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p The developed capitalist countries form the backbone of world capitalism and a key base of its struggle against the world revolution. In these countries imperialism has its largest economic and military resources and holds the strongest positions in economic and political life.

p The revolutionary struggle of the working class, of the working masses in the citadels of imperialism, is, therefore, a major torrent of the world revolutionary process and plays an essential role in undermining the positions of the dying system. This struggle 

p —erodes the economic foundations of imperialism, reduces its possibilities of receiving larger profits and forces it to make concessions to the detriment of its own class interests; 

p —fetters the reactionary institutions of the capitalist states, prevents the wide enforcement of anti-popular measures in politics and secures the extention of democracy and the creation, thereby, of more favourable conditions for the drive towards socialism; 

p —exposes the anti-popular, parasitic nature of capitalism and the narrowness of bourgeois democracy, and shows that it is necessary to replace the bourgeois system; 

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p —limits the sphere of reactionary foreign policy and, thereby, facilitates action by other torrents of the world revolutionary movement—the socialist system and the national liberation movement; 

p —helps to form the political army of the revolution and to educate and temper the working class, which is the grave-digger of capitalism.

p At the modern stage the struggle of the proletariat is characterised by trends showing that new prospects are opening for this torrent of the world revolutionary movement, that there are increasing possibilities for effective action by the working people aimed at achieving the socialist reorganisation of society. Let us briefly examine these trends. The scale of the actions by the working people is now larger and more massive than ever before; the social composition of the participants in the class battles is steadily changing (along with the proletariat these battles are involving the peasants, intellectuals, young people, women and believers); a differentiation, which is not always consistent, is taking place in the working class and other Left-wing forces; the tactics of the strike movement are becoming more flexible and effective—more cases occur of strikers seizing factories and offices and clashing with the police and other organs of the capitalist state; the class struggle is increasingly growing into a struggle against the monopolies, and economic demands intertwine with political demands directed against the very foundations of the capitalist system; the course of the struggle is marked by unexpected developments which make it difficult to foretell the time, scale and consequences of popular actions; the working people are more and more frequently achieving their aims, compelling employers and the authorities to accede to their demands.

p The course of the social struggle in capitalist society during the 1960s has shown that changes, favourable to the revolutionary forces and difficult to overestimate, are in the making and that a large quantity of combustible material has accumulated for a revolutionary explosion against the exploiting system.

p The vast experience of struggle gained by the working class in recent years shows a great diversity of ways and means of pressuring capitalism, a multiform approach to the question of allies and the inimical nature of the concrete 294 political situations that arise in the course of the struggle. This diversity of the forms of struggle unquestionably influences the ways and means of starting the socialist revolution and on the course of the revolutionary changes themselves.

p A pressing problem, in this connection, is the further elaboration of the strategy and tactics of the socialist revolution under present-day conditions in each country separately and on an international scale.

p Where capitalism develops “tranquilly” and a sharp revolutionary crisis is non-existent, in other words, where the working class can secure concessions from the capitalists, the line of the Communists is aimed at enabling the working class to secure the largest possible concessions and to strengthen its position in society’s economic life and political structure. The stronger these positions become the more hope will there be for the success of the working-class movement during the period of direct revolutionary actions. In the course of the struggle for their vital demands the masses receive the necessary political training and revolutionary steeling.

p The present strategy of the communist movement is to turn every specific advance of the working class into the starting line for the next assault on capitalism, into the starting line of the struggle to limit the power of the monopolies. It lies with the Communists to tie present-day tasks up with the socialist perspective and to put forward demands which inevitably entail more deep-going social changes and require a struggle against reactionary, antidemocratic forces in political institutions, and so on.

p The attention of the Communist and Workers’ parties of the capitalist countries has always been focussed on the question of the concrete forms and methods of the struggle for socialism. During the past few decades the fraternal parties have enriched and are enriching their programme documents with new propositions. In working out strategy and tactics the Marxist parties emphatically reject the revisionist theories that the transition to socialism takes place by evolution and expose all the arguments claiming that capitalism “grows” into socialism or that capitalism and socialism are “converging”. The Communist parties continue, as they have always done, to be guided by the 295 Marxist-Leninist theory of the socialist revolution, by the revolutionary experience of Russia and by the experience of the revolution in other European and Asian countries, and also in Cuba. They hold that renunciation of the general laws of the transition of different countries from capitalism to socialism leads to the mire of opportunism, to disunity in the working class, to the subordination of the interests of the proletariat to those of the bourgeoisie. Moreover, they take strict account of the socio-economic and political conditions obtaining in the given country and of that country’s role and place in the world capitalist system. They consider that a revolution is the affair of the masses, that revolution cannot be called forth artificially, imported or forced on the people. They act in line with the overall international situation and on the principle that in the event the people are victorious world imperialism will try to interfere in the country’s affairs and hinder the development of the revolution. An account of these and other circumstances enables the Communist and Workers’ parties to map out correct strategy and tactics which conform to the situation, meet with the interests of the people, define the tasks of the proletariat and show the ways and means of achieving these tasks.

p However, no strategy and no programme can provide for all contingencies. In them only the general contours, the general features of socialist changes can be outlined. The Communist or Workers’ Party of each country has its own immediate and long-term tasks, on the basis of which it frames its strategy and tactics.

p Let us see how under the concrete conditions obtaining in their various countries the Communists raise the problem of the struggle for the socialist future.

p The French Communist Party is one of the largest contingents of the communist movement. It courageously and consistently upholds the interests of the working class and its country and wages an uncompromising struggle against the offensive of the monopolies, for unity of action by the working class, for the purity of the great teaching of Marxism-Leninism, for the consolidation of proletarian internationalism, for peace and for the socialist future of France. In the course of that struggle it works out the concrete ways and means for the country’s advance to 296 socialism and for the conquest of political power by the proletariat.

p As early as 1946 Maurice Thorez showed what stimulated the appearance in post-war France of factors facilitating that country’s peaceful transition to socialism. “We have always thought and said,” he told a correspondent of The Times of London, “that the French people, who are rich in great traditions, would find for themselves their way to greater democracy, progress and social justice.”  [296•* 

p A theoretically substantiated analysis of the French proletariat’s struggle for socialism was made at the 14th Congress of the French Communist Party in 1956. At that congress it was shown that for France the new, peaceful road of transition to socialism opened soon after the Second World War, when the Socialists and the Communists won the majority of votes at the elections to the Constituent Assembly. At the time the Communist Party suggested to the Socialist Party the formation of a government consisting of Communists and Socialists which would give democracy a new content, consolidate it and, with the support of the mass movement, shake off the tutelage of the monopolies. However, the Socialist Party did not accept this proposal and subsequently supported the imperialist actions of the government.

p The experience of the struggle in the capitalist countries vividly shows that the split in the working class is the chief obstacle to socialism, progress, democracy and peace. Taking this into account, the 14th Congress of the French Communist Party stressed that the advance to socialism could be successful only through the joint actions of the working people, provided they displayed more initiative and the popular movement achieved a higher level. This movement had to be headed by the working class led by its party. This would give it the political leadership of society, which was the decisive condition for the transition to socialism.

p At its 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th congresses the French Communist Party pointed to the appearance of increasingly more favourable conditions for the peaceful 297 transition to socialism. The French Communists hold that it is quite possible to use the parliament if it is genuinely democratic. Their point of departure is that in France socialism must emerge as the indispensable consummating link of democracy. Under present-day conditions the struggle for democracy is the basic task in the people’s progress towards the socialist revolution. “To abandon the struggle for advanced democracy. . . does not mean moving faster towards socialism. On the contrary, it means betraying it. On the other hand, in the struggle for advanced democracy the Communist Party fights most effectively for a socialist France,”  [297•*  writes Waldeck Rochet.

p At the same time, the FCP accentuates the distinctions between the reformist and the revolutionary understanding of the peaceful road of the socialist revolution. Consistently combating the revisionist, Right-opportunist interpretations of this road, interpretations which reduce it to “ parliamentarism”, the FCP declared in the decisions of its most recent congresses and in the Manifesto adopted at a plenary meeting of its Central Committee in December 1968, that the peaceful transition to socialism is likewise accompanied by qualitative changes. The Manifesto, in particular, states that whatever its forms and means, the transition from capitalism to socialism would always be a qualitative change, a revolutionary leap, a change in the nature of ownership of the means of production and in the character of exchange, a transition of political power from the hands of the bourgeoisie to the hands of the working class and its allies. This transition may be peaceful but it always presupposes a bitter class struggle. “At the given moment nobody can say how the transition to socialism will take place in France, but the French Communists are firmly steering towards the creation of conditions favouring a peaceful transition to socialism and act in such a manner as to draw the majority of the people into the struggle for this prospect,”  [297•**  states the Manifesto.

p In France the parliamentary system and municipal rights have always been important elements of political life. The 298 Communists press for their democratic development in the course of the struggle for socialism.  [298•* 

p Immense importance is attached by the French Communists to changes in the economy. “In order to be real,” Waldeck Rochet writes, “political democracy must embrace high standards of economic democracy.”  [298•** 

p The cardinal task set in the economic section of the FCP’s Programme is the gradual nationalisation of the largest monopolies controlling the key sectors of the economy and all the large banks. Such nationalisation, accompanied by the full democratisation of the system of management and by greater trade union participation, can move the social sector into the leading role in the economy. The basic condition for co-operation between the Communist Party and parties representing other working strata of the population and advocating socialism, is that the latter should discontinue their class co-operation with the bourgeoisie. In the opinion of the French Communists, the possibility of several parties engaging in the building of socialism does not imply that the Communist Party should stop criticising the ideological positions of the Social-Democrats, give up its struggle against opportunism and revisionism, or relinquish its leading role. “Fidelity to the principles of Marxism-Leninism in all fields—ideological, political and organisational—is the sole guarantee of a correct policy,”  [298•***  states The French Road to Socialism, a work written by a team of theoreticians of the French Communist Party.

p The specifics of the road to socialism are profoundly analysed in the documents of the Communist Party of the USA.

p The task of fighting the monopolies underlies the programme adopted by the Communist Party of the USA at its 19th Congress in May 1969. This task occupies the 299 central place in the party’s strategy and, as Gus Hall declared at the party Congress, it is not a static task. As more experience is gained in the course of concrete developments, its formulation becomes more clear-cut and precise.

p The Communist Party of the USA indissolubly links the struggle for democracy with the struggle for socialism, stressing that the transition to socialism is both an historical process and a process taking place at the given moment. Therefore, an anti-monopoly coalition cannot be formed without a powerful Left-wing movement and a strong Communist Party, without enhancing the class consciousness of the workers and the creation, in their ranks, of a nucleus inspired by socialist awareness.

p In fighting for the masses, the party’s principal aim is to win stronger positions in the working-class and the Negro movement. At the present stage the most important element is the radicalisation of the working class, of the trade union movement. The Communist Party of the USA pays particular attention to the movement of rank-and-file trade unionists who constitute the key link in the class struggle, in the struggle for social progress. This struggle is waged round questions concerning the state of the trade union leadership, democracy in the trade unions and the programme of safeguarding the interests of the workers. It is unfolding also round the struggle of the Negro workers for equality, the drive to place automation under trade union control, and so on. The US Communists are bending their efforts to form a united front at all levels of the trade union movement.

p The Communist Party of the USA seeks to strengthen the Left wing as a form of a united front of the more advanced sections of the working class. In view of the new problems posed by the class struggle, the Communists believe that the Left wing can grow into a leading force within a very short time.

p They are in the front rank of the struggle against oppression of the Negro population in the USA, seeing the triple nature of this oppression: racial and class oppression, and oppression of a national minority. The CPUSA accentuates its fidelity to the class position in the struggle for unity of white and black working people.

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p On the question of the forms of the struggle for socialism in the USA, the party Programme states that “today it is impossible to say what form—non-peaceful or peaceful—will be taken by the socialist revolution in the USA. The tactics of that revolution will be charted when a revolutionary situation really arises. Such a situation does not yet exist in the USA.”  [300•* 

p The specifics of the road to socialism in Italy are broadly substantiated by the Communists of that country. “We face the task of working out an Italian road,” Palmiro Togliatti, the late General Secretary of the Italian Communist Party, said at the 20th Congress of the CPSU. “It must take into account the country’s historical development, its social structure and the mood and aspirations of the broad masses and their organisations.”  [300•**  Togliatti stressed that this road must enable the Italian Communists to achieve, in forms suitable to their country, an alliance between the working class, the peasants and the middle strata and, consequently, secure the support of the majority of the people for society’s socialist reorganisation.

p In the report delivered by Luigi Longo, General Secretary of the ICP, at the party’s 12th Congress in February 1969, it is stated that “in fighting today... for the positive solution of the problems confronting the working masses and the country, we are not only unfolding a movement that can surmount the contradictions within the majority, but facilitating the process of bringing together and promoting co-operation and agreement between the Left-wing, Socialist, Catholic and other democratic forces and of the maturing of the conditions for creating a new majority and a new political trend in the country. Along this road, which is the road of a big and sharp massive, democratic struggle, we shall advance towards socialism. This is our line, and our strategy and tactics are founded on this understanding of the development of Italian society.”  [300•*** 

p At the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of Canada 301 (April 1969) it was stressed that the struggle for socialism in that country was indivisible from the democratic movement in defence and for the extension of the gains of the people. In the course of the struggle for greater democratic rights the question would arise of the need for a fundamental reorganisation of Canada’s social system.

p The Canadian Communists consider that in their country they have to work for a new alliance—a national, democratic, anti-monopoly and anti-imperialist coalition headed by the working class. This springs from the specifics of the popular movements in Canada, where, alongside the struggle of the working class against the monopolies, the national struggle of the French Canadian people is gaining momentum; there is mounting resistance to US domination in the economic, political, military and cultural spheres; there is a growing movement for peace and the cessation of the war in Vietnam; increasingly broader action is taken by farmers, housewives, tenants, and national minorities; the scale of the struggle waged by the students is expanding.

p At the international theoretical conference devoted to Leninism and Contemporaneity, held in Prague in November 1969, Tim Buck noted that in some ways the present general situation in Canada was reminiscent of the situation which Lenin had characterised as a stage in the history of Bolshevism marked by ferment and preparation in all classes.  [301•* 

p In a programme statement adopted by the German Communist Party at its congress in Essen in April 1969 it is stated that the party “aspires for a road to socialism that would be of the greatest advantage to the working people of the Federal Republic, a road without civil war. It was the ruling reactionary classes who, to safeguard their power and privileges, had had recourse to bloody violence against the people.”  [301•**  The German Communist Party declares its determination to promote the broad democratic struggle of the workers and other working people for socialist changes. On the road to socialism the GCP aspires to co-operate with 302 all socialist and anti-monopoly parties, organisations and forces in extra-parliamentary actions and to obtain stronger representation of the interests of the working people in parliament. The party’s point of departure is that such cooperation will continue during the building of socialism.

p We have referred to concrete documents of the Communist parties of five developed capitalist countries. They give a general picture of the approach of the Communists of these countries to problems of the struggle for socialism. Many other parties likewise analyse these problems profoundly, and in line with the changes in conditions and the forms of struggle specify their positions on the basis of new experience.  [302•* 

p What are the general conclusions to be drawn from an examination of the programmes of the Communist parties of developed capitalist countries?

p We have earlier mentioned and should like to reemphasise that the Communist and Workers’ parties of many capitalist countries consider that the proletariat can win power by peaceful means, through the parliament. However, as was quite correctly noted by the fraternal parties, the peaceful conquest of power does not rule out individual elements of an armed struggle. If the bourgeoisie resists, if it uses weapons against the working class, the proletariat is compelled to answer violence with violence, to wage a bitter struggle in order to establish its rule, which is the condition for delivering society from capitalist oppression. The Communist and Workers’ parties consider that parallel with the possibility of winning power 303 peacefully it is necessary to bear in mind the possibility of a non-peaceful transition to socialism.  [303•*  However, both roads, peaceful and non-peaceful, require that the MarxistLeninist parties should step up their organisational work among the masses, because in all cases the revolution demands mass action, the growth of initiative and a high level of political consciousness. This question was, naturally, closely considered at the 1969 International Meeting. Lately, the press of the Communist parties of some European capitalist countries has carried criticism of Communists who pay little attention to extra-parliamentary methods of struggle, concentrate on current aims and neglect the historic tasks of the proletariat and the political and ideological education of the masses. In some instances tasks are set which subordinate the struggle for the socialist objective to current interests. Here sight is lost of the fact that some actions which appear irrational in the context of present-day developments are rational from the long-term point of view, from the standpoint of history. Errors of this kind are frequently due to the narrowness of the methods employed in the struggle, to the use of purely parochial methods. On the other hand, developments are analysed not in their inter-relation, in their movement on a global scale but only on the scale of a country, a city or even a factory. This is made all the more dangerous by the fact that in many capitalist countries a certain gap exists between the level 304 attained by the class struggle of the proletariat and the influence exercised on the masses by Marxist-Leninist ideology. This is largely so because the workers continue to be held captive by an ideology expressing, in the last analysis, the interests of state-monopoly capitalism. They hope to change their condition under capitalism, failing to understand its exploiting nature. For the Communists it is imperative to win over this, as Lenin called it, “theoretically helpless, but living, and powerful mass working-class movement”.  [304•* 

p Earlier we mentioned the ways and means used by the bourgeoisie and the Social-Democrats to influence the working people. At this point let us consider the following elements.

p The bourgeoisie attracts part of the working people through unbridled demagogy about a community of interests between the workers and the capitalists, by stirring up nationalism and chauvinism, by making some material concessions. The scientific and technological revolution gives the bourgeoisie greater possibilities for pursuing a policy of concessions and for allocating a large portion of its profits for these aims. This policy dovetails with subtle social demagogy, with the preaching of an alliance between labour and capital, with the propagation of the ideals of philistine well-being.”  [304•** 

p In some countries the Social-Democrats have the support of large sections of working people by virtue of their efforts to secure the satisfaction of the people’s day-to-day economic requirements and put minor reforms into effect, their 305 dissemination of theories claiming that “democratic socialism" can be attained by “evolution”, and, in a number of instances, their adoption of anti-imperialist slogans. The fact that reformist traditions are widespread in the workingclass movement of the West also plays a big role. An analysis shows that those who fall under Social-Democratic influence are mostly middle-aged workers who, when they were politically active, had received some concessions from the bourgeoisie and the Social-Democrats, had not acquired the necessary class tempering and were not prepared to take part in a decisive struggle.

p The Communist parties would unquestionably have had more success with the masses had they been united, had not some of them been weakened by Right- and Left- opportunist deviations. Today, as has always been the case in the history of the working-class movement, opportunism endeavours to divert the working people from the revolutionary struggle for socialism. As 100 and as 50 years ago, the political content of opportunism is “class collaboration, repudiation of the dictatorship of the proletariat, repudiation of revolutionary action, unconditional acceptance of bourgeois legality, confidence in the bourgeoisie and lack of confidence in the proletariat”.  [305•*  Citing cases of indecision, lack of political awareness, dependence on the bourgeoisie and the numerical and political weakening of some parties, the revisionists insist on adapting the tactics of the struggle to the conditions prevailing at the given moment. They argue that power can be won only “from above”, through parliament, and so on. Moreover, while insisting on the creation of a “party of a new type" they call for the repudiation of the operating principles of party development, above all, the principle of democratic centralism.

p A manifestation of revisionism is its exaggeration of the importance of the struggle for short-term objectives. Subordination of the party’s policy to such a struggle can and does lead to a departure from the main direction of the struggle for socialism, to the loss of perspective. Minor current issues obscure the cardinal, fundamental aims of the communist movement. The following words, written by Lenin more than 60 years ago, apply fully to the modern 306 revisionists: “To determine its conduct from case to case, to adapt itself to the events of the day and to the chopping and changing of petty politics, to forget the primary interests of the proletariat and the basic features of the whole capitalist system, of all capitalist evolution, to sacrifice these primary interests for the real or assumed advantages of the moment—such is the policy of revisionism.”  [306•* 

p Common to all revisionists is the attempt to reshape the Marxist-Leninist theory of the leading role of the working class. The revisionists who have wormed themselves into some parties, both in capitalist and in socialist countries, offer various “arguments” in an attempt to prove that in the present epoch the working class cannot be the leading force of social development, that it is incapable of heading the revolutionary struggle, while in the socialist countries it cannot direct socialist construction.  [306•** 

p Many revisionist theories are founded on the argument that under “neocapitalism” the working class has itself become bourgeois. Exponents of petty-bourgeois radical trends contend that the force capable of changing the existing order is outside the process of production. On this point, Gus Hall writes: “This concept, of course, rules out the 65 million workers in the US ’production process’ and their families who make up the majority of our people. But in a basic sense it rules out exploitation at the point of production as the heart, as the incubator, as the root of classes and the class struggle. To do this is to rule out classes, the class struggle, and of course, the working class. It is a rejection of the class nature of capitalism—-Others say ‘the working class has become a part of the establishment’. Others add that ’the working class has become a partner ... of imperialism’. Still others speak about the ’new working class’. But they do so in such terms that, to say the least, it leaves the door open to an interpretation 307 that the changes are so ‘fundamental’, the ’new working class’ is so ‘different’, that one should have some doubts and questions whether it can fulfil its historic mission. They make a slight concession and say that maybe there are no questions about the world working class in general, but there must be at least some doubts about the US working class because it is so ‘new’—so ‘different’.”  [307•* 

p Lack of confidence in the working class is a distinctive feature not only of Right but of “Left” opportunism, which finds fertile soil in periods when the class struggle grows in intensity and the offensive on capitalism is stepped up. This form of opportunism, as Waldeck Rochet noted, “is wishful thinking which turns impatience into a strategy”.  [307•**  “Left” opportunism contends that there is no connection 308 between the struggle for democracy and the struggle for socialism. It repudiates the need for an alliance of the working class with other social groups. It overrates the role of the young people and their readiness to join in the antiimperialist struggle. It rejects the need for organisation in the class struggle.

p Both Right and “Left” opportunism underrate the possibility of drawing the masses into the struggle against imperialism, for democracy and socialism. They repudiate the vanguard role of the Communist Party. Both engage in inflammatory anti-Sovietism.

p The activities of the opportunists hinder the struggle waged by the Communist and Workers’ parties. This is particularly true in the capitalist countries, where the parties encounter many other objective difficulties, among which are the gap between the level of the people’s consciousness and the objective requirements of development; the immaturity of the subjective conditions in a situation where mature objective factors of revolutionary development exist; the complication of the structure and composition of the working class and the temporary growth of the ideological influence of the intermediate social strata, that are increasingly joining the ranks of the proletariat; the appearance of such important but extremely difficult allies as the massive strata of students and intellectuals, whose enlistment to the side of the Communists requires particularly wellconsidered work; the extremely well-organised state- sponsored ideological indoctrination of the people through all modern mass media, which imperialism uses on an international scale.

p There is an ominous menace from centrism, which Lenin had always fought energetically. Although the centrists use pseudo-Marxist terminology, they are in fact virulently hostile to revolutionary Marxism and seek to adapt the interests of the proletariat to those of the bourgeoisie. Being an eclectic trend, centrism joins forces now with “Left” and now Right opportunism. The centrists are bringing some groups of the working class under their influence. A consistent struggle against the opportunism of the centrists is a standing task of the communist movement.

p It goes without saying that the Communists will not achieve their programme aims unless their parties become 309 more active, expose anti-communism, reformism and opportunism and step up their ideological and organisational work among the masses. At the 1969 International Meeting, for instance, it was shown that most of the Communist parties were aware of this and were bending every effort to organise their work among the masses correspondingly.

p In fighting for the masses the Marxist-Leninist parties are showing them that the policy of the bourgeoisie and the Social-Democrats is not consistent with their vital interests, that it leads them away from society’s socialist reorganisation. The prime objective of this struggle is to expose all forms of anti-communism and anti-Sovietism and all departures from Marxist-Leninist principles. The Communists try to take a differentiated approach to the various groups of working people. While waging an uncompromising struggle against bourgeois and Social-Democratic ideology, they seek to pattern their policy in such a way as to enable the masses to see for themselves that the line of the Communist parties is the only correct line. The Communists’ approach to the struggle against revisionist views is likewise flexible. In the communist movement erroneous views are sometimes propounded by those who, in spite of this, remain in the ranks of fighters against capitalism. The Communists regard the struggle against such views chiefly as a struggle to return comrades-in-arms to correct positions. They therefore urge comradely, friendly criticism and restraint.

p While attaching decisive importance to the unity of the working class, the Communists urge co-operation with the Social-Democrats in the struggle for an advanced democratic system prior to the abolition of capitalism and for the building of a socialist society in future. The Communists are prepared to co-operate with other progressive parties and organisations, stressing that the forces coming out in favour of socialism can contribute effectively to the struggle for the new system only when they renounce their policy of class collaboration with the bourgeoisie.

p Experience has shown that the consistent and principled line of the Communists aimed at achieving unity with the Social-Democrats is yielding results. There is increasing differentiation in the Social-Democratic movement, in which the healthy trends are steadily growing stronger.

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p The 1969 International Meeting gave a powerful impulse to the struggle of the Communists for the masses, against anti-communism, for the exposure of reformism and Right opportunism.

p In pursuance of their line of winning the masses over to their side, the Communists urge trade union unity in each country and on the international level. This strengthens the proletariat and paves the way to success in its struggle, thereby helping it to see the correct way of waging the struggle. The decisions of the 7th Congress of the World Federation of Trade Unions, held in Budapest in October 1969, are going a long way towards strengthening the links between the Communists and the proletarian masses.

p The Communists are doing much to form and consolidate the alliance between the working class and the peasantry.

p Today when the small and middle peasants, who are sinking steadily deeper into ruin, are putting up a growing resistance to the actions taken against them by the monopoly-ruled state, they are more and more frequently receiving assistance from the urban proletariat.

p Communist influence is also growing among the urban middle strata, who, to protect their interests, are having steadily greater recourse to proletarian methods of struggle. They are beginning to see more clearly the vital importance of joint action with the working class.

p The Communists are using the favourable objective conditions to win more influence in intellectual circles as well. The crisis of bourgeois ideology and socialism’s force of attraction are bringing the intelligentsia into the antiimperialist struggle. The alliance between workers by brain and by hand is acquiring increasing importance.

p Activation of the youth movement is also creating the prerequisites for drawing young people into the antiimperialist struggle. Large segments of young workers and students are more and more frequently taking action not only in defence of their interests but also against the policy of the ruling classes, for democracy, peace and socialism. In the youth movement the Communists are disseminating the ideas of scientific socialism, exposing pseudo- 311 revolutionary concepts and helping the young people to follow the correct road of struggle.

p Women actively participate in production and public life and the Communist parties are doing everything to draw them into the class struggle, supporting their demands for the removal of all wage discrimination, complete equality in civil rights, maternity protection, and so on.

p In many capitalist countries the exacerbation of social contradictions has opened up possibilities for an alliance between the revolutionary working-class movement and large sections of believers on an anti-monopoly and an anti-imperialist basis. In a number of countries the Communists are enlisting the co-operation of democratic masses of Catholics and other believers. A dialogue has been started between them on urgent questions concerning the development of the modern world. As a result of the close contacts that have been established and of the joint actions that have been taken, masses of believers are becoming an active force in the struggle against imperialism, for social reforms.

p An analysis of various aspects of the struggle of the working class in the developed capitalist countries and of the activities of the Communist parties shows that essential changes are taking place along this front of the revolutionary battles. These changes are indicative of the increasing potential of the proletariat and of the growing role of this torrent of the world revolutionary movement. Developments are leading towards an aggravation of the class battles.

The large-scale class battles in the developed capitalist countries have time and again shaken the rule of the bourgeoisie, striking examples of this being the years of revolutionary crisis following the October Revolution, the massive working-class movement of the 1930s, the period of the Popular Front, which witnessed a powerful upsurge of the democratic movement and of the class battles of the proletariat, and the years of the anti-fascist Resistance. The revolutionary movement of the masses grew into an immense force during the years following the defeat of hitlerism. Today it has entered a new phase of development, and it is becoming particularly urgent to co-ordinate the struggle of the working masses with the actions of other 312 contingents of the world revolutionary movement for a concerted assault on the positions of capitalism.