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p The tactics of the proletariat develop on the basis of its strategy. Their principal purpose is to establish those means, forms and methods of struggle that most fully conform to the concrete historical situation and that can most surely contribute to the attaining of the strategic goal.

p Tactics are subordinate to strategy. This does not, however, detract from the enormous importance of correct tactics in the proletarian struggle. As Lenin said, "the preparation of correct tactical decisions is of immense importance for a party which desires to lead the proletariat in the spirit of sound Marxist principles, and not merely to lag in the wake of events."  [180•1 

p Since the political and economic situation of the class struggle is subject to rapid changes, the forms and methods of revolutionary activity are bound to undergo frequent changes. The liberation movement cannot develop in the form of an unceasingly mounting wave. The uneven economic and political development of capitalism causes flows and ebbs, offensives and retreats in the revolutionary movement, modifies revolutionary sentiments in different regions of the world and results in the uneven maturing of revolutionary prerequisites. Tactics cannot but take account of these changes.

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p Lenin never regarded the tactics of the working-class struggle as immutable and final. He said that "the forms of the struggle may and do constantly change in accordance with varying, relatively specific and temporary causes. . . ."  [181•1  In the course of the liberation struggle the revolutionary creativity of the people constantly enriches their tactical arsenal with new ideas, new methods of struggle and new forms of organisation. As Lenin put it, "history as a whole, and the history of revolutions in particular, is always richer in content, more varied, more multi-= form, more lively and ingenious than is imagined by even the best parties, the most class-conscious vanguards of the most advanced classes. This can readily be understood, because even the finest of vanguards express the class-consciousness, will, passion and imagination of tens of thousands, whereas at moments of great upsurge and the exertion of all human capacities, revolutions are made by the class-consciousness, will, passion and imagination of tens of millions, spurred on by a most acute struggle of classes."  [181•2 

p Lenin indicated that in periods of revolutionary upsurge the activities and tactics of the party of the working class are enriched by offensive forms of struggle. This was shown by the Russian revolutions which awakened the inexhaustible forces, and released the powerful revolutionary energy and initiative of the Russian people. For the first time in the history of the liberation movement the working class of Russia employed the mass political strike—that powerful weapon of class struggle and effective means of mobilising the working people. This revolutionary activity of the proletariat of Russia brought into being the Soviets, which, in the course of the development of the bourgeois-democratic revolution into the socialist revolution, were transformed from a revolutionary-democratic form of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasantry into a state form of proletarian dictatorship.

p Offensive forms of struggle—political demonstrations, general political strikes, and armed uprisings—were advanced by Lenin and the Bolshevik Party in all three Russian revolutions. These forms were of great importance for rousing the people to struggle against tsarism and the bourgeoisie. At the same time the Bolshevik Party nipped in the bud any adventurist attempts to advance offensive tactical forms during periods of decline in the 182 revolutionary movement. During such periods, attempts to continue, for example, armed struggle, can lead only to the loss of communist influence among the people and to the destruction of cadres.

p Warning the Communist Parties against adventurism and underestimating the importance of making a thorough analysis of a situation, Lenin wrote: "On the one hand, excessive caution leads to mistakes. On the other hand, it must not be forgotten that if we give way to mere ’sentiment’ or indulge in the waving of little red flags instead of soberly weighing up the situation, we may commit irreparable mistakes; we may perish where there is absolutely no need to, although the difficulties are great."  [182•1 

p The decline in the liberation struggle, the weariness of the people, and the strengthening of the reactionary classes as a result of the defeat of the first Russian revolution made the Bolsheviks revise their tactics, replace offensive by defensive tactics, i.e., rally and prepare the people for a new upswing. The Bolshevik Party went underground in an organised way, without panic, combining illegal with legal work. The Party regarded the skilful combination of illegal work with legal work as the key to successful revolutionary activity during the Stolypin reaction (1907-11). In fighting the liquidators  [182•2  and otzovists  [182•3  the Bolsheviks retained and strengthened their illegal Party branches and took advantage of all legal opportunities to consolidate their relations with the masses. The Party resorted on a wide scale to economic strikes, became more active in the State Duma, and strengthened its links with the working class through the trade unions, mutual aid funds, workers’ co- operatives, clubs and other cultural and educational societies. The Bolsheviks regarded unwillingness to work in legal organisations as a refusal to take up the proletarian leadership of non-party people and as a rejection of revolutionary work among the working people.

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p Leninist tactics require Communists to master all forms of struggle and prepare themselves for sudden shifts from one form to another. Unless this requirement is observed Communist and Workers’ Parties may suffer grave setbacks. This can happen when a new situation suddenly requires changing over from legal forms of work to illegal, conspiratorial forms or from peaceful struggle to armed struggle. Just as an army should master all types of weapons and methods of warfare, so a Marxist revolutionary party should be able to use all forms of struggle and to combine them rationally and rapidly, replacing one by another as required by changing conditions.

p Lenin wrote: "If we learn to use all the methods of struggle, victory will be certain, because we represent the interests of the really foremost and really revolutionary class, even if circumstances do not permit us to make use of weapons that arc most dangerous to the enemy, weapons that deal the swiftest mortal blows."  [183•1 

p The arsenal of the proletariat’s tactics also includes the struggle for reforms provided they precipitate the victory of socialism and contribute to the growth of socialist forces, their cohesion and better organisation. "We are by no means opposed to the fight for reforms. . .”, wrote Lenin. "We favour a programme of reforms directed also against the opportunists. They would be only too glad if we left the struggle for reforms entirely to them. . . ."  [183•2  While not losing sight of the final working-class goal or seeing the struggle for reforms as an end in itself, Communists hold that this struggle is a form of the class struggle that serves to weaken the bourgeoisie. Furthermore, it educates the working class, prepares it for the onslaught against capitalism, for socialism. Lenin resolutely fought reformism as the ideology that dooms the working class to the struggle for changes which do not affect the foundations of capitalism. At the same time he taught the proletariat how to put the struggle for reforms to use for the benefit of socialism. Lenin demanded that Communists should not lose "the ability to reflect, weigh and ascertain in the coolest and most dispassionate manner at what moment, under what circumstances and in which sphere of action you must act in a revolutionary manner, and at what moment, under what circumstances and in which sphere you must turn to reformist action. True revolutionaries will perish (not that they will be 184 defeated from outside, but that their work will suffer internal collapse) only if they abandon their sober outlook and take it into their heads that the ’great, victorious, world’ revolution can and must solve all problems in a revolutionary manner under all circumstances and in all spheres of action. If they do this, their doom is certain."  [184•1 

p Leninism teaches Communist and Workers’ Parties that by bringing to the forefront those slogans and forms of struggle that most fully suit a given historical situation, they can ensure that the proletariat achieves the best possible results in the struggle to win over all other working people to revolutionary positions. "We cannot be content,” wrote Lenin, "to have our tactical slogans limp behind events and to their being adapted to events after their occurrence. We must have slogans that lead us forward, light up the path before us, and raise us above the immediate tasks of the movement."  [184•2  To give vent to the revolutionary initiative and energy of the working people, to help them prepare for active revolutionary action, the Party must advance those political slogans and ideas that are especially close to the people and which give expression to the most urgent tasks of the labour movement. For example, during the first Russian revolution, Lenin approved the following programme: the holding of mass political strikes; the immediate introduction of an 8-hour working day by revolutionary means; the formation of revolutionary peasant committees to carry through democratic reforms in the countryside up to the confiscation of landowners’ estates; the arming of workers and the organisation of fighting squads. These measures played a great part in rallying the people and preparing them for the armed uprising.

p The mass political army of the revolution can be created only in the course of the struggle itself, as the people become convinced through their own experience of the correctness of Party slogans and policy. Until the people become conscious of the need to effect revolutionary changes, and have the determination and willingness to join the revolutionary movement, the struggle for these changes can only alienate the Party from the people and condemn the revolution to failure. Persuading the people of the correctness of Party policy on the basis of their own experience is the major tactical principle of Leninism. By observing this principle it is possible to implement the fundamental requirement 185 of political leadership: not to lag behind the people nor to run ahead of them, but to be always with them and at their head.

p The struggle for general democratic demands against monopoly rule is the chief means by which the revolutionary proletariat of the capitalist countries can now form its own political army, convince the people of the correctness of Party policy and isolate the most reactionary sections of the bourgeoisie. The masses of the working people become organised, politically educated and trained for the coming battles for socialism in the course of the struggle for peace and democracy, and for the restriction of the rule of the big monopolies. Naturally, the struggle for general democratic demands cannot abolish capitalism. But unless it is conducted, it is impossible to muster the people, strengthen communist influence among them and prepare for the advent of a working-class administration as the balance of class forces gradually changes. Moreover, the struggle for democratic demands often grows into a struggle for the overthrow of bourgeois power. This was what Lenin had in mind when he wrote: "It is most probable in practice that out of any serious struggle for the major minimum-programme demands there will flare up a struggle for socialism and that we, at any rate, are working in that direction."  [185•1 

p Lenin demanded that Communists subordinate every step in their work to the interests of the struggle for socialism, and that they avail themselves of every opportunity to expedite the complete triumph of socialism. And the general democratic struggle can considerably facilitate and hasten the world-wide victory of socialism. In conformity with this the 1969 Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties stated that its participants "regard joint action against imperialism and for general democratic demands as a component and a stage of the struggle for socialist revolution and the abolition of the system of exploitation of man by man".

p Leninism teaches that tactics cannot be the same in all countries. They depend on the level of economic development of a particular country, the alignment of class forces, the political maturity of the working class and other working people, the character of the government, and the general world situation. The requirement that specifically national factors be taken into account in every individual country is also a major tactical principle of Leninism. If this principle is ignored, proper guidance 186 of the revolutionary struggle is out of the question. Lenin warned on many occasions against simply using cliches, mechanically levelling and equating the tactics of all Communist and Workers’ Parties by disregarding the concrete conditions of the liberation struggle in different countries. He looked on the demand that national variety and national peculiarities be ignored in the revolutionary struggle as a pipe-dream. "The international revolutionary movement of the proletariat,” he wrote, "does not and cannot develop evenly and in identical forms in different countries. . . . Every country contributes its own valuable and specific features to the common stream. . . ."  [186•1  When drawing the attention of fraternal Parties to the need to take account of the special features of the relations between the classes and parties in their own countries, Lenin advised them to refrain from merely imitating Bolshevik tactics and to "analyse the reasons for their peculiar features, the conditions that give rise to them, and their results; go beyond the letter, and apply the spirit, the essence and the lessons of the experience. . . ."  [186•2 

p This, however, does not mean that the basic principles of Marxism-Leninism do not apply to all countries. Communists reject both total disregard for national features and overestimation of their significance. They strive to adhere to Lenin’s dictum that "fundamental revolutionary principles must be adapted to the specific conditions in the various countries".  [186•3  While disregarding national peculiarities dooms the Party to sectarian isolation from the people and to dogmatic alienation from life, exaggeration of the role played by national peculiarities is bound to lead to the revisionist rejection of the general principles of the proletarian revolution and the building of socialism, to the Party’s slipping down into anti-Marxist positions of so-called "national communism" and the betrayal of proletarian internationalism.

p Flexible consideration for specifically national factors in the tactics of the Communist and Workers’ Parties promotes the steady growth of their influence among the working people and the latter’s transition to the positions of revolutionary struggle for socialism.

p Lenin considered Communist work in the trade unions to be extremely important. Without energetic work in the unions a 187 revolutionary party can neither win to its side the majority of the working class, nor head the struggle for the establishment of proletarian dictatorship. Lenin pointed out that "the development of the proletariat did not, and could not, proceed anywhere in the world otherwise than through the trade unions, through reciprocal action between them and the party of the working class."  [187•1 

p The influence of reformism in the working class cannot be overcome without the energetic work of Communists in the trade unions. For this reason Lenin identified the non-participation of sectarian Communists in the reactionary unions with their willingness to leave the workers under the influence of the reformist agents of the bourgeoisie. In their efforts to build up their influence among trade unionists Communists should be afraid of neither the difficulties nor the insults, and endless carping and persecution that goes with it. Lenin pointed out: "You must be capable of any sacrifice, of overcoming the greatest obstacles, in order to carry on agitation and propaganda systematically, perseveringly, persistently and patiently in those institutions, societies and associations—even the most reactionary—in which proletarian or semi-proletarian masses are to be found."  [187•2 

p Guided by Lenin’s precepts and their rich experience of trade union activity, the fraternal Parties conduct their work in all, even the most reactionary, trade unions. This enables them to score ever greater successes in winning workers away from the influence of reformist and Right-wing socialist leaders. This can be seen from the fact that today a large number of trade unions are led by revolutionary-minded leaders, although before the Second World War the leadership of most national unions in the capitalist countries was in the hands of social- reformists.

p Lenin also considered communist participation in bourgeois parliaments and electoral campaigns as an important form of revolutionary struggle. He castigated “Left” Communists who opposed participation in bourgeois legislatures. Parliament is an arena of class struggle which reflects all class interests and conflicts. Under capitalism, said Lenin, there is no institution in which all classes take part on so large a scale as in parliament. The parliamentary rostrum is of especially great importance in the eyes of the broad petty-bourgeois sections of the population. 188 Therefore Communists should spare neither effort nor time in taking part in parliamentary struggle.  [188•1  The participation of Party leaders in parliamentary work is particularly necessary since this facilitates their subsequent leadership of the revolution.  [188•2 

p Lenin nevertheless cautioned against overestimating parliamentary forms of struggle. Parliamentary struggle can be of great assistance to the extra-parliamentary struggle of the working class, but under capitalism the fundamental questions of the labour movement are settled not in election booths but by means of force, i.e., by the mass struggle of the proletariat. "Action by the masses, a big strike, for instance, is more important than parliamentary activity at all times, and not only during a revolution or in a revolutionary situation."  [188•3 

p Non-participation in bourgeois parliaments as a matter of principle only prejudices the cause of the proletariat and plays into the hands of the bourgeoisie, which would like to expel Communists from their legislatures. At the same time Leninism resolutely rejects reformist twaddle about the need to take part in bourgeois parliaments under all conditions. There may be cases when it is necessary to renounce participation in parliament in the interests of the revolution, and even to boycott elections. A case in point was the Bolshevik boycott of the Bulygin Duma  [188•4  in 1905. This usually happens when revolution is mounting and recourse is made to boycott in order not to deflect the proletariat from the more important extra-parliamentary forms of revolutionary struggle.

p Lenin taught Communists to make skilful use of the parliamentary platform to win the support of the people, to educate them politically, to organise them, and to expose the policies of the bourgeoisie. The correct revolutionary attitude of Communists to bourgeois parliaments does not, therefore, consist in a faint-= hearted refusal to participate in them, but in the formation of really militant parliamentary groups, whose members should not, however, "engage in bourgeois parliamentary inanities, but concern themselves with the very urgent work of propaganda, agitation and organisation among the masses".  [188•5 

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p Lenin’s advice is now being followed by the Communists of the capitalist countries where Communist Parties have succeeded in forming strong groups in parliaments. While denouncing reactionary bourgeois rulers, Communist parliamentarians advocate from the rostrum their Party’s policy, secure the adoption of progressive bills and oppose reactionary measures. Communist deputies in bourgeois parliaments are worthy successors of the best traditions of the Bolshevik deputies to the State Duma of tsarist Russia.

p Today there arc far better conditions for parliamentary forms of struggle than during Lenin’s lifetime; the opportunity now exists in some countries to make use of parliament in the peaceful transition from capitalism to socialism. As the programmes adopted by some Communist and Workers’ Parties in capitalist countries with developed parliamentary traditions show, the working class has the opportunity, in conjunction with extra-= parliamentary mass struggle, to replace the crumbling bourgeois state machine with the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat by parliamentary means during a peaceful socialist revolution. Of course, in this event parliament is transformed from an organ of bourgeois rule into an organ of popular rule, in which the working class has a stable majority.

p But in advancing the proposition that parliament may be made use of during the transition to socialism, the Communist and Workers’ Parties never forget to highlight the decisive importance of the extra-parliamentary revolutionary mass struggle.

p The Main Document of the 1969 Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties says on this point: "While making use of all possibilities of parliamentary activity, Communists emphasise that the mass movement of the working class and of all working people is the decisive factor in the struggle for democracy and socialism."

p Communists hold that a great extension of the mass class struggle, the unifying of the majority of the people around the proletariat, their determined rebuff to opportunist, conciliatory elements and the defeat of reactionary, anti-popular forces will precede the winning of a stable majority in parliament by the working class and the conversion of this legislature into an organ of popular rule.

p Lenin taught the proletariat to be flexible in applying revolutionary tactics, to put to use in the interests of socialism the forces of its allies and temporary supporters and also to use all the 190 contradictions and vacillations in the enemy camp. To do this, the Communist and Workers’ Parties must be able to manoeuvre, to make compromises and come to agreements advantageous to the revolution and the proletariat. Refusal to compromise can only do harm to the cause of the proletariat and reduce its strength and influence.

p Lenin considered it inadmissible for a Communist to reject reasonable compromises as a matter of principle. The need for compromises is dictated by the difficulties and complexities of the struggle against capitalism. Compromise is taken to mean the repudiation of certain demands with a view to reaching some agreement. It is a means of manoeuvring, of making temporary retreats in the revolutionary struggle in order to preserve strength, etc. "To carry on a war,” Lenin wrote, "for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie, a war which is a hundred times more difficult, protracted and complex than the most stubborn of ordinary wars between states, and to renounce in advance any change of tack, or any utilisation of a conflict of interests (even if temporary) among one’s enemies, or any conciliation or compromise with possible allies (even if they are temporary, unstable, vacillating or conditional allies)—is that not ridiculous in the extreme?"  [190•1 

p Lenin pointed out that repudiation of compromises would be tantamount to the renunciation of the zigzags, retreats and changes of direction one has to resort to when climbing an unvanquished mountain. It is as if, say, 10 thousand troops without waiting to be reinforced by 100 thousand more, were to charge into battle against 50 thousand enemy troops, having in mind only one thing—not to swing off the road, not to conclude a single compromise.

p Leninism shows the Communist and Workers’ Parties how to avoid all and sundry pitfalls on the road to their great goal. It is impossible to defeat a strong enemy by applying the method of direct assault alone. Compromises should be concluded even with the enemy if they have the purpose of escaping defeat and conserving sufficient strength to attack the enemy again at a later stage, and if they neither strengthen the forces of reaction nor hinder Communists in their ideological and political struggle. "To accept battle at a time when it is obviously advantageous to the enemy, but not to us, is criminal,” wrote Lenin. "Political leaders of the revolutionary class are absolutely useless if they are 191 incapable of ‘changing tack, or offering conciliation and compromise’ in order to take evasive action in a patently disadvantageous battle."  [191•1 

p Following the victory of the socialist revolution in one country the proletariat can consolidate its dictatorship and advance socialist construction, if it learns to take advantage of all contradictions between capitalist powers, between different groups of the bourgeoisie in particular countries, if it manages to utilise every opportunity in order to acquire a massive ally. Those who have not understood this truth and have not proved their ability to employ these tactics in practice, wrote Lenin, have not learned to help the revolutionary class in its fight to liberate the working people from their exploiters.

p The country of the victorious working class will have to conclude military agreements "with one of the imperialist coalitions against the other in those cases in which such agreements could, without undermining the basis of Soviet power, strengthen its position and paralyse the attacks of any imperialist power".  [191•2 

p Lenin’s writings contain many examples of the skilful utilisation by the Bolshevik Party of contentions between capitalist countries, examples of the flexibility of Leninist tactics.

p In conformity with these precepts, the Main Document of the 1969 International Meeting declared: "The Communist and Workers’ Parties, the working class and the anti-imperialist forces take into account all contentions in the enemy camp and strive to aggravate them and make use of them in the interest of peace and progress."

p The necessity and admissibility of compromises is also determined by the heterogeneity of the working class, the peasantry and the other sections of the working people under capitalism. Marxist-Leninist parties must reach agreements and compromises with different groups of workers and the petty bourgeoisie and with different petty-bourgeois and even bourgeois parties, while remaining faithful to their revolutionary ideals and principles.

p The Leninist Party of Bolsheviks set the classical example of how to unite the various groups of the working people when, during the October Revolution, it merged into one powerful revolutionary stream such different revolutionary movements as 192 the general democratic movement for peace, the peasant movement for land, the movement of the oppressed peoples for national equality and the socialist movement of the proletariat for the overthrow of the bourgeoisie and the establishment of proletarian dictatorship. By combining the revolutionary energies of the people and directing them at the decisive moment against the enemies of the proletariat, the Bolshevik Party was able to overthrow bourgeois rule in Russia and secure the victory of the socialist revolution.

p The history of the Bolshevik Party contains many examples of temporary agreements and compromises concluded with various petty-bourgeois and bourgeois political groups and parties—“legal Marxists”, “Left-wing” Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, and so on. Lenin noted that "the Bolsheviks’ victory over the Mensheviks called for the application of tactics of changing tack, conciliation and compromises, not only before but also after the October Revolution of 1917, but the changes of tack and compromises were, of course, such as assisted, boosted and consolidated the Bolsheviks at the expense of the Mensheviks".  [192•1 

p Lenin showed that in definite conditions the proletariat must, for the time being, renounce certain gains in order to "buy off" a strong enemy and receive a breathing space in which it can consolidate its positions and muster its forces. One such example of a forced compromise was the Brest peace treaty concluded with the German imperialists in 1918. That compromise saved the Revolution from defeat by the imperialist armies and enabled it to gain time to consolidate the Soviet Republic, to take advantage of the conflicts within the imperialist camp and to prepare the forces for routing both internal counter-revolutionaries and foreign interventionists.

p Lenin always guarded against dogmatism and petty quibbling in politics. He used to say that there are no ready-made recipes, no prescriptions or universal rules which could enable politicians to determine, without making mistakes, exactly when they should make compromises or when they should refuse to compromise. Matters must be decided in each particular case on the basis of a study of reality and not from abstract and purely theoretical arguments.

p At the end of August and the beginning of September 1917, Lenin considered it possible for the Bolsheviks to come to a 193 compromise with the Mensheviks and the Socialist-Revolutionaries for the purpose of exploiting an extremely rare but exceedingly valuable opportunity to carry through the socialist revolution peacefully.  [193•1 

p Communists support agreements and compromises which help them to win the support of the majority of the proletariat and which strengthen Party positions. As Lenin emphasised, it was entirely "a matter of knoiriii« bow u> apply these tactics in order to raise—not lower—the general level of proletarian class-= consciousness, revolutionary spirit, and ability to fight and win".  [193•2 

p But while asserting that compromises are admissible in principle, Lenin taught that a distinction be made between compromises that betray the interests of the working class and compromises forced on the workers by the objective conditions of the class struggle but which do not lessen their revolutionary determination and readiness to carry on the struggle. He regarded as inadmissible compromises which involved retreats from the Party’s ideological positions.

p The growing crisis of the Social-Democratic parties in the West shows that their concessions and compromises in matters of principle have led to the domination of opportunism, to their ideological decline and to their conversion into subservient tools of bourgeois politics.

p Lenin held that it was erroneous to conclude compromises that prevent Communists from carrying on the ideological and political struggle against opportunism, that do not leave the Party freedom of action, agitation, propaganda and criticism of temporary allies. While being prepared to reach agreements, the Bolshevik Party always stuck to these conditions and therefore grew in strength at the expense of other parties and groups with which, at different stages of the revolution, it had concluded temporary compromise agreements. And the CPSU today makes no ideological compromises. It states emphatically that the Leninist principle of the peaceful coexistence of socialist and capitalist countries cannot be extended to the sphere of ideology.

Lenin’s precepts on the advisability of making tactical compromises which strengthen the positions of Communists and weaken those of the enemy help the Communist and Workers’ 194 Parties of today to increase their fighting capacity and to unite all the forces of democracy in a powerful popular front of struggle against imperialism and war.

p Leninism teaches that Communists should concentrate all their efforts on bringing mankind to socialism via the shortest path. The strategy and tactics of Leninism serve as the true and indispensable instruments in the struggle for the socialist transformation of the world. L. I. Brezhnev, General Secretary of the CC, CPSU, stated at the 1969 International Meeting: "To apply a consistent class line, firmly adhere to principles, be flexible in tactics, consider the concrete conditions from every angle, to employ bold and at the same time well-conceived actions, to be able to utilise all the diverse means of fighting imperialism—this is what Lenin taught us, what we learn from Lenin."

p Leninist strategy and tactics demonstrated their invincibility during the October Revolution of 1917 and the peoples’ democratic revolutions in the 19405 and in present mounting battles of the liberation movement. It is patently obvious that this weapon is called upon to play a tremendous role in the forthcoming battles of the world socialist revolution.

p Much time has passed since Lenin and the Bolsheviks worked out the strategy and tactics of the revolutionary working class. But the importance of Leninism is undoubtedly far greater now, in the stage of mankind’s transition from capitalism to socialism, than it was in the past. Never before have Communist and Workers’ Parties been able to lead such huge masses of revolutionary-minded people. More and more social strata that have been passive in the past are now joining actively in the political movement, including broad sections of the proletariat, the peasantry, the petty bourgeoisie and intellectuals. There are now no oppressed peoples who would not carry on an active struggle for their liberation. All this cannot but enhance the role of communist strategic and tactical guidance in the liberation movement.

p Current changes in imperialist tactics have caused the Communist Parties to pay increased attention to strategy and tactics. Today, the imperialists do not dare challenge the main forces of world socialism and look for vulnerable sectors on the periphery of the world socialist front, seeking to detach individual links from the chain of socialism and weaken the unity of the 195 socialist countries by means of subversive activities and ideological warfare. Substantial changes in the enemy’s tactics could not but cause appropriate changes in the tactics of the Communist Parties.

p As the balance of class forces changes both in the world arena and in individual countries it becomes ever more necessary to enrich strategy and tactics with new experience gained in revolutionary struggle. Accordingly, the Communist and Workers’ Parties have enriched strategy and tactics with new ideas that were included in the arsenal of the world communist movement at the Moscow meetings of 1957, 1960, and 1969. Chief among them are the propositions that the world socialist system is beginning to play a decisive role in contemporary social development, that the national tasks of the socialist countries combine dialectically with their international tasks, that the social base of the contemporary revolutionary movement widens, that the democratic tasks of the revolutionary struggle draw nearer to its socialist tasks, that the role played by the Communist Parties in directing the mass revolutionary movement increases, that peaceful forms of the revolution go with non-peaceful forms, that today it is possible to avert a new world war, that countries with different social systems can coexist peacefully, that there are different forms of the transition of newly-free countries to socialism and that it is possible to establish broad anti-monopoly alliances and a world-wide anti-imperialist front.

p The present-day strategy and tactics of the Communist and Workers’ Parties pursue the primary aim of taking advantage of the existing favourable conditions to unite the three basic revolutionary forces of today—the world socialist system, the international working class and the national liberation movement— within the framework of a world-wide anti-imperialist front.

p Communists in the socialist countries have the basic strategic task of adding to the economic achievements of their countries and of securing new success in the building of socialism and communism, thereby doing the maximum possible for the victory of the revolutionary proletariat the world over.

p Communists in the capitalist countries are bent on struggling against monopoly rule, forming broad anti-monopoly alliances and a world-wide anti-imperialist front, and thus winning to their side ever new sections of the population and taking advantage of all the possibilities of the struggle for socialism.

196

p Communists in the newly independent and in the few remaining colonial countries are confronted with the task of precipitating the victory of anti-imperialist and anti-feudal democratic revolutions, of rallying all the anti-imperialist forces to form a broad national front and securing the non-capitalist path of development to socialism.

p Communists regard the consolidation and cohesion of the international communist movement and of its national detachments on the immutable basis of Marxism-Leninism as an indispensable condition for the success of their strategy and tactics.

By applying Lenin’s strategy and tactics, the Marxists-Leninists are constantly scoring successes in winning over the working masses, are ably directing the struggle of peoples for the revolutionary rejuvenation of the world and exercising the scientific guidance of the revolutionary movement to bring about the final victory of the working class.