p The historic significance of the October Revolution is not confined to its revelation of the coming end of world bourgeois domination. The succinct yet forceful description Lenin gave of its international impact was that the ice had been broken, the path cleared and the way shown. He saw the international importance of the October events not just in their effect on revolutionary movements elsewhere, but in that the essential pattern of the Russian revolution was bound to recur on a world scale.

p The revolutionary changes in the U.S.S.R. led to the 12 complete and final victory of socialism and transition to communist construction. The years since 1917 have provided a unique test of the vitality and strength of the socialist economy. They have amply demonstrated that the socialist system is a superior form of social organisation in peace and in war.

p As pioneers on a difficult and uncharted journey, the Soviet people may pride themselves on having overcome the obstacles in building socialism while surrounded by hostile capitalist powers; they have transformed a weak and backward country into a mighty industrial and agricultural power which can boast a high economic and cultural standard. The three essential ingredients in Lenin’s plan for building socialism were socialist industrialisation, the collectivisation of agriculture and a cultural revolution. These aims have been realised.

p Soviet industrialisation was a great achievement of the working class, who spared no effort or material sacrifice to take their country out of its state of backwardness. In a relatively short time, by its own efforts and without outside help, the country created a large-scale socialist industry with a stable high rate of development and an advanced technology that has placed it among the world’s leading scientific and technological powers. By 1941, after the first three fiveyear plans, the U.S.S.R. had attained complete economic autarky and had become a powerful industrial state.

p At long last, a solution was found for the age-old peasant problem—the transformation of tiny scattered peasant farms into socialist co-operatives largely settled the issue of socialism in the U.S.S.R. Literally millions of small peasant farmers voluntarily joined the collective farms (kolkhozes). Alongside these Soviet state farms (sovkhozes) spread throughout the countryside. Collectivisation once and for all rid the countryside of the curse of the kulak cabal, of class stratification, of impoverishment and starvation. Once Soviet farming had been established on a large-scale, well-equipped socialist foundation, a genuine revolution occurred in economic relations and in the whole pattern of the peasant way of life.

p The cultural revolution liberated the common people from their ignorance and spiritual enslavement, and made available to them all the cultural riches accumulated by mankind 13 over the ages. The intelligentsia grew out of the ranks of the working people. The country in which the vast bulk of the people had been illiterate took a giant step forward towards the summit of science and culture.

p It required titanic efforts from the Soviet people to turn backward Russia into an economically advanced and culturally ilourishing socialist power. It was no easy task to overthrow the power of the bourgeoisie, the landowners and the tsar in a backward peasant country. But it was even harder to defend the Soviet power against counter-revolution and foreign intervention, and to set up a viable economy and reshape agriculture in the exasperating internal and external conditions. As Lenin had rightly foreseen, “it was easier for the Russians than for the advanced countries to begin the great proletarian revolution, but ... it will be more difficult for them to continue it and carry it to final victory, in the sense of the complete organisation of a socialist society".  [13•1  Socialist construction was made incredibly difficult by the economic, technical and cultural backwardness that was the legacy of tsarism. Furthermore, for virtually thirty years the U.S.S.R. stood alone as the world’s only socialist state, due to delay in the development of the world socialist revolution. This complicated still further the construction of socialism. Nevertheless, the Soviet people managed to accomplish their task, consciously accepting the tremendous sacrifices and deprivations involved for the sake of securing the independence of their country, boosting the nation’s resources and fulfilling their internationalist duty.

p The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (C.P.S.U.) led the Soviet people to victorious socialism through hard battles against the “Left”-wing Communists, the Trotskyites advocating “revolutionary war”, the Right-wing opportunists, national-deviationists and other groups hostile to the ideas of Leninism, and against the doubters, the capitulators and the adventurists. Events have fully borne out the correctness of the policies of Lenin and the Communist Party he founded; they have refuted the prophesies of Trotsky about Thermidor reaction, the “bourgeoisification”, and the imminent demise of the revolution.

p Whatever aspect of social relations we examine today, 14 great changes are apparent as a consequence of the revolution and socialist construction.

p The prime political accomplishment is the establishment of a new type of state, a socialist state, and of a higher form of democracy—socialist democracy. In social relations, the people’s age-old dream has come true: parasitic classes of exploiters are a thing of the past; no more is man oppressed by man. The working class has come to be the governing force, and the peasants now farm on socialist lines. Soviet society consists of the classes of workers and collective farmers, who are not divided by any antagonistic differences. The people’s intelligentsia is taking an active part alongside these friendly classes in building communism.

p The revolution in the ideological field has been profound in content and far-reaching in social significance. MarxismLeninism, the ideology that fully dominates political thought in the Soviet Union today, is a truly scientific world outlook. A socialist culture has taken shape, and collective principles have come to dictate relations between Soviet people.

p Radical changes have also taken place in material production, the decisive sphere of man’s social activity. The paramount economic gain lies in establishing public ownership of the means of production. Soviet power has nationalised industry, the railways, banks and the land. It has abolished the landed estates and realised the peasant’s ageold dream of land for himself. In a relatively short period, the Soviet people built a strong socialist economy and now, on this basis, they are successfully tackling their main economic task of building the material and technical base of communist society.

p From 1913 to 1969, Soviet industrial output increased nearly 85 times, and that of the U.S.A. 8 times, of West Germany 6, Britain about 3, and France about 4 times. In economic power, the Soviet Union is today the world’s No. 2, all the while narrowing the gap with the U.S.A. and fast becoming the world’s leading industrial country.

p Far-going qualitative changes are now proceeding throughout all branches of the socialist economy, particularly the chemical industry, precision instrument and machine- building, radio electronics, fast transport, atomic energy and 15 space exploration. All this symbolises the industrial, scientific and technological buoyancy of the Soviet state. In 1967, a new record of over 100 million tons of steel was reached; that year electric power generation attained a 370-fold increase over 1913.

p Notwithstanding its multifarious problems at various stages, the Soviet economy has always maintained its upward trend. The rate of scientific and technological progress and of the application of the latest inventions and modifications has accelerated. All the leading branches of the economy have been re-equipped. The output of consumer goods has been greatly increased. Labour productivity has considerably risen due to the workers’ growing initiative and to the introduction of the latest machinery and devices, and mechanisation and automation in all economic sectors. The Soviet Union’s scientific and industrial achievements have enabled it to equip the Soviet Armed Forces with the latest military hardware. The Soviet Union’s prestige in world affairs has been further enhanced.

p The 24th Congress of the C.P.S.U. decided that the main task of the current, Ninth Five-Year Economic Development Plan of the U.S.S.R. for 1971-75 is to bring about a considerable upswing in the people’s material and cultural standards through a high rate of development of socialist production, its increasing efficiency, scientific and technical progress and ever faster growing productivity of labour. The line of bringing about a substantial rise in the working people’s welfare determines the overall orientation of the country’s economic development over a long term, constituting one of the most important prerequisites for the further rapid growth of production.

p As the five-year plan is fulfilled, the national income of the USSR is to go up by 37-40 per cent, including the consumption fund by 40 per cent and the accumulation fund by 37 per cent. Industrial output is to go up by 42-46 per cent, and average annual farm output by 20-22 per cent. Real incomes per head are to increase by almost one-third. Heavy industry is to remain the solid basis of the country’s economic might, and of the people’s growing living standards, but the accumulated production potential makes it possible in the new five-year period to have the output of consumer goods develop somewhat faster than the output of producer goods. 16 The plan provides for an increase of consumer goods output over the five years by 44-48 per cent, and of producer goods, by 41-45 per cent. Labour productivity in industry is to go up by 36-40 per cent, as compared with 32 per cent in the 1966-70 period.

p The economic reform is gaining scope and momentum in the country and is having a beneficial effect on the national economy. At the factories and mines that have adopted the new system, production is more efficient, labour productivity is rising faster, and plant and raw materials are more rationally utilised. The guiding aim behind this reform is to improve economic efficiency and to make the utmost use of the advantages of the socialist system. The important economic and social measures now being put through are consistent with the further improvement of socialist democracy.

p The Soviet people look on their communist construction and improved economic, political and military strength not simply as an essential domestic affair but as their vital internationalist duty. All forces of socialism and revolution have a stake in what is going on inside the U.S.S.R., because their own interests require the Soviet Union to prevail in the economic competition with capitalism in as short a period as possible. As they advance their economy, the Soviet people reinforce the defence capacity of the entire socialist community, toiling for their class brothers wherever they may be, and labouring for the cause of socialism and all mankind. The general line of the C.P.S.U. in building communism is to combine the national and internationalist duties of the Soviet people.

p The Soviet people have been effectively pursuing their mission as pioneers of socialism. The Soviet system, the socialist economic structure and the policy of the C.P.S.U. have withstood the severe test of time. Soviet attainments have shown the world that the working class is capable not only of destroying the old world, but of creating a new and incomparably more progressive society, the most just and advanced system—communism.

p International events have provided an answer to the question of future development. History has confirmed that socialism is the only social and political order genuinely capable of solving the social problems confronting humanity. Socialism, whose inevitability had been forecast by Karl 17 Marx and Frederick Engels, whose construction plan had been mapped out by Vladimir Lenin, is now a reality in the Soviet Union. The peoples of the world can now see socialism in practice instead of reading about it in books and manifestoes. They have gained a science verified by the experience of socialist construction and a viable socialist society.

p The Soviet people have borne the main brunt of combating imperialism; in defeating fascism in World War II they have also fulfilled their internationalist duty to the whole working-class movement, and to all mankind. The last war was a severe test of the viability of the Soviet state and social system. By their crucial contribution to the defeat of fascism, the Soviet people helped to rescue world civilisation and save the people of the world from fascist bondage and destruction. But for this contribution, socialism today would not be scoring its successes and developing in depth and breadth, the world working-class movement would not be on the upgrade, and the national liberation movement would not have broken down colonialism.

p The international proletariat can well regard the U.S.S.R. as its own land. By building socialism, the Soviet working class and the whole people have under the leadership of their Communist Party erected a strong base for the revolutionary movement of the proletariat and all downtrodden classes and nations. They have enriched the world revolutionary forces with experience, equipped them with knowledge of how to attain both the immediate and ultimate goals of the working class, and to ensure the establishment and progress of the new social system. Thus the working class and the entire people of the Soviet Union have fulfilled their greatest internationalist, revolutionary duty.

p It has fallen to the Soviet Union to play a highly responsible part in world affairs. As the centre of the world revolutionary movement, the U.S.S.R. bears an immense international obligation to the world’s working class and to all opponents of imperialism. The Soviet people are justly proud to hear the fraternal Communist and Workers’ Parties say that the Soviet people and the Soviet Communists are true to their internationalist duty and have lived up to their high reputation as the homeland of Leninism.

p Today, the Soviet Union is the chief economic, political 18 and military bulwark of the world socialist community, which itself is a magnificent achievement of the world’s working class.

p The U.S.S.R. renders fraternal assistance to other socialist countries, and smooths and accelerates the advance to communism for the whole community of free nations. It stands as a redoubtable bastion, providing encouragement to the communist and working-class movements both in the industrialised and in the less developed countries of the capitalist world. It sustains peoples in their efforts to wipe out the last vestiges of the colonial system, to consolidate and to attain both political and economic independence. It is doing all in its power to save mankind from the threat of thermonuclear war, thereby performing an invaluable service to humanity.

p Soviet success in building socialism and communism is due to the fact that the C.P.S.U. has followed undeviatingly Marxist-Leninist policies, boldly providing answers to the new problems engendered by life, giving correct evaluations of changing events, and finding ways of using concrete historical conditions in the interests of the revolution. The indestructible ties with the people and the cohesion of the C.P.S.U.’s ranks have enabled the Party to make the most of Soviet achievements in fortifying the world positions of socialism and of all the forces working for a revolutionary renewal of the world on socialist lines.

p The experience of October 1917 and of subsequent Soviet progress has demonstrated that socialism is the only alternative to the ills of exploitation and social and national subjugation. Furthermore, it is now axiomatic that nations can arrive at socialism only by way of a socialist revolution.

p Soviet experience has further shown that the working class can only pursue their mission as creators of the new society in firm alliance with non-proletarians, including peasants. An essential law of the proletarian revolution and socialist construction is that leadership must be provided for the non-proletarians by the working class, with the Marxist-Leninist Party as its nucleus. Only with the hegemony of the working class, which rallies all the working people, is it possible to build and strengthen a society in which people are held together by relations of brotherly solidarity and comradely mutual assistance.

p Soviet history shows that a country wishing to make utmost use of the fruits of the scientific and technical revolution in the interest of society as a whole and rapidly boost its productive forces in a balanced manner must base its economy on socialist property in the means of production. It came as no surprise that the world’s socialist pioneer has also pioneered the peaceful uses of atomic power and space research, and leads the world in scientific and technological progress. Illustrative of the immense potential of dynamic communism are its sophisticated space rockets and inter-planetary spaceships, powerful nuclear power stations, Soviet manned space ilights, the landing of an automatic station on the surface of Venus, flights round the moon and return to earth, and automatic docking of space equipment in orbit.

p The progress of Soviet society is proof that the agrarian and peasant problem can only be solved by a radical transformation of agriculture in a socialist way, through the voluntary association of peasant farmers in agricultural cooperatives to save them from privation and rank poverty, and assure them of progress towards a life of plenty.

p The Soviet people have come a long way since 1917, and have shown in practice that socialism alone, by turning the labouring people into masters of all the resources, enables them to develop social production and to distribute material goods in the interests both of society as a whole and of each individual, and use the national income as best befits the interests of society. Socialism alone puts an end to national oppression and creates all the necessary conditions for a voluntary union of free and equal nations and nationalities within a single state.

p Soviet experience has shown that socialism eliminates the mercenary motives that underlie relationships in a class society. It opens the way for man’s all-round development and genuine freedom. For the first time in history it establishes a basis for equality between people: everyone’s identical relation to the means of production and release of all working people from exploitation. There lies true social justice, the supreme evidence of the individual’s true freedom.

p The basic human rights are effectively guaranteed in the Soviet Union: equal right to work, equality of men and women in every sphere of social life, the right to receive an education and paid holidays, the right of all citizens to 20 all-round physical and intellectual development, and to material security in old age, in the event of sickness or disability. Socialism gives people a great sense of certainty in their own and their children’s future, a secure feeling that their affluence is permanent, and this engenders a spirit of historical optimism.

World events in the past half century have borne out the historical justice of the October Revolution and the superiority of the Soviet socialist system. At the same time, they have refuted imperialist claims that capitalism is being renewed and given a new lease of life, as an “affluent society" for all. With the vices of their system staring them in the face, bourgeois politicians are forced to resort to social mimicry and manoeuvre. This simply goes to show that socialism has become a living revolutionary example undermining the foundations of capitalism.