p The world socialist system decisively influences the development of the world revolution and the struggle against imperialism, for peace and democracy. The course of history and every new advance of the world revolutionary movement depend mainly on the strength of the socialist system, and within that system on the Soviet Union, and on how far the socialist countries influence the destinies of peace and progress in the world. In order to frame the strategy and tactics of the working-class movement, 283 understand the trends of the anti-imperialist struggle and correctly determine the ways and means for this struggle in the specific conditions obtaining in each country it is vital to ascertain the role played by the world socialist system, particularly by the Soviet Union, in the revolutionary process. Moreover, this is necessary because the enemies of socialism are aware of the socialist community’s importance and direct their main attacks against it. Imperialism has recourse to economic, ideological, military and other methods in its efforts to disunite the socialist countries and “soften” their socio-political system. World socialism’s leading role in the revolutionary process is attacked also by opportunist forces in the communist movement who seek to revise the basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism on this question.

p Let us concretely examine what gives the socialist system its significance, why it is the principal revolutionary force of modern times, and the areas in which it exercises its greatest influence on the world revolutionary process.

p The socialist system is the decisive factor of the revolutionary movement because the peoples in it have accomplished the socialist revolution. It has the bulk of that movement’s material, political and ideological means. In the socialist system the world proletariat now has a political, economic, ideological and military force organised on a state and international level.

p The world socialist system exercises its influence chiefly through the attractive example of the new socio-economic relations and conspicuous economic achievements.

p Engels noted that future socialist countries would exert a revolutionary influence on other peoples mainly through the creation of a social system that would attract the gaze of the peoples of all countries and especially of the peoples of the colonies. The impact of the new system would be so great that the undeveloped countries would themselves reach out for socialism. This, Engels said, would be expedited by economic requirements.

p Lenin’s pronouncements on the significance of the example of socialist construction are also well known. He noted that the habitual attitude of ridicule and scorn towards the importance of example in the national economy was sometimes evident among people who had not thoroughly analysed the radical changes that had occurred from the time of 284 the conquest of political power by the proletariat.  [284•*  The masses judge a revolution chiefly by the real improvements it brings to their condition. That was why Lenin stressed the point that we would exercise our “main influence on the international revolution through our economic policy. . .. The struggle in this field has now become global. Once we solve this problem, we shall have certainly and finally won on an international scale.”  [284•** 

p “The contribution of the world socialist system to the common cause of the anti-imperialist forces is determined primarily by its growing economic potential. The swift economic development of the countries belonging to the socialist system at rates outpacing the economic growth of the capitalist countries, the advance of socialism to leading positions in a number of fields of scientific and technological progress, and the blazing of a trail into outer space by the Soviet Union—all these tangible results, produced by the creative endeavours of the peoples of the socialist countries, decisively contribute to the preponderance of the forces of peace, democracy and socialism over imperialism.”  [284•*** 

p The international prestige of the world socialist system and its influence on the political processes taking place in the world have grown immeasurably. The ideals of socialism, progress and peace are receiving increasing recognition and winning new strata of society.

p More than half a century ago, when the building of socialism was started in the Soviet Union, which showed all mankind the prospect of deliverance from imperialism, the enemies of socialism claimed that the experience of the USSR, a country that was “Eastern”, “backward”, and so on, could not be an example for other countries and that it did not reflect the general laws of development. Life has put these prophets to shame. Today the road of socialism is followed by undeveloped and developed countries and this fact demolishes all the arguments about the laws of socialism being unacceptable to all mankind. Through the efforts of the peoples of the socialist community the road to 285 the new social system has been in the main opened and tested for all the peoples of the world.

p However, the example of socialism is more than the prototype of the future development of countries where capitalism exists. This example enables the people to concretise the aims and methods of struggle. “Since the socialist countries, in particular the German Democratic Republic, have solved many of the workers’ problems better than the Federal Republic,” said a working-class activist in the West German city of Mannheim, “we naturally take advantage of this. We often say that the GDR ’sits in’ on many talks on wages. The fact is that both employer and employee take account, each in his own way, of how social problems are solved in the GDR. The influence of the GDR is felt in the campaign to improve the educational system, promote social security, medical care and vocational training, win co-management, etc.”  [285•* 

p Socialism’s attractive force and influence would have been incomparably greater had it not been for the certain abuses in socialist construction called forth; in particular, by the nationalist and hegemonistic policy of the Left extremists in Peking and used by bourgeois propaganda to discredit socialist ideals. To a large extent the actions of the extremists hindered “the utilisation of ripe opportunities for considerably enhancing the influence of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism, for the winning of the broad masses to our positions,”  [285•**  noted Rodney Arismendi, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uruguay.

p The Communist parties of the socialist countries are conscious of the immense international impact of their actions and therefore seek to avoid distortions in the building of socialism, surmount errors more actively and make every effort to strengthen the socialist system.

p Second, the course of the world revolutionary movement is influenced by world socialism through the fact that the socialist countries fetter the forces of imperialism, prevent them from exporting counter-revolution and create for the working, people in the capitalist and former colonial 286 countries more favourable conditions for the struggle against imperialism and internal reaction.

p The gains of the working people of the capitalist countries, notably in the standard of living and democratic rights are indissolubly linked with this activity of the socialist camp. The existence of the world socialist system, its strength and its force of attraction are of major significance in that the proletariat of some countries gets the possibility of accomplishing the socialist revolution peacefully.

p The liberated countries, too, receive considerable material and other assistance from the socialist community. Lenin said that in the historical perspective the victorious proletariat of Russia would promote co-operation with liberated peoples and make every effort to “help them pass to the use of machinery, to the lightening of labour, to democracy, to socialism”.  [286•*  These words today apply to the socialist community as a whole.  [286•** 

p The Soviet Union and other socialist countries help the revolutionary struggle and the national liberation movement also through their trade and other economic relations with capitalist countries, particularly with Latin American countries, for this lessens their dependence on the USA and undermines the influence of imperialism.

p For the liberated peoples who have decided to achieve socialism without going through the capitalist stage of development, the socialist community is the force that helps them to attain this transition even in countries where the proletariat is numerically small. By its example and its concrete assistance the socialist system multiplies tenfold the strength of the proletariat and of all other democratic forces in these countries.

p Third, the world socialist system influences the revolutionary process through its peace-loving foreign policy, which in many ways helps to avert another world war and 287 settle international issues in the interests of the progressive forces. The socialist countries come forward actively in defence of victims of imperialist aggression and press for general disarmament. This is precisely what makes the existence of small states possible. “It is obvious from the Cypriot example,” said Ezekias Papaioannou, General Secretary of the Progressive Party of the Working People of Cyprus, “that in our time, with the existing balance of forces, a small country, too, can be successful in maintaining its independence if its national liberation forces attain anti-imperialist unity and if it has the aid and support of the socialist countries and the international anti-imperialist camp.”  [287•* 

p The proposition that the world socialist system plays the leading role in the development of the world revolutionary process is constantly attacked by both Right and “Left” opportunists, whose theories are prejudicial to the revolutionary movement.

p Right-wing criticism of the socialist community is extremely subtle and stems from incomprehension of the role played by the working-class movement of the developed capitalist countries. Although the proponents of this criticism correctly hold that the socialist community cannot be considered in isolation from the international working-class movement and its struggle for socialism, they misrepresent the principal distinctions between the socialist system and the international working-class movement, between the forms and methods of their struggle against capitalism, between their contribution to the world revolutionary process. In the light of these distortions they want the socialist countries to subordinate their strategy and tactics to the specific and frequently special interests of the working-class movement of one country or another. Yet it is perfectly obvious that the successes of the working-class movement are achieved on the basis of the successes of the socialist countries, whose very existence paralyses the bourgeoisie in the economic field and in social and military policy. It goes without saying that for its part the struggle of the working class of the developed countries creates the prerequisites 288 for the successes of the socialist system in foreign policy and for the growth of socialism’s international prestige. But this neither is nor can be the factor determining the development of the world revolutionary process.

p The above-said shows that founded on comprehension of the real role of the various contingents of the world revolutionary movement, the interaction between the socialist countries and the communist and working-class movement, which is influenced by the Marxist-Leninist parties, is a vital condition of the success of each contingent of the world -revolutionary movement. The Communist parties in the capitalist countries achieve success only when far from isolating themselves from the common front of struggle they chart their strategy in such a way as to take account of the common strategy of the revolutionary movement in which the socialist countries form the decisive force.

p Neither is there any foundation for the assertions of the Chinese extremists contained, in particular, in the decisions of the 9th Congress of the Communist Party of China, to the effect that the socialist community does not exercise a decisive influence on world development. The Maoists flagrantly distort reality when they argue that the working class of the socialist countries “has turned bourgeois" and “betrayed the cause of socialism”, while the socialist countries “have entered into a conspiracy with United States imperialism”. The Maoists hold that the course of the struggle on the world scene is influenced primarily by the development of the national liberation movement. However, without in the least denying the great significance of the national liberation movement as one of the torrents of the world revolution, one cannot fail to see that the main material, military and other potentialities are concentrated in the socialist countries and that these countries are in the forefront of the struggle against capitalism. By virtue of objective reasons the national liberation movement at its present stage is still largely dependent on world capitalism and does not represent a military threat to imperialism; the struggle for the social advancement of the countries involved in this movement is not everywhere consistent.

p The influence which the socialist system exercises on revolutionary development in the world is due in decisive measure to the role played by the Soviet Union, the leading 289 socialist state, a great power, the first country to accomplish the socialist revolution and the first to begin the building of communism.

p Lenin pointed out on many occasions that the October Revolution, representing the beginning of the world-wide proletarian revolution, had objectively turned Soviet Russia into the centre and mainstay of the world revolution. In July 1918 he said: “We have done our revolutionary duty as no revolutionary government in any country has ever done on an international, world-wide scale,... And when we came to power, our task as the proletarian Communist Party, at a time when capitalist bourgeois rule still remained in the other countries—our immediate task, I repeat, was to retain that power, that torch of socialism, so that it might scatter as many sparks as possible to add to the growing flames of socialist revolution.”  [289•* 

p The Comintern reiterated in its Programme that “the USSR inevitably becomes the base of the world movement of all oppressed classes, the centre of international revolution, the greatest factor in world history”.  [289•** 

p The Soviet Union’s influence on the development of the revolutionary process became tangible not only because it broke away from the world capitalist system and created a new, socialist economic system but also because it played an immense role as the international motor of the proletarian revolution inspiring the proletarians of all countries to fight for power. It became the living example of the proletariat’s ability not only to destroy capitalism but to build socialism, and it provided the prototype of fraternal relations between the peoples of all countries.

p The Soviet Union exercised the decisive influence on the course and outcome of the Second World War by defeating German and Japanese imperialism. It thereby helped to weaken the world imperialist system, form the world socialist system, step up the revolutionary movement of the working class in the capitalist countries and lay the beginning for the abolition of the colonial system.

p Today the Soviet Union’s role is bigger than ever 290 before, chiefly on account of the social nature of the society that is pioneering progress and is the first in the world to begin the building of communism. The USSR today plays a bigger role as the bulwark of the socialist community because in it are most of the material and military resources of socialism. Experience shows that socialist countries can develop their economy successfully only in alliance with the USSR. The Soviet Union makes the largest contribution to the defence of socialist countries against encroachment by international imperialism. In view of the revolution in military equipment and science, the Soviet Union’s defensive might is, more than ever before, the decisive guarantee of the security of all socialist countries and also of progressive states that have won national liberation; it is the guarantee of world peace.

p In international relations the Soviet Union’s stand and its powerful influence in the world help to create favourable conditions for the development of all the torrents of the world revolutionary process.

p Regrettably, there are people, even among Communists, who seek to belittle the Soviet Union’s role in the modern revolutionary process. They argue that with the emergence of the world socialist system no country should be singled out because that violates equality. Therefore, when the services of the Soviet Union are mentioned these people reduce things to the significance of the October Revolution and sometimes to the defeat of fascism in the Second World War. Small wonder, therefore, that many of the speakers at the 1969 International Meeting emphatically rejected views of this kind. Gustav Husak noted: “The strength of the socialist camp and the anti-imperialist movement, its hopes and possibilities for development depend primarily on the strength and development of the Soviet Union.”  [290•*  Luis Corvalán, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Chile, stressed: “The fact cannot be ignored that the Soviet Union is the bulwark of the liberation cause of peoples and that it and its Party have played and continue to play the decisive role in the history of our epoch.”  [290•** 

p The leaders of almost all the delegations attending the 291 24th Congress of the CPSU spoke of the Soviet Union’s role in the modern world. Le Duan, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Working People’s Party of Vietnam, said: “The Soviet Union’s magnificent achievements in all fields still further increase its economic and defence potential, make an important contribution towards strengthening the forces of socialism and the international revolutionary movement, which are on the offensive, and are a powerful factor inspiring the peoples in their struggle against imperialism, for the cardinal aims of our epoch: peace, national independence, democracy and socialism.” Edward Gierek, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party, noted: “The Soviet Union bears the main burden of the struggle against imperialism and war on a world-wide scale. It is the guarantor of the socialist system’s security and renders decisive support and assistance to the peoples fighting for freedom.”

p Aware of the USSR’s significance in the revolutionary process and remaining true to its internationalist duty, the CPSU bends every effort to strengthen the Soviet Union’s political, economic, ideological, military and international position. While continuing the line aimed at maintaining a high rate of overall economic growth, the CPSU consistently pursues its policy of building up an economy with the highest economic efficacy and scientific and technological level in the world. Particular attention is given to speeding up scientific and technological progress.

p The socialist countries play a notable historical role. The successes of all the revolutionary forces in the world depend largely on their achievements, on the ability of the ruling parties to utilise the potentialities of the new social system and on the unity of the socialist system. A policy aimed at cementing the solidarity of the socialist community is, therefore, what primarily meets with the interests of the entire communist and working-class movement, of all the anti-imperialist forces. The utmost importance attaches to the movement to consolidate unity and co-operation among the Communist parties of the socialist countries. This unity is the only foundation making it possible to achieve a further upswing of the economy and culture of socialism, of its defence capability and its impact on the world. This is precisely what creates the prerequisites for enhancing the 292 socialist community’s influence on the world revolutionary process.

The might of world socialism depends not only on the efforts of the socialist countries themselves but also on the support it receives from the international communist and working-class movement and from the national liberation movement. This is always taken into consideration by the Communist and Workers’ parties of the socialist countries. Their support for the working-class and national liberation movements is designed to strengthen not only the corresponding sectors of the world revolution but also their natural allies, whose assistance, for its part, strengthens the socialist community. The relations between the socialist community and other contingents of the revolution mirror the dialectics of present-day social life.