p Never before in the history of mankind have militarism and the arms race in peacetime reached such a huge scope as after the Second World War. Militarism has grown to the most dangerous proportions in the United States, which accounts for about 75 per cent of the NATO military spending. The United States holds the leading place among the capitalist states not only for the overall scale of its militaryeconomic preparations but also for the extent of militarisation of its economy, science and state budget.

p The unprecedented rise of militarism in the United States and in other capitalist countries was accompanied by the increase in the size and burden of military spending. According to available data the total annual sum of direct military spending in the world grew from 120 thousand million dollars in 1962 to 216 thousand million dollars in 1971. Even these astronomical figures are obviously understated, because they illustrate all the officially declared direct military spending and do not include its other numerous types concealed in the civilian items of state budgets.

p According to data of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the military spending in the modern world has grown tenfold since 1913 (in comparable prices). In 1913, not more than 3-3.5 per cent of the world’s gross product was earmarked for military purposes. In the early 30s this index remained at approximately the same level. In the past few years it grew to roughly 6-7 per cent, i.e., twice as much as in 1913. In 1937, per capita military spending in 266 all the leading imperialist countries taken together was 25 dollars (in nazi Germany, 58.8 dollars).  [266•1  Whereas in 1971 it was 378 dollars in the United States, 109 dollars in Great Britain, 101 dollars in France, 100 dollars in the FRG, and 77 dollars in Canada.  [266•2  Even with the inflationary price rise taken into account the per capita military spending today is several times its pre-war level.

p The prolonged arms race has led to the establishment of a large and permanently functioning military sector in the economy. In the imperialist countries, millions of peoples, almost all sectors of the economy, large industrial complexes and the numerous military industrial enterprises are involved in the production of military equipment. Regular diversion of huge material and manpower resources to military purposes has a disastrous impact on economic development and the living standards of the working people, hinders the solution of vital social problems, problems of the environment, etc.

p Militarism and wars have always posed a great danger to mankind. Already World War I, as Lenin emphasised, led to undermining "the very foundations of human society".  [266•3  This danger increased manyfold during World War II which cost mankind even greater casualties and suffering. But the threat of militarism and war has become particularly immense with the advent of thermonuclear weapons. The stockpiles of these overkill weapons are so great that their use would cause irreparable damage to world civilisation as experts unanimously agree. The aftereffects of a thermonuclear war would tell on the lives of many future generations, "annihilate hudreds of millions of people and turn entire countries into deserts"  [266•4  in this conflagration.

p In this situation, the struggle to avert devastating thermonuclear war becomes today the central objective because it means the struggle for mankind’s future.

p The preservation of peace and the strengthening of 267 international security have invariably been in the focus of Soviet foreign policy. While continuing and finalising for the current stage this general line of Soviet foreign policy, the 24th CPSU Congress advanced a new, scientifically grounded Peace Programme. The active and purposive foreign policy line of the Soviet Union in implementing this programme favourably contributes to the easing of world tensions, to strengthening international security, to establishing the principles of peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems. The visits of General Secretary Brezhnev to the USA, the FRG and France have been particularly important in this respect.

p A sober assessment of the existing balance of forces on the international scene and the catastrophic consequences of a world conflict with the use of nuclear missiles impels increasingly wider circles of leaders and ideologists of the West to recognise the untenability and danger of staking on a world war as a means of solving international disputes. This major circumstance and the objective conditions of the economic, scientific and technological development of the two world systems lead a growing number of statesmen to the conclusion that in the present situation peaceful coexistence is the only reasonable principle of relations among states with different social systems, one that is dictated by life itself.

p As a result, the principle of peaceful coexistence, the inevitability, expediency and possibility of which was advanced and proved by Lenin, has been winning broad recognition and practically implemented in the past few years. This has been expressed, in particular, in the signing of a number of agreements and treaties between the socialist and the leading capitalist countries. These refer to the wellknown treaties between the Soviet Union and the United States, the Soviet Union and the Federal Republic of Germany, Poland and the FRG, a complex of agreements on West Berlin, the Treaty on the principles of relations between the GDR and the FRG, the normalisation of relations between the FRG and Czechoslovakia, etc. These treaties provide for observance of the principle of peaceful coexistence in international affairs. The document on the "Basic Principles of Mutual Relations between the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America" 268 signed in Moscow in May 1972 acknowledges the consent of both sides "to proceed from the common determination that in the nuclear age there is no alternative to conducting their mutual relations on the basis of peaceful coexistence”.

p The assertion of the principle of peaceful coexistence and the easing of international tension reduce the danger of the world conflagration and have a restraining influence on the arms race. The political detente now in evidence is not yet accompanied by military detente. What is more, the race in building up military stockpiles continues in the world, mostly by way of qualitative improvement in armaments, i.e., the development, production and commissioning of increasingly powerful and destructive weapons systems. The military- industrial complexes, the militarist, revanchist and other reactionary forces of imperialism go out of their way to spur up the arms race. Under a variety of pretexts and manipulating numerous levers, in particular the mass media, these forces invariably oppose an improvement in the world climate, seek to increase the military budgets and to build up the military potential of the NATO countries, advance "Atlantic Unity" programmes to achieve closer association of the leading capitalist powers.

p In this way the reactionary imperialist circles seek not only to preserve but also to strengthen substantially the material basis for unleashing and waging wars. This flagrantly contradicts the positive trends in international relations today. The vital interests of all peoples demand that the current political detente be reinforced with military detente. The most realistic way to attaining this difficult objective and delivering mankind from the threat of militarism and a world-wide thermonuclear war is the ending of the arms race, the reaching of agreement on troops and arms reduction and gradual advance towards general and complete disarmament.

p As far back as the 20s, the Soviet Union advanced as an urgent international task that of implementing general and complete disarmament as a means of securing peace and friendship among nations. Loyal to Lenin’s behests, the Soviet Government has repeatedly come forward with a concrete programme of disarmament which is bound to liberate the living and future generations from the burden of the 269 arms race. The 24th Session of the UN General Assembly in 1959 unanimously approved the Declaration of the Soviet Government on the General and Complete Disarmament of All States.

p The Soviet Union has also displayed an important initiative which led to the signing of the Moscow Treaty banning nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water in 1963. Soviet foreign policy has largely contributed to the conclusion of the treaties on the non- proliferation of nuclear weapons, on the prohibition of the emplacement of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction on the sea-bed and the ocean floor and in the subsoil, as well as the Convention on the prohibition of the development, production and stockpiling of bacteriological ( biological) and toxin weapons and on their destruction.

p The problem of ending the arms race and of disarmament is pivotal in the Soviet Peace Programme. While implementing it, the Soviet Union secured the conclusion of the wellknown Soviet-American agreements and treaties on strategic arms limitation.

p In accordance with its Peace Programme the Soviet Government submitted to the 27th Session of the UN General Assembly its proposals on the renunciation of force in international relations and the prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons and on the convocation of a world disarmament conference. The General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of solving the two outstanding problems mentioned above.

p The Soviet Union has come forward with a new important initiative: its proposal calling on the permanent members of the Security Council to cut their military budgets by 10 per cent and to use part of the money thus released to assist the developing countries has been approved and included in the agenda.

p The importance of these partial achievements cannot be underestimated. First, they put up definite obstacles in the way of the arms race; second, they evidence that acute international disputes can be settled through negotiations and third, they create favourable prerequisites for new talks on ending the arms race and for stepping up the effort to eliminate the danger of a world-wide thermonuclear war.

p In the present situation, the success in the practical solution of this central problem of today largely depends on the character and course of competition between the two systems on the world scene, above all on relations between the Soviet Union and the United States.

p The Soviet Union and other socialist countries are jointly working for setting up an effective system of collective security, for closing down military bases and disbanding military groupings in foreign territories and for implementing other measures directed to strengthening peace, ending the arms race, securing troops and arms reduction. The socialist community is making every effort so that the inevitable class struggle between the two opposite social systems would not lead to a military conflict between them.

p “The CPSU has always held, and now holds,” L.I. Brezhnev said, "that the class struggle between the two systems— the capitalist and the socialist—in the economic and political, and also, of course, the ideological domains, will continue. That is as it should be, because the world outlook and the class aims of socialism and capitalism are opposite and irreconcilable. But we shall strive to shift this historically inevitable struggle onto a path free from the perils of war, of dangerous conflicts and uncontrolled arms race. This will be a tremendous gain for world peace, for the interests of all peoples, of all states.”  [270•1 

p An important stage in the people’s struggle for preserving and strengthening peace was the World Congress of Peace Forces held in Moscow from October 25 to 31, 1973. In his speech at the Congress General Secretary Brezhnev gave a profound and comprehensive analysis of the current international situation and set out in detail the basic principles of Soviet foreign policy, described the multifarious activities of the CPSU and the Soviet Government directed to preserving and strengthening peace, and emphasised the great role of the peace movement in the struggle for international security.

The Moscow Congress which was attended by over 3,000 people of good will from 143 countries is bound to play an important role in stepping up and pooling the efforts of all 271 peace forces. The Communists of the world have arrived at a scientifically grounded conclusion "based on a comprehensive analysis of the present epoch and the world balance of forces that today a new world war is not fatally inevitable and that it can be averted. However, long and persistent struggle is required to curb militarism, put an end to the arms race and eliminate the danger of war. The achievements made in the last few years facilitate this struggle and the pooling of efforts by all revolutionary, progressive and peace forces of the world with a view to fully eliminating the threat of a world-wide thermonuclear war and securing universal peace on earth.