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p When socialism outgrew the bounds of one country and became a world system, it was the greatest historical event after the October 1917 Revolution. The socialist system had its beginnings in the Soviet Republic. Favourable conditions for the overthrow of the capitalists and landowners in several European and Asian countries were created by the defeat of German nazism and Japanese militarism in the Second World War, with the U.S.S.R. playing the decisive role, the weakening of imperialist positions in the world, and the mighty surge of the revolutionary liberation and anti- imperialist movements. This was a major advance for the world socialist revolution.

p Post-1917 history naturally falls into two stages which differ primarily in the balance of power between the opposing socio-economic systems. At one time, there was only one socialist country, with the dictatorship of the proletariat established within the national boundaries of one state. In the early Soviet years, Lenin compared the young Soviet Republic, struggling in a hostile environment to beat off the attacks of foreign interventionist armies and domestic counter-revolutionaries, to a tiny island battered by waves 21 of imperialist predators. “Materially—economically and militarily—we are extremely weak,” he said. Yet even at that time he foresaw the important part socialism was to play in determining the future of mankind. Lenin said, “Morally —by which, of course, I mean not abstract morals, but the alignment of the real forces of all classes in all countries— we are the strongest of all. This has been proved in practice; it has been proved not merely by words but by deeds; it has been proved once and, if history takes a certain turn, it will, perhaps, be proved many times again."  [21•1 

p Since the October Revolution sweeping changes have occurred in the lives and destinies of men, nations and whole continents. In its thousand years feudalism had not been able to generate enough economic power to set in motion a community of nations bound by economic ties. Capitalism, emerging in the 16th century, became a world economic system only in the 19th century. It took the bourgeois revolutions 300 years to put an end to the political power of the feudal elite. It took socialism 30 to 40 years to generate the forces for a new world system.

p The formation of the socialist community heralded a new stage in the world proletarian revolution. The capitalist encirclement had been broken. Imperialist supremacy gave way to the growing ascendancy of the world socialist forces. Dictatorship of the working class, embodied in the world socialist community, has become an international force that is beginning to exert a decisive influence on world affairs. The world working class and its chief accomplishment—the world socialist community—today stand at the centre of world events.

p When the world capitalist economy emerged, the bourgeoisie took especial pride in fulfilling the “civilising mission" of capital expansion. Not a word was said about the world dichotomy of the industrially advanced and the agriculturally backward, the metropolitan states and their colonies, the oppressors and the oppressed. But that was capitalism’s real “civilising mission”. The world socialist system has developed by quite different laws and on totally different lines, namely, the sovereignty, voluntary accord and full identity of the vital interests of the working people of all 22 countries within the community. The social, economic and political community of sovereign nations building socialism and communism has become the motive force of world-wide progress. The world socialist economic system rests on common socialist relations of production, and it has developed on the sound basis of the economic laws of socialism.

p In terms of world history, the socialist community is young, but it has already accumulated valuable collective experience in socialist construction. It is not one country, but a large group of countries that today bear witness to the general nature of the basic trends and laws that lie behind socialist revolution and construction, whatever the economic levels, and the historical and national specific forms.

p The world revolutionary movement can now draw on the experience of the people’s democracies—another form of proletarian dictatorship—in addition to that of the Soviet power. It can draw on the knowledge of peaceful and nonpeaceful forms of socialist revolution, the use of parliament and of one- or multi-party systems in reshaping society along socialist lines. It has at its disposal the experience of socialist construction in industrial and agrarian less developed countries, including those that have bypassed the capitalist stage of development, and the experience of agricultural cooperation and drawing the peasants into socialism with regard for national and peasant traditions.

p In the course of their development, the socialist countries are constantly encountering fresh problems that are as complex and diverse as life itself. Therefore, the advance to socialism and communism insistently calls for a creative approach to all new issues on the well-tried basis of MarxismLeninism, and exchange of opinion and experience. This makes it possible—at the right time—to sum up and make fuller use of the best experience from each country and the entire socialist community; it enables each nation to pursue the most appropriate policy in building socialism and communism. This collective experience of the socialist states is an invaluable asset of all the revolutionary forces. Verified in practice by a whole group of countries, it is a powerful catalyst of social progress throughout the world.

p The U.S.S.R., with socialism established fully and completely, is now proceeding with the full-scale construction of communism. Other socialist countries have converted their 23 pluralistic economies into predominantly socialist ones. The success of their policy of socialist industrialisation has created advanced economies. They have built a developed industry and raised the living standards of their people. Not long ago, some of these countries were backward agrarian states; many have now become and others are about to become industrially advanced socialist states. In most of them, industrial production amounts to almost 75 per cent of their gross social product.

p Most have successfully tackled or are tackling the seemingly intractable problem of encouraging peasants to switch from small-scale private farming to large-scale cooperative socialist farming. They are all consolidating their socialist systems, improving social relations, raising living standards, and completing construction of the material and technical basis for socialism, where this has not already been accomplished. They have reached the stage of building a developed socialist society before starting on a gradual transition to communism.

In material production, the decisive sphere of social activity, socialism is rapidly gaining on capitalism, as the following figures indicate:

Table 2 Socialist Countries’ Share in World Industrial Output 1017 Under 3 per cent 1937 Under 10 per cent 1950 About 20 per cent 1909 About 39 per cent (the Soviet contribution amounted lo almost 20 per cent) Source: The Economy of the U.S.S.R., 1969, Moscow, 1970, p. 92 (Russ. ed.).

p In 1969 socialist industrial output was two-thirds of that of the advanced capitalist states. Taken together, the socialist countries accounted for 20 per cent of the world’s electric power, compared with 14.9 per cent in 1960. They produced virtually a third of the world’s steel and cement, over 50 per cent of its coal, grain and sugar-beet, and 40 per cent of its cotton and milk.

p The socialist countries’ growing share of world output is a material expression of the progressive historical process in 24 which the sphere of imperialist exploitation and capitalist influence is narrowed down while the world positions of socialism are enlarged. The socialist economy has been growing at a faster pace than the capitalist economy.

p From 1966 to 1970, industrial output in the socialist countries increased at an annual average of 7.3 per cent, including the U.S.S.R. 8.5 per cent, as compared with the 5.3 per cent for the developed capitalist countries, including 3.3 per cent for the U.S.A. In that same period, national income in the socialist countries grew at an annual average rate of 7 per cent, including the U.S.S.R. 7.6 per cent, as against 4.8 per cent for the developed capitalist countries, and 3.4 per cent for the U.S.A.

p The socialist countries have now set themselves the task of outstripping the capitalist system in the share of world production, and the most advanced capitalist countries in industrial and agricultural output per head and in productivity of social labour. The radical economic reforms now under way in the socialist countries are designed to bring nearer the realisation of this goal. They are intended to make the socialist economy more productive by combining central planning with rational application of such factors as profit and material incentives. If the socialist states are to make correct use of the favourable objective opportunities for continued rapid economic progress, they have primarily to apply the general laws of socialist construction, taking into account the interests of the world socialist system as a whole and the historical and economic specifics of individual countries; they have to make full use of the advantages stemming from the very existence of the world socialist community. Today, full value from the economic laws of socialism can be obtained only by applying them both within an international and national framework.

p International socialist co-operation of labour is a force accelerating social production in every socialist country, enabling every member-country to use its resources rationally and to the full, to boost the productive forces, to improve efficiency in production, and to organise enterprises so that they reap the benefit of optimum capacity and up-to-date equipment. This also enables them to overcome various difficulties arising from the fact that the states have entered the socialist community at different times and at different 25 levels of economic development, with unequal advantages of raw materials and fuel and power resources.

p Economic co-operation promoting balanced and proportional growth of the socialist economy has gone a long way from short-term, bilateral trade agreements to multilateral economic ties, co-ordination of key targets in current and long-term economic plans, co-ordination of capital investment and research programmes, and elaboration of common technical policies.

p The prevailing international situation increases the need to sustain the solidarity and strength of the world socialist community and promote political and economic co-operation between all the socialist countries; it is more important than ever before to strengthen the international solidarity of the working class, to support the peoples fighting colonialism and neo-colonialism, and to work steadily for a stronger alliance with those fighting for national liberation.

p Socialist unity has suffered a serious setback from the divisive course being pursued by the incumbent leadership of the Chinese People’s Republic. The great-power chauvinism of Mao Tse-tung and his group in their attitude to the socialist countries, their splitting tactics within the world communist movement, have nothing in common with Marxism-Leninism. Their policy merely harms the cause of socialism and of the world working-class and liberation movement as well as the Chinese people’s socialist gains and, objectively, provides sustenance for imperialism in continuing its aggressive policies. For the sake of the unity of all revolutionary forces against imperialism, the Chinese people must overcome the pernicious policy of Mao Tse-tung.

p As the socialist community has grown in strength, it has exerted ever greater influence on the destinies of mankind and the whole course of world social progress. It is exerting an ever-increasing influence on the level, way and overall direction of the current scientific and technological revolution, and on the development of productive forces throughout the world. The progressiveness of a social system, particularly in the space and atomic age, implies far more than a mere ability to boost production. The main thing is to harness economic development for the welfare of man, instead of using it to manufacture mass destruction weapons. Socialist economic progress is a convincing example 26 of how rapidly mankind could augment its social wealth and welfare, but for capitalism. Socialism alone is able to apply scientific and technological achievements for the common good; socialism alone can exert rational control of the swiftly growing productive forces. When socialism demonstrates its superiority over capitalism in this vital respect, it gives hope to millions of people all over the world, who see that science could greatly improve their lives and bring lasting permanent peace. More and more people look to socialism for salvation.

p The world socialist system, the U.S.S.R. first and foremost, with its impressive economic and military potential, is increasing its influence over the issues of war and peace. Both the Soviet Union and other socialist countries have more than once foiled imperialism’s aggressive intentions, halted the export of counter-revolution and saved the world from a catastrophic global thermonuclear war.

p Another historic contribution of socialism is that it has greatly accelerated the disintegration of imperialism; now that the world socialist system is the dominant factor in world development, it has a large part to play in the breakup of the world capitalist economic structure. Capitalism’s international division of labour is in acute crisis. Now that the imperialist policy of rape and plunder of weak states has come up against the socialist policy of selfless assistance and economic co-operation with less advanced countries on the basis of equal rights and mutual advantage, even small nations who were but recently bound to the colonialists with economic and political ties are able to fend off the economic assaults of the imperialist powers.

p The world socialist system is increasing its impact on the condition and struggle of the working class and all working people in the capitalist world, whose campaign for social progress and democracy is inspired by socialism’s economic advance, its rising standards of living, the farreaching social rights enjoyed by all working people, and the genuine democracy that prevails in all the socialist countries. At the same time, the growing preponderance of the socialist forces over the capitalist, the moral and material support of the people in these countries by the U.S.S.R. and other socialist countries provide the working people of the capitalist world with increasingly favourable 27 conditions in which to campaign for their immediate and ultimate goals, and pave the way for transition to socialism. In this manner, the conditions of the class struggle have been changing within the capitalist countries; socialist ideas have been gaining ground and the workers’ class consciousness mounting.

p Socialist revolution may win out by peaceful means or through an armed uprising. Today, however, the strength of world socialism makes non-violent revolution in some countries much more likely than before. Internal counter-revolution is finding it increasingly difficult to gain support from outside, from the international imperialist bourgeoisie, and that is why there is no inevitable necessity that the overthrown exploiters will use force, start a destructive civil war and open foreign intervention.

p In this situation, a victorious revolution can immediately concentrate on building socialism and carrying through radical social and economic change. Once it has overthrown the capitalist power, the working class can rely on the economic and political might and fraternal support of the existing socialist countries. Not only can it take advantage of past experience in building socialism and communism; it can be assured of economic, scientific and cultural assistance. And this will greatly help to accelerate the transition to the new way of life and enable new socialist states to consolidate their position in the world.

p Even the smaller states can defend their vital interests with the help of the U.S.S.R. and the other socialist nations, and repulse attacks from aggressive imperialist powers. Heroic Vietnam is an outstanding example of this in her courageous fight against the American war machine.

p Socialist success in the campaign for peace and democracy is leading to a stronger and broader social base and growing political activity of the general democratic movement against monopoly rule in the capitalist countries. Furthermore, with the growing preponderance of socialism, there is a real possibility today that the remaining colonies and semi-colonies will gain true independence from imperialism even before socialism has completely prevailed and while capitalism and imperialism still remain in a part of the world. While victory in the fight for political independence by the peoples who have broken the shackles of colonial bondage is only feasible 28 with the support of the world socialist system, the more so economic independence, which cannot be gained without socialist backing.

Socialist and communist advances in the U.S.S.R. and the socialist community as a whole and the world balance of power between socialism and imperialism have a substantial impact on the working-class struggle in the advanced capitalist countries and on the successful completion of national liberation and anti-imperialist revolutions. Whether the massive peasant campaigns and popular movements will overthrow the tyrannical regimes largely depends on the successes of world socialism. So, too, does the future of the democratic movements against the monopolies and imperialist governments, against national oppression, and for lasting peace. In politics, economics, technology, science and culture, socialism is fast becoming the world centre of attraction and the decisive force in the revolutionary reshaping of human society.