p The proletariat can take advantage of the potentialities for revolutionary struggle created by the objective course of social development only when it is guided by Marxist-Leninist theory. This theory not only serves it as a compass on its revolutionary path but also serves to firmly connect with ideological bonds all the fighters for a socialist transformation of society. Without a knowledge of the objective laws of social progress it is impossible to determine either strategic aims or correct tactical forms of struggle. The most dedicated and energetic actions on the part of the revolutionary proletariat cannot bring about a revolution, unless there exists a mature revolutionary situation, i.e., objective conditions for a revolutionary assault. To ignore the objective laws of social development means doing damage to the revolutionary movement, implies adventurism, divorcement of the Party from the people, and entails attempts to provoke “revolutions” and “uprisings” prejudicial to the liberation struggle without waiting for revolutionary situations to mature. At the same time Marxism-Leninism resolutely denounces attempts to belittle the significance of the subjective factor in social development and to submit blindly to objective conditions, since this can lead only to dependence on chance and spontaneity. A mature revolutionary situation presupposes the existence of the objective conditions for the victory of revolution. But to what use these conditions are put, i.e., whether there is a revolution and what its outcome is, depends on subjective factors, on the energy, determination, consciousness and organisation of the contending social forces. To become the leader of the liberation struggle, the revolutionary proletariat must learn to understand correctly the interaction of objective conditions and the subjective factor in social development.

p The Marxist proposition that the masses are the real makers of history is the main point of departure in the strategy and 166 tactics of Leninism. They are imbued with the most profound belief in the enormous revolutionary power of the working class, the vast potential of the peasantry and other sections of the working people and arc opposed to any manifestation of the cult of the individual, "for the only effective force that compels change is popular revolutionary energy".  [166•1  The chief purpose of Leninist strategy and tactics is to stimulate the creative powers of the working people, to assist them to display their revolutionary energy to the full and in the most effective way, and to introduce organisation and purposcfulness into their struggle— in short, to unite the people into triumphant revolutionary armies and to direct them along the shortest route to their great goal— the abolition of all forms of exploitation and suppression of man by man and the realisation of the ideals of scientific communism.

p All the parts of Marxist-Leninist theory—philosophy, economic doctrine and scientific communism—go to form the theoretical foundation of the revolutionary strategy and tactics of the working class. But of especially great importance in this respect is Lenin’s theory of socialist revolution and proletarian internationalism. Many of the main ideas of the strategy and tactics of Leninism follow directly from the chief tenets of this theory —the need for working-class hegemony in the revolution, the theory of the development of the bourgeois-democratic revolution into the socialist revolution, and the possibility of socialism triumphing in different countries at different times.

p The idea of the hegemony of the proletariat is the key to the strategy and tactics of Leninism, which are in fact nothing else than a broad elaboration of this idea.

p Leninism teaches the revolutionary proletariat that to succeed in the struggle to overthrow the bourgeoisie it must first secure its hegemony in the struggle. And to do this, it has to develop its abilities as the political leader of the working people, learn how to defeat the bourgeoisie in order to gain influence among them, and understand the complexities of uniting into a single revolutionary front all those classes and social strata that can take part in all or at least some of the stages of the liberation struggle.

p The idea of proletarian hegemony has always played a big part in Marxist-Leninist theory and in practical revolutionary struggles. In the era of imperialism and transition from capitalism to socialism its significance has grown immeasurably. And, 167 responding to the requirements of life, Lenin developed the Marxist idea of the leading role of the working class and its party in the socialist revolution.

p In the early period of pre-monopoly capitalism most Marxists took the view that the proletariat could become a leader only in the course of the direct struggle for the overthrow of the bourgeoisie, for socialism. For this reason, while firmly supporting democratic movements, Marxists did not raise the question of the proletariat winning its hegemony in the bourgeois-democratic revolution.

p In the era of the collapse of capitalism the sphere of the proletariat’s leadership has grown considerably. As Lenin showed, it now extends to bourgeois-democratic revolutions, national liberation movements and general democratic movements. Moreover, the working class itself becomes more thoroughly prepared for fulfilling the noble mission of leading the liberation struggle.

p Today, the great idea of proletarian hegemony is being realised not only within the framework of individual countries but on a global scale, with the international working class relying on the world socialist system and leading the world revolutionary process as a whole and the main currents of the liberation struggle in particular.

p Proletarian hegemony is the decisive factor in the development of the socialist revolution both nationally and internationally, and it was the consistent implementation of Lenin’s idea of proletarian hegemony in Russia first in the bourgeois-democratic revolution and then in the socialist revolution that determined the successful outcome of these revolutions.

p Lenin noted repeatedly that the working class secures its leading role not spontaneously, but in the thick of the battles against the bourgeoisie, which through its numerous agents seeks to seize the leadership of the revolutionary movement in order to weaken and betray it.

p The Communist Party’s leadership of the militant, revolutionary actions of the working people is the highest expression of proletarian hegemony in the liberation struggle. Only when it has a Marxist political party can the proletariat turn the spontaneous labour movement into a conscious, purposeful movement and become the leader in the struggle for democracy and socialism. Leninism shows that the degree to which the working class leads the struggle depends directly on the fighting capacity, organisation, unity and theoretical maturity of the proletarian party, its influence among the working people and its resolve to 168 fight any attempts to belittle its leading role, and on the ability of the proletariat to acquire allies and lead them in the struggle against reaction.

p Proletarian hegemony means above all the establishment of a revolutionary alliance with the working peasantry, releasing the latter from bourgeois influence and directing all its vast revolutionary energies into the struggle for socialism. The entire history of class struggle under capitalism has shown that the working peasantry is the most reliable ally of the working class and that the worker-peasant alliance releases huge revolutionary energy. It is only in alliance with them that the proletariat can secure its political leadership and place all working people on the road to socialism. Militant actions by the proletariat alone without its firm alliance with the peasantry cannot bring the revolution to fruition, as was evidenced by the revolutions of 1848 and 1871 in France, the first Russian revolution of 1905-07, the socialist revolution of 1919 in Hungary and many other revolutionary developments. The victorious outcome of the socialist revolution in Russia and the people’s democratic revolutions in some of the European and Asian countries vividly testifies to the fact that the revolutionary alliance between the working class and the working peasantry under the leadership of the former is the principal earnest of, the indispensable condition for, the success in the struggle for democracy and socialism.

p The alliance between the working class and the peasantry greatly increases the potential of the liberation struggle. Therefore, the struggle against the bourgeoisie and its agents to gain influence over the mass of the peasantry is one of the most important strategic and tactical tasks facing the revolutionary proletariat in all capitalist countries. The question of the alliance between the working class and the peasantry, as Lenin put it, is "the most important and radical question of our entire revolution and of all future socialist revolutions. . . ."  [168•1  Despite the fact that the numerical strength of the peasantry in the developed capitalist countries has decreased, the working peasantry still remains the chief ally of the working class.

p In the theory of working-class leadership great importance is attached to proletarian leadership of the democratic liberation struggle waged by oppressed nations, to the fusion of the struggle for socialism and the national liberation movement. Lenin considered this to be of paramount importance, for he regarded 169 the national liberation movement as one of the chief revolutionary forces. Thus the successful development of the world revolutionary process hinges to a great extent on the ability of the working class to establish an alliance with the liberation struggle of the oppressed nations and to channel their energies towards achieving aims that are of a socialist as well as emancipatory nature. To underscore the tremendous significance of unity between the working-class struggle for socialism and the struggle of the oppressed nations for their freedom, Lenin supplemented the famous call of Marx and Engels and formulated the slogan: "Workers of all countries and oppressed peoples of the world, unite!"

p Successful working-class leadership in the liberation struggle is inconceivable today, as the 1969 International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties noted, without involving the intelligentsia and youth in the revolutionary struggle.

p Together with the idea of the hegemony of the proletariat, the corner-stone of Leninist strategy and tactics is the theory of the development of the bourgeois-democratic revolution into the socialist revolution. Worked out by Lenin in the period of the first Russian revolution, this theory covers the strategy and tactics of the proletariat in both the democratic and socialist revolutions, stressing, in particular, the fact that the democratic and socialist revolutions merge.

p Lenin proved that under imperialism a victorious democratic revolution is shortly followed by a socialist revolution.

p In the West European countries bourgeois revolutions resulted in dictatorships of the bourgeoisie, which have been in existence for a very long time now because these revolutions were led by the bourgeoisie alone. But this was possible only when capitalism was first asserting itself and was in its ascendancy. In the period of imperialism, working-class leadership of the struggle for democratic changes brings the democratic and socialist revolutions closer together. Equally important is the fact that under monopoly capitalism, with the interlocking of imperialism and feudalism, it becomes impossible to eradicate survivals of feudalism without a revolutionary struggle against imperialism. In these circumstances the democratic and socialist revolutions become two links in a single chain, two stages in the same revolutionary movement for freedom, establishing first the revolutionary-democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasantry and then the dictatorship of the proletariat. Moreover, the short interval between the democratic and socialist 170 revolutions is not taken up by a period of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie but by the period of the revolutionary-democratic dictatorship of the people, exercised by the working class in alliance with the peasantry and other democratic sections of the population.

p At the time Lenin evolved this theory Kautsky’s opportunist illusions were rampant in the world labour movement concerning the possibility of rapid capitalist development following the victory of a bourgeois revolution until the time when the working class represented the majority of a nation. These illusions condemned the proletariat to a passive, wait-and-see policy after the victory of a bourgeois-democratic revolution. Lenin showed, however, that under imperialism the fact that the working class does not constitute the majority of the population is no impediment to its achieving victory in a socialist revolution, first, because the forces of the proletariat are immeasurably stronger than its proportion of the population, and second, in its struggle for socialism the proletariat has trustworthy allies in the poor peasantry and the urban semi-proletarian sections of the people, who together do comprise the majority of the population. The proletariat can also make up for insufficient numerical strength by concentrating its forces at selected, decisive points at critical moments, and by its ability to win further new allies at every stage of the revolution, thus splitting the enemy camp and defeating it piecemeal.

p Lenin’s theory of the development of the bourgeois-democratic revolution into the socialist revolution was the theoretical foundation for the Bolshevik Party’s strategy and tactics in all three Russian revolutions. Many Communist and Workers’ Parties worked out their strategic and tactical plans in keeping with this theory during the people’s democratic revolutions. And now it guides Communists in the capitalist world, teaching them how to lead the great movements of the people for radical social changes and to combine properly the struggle for democracy with the struggle for socialism.

p Lenin’s theory that socialism could triumph at different times in different countries, and that a whole historical era—the era of the revolutionary defeat of capitalism—stands between the initial victory of the proletariat in one country and the ultimate demise of capitalism in all countries—armed the working class with new perspectives in the sphere of strategy. Lenin brilliantly forecast that this era would be an era of historic wars of liberation, in which the working-class struggle, the democratic 171 movements and the national liberation movements would merge into one common revolutionary torrent, with more and more countries falling away from imperialism and joining the ranks of the socialist countries. The contention that Lenin’s theory is no longer valid is obviously groundless, for this theory is borne out by workers’ victories in country after country.

p Lenin’s theory unleashes the revolutionary initiative of workers and enables them to launch bold and resolute attacks on imperialism without waiting for the beginning of revolutions in other countries. Having demonstrated that socialism could be victorious in one country alone, Lenin instilled in Bolsheviks an unshakable belief that the socialist revolution would triumph in Russia. Lenin’s theory was the basis of the Party’s strategy and tactics during the October Socialist Revolution. The Communist and Workers’ Parties of the socialist countries have all been guided by it, and it has made it possible for the international communist movement to shake world capitalism to its foundations.

p One of the basic principles of Leninist strategy and tactics is proletarian internationalism. The strategy and tactics of Leninism are essentially internationalist. Solutions to strategic and tactical questions must be based on the principle of proletarian internationalism, since the world can be transformed in a revolutionary way only by the international efforts of the proletariat. As long ago as the mid-19th century, Marx and Engels pointed out that world capitalism could only be defeated through international working-class unity. The world front of imperialist reaction must, therefore, be opposed by an international front of the revolutionary movements of all nations. The liberation movements in individual countries arc all part and parcel of the whole world liberation movement, and national revolutions are all part of the world socialist revolution. It would be wrong to suppose therefore that a proletarian revolution or socialist construction in a country where the proletariat has already taken power can proceed in isolation from the world revolutionary movement. Lenin referred time and again to the invaluable importance for the October Revolution and for socialist construction in the USSR of the powerful labour movements in Europe, the maturing revolutionary crises in both East and West, and the support and assistance given to the victorious proletariat of Russia by the working class of the capitalist countries and the national liberation movements of the oppressed peoples of the world.

p In its turn, the Soviet Union has always given tremendous assistance to peoples struggling to break the chains of national and social oppression. The proletariat of any country where the uneven development of capitalism has created the conditions for a socialist revolution cannot now take power without the support of the workers of other countries. Isolated proletarian revolutions are out of the question in the modern world. The working class can attain victory today only if it adheres to proletarian internationalism, which demands "that the interests of the proletarian struggle in any one country should be subordinated to the interests of that struggle on a world-wide scale".  [172•1  Close co-= operation and mutual support alone can secure the success of the liberation struggle waged by the working people of different countries. It follows that the strategy and tactics of any Communist or Workers’ Party, worked out in accordance with the particular conditions in which it works, cannot but conform to the interests of the world revolutionary movement. The 1969 Moscow Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties declared: "...the effectiveness of each Communist Party’s policy depends on its success in its own country, on the successes of other fraternal Parties and on the extent of their co-operation. Each Communist Party is responsible for its activity to its own working class and people and, at the same time, to the international working class. The national and international responsibilities of each Communist or Workers’ Party are indivisible. Marxists-Leninists are both patriots and internationalists; they reject both national narrow-mindedness and the negation or underestimation of national interests, and the striving for hegemony."

p At the present stage of social development—when the successes scored by the revolutionary struggle in individual countries are linked to the international situation and the world revolutionary process, when history has made the working class and the Communist Parties responsible for the destiny of humanity, when the vital interests of the peoples of the world require the close cohesion of all democratic and progressive forces in the struggle for peace, democracy, and national and social emancipation, and when imperialism seeks to tear away individual socialist countries from the world socialist community—the international solidarity of the working class and the unity of the communist movement have an exceptionally important role to play.

p Life demands that the world imperialist front should be actively balanced by the world anti-imperialist front. Under these conditions the support, consolidation and defence of socialist gains in each country cannot but be a common internationalist duty of all contingents of the world working class, of all socialist countries and all liberation forces. "The defence of socialism is an internationalist duty of Communists" is the motto of the Main Document adopted by the 1969 Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties.

p Consistent adherence to the principle of proletarian internationalism is the main guarantee of the correctness of communist strategy and tactics, and the chief source of the Communist Parties’ strength in their struggle against imperialism for the revolutionary reorganisation of society and for peace, democracy, socialism and communism. Strict adherence to this principle was fully endorsed by the Twenty-Third CPSU Congress, which recognised the need to continue the course of rallying the world communist movement and taking united action with all fraternal parties in the struggle against the common enemy—imperialism, for the triumph of the cause of peace, democracy, national liberation and socialism.

In the light of this principle, the policy of the Chinese leaders entailing a split in the world communist movement, their subversive activities and the use of Trotskyist methods in the struggle against the Communist Parties and the socialist countries, their claims to hegemony in the world liberation movement and their military provocations against the Soviet Union can be interpreted solely as the betrayal of proletarian internationalism and the adoption of Great Power chauvinism.