of socialist enterprises is likewise multinational.

p The social homogeneity of nations is becoming more and 279 more pronounced as a result of communist construction, the removal of class boundaries and the development of communist social relations. Under socialism the class composition of nations consists of workers, collective farmers and intellectuals, and as progress is made in building communism the social distinctions between these groups are erased in all the republics without exception, and the new type of communist worker, the new, all-sidedly developed individual is moulded.

p The culture, morality and way of life of the socialist nations acquire more and more common features and this ensures the further strengthening of trust and friendship among them. The spiritual unity of nations grows ever more firm. The socialist culture of the Soviet peoples flourishes, and the national cultures draw closer and become mutually enriched. International culture, which embraces all the best achievements of human culture, develops. The culture of every nation is enriched by creations that acquire a general, international character, and this marks the beginning of the formation of the future single culture of communist society.

p The drawing together of nations plays an immense part in achieving the goal of communist society, namely, the moulding of the new man, because when, as a result of this drawing together, the economic and cultural development of the different republics reaches the same level equal conditions arise for the development and application of the capabilities of each and every person regardless of where he lives and works. People of all nationalities will get ever broader possibilities of mastering and utilising the achievements of the material and spiritual culture of other nations and thereby enriching their own production experience and raising their cultural level.

p Survivals of national narrow-mindedness and exclusiveness, as well as outworn national customs that seriously hamper the moulding of the new man, are surmounted in the process of the drawing together of nations. In particular, this will put an end to remaining survivals (in individual republics) of inequality of women and remnants of the old, feudal attitude to them in the family and in everyday life.

p The triumph of communism in the U.S.S.R. will witness 280 a greater community of economic and ideological interests. Economy and culture will reach an unprecedented level of development, and communist features will become predominant.

p The drawing together of nations will culminate in the merging of nations. However, this merging, i.e., the surmounting of national distinctions, is a much longer process than the erasure of the distinctions between classes. With the triumph of communism, class distinctions will disappear, but national and, particularly, language distinctions will remain for a considerable period of time.

In the course of communist construction, the drawing together of nations is an objective, law-governed process. But this does not mean that it is a spontaneous, unhindered process. The economic and cultural advancement of the socialist nations and their gradual drawing together are the result of the scientific guidance given to the development of national relations by the Communist Party and the socialist state. By directing and organising the economic, social, political and cultural relations of the different nations, combining the centralisation of the activities of all the republics within the U.S.S.R. with the promotion of national statehood, the granting of extensive rights to the republics and the furthering of local initiative, the Party and the government help the nations to achieve prosperity and draw closer together. At the same time, the Party combats all manifestations of parochialism and survivals of nationalism and chauvinism.