__TITLE__
The Theory and Practice
Translated from the Russian
TEOPHH M RPAKTHKA npojiETAPCKoro HHTEPHAUHOHAJIIISMA Ha USSR Academy of Sciences Institute of Philosophy Section of the Philosophical Aspects of Proletarian Internationalism and National Relations __EDITORS__ Edited by M. S. JUNUSOV, M. M. SKIBITSKY and I. P. TSAMERYAN __WRITTEN_BY__ Written by M. S. Junusov (senior author): Chs. 1 and 2 and Conclusion; Yu. M. Samoshchenko (Voronezh): Ch. 3; V. 1. Zateyev (Ulan Udeh) and I. F. Anoshkin: Ch. 4; A. S. Frisk: Ch. 5; I. P. Tsameryan: Ch. 6; E. V. Tadevosyan: Ch. 7; M. A. Binder (Alma Ata) and I. Z. Ismailov (Baku): Ch. S; M. M. Suzhikov (Alma Ata): Ch. 9; N. D. Jandildin (Alma Ata): Ch. 10; L. V. Metelitsa and G. 0. Zimanas (Vilnius): Ch. 11; F. T. Kartstantinov. Ch. 12; and V. P. Sergeyev: Ch. 13.First printing 1976
©Translation into English. Progress Publishers 1976
Printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
10504—311 014(01)—70 72—7,r>
[5]CONTENTS
Foreword
Part I
GENERAL THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM
Chapter 1. Proletarian Internationalism—the Theory and Practice of Uniting Proletarians of All Nations and Countries . . 11
Chapter 2. Proletarian Internationalism as a System of Principles 40
Chapter 3. The Correlation Between the Internationalist and National Interests of the Working Class....... 76
Chapter 4. Internationalist Duty.......... 100
Chapter ">. Proletarian Internationalism and the Relationships of Collectivism.................. 124
Part II
THE ENRICHMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE IDEAS OF PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE OF THE USSR
Chapter 6. The Achieving of Real Equality Between Nations and Nationalities Means the Triumph of the Ideas of Proletarian Internationalism................ 143
Chapter 7. The Soviet Multinational State as a Living Embodiment of the Principles of Proletarian Internationalism . . 170
Chapter 8. The Implementation and Development of Proletarian Internationalism Based on the Experience of the Peoples That Have Taken the Road of Socialism Bypassing Capitalism 191
Chapter 9. The Principles of Internationalism and the Fraternal Co-operation of the Peoples in Creating the Material and Technical Base of Communism...........209
6 __RUNNING_HEADER_LEFT__ CONTENTSChapter 10. The Unity of the Internationalist and the National in the Life of the Soviet Peoples.......... 220
Chapter 11. The Struggle Against Bourgeois Nationalism Is a Vital Condition for the Assertion of Socialist Internationalism 231
Part III
THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONALISM THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE OF THE SOCIALIST COMMUNITY
Chapter 12. Socialist Internationalism—the Basis of Relations Between Socialist States...............247
Chapter 13. Socialist Internationalism in Economic Relations Between the Fraternal Countries........... 273
Conclusion . . . 303
[7] __ALPHA_LVL1__ FOREWORDThe theory and practice of proletarian internationalism and national relations are particularly relevant in the current revolutionary period of the transition of society from capitalism to socialism and communism.
Socialism affirms peace and friendship among nations. Socialist assistance and mutual help draw the peoples closer together. The first country in which national relations were developed on the basis of the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism was the Soviet Union—a country of over 100 nations and nationalities. The 50th anniversary of the formation of the USSR—the world's first multinational socialist state and a state of a new type—was celebrated at the end of 1972. The documents of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and fraternal Communist and Workers' Parties reflect the results of the evolution of the Party's theoretical thought and the fruits of the collective efforts of Party functionaries and scholars. More than a quarter of a century has passed since socialism emerged from the confines of a single country to become a real world system. Interstate relations between the socialist countries are based on the ideology of proletarian internationalism. The international communist and working-class movement is a vital international community and is developing under the ideological banner of proletarian internationalism.
History has shown that the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism are maintained in the relations between the parties of the working class and between the socialist countries and nations in the struggle against 8 __RUNNING_HEADER_LEFT__ FOREWORD nationalism and chauvinism. In order to hamper this process, imperialist propaganda employs a whole arsenal of devices to kindle nationalism in the socialist countries.
Many theoretical and pressing aspects of proletarian internationalism have not as yet been given adequate treatment in scientific literature. Naturally, therefore, the authors of this book too do not claim to have thrown light on all the facets of this complex issue.
The team of authors aimed (1) to elucidate the general theoretical aspects of proletarian internationalism, its origins and indissoluble link with the practice of the revolutionary movement, and to outline the system of the principles of proletarian internationalism; (2) to examine the historical experience of the implementation, enrichment and development of the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism in the Soviet Union; and (3) to provide an analysis of the historical experience of the implementation and evolution of proletarian internationalism in the world community of the socialist countries.
The terms proletarian internationalism and socialist internationalism are used in this book as being of the same type in their social connotation. Socialist internationalism is a new, higher stage in the development of proletarian internationalism.
We trust that this book will be of use to our friends abroad.
[9] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ PART I __ALPHA_LVL1__ GENERAL THEORETICAL ASPECTSThe world revolutionary process at its present stage has reached an unprccedentcdly high level of development. A powerful impetus to historical progress was provided by the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the construction of socialism in the USSR, and the formation and consolidation of the world socialist system. The process of the emergence and strengthening of socialist society and its conversion into a world system could be prevented neither by the imperialist powers' armed intervention against the young Soviet Republic, nor by fascism, the spearhead of imperialism, nor by any other of the intrigues devised by international reaction. The world system of socialism shown its great vital force in the historic contest with capitalism. The unity of the world communist movement is generally growing, and fruitful bilateral and multilateral interparty relations are being activated. The international working-class movement is developing and gaining in strength. Working class action against the monopolies has become widespread. The attack on the whole system of the state-monopoly rule of the bourgeoisie is gathering momentum. Imperialism is coming under increasing pressure from the forces that have emerged from the national liberation struggle, especially that put up by the young independent and anti-imperialist minded states of Asia and Africa.
The bourgeoisie is doing its utmost to retard the development of the world revolutionary process, and so the international class struggle is growing fiercer.
12 __RUNNING_HEADER_LEFT__ THEORY AND PRACTICE OF INTERNATIONALISMThe working class of the socialist countries acts in today's international relations as a class organised within a state framework. It makes use of state power as the most important instrument of the class struggle on the international scene. The socialist countries' struggle against imperialist reaction goes hand in hand with the struggle mounted by the working class in capitalist countries against the monopoly bourgeoisie and with the struggle for social progress in which the working masses of the Third World countries are engaged.
Such is the objective tendency of the development of the world revolutionary process. It would not, however, be true to say that this tendency is occurring in social practice all by itself, automatically and without any struggle against attempts to isolate and disunite the national detachments of the world army of fighters against imperialism.
The ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism constitute the most important ideological and theoretical instrument for realising the enormous potential that is inherent in the current world revolutionary process. Consequently, the thorough theoretical treatment of proletarian internationalism is a vital requirement of modern social practice.
Nothing delights the imperialist ideologists so much as the manifestation of nationalism in relations between socialist countries. They cherish the hope that the ideology of proletarian internationalism will become ``rusty'' and `` hopelessly eroded''. They are trying to revive and kindle nationalism and chauvinism, and to set the socialist countries against one another.
Marxism-Leninism teaches that the struggle of ideas and socio-political theories has always been an integral part of class battles and will continue to be. Not a single major encounter between social forces has ever occurred without an ideological struggle. It is precisely because the ideological struggle is a component of the struggle between the classes that it leaves no room for apathy and non-commitment. The constantly intensifying antagonism between imperialism and socialism is reflected in the battle of ideas and socio-political doctrines. Today this struggle has become more bitter than ever before. Previously the ideological struggle between proletarian internationalism and nationalism was 13 __RUNNING_HEADER_RIGHT__ THEORETICAL ASPKCTS OF PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM
never as heated as it is now: today the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism have become reality and are employed in the development of world socialism; today also these principles have given rise to close interaction between the three main revolutionary forces of the times—socialism, the working-class movement and the national liberation movement. The ruling circles of the imperialist powers have raised to the level of state policy the ideological struggle against socialism, an important aspect of which is the kindling and exploitation of nationalism to destroy the unity of the arjti-imperialist forces. They are devoting enormous resources to this struggle.The whole course of modern social development is bringing aspects of proletarian internationalism to the forefront. A whole system of objective preconditions and subjective factors for the growing role of proletarian internationalism in socio-political life is in operation. Such objective preconditions as the building of a developed socialist society in the USSR, the consolidation of the world socialist system, the growth of the working-class and communist movement, the collapse of the colonial system of imperialism, and the increased revolutionary potential of the national liberation movement under the influence of world socialism, international detente, expansion and consolidation of the Leninist principles of peaceful coexistence that occurred as a result of the vigorous effort for peace, have vastly extended the scope for employing the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism. The subjective factors behind the growing role of proletarian internationalism include the creative development of Marxist-Leninist theory by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and other fraternal parties, and the successfully evolving struggle against bourgeois ideology and Right-wing and ``Left'' opportunism.
Proletarian internationalism emerges from the revolutionary movement of the proletariat, which, like the other classes, consists of various national contingents. Nations, in turn, consist of classes. Class relations develop within a nation (e.g., the relationship of the British bourgeoisie to the British workers) and between nations (e.g., the British bourgeoisie's relationship to Irish workers). All the variations on this situation also show the existence of 14 national differences between these opposed classes. Class oppression is complemented by national oppression, and social antagonisms an: reinforced by conflict among nations.
Classes determine the social content of life in society, wJiile nations arc a historically necessary form of the social development of capitalism and of the period of the establishment of a ro'or/c/ communist, society. The point is that there is no class that does not consist of national contingents. The interrelationship of these contingents, and all the processes connected with their interaction form the content of intraclass relations. For example, the relations between the British and French workers simultaneously include both intraclass and national relations (workers of different nations).
Depending on its social nature, each class has its own political and moral standards and principles. For example, in relations between the British and French bourgeoisie, as is the case with other groups of the bourgeoisie, self-- interest is the order of the day—rivalry and the extraction of maximal profit. The common interests of the world bourgeoisie are defended by its individual national groups to the extent to which they happen to coincide with the interests of a particular group at a given time. Posing as the defenders of the ``free world'', ``Western civilisation'', and the like, the American imperialists are seeking to create the best conditions for the expansion of American capital.
The bourgeoisie as a class is inherently nationalist. It is unable to base its relations on equality and co-operation between national groups. The socio-class basis for the contradictions between the imperialist powers is provided by the clash of interests between the different national groups of the bourgeoisie. Whenever the bourgeoisie is at the centre of a nation's affairs, interstate antagonistic contradictions will be an inevitable, inalienable feature of its international relations. Interimperialist contradictions are becoming more intense as capital is internationalised and the economic integration of bourgeois Europe proceeds further. The centres of imperialist rivalry are shifting: the new pattern is the USA versus the West European countries and the USA versus Japan. But, as before, competition and rivalry are the 15 socio-political and moral norm in relations between national detachments of the bourgeoisie.
A completely different type of social relations takes shape between the workers of different nations and countries. Relations of domination and subordination cannot exist between them, since they are incompatible with the nature of that particular class. The dream of equality conceived by the great humanists of the past became reality for the first time in the social relations between the workers of various nations and countries.
Of all the classes in bourgeois society only the proletariat possesses an organisation of intraclass relations between the different national contingents of the working class which enables it to act as a world class, defending the interests of all working people and all those who are exploited. Solidarity and mutual assistance are the hallmark of the relations between workers of different nations and countries. Proletarian internationalism expresses the aspects and facets of social relations whose subject is the working class. The relations between the national contingents of the working class develop on the principles of equality, friendship and solidarity, and are a very specific form of social relations.
The working class is anti-nationalist by nature. Since it is the most advanced section of every nation, it expresses most fully the real interests of the majority in that nation. By rallying class allies around itself in the struggle to overthrow the rule of the bourgeoisie the working class acts as the principal social force uniting different peoples. Proletarian internationalism is an inalienable feature of the social relationship between the workers of various nations and countries. Internationalism arose within the workingclass movement as a special kind of social practice, which grows out of the mutual support and assistance afforded by the national detachments of the working class.
Since it is a special kind of social relationship, proletarian internationalism cannot function without the workers' class awareness. They recognise themselves as a class when they compare working people with the capitalists and understand the complete opposition of their interests. The class awareness of the workers, in which there are various levels 16 as it develops, can only be strengthened in the struggle against the bourgeoisie.
The workers' recognition of their social nature, which is assisted by the whole of their daily experience of capitalism, is just one of the elements in the workers' class awareness. Others are the nascent feeling of belonging to a world-wide army of working people, and the workers' hatred of capitalists. International ties between workers of different nations and countries arise from all this quite spontaneously.
As for class instinct, it contains nothing more than elements of the workers' class awareness, and they only become a developed and orderly system when they acquire a scientific and theoretical expression. Possession of their own programme showing the aims and means of struggle, the existence of a political party, the degree to which the workers have grasped revolutionary theory and the part they play in political struggle are all indications of how developed the workers' class awareness really is.
Proletarian internationalism reflects the moment of transition from the ideal (the workers' class consciousness) to the material (the practice of the proletariat's revolutionary movement). The workers derive the understanding of their position in society, their role in history and their main class enemy, i.e., class awareness, from real life, ''. . .constantly gaining experience from the very struggle that they begin to wage against the employers and that increasingly develops, becomes sharper, and involves larger numbers of workers as big factories = grow".^^1^^
The class awareness of the workers includes a whole complex of socio-political, ideological, ethical and sociopsychological phenomena. It embraces an understanding of one's oppressed position, the feeling of belonging to the working class, opposition to the bourgeoisie and the understanding of one's own interests. Also involved are ideological, socio-ethical and socio-psychological principles, an understanding of one's place in both present and future society and of the necessity of one's party, a knowledge of the relationship between the classes in society, and _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 2, p. 113.
17 developing the ability to resist the ideology and policies of other classes. The highest form of the working class's awareness is the realisation of the community of interests of the proletariat the world over.Class self-awareness is an active and transforming force. It is involved in the practice of the proletariat's class struggle. Like the whole of reality, the latter is viewed by the adherents of dialectical materialism not "in the form of the object [Objekt] or of contemplation [Anschauung], but as human sensuous = activity".^^1^^ The working-class movement is a specific form of social practice. In this practice the highest form of the workers' self-awareness not only reflects the social relations between the workers of different nations and countries, but also helps to create the elements of a new social reality.
The spontaneous working-class movement and the spontaneously developed feeling of international solidarity preceded the formulation of the scientific ideology of proletarian internationalism, which was created by the founders of Marxism after their discovery of the laws of social development. For the idea of the international cohesion of the proletariat to take a firm grip on the minds of millions of people of all nations, it had to acquire the force of a revolutionary scientific theory. In turn, scientific knowledge assists the development and expansion of the feeling of revolutionary solidarity.
In the General Rules of the International Working Men's Association Karl Marx expressed the historical necessity for the workers to develop international ties and provided the following justification: ''. . .The emancipation of labour is neither a local nor a national, but a social problem, embracing all countries in which modern society = exists".^^2^^ In the report of the Central Council of the International Working Men's Association to the Brussels Congress he wrote that the destiny of modern society "coalesces with the historical progress of the class that bear in their hands the regeneration of = mankind".^^3^^ Proletarian internationalism is one _-_-_
~^^1^^ See Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Selected Works, in three volumes, Vol. 1, Moscow, 1973, p. 13.
~^^2^^ Ibid., p. 19.
~^^3^^ The General Council of the First International 1866--1868, = Moscow, 1974, p. 329.
18 of the conditions necessary for the accomplishment of the proletariat's historic mission, which will lead to the social regeneration of mankind.Class struggle within one nation and one state, and the uniting of workers belonging to different nations and states are different levels of the proletariat's class struggle. In the latter case the revolutionary transforming activity goes beyond national and national-state bounds.
The proletariat's developing class awareness enables it to break free of petty-bourgeois nationalist ideology and psychology. Hence, at the very outset of their revolutionary actions advanced workers of different nations and states began to evince internationalist solidarity. Free from national narrow-mindedness and nationalist prejudices, European workers were voicing in the 1830s slogans that struck a chord among the proletarians of other continents.
The ideological and organisational guidance of the international working-class movement by the First International (1864--76) was a striking instance in the development of the practice of proletarian internationalism. The internationalist revolutionary forces in the Second International (1889-- 1914) also did much to rally and unite the workers and to organise joint action by workers of different = countries.^^1^^
The workers of various countries provided examples of proletarian unity during the first Russian revolution, which was a ``dress rehearsal" for the October Socialist Revolution. The events of the 9th of January, the mutiny on the battleship Potyomkin, the October general strike and the December armed rising evoked a deep response among the workers of Europe and America. In Germany and Britain the workers foiled an attempt by their governments to provide armed support to tsarism. The German working class directly assisted the Russian revolutionaries by organising an arms cache. The French proletariat frustrated a French Government plan to aid tsarism financially. A "not a sou for tsarism" movement was launched in = France.^^2^^
_-_-_~^^1^^ A great deal has been written on the history of the First and Second Internationals. William Foster's History of the Three Internationals (New York, 1955) deserves special mention.
~^^2^^ See: A History of the USSR from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, Vol. VI, Moscow, 1968, pp. 251--52; A History of the Second International, Vol. II, Moscow, 1966, pp. 146--49 (both in Russian).
19All these events and the historic events that followed showed that Marxism-Leninism had given scientific expression to the historical necessity to establish friendship and brotherhood among nations. The working class is the chief social force that translates this historical necessity into reality. The internationalism of the proletariat is rooted in the social nature of the working class and its scientific ideology. It serves the proletariat as a tested ideological and political weapon in the struggle to accomplish its historic tasks.
This can be illustrated by the activities of the Third International. The victory of the October Revolution and the setting up of the Third International opened up a new stage in the development of proletarian unity. The Third International was not just an organisational device for the international communist movement. It was founded on the upsurge in the working-class movement and in international proletarian solidarity that occurred under the direct influence of the victorious October Revolution. The appearance of the Third International and its varied efforts to consolidate the world communist .movement ideologically and politically were a substantial element in the new stage of the development of proletarian internationalism which began after the October Revolution. For the first time a socialist revolution had taken place in one of the most multinational countries in the world. It had triumphed because of the revolutionary fellowship of the working masses of over 100 nations and nationalities. The Soviet Republic was history's first testing ground for the strength and viability of proletarian internationalism (this is dealt with in detail in Part II).
The international solidarity of the workers was manifested ^with renewed vigour in the victory of the October Revolution and the establishment of Soviet society. Conscious and advanced workers in all countries viewed the victory of the October Revolution as their own, and launched a powerful movement in support of the socialist state. Workers in Britain, France, the USA and Italy played an active part in the "Hands off Soviet Russia" struggle against the intervention.
Harry Pollitt, a prominent member of the British working-class movement, headed the national committee of the Hands Off Russia Movement. A Society of Friends of Soviet __PRINTERS_P_19_COMMENT__ 2* 20 Russia, led by William Foster, Elisabeth Flynn and other outstanding members of the working-class movement, was set up in the USA. Massive demonstrations took place in support of the young Soviet Republic. Workers demanded that their governments establish diplomatic, trade and cultural relations with the Land of Soviets. In September 1920 German workers went on strike, demanding the cessation of aid to the White Poles. "The international bourgeoisie has only to raise a hand against us to have it seized by its own workers,'' Lenin = declared.^^1^^ The world's workers made a great contribution to the development of the practice of proletarian internationalism by providing effective help to the young Soviet Republic. The active support of the working class in capitalist countries was one of the causes of the victory of Soviet Russia in the Civil War and the foreign intervention.
Many prisoners of war who were in Russia after the October Revolution went over to the Soviet side. About 80,000 Hungarians, up to 40,000 Chinese, some 30,000 Yugoslavs and thousands of Czechs, Poles, Germans, Koreans, Rumanians, Bulgarians and Finns fought in the Red Army for Soviet power in 1917--20. Red Guard detachments were organised from prisoners of war in 400 towns and villages in Soviet = Russia.^^2^^
The Red Paper accounted for the POWs' joining the Red Army by citing motives such as the following: "The power that rose above nationalities, the power that rose above bourgeois patriotism is able to muster all working people beneath its = banners."^^3^^ Among the internationalists fighting in the ranks of the Red Army were the members of many nationalities—Karol Swierczewski, Bela Kun, Mate Zalka, S. Gheorgiu, Oleko Dundic, Jaroslav Hasek, Ferenc Mirnmch, Toivo Antikainen, Jeng Fu-ch'eng, J. Strombach and many others. Speaking at a meeting held to mark the despatch to the front of the Warsaw Revolutionary Regiment, Lenin commented that "an alliance is coming into being between the revolutionaries of different nations—something that the _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 309.
~^^2^^ See The Cause of the Working People of the Whole World, Moscow, 1957, pp. 45--46 (in Russian).
~^^3^^ Quoted From the History of International Proletarian Solidarity, Documents and Materials, Book I, Moscow, 1957, p. 65 (in Russian).
21 finest people have dreamt of; a real alliance of workers, and not intellectual dreamers."The guarantee of victory lies in overcoming national hatred and = mistrust."^^1^^
In response to Lenin's Appeal to the International Proletariat on August 2, = 1921,^^2^^ working people the world over shared in the task of providing relief to the starving population of the Volga area. At the initiative of the Comintern's Executive Committee, the co-ordination of these efforts was entrusted to a committee sitting abroad and subsequently known as the International Workers' Aid. This organisation was headed by Clara Zetkin.
Pravda of August 11, 1921, reported that "Czechoslovak workers will work an extra hour every week for the benefit of Russia. Socialist deputies are demanding free transport along the Danube for food supplies to = Russia".^^3^^
The Austrian Communists proposed in 1921: "(1) ...to organise a World Solidarity Day on August 4. On August 4 every proletarian, no matter what party he belongs to, should hand over his day's wages to the proletarians and peasants of Russia. (2) During the following period every worker should work at least one hour a week for the benefit of his Russian = comrades.''^^4^^ At the end of 1922 Lenin wrote to Wilhelm Miinzenberg: "The fraternal aid of the international working class has already begun to operate. The American tractor column near Perm, the agricultural groups of the American Technical Aid, the agricultural and industrial undertakings of the International Workers' Aid, the allocation of and subscriptions to the first proletarian loan, through the Workers' Aid to Soviet Russia—all these are very promising beginnings in the cause of workers' fraternal aid to promote the economic restoration of Soviet Russia.
"The work of economic assistance, so happily begun by the International Workers' Aid to Soviet Russia, should be supported in every possible way by the workers and toilers _-_-_
~^^1^^ See V. I. Lenin, Collected Walks, Vol. 28, pp. 39-40.
~^^2^^ Ibid., Vol. 32. p. 502.
~^^3^^ From the History of Intemalioncd Proletarian Solidarity, Book II. Moscow, 195S. p. 301 (in Russian).
~^^4^^ Ibid., p. 299.
22 of the whole world. Side by side with the continuing strongpolitical pressure on the governments of the bourgeois countries over the demand for recognition of the Soviet government, widespread economic aid by the world proletariat is at present the best and most practical support of Soviet Russia in her difficult economic war against the imperialist concerns, and the best support for her work of building a socialist = economy."^^1^^In its turn, the working class of the first socialist country provided the international revolutionary forces with moral support and material assistance.
Under capitalism the working class had been unable to make use of the power of the state in the development of international ties. A completely different situation arose with the advent of socialism. In developing its links with the proletariat in capitalist countries and with the oppressed peoples the Soviet working class used state power. Thus, the socialist state's foreign policy, as well as its internal arrangements, cut fresh ground in developing the practice of international ties. The Soviet working class took an active part in the international campaigns against fascism in Italy and in defence of Tom Mooney, Sacco and Vanzetti, and supported the anti-fascist movement in defence of Ernst Thalmann and Georgi Dimitrov.
The Soviet people provided moral and material assistance in the Chinese people's anti-imperialist national liberation struggle. Aid committees were founded in a number of Soviet towns. A branch of the Hands Off China workers' association was organised in Moscow's Krasnaya Presnya district in 1924, for example. As the Chinese press pointed out at one time, the assistance and support given by the Soviet Union was one of the most important external factors in the victory of the Chinese revolution.
International proletarian unity developed vigorously in the struggle against fascism. A striking example is the backing provided by the international proletariat to the Spanish Republicans' heroic struggle against fascism. During the Spanish people's national revolutionary war 54 countries were represented in the international brigades fighting on the Republican side. Many peoples of the USSR were _-_-_
^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 35, pp. 559--60,
23 represented, together with Germans and Austrians, Italians, Poles, Bulgarians, Frenchmen, Belgians and many others. The struggle put up by the international brigades in Spain provided considerable moral, political and military assistance to the Spanish Republicans.The international solidarity of the proletariat also developed during the Second World War. Brought up in the spirit of internationalism, many thousands of convinced and selfless anti-fascists and experienced revolutionaries heroically waged an unequal struggle for the freedom of their own people and the other peoples that had been enslaved by the nazis. After the treacherous attack by nazi Germany and her satellites on the USSR workers in capitalist countries performed new feats of proletarian solidarity. In turn, the Soviet people and its army played the decisive role in the defeat of nazi Germany and not only defended the freedom and independence of their own country, but also helped to liberate the peoples of many countries in Europe and Asia. The Soviet people made the principal contribution towards routing fascism, the strike force of world imperialism, and thereby discharged its internationalist duty to working people the world over.
The history of the revolutionary movement shows that proletarian internationalism as the working class's scientific ideology in the national question arose and is developing in the principled battle against nationalism. The ideas and sentiments of national narrow-mindedness and isolation were affecting some members of the working-class movement. The practice of the workers' internationalist unity developed in the struggle to overcome chauvinist and nationalist trends. Thus, a bitter struggle took shape in the General Council of the First International in June-July 1866, when war broke out between Austria and Prussia. Referring to the situation that had arisen in the General Council, Marx wrote to Engels: "... the situation is difficult now, because on the one hand silly English Italianism and on the other the erroneous French polemics against it must be equally = combated."~^^1^^
_-_-_^^1^^ Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Selected Correspondence, = Moscow, 1965, p. 179.
24International ties develop in the struggle against opportunism, which frequently goes hand in hand with nationalism. This alliance between opportunism and nationalism had been detected at the time when Marx and Engels were writing. It can be seen particularly in the understanding and assessment of differences in tactics and the forms and methods of the revolutionary struggle of the workers' national contingents. Both overestimations and underestimations of these differences proved to be an obstacle to the development of international ties. Special mention should be made of the existence of national prejudices. There are numerous examples of this. One is that provided by the British trade unions, which looked disparagingly on the German socialists in the 1890s to combat the opportunists. In this connection Engels wrote to the German socialist leader, August Bebel: "Here you are simply boycotted out of pure English chauvinism. People here are much angered by the fact that a working-class movement exists in Germany. . .".^^1^^
This disregard for the revolutionary activities of proletarians belonging to other nationalities was explained by "the English masses' extreme ignorance of foreign affairs and their inherent arrogance, as a result of which a foreigner is regarded as a second-rate person and all events abroad are of hardly any = significance. . . ".^^2^^
Engels considered that if British workers could be made familiar with the experience of the German workers' movement, then this would help to dispel British arrogance towards the Germans. Engels pointed out in the same letter that "if for only a year we had a paper which would simply publish accounts of the German movement, this situation [ignorance of foreign affairs.—Auth.} would soon be at an end; after all, there is a great latent spirit of internationalism, needing only food in order to put paid to mindless British arrogance, at least in a large number of = people".^^3^^ "Latent spirit of internationalism" here means the feeling of revolutionary solidarity that arose in the heat of the class struggle.
_-_-_~^^1^^ Marx/Engels, Werke, Berlin, 1968, Bd. 38, S. 510.
~^^2^^ Ibid., S. 511.
~^^3^^ Ibid.
25The practice of the development of international ties between the workers of different nations and countries was not smooth and straightforward or without its lurches and temporary retreats. An example of this is provided by the disintegration of the parties of the Second International during the very first year of the imperialist war of 1914--18. At that time the feelings of national narrow-mindedness among the opportunist leaders of the Second International were one of the sources of the theoretical and political vacillation among the revolutionaries. These leaders did nothing to implement the decision of the Basle Congress that imperialism had to be opposed by proletarian solidarity. At the outset of the world war they betrayed the cause of socialism and defected to the imperialist bourgeoisie. On August 4, 1914, Germany's Social-Democrats in the Reichstag voted in favour of war credits, and the Social-Democratic leaders of Britain, France, Belgium and other countries adopted a similar position in their own parliaments. The opportunist leaders became blatant social chauvinists, supporting the bourgeois call to "defend the Fatherland" and declaring "civil peace" within the nation. European Social-Democracy connived to spread a nationalist, chauvinist fervour throughout the various countries. During the war the party leaders of the Second International proved unable to adhere to their internationalist positions and yielded to "patriotic fervour''. Some members of the Social-Democratic parties entered reactionary governments. In the Second International bourgeois nationalism and chauvinism gained the upper hand over the internationalist traditions of the working-class movement.
The lesson of the ideological and subsequent organisational collapse of the Second International is that nationalism is a source of great danger to the working class and communist movement. The nationalism of the leaders of the Second International resulted from their loss of the class, proletarian, criterion when assessing social phenomena in general and national interrelations in particular.
The social chauvinism that grew out of nationalism destroyed the Second International. This sad experience shows that nationalism creates division and discord among revolutionaries. "One who has adopted the standpoint of nationalism,'' Lenin wrote, "naturally arrives at the desire 26 to erect a Chinese Wall around his nationality, his national working-class movement; he is unembarrassed even by the fact that it would mean building separate walls in each city, in each little town and village, unembarrassed even by the fact that by his tactics of division and dismemberment he is reducing to nil the great call for the rallying and unity of the proletarians of all nations, all races and all = languages."^^1^^
The only Marxist party to remain true to the sacred cause of proletarian internationalism was the Bolshevik Party. The Bolsheviks launched an ideological and political struggle against the social chauvinists, who were calling on the Russian proletariat to defend their bourgeois-monarchist fatherland. Having abandoned the class, proletarian approach to assessing the first imperialist war, the social chauvinists substituted nationalism for proletarian internationalism and appealed to Russia's working masses to give their wholehearted support to the armed struggle mounted by tsarism and its allies against the Prussian junkers.
The bourgeoisie's attempt to intoxicate the Russian workers with nationalist fervour by setting up military-industrial committees produced no tangible results. A wave of spontaneous defence hysteria engulfed insignificant strata of workers, who demanded that German foremen should be dismissed from factories. Class awareness was strongest in most Russian workers. V. V. Kuibyshev, who was in close contact at the beginning of the war with the soldiers of the Petrograd garrison, wrote: "Among most worker-reservists I detected approximately the following mood: I did not see any swaggering chauvinism or indiscriminate anger against all Germans, but their hatred for the German Government and Germany's ruling classes is strong. .. . They dream oi liberating Germany from irresponsible rule and of disarming the whole of Europe as a = result."^^2^^
The appearance of nationalist and opportunist trends in the working-class movement shows that the social practice of the development of the liberation movement is complex and contradictory. The tendency for the international unity _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 6, pp. 520--21.
~^^2^^ Quoted from = A History of the USSR from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, Vol. VI, p. 592 (in Russian).
27 of the workers to develop emerges as it overcomes this contradictoriness. Internationalism develops in the struggle against nationalism. Lenin wrote: "Bourgeois nationalism and proletarian internationalism—these are the two irreconcilably hostile slogans that correspond to the two great class camps throughout the capitalist world, and express the two policies (nay, the two world outlooks) in the national ques- tion."^^1^^Bourgeois nationalism is founded on the idealistic conception of the nation as some kind of irrational essence that is unbounded by time. It proceeds from the view that each nation has at its basis its own behavioural stereotype, by which that nation's whole history is predetermined.
Epistemologically, bourgeois nationalism is a distorted and illusory reflection of social reality in which people's national ties are divorced from the system of social relations, and the role of the nation in social development is made into an absolute. As an example of the absolutisation of the significance of the nation and the ignoring of the role of classes in social development, the following statement made by the American bourgeois sociologist Rupert Emerson could be quoted: "The nation is today the largest community which . . . effectively commands men's loyalty, overriding the claims both of the lesser communities within it and those which cut across it or potentially enfold it within a still greater society, reaching ultimately to mankind as a whole. In this sense the nation can be called a 'terminal community' with the implication that it is for present purposes the effective end of the road for man as a social animal, the end point of working solidarity between = men."^^2^^ Given this inflated conception of the nation, Emerson finds no place in society for either classes or class struggle.
For Emerson the highest form of human community is the nation. This gives rise to the conclusion that all the interests of the other communities, which he calls lesser communities, must be sacrificed to the major community, the nation, the guiding force of which is the bourgeoisie. The result is that unity of action within nations is "the end point of working _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 20, p. 26.
~^^2^^ Rupert Emerson, From Empire to Nation, Cambrige, 1960, p. 96.
28 solidarity between men'', and that all human acts, designs and feelings can serve only the nation and cannot extend beyond its bounds. In political terms, this amounts to a denial of the existence of proletarian revolutionary solidarity as a socio-political value.Emerson is a contemporary of ours. Thus, he cannot fail to see that world working-class and communist movements exist in the world of today. Referring to these movements, he laments that ''. . .the primacy of the nation is by no means unchallenged. The challenges come not only from the older forms of community, . . . but also from newer variants. . . . In terms of its current impact the challenge to the hold of the nation which has had by far the greatest effect is that of the Communists who, at least in theory, give their first allegiance to the class community of the workers of the world. ... To the Communist the nation is properly no more than a human = frailty. . . ."^^1^^
Clearly, Emerson is distorting the Marxist conception of nations. Marxists-Leninists challenge not the nation, but nationalism. They recognise the historical necessity for the existence not only of the nation, but also of national interests. The obstacle to social progress is not the nation, but nationalism, which is a means of kindling enmity between different peoples.
It is characteristic of all forms of nationalism that they ignore the decisive role of class relations in social life and preach the idea that the nation is a suprahistorical personage that must be preserved and developed at all costs. Nationalism of any kind alienates nations from one another, erecting a political and psychological barrier between them.
Nationalists make capital from people's ideas that what is national is habitual, familiar and traditional. This view is supported by the American sociologist Walter Sulzbach: "Men generally prefer to belong to a group distinct from other groups, and possibly opposed to the others; they want to know with whom they are allied, not artificially, but by 'nature'. It seems 'natural' that if there are many states, their boundaries should generally follow language = lines."^^2^^ This _-_-_
~^^1^^ Rupert Emerson, Op. cit, pp. 97--98.
~^^2^^ Walter Sulzbach, National Consciousness, Washington, 1943, p. 50.
29 leads to the conclusion that national boundaries are unshakeable and that they arc more important than all other social links.Proletarian internationalism is based on the recognition that there is a community of the fundamental interests of the working class in different countries, and that it is perfectly ``natural'' that there should be social ties between workers ol different nations. Moreover, as the workers come to recognise this situation more deeply and more completely, and as they become more profoundly aware of the community of ideals and fundamental interests of the workers of different nations and countries, so they become more capable to oppose the spread and consolidation of pettybourgeois nationalist tendencies. Nationalism disunites the national contingents of the working class. Nationalism is the main doctrine of the bourgeoisie, opposed to the slogan "Workers of all countries, unite!''. Lenin said: "The more strongly the working-class movement develops, the more frantic are the attempts by the bourgeoisie and the feudalists to suppress it or break it up. Both these methods—suppression by force and disintegration by bourgeois influence—are constantly employed all over the world, in all countries, and one or another of these methods is adopted alternately by the different parties of the ruling = classes."^^1^^
Among the devices and means employed by the bourgeoisie in order to cause ideological discord among the workers, a special place is accorded to bourgeois nationalism. This ideology is capable of disuniting workers' consciousness and feelings more powerfully and swiftly than other forms of ideology. Among the ideas most widely used by the bourgeoisie to strengthen its ideological influence on the working people, Lenin identified "refined nationalism, which advocates the division and splitting up of the proletariat on the most plausible and specious pretexts, as for example, that of protecting the interests of `national culture', `national autonomy, or independence', and so on, and so = forth".^^2^^ Nationalism in the working-class and communist movement arises from the anti-dialectical opposing of the general and the specific in the interests of the workers of different nations _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin. Collected Works, Vol. 20, p. 289.
~^^2^^ Ibid.
30 and countries. What is general in the social interest, policies and strategy of the working class cannot manifest itself in any other way than in harmony with the nationally specific in the interests of the national contingent of workers in question. The epistemological roots of nationalism in the working-class and communist movement must be seen in the absolutisation of the national-specific and its metaphysical separation from what is general. Lenin's critique of the platform of the = Bund^^1^^ is of fundamental methodological significance here.The Bundists' nationalist leanings followed from their belief that a special political organisation was needed to express the specific national interests of Jewish workers. The methodological flimsiness of the Bund's idea must be pointed out. The general and the particular do not exist in isolation in a "pure form''. They express the connection and the interaction of various aspects of one and the same process. The party of the working class provides a coherent expression of both the general and the specific interests of the workers. It takes into account the specific national interests of the workers of all nationalities.
To oppose the specific in the workers' national interests to their general class features means, as Lenin figuratively put it, "contrasting the different colours, tastes, and fragrances of particular apples to the number of 'other' apples. . . . Not only some, but every apple has its special taste, colour, and fragrance."^^2^^
The interests of the working class can be very shrewdly defined as a contradictory unity of the general and the particular. The general (class) and the specific (national) are two inseparable aspects of social life. Correct political guidance _-_-_
~^^1^^ The Bund, or the General Jewish Workers' Union in Lithuania, Poland and Russia, appeared in 1897 as a petty-bourgeois nationalist organisation. Its members upheld the principle that a party should be formed on a nationality principle. The Bund's nationalism had much in common with the Zionist tendency. In defiance of the position adopted by the Bund's Right wing, some of the organisation's Left-wing members convened the 13th Conference in Minsk in 1921 at which it was decided to amalgamate wtih the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks). This meant the end of the Bund. The organisation's reactionary leaders subsequently emigrated from Russia and took up anti-Soviet activities.
~^^2^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 7, p. 97.
31 must unite into a single complex both the class and national interests of the working people.Taking account of specific national interests does not in the least contradict the class interests of the working class. Moreover, the interests of the working class cannot be consistently realised without due account being taken of national and particular interests and without their being combined with those common to all proletarians. Lenin made it clear that "the fundamental interest of proletarian solidarity, and consequently of the proletarian class struggle, requires that we never adopt a formal attitude to the national = question."^^1^^
The enemies of communism try to prove that the workers' international interests exclude national interests. It is in precisely this area that they see causes that might ``erode'' communist ideology. Sulzberger, for example, asks: "Does Marxism contain within itself the seeds of its own destruction?" and then goes on to provide the answer: "When tied to national interests it most assuredly = does."^^2^^ However, this is nothing but wishful thinking. In fact, the reverse is true.
Internationalism does not discard national interests. It would be wrong to claim that the interests of the working class were incompatible with nationally specific interests. To adopt an approach based on proletarian internationalism in dealing with all matters regarding the interrelationship of national contingents of the working class means being able to correctly combine the general and the specifically national in the class struggle, in the building of socialism and in cooperation between socialist countries, and being able to give preference to the common interests of the working class— the only class in the history of society to possess no class or national selfishness.
The separation and opposition of the general and the specifically national in the working-class and communist movement give rise to opportunism and nationalism, which, socially, are of the same nature. The social role of opportunism boils down to attempts to reconcile the workers with the capitalists. The nationalists also perform this function by dulling the workers' class awareness. Lenin wrote that _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 36, p. 609.
~^^2^^ S. L. Sulzberger, The Big Thaw, New York, 1956, p. 230.
32 "social-nationalism has developed from opportunism, and it was the latter that gave it strength. How could social-- nationalism have appeared 'all of a sudden'? In the same fashion as a babe appears 'all of a sudden' if nine months have elapsed since its conception. Each of the numerous manifestations of opportunism during the entire second (or yesterday) epoch in all the European countries was a rivulet, which now llowed `all of a sudden' into a big though very shallow (and, we might add parenthetically, muddy and dirty) river of social-nationalism. Nine months after conception the babe must separate from its mother; many decades after opportunism was conceived, social-nationalism, its ripe fruit, will have to separate from present-day democracy within a period that is more or less brief (as compared with = decades)."^^1^^The opportunism of the leaders of the Second International impelled them towards nationalism. Here we are dealing with a historically specific type of nationalism—the nationalism of the opportunists of the Second International. Lenin showed that "the ideological and political affinity, connection, and even identity between opportunism and socialnationalism are beyond = doubt."^^2^^ In pointing to the internal link between nationalism and opportunism we have not exhausted all the causes of the manifestation of opportunism. It arises from a betrayal of the class interests of the proletariat within a country and internationally.
Lenin's idea of the internal link between opportunism and nationalism is of fundamental importance to the world communist movement. As Leonid Brezhnev, the head of the CPSU delegation to the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties held in Moscow in 1969, pointed out, "a frequent feature of both 'Left' and Right-wing opportunism is concessions to nationalism, and sometimes even an outright switch to nationalistic positions.
"Of course, the struggle against opportunism and nationalism in one country or another is, above all, a sphere within the competence of the fraternal Party concerned. No Party can advance successfully unless it consistently and resolutely upholds the purity of Marxist-Leninist principles. But it is _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 21. pp. 154--55.
~^^2^^ Ibid., p. 154.
33 also true that when this struggle is abandoned in some sector of our movement, it affects the movement as a = whole."^^1^^At the Meeting Janos Kadar made the point that of the bourgeois views, "the nationalistic views, particularly the form of nationalism expressed in anti-Sovietism, are unquestionably the most dangerous for our = movement".^^2^^
The idea that the internal unity of opportunism and nationalism arises from opposing the international and the national was also expressed in a speech delivered to the Meeting by Gus Hall, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USA, who noted that "whenever these are momentary differences between international responsibility and some specific national interests, opportunism will in all cases lead to discarding of internationalism. Opportunism leads to an emphasis on the differences and on nationalism. A working-class revolutionary concept will lead to a search for the points of unity. Opportunism will seek to widen the points of difference. A revolutionary concept leads to the elimination of the differences. The struggle for concepts of internationalism is a struggle against opportunism.
"Theories of disunity are also not new in the history of the revolutionary movement. They appear in exact ratio to opposition to working-class = internationalism."^^3^^
The link between opportunism and nationalism can also be traced with reference to internationalist duty and obligations to the world proletariat. Both opportunists and nationalists deny the international tasks of the working class. They are both slaves to bourgeois ideology. This denial of the historical necessity for the workers to unite is typical of both opportunism and nationalism. Nationalism in the workingclass and communist movement is essentially this same opportunism, but manifested in matters arising from the relations between the national contingents of the working class. Consequently, opportunism and nationalism feed one another. They both distort the workers' class-consciousness. _-_-_
~^^1^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, = Moscow 1969, Prague, 1969, p. 156.
~^^2^^ Ibid., p. 331.
~^^3^^ Ibid., p. 437.
34 Proletarian internationalism develops and grows stronger in the struggle against opportunism and nationalism.The basic task of proletarian internationalism is to ensure in practice the unity of revolutionary action by workers from all countries, by the world communist movement and by all revolutionary forces.
Proletarian revolutionary solidarity helps the working masses of all nationalities to come to a deeper understanding of their own social essence. It enables all the national contingents of the working class to perceive themselves as a part of a single world working class. As Marx wrote, "the brotherhood of man is no mere phrase with them, (i.e., the workers of various nations and countries—Auth.] but a fact of life, and the nobility of man shines upon us from their work-hardened = bodies".^^1^^
The vital chain of revolutionary links between the workers of different nations and countries has never been broken, even though the bourgeoisie has done its utmost, and still does, to throw the international working class into disarray and to prevent its acting as a united revolutionary force. In order to set the workers of various nations and countries against one another, the bourgeois ideologists are employing sophisticated tactics. They are relying particularly on the use of national self-awareness. Workers are part of a particular nation. Correctly understood national pride and national self-awareness are not alien to them. Bourgeois ideologists endeavour to magnify and absolutise these feelings. But, in addition to national self-awareness, the workers are also endowed with their class, proletarian awareness. The workers' class and national self-awareness exist simultaneously. Whenever the workers' loyalties are determined by nationality alone and class awareness fails to operate, these workers are firmly in the grip of nationalism. Internationalism among workers arises when their class awareness is operating and when workers of different nations put forward as the supreme socio-political value the principle "we are workers, and they are bourgeois".
Proletarian internationalism as a phenomenon of socio-- _-_-_
~^^1^^ Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, = Moscow, 1974, p. 109.
35 political and socio-psychological life functions whenever the workers are profoundly aware of the community of their own interests with the interests of workers in other countries. Given that racial and national prejudice is a real fact of capitalist life, and given that the bourgeoisie is trying to use national self-awareness in order to create friction between workers of different nations and states, then it is easy to see that proletarian internationalism can only develop in the struggle against racism, bourgeois chauvinism and nationalism in the revolutionary movement.In order to create hostility and disunity among the workers of various countries and races, the bourgeoisie makes full use of its government machine. It should also be borne in mind here that the competition of the employment market is exploited for these ends. Whenever workers organise strikes and stoppages, the capitalists frequently avail themselves of the services of foreign workers. By flooding the jobs market with foreigners, the capitalists use them as a weapon against the local workers. Thus, for example, the presence in the FRG in the early seventies of some two million imported workers from Yugoslavia, Turkey and Italy enabled the imperialists to soften the demands for higher wages in West = Germany.^^1^^
The use of national and racial differences between the workers in order to disunite them and kindle nationalism and racism is the most characteristic device used by the bourgeoisie against the revolutiona' y solidarity of the workers. It is well known that the nazis managed to employ racism to dull the German workers' class consciousness. Racism provided the foundation for the nazis' world outlook. In the race theory they saw the key to understanding the whole mystery of social development and social conflict.
From its very outset German fascism used for reactionary purposes the German masses' hatred for the predatory Treaty of Versailles, and energetical!}' disseminated a highly aggressive chauvinism and a race theory that stirred up hatred for other peoples, especially the Slavs and Jews. The _-_-_
~^^1^^ See Philip Bart, = ``The Multi-National Corporations and the Prolems of the Working Class'', World Marxist Review, No.~7, July 1971, p. 30
__PRINTERS_P_35_COMMENT__ 3* 36 aim of this propaganda was to conceal the class antagonisms within the country and hence to ``ideologically'' prepare the ground for taking revenge for the defeat of German imperialism in the 1914--18 war.The fascists elevated racism into an official ideology that provided the basis for monstrous crimes. Applied to foreign policy, the race theory served as the basis for expansion, justifying it by the ``right'' of a superior nation to rule over inferior peoples, by the necessity to "put an end" to the ``scheming'' of the inferior nations that arose from their ``jealousy'' of the superior nation, and so on. Setting out from their barbarous race theory, the nazis aimed to enslave the peoples of Europe, Asia and Latin America and to annihilate whole peoples. The overwhelming majority of the world's peoples were declared by the nazis to be inferior and sub-human. The Second World War showed what this ideology and these policies meant in practice. The nazis surpassed all the horrors and barbarous excesses of the past.
Bourgeois ideologists talk of the USA as the "welfare society''. They go into raptures over the "freedom and justice" that are ``guaranteed'' by the US Constitution. All this is said of the country in which Negroes, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans and Indians feel the whole weight and harshness of racial discrimination.
The hundred years that have elapsed since the abolition of slavery have not brought the 25 million American Negroes either equal rights or real freedom. Cruel exploitation, bad living conditions, unemployment, wage discrimination and humiliation typify the plight of the Negroes in modern America. Every year the whole world witnesses further examples of the atrocities of police terror against the Negro population.
Social life in the United States is permeated by the spirit of racial hatred with which the exploiters are dulling the working people's consciousness. The American communist leader William Foster wrote: "White chauvinism is a cancerous disease in American culture. Large sections of the working class, constantly subjected to this flood of intellectual filth, are also more or less afflicted with it. It is white chauvinism that lies behind tendencies to bar Negro workers from jobs, from union membership and leadership, from 37 friendly social = relationships."^^1^^ If racism affects the workers' spiritual lives, it dulls their class awareness. It is very much in the interests of the imperialists to align the workers according to the principle "we are white and they are black''. The organised working-class movement in the USA is developing in the ideological and political struggle against racism and nationalism.
Racism and chauvinism are the principal ideological credos of American imperialism's foreign policy as well as its domestic policy. Racism and chauvinism provided the ideological basis for the predatory war that the USA had waged for many years against the Vietnamese people and other peoples in Indochina. Following in the footsteps of the nazis, American soldiers reduced villages to ashes, slaughtered women, children and old men, and inflicted sophisticated tortures on the Vietnamese patriots.
The capitalist world never has known, and cannot know, national relations based on equality and friendship between peoples. Nationalism, chauvinism and racism make up the bourgeoisie's ideology as far as the national question is concerned.
Today there are two world systems and, consequently, two types of national relations. The opposition of proletarian internationalism and bourgeois nationalism expresses the fundamental difference between the two social types of national relations.
Proletarian internationalism has developed enormously since the time when it grew out of the revolutionary working-class movement. Originally it was one of the elements of the day-to-day, practical awareness of the workers. Thanks to the discovery by the founders of Marxism of the laws of social development and the laws of the class struggle, proletarian internationalism developed as the scientific ideology of the working class in the national question. This ideology was enriched by the proletariat's class battles and by its struggle against opportunism and nationalism.
Conscious proletarians in Russia strove doggedly for complete unity between workers and the poorer peasants in _-_-_
~^^1^^ William Z. Foster, = The Negro People in American History, New York, 1970, p. 444.
38 the struggle against reaction, and spurned all forms of bourgeois-nationalist ideology (be it Great-Power chauvinism or local nationalism, national conceit or national nihilism, anti-Semitism or Zionism). In the multinational Soviet Union the national question has been one of the fundamental issues involved in the building of a socialist society.Under socialism the social links between the workers of different nations that were forged in the flames of the class struggle formed the basis for the development of relations between different nations and nationalities. As socialism was being constructed in the USSR, proletarian internationalism acquired a new function as the ideological and moral foundation for international and interstate relations in the socialist community of peoples.
Proletarian and socialist internationalism are both of the same type as regards their essence and their socio-class nature. Socialist internationalism is the stage in the development of proletarian internationalism under socialism where the ideology of the working class has become common to all working people. Proletarian internationalism's development into socialist internationalism occurs through the spread and further development of working-class ideology and its assimilation by the masses.
Once the foundations of socialism had been laid in the USSR, the social base had been created for the development of proletarian internationalism into socialist internationalism, and the ideology of the working class has become the ideology of the whole of society. The collective-farm peasantry and the intelligentsia have adopted the social ideas and principles of the working class in all spheres of social life, including the national question, and so fostered the development of proletarian internationalism into socialist internationalism.
Thus, socialist internationalism is typified by the expansion of the social base of proletarian internationalism, a process which takes place as a result of the resolution of class and national antagonisms and the assertion of society's socio-political and ideological unity. The role of the ideas and principles of the working class in the national question and in economic, state and cultural construction becomes more prominent in the struggle against national 39 deviationists and manifestations of nationalism and chauvinism. The enlargement of the sphere of influence of these ideas and principles makes for their enrichment. The working class's ideas and principles in the sphere of national relations are upheld by the legislation established by the socialist state. The will of the working class over the national question, which includes the vision of an ideal future—a world fraternity of nations—is put into effect not just by the force of public opinion, but also by all the organs of state power.
Proletarian internationalism is the starting point for socialist states' foreign and domestic national policies. In addition to the common ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism, the national policy of any Marxist-Leninist party also expresses the specifics of a particular country and its national relations. Proletarian internationalism arms the Communist and Workers' Parties with a knowledge of the general principles that must underlie a national policy. This involves consideration of all the conditions prevailing in the country in question. Since they are applied to the varied and specific conditions of a given country, the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism in the national policy of every Communist and Workers' Party become greatly enriched.
The Leninist national policy pursued by the CPSU is the first form in which the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism have been applied by a socialist state in order to brinsr about fraternal co-operation between peoples, and is of worldwide significance.
Proletarian internationalism provides Marxist-Leninist parties with a class approach to the national question, assisting their struggle against either ignoring or exaggerating national factors in the revolutionary movement and in socialist construction. A Communist's attitude towards the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism is the main criterion for determining his ideological and political maturity. The unity between workers of all nations and countries, the equality and friendship between the national contingents of the working class, and the socialist community of peoples incorporate the prototype of mankind's existence in the future.
40 __NUMERIC_LVL2__ CHAPTER~2 __ALPHA_LVL2__ PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISMThe theory of proletarian internationalism is a coherent complex of ideas and principles which, taken together, reflect different aspects of the relations of the national contingents of the international working class and their Marxist-Leninist parties, socialist nations and states.
Engels pointed out that "the principles are only valid in so far as they are in conformity with nature and = history".^^1^^ The principles of proletarian internationalism are not thought up by people, but are deduced as a sum total of scientific cognition and as the lesson of the history of the development of the revolutionary movement. These principles are true to the extent that they reflect the objective law governing the development of social ties between the national contingents of the international working class. The principles of proletarian internationalism are of universal significance and can be applied to all the situations that arise in national relations.
These principles are the fundamental tenets of the theory of proletarian internationalism and constitute its main guidelines. Every principle is connected with the others. It has a specific range of application and makes its own contribution to the way in which the scientific ideology and policies of the working class handle the national question. Each principle expresses different aspects and elements of the objective process of consolidating the fraternity between the workers of the various nations and countries, and the community of the socialist nations and states, whose leading force is their Marxist-Leninist parties.
Proletarian internationalism as a system of principles is a complex of various logically interrelated principles which, in toto form the working class's whole ideology, policies and ethics relating to the national question. To apprehend this system means to establish the substantive links and points of transition between the principles.
_-_-_~^^1^^ Frederick Engels, Anti-D\"uhring, Moscow, 1969, p. 48.
41It should be borne in mind that all the principles of proletarian internationalism serve the cause of unity and solidarity among the workers of all countries. Each principle has its own specific approach and makes its own contribution towards solving the problems standing in the way of worker unity. By proceeding from these premises and taking account of the variety of social practice, it is possible to formulate the following range of = principles.^^1^^
The basic principle of proletarian internationalism is revolutionary proletarian solidarity and unity among the workers of the whole world. International proletarian solidarity arises from the development of the workers' class awareness and from the recognition that the fundamental interests of workers belonging to all countries and nations are the same. Addressing those present at the meeting held in Amsterdam to mark the closing of the Second International's Hague Congress, Marx said: "Citizens, let us think of the fundamental principle of the International, solidarity! It is by establishing this vivifying principle on a strong basis, among all the working people of all countries, that we shall achieve the great goal we have set = ourselves."^^2^^ Substantiating and developing the principles of proletarian internationalism at the time of the formation in St. Petersburg of the League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class, Lenin wrote in the draft and explanation of the programme of the Social-Democratic Party: "Capitalist domination is international. That is why the workers' struggle in all countries for their emancipation is only successful if the workers fight jointly against international = capital."^^3^^ The idea of uniting the workers contains in cmbrvo all the principles of proletarian internationalism. The principles of equality and mutual assistance and all the other principles supplement and deepen the content of the above principle.
The subordination of national interests to the international interests of the workers of the whole world as a principle of proletarian internationalism requires that the workers should _-_-_
~^^1^^ It goes without saying that the system of principles of proletarian internationalism must be further studied, refined, enriched and perfected.
~^^2^^ Karl Marx and Frederick Engels = Selected Works, in three volumes. Vol. 2, p. 293.
~^^3^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 2, p. 109.
42 put to the fore that which they have in common and which unites and welds them into a single world revolutionary force. This principle is in full accord with the objective dialectics of social development and, in particular, with the correlation between the part and the whole. The interests of the whole—the world proletariat—are expressed in both the international and the national. But in the national there is also, in addition to this, the specific.Thus, in the national there are also elements which cannot fully enter into the whole. For instance, the current and temporary interests of the workers of one country may not coincide in certain circumstances with the common interests of the world proletariat. But they do coincide if one takes the fundamental and long-term interests of the workers of different nations and countries. In this case there is no need to subordinate them to one another. Revolutionary collaboration between the workers of different nations and countries can only be effective if preference is given to the workers' fundamental interests that are common. Consequently, as Lenin emphasised, in order to be a real internationalist, ''. .. one must not think only of one's own nation, but place above it the interests of all nations, their common liberty and = equality".^^1^^ The voluntary co-ordination of the revolutionary efforts made by the working people in different countries after the October Revolution came to be of particular importance. Lenin pointed out that account of the interests of the worldwide revolutionary process required that the interests of the proletarian struggle in any one country should be subordinated to the interests of that struggle on a worldwide = scale.^^2^^ However, this does not mean neglecting the national interests of the workers of the country in question, but combining them in such a way that the tasks and aims of the general proletarian struggle are put to the fore. What must be accentuated in national interests is the goals whose attainment will do most to further the common international tasks.
Readiness to make national sacrifices for the sake of _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 22, p. 347.
^^2^^ Ibid., Vol. 31, p. 148.
43 international interests is an important aspect of this principle. By performing their own national revolutionary tasks, the workers in any one country are accomplishing a part of their common internationalist mission. In the development of the revolution situations can arise in which a voluntary limitation of their national interests may be demanded of workers. Joint revolutionary action by workers of different nations and states must take place through combining their international and national interests. As the working class of Soviet Russia showed during the struggle for the Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, conscious workers must be prepared for considerable national sacrifice for the sake of the common interests of the world proletariat. The Leninist Communist Party made such sacrifices at Brest. Thus, in order to preserve the Soviet Republic as the base for world revolution, the Soviet Government accepted the ultimatum presented by Germany and her allies. The Brest Peace meant in fact the transfer to Germany of the whole Baltic area, Poland and a part of Byelorussia. Soviet Russia undertook to cede to Turkey the province of Kars, Batumi and Ardagan, to demobilise the Russian Army and to withdraw the fleet to Russian = ports.^^1^^This sacrifice was necessary in order to defend the fundamental interests of socialism and the revolutionary struggle of the world proletariat. It was not, therefore, surprising that in a reference to the Brest Peace Lenin wrote: ''. . . We Marxists could expect only the class-conscious vanguard of the proletariat to appreciate the truth that we were making and were obliged to make great national sacrifices for the sake of the supreme interests of the world proletarian = revolution."^^2^^ In his draft theses for the Second Congress of the Comintern Lenin stressed that proletarian internationalism demands that "a nation which is achieving victory over the bourgeoisie should be able and willing to make the greatest national sacrifices for the overthrow of international = capital".^^3^^ In a letter to American workers he _-_-_
~^^1^^ See A History of the USSR from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, Vol. VII, pp. 343--44 (in Russian).
~^^2^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 28, p. 187.
^^3^^ Ibid., Vol. 31, p. 148.
44 wrote: "A real socialist would have provided by deeds his willingness for 'his' country to make the greatest sacrifice to give a real push forward to the cause of the socialist revolu- tion."^^1^^Petty-bourgeois revisionists do their utmost to distort the question of national sacrifice. Sometimes they elevate sacrifice into an absolute, while at others they ignore any temporary restriction on national interests. The provision of help to the peoples struggling against imperialism and the assistance granted to the formerly oppressed peoples in order to eliminate their economic and cultural backwardness presuppose some restriction of the temporary national interests of the people supplying this aid. These restrictions may be in the form of abatement in certain material resources, manpower, and so on. They may also be made on a moral and psychological level and constitute a temporary limitation on national pride and national prestige.
Historical experience has shown that one can neither ignore the necessity in certain circumstances for voluntary limitations on national interests in co-operation between the socialist countries, nor depict voluntary and temporary restriction of national interests as a constantly operative phenomenon. The limits and forms of voluntary restriction of national interests in co-operation between socialist countries can be summarised as follows: they are temporary and are brought about by certain critical situations; they do not affect the fundamental interests of the nation; national sacrifice is made for the sake of common interests, the interests of world socialism and the world revolutionary process, and not for the sake of any one particular country; recognition of the need for voluntary limitation on national interests must spread to all national contingents of the working class and to all socialist nations and states, otherwise it will be internationalism "for export'', i.e., demanding internationalism from others, while failing to notice or combat the manifestation of national narrow-mindedness at home; finally, recognition of the need for national sacrifice is an antidote to national narrow-mindedness.
The temporary restriction of national interests that are _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 28, p. 66.
45 borne by various contingents of the working class are ultimately in the interests of the people which has temporarily narrowed the framework in which its own national interests are realised.The principle of equality and sovereignly features among the demands made by proletarian internationalism. The workers of different nations and countries participate as equals in the revolutionary struggle. They are struggling to affirm the principles of the equality of nations and languages. The unity of the socialist countries and co-operation between the Communist and Workers' Parties proceed from the principle of equality.
The idea of the voluntary union and co-operation of peoples that is contained in proletarian internationalism is enriched and supplemented by the ideas of national and state sovereignty. These ideas are directed against any opposition of proletarian solidarity to the sovereignty of nations and states. As was pointed out at the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties in 1969, the acknowledgement of proletarian solidarity "does not refute or belittle the principles of the independence, sovereignty and equality of either the socialist countries or of individual national contingents of the world working-class and communist movement. Respect for, and strict observance of, these principles is for Communists a law precisely because they are internationalists".^^1^^
Another of the principles of proletarian internationalism, the proposition on the self-determination and voluntary union of peoples, is closely linked with the principle of equality and sovereignty. The consistent application of the principle of the equality of peoples presupposes relations between them that are founded on the free will of the peoples. While pointing to the essence of Marx's critique of Proudhonism over the national question, Lenin commented: ''.. .In contrast to the Proudhonists who 'denied' the national problem 'in the name of social revolution', Marx mindful in the first place of the interests of the proletarian class struggle in the advanced countries, put the fundamental principle of internationalism and socialism in the foreground _-_-_
~^^1^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 161.
46 —namely, that no nation can be free if it oppresses other = nations."^^1^^ Among an oppressor nation's proletariat which is not pressing for the colonial and semi-colonial peoples' right to political secession "the internationalism of the proletariat would be nothing but empty = words. . . ."^^2^^ Moreover, Marxists-Leninists stressed that the workers of the metropolis and the working people of the colonies should place different emphases when upholding this principle. The workers in the metropolis should stress the idea of self-- determination right up to the point of secession. As Lenin put it, "a Social-Democrat from a small nation must emphasise in his agitation the second word of our general formula: `voluntary = integration' of nations..., he must fight against small-nation narrow-mindedness, seclusion and isolation, consider the whole and the general, subordinate the particular to the general = interest."^^3^^The point must be made that some people have attempted to replace the principle of the self-determination of nations by that of the self-determination of the working people. In his speech at the 8th Congress of the RCP(B) Lenin showed that "to reject the self-determination of nations and insert the self-determination of the working people would be absolutely wrong, because this manner of settling the question does not reckon with the difficulties, with the zigzag course taken by differentiation within nations. In Germany it is not proceeding in the same way as in our country—in certain respects more rapidly, and in other respects in a slower and more sanguinary = way".^^4^^ The socio-class selfdetermination of the working masses within the nation is a very complicated and zigzag process. Far from delaying it, the self-determination of the nation actually fosters the dawning of the class consciousness of the working masses and their emancipation from the influence of the bourgeoisie. Lenin pointed out that "the demarcation between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie is proceeding in different countries in their own specific ways. Here we must act with _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 22, p. 140
~^^2^^ Ibid., p. 148.
~^^3^^ Ibid., p. 347.
~^^4^^ Ibid., Vol. 29, p. 173.
47 utmost caution. We must be particularly cautious with regard to the various nations, for there is nothing worse than lack of confidence on the part of a = nation."^^1^^The fraternal co-operation of the peoples in socialist construction through their help and mutual assistance is a vital principle of proletarian internationalism. Fraternal co-- operation among the peoples as a new form of relations between countries and peoples arose in the course of socialist construction. In these conditions internationalism demands not only expressions of mutual sympathy and support, but also the peoples' joint efforts in the decisive sphere of social life—production and the distribution of material wealth. Summarising the historical experience of the development of the community of peoples in the USSR, the CPSU recorded in its Programme, adopted at the 22nd Congress: ''. .. all the nations are equal, their life is based on a common socialist foundation, the material and spiritual needs of every people are satisfied to the same extent, and they are all united in a single family by common vital interests and are advancing together to the common = goal—communism."^^2^^ The Party sees its task in the field of national relations as being to ensure "increasingly close fraternal co-operation, mutual aid, unity and affinity in all spheres of = life. . . ".^^3^^
The strengthening of the unity and. solidarity of the world socialist system is a further principle of proletarian internationalism. As the CPSU Programme stresses, the Party views the consolidation of the world socialist system as its main task in foreign = policy.^^4^^ The Final Document of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties held in 1969 declares: "One of the most important tasks before the Communist and Workers' Parties of the socialist countries is to develop all-embracing co-operation between their countries and ensure fresh successes in the decisive areas of the economic competition between the two systems, in the advance of science and = technology."^^5^^ This principle _-_-_
~^^1^^ Ibid.. p. 174.
~^^2^^ The Road to Communion, Moscow, 1962, p. 559.
~^^3^^ Ibid., p. 560.
~^^4^^ Ibid., p. 582,
~^^5^^ See International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 23.
48 provides the basis for the development of co-operation between the socialist countries and of economic integration among the countries that are members of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA).In its Directives for the Five-Year Economic Development Plan for 1971--75 the 24th Congress of the CPSU stated: "Economic, scientific and technical ties between the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, aimed at further strengthening co-operation and consistently promoting the economic integration of the CMEA countries, shall be improved and extended in every way. Comprehensive forms of co-operation with other socialist countries encompassing the spheres of material production, science and technology, mutual trade and trade on the markets of third countries, shall be developed in a planned = way."^^1^^
Unity of will and action among the Communist and Workers' Parties features prominently among all the demands made by proletarian internationalism. The Communist and Workers' Parties are the working class's highest form of class organisation. The cohesion of the working class as an international force depends on these parties' unity of action. The ideological unity of the Communist and Workers' Parties ensures their unity of action. As Lenin put it, "giving effect to united action on an international scale calls for both clarity of fundamental ideological views and precise definiteness in all practical methods of = action".^^2^^ Without ideological unity the Communist and Workers' Parties cannot act as a coherent international political force. In present conditions the international Meetings of Communist and Workers' Parties represent the most effective form of strengthening and improving the unity and cohesion of the world communist movement, of exchanging experience and collectively discussing current issues. After the Comintern ceased to operate three international Meetings were held in Moscow (1957, 1960 and 1969), as well as a whole series of regional meetings between representatives of Communist Parties. The International Meeting of 1969 stated: "The participants in _-_-_
~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, Moscow, 1971, p. 315.
~^^2^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 21, p. 372.
49 the Meeting consider that the most important prerequisite for increasing the Communist and Workers' Parties' contribution to the solution of the problems facing the peoples is to raise the unity of the communist movement to a higher level in conformity with present-day requirements. This demands determined and persistent effort by all the Par- ties."^^1^^Unity of will and action among Communists cannot be attained if their views are narrow and one-sided, and they see their moral responsibility as being only to their own working class and their own people. Responsibility must be acknowledged to the proletariat of the whole world and to its vanguard—the international communist movement. The feeling and awareness of responsibility on the part of the Communist and Workers' Parties to all the contingents of the world revolutionary movement for their revolutionary practical ideological and theoretical activities is reinforced as a result of the battle against opportunism and nationalism.
Close unification of the forces of socialism and of the working-class and national liberation movement in the struggle for peace, national independence and social progress as a demand made by proletarian internationalism motivates revolutionaries throughout the world to unite the three main revolutionary forces of modern times. The idea of international revolutionary solidarity is also embodied in this principle. It is here enriched and developed in line with the tasks of creating a united front of anti-imperialist forces. The objective is solidarity not only between the workers of different countries, but also between socialism and the national liberation movement.
The formation of the Soviet state heralded a new stage in the history of international relations: a state which promoted the common interests of working people the world over had made its appearance. Referring to the Bolsheviks, Lenin wrote: "We now stand not only as representatives of the proletarians of all countries but as representatives of the oppressed peoples as = well."^^2^^ Proceeding from this experience, Lenin extended the idea of the historical role of _-_-_
~^^1^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 36.
^^2^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 453.
__PRINTERS_P_49_COMMENT__ 4---0798 50 proletarian internationalism in the development of the world revolutionary process. He approved the slogan "Workers of all countries and all oppressed peoples, = unite!"^^1^^As long as socialism was subject to capitalist encirclement, this principle of proletarian internationalism meant in practice that the proletarians of all countries and the oppressed people should side with the Soviet Union in the struggle against imperialism and for peace, national independence and socialism.
With the formation of the world socialist system and its conversion into the decisive factor in the development of human society, the slogan of proletarian internationalism was further enriched. The International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties in 1969 proclaimed: "Peoples of the socialist countries, workers, democratic forces in the capitalist countries, newly liberated peoples and those who are oppressed, unite in a common struggle against imperialism, for peace, national liberation, social progress, democracy and = socialism!"^^2^^
Unity between the socialist countries and the workers and democratic forces in capitalist countries can only be ensured in the struggle against bourgeois nationalism. As has already been pointed out, the defeat of bourgeois nationalism and chauvinism is a historical law governing the consolidation of proletarian internationalism.
We must now examine the typical features of nationalism as the ideology and policy of the bourgeoisie with regard to the national question. The bourgeoisie needs an ideology and a policy that represent its own selfish interests as national interests and which set up the bourgeoisie as the "spiritual father" of the nation. The bourgeoisie cannot adopt any other attitude towards its own nation without insulting the national dignity of other peoples and deepening social alienation through national differences.
Bourgeois nationalism acts as an ideological expression of a course of development of national relations in which the interests of one nation cannot be satisfied without infringing those of other nationalities. Following as it does from the nature of social relations in class antagonistic _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 453.
~^^2^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 39.
51 societies nationalism is inevitable wherever there exist social antagonism between classes and nations and the resulting alienation.As a phenomenon of the political and spiritual life of a society, nationalism is a powerful ideological and political weapon for the classes which have an interest in preserving bourgeois social relations. Bourgeois nationalism is reflected in politics, law, morality, science and philosophy.
Marxism-Leninism opposes the abstract approach to nationalism which ignores historical context. Marxists-Leninists take into account that there are different forms of nationalism.
It is important to differentiate bourgeois and petty-- bourgeois nationalism. Among the big bourgeoisie nationalism is linked with the policies of the monopolies. For this section of the bourgeoisie nationalism means capturing the markets of its own nation and of other nations, and making use of the national factor in the competitive struggle. Petty-- bourgeois nationalism appears in various forms. It frequently takes the form of national selfishness and national narrowmindedness.
Nationalism can act both as a form of ideology and as a form of social psychology. It is not, therefore, surprising that it embraces not only people's awareness, but also their feelings.
In most cases nationalism is geared to a particular purpose. The negative emotional charge is not absolutely identical with regard to all nationalities, and the degree of national hostility differs depending on the specific historical circumstances.
The psychology of nationalism is expressed by a whole complex of negative cliquish emotions that come into play in contacts between different nationalities: unpleasant tones or gestures when referring to people of a particular nationality, national arrogance and conceit, temporary or permanent distrust of people belonging to a particular nationality and national antipathy, which can in certain circumstances easily develop into hostility between nations and hatred between peoples. Feelings of hostility and hatred between nations are extreme forms of the psychology of nationalism.
__PRINTERS_P_51_COMMENT__ 4* 52It is wrong to equate the nationalism of an oppressed and an oppressor nation, i.e., a nationalism that serves an anticolonial purpose and one that has an anti-socialist trend.
The awakening of national consciousness among the peoples of the European countries took place during one historical period, while the same process in Asia, Africa and Latin America occurred during another. As in Europe in the past, nationalism in these other continents now has an anti-feudal trend, but at the same time its anti-colonial content is also clearly visible. As a result, the nationalism of the oppressed nations contains general democratic elements that are directed against national oppression. To the extent that it includes the notion of struggle for national freedom and independence, it can be said to display progressive features.
In the course of historical development the nationalism of oppressed nations takes on a different socio-political colouring. It is brought into play in a slightly different way on every occasion, so that it is impossible to find two historical specific forms of it that are identical in all their manifestations. It is as individual and inimitable in its permutations as the nation itself. One should also distinguish the nationalism of a large and a small nation. Consequently, in every particular case it is important to bear in mind the specific nature of the nationalism in question, otherwise the struggle against nationalism will be ineffectual.
Since it is an ineradicable element of bourgeois ideology, nationalism may infect individual groups in the international working-class and communist movement. Thus, for example, as the influence of Chinese internationalist Communists declined, so nationalism became more prevalent in the ideology and policies of the Communist Party of China. As was pointed out at the 1969 International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties by Leonid Brezhnev, the head of the CPSU delegation, "from polemics with the Communist Parties the CPC leaders went on to splitting, subversive activity, to active attempts to set the revolutionary forces of our day against each other. From cutting off their ties with the socialist countries to hostile acts against them. From criticism of peaceful coexistence to the staging of armed conflicts, to a policy undermining the cause of 53 peace."^^1^^ The Maoists' nationalism is helping imperialism and not the forces that are struggling against it.
Claiming to have a ``class'' understanding of the national, the Maoists are opposed to the development of the national statehood, culture and language of the non-Chinese nationalities. Their handling of the international, which is opposed to the national, is used as an ideological shield concealing Great Han chauvinism.
We have already dealt with the internal link between opportunism and petty-bourgeois nationalism. Nationalism as practised in the working-class and communist movement is a form of action in the relations between different national contingents in the world revolutionary movement that is taken contrary to the common international interests of the working class. Nationalism in the working-class and communist movement frequently arises where consideration of specific national features develops into a self-sufficient factor, and this leads willy-nilly to neglect of the common international tasks of strengthening unity among the workers of different nations and countries. Both ``Left'' and Right-wing opportunists abandon proletarian internationalism and sink into the swamp of nationalism in their understanding of the correlation of the international and national tasks of the Communist and Workers' Parties. In an attempt to conceal their opposition between international and national interests, the opportunists have produced the thesis that the interests of the international proletarian struggle should not be identified with the interests of the Soviet Union. They endeavour to ``prove'' that the Soviet people has certain special interests that conflict with the interests of the world revolutionary movement. All this is idle fabrication. Mao Tsetung's clique have particularly strong voices in the antiSoviet choir. By opposing the international and national interests of the socialist nations, the opportunists are betraying the revolutionary dialectics, which shows the different forms of relationship and dependence between the general and the particular.
Unity of the international and the national does not mean that they are identical. It is a unity of variety, which _-_-_
~^^1^^ International Mealing of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 157.
54 excludes both their diametrical opposition and their absolute coincidence. As more countries embark on the path of socialist construction, so more dissimilar, as well as similar, elements come to light in the structure of international and national tasks and interests.Consequently, the struggle against manifestations of nationalism, and particularly against petty-bourgeois nationalism, is becoming increasingly urgent. Lenin taught that the struggle against petty-bourgeois nationalist prejudices and national narrow-mindedness ''. . . looms ever larger with the mounting exigency of the task of converting the dictatorship of the proletariat from a national dictatorship (i.e., existing in a single country and incapable of determining world politics) into an international one (i.e., a dictatorship of the proletariat involving at least several advanced countries, and capable of exercising a decisive influence upon world politics as a = whole)".^^1^^
A further principle of proletarian internationalism, to be tactful in national interrelations, shows the need to take account of socio-psychological factors when organising a community of peoples. Not all peoples are equally sensitive over questions of national relations. It is usually small and oppressed peoples which are the most sensitive towards them. Lenin pointed out that "'offended' nationals are not sensitive to anything so much as to the feeling of equality and the violation of this equality, if only through negligence or jest—to the violation of that equality by their proletarian comrades. That is why in this case it is better to overdo rather than underdo the concessions and leniency towards the national = minorities".^^2^^ Tact is, therefore, particularly important in the sphere of national relations. After all, every nation possesses the feeling of the national dignity of the people. Nationalist elements can represent any indiscretion in these relations as an insult to national dignity. The struggle against manifestations of nationalism in general and national narrow-mindedness in particular will be ineffectual if the people's easily wounded national feelings are hurt. But it should be borne in mind that consideration of _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 148.
~^^2^^ Ibid., Vol. 30, pp. 608--09.
55 national feelings and playing on them are completely different things.Being tactful in national relations docs not mean adopting a conciliatory attitude towards manifestations of nationalism. It means having regard for the complexity of the historical process of establishing friendship among peoples and finding the most effective methods and forms of struggle against nationalism. Rashness and undue haste in uniting peoples and drawing nations together and fusing them can only injure the cause of establishing complete trust between peoples. Lenin declared that a voluntary and solid union of peoples ''. . . cannot be effected at one stroke; we have to work towards it with the greatest patience and circumspection, so as not to spoil matters and not to arouse = distrust."^^1^^
__*_*_*__The principles reviewed above do not exhaust the whole wealth of the propositions and ideas contained in proletarian internationalism. No attempt was made to do this. Subsequent chapters of the book will deal more specifically both with the principles and ideas already outlined and with a number of other principles. So far we have simply tried to indicate that the classics of Marxism-Leninism and the programme documents of the world communist movement constitute an inexhaustible source of material for studying the principles of proletarian internationalism.
The system formed by these principles was given detailed discussion at the Ail-Union Scientific Conference on the Theoretical Questions of Proletarian Internationalism in May 1968. The first steps in exploring the matter have already been taken. Considerable work has already been done by N. F. Sheetov, who highlights the following principles of proletarian internationalism: "Cohesion, unity and a fraternal alliance between the proletarians of all nations and countries in the struggle for the common objectives— socialism and communism; proletarian solidarity. .. in the struggle against the exploiters and for the social and national _-_-_
~^^1^^ Ibid., Vol. 30, p. 293.
56 emancipation of the enslaved peoples; the equality of nations, their genuine freedom and sovereignty; fulfilment by the working class of each country of its internationalist duty to the international = proletariat."^^1^^ There is good reason for the author's giving pride of place to the cohesion and unity of the peoples in the struggle for socialism. However, as will be shown in detail in Chapter~4, a people's internationalist duty is discharged by applying the whole system of principles of proletarian internationalism. This internationalist duty includes both the accomplishment of revolutionary tasks in one's own country, and the provision of assistance to the revolutionary movement in other countries.The system of principles that we have put forward in this book is to be regarded as an attempt to resolve this issue. However, no matter what views are taken by the different specialists working on the question, they all agree that all the principles of proletarian internationalism develop and enrich in one way or another the slogan "Workers of all countries, unite!" The proletarians of different countries and nations unite as equals. This unity is founded on the community of their fundamental interests.
The unity of the principles of proletarian internationalism is ensured by the fact that they supplement and enrich one another. No one principle can fully replace another. The absence of any of the principles makes proletarian internationalism incomplete. But this does not mean that main and fundamental principles cannot be selected from the total system. The unity of the workers of different countries is just such a principle. All the principles of proletarian internationalism are developed and enriched subject to this chief principle. At the same time, it would be incorrect to oppose one principle to any other, as petty-bourgeois revolutionaries do. They set such principles as equality and sovereignty up in opposition to the unity of proletarians the world over and to the recognition of the priority of international interests over national ones.
_-_-_~^^1^^ N. F. Sheetov, = The Teaching of K. Marx and F. Engels on Proletarian Internationalism and the World Today, Moscow, 1970, p. 9. = See also his Socialist Internationalism and Patriotism, Moscow, 1971 (both in Russian).
57The development and enrichment of the principles of proletarian internationalism are demonstrated in the following example. The idea of the equality of peoples and of their sovereignty was put forward within the framework of preMarxist democratic ideology. However, this does not mean that the ideas of equality and sovereignty in a democratic and a proletarian, socialist ideology are exactly the same. In the first case, since it forms part of a system of democratic ideology, the idea of equality and sovereignty is based on the abstract principle of philanthropy. In the second case, it acts as a component in socialist ideology, and its value is measured in terms of the class interests of the proletariat. The idea of the equality and sovereignty of peoples and states in proletarian internationalism serves the interests of accomplishing the common revolutionary tasks of the international working class. This principle plays an important role in the struggle against manifestations of chauvinism and nationalism.
Recognition of the equality of nations and languages and of national and state sovereignty forms part of the demands made by proletarian internationalism. But the content of proletarian internationalism is not limited to just this principle, as is claimed by the petty-bourgeois revolutionaries. Not every person who accepts equality and sovereignty is a consistent internationalist.
For a Marxist-Leninist the principle of national and state sovereignty is not abstract and absolute or unconnected with the other principles of proletarian internationalism. National sovereignty is a political and legal category. It is expressed in the independent solution of questions affecting a nation's domestic affairs, its socio-economic, political and cultural matters and its relations with other peoples. Marxists-Leninists link the understanding of sovereignty, as of all other problems, with the most important international interests.
Speaking of the class approach to the question of sovereignty, Janos Kadar declared at the International Meeting of Communists: "Our Parties are independent. The socialist countries are sovereign and independent. The sovereignty of our countries, the national independence of our peoples are combined with socialist social relations and rest on them. 58 At the given historical stage the sovereignty of our countries, their national independence are ensured above all by our alliance with the other socialist countries and also by the strength and further development of the socialist foundations of our = society."^^1^^
In connection with the well-known events in Czechoslovakia in 1968, anti-communist ideologists have come out with the false idea that world socialism needed to limit sovereignty in order to build up its own strength. Moreover, they deliberately confuse internationalist duty and sovereignty, trying to prove that the recognition of sovereignty excludes the need for socialist countries to be aware of their moral responsibility to the world proletariat and to the international communist movement. By preaching the idea of an abstract sovereignty that is connected neither with class interests nor with the class struggle, the imperialist ideologists are striving to crack the unity of the socialist countries. As Gustav Husak, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, put it: "Our own experience shows that the slogan of sovereignty devoid of class content is a refined and very effective weapon of the Right opportunist, revisionist and anti-socialist forces. That is what happens when the Party does not carry forward a consistently Marxist-Leninist policy and backs out of a resolute, consistent struggle in all spheres against all manifestations of bourgeois nationalism. That is why we reject the various quasi-theories of limited sovereignty, artificially concocted by our class enemies, and look upon them as perfidious manoeuvres of modern = anti-communism."^^2^^
In order to consolidate themselves, socialism and communism do not need to limit sovereignty, but to resist the nationalist understanding of it. On the contrary, it is the imperialist bourgeoisie that is the social force which needs to limit sovereignty. The point is that in the capitalist world the trend towards internationalising the productive forces is advancing by means of stirring up Intel-imperialist antagonisms and, as a means of eliminating these antagonisms, the suggestion is put forward to abolish national sovereignty and _-_-_
~^^1^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties p. 330.
~^^2^^ Ibid., pp. 412--13.
59 state borders and to make people reject their own country and national affiliation. Voices are heard calling for the creation of a world republic or a world federation, seeing the United Nations as a prototype of this. In the USA the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, James William Fulbright, once called unambiguously for the abandonment of peoples' national sovereignty: ''. . . If we are to survive under these new conditions [i.e., in the nuclear age.— Auth.] the nation-state can no longer serve as the ultimate unit of law and human = association.''~^^1^^ The bourgeoisie acknowledges national sovereignty when it is in its interests to do so, and discards it whenever it hinders its class interests.The understanding of national sovereignty and the use of the peoples' sovereign rights have always been an object of the class struggle, and still is. The working class links this principle with its own class interests, with the interests of the struggle against world capitalism and with the interests of revolutionary unity. The abstract, non-class approach to sovereignty, the approach stemming from petty-bourgeois nationalism, leads to a slackening of internationalist ties.
The point must be made that the prejudices arising from the petty-bourgeois, nationalist understanding of sovereignty are very resilient. The dissipation of prejudices of any kind, and nationalist ones in particular, is a complicated and lengthy process. There is a common denominator between the eradication of individual selfishness, and national selfishness. In both cases socialist society is struggling against these vestiges of the past. In the first case the struggle is waged in the collective, while in the second it takes place in inter-nation and interstate relations. It is a very complicated and difficult matter to set public opinion against manifestations of national selfishness in the world communist movement. One of the most important results of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties in 1969 was precisely the creation of a collective public opinion against relapses into opportunism and national narrowmindedness within the world communist movement.
A great deal of attention was given to this problem at the _-_-_
~^^1^^ J. M. Fulbright, = Prospects for the West, Cambridge (Massachusetts), 1963, p. 43.
60 24th CPSU Congress, at which it was pointed out that "it is precisely the nationalistic tendencies, especially those which assume the form of anti-Sovietism, that bourgeois ideologists and bourgeois propaganda have placed most reliance on in their fight against socialism and the communist movement. They have been trying to induce the opportunist elements in the Communist Parties to make something of an ideological deal. They appear to be telling them: just give us proof that you are anti-Soviet, and we shall be prepared to proclaim that you are the true 'Marxists', and that you are taking completely 'independent = attitudes'\thinspace".^^1^^The equality of the Communist Parties is manifested not only in their sovereignty, but also in their obligations. Those who embody national selfishness recognise the equality of the national contingents of the revolutionary movement as incompatible with an awareness of their obligations to the international working class and the world communist movement. Marxism-Leninism proceeds from the view that each Communist Party is socially responsible to all the contingents in the modern world revolutionary movement.
The First Secretary of the CC of the Iraqi Communist Party, Aziz Mohammed, pointed out at the International Meeting of Communists in 1969 that "proletarian internationalism requires each Party to fulfil its duty to the working class and peoples of its own country and its duty of solidarity with all the contingents of the world communist movement, sharing in their collective responsibility. To weigh international proletarian solidarity against the principle of the independence of each Party, against the national sovereignty of each socialist country, means to ignore the common interests and destinies of the world communist move- ment."^^2^^ In exactly the same way, connivance with anti-- Sovietism in any form is a departure from the principles of internationalism. Solidarity with the Soviet Union and the CPSU has always been "the touchstone of a Party's internationalism, the internationalism of each socialist = state".^^3^^
These examples show that studying the system formed by the principles of proletarian internationalism and their _-_-_
~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 27.
~^^2^^ International Meeting of Communist and Walkers' Parties, p. 315.
~^^3^^ Ibid.
61 interaction should not be viewed as a purely academic exercise. Exploration oi the question has a direct bearing on scientific criticism of contemporary opportunism and nationalism.If, despite their interconnections, one dips into the system of the principles of proletarian internationalism, artificially extracts the principle of equality and sovereignty and transforms it into an absolute, ignoring the importance of the idea of the unity of the socialist countries and of the world communist movement and their collective responsibility to the international working class and the communist movement, the result is simply a distortion of the strategy and tactics of the world communist movement. The possibility of this happening becomes reality whenever petty-- bourgeois revolutionaries have an influence on policy-making within the Communist Parties. For example, during the political crisis in Czechoslovakia in 1968 opportunist elements tried to discredit the idea of internationalist duty by appealing to the national feelings of the Czechs and Slovaks, considering it necessary to "stress the national rather than the internationalist".
Thus, there are two mutually exclusive understandings of the principle of the equality and independence of the Communist and Workers' Parties: one is Marxist-Leninist and internationalist, and the other is anti-Leninist and nationalist. The adherents of the nationalist view are betraying the revolutionary ideals of the working class and are only benefiting the imperialists. Imperialist ideologists give every encouragement to those who see the main criterion for their parties' freedom to be their ``independence'' of the CPSU. These cunning tactics are designed to isolate the Communist and Workers' Parties from the vanguard of the world communist movement—the CPSU, the Party of Lenin.
The potentials that are inherent in proletarian internationalism as the effective ideological, political and moral source of unity in the world communist movement are realised in the struggle against any manifestation of nationalism. Marxism-Leninism organically links the idea of the equality of nations and nationalities with the principle of revolutionary solidarity. Lenin wrote: "Recognition of the 62 equality of nations and languages is important to Marxists, not only because they are the most consistent democrats. The interests of proletarian solidarity and comradely unity in the workers' class struggle call for the fullest equality of nations with a view to removing every trace of national distrust, estrangement, suspicion and = enmity."^^1^^ MarxistsLeninists have always considered that the drawing together and uniting of peoples are only possible ''. . . on a truly democratic, truly internationalist basis, which is inconceivable without the freedom to = secede".^^2^^ The classic example of this is provided by the voluntary union of the peoples of the USSR within the framework of a single multinational state.
In the course of this union the Leninist party and the working class staunchly upheld the equality of all nations and nationalities and the right of nations to self-- determination, up to and including the formation of independent states.
The principles of equality in proletarian internationalism serve to unite the revolutionary forces. Opportunists, on the other hand, strive to use it in order to weaken international ties and undermine the Communists' unity of will and action.
An internationalist is a person who is able to combine love and respect for his own nation and his own country with a recognition of the unity of interests among workers in all countries, who does not set peoples against one another and who seeks to strengthen their friendship. An internationalist cannot withdraw into the shell of national interests. He is vitally and constantly interested in what is happening to other peoples and is ready to offer them help. It would be wrong to claim that this position might lead to a rejection of national values. Internationalism requires a class, proletarian approach to the national question. It must treat his fatherland and national culture with all due attention and respect. Lenin defined the fatherland as the totality of the political, social and cultural environment. It includes phenomena of different kinds. It embraces both the country's present and its past, its social system and the territory _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 20, p. 290.
~^^2^^ Ibid., Vol. 21, p. 414.
63 it covers. The latherland is a complex whole, in which the following structural elements can, in our view, be identified:During the transition from one social type of country to another the succession of the first two elements is retained. For this reason Lenin called the territory and language the ``eternal'' element in a = country.^^1^^ A social system that is not linked to a territory and a language does not yet constitute a fatherland.
The practice of co-operation between the socialist countries and the development of the world revolutionary process make it imperative to carry out a comprehensive study of the question of the fatherland. Investigation of this concept is an important element in the scientific substantiation of the aim and tasks of a patriotic upbringing. Socialism as a society also acts as a fatherland. Every socialist country is a concrete form of socialist fatherland. Thus, the practice of social development poses fresh tasks as regards studying the fatherland as a complicated and complex phenomenon.
Studying the structure of the fatherland makes it possible to reach a deeper understanding of the essence of this complicated phenomenon. In each individual case the fatherland appears as something socially conditioned and national in a complicated synthesis. As in other spheres of social life, it is the social element in the fatherland, and not the national element, that is of prime importance. This does not mean, however, that national elements in the fatherland can be ignored.
People's idea of their fatherland is always emotionally coloured by a feeling for their native land and their native language. What is national in the social environment is the existence of the national contingents of social classes with their interrelations and traditions. In a letter to Inessa _-_-_
~^^1^^ See V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 41, p. 339.
64 Armand Lenin commented: "In the Communist. Manifesto it is said that the working men have no country."Correct. But not only this is stated there. It is stated there also that when national states are being formed the role of the proletariat is somewhat special. To take the first proposition (the working men have no country) and forget its connection with the second (the workers are constituted as a class nationally, though not in the same sense as the bourgeoisie) will be exceptionally = incorrect."^^1^^ The national is contained not only in the social, but also in the political and cultural environment. Whenever the national element in the political environment is referred to, what is meant is the national statehood and its traditions. The national element in the cultural environment is the native language, the national form of culture and the national cultural values and traditions. The masses alienate the socially conditioned features of the bourgeois fatherland, and, in this sense, the workers in a bourgeois society have no fatherland. The ``eternal'' elements in the country, the national element in the social, political and cultural environment, are responsible for the existence of the link between the masses and the fatherland in a bourgeois society. It is precisely because this link exists that "the proletariat cannot refuse to support . .. (and, consequently, support defence of the fatherland in a national = war)".'^^2^^
The dialectics of historical development is such that the working class in a bourgeois fatherland, although having no fatherland of its own, nevertheless comes to the defence of the bourgeois fatherland in a national war of liberation.
Marxists-Leninists consider the fatherland historically. A fatherland at the moment of struggle to overthrow national oppression is one thing, but a fatherland in which the national movements are far behind is quite another. In countries where the national movements have come to an end, in which a bourgeois state has taken shape and in which the nations, freed by capitalism from their feudal fetters, have been transformed into oppressor nations, the bourgeois fatherland no longer plays a progressive role. With regard _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 55, p. 251.
~^^2^^ Ibid., p. 251.
65 to the countries of the East, however, as Lenin declared, "the 'fatherland' is historically not yet quite a dead letter. . . . There the 'defence of the fatherland' can still be defence of democracy, of one's native language, of political liberty against oppressor nations, against = medievalism. . .".^^1^^ The struggle of the masses to develop their native language, to freely determine their own national development and to win national statehood is inevitably included in the struggle to form the national element in the fatherland. For the European peoples these questions were resolved long ago. Consequently, in countries where there is no threat of losing their national and state sovereignty any call to "defend the bourgeois fatherland" is objectively directed against other nations and countries.Including as it does socially conditioned historical and national features, the fatherland is a complex social phenomenon. If one sees only the ``eternal'' elements in a fatherland and ignores the social aspect, then a spendid situation arises for disseminating among the workers the bourgeois idea of the "unbroken line" in social life, and nationalist ideas. This happened, for instance, with the opportunist leaders of the parties in the Second International, who supported the bourgeois states' war of plunder. In his works written during the imperialist war and criticising the opportunists Lenin uses the terms "social chauvinism" and "social = nationalism".^^2^^ The point here is that chauvinism and nationalism manliest themselves in the organised workingclass movement. The opportunists in the Second International made what was national in the fatherland into an absolute, and forgot about its social essence; hence they proceeded towards social chauvinism and nationalism.
With the transition from one social type of fatherland to another, the succession in the development of the formative elements of the fatherland is retained and, at the same time, a radical change takes place in the fatherland's main structural element—the socio-economic and socio-political system. Consequently, between bourgeois and socialist fatherlands there exists not only a fundamental social difference, _-_-_
~^^1^^ Ibid., Vol. 23, p. 39.
~^^2^^ Ibid., Vol. 21, pp. 107, 114.
__PRINTERS_P_65_COMMENT__ 5—0798 66 but also a succession. One cannot ignore the well-known historical succession between, for instance, Russia as a fatherland and the USSR as a socialist fatherland. To ignore this could do damage to the patriotic upbringing of peoples. There is no patriotism that does not have historical roots. At the same time, one's attitude to the existing fatherland is paramount in patriotism.But if the fundamental opposition between these fatherlands is not borne in mind and works of literature and art glorify only the unchanging elements in the fatherland—e.g., the language and countryside ``(the Russian sky above the Russian land'', "the eternal Russia'', "the eternal Ukraine'', etc.)—then no social measurement is attached to the fatherland. What is more, socialist patriotism inherits, develops and ennobles people's feeling of love for their country and language that has built up over the centuries.
With the breakdown of capitalist social relations and the establishment of socialist ones, a change also takes place in the social nature of the fatherland. This presupposes a change in an element in the system of phenomena that in tolo comprise the fatherland as important as the socioeconomic and socio-political structure, but with the preservation of the ``eternal'' elements of the fatherland—the territory and the language. Once socialism has become the principal element in the fatherland, it organises the interconnection of all its other elements. The progressive traditions of the country's past begin to serve the present and help to strengthen socialism as a fatherland. The development of the fatherland takes place in accordance with the dialectics of continuity and discontinuity. For example, the Rzecz Pospolita, bourgeois Poland and the Polish People's Republic are different social types of Poland's development as a fatherland.
The concept ``motherland'' is used in literature in at least three different senses. The ``motherland'' is frequently employed to mean such elements of the fatherland as the territory, people and language. In some cases the motherland is the area where a person was born, where he spent his childhood, where he has lived for a long time or where he feels at home. Some writers use the term with the same meaning as ``fatherland''. The concept ``motherland'' is not 67 as unambiguous as the sociological category ``fatherland''.
In his article "On the National Pride of the Great Russians''^^1^^ Lenin wrote that the Russian working class loved its language and its country. The workers' loyalty to their revolutionary ideals and to the slogan "Workers of all countries, unite!" did not run counter to their patriotism. The whole experience of the world working-class and communist movement, as well as the experience of the development of the socialist countries, provides a firm basis for pointing to the flimsiness of the anti-communist concept that proletarian internationalism is incompatible with patriotism.
Between proletarian internationalism and socialist patriotism there is, in fact, not contradiction and incompatibility, but a unity and a difference. Their structure and functions in social development are different. Consequently, the question ol the unity between internationalism and patriotism cannot be treated as though they were completely identical, thereby removing from the order of the day the problem of improving the ``mechanism'' for combining them.
Internationalism is an ideology, a policy and the social feelings of workers which extend beyond the framework of national boundaries. Patriotism, on the other hand, if one means pre-socialist patriotism, as a phenomenon of the spiritual life of society was confined to a single fatherland. Nor should it be forgotten that internationalism and patriotism arose at different periods in the historical process. Internationalism only took shape with the appearance of the working-class movement, whereas patriotism is the result of mankind's lengthy historical development in separate fatherlands.
Proletarian internationalism is a class phenomenon, an integral part of the scientific ideology of the working class. But patriotism is linked not only with one's attitude to the existing social system, but also with one's attitude to the past of the motherland, and, in this sense, the past and the present of the fatherland are united in the content of any patriotism. Patriotism is the product of a lengthy historical development. Social feelings play an important part in it, In addition, patriotism also has ideological elements. Unlike _-_-_
~^^1^^ See V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 21, p. 102.
__PRINTERS_P_67_COMMENT__ 5* 68 nationalism and chauvinism, it contains elements that relate to the whole people. Besides general historical features and popular elements, there are also class-conditioned traits in patriotism. Consequently, the patriotism of the working class, the peasantry and the petty and middle bourgeoisie cannot be identical.In a bourgeois society the interests of the social classes are fundamentally opposed, and there can be no single patriotism. Each class sees the fatherland in terms of its own class interests. The reactionary classes cannot, therefore, act like patriots. The patriotism of a considerable section of the bourgeoisie is generally limited to their financial interests. Their patriotism is akin to nationalism and chauvinism, whereas the patriotism of the workers, or at least that of the advanced and class-conscious workers, is free of nationalism. The patriotism of the petty-bourgeoisie incorporates national narrow-mindedness and national selfishness.
If socialist internationalism and patriotism automatically coincided in every way, there would be no necessity to combine them. And if, in turn, socialist internationalism and patriotism did not have a single social base, then their combination would also be out of the question.
The development of the socialist nations and of the world socialist system gives rise to more and more problems of organically combining internationalism and patriotism. The search for the tactics and means to combine them correctly and at the right time proceeds not automatically, but as a result of the enormous ideological, political and organisational activities of the Communist and Workers' Parties in the socialist countries.
Lenin's idea of combining internationalism and patriotism was further developed by other outstanding leaders of the world communist movement. A Communist's loyalty to the working class's ultimate objective is necessarily accompanied by a love for his own language and his native land, by a feeling of national pride and by the desire to see his own people free and flourishing and resolutely treading the path of progress.
Love for one's native land, for one's native language and for the traditions of one's own country is not extinguished in the course of socialist construction, but is, in fact, 69 developed. People's heightened emotional response towards their motherland is one of the powerful stimuli that further the development of the masses' creative activities in building the new society.
It must be stressed that the transition from the old type of patriotism ta socialist patriotism occurs neither directly nor smoothly. Those who adhere to the petty-bourgeois understanding of patriotism continue for a long time to regard the fatherland from the standpoint of national selfishness and national narrow-mindedness. This group in the population still fails to acknowledge socialism as the principal element in the fatherland. They regard as unpatriotic any manifestation of internationalist duty and any voluntary restriction of the nation's current interests for the sake of accomplishing the joint internationalist tasks.
While there are still vestiges of the petty-bourgeois understanding of patriotism, the possibility remains of opposing internationalism to patriotism. Combining these two is one of the involved ideological and political problems facing the Communist and Workers' Parties, and will continue to be for a long time.
The enemies of socialism are not reducing, but are, in fact, increasing, their attempts to subvert the socialist system and to inflame petty-bourgeois sentiments and nationalist passions. What is more, they are making use of nationalism as their main ideological weapon among the working masses. Modern revisionists are attempting to use " patriotism" in order to kindle nationalism and camouflage their own desertion. In Czechoslovakia in 1968 the anti-socialist forces went on to the offensive in the name of ``Czech'' and ``Slovak'' patriotism. Yet, if the patriotism of the workingclass is understood correctly, it cannot contradict its internationalism. Patriotism that is opposed to internationalism contains nationalism to one extent or another.
In order to whip up nationalism, imperialist ideologists employ the tactics of opposing patriotism to internationalism, opposing the equality of peoples and states to internationalist duty, and opposing sovereignty to unity of action.
Proletarian internationalism is a tested weapon in the struggle for unity of thought and action among Communists. 70 The Communist and Workers' Parties throughout the world have no joint set of rules to regulate interparty relations and the parties' rights and obligations. Each party has its own set of rules. Nevertheless, concerted action over the really substantive issues is largely achieved. Here too MarxismLeninism and proletarian internationalism play an important role. The latter's principles, demands and standards make the parties of the working class an integral and inseparable part of the communist movement. Every underrating of the role of proletarian internationalism and its principles saps the monolithic strength of the revolutionary forces.
Far from impeding the performance of their internationalist duty, the Communists' patriotic duty actually speeds up the process and makes it easier. In the main issues, patriotic and internationalist duty coincides, and this provides the objective basis for their balanced combination. Patriotic duty presupposes moral responsibility for social progress in one's country, but an understanding of internationalist duty is unthinkable without differentiating a country's temporary interests and its long-term ones, its transient interests and its permanent ones.
In the process of co-operation the Communist and Workers' Parties have to deal with the most varied tasks. But if priority is not given to fundamental and long-term interests, and if the prospects for the development of the world revolutionary process are not taken into account, this will give rise to the possibility that misunderstandings will occur over the essence of patriotic and internationalist duty. Discharging one's internationalist duty sometimes involves imposing temporary limits on the national interest. Marxism-Leninism, teaches the necessity of subordinating the national interest to the common interest. This calls for a high level of political and moral awareness. Hence the need to develop the ability to distinguish correctly between long-term and current interests and to forego sectional and temporary interests for the sake of the general interests of the proletariat and socialism.
Combining proletarian internationalism and patriotism is a special form of the conscious activity of the Communist and Workers' Parties to use the possibilities of these social 71 phenomena in the revolutionary transformation of the world and the construction of socialism.
In their practical activities the Communist and Workers' Parties cannot adopt any one principle of proletarian internationalism and ignore the others. All the principles must be applied in their totality as the ideology, policv and moral standard of the working class in national relations. Only if the principles are left intact will they be able to foster an internationalist type of political thought and action.
The sphere in which proletarian internationalism can be applied is as varied and complicated as the structure of the internation ties of the working class and the socialist nations and states. Since the principles of internationalism are used both in all spheres of social life and in the full range of activities of the Marxist-Leninist parties, they can be regarded as universal. Thev are applicable to the interrelations of the national contingents of the working class and to all socialist countries.
Proletarian internationalism as a system nf working-class ideas and principles will be unable to perform its role and historical function if it does not reflect, and is not enriched bv, fresh experience of social development. Moreover, this reflection and enrichment take place throusrh the application of its principles and ideas in practice and in the struggle against the various distortions of it. The practice of socialist construction and of world socialism has always exerted a strong influence on the enrichment and development of the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism.
The practice of the working-class movement and of socialist construction have given rise to new principles of proletarian internationalism: fraternal co-oneration between peoples through their help and mutual assistance; consolidating the unity of the world svstem of socialism: close unification of the forces of socialism, the working-class and national liberation movements in the struggle for peace, national independence and social progress.
As revolutionary practice has developed, so the criteria of Proletarian internationalism have taken shape. A criterion is an objective yardstick for measuring the class essence of 72 the policies, strategy and tactics of Marxist-Leninist parties and social and state organisations of the working masses. It enables one to determine whether there is a class, proletarian approach to the national question. The criterion of internationalism attests and confirms that the line of conduct of any national contingent of the world working-class and the world revolutionary movement is internationalist in spirit and in its objective content. These criteria must be established not only theoretically, but also in practice. There are principal and secondary criteria and ones that operate either permanently or temporarily. Loyalty to the slogan "Workers of all countries, unite!" is the main and permanently operative criterion of proletarian internationalism. No matter what zigzags have occurred in the development of the revolutionary movement, this slogan is becoming constantly richer and expresses the historical mission of the working class as the principal founder of a new society. (These questions are given detailed examination in subsequent chapters.)
Some writers consider that the main and universal criterion of proletarian internationalism is recognition of the right of nations to self-determination, up to and including secession and the formation of an independent state. This criterion is certainly important for detecting internationalism in the policies of the proletariat of an oppressor nation. But the principle of self-determination cannot be the main and universal principle. The historical mission of proletarian internationalism is to unite the workers of all countries. Lenin formulated the question of "real = internationalism",^^1^^ i.e., as practised by the revolutionary movement.
The demands of proletarian internationalism cannot be limited to pure theory. They extend into direct revolutionary practice aimed at merging the workers of the whole world into a single joint revolutionary force, and at uniting the socialist countries.
The revolutionary deeds of the working class and of all the working people in a particular country are part of a single world revolutionary process. The moral and political demands of proletarian internationalism require one to make _-_-_
~^^1^^ See V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 24. p. 75.
73 maximal use of the possibilities of revolution in one country in order to develop world revolution.Lenin returned again and again to the question of the role and place of socialist countries in the development of the world revolutionary process. He wrote: "Support of the revolutionary movement of the socialist proletariat in the advanced countries in the first instance. . . . Support of the democratic and revolutionary movement in all countries in general, and especially in the colonies and dependent coun- tries."^^1^^ Lenin considered that each contingent of the world working-class movement was obliged to do the utmost possible in one country for the development and support of the revolution in all countries.
After the October Socialist Revolution a substantial new factor had emerged as regards understanding and defining the criterion of proletarian internationalism. The basic contradiction of modern times underwent a change as a result of the revolution. Referring to the post-October situation in the world, Lenin wrote: ''. . . Reciprocal relations between peoples and the world political system as a whole are determined by the struggle waged by a small group of imperialist nations against the Soviet movement and the Soviet states headed by Soviet Russia. Unless we bear that in mind, we shall not be able to pose a single national or colonial problem correctly, even if it concerns a most outlying part of the = world."^^2^^
The basic contradiction of modern times expresses the essence of the present stage in the development of human society as the unity and struggle of two opposed world systems. It arises from the interconnection and coexistence of two world systems—capitalism and socialism. Capitalism and socialism are developing as they, interact and engage in a struggle that takes the most varied forms.
The basic contradiction of the age expresses the struggle between the old and the new in the organisation of social life on a world scale. In order to resolve this contradiction in the interests of the revolutionary struggle, socialism is using a peaceful contest to achieve the best social _-_-_
~^^1^^ Ibid., Vol. 27, pp. 157--58.
~^^2^^ Ibid., Vol. 31, p. 241.
74 organisation of society, tapping of the creative talents of the masses, boosting- of labour productivity and a rise in the material and cultural level of the whole population. The warlike forces of imperialism, on the other hand, organise aggression against peaceful states and try to retard the socialist transformation of society.The idea of the basic contradiction of the age is the philosophical basis for a class approach to the national question in the present period. The national question cannot be correctly understood either if the contradiction between the two social systems is not borne in mind. Georgi Dimitrov used to make the point that the main criterion for judging how a particular movement, parties or individuals were acting—for the benefit or otherwise of revolution—was their attitude towards the Soviet Union, the vanguard of communism. Solidarity and unity between all the national contingents of the working-class movement and the whole world revolutionary process have alwavs been, and still are. the main and constantly operative criterion of proletarian internationalism, but with the appearance of the first socialist country a new criterion arose in proletarian internationalism—the attitude towards the Soviet Union. The attitude towards the first socialist country became the yardstick for differentiating genuine and pseudo-internationalism. One cannot be true to the slogan "Workers of all countries, unite!" without supporting the workinsr class's first historical gain. The advent of the Soviet Republic gave rise to a new form of revolutionary activity—the struggle to maintain the position of socialism in international relations. This form of revolutionary activity was a vital factor in the development of internationalist links between workers throughout the world.
In his foreign policy report to the joint meeting of the All-Russia Central Executive Committee and the Moscow Soviet in May 1918, Lenin made the point that ''. .. we must stick to ... the tactics of preserving this island of Soviet power in the stormy imperialist sea, maintaining this island which now already attracts the gaze of the working people of all = countries".^^1^^ With the triumph of the October _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 27, p. 337.
75 Revolution, the militant working class of the capitalist countries acquired through Soviet power their principal social mainstay and base. By struggling to consolidate the new social system, the working masses of Soviet Russia made an enormous contribution to the development of the proletariat's international struggle against the bourgeoisie. If the international bourgeoisie had triumphed over Soviet Russia, it would have been a colossal victory for world reaction not only over the working class of Russia, but also over the working class of the whole world.Lenin's formula for internationalists—that they should do in their own country the maximum possible for the success of the general cause of revolution and socialism throughout the world—was further developed after the formation of the world socialist system. Readiness to strengthen the community of the socialist countries has now become the criterion of loyalty to proletarian internationalism. Given the existence of the world socialist system, one can no longer rest content with the recognition that the working masses of different nationalities should be united by friendship and draw closer together. It is now necessary to devise and unswervingly implement a policy to bring about close unity between the socialist countries so as to accomplish the lofty revolutionary ideals of the working class. Nowadays one cannot be true to the slogan "Workers of all countries, unite!" if one preaches the idea of the separate development of the socialist countries and advocates a policy of isolationism in the world socialist system. By the whole course of historical development the idea of uniting the workers of the whole world is supplemented and enriched by the idea of uniting the peoples of the socialist countries.
To sum up, it can be confidently stated that the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism form a conclusion and lesson drawn from the experience of class battles. They are based on the laws of the development of the revolutionary community of the proletariat and the laws of the maintenance and consolidation of the community of socialist nations and states. Proletarian internationalism is a powerful factor of social progress.
76 __NUMERIC_LVL2__The international working class consists of three large contingents, each of which is at a different stage along the path, towards the ultimate objective and is accomplishing some part of the common internationalist task. The working class of the socialist countries, whose class interests have assumed the form of national-state interests, is engaged in the huilding of socialist and communist society. The working class of the capitalist countries is struggling to overthrow the domination of capitalism and to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat. The young working class of the developing countries is striving to eradicate the vestiges of colonial dependence, to choose the path of social progress and to follow a non-capitalist course of development. In turn, each of these contingents subdivides into numerous national sections which differ in their level of socio-economic development and whose life and struggle are set in extremely varied conditions.
The unity of all the main revolutionary forces today and the solidarity and successful development of the countries of the world socialist system depend largely on a correct understanding of the national and internationalist interests oi the working class and the dialectics of their correlation, and on the ability to combine them. The Report of the CC CPSU to the 24th Party Congress states: "Successes in socialist construction largely depend on the correct combination of the general and the nationally specific in social development. . .. Nor is it possible without a consideration of both these factors correctly to develop relations between the socialist = states."^^1^^
This question also lies at the centre of the current ideological struggle. In their attempts to undermine the unity _-_-_
~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, pp. 9--10.
77 of today's basic revolutionary forces and to divide the socialist world, the imperialists and their ideologists kindle nationalism and chauvinism and try to sow distrust between individual socialist countries and Communist Parties. They are given a helping hand in this task by the Right-wing and ``Left'' revisionists, who crudely distort the essence of national and internationalist interests and oppose the interests of some socialist countries and national contingents of the working class to others, and oppose national interests to internationalist ones.If the dialectics of national and internationalist interests is to be understood, then these categories must be correctly defined. A well-known difficulty here is the fact that the sociological category ``interest'' has received little theoretical attention. Some writers still confuse the sociological concept of interest as the objective relationship of a society, nation, class or individual person to the conditions of its or his existence with the psychological concept of interest as a particular trend in an individual's consciousness.
This gives rise to differences in the understanding of national interests.
G. M. Gak indicated the correct methodological principle for determining the interests of a nation. He wrote: "In order to determine the interest of a community, one must examine that community's nature and the conditions of its existence.'' Gak defined the national interest as "territorial independence and the integrity of the nation, its freedom from harassment and oppression by another nation and the freedom to develop its own economy, language and = culture."^^1^^
Although national independence and freedom from oppression by another nation are the first necessary condition for the development of a nation, this by no means exhausts the content of national interests. The next most important conditions for the successful development of a nation are the existence of progressive intranation social relations and the possibility of the nation's using external sources of development borrowed from other nations. No country or nation can develop in isolation, without broad economic and _-_-_
~^^1^^ G. M. Gak, = The Doctrine of Social Consciousness in the Light of the Theory of Cognition, Moscow, 1960, pp. 67 and 53 (in Russian).
78 cultural co-operation and without scientific and technical exchange in a wide range of different spheres.Attempts have been made to determine national interests from the standpoint of their correlation with internationalist interests. In the terms of this approach, each country's special and specific interests are said to be national, and its general interests are then internationalist. But it is inaccurate to confine national interests to specific ones and to exclude from them the interests that they have in common with other nations.
National interests express the objective requirements of the progressive development of the nation as a historical community of people. They constitute the objective relationship to the socio-economic and political conditions of life and to that nation's position in the system of international relations and the international division of labour that prompt the nation to do its best to bring about conditions favourable to its existence and to struggle against the factors that hinder its development.
National interests are not invariable and decreed for all time. They develop and alter in accordance with changes in the nation's internal and external conditions of life. Moreover, a distinction must be made between the process whereby the national interests take shape and their reflection in the consciousness of the classes and social groups forming the nation. These processes do not occur simultaneously: the first precedes the second. Correctly understood national interests prompt the nation's progressive forces into action; in a socialist society this is true of the whole nation.
Only the progressive classes in a society can perceive the national interest, determine the real national objectives and, even more so, ensure that they are attained. During the period of nascent capitalism the national interests were expressed by the young revolutionary bourgeoisie. Subsequently the class interests of the bourgeoisie, which strives to retain the outmoded bourgeois social relations, enter into irreconcilable conflict with the interests of the progressive development of the nation. The real national interests come to be expressed by the proletariat. This happens not only because "the proletariat expresses economically and politically the real interests of the overwhelming majority of the working 79 people under = capitalism'',^^1^^ but also because the interests of the proletariat coincide with the fundamental interests of the nation's progress. In the present period "the working class most consistently expresses the interests of the entire nation, rallying round itself the masses of the working people, all the anti-monopoly = forces".^^2^^
Marxism-Leninism requires that national interests should be seen in indissoluble connection with class interests, since the national interest can be realised through the interests of the classes which are the spurs to social progress at a particular historical stage. Therefore, national interests basically coincide, by their very nature, with the interests of that class whose struggle and actions determine historical progress at a given time. But it would be wrong to carry the argument a stage further and dissolve national interests in class interests. The formation of national interests is substantially affected by the conditions of life and language, demographic, territorial and historical factors, as well as class factors.
With the victory of a socialist revolution and fundamental changes in the social structure of society, the basic class interests and aims of the proletariat gradually become the interests and aims of all of the nation's social groups. Historical experience shows that the process whereby the common national interests of the socialist nations take shape occupies quite a lengthy period.
Once a socialist society is constructed, fundamental changes occur in national interests. A whole series of national interests are realised: conditions are set up for the nation's all-round development, and an ideological and political unity of nations takes shape; nations that were previously oppressed gain genuine freedom, independence and sovereignty. National interests arise that are engendered by socialist production and national relations. New national interests appear with the emergence of a world socialist system and socialist international relations. The defence of many national interests and the struggle for their realisation _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 30, p. 274.
~^^2^^ L. I. Brezhnev, Following Lenin's Course, Moscow, 1972, p. 45.
80 become a matter for the collective efforts of the socialist countries.National interests can be subdivided into main and subsidiary ones depending on their role and significance in the life of the nation, and into present and future interests, and temporary and long-term interests according to their position in time and the duration of their action. Interests can also be differentiated, according to their orientation, into internal and external.
If the dialectic of national and internationalist interests is to be properly understood, it is very important to know the nature of the common and specific interests and their correlation. By common interests we mean those that are equally characteristic of all nations as historical communities of people. They include the formation of national statehood, sovereignty and comprehensive economic and socio-political development. In a number of cases the term "common interest" is used to designate an interest that is the opposite of one that is concrete and differentiated. Usually common interests are taken to be coinciding interests uniting nations and peoples.
G.~M. Gak correctly points out that "in certain circumstances it is precisely the fact that different people have identical interests that prevents their interests from being common; moreover, it becomes a source of antagonism between them. We can see this in any competitive struggle, where rivalry springs up precisely because the different interests are identical and are orientated towards the same end and at the same time".^^1^^
Thus, similarity of interests turns out to be insufficient for them to perform a uniting function. Interests play a uniting role if they directly express the need for closer association with other nations. Lenin called common interests of this sort = ``binding''.^^2^^
These binding, integrational interests can unite all or just some nations for a greater or lesser period of time. They can be divided into global and local, stable and unstable. Moreover, they may be global and stable to differing degrees. _-_-_
~^^1^^ G. M. Gak, Op. cit., p. 65.
~^^2^^ See V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 325.
81 Local binding interests would arise among peoples and nations in the remote past, whereas the emergence of global and stable integrational interests is a feature of modern times.The economic and historical preconditions for the formation of binding interests are the development of productive forces requiring a comprehensive international division of labour, and the emergence, owing to the course of social development, of socio-economic and scientific and technical 'tasks that can only be accomplished through the joint efforts of all or many nations and peoples. Humanity is faced by such tasks during the current historical period. They include the maintenance of socialism on a world scale, the banning of wars, the preservation of the environment, the development of transcontinental and the creation of world systems of transport and communications, the prevention and elimination of dangerous and widespread diseases such as cancer and cardio-vascular disorders, the exploration of space and the oceans and seas, control over the earth's climatic conditions, and the transformation of the vast deserts and swamps into flourishing regions. These common fundamental interests and tasks of the whole of mankind are expressed in the Peace Programme adopted by the 24th CPSU Congress and approved by all peoples throughout the world.
The social precondition for the formation of integrational interests is the community of interests of the proletariat in all countries that is engendered by a common economic situation, a common enemy and common internationalist conditions for emancipating the working class.
The position of the proletariat in the different capitalist countries is basically similar in that the proletariat is everywhere subjected to merciless exploitation by the capitalists. A proletariat struggling for its emancipation is opposed not only by its ``own'' bourgeoisie, but also by the bourgeoisie of other nations, brought together by common class interests in the struggle against socialist revolution.
The community of the monopoly bourgeoisie's class objectives increased particularly once socialism had developed into a world system whose successful development threatened the very existence of capitalism. "Under conditions __PRINTERS_P_81_COMMENT__ 6---0798 82 where the struggle between the two world systems is becoming sharper, the capitalist powers seek, despite the growing contradictions dividing them, to unite their efforts to uphold and strengthen the system of exploitation and oppression and regain the positions they have = lost."^^1^^
This was reflected in the setting up of NATO, SEATO and other military blocs, which are essentially imperialist alliances to combat the world socialist system and the working-class and national liberation movement. In these circumstances the victory of the proletariat over the bourgeoisie can be achieved only through close co-operation and mutual support among all its national contingents. Lenin wrote: "The interests of the working class and of its struggle against capitalism demand complete solidarity and the closest unity of the workers of all = nations."^^2^^
The general interests of the proletariat give rise to an objective that is common to all its national contingents— communism, which, as Marx and Engels pointed out, "is only possible anyway as a 'world-historical' = existence"^^3^^. This means that socialism and communism will only be able to reveal their potential fully after victory on a world scale, when society will be relieved of the necessity of spending enormous sums for defence purposes and man will be given the opportunity to make the most rational use, in his own interests, of the world's natural and labour resources. The building of socialism and communism is a complicated and difficult matter, whose success depends considerably on the closest co-operation and fraternal help between nations and peoples, and on the "harmonious national and international co-ordination of the social forms of produc- tion".^^4^^
Community of tasks in the struggle against imperialism is the objective basis for the unity of the world system of socialism and the international working-class and national liberation movement. Having gained national independence, the oppressed peoples struggle for social emancipation _-_-_
~^^1^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 12.
~^^2^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 20, p. 424.
~^^3^^ Marx/Engels. Werke, Bd. 4, Berlin, 1969, S 416.
~^^4^^ Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, = On the Paris Commune, Moscow, 1971, p. 157.
83 and unite more closely with today's other basic revolutionary forces. This is because "the struggle for national liberation in many countries lias in practical terms begun to grow into a struggle against exploitative relations, both feudal and = capitalist".^^1^^Marx linked the emergence of common interests uniting nations and peoples with socialist revolution and the abolition of private ownership of the means of production. He said: "If the peoples are to be really able to unite, they must have common interests. If their interests are to be common, then the existing property relations must be destroyed, for the existing property relations are responsible for the exploitation of some peoples by others; only the working class has an interest in destroying the existing property relations. This class alone is capable of doing it. The victory of the proletariat over the bourgeoisie also means an end to all the national and industrial conflicts that sow enmity among the peoples at the present = time."^^2^^
The abolition of private ownership of the means of production and the establishment of socialist ownership create the objective basis for the formation of common binding interests. These interests are perceived during the peoples' struggle to preserve their revolutionary gains and in the course of co-operation and mutual assistance in creating the material and technical basis of socialism and communism, and through the pooling of efforts in the development of technology, science and culture.
The formation of binding interests is a complicated and lengthy process. Among socialist nations common interests first arise in the political sphere. Immediately after the victory of socialist revolutions the common interest of the international proletariat, consisting of mutual support in the struggle against imperialism, becomes the common interest of the peoples of the socialist countries. Subsequently economics becomes the principal sphere for the formation of the socialist countries' common interests. This does nothing to diminish the importance of the common interest of defending socialist gains, since the imperialists will not desist in their _-_-_
~^^1^^ 24lh Congress of the CPSU, p. 23.
~^^2^^ Marx/Engels, Werke, Bd. 4, Berlin, 1964, S. 416.
__PRINTERS_P_83_COMMENT__ 6* 84 attempts to destroy socialism by any means—from ``quiet'' counter-revolution to attempts at direct military intervention against individual socialist countries.At the current stage of development of the world socialist system many common and binding interests have basically taken shape among the socialist countries. These interests consist of defence of the gains of socialism both in each country and in the world socialist system as a whole; the successful construction of socialism and communism; unbroken economic, socio-political and cultural progress; the strengthening of friendship and unity; and the broadening and deepening of all-round, economic, political and cultural co-operation. The binding interests include the coordination of action in the struggle to strengthen world peace and security, the organisation of firm resistance to the aggressive policies of imperialism and assertion of the principles of the peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems, support of the national liberation movement and the struggle of the proletariat in capitalist countries; the creative development of Marxist-Leninist teaching on the basis of generalisation of the collective experience of the revolutionary struggle and of socialist and communist construction.
The conditions of life, development and struggle and the economic and socio-political position of the working class in different countries are highly specific. The different national contingents of the working class are at various stages of social development. All these circumstances give rise to the particular, specific interests that the working class in each country has.
Similarly, among the countries and nations forming part of the world socialist system the existence of specific interests arises from the particular conditions of their life and historical development and from the fact that these countries are at different stages of socialist and communist construction, and have different levels of economic and political development, varying social structures and national traditions.
Apart from the level of a country's economic development, other factors influencing the formation of specific economic interests are natural conditions, the correlation of 85 industrial and agricultural production, industrial specialisation, density of population, its rate of growth, the degree to which the country is involved in the international division of labour, etc. The formation of specific foreign policy interests is affected by the concrete international situation in which the country finds itself, its geographical position and other factors.
Many specific interests are not long-term ones: they are of a temporary nature and their existence arises from particular stages in the struggle waged by the national contingents of the working class or from the stages of the development of the socialist countries. At the same time, there is a series of long-term specific interests. In the case of socialist countries, these are the geographical position of the country, its natural conditions, industrial and agricultural specialisation, and the specific historical circumstances that have developed. Thus, the struggle to reunify their countries is of vital importance to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Korean People's Democratic Republic. This is because the splitting up of a single national economy gives rise to acute economic disparities, complicates economic and cultural development and spurs on the ethnic interest in national integrity; in addition, a position of this kind is potentially very dangerous for peace.
The realisation of nationally specific interests depends largely on the consistent accomplishment of common interests. In turn, the accomplishment of a number of national interests may assist the realisation of common internationalist interests. Thus, the recent armed struggle by the people of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to repel the imperialist aggression of the USA and to unite its country came to be of enormous internationalist significance, although it was a purely national task. The reason was that the imperialist aggression of the USA against one of the socialist states was directly damaging to the interests of the other socialist countries and to the world socialist system as a whole, as well as the interests of the national liberation movement and all peace-loving forces throughout the world.
The Soviet Union and other countries of the socialist community, the Communist and Workers' Parties and all peaceloving and progressive forces throughout the world gave 86 this just struggle their all-round support and assistance, which was one of the decisive factors that ensured the victory of the Vietnamese people over the forces of imperialist aggression.
Le Duan, the First Secretary of the CC of the Party of the Working People of Vietnam, wrote: "The Vietnamese people's War of Resistance against the aggression of American imperialism is a just struggle to complete the nationaldemocratic revolution throughout the country and to defend socialism in North Vietnam. Final victory in this sacred struggle means not only an enormous step forward for the Vietnamese revolution, but also a major contribution to the cause of intensifying world revolution and strengthening world peace. As it was fulfilling this lofty mission, the Vietnamese people always enjoyed the sympathy and valuable support of the fraternal socialist countries, the international communist movement and the peoples of all countries, including the American = people."^^1^^
This example makes it plain that national interests may assume worldwide significance if they reflect the struggle of the world forces of social progress against reaction and imperialism, and that the common interest of resisting imperialism unites all the revolutionary forces of today.
We have already mentioned the attempts to divorce national interests from internationalist ones by restricting the former to specific and the latter to general interests.
The holders of a second point of view essentially identify national interests and internationalist ones. They claim that the correctly understood interests of each individual socialist nation coincide fully with internationalist interests.
Since the first viewpoint reduces national interests to specific ones, which do not always coincide with common internationalist interests, then we would no longer be at liberty to say, if we accepted this view, that national and internationalist interests were the same.
Many students of national and international relations consider that internationalist interests do not coincide, and are not compatible with all national interests, but only with _-_-_
~^^1^^ Kommunist, No.~2, 1973, p. 22.
87 fundamental, substantial and lonof-term interests. Internationalist interests do not always coincide directly with national ones, but internationalist interests consist of these same national interests of the peoples, but viewed in a long-term perspective, in the final analysis. The Hungarian publicist Frigyes Puja writes: "No Communist Party has the right to interpret internationalism in such a way that any step that is in the interests of its own people is said to be automatically in the interests of the international proletariat. This is a dangerous simplification. At any given moment national interests do not always coincide exactly with the internationalist interests of the working = class."^^1^^Consequently, internationalist interests must not be reduced to merely the sum total of national interests or their elements, even if they are principal, fundamental and longterm interests. Rather they are a synthesis of long-term national interests. Internationalist interests belong to communities of people or international movements that have either formed or are forming and which are more extensive than the nation. Consequently, in addition to the integrating interests that are common to all the individual parts, there are also in the structure of internationalist interests others that are brought about by the requirements of a broader whole than the nation or a separate national contingent of the working class.
The content of the internationalist interests of the international working class is determined by the requirements of the development of the world revolutionary process, by the interaction of its driving forces and by the demands that are dictated by the historic competition between socialism and capitalism and by the struggle against imperialism and colonialism.
The unity of the national and internationalist interests of the socialist countries and individual national contingents of the working class does not imply their complete identity. It includes both the greater or lesser coincidence of fundamental national interests with internationalist interests, and the divergence of internationalist interests _-_-_
~^^1^^ F. Puja, = Egys\'eg \'es vila a nemzetk\"ozi kommunista mozgalomban, Budapest, 1969.
88 from individual, nationally specific ones. The dialectics of national and internationalist interests also consists in their interpenetration and interconvertibility. Their unity is not rigid, but active, living and dynamic.The degree of coincidence between national interests and internationalist ones does not remain constant. The greater the maturity that the socialist system attains in a particular country, the more objective conditions are created for combining its national-state interests with internationalist ones.
Both national and internationalist interests have their vehicles. But for these interests to be realised, someone has to express them, represent them and fight for their accomplishment. It is the socialist states and the Marxist-Leninist parties that give expression to these interests. Having discerned these interests, they determine the country's political and economic course of development and struggle for its implementation. But a decision as to the suitability or otherwise of a particular measure can only be a collective one. In the socialist community there is no single guardian of interests who discharges this function. No single country can assume any prerogative as the unique representative of world socialism. The only possibility here is that of the collective solution of questions with the participation of all the countries and parties that are tangibly interested.
Since the breadth of internationalist communities and international movements differs, so the globality of internationalist interests differs too. In multinational socialist states the common state interest acts as a common interest in relation to the interests of the individual nations. A higher stage of internationalist interests is marked by the interests of the individual internationalist contingents of the working class: the world system of socialism, the proletariat of the capitalist countries and the proletariat of the developing countries. The highest stage of internationalist interests is the interests of the world revolutionary process and all social progress. The internationalist interests of the socialist system are the objective substantial relationship of the world socialist system to the nature of the mutual relations between its component parts, to the economic, political and cultural progress of the socialist countries and the system as 89 a whole, and to the position of the socialist system in international affairs in connection with its struggle and economic competition with the world imperialist system and co-- operation with countries that have freed themselves from colonial oppression.
The interests of the world socialist system, which is the international working class's greatest gain, provide the most complete expression of the requirements of the international working class and world social development.
Between the interests of the three basic forces of the world revolutionary process there is a close dialectical link and interaction. Just as every success by the working people of the socialist countries in the struggle to build a socialist and communist society and to strengthen the unity of the socialist community is a substantial boost for the struggle waged by the proletariat in the capitalist and newly independent countries, so in turn each considerable victory by the proletariat over the bourgeoisie and imperialism reinforces the international position of the world socialist system and facilitates the construction of socialism and communism.
Among the internationalist interests of the international working class at every stage of historical development there is a main interest. World social progress depends on the struggle to realise this interest. If it is correctly perceived, this interest becomes the principal aim and signpost for the revolutionary forces and a criterion for a policy of proletarian internationalism.
During the historical period when socialism was largely confined to the Soviet state, the international proletariat's main interest lay in the defence and strengthening of the world's firs) socialist state, the bulwark of all revolutionary forces. By its struggle the working class of Russia, the first to have accomplished a victorious socialist revolution and to have begun the successful construction of socialism, championed the cause of the world's exploited and oppressed people.
The Soviet Union's decisive role in defeating the main forces of imperialist reaction—German fascism and Japanese militarism—contributed to the upsurge in the revolutionary and emancipation movement of the working class, which resulted in the emergence of socialism outside the bounds of 90 just one country and the formation of a world socialist system.
Community of their fundamental interests is the objective basis for the unity of the socialist countries and the national contingents of the working class. This unity, however, as we have already indicated, does not mean that national and internationalist interests are identical. It is, of course, not uncommon for cases in which there is a direct coincidence of national and internationalist interests to occur. For example, the national interest of defending the gains of socialism from external and internal enemies is simultaneously an internationalist interest.
But in a whole series of other cases the closest national interests may not coincide directly with internationalist interests, since the latter express the requirements of not only the present but also the future progress of each socialist nation and the world socialist system.
This is the case, for instance, whenever an industrially developed country has to extend economic assistance to countries that are poorly developed economically. This frequently calls for voluntary limitation of current national interests. But since this assistance contributes to the accelerated economic development of formerly backward countries and, consequently to the growth of the power of the socialist system, it is in accord with the long-term fundamental interests of the people of the donor country. A certain non-- coincidence between the national and internationalist interest is only temporary.
Every internationalist interest is interpreted in terms of the specific national conditions and national interests, which cannot fail to influence the degree of its development and the intensity and forms of its manifestation. Thus, the industrially developed socialist countries have a natural interest in international specialisation and co-operation in production. Since it is affected by such national conditions as the size of the country and the volume of the domestic market, this interest produces an urge in some countries to specialise in engineering on a broad front measured in terms of whole industries, while in other countries this process takes place on a narrow front through distribution between the countries of the production of individual basic machinery 91 that has never been manufactured before in the CMEA countries and which is in great demand. As the Polish economist Artur Bodnar wrote: "The smaller a country is, the narrower is the range of engineering goods that it produces, and so the greater is its interest in specialising in whole assortment groups, since it does not produce most metallurgical equipment, complete chemical plants, many groups of machine tools, etc., which cannot be said in many cases about Poland, for example, since we are a country with a relatively large home market and have a considerable volume of = production."^^1^^
The fact that the socialist countries and individual contingents of the working class have numerous specific interests and a different degree of perceiving their common interests makes it possible for contradictions to arise between the various national and internationalist interests, and also between individual interests of the various socialist countries. This does not, of course, imply that any differences in interests must necessarily lead to contradictions between them.
The contradictions that arise between the national and internationalist interests of the working class, and also between the interests of its separate national contingents, differ qualitatively from the contradictions between the bourgeoisie of the imperialist countries, which have always been fundamentally irreconcilable. These contradictions among the working class are not antagonistic; they arise in a situation in which the fundamental national and internationalist interests are common and coincide. This community is the objective basis for resolving the contradictions and difficulties.
The Final Document of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties in 1969 declares: " Socialism is not afflicted with the contradictions inherent in capitalism. When divergences between socialist countries do arise owing to differences in the level of economic development, in social structure or international position or because of national distinctions, they can and must be successfully settled on the basis of proletarian internationalism, through comradely discussion and voluntary fraternal co-operation. _-_-_
~^^1^^ &Zwhatthe;ycie Warszawy, March 12, 1960.
92 They need not disrupt the united front of socialist countries against = imperialism."^^1^^Serious attempts have been made in recent years by Soviet and other Marxist social scientists to study the problem of the correlation and combination of the internationalist and national interests of the socialist = countries.^^2^^ The theoretical conference entitled "The Dialectics of the National and Internationalist in the World Socialist System'', which was organised by the journal World Marxist Review in April 1972, made an important contribution towards elucidating this = issue.^^3^^
The description of the current stage of the development of the world socialist system given in the CC CPSU's Report to the 24th Party Congress does much to clarify the causes and nature of the contradictions within the world system of socialism: ''. . . The present-day socialist world, with its successes and prospects, with all its problems is still a young and growing social organism, where not everything has settled and where much still bears the marks of earlier historical epochs. The socialist world is forging ahead and is continuously improving. Its development naturally runs through struggle between the new and the old, through the resolution of internal = contradictions."^^4^^
When examining the contradictions within the international working-class movement and the world socialist system, it is highly important to distinguish the immanent, internally inherent contradictions from the non-immanent contradictions, which do not result from the internal development of the working-class movement and world socialism. The parts played by these two types of _-_-_
~^^1^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 23.
~^^2^^ See Tibor Kiss, Problems of the Socialist Integration of the CMEA Countries, Moscow, 1971, pp. 154--60; A. P. Butenko, The Two World Systems and the Laws and Tendencies Governing Their Development, Moscow, 1967, and Socialist Integration, Its Essence and Prospects, Moscow, 1971; I. V. Dudinsky, "The Correlation of the National and Internationalist in the Development of the World Socialist System'', Voprosy filosofii, No ~6, 1966; I. Ye. Kravtsov, Proletarian Internationalism, the Fatherland and Patriotism, Kiev, 1965; The International Communist Movement, An Outline of Its Strategy and Tactics, 2nd ed., Moscow, 1972 (all in Russian).
~^^3^^ See World Marxist Review, No.~7, 1972.
~^^4^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, pp. 18--19,
93 contradictions are different. The development and resolution of the contradictions of the first type are a source of development of world socialism, whereas the contradictions of the second type exert a retarding influence on it. An example of this sort of contradictions is the policy of the Maoists. The Mao Tse-tung group completely ignores the common internationalist interests of the international working-class movement and the national interests of other socialist countries.As Leonid Brezhnev commented: "In substance, the objective of doing the greatest possible damage to the USSR, of impairing the interests of the socialist community, is now the sole criterion determining the Chinese leaders' approach to any major international problem.
"What can one say about this policy? We hold that it is unnatural for relations between socialist countries, that it acts against the interests not only of the Soviet, but also of the Chinese people, against the interests of world socialism, of the liberation and anti-imperialist struggle, against peace and international security.
"It is therefore understandable that we categorically reject this = policy."^^1^^
The objective character of the unity of the fundamental interests and basic aims of the peoples of the socialist countries and all revolutionary forces today makes it inevitable that the attempts to undermine the friendship and co-- operation between the socialist countries and to split the world front of the revolutionary forces into separate unco-- ordinated contingents will ultimately fail.
At the present time, when the differences between the individual specific interests of the socialist countries and the various national contingents of the working class are still considerable, the role of the subjective factor—the policies of the Communist and Workers' Parties and the consciousness of the working masses—is particularly great. Depending on the subjective factor are the correct understanding of the national and internationalist interests and the tasks that follow from them, and the ability to combine interests that do not directly coincide and to correctly resolve the contradictions that arise between them.
_-_-_~^^1^^ L. I. Brezhnev, = The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Moscow, 1972, p. 46.
94The reflection of an interest in people's consciousness is a complicated process that is affected by various factors, both objective and subjective. Plekhanov made the point that ''. . . the state of public awareness (social psychology) at a particular period determines the form that the reflection of a given interest will take in men's = minds".^^1^^
A correct understanding of national interests in conjunction with internationalist ones can only be reached if seen from the viewpoint of the only scientific world outlook— Marxism-Leninism. The Marxist-Leninist ideology enables one to find one's way through the labyrinth of the most complex phenomena and events, to seize on the main, fundamental interests, to form an accurate judgement of them from the standpoint of social progress, and to find the ways and means of realising them. "It is only by mastering socialist ideology that the working masses can advance from an understanding of their current needs and immediate tasks to a grasp of their fundamental interests and historical perspectives."^^2^^
The difficulty of understanding the national interest lies in the fact that every nation has a plethora of 'different interests. Marx wrote that the world is not a world of a single interest but a world of many = interests.^^3^^ Hence, a correct understanding of the national interest presupposes not only the knowledge of its existence, but also the understanding of its importance in the totality of the nation's interests and the solution of the question of the order in which the interests should be realised.
Finally, the correct understanding of a number of national interests (especially those linked with the outside world) is impossible without consideration of the significance of these interests being realised in the general progress of humanity, as well as consideration of the interrelationship between these interests and the fundamental national interests of other nations and peoples. The correctly understood national interest is the interest whose realisation creates optimal _-_-_
~^^1^^ G. V. Plekhanov, = Selected Philosophical Works, Vol. II, Moscow, 1956, p. 260 (in Russian).
~^^2^^ On the Centenary of the Birth of V. I. Lenin, Moscow, 1970, p. 53.
^^3^^ See Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, = Collected Works, Vol. 1, Moscow, 1974, p. 249.
95 conditions for the development of the nation and for its contribution to world social progress.Socialism creates the objective and subjective conditions for combining the national interests of every socialist country with the internationalist interests of the world socialist community. These conditions are the community of the socio-economic and political system of the socialist states and the community of the main aims, which demand the pooling of their efforts. The nature and essence of the communist movement are such that it is able to resolve the problems facing both every national contingent of the working class and the movement as a whole.
The mere fact that objective and subjective conditions for combining national and internationalist interests exist in the world socialist system does not mean that this state of affairs is brought about automatically. This complicated and difficult task is accomplished through the efforts of the Marxist-Leninist parties and the socialist states. In their efforts to combine national and internationalist interests the Communist Parties are guided by the Leninist stipulation that internationalist interests have priority over national ones. Historical experience shows that no supposed or real national interests should be accomplished to the detriment of internationalist interests. Hermann Axen, a member of the Political Bureau and Secretary of the CC of the GDR's Socialist Unity Party, wrote: "The experience of the international working class's revolutionary struggle tells us that the view that the Communist Party of a socialist state is satisfactorily fulfilling its internationalist duty by merely strengthening its own country is one-sided, to put it mildly. Such an approach narrows the problem, ignores historical experience and distracts attention from the need for joint action. The community of the class interests and objectives of the socialist countries requires that in their domestic and foreign policies they proceed not only from the interests of each country individually, but also from the common interests, and that they should see not only their own needs, but also, at the same time, the interests of the socialist communitv, as well as those of the whole anti-imperialist = movement."^^1^^
_-_-_~^^1^^ Pravda, March 10, 1972.
96The permanent need to combine the socialist countries' national and internationalist interests has led to the appearance of a special body. In the political and military fields this body is the Warsaw Treaty Organisation, which acts as a defensive and political alliance. This organisation has become the chief centre for co-ordinating the fraternal countries' foreign policies.
In the economic field the main body for combining national and internationalist interests came to be the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. The co-ordination of the national economic plans has now been the principal means for more than 25 years that the CMEA has used in order to balance the changing economic interests of the socialist countries and to harmonise them with the interests of the world socialist system. The socialist countries that are members of the CMEA began with co-operation in foreign trade, mutual deliveries of raw materials, food, machinery and plant, and with the exchange of experience and scientific and technical know-how, and gradually proceeded towards closer co-operation in economic, scientific and technical matters, and towards the establishment of stable ties in the sphere of material production. The CMEA became the socialist countries' principal international organisation in this multilateral economic co-operation.
As Leonid Brezhnev pointed out: "As a result of collective efforts and hard-fought battles against the class enemy we forged a lasting alliance of socialist states and a dependable system of all-round fraternal co-operation, which has become, as it were, the natural form of life for each of our countries. We have learned to perform our day-to-day job successfully, to work patiently for just solutions of issues that have proved insoluble in capitalist conditions. And in doing this, we have learned to harmonise the interests of each with the common interest, and to co-operate, removing from our path everything that may hinder or complicate the common = advance."^^1^^
The forms, methods and means of combining national and internationalist interests are not static. They develop and _-_-_
~^^1^^ L. I. Brezhnev, = The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, p. 42.
97 improve together with the development of the socialist countries and the world socialist system as a whole.Socialist economic integration is a form of harmonising national and internationalist interests and pooling production resources that is in keeping with the current stage of development of the socialist community. Directed in a conscious and planned way by the Communist and Workers' Parties and governments of the CMEA member countries, it is a process of drawing together on all fronts, mutually adapting and optimising national economic structures, forming deep links in the key sectors of the economy, science and technology, and expanding and strengthening the international market; the process is leading to the creation of an international economic complex.
If socialist economic integration was to be successfully developed, it was tremendously important to formulate a scientific concept for the further deepening and improvement of co-operation between the socialist countries, with due regard for the level so far attained by them and for requirements of economic development. This concept was provided by the Comprehensive Programme for the Further Extension and Improvement of Co-operation and the Development of Socialist Economic Integration, adopted at the 25th Session of the CMEA in July 1971. It expresses the countries' community of interests and acknowledges the fact that the further progress of the highly developed productive forces of the socialist countries, the accomplishment of the tasks of the scientific and technological revolution and of the accelerated rise in material well-being, and the further strengthening of the positions of socialism in the class battle against imperialism are impossible without the broad pooling of scientific, technical and production resources in order to achieve a joint solution to colossal economic problems.
The Comprehensive Programme also expresses a new, broader approach to many economic questions that calls for the ability to find the most rational solutions in the interests not only of the country in question, but also of all the collaborating states. The CMEA countries proceed from the view that "the further extension and improvement of co-operation and the development of socialist economic __PRINTERS_P_97_COMMENT__ 7—0798 98 integration by the CMEA member-countries shall continue to be implemented in accordance with the principles of socialist internationalism, on the basis of respect for state sovereignty, independence and national interests, non-- interference in the internal affairs of countries, complete equality, mutual advantage and comradely mutual = assistance".^^1^^
The Comprehensive Programme represents a model combination of internationalist and national interests. While emphasising the common interests, it also takes careful account of the specific interests of each socialist country and the degree of its readiness and desire to take part in the various integratory measures. Socialist economic integration proceeds on a voluntary basis. It does not involve setting up supranational bodies, nor does it affect the internal planning and self-financing operations of organisations.
Whether any harmonisation of national and internationalist interests is optimal or not depends largely on the mechanism of economic co-operation. The Comprehensive Programme devotes a large amount of space to questions relating to the improvement of this mechanism, the application of new forms and methods of co-operation, and the improvement of traditional forms that have withstood the test of time. The mechanism of socialist integration that is now taking shape will more scrupulously consider and reveal the national and common internationalist interests, and will serve to combine and realise them.
A new form of co-operation, the holding of regular multilateral and bilateral consultations on the main issues in economic policy, is playing an important part in the mutual consideration of national interests and the devising of an agreed common economic strategy. Thus the outlook for economic development and the requirements of each country can be better assessed, and the problems whose solution is beyond the power of individual countries come to light.
Joint planning lies at the heart of socialist integration. While retaining the co-ordination of five-year plans as the basic means of harmonising economic interests, the Comprehensive Programme envisages that it should be _-_-_
~^^1^^ 'The Comprehensive Programme for the Further Extension and Improvement of Co-operation and the Development of Socialist Economic Integration by the CMEA Member-Countries, Moscow, 1971, p. 15.
99 supplemented by new forms of joint planning, such as co-- operation in forecasting, the co-ordination of long-term plans for the key sectors of the economy and production lines, and joint planning by the countries involved for certain industries and individual production lines. The use of forecasting and long-term planning will enable the socialist countries to ascertain and consider the long-term national and common internationalist interests, and so combine them.In those areas of economic and scientific and technical cooperation in which there is a large community of interests that are of a long-term and stable character, there is a growing need to set up special international organisations in order to take constant account of the national and internationalist interests, harmonise and realise them. The Comprehensive Programme makes provision for the countries involved to set up new economic and research organisations and enterprises.
The Comprehensive Programme for socialist economic integration is more than just a model for the consideration and harmonisation of national and internationalist interests; it is also intended to encourage the formation of conditions favouring a growth in the socialist countries' community of interests and the maximal coincidence of national and internationalist interests. Its implementation will bring about the comprehensive development and extension of economic links, the mutual adaptation of national economic structures, the evening out of the levels of economic and socio-political development, and the formation of an international economic complex. All this will facilitate the closer interlacing, fusion and harmonisation of the socialist countries' interests, and the moulding of new, common internationalist interests.
As a result of the development and accomplishment of socialist integration, not only the economic community of the socialist countries will grow, but also their political, ideological and cultural community as well; the cohesion of the socialist community will be strengthened and its influence on world social development will increase.
Accomplishment of the measures provided for by the Comprehensive Programme prepares the ground for the transition to a new and higher phase in the combination of national and internationalist interests.
__PRINTERS_P_99_COMMENT__ 7* 100 Emacs-File-stamp: "/home/ysverdlov/leninist.biz/en/1976/TPPI307/20060308/199.tx" __EMAIL__ webmaster@leninist.biz __OCR__ ABBYY 6 Professional (2006.03.06) __WHERE_PAGE_NUMBERS__ top __FOOTNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [0-9]+ __NUMERIC_LVL2__One of the features of proletarian internationalism is that it engenders in the fighters for communism a particular form of international obligation—internationalist duty. In relation to internationalism as a component part of socialist ideology and the policy of the working class, internationalist duty acts as its generalised ethico-political manifestation. At the same time, internationalist duty is an indicator of the level of development of proletarian internationalism, the strength and influence of which are directly dependent on how correctly the working class and the working people of each country understand and consistently discharge their internationalist duty to the world revolutionary forces that are struggling against imperialism.
Through being converted into the demands of internationalist duty the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism which permeate all the types and aspects of the socio-historical activity of the working class act not as abstract appeals or academic postulates, but as effective moral stimuli. They prompt the working masses to take action and seek revolutionary transformations in order to realise the ideals of communism. In other words, as people become aware of them, the ideas and principles of internationalism develop into moral convictions and come to be seen as duty. They become the consciously accepted obligations that the working class and the Communist Parties of all countries discharge in relation to one another and to all the forces struggling for socialism and communism.
Consequently, in internationalist duty the political ideas and principles of internationalism become an element in people's moral consciousness. They are not confined merely to the sphere of politics, but also embrace the field of moral relations. This helps the role of internationalism in social life and its influence on the course of social development to grow substantially.
Internationalist duty is the totality of the obligations of the national contingents of the working class, the communist and workers' parties and the socialist fatherlands to the whole 101 world's revolutionary forces that is based on the ideological and political principles of proletarian internationalism. These voluntarily accepted obligations are conditioned by the requirements of the world revolutionary process and are consciously discharged in the interests of the general struggle to strengthen socialism and communism.
As we pass on to examine the social essence of internationalist duty, we must remember that it is a specifically proletarian form of class duty. Historically, it takes shape in society only with the emergence of the proletariat as a class, as it is converted from a national to an internationalist force, and is a reflection of the need of the international workingclass movement for solidarity, unity and mutual support.
The proletarian class nature of internationalist duty becomes particularly evident as one explores its objective source and its social function and criterion. What is more, all these questions have to be viewed from the standpoint of the historical materialist theory of the interest.
From the Marxist viewpoint, interests, which prompt people into action in all spheres of social life, are of an objective nature since they are engendered by people's position in society and by the demands that are conditioned by this position. Since they are derived from the objective demands of the world revolutionary process, internationalist interests (which, in this respect, do not differ from other interests) are reflected in the demands of internationalist duty and give rise to it. In this sense, the internationalist interests of the international working-class and communist movement form an objective source and reason for the emergence of internationalist duty.
Experience of the first revolutionary uprisings by the working class in different countries against the bourgeois system between 1830 and 1850 enabled the founders of Marxism to reach the following vital conclusion: "Since the position of workers in all countries is the same, since their interests are the same and since they have the same enemies, they must join hands in the struggle and oppose the fraternal alliance of the workers of all nations to the fraternal alliance of the bourgeoisie of all = nations."^^1^^ This formulation not _-_-_
~^^1^^ Marx/Engels, Werke, Bd. 4, Berlin. 1969, S. 418.
102 only expresses the fundamental idea of internationalism, but also shows the community of interests of the workingclass. The subsequent deepening and development of the proletarian class struggle throughout the world even more forcefully required the proletarians of all countries to discharge their internationalist duty resulting from the community of their interests and their position in society.The internationalist interests of the working class in all countries are common and united, and, in terms of their importance, are determining, fundamental and supreme. But this is not to say that the working class of each country does not have special, national interests or that these can be neglected. On the contrary, Marxists-Leninists, being at one and the same time both patriots and internationalists ".. . reject both national narrow-mindedness and the negation or underestimation of national = interests. . . ."^^1^^ Moreover, Communists consider that fundamental, correctly understood national interests do not contradict internationalist interests, but coincide and harmonise with them.
But, as has already been pointed out, the coincidence of the working class's national and internationalist interests does not come about of its own accord, automatically, even though there is a profound objective basis for their unity. This requires the intense and sustained internationalist activity of Communists for the correct combination of national and internationalist tasks. The importance of this activity was particularly emphasised by the 24th CPSU Congress, which noted that success in the construction of socialism and communism ".. .largely depends on the correct combination of the general and the nationally specific in social development".^^2^^
The correct combination of national and internationalist interests is the central question of internationalist politics; it is no simple or easy matter to solve it, since it is linked with the necessity to overcome the difficulties that arise. As has already been made clear, the internationalist interests of the working class coincide and harmonise not with all national interests, but only with the fundamental, non-- _-_-_
~^^1^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 37.
~^^2^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 9.
103 transient and ultimate ones. It is all the more true that there can be no coincidence between internationalist and national interests if the latter are given a narrow and limited treatment, are absolutised and opposed to the former.While consistenly championing national interests and attempting to combine them correctly with internationalist interests, the Communist Parties consider it essential, wherever the different interests fail to correspond or temporarily diverge, to subordinate the first to the second. Here thev base their views on the well-known Leninist theses that "the interests of social development are higher than the interests of the proletariat—the interests of the working-class movement as a whole are higher than the interests of a separate section of the workers or of separate phases of the = movement. . . ."^^1^^ ''. . .The interests of socialism, of world socialism are higher than national interests, higher than the interests of the state."^^2^^
Marxism-Leninism proceeds from the view that the subordination of national interests to internationalist ones cannot and should not be purely external and compulsory. It can only play its part when it is fully comprehended, is voluntary and is based on the deep understanding of its necessity and correctness.
Thus, the importance of internationalist duty is that, thanks to it, internationalist interests are seen in terms of a moral awareness and become deeply felt and accepted by the working class and the Communist Partv of each country, which consequently and subsequently view internationalist interests not as alien interests, thrust on them from outside, but as their very own interests, and make the necessary effort to foster and satisfy them.
Naturally, given this organic link between internationalist duty and internationalist interests, the latter form part of the objective criterion of this duty. Consenuentlv, only the activities and actions of the Communist Parties, the socialist states, the national contingents of the working class and individual collectives and persons that are in the interests of revolutionary struggle and correspond to the _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 4, p. 236.
~^^2^^ Ibid., Vol. 27, p. 378.
104 interests of the development of the world communist and working-class movement and the practical building of socialism and communism are an expression and manifestation of real internationalist duty.Internationalist duty is a broad category, having political, legal and ethical aspects. It is political by its source and content, since it manifests itself in the sphere of politics, is linked with the working class's political struggle and expresses its tasks and demands.
At the same time, by the way in which they arise and are realised the obligations that form internationalist duty are moral or, more precisely, moral and political. The working class accepts and discharges its internationalist obligations not because of any stipulation of international law or through coercion, but voluntarily and owing to moral and political factors: communist convictions, the awareness and feeling of class solidarity, and the views of progressive opinion.
At the dawn of Soviet rule Lenin paid tribute to the enormous significance for the victory of the revolution of the internationalist help given by the international working class: "We have an international alliance, an alliance which has nowhere been registered, which has never been given formal embodiment, which from the point of view of ' constitutional law' means nothing, but which, in the disintegrating capitalist world, actually means = everything."^^1^^
A good example illustrating the moral and political nature of internationalist duty is the movement and struggle of the internationalists from different countries against the military acts of fascism in Spain in 1936--39. The internationalist duty that these people were discharging was dictated by their deep-seated anti-fascist convictions and by the understanding of their responsibility for the future of peace, democracy and human progress. Between 1936 and 1939 42,000 internationalists voluntarily left their own countries and set off for Spain. While fighting in Spain, 20,000 of them were killed in action, died of their wounds, vanished without trace or were = disabled.^^2^^
_-_-_~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 30, p. 449.
~^^2^^ See = The Peoples' Solidarity with the Spanish Republic 1936--1939, Nauka Publishers, Moscow, 1972, pp. 15 and 9 (in Russian).
105With the formation of the world socialist system, the mutual internationalist obligations of the socialist states began to be backed by political and legal documents. The political and legal basis for the internationalist obligations of the socialist countries is the system of friendship and mutual assistance treaties concluded between them which record the parties' mutual obligations, and also the long- and short-term agreements that regulate co-operation in various fields.
It is clear, then, that the internationalist obligations of the socialist states have a legal aspect, as well as a moral and political side. As a result, internationalist obligations at state level are more effective, since they are supported by legal enactments in addition to public opinion. For instance, the mutual internationalist obligations of the socialist states which are signatories to the Warsaw Treaty have both moral and political and legal aspects. This reinforces the effectiveness of the internationalist duty of the working people in these countries to uphold mutual interests and to defend the positions of world socialism.
This does not mean, however, that the legal side of internationalist duty is coming to the fore or is shaping its specific nature. Although in certain conditions they have a legal aspect, the kernel of internationalist obligations has always been a moral one. This is evident from the fact the internationalist obligations voluntarily accepted by the Soviet people, the working people of the socialist countries, the fraternal Communist and Workers' Parties and the international proletariat are being met without coercion from outside.
Since it is moral in its specific social nature, internationalist duty is accomplished through perception of its objective necessity and high moral value. But this should not be taken to mean that the fulfilment of internationalist duty by the fighters for socialism is simply a matter of good wishes alone. The Marxist-Leninist parties' activities in guiding the working class's revolutionary struggle and in discharging their internationalist obligations are carried out in the sphere of discipline and responsibility. The collective decisions formulated by the Communist and Workers' Parties and the obligations accepted must be rigorously executed and observed, and the amount of loyalty to them and the precision with which they are fulfilled are measures of any Party's 106 level of understanding and discharging of its internationalist duty.
In order to reach a better understanding of the moral feature and mode of action of internationalist duty, it is necessary to bear in mind that this duty, as with any other duty, has two aspects—objective and subjective. The objective aspect or, more oreciselv, the objective content of internationalist duty is the totality of the requirements that are made of the working class and the working people of each country, every Communist and Workers' Party and each socialist state by the worldwide forces that are struggling for socialism. These demands, which are generated by the normal development and requirements of the world revolutionary process, ultimately promote communist progress.
Since the basis for the emergence and existence of internationalist duty is objective, its content is also objective. It is not constructed arbitrarily by people, but acts as a socially conditioned social necessity, independent of people's will and consciousness, for certain actions that are in the interests of the struggle to renew the world.
Internationalist duty presents itself to the working class, its Marxist-Leninist parties and socialist fatherlands as an objectively necessary social demand. In order to change from an external command into internalised commitments that prompt people into taking definite action, this demand must be reflected in the social consciousness of peoples, classes, parties, collectives and individuals, and undergo theoretical interpretation and ethico-psychological assimilation. This makes up the subjective aspect of internationalist duty.
By the subjective aspect or, more precisely, the subjective form of internationalist duty is meant the recognition by the working class and the working people and their political parties and other organisations of their internationalist obligations; this recognition is expressed in the theoretical cognition of their essence and the ideological and psychological assimilation of their content. The nature and degree of the understanding, recognition and assimilation of internationalist duty by each party and each national contingent of the working class may differ, and in practice do differ. They depend ultimately on the concrete totality of the objective and subjective conditions.
107The recognition and assimilation of internationalist duty make up a complicated process. A sound knowledge of Marxism-Leninism, the theory of proletarian internationalism, and the assimilation of its fundamental principles form the most important initial premise for the performance of internationalist duty by the working class and the Communist Party of every country. The degree and efficiency of the accomplishment of common internationalist tasks depend on the correctness and depth of understanding of the essence of internationalist obligations.
The historical experience of the revolutionary workers' movement shows that at its early stages, when the struggle of the working class still displayed spontaneity and a lack of organisation, and Marxist ideology had not penetrated very deeply into the consciousness of the proletarian masses, the sphere and level of internationalist duty were limited. As they were beginning to display fraternal solidarity and mutual support in their struggle, the workers of different countries and their first class organisations of that period were guided mainly by a day-to-day awareness that had grown up on the basis of their common situation and by a feeling of class duty to one another and to the international proletariat. But at that time there was still no theoretical understanding by the broad masses of the essence and significance of their internationalist obligations.
Later, with the victory and consolidation of Marxism in the workers' movement and with the appearance of Marxist parties, a new stage began in the development of internationalism and internationalist duty, their sphere of action expanded and the size of their international tasks grew. In these conditions, guided by their Marxist parties and basing themselves on a scientific theory of social development, the national contingents of the working class began to theoretically interpret and discover the essence of their internationalist obligations as applied to the historically specific conditions of a given stage in the world revolutionary process.
However, for the real accomplishment of internationalist duty it is insufficient to have nothing more than a theoretical understanding of its essence and demands. It is essential that this knowledge should grow into 108 conviction among the working people and all fighters for socialism, and that the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism should be not only understood, but also deeply recognised by people and should fuse with their moral feelings and will.
Internationalist duty, if based on its profound understanding, 15 always unswervingly fulfilled by those fighting for a new society, even though it may entail certain sacrifices for the good of the common cause in the difficult situations that may arise.
To form a correct idea of the essence and mechanism of the accomplishment of internationalist duty, it is important to distinguish between "the object of the duty" and "the subject of the duty''. Both concepts are historically specific, their social content changes and, at the same time, at each stage of the revolutionary process it has a number of definite meanings. Thus, by the object of internationalist duty are meant the social forces which at each historical stage represent the common, fundamental interests of the world revolutionary movement as a whole and champion the requirements of social progress. They are forces to which certain obligations arise among the national contingents of the working class, individual Communist Parties and socialist states.
For a lengthy period the international proletariat has been the single, common object of internationalist duty for the working class and the Marxist parties of all countries. With the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat in Russia, a central, principal object—the Soviet Republic— came to the fore within this common object. Given these conditions, the internationalist duty of the working class and the working people in all countries came to consist primarily of the defence and support of history's first proletarian state as a base for worldwide socialist revolution.
An impressive display of internationalist duty towards the Soviet people, which was defending Soviet rule in the Civil War, was provided by the broad movement among the proletariat of the capitalist countries against the intervention and in defence of the young Soviet Republic. When 109 the hordes of interventionists and White Guards had been routed, and the Soviet people proceeded towards building a new, socialist society, then a positive attitude towards the Soviet Union and active support for it became the principal content of the internationalist activities of the working class and the communist parties in all countries, and the main yardstick of their fulfilment of their internationalist obligations.
As a result of the revolutionary withdrawal of a number of European and Asian countries irom the imperialist system after the Second World War, the sphere of socialism expanded, and a world socialist system arose. Consequently, proletarian internationalism entered a new stage of development, new aspects of the application of its principles appeared, and the dimensions of internationalist tasks and obligations increased. Accordingly, changes also occurred in the content of the object of internationalist duty.
Today it is the world socialist system, the international working class and the national liberation movement that are the object of internationalist duty for all contingents of the world revolutionary movement. But the main, central object of internationalist duty for all the world revolutionary forces has come to be the world socialist system. This proposition permeates all the documents and materials of the international communist forum of 1969.
By the subject of internationalist duty are meant the social forces lahich arc the vehicles of it and which at the same time unswervingly fulfil their internationalist obligations, dictated by the interests of the common struggle against imperialism and for socialism. The subject of internationalist duty is a specifically historical concept, and its content is being constantly expanded.
As the working-class movement develops and, above all else, as the proletariat is converted into a class that recognises its internationalist nature and the unity of its basic interests internationally, all the new contingents of the working class its political organisations and the broad working masses become the subject of internationalist duty.
One of the peculiarities of internationalist duty is the fact that its subjects and vehicles are not so much individuals as large groups of people, broad social communities 110 and amalgamations, such as the party, the class and the nation. Needless to say, the individual person too may be the vehicle and performer of various kinds of social duty— civic, party, military, patriotic, internationalist, etc. But usually it is social communities and collectives that act as the subject of internationalist duty. By nature of its vehicle and manner of accomplishment internationalist duty is primarily a collective duty.
In the conditions of today the primary subject of internationalist duty is such collective vehicles of it as the working class, the Communist and Workers' Parties, the working people of individual countries, the peoples of the world socialist system and the world's progressive revolutionary forces. The individual also acts as a subject of internationalist duty.
By singling out the concept of "the subject of internationalist duty" and by making a historically specific analysis of its content we are enabled to differentiate the volume of demands and the means by which any particular contingent of the working class, a Communist Party or a socialist state can discharge its internationalist duty.
The theoretical and political aspects of internationalist duty have been thoroughly elucidated over the last few years in the documents of world and regional forums of the Communist and Workers' Parties, especially the International Meeting of 1969, in the materials of CPSU congresses, particularly the 24th Congress, and those of the fraternal Communist Parties, in the speeches of their leaders and in other documents of the international communist movement.
The internationalist obligations of those struggling for communism are extremely varied. As far as the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is concerned, they comprise the following demands:
a) to influence the world revolutionary process through its own example and economic achievements;
b) to extend assistance to the peoples that are the victims of aggression and which are fighting against imperialism for their national, political and economic emancipation and for social progress;
c) to promote a peace-loving foreign policy and to struggle for peace.
111The point must be made that none of these demands individually, no matter how important it may be, is capable of exhausting the total content of internationalist duty. Taken as whole, they all organically complement one another.
It goes without saying that the content, correlation and significance of these demands cannot be viewed as something absolutely invariable and fixed for all time. They alter with changes in the historically specific conditions. Be that as it may, however, their basic meaning and importance are always retained and serve as important guidelines in Communists' efforts to manifest their internationalist obligations to the international working-class and communist movement.
The essence of the internationalist duty of the CPSU in modern conditions consists of "making full use of all the internal possibilities for strengthening and maximally developing socialism and communism within the country and, at the same time, for supporting and evolving the revolutionary struggle throughout the = world.''^^1^^
__*_*_*__The content of internationalist duty expresses both the features that are conditioned by the regularities of the development of the world revolutionary process as a whole, which are common to all countries, and the specific features, which are connected with the peculiarities of a country's development and its place among the other states involved in the process.
The cohesion of the content of the internationalist duty that is discharged by every Marxist-Leninist party both at home and abroad is described in Lenin's seminal formulation: "There is one, and only one, kind of real internationalism, and that is—working whole-heartedly for the development of the revolutionary movement and the revolutionary struggle in one's own country, and supporting (by propaganda, sympathy, and material aid) this struggle, _-_-_
~^^1^^ L. I. Brezhnev, = The CPSU in the Struggle for the Unity of all Revolutionary and Peace-Loving Forces, Moscow, 1972, p. 123 (in Russian).
112 this, and only this, line, in every country without excep- tion."^^1^^The common fundamental interests of the whole working class, which are identified and championed by the MarxistLeninist parties, form the principal content of internationalist duty. The slightest replacement of them by narrowly nationalist, temporary and transient advantages means essentially the rejection of internationalist duty and a switch to an opportunist, nationalist platform.
Since the fundamental class interests of the proletariat coincide with the objective process of the development of society and with the demands made by other, non-- proletarian strata of the population in each country and in the world as a whole, so the content of internationalist duty reflects the interests of all the exploited and oppressed and all those struggling against capitalism for peace, democracy, national independence and the victory of socialism and communism. Accordingly, the common internationalist duty of all contingents of the world liberation movement is to ensure the forging of a militant alliance and the unity and mutual support of all revolutionary forces in the struggle against imperialism and for peace, national independence, social progress, democracy and socialism.
"It is of paramount, importance for the prospects of the anti-imperialist struggle to strengthen the alliance between the socialist system, the forces of the working-class movement and national liberation.
The Communist and Workers' Parties represented at the Meeting, aware of their historic responsibility, propose united action to all Communists of the world, to all opponents of imperialism, to all who are prepared to figlit for peace, freedom and = progress."^^2^^
Thus, when defining the content of its internationalist duty, every Marxist-Leninist party is meant to proceed not from any narrowly understood interests of its own country, but from the task of promoting the world revolutionary process and the common, and most important, problems of the present period.
_-_-_~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 24, p. 75.
~^^2^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 30.
113The essence of internationalist duty was formulated by Lenin in his "Preliminary Draft Theses On The National and the Colonial Questions" for the Second Congress of the Communist = International.^^1^^ Lenin's formula is of undying methodological significance in modern conditions too. His ideas have been further developed in the documents of the Communist and Workers' Parties. The CPSU Programme emphasises: "The Communist Party of the Soviet Union, true to proletarian internationalism, always follows the militant slogan 'Workers of all countries, unite!' The Party regards communist construction in the USSR as the Soviet people's great internationalist task, in keeping with the interests of the world socialist system as a whole and with the interests of the international proletariat and all man- kind."^^2^^
From the Marxist-Leninist viewpoint, assistance to the working people of other countries is not an act of philanthropy, but a manifestation of internationalist duty, which is being fulfilled by the proletarian revolutionaries of all countries. International proletarian solidarity is not a onesided function on the part of the working people in some countries in relation to others. It demands that a readiness to make national sacrifices for the sake of the higher interests of the world liberation movement should be equally obligatory for all its contingents.
The world revolutionary process as a whole and its constituent parts are constantly changing and developing, and are manifested differently in each period. Consequently, when discharging its internationalist duty, the working class must select a form of assistance to the world liberation movement in accordance with the conditions that have taken shape, without losing sight of the unity of the interests of the struggle for the victory of communism in its own country and on an international scale.
Although proceeding from the common aim of developing world communist revolution, the working class and its allies operate in different conditions in different countries _-_-_
~^^1^^ See V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, pp. 148--49.
~^^2^^ Programme of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Moscow, p. 197.
114 and so pose and try to accomplish different immediate tasks. It follows that the concrete content of their internationalist duty includes not only common features, but also specific ones. This identical yet differentiated nature of the internationalist duty of the various contingents of the world liberation movement forms the objective basis for their unity of = action.^^1^^As has already been pointed out, the Communist and Workers' Parties in the socialist countries see their internationalist duty in terms of accomplishing the maximum in their own countries in the cause of building socialism and communism and of making fuller and deeper use of the historical advantages of the new system over the old. They proceed from the view that victory over capitalism can ultimately be achieved by creating a superior mode of production and developing science and technology in the interests of the whole of society.
The Communist Parties in the countries of monopoly capitalism regard the overthrow of the capitalist system as their principal objective and are at present concentrating on attacking the monopolies as the bulwark of exploitation, reaction and militarism. They are trying to secure a decisive voice for the working class in all spheres of social life— economic, political and ideological. Seeing their priority aim to be that of accomplishing socialist revolution, they struggle to improve the living conditions of the masses and to extend their democratic rights and freedoms.
The programme of anti-monopolist transformations includes the nationalisation of the monopolies' property and the organisation of democratic control over the system of state regulation of the economy. The Communist Parties make use of the specific conditions in their countries and try to forge a broad national anti-monopolist front, based on an alliance of the working class with all the working people who are interested in struggling for democracy and socialism.
The internationalist duty of Communist Parties in the young developing states includes as its principal task the _-_-_
~^^1^^ See = International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, pp. 21--30.
115 completion of the anti-imperialist, anti-feudal national liberation revolution and ensuring their countries' non-capitalist development, thus setting up the preconditions for socialist construction—which are the foundations for accelerated social progress and genuine national independence. By directing the brunt of their blow against imperialism and the internal reaction supporting it, the Communist Parties are endeavouring to unite all the democratic and patriotic forces in their countries around the broad revolutionary transformations that aim to eliminate the colonial system once and for all, to strengthen political and economic independence, to overcome backwardness and destitution, to conduct a peace-loving foreign policy and to establish friendship and co-operation with the socialist countries.A patriotic front of this sort is capable of tearing up the economic roots of imperialism, creating a state sector in the economy for the benefit of the people, carrying through the total abolition of the system of feudal land ownership and the transfer of land to the peasants, and ensuring the further expansion of democratic freedoms, the activities of progressive political parties, unity among the trade unions, equality for women, and so on. While supporting the progressive actions of the national bourgeoisie in the struggle against imperialism, the working class and the Communist and Workers' Parties in the developing countries expose its class-rooted narrow-mindedness, inconsistency and likeliness to strike a bargain with imperialism and feudalism; they resist its attempts to limit democratic freedoms and to suppress or weaken the democratic movement of the masses.
The struggle of the progressive forces in many young developing states of Asia, Africa and Latin America for a non-capitalist path of development is in the interests of the international working class and its allies throughout the world, assists the general course of development of the world revolutionary process and strikes a heavy blow against capitalism as a worldwide social system.
Thus, while having much in common in the content of internationalist duty, the three main groups of the Communist and Workers' Parties deal with their own particular __PRINTERS_P_115_COMMENT__ 8* 116 tasks, which are secondary to the fundamental objective. Moreover, within these groups each separate party has its own characteristic national and internationalist tasks.
The specific nature of the internationalist duty of each separate contingent of the international working class is manifested both in its historically specific content and the forms in which it is discharged, and in the force and scale of its effect on the world revolutionary process.
The specific nature of the internationalist duty is determined by the national-state, historical peculiarities of a particular country's development. Specific factors do not operate in parallel with external ones that are common to all countries, but in dialectical conjunction with them. As a result, the content of internationalist duty embodies a constantly changing organic combination of both kinds of factors.
The internal factors that determine the specific nature of the USSR's internationalist duty can be divided according to the duration of their influence into the following main groups.
1. The geographical position of the country, its territory, natural resources, and the size and national composition of the population, all of which are of more or less constant importance throughout the revolutionary struggle of the working class and its allies against capitalism and during the period- of the construction of socialism and communism.
2. The level of development of the socialist social and state system, ethico-political unity, the friendship between the peoples, and other factors whose effect is heightened by the victory of socialism.
3. The concrete successes in economic, political and cultural construction achieved within the various periods of socialist and communist construction.
Having analysed the outlook for the development of the world revolutionary process and the specific features of the Russian revolutionary movement, Marx, Engels and, later, Lenin concluded that the centre of the world revolutionary movement was shifting to Russia. The vanguard role which the Russian working class was called upon to play, and did play, as one of the contingents of the international 117 proletarian army in the world liberation movement constituted the principal feature of its internationalist duty.
In fulfilling its internationalist duty, the working class of Russia and other countries was to perform, and, as has been pointed out, did perform, ''. . . the utmost possible in one country for the development, support and awakening of the revolution in all = countries".^^1^^ Making the fullest and most versatile use of the opportunities for seizing state power, which were more favourable in Russia than in other countries, the working class of the country and its Communist Party were obliged to discharge their internationalist duty— to take the initiative and to be the first to start an armed uprising, without waiting for a socialist revolution to be victorious in the West. As Lenin commented: "The international situation is such that we must take the initia- tive."^^2^^
In this way, the internationalist duty of the working class of Russia included a particularly high responsibility to the international working-class movement for the whole future of Russian and international revolution. The armed rising in Russia was to sunder the chain of world imperialism, undermine its undisputed sway and open the way for the revolutionary overthrow of the bourgeoisie in other countries so as to put an end to imperialist war and thereby save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and safeguard the vital interests of the peoples.
Subsequently, the content of the internationalist duty of the Russian working class changed: while the principal elements remained, individual secondary components arising from the historically specific features of the period were discarded, and new ones, engendered by the interlacing of other external and internal historical circumstances, emerged. Thus, during the Civil War and the foreign intervention the internationalist duty of the Russian working class included the preservation and consolidation of the first and only bridgehead gained by the international proletariat.
The Leninist party rejected the adventurist line foisted on them by the Trotskyites and ``Left'' Communists, who _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin. Collected Works. Vol. 28 p. 292
~^^2^^ Ibid., Vol. 26, p. 188.
118 considered that the interests of world revolution did not exclude the possibility that Soviet power might be a casualty, since it had made a premature appearance. When exposing the capitulationist position of the Trotskyites and ``Left'' Communists, Lenin stressed that the defeat of Soviet power would intimidate many working people and would cause many proletarians and semi-proletarians to abandon socialism.The defence of the socialist fatherland ought to help the international working class to build up its own forces and to prepare and develop the revolutionary struggle against imperialism. The fulfilment of their internationalist duty required that the workers and peasants of Russia should overcome extreme hardship and display heroism and selfsacrifice. Lenin described these sacrifices as "... a guarantee of the world social = revolution".^^1^^
Once the Civil War and the foreign military intervention had come to an end, the changed internal and international conditions introduced new features into the internationalist duty of the workers and toiling peasants of Soviet Russia. The specific innovation of the new period lay in the fact that the Russian proletariat was "in advance of any Britain or any Germany" as regards its political system, and was behind the most backward of the West European states as regards the material production and cultural preconditions of socialism. Consequently, economic policy which had leapt to the forefront, became the principal lever of revolutionising influence of the country that was building socialism on the development of the world revolutionary process.
The internationalist duty of the working class of Soviet Russia during this period was to surmount the enormous difficulties generated by internal and external causes, "to develop the productive forces with enormous speed, to develop all the potentialities which, taken together, would have produced socialism; socialists would thus have proved to all and sundry that socialism contains within itself gigantic forces and that mankind had now entered into a new stage of development of extraordinarily brilliant = prospects".^^2^^
_-_-_~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works. Vol. 30, p. 446.
~^^2^^ Ibid., Vol. 33, p. 498.
119The Soviet people was called upon not only to retain and strengthen the positions it had conquered in the face of world imperialist reaction, but also to influence the development of the revolutionary movement in other countries through the force of the example it was setting in the communist transformation of society and through its maximal use of the historic advantages of socialism over capitalism.
The further evolution in the content of the Soviet people's internationalist duty was determined both by specific national factors, and by common internationalist factors: (1) the accelerated growth of the country's productive forces, the consolidation of its military capability, the perfection of Soviet democracy, the increased activity of all members of society and the creation of a higher standard of living for the people; and (2) the gradual development of the world emancipatory movement, the emergence and development of the world system of socialism, the deepening crisis and then total collapse of imperialism's colonial system, and the growth of the democratic movement throughout the world.
Owing to these factors, the increasing possibilities within the country and the changing conditions of the development of the world communist movement, the concrete content of the Soviet people's internationalist duty, the forms and methods of its fulfilment, and the force and scope of its influence could not remain unchanged. However, the main aspect of the internationalist duty of the USSR's working people continued to be the task of building a new society and the fullest and most varied use of the historic advantages of socialism over capitalism.
The gradual perfection of the socialist system and the most complete revelation of its advantages depend not only on the objective circumstances, but also on the role of the subjective factor, particularly the correctness of the policy of the Marxist-Leninist party. This policy may ease the "birth pains" of the new system, lessen the difficulties of building a socialist society and do the maximum possible to exhibit and employ its potential, within the shortest historical period, both to ensure the progress of the country in question, and to accelerate the whole world revolutionary process.
120The heavy demands made by internationalist duty on the Communist Party of the Soviet Union affected the most various aspects of its extensive activities and intraparty life and, in particular, its loyalty to the ideals of communism and to the interests of the working masses, the moral purity and unity of its members, and its capacity to skilfully and practically tackle specific aspects of communist construction.
In fulfilment of its patriotic and internationalist duty, the CPSU ensured through its policies the conversion of a previously backward country into one of the world's most highly developed industrial powers. The main source of this gigantic leap was the socialist mode of production, which gradually but continuously realised its historic advantages over capitalism.
Communist construction in the USSR is not only the national task of the Soviet people; it is also its chief internationalist duty. Leonid Brezhnev stressed: "The way things shape out in our country, the successes in communist construction, largely determine the scale and depth of the influence exerted by the Soviet Union's foreign policy on the international = situation."^^1^^
The CPSU has struggled against any deviation from the correct understanding of the principal content of internationalist duty. It routed the Trotskyites, who denied the possibility of building socialism in the USSR and its importance to the world revolutionary movement. Camouflaging themselves in ``Left'' ultra-revolutionary phraseology, they strove to oblige the Party to adopt an adventurist policy designed to give an artificial ``push'' to revolution in other countries.
Today, true to its duty, the Party of Lenin consistently defends the general line of the world communist movement from the hostile attacks of the Mao Tse-tung group. Breaking with Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism, this group has unleashed a campaign of slander against the USSR and other socialist countries, branding their struggle for economic progress and a rise in the living _-_-_
~^^1^^ = International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, pp. 169--70.
121 and cultural standards of the people as ''revisionism'', ``economism'' and even "the restoration of capitalism'', and their peace-loving foreign policy as "collusion with imperialism" and ``capitulation'' to the class enemy.In fact, it is wellknown that the more deeply and fully realised are the advantages of socialism in developing productive forces, in satisfying the most vital interests of the people and in perfecting social democracy the stronger will be its effect on the class struggle of the working people in other countries, who also have an interest in the destruction of all forms of economic and socio-political oppression and in resolving the same questions—guaranteeing freedom and national equality, consolidating the political and economic independence of their countries and raising the living standards of all the working people.
As the advantages of a developed socialist society become more apparent so the very interests of all members of society are satisfied, and this inevitably strengthens its influence on all people still suffering from capitalist oppression. The maximal realisation of the advantages of socialism enhances the prestige of the new system in the eyes of the working people who are struggling against capitalism and for the victory of the new society.
As the example of the CPSU shows, the international significance of the policies of each Marxist-Leninist party is determined by the degree to which the content and the methods of discharging its internationalist duty express the fundamental interests of the international working class, and correspond to the general laws of the development of the world revolutionary process, to the specific conditions of its own country, and also to the concrete demands of the struggle for the victory of socialism and communism at every stage of it.
It is only through the dialectical unity of the general and of the particular in the internationalist duty of each MarxistLeninist party that the unity of action of all contingents of the world liberation movement can be achieved. Thisunity requires that each revolutionary party should not be totally immersed in the narrow interests of its own country and should not restrict its activities to the extent of its own state borders.
122The implementation of the most important principle of Marxism-Leninism—making the greatest possible effort in one's own country in order to develop revolution throughout the world—is incompatible with national narrowmindedness in any of its forms. The interpretation of this principle with no account being taken of the urgent practical tasks of the international communist movement is tantamount to the substitution of "national communism" for proletarian internationalism.
With the emergence of the world system of socialism proletarian internationalism was enriched by new ideas, practical experience, principles and the norms of mutual relations between contingents of the working class organised within the framework of separate states. The content of the internationalist duty was simultaneously expanded and deepened.
The recognition of the provision of assistance to a fraternal country that is being threatened with the loss of its socialist gains as the supreme internationalist duty is one of the criteria of loyalty to the principles of proletarian internationalism.
Support by all contingents of the world liberation movement for the world system of socialism and, particularly, for the Soviet Union is the core of proletarian internationalism and is an integral part of their internationalist duty.
In its struggle against the world liberation movement international imperialist reaction aims its main blow at the Soviet Union. The Mao Tse-tung group finds itself in the same camp as imperialist reaction. It departs fully from the principles of proletarian internationalism, organising provocations against the world's first socialist state and launching crude attacks against other socialist countries.
The internationalist duty of working people in the socialist countries also consists in staunchly supporting the socialist and democratic struggle of the working class and its allies in the countries of monopoly capital, as well as the national liberation movement of the peoples in the former colonies and semi-colonies, who are struggling for national independence and social progress.
The content of internationalist duty today is expressed 123 in solidarity with the struggle mounted by the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America for their political and economic independence. Internationalist duty is also expressed in organising resistance against neo-fascism and in supporting the protest movement against the persecution of the Negro population of the USA, racist terror in South Africa and Rhodesia, the persecution of the Arab population in the territories occupied by Israel, racial and national discrimination, and Zionism and anti-Semitism, which are fed by imperialist = reaction.^^1^^
The success of each revolutionary contingent depends on the cohesion of the whole world liberation movement. Hence, the most important demand of internationalist duty—to bring about the unity of all revolutionary forces within a single anti-imperialist movement—since this will ultimately determine the destiny of mankind.
The 24th CPSU Congress entrusted the Central Committee with further strengthening and developing co-- operation with the Communist and Workers' Parties in the socialist states, and with consistently pursuing a policy of cohesion and internationalist solidarity with the working-class movement in the capitalist countries and with all the peoples fighting for national and social emancipa- tion.^^2^^
When praising the internationalist activities of the CPSU both within the country and internationally, the representatives of other Marxist-Leninist parties stressed in their addresses to the 24th Congress of the CPSU that the Party of Lenin was setting an example of the indissoluble link between strengthening the positions of socialism and communism in one's own country and fraternal co-operation with the other Marxist-Leninist parties and anti-imperialist progressive forces throughout the = world.^^3^^
Educating the working masses in the spirit of proletarian internationalism and friendship between peoples is an indispensable condition of the fulfilment by each national _-_-_
~^^1^^ See International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parlies, pp. 30--36.
~^^2^^ See 24th Congress of the CPSU, pp. 214--15.
~^^3^^ = See 24th Congress of the CPSU, Verbatim Report, Vol. II, Moscow, 1971, p. 558 (in Russian).
124 contingent of the world communist and working-class movement of its internationalist duty. Since the content of internationalist duty is extremely varied and is determined by the constantly evolving general and specific laws of social development and by the progress of the class struggle on the international scene, a thorough understanding of it cannot arise spontaneously from merely the life experience of the working people.The formation of an internationalist class awareness, a thorough understanding of internationalist duty, its objectively conditioned nature and the need to subordinate the interests of one's motherland to the supreme aims of the world communist movement is only possible on the basis of the scientific Marxist-Leninist world outlook. Only in the light of this teaching can the content of internationalist duty be understood as a totality of moral standards for each individual person who is actively and creatively performing his daily tasks with the aim of furthering the great and historic mission of the working class.
__NUMERIC_LVL2__ CHAPTER~5 __ALPHA_LVL2__ PROLETARIANProletarian internationalism is the most important principle in the ideology and policies of the working class and its party. At the same time, it is an objectively existing social phenomenon. Marxism-Leninism teaches us to look for the roots of ideological and political principles as superstructural phenomena in the material foundations of social life, since these principles always reflect certain aspects and tendencies of social being. This chapter sets out to analyse the formation and development of proletarian internationalism as one of the aspects of the objectively existing social relationships. They take shape during the proletariat's class struggle, which gains in intensity with the aggravation of the conflict between the social nature of 125 production and the private character of appropriation under capitalism, and become absolutely predominant once the socialist mode of production has been established.
Each socio-economic formation's mode of production ultimately determines the forms and nature of the social grouping of people: social cells, groups and communities, which are the elements of a society's social structure. When the structure is analysed, the links between classes (class relations), between nations (national relations), between various production, territorial and other units, and between individuals are singled out and examined.
However, although each of these types of social connection has its own specific features, they all have something in common in the given formation. To identify this common feature is to represent the class, national and other structural social relationships as manifestations of the essence of the particular socio-economic formation. This essence is determined by the mode of production that lies at the base of the formation in question.
A most important feature of the socialist mode of production is the predominance of public ownership of the means of production, which corresponds to the social character of the productive forces.
The socialisation of the means of production puts an end to the former division of society into owners and those who are deprived of property and into exploited workers and exploiters, who do not work themselves, but appropriate the results of others' labour. Society becomes a large collective of people who jointly own the means of production and jointly work. The prosperity of all those who take part in the common effort depends on its results, and so the relations between them are naturally characterised by the interest of every person not only in his personal success but also in the successful efforts of all his numerous workmates, i.e., all the members of the socialist society. Socialist production relations, founded as they are on public ownership, are relationships of sustained collectivism and possess such features as the community of the basic interests of all members of the society, their social equality, comradely cooperation, mutual assistance and mutual responsibility in all spheres of social activity. These relations are the objective 126 base that determines the nature of the whole totality of social relationships, and are concretely embodied in the links between all the structural elements of a socialist society. The relationships of socialist collectivism form the essence of relations both between the classes in socialist society and between socialist nations.
Pointing to the general essence of these relations, Leonid Brezhnev said in his report at the 24th CPSU Congress: "New, harmonious relations, relations of friendship and cooperation, were formed between the classes and social groups, nations and nationalities in joint labour, in the struggle for socialism and in the battles fought in defence of socialism.''^^1^^.
The content of the relations between nations, just like those between classes, collectives and individuals, cannot be reduced to the essence that is common to all these relationships, since it incorporates not only what is common, but also what is peculiar and specific to each of these types of structural connection. Consequently, when, for example, defining the relations between the classes in a socialist society, it is insufficient to describe them merely as the relationships of socialist collectivism or as the relationships of comradely cooperation and socialist mutual assistance. The definition of the content of the relations between these classes, a content in which the common is organically combined with the particular or, in other words, the essence of these relations is manifested in its concrete embodiment, is expressed in the formula "the relations of the alliance of the working class and the co-operated peasantry with the working class retaining the guiding role".
Similarly, when defining the relationships between socialist nations, it would be insufficient to point simply to the essence—socialist collectivism—and to confine oneself to describing them as relations of comradely co-operation and socialist mutual assistance. The definition of the content of the relations between socialist nations is expressed in the concept of "relationships of socialist internationalism'', which reflects the concrete manifestation of the essence of these relations and indicates the fact that socialist _-_-_
~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 92.
127 collectivism takes the form, in these relations, of the fraternal friendship of the socialist nations, which presupposes the priority of their common interests and their organic combination with the specific interests of each nation, and the common flourishing and drawing together of the nations in the course of their comradely co-operation and socialist mutual assistance.It is important to approach socialist internationalism as a manifestation of socialist collectivism in relationships between nations because this allows us to view aspects of national relations not in isolation, but as part of the general question of transforming social relationships according to communist principles.
If the origins of socialist internationalism are to be properly understood, it is essential to bear in mind that the influence of aspects of the mode of production—the productive forces and production relations—inevitably assumes a contradictory character in the context of antagonistic formations.
As the capitalist formation develops, so the conflict between the productive forces of society and the production relations, based on capitalist ownership, matures and intensifies. This determines the contradictions within the social relationships of bourgeois society, which have become particularly acute under present-day conditions.
The Final Document of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties in 1969 declares: "The scientific and technological revolution accelerates the socialisation of the economy; under monopoly domination this leads to the reproduction of social antagonisms on a growing scale and in a sharper form. Not only have the long-standing contradictions of capitalism been aggravated, but new ones have arisen as well. This applies, in particular, to the contradiction between the unlimited possibilities opened up by the scientific and technological revolution and the roadblocks raised by capitalism to their utilisation for the benefit of society as a whole. Capitalism squanders national wealth, allocating for war purposes a great proportion of scientific discoveries and immense material resources. This is the contradiction between the social character of present-day production and the state-monopoly nature of its regulation. 128 This is not only the growth of the contradiction between capital and labour, but also the deepening of the antagonism between the interests of the overwhelming majority of the nation and those of the financial = oligarchy."^^1^^
It is true that the socio-economic relations in capitalist production, which are founded on private ownership, divide people, giving prominence in their mutual relations to the principles of individualism; but the opposite influence on human relationships is exerted by the organisational and technical interrelationships of workers, which arise directly from the social nature of the productive forces. This influence becomes decisive for the class that is free of private property and is itself the chief productive force in capitalist society— the proletariat.
Referring to this, Lenin wrote: "The joint work of hundreds and thousands of workers in itself accustoms the workers to discuss their needs jointly, to take joint action, and clearly shows them the identity of the position and interests of the entire mass of = workers."^^2^^ The influence of the organisational and technical interrelationships which develop in the course of working together is manifested in the formation of relations of collectivism among the proletariat.
The social nature of productive forces under capitalism is not confined to grouping hundreds and thousands of workers within the separate enterprises which have become the principal economic units of that society. The capitalist market has converted these enterprises into interconnected elements of the economic system which replaced the former isolated natural economies. It was precisely on the basis of this economic link that bourgeois nations arose as a new form of socio-ethnic community. With the development of the capitalist mode of production these ties transcended national boundaries, and the interdependence of national economic systems embraced by the international capitalist market began to gain in strength.
The development of the social nature of productive forces that is expressed in these processes of economic integration was the objective condition for the formation of workers' _-_-_
~^^1^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 19.
~^^2^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 2, p. 103.
129 solidarity and the elements of proletarian collectivism in their mutual relations and habits of mind.Different levels of economic integration are specifically reflected in the workers' consciousness. Joint labour within the framework of a single enterprise gives rise to group solidarity (the worker senses the link with his workmates), and the community of economic activity within the framework of the national economy prompts the development of collectivist patriotic feelings; reinforcement of the interdependence of national economies helps the proletarians belonging to different nations to comprehend the community of their interests in the joint struggle against the bourgeoisie.
The process of the development of the social nature of the productive forces, which is expressed in the different levels of economic integration (group, national or international), does not itself set these levels in opposition to one another and so does not cause any antagonism between group, national and international solidarity, or between individuals within a particular social community. However, in capitalist conditions such antagonism arises inevitably. This results from the principal contradiction of capitalism, the contradiction between the social nature of production, which strengthens the ties between people, and private capitalist ownership, which divides people and creates clashes of interests.
The community of economic life, which typifies a bourgeois nation, cannot serve as a basis for uniting interests, since, firstly, a bourgeois society is divided into exploiters and exploited—into classes whose interests are fundamentally opposed; and, secondly, private ownership disunites the people belonging to one and the same class, by opposing their private interests to their common class interest.
Capitalist production creates links between commodity producers, making them dependent on one another, but this connection is realised in the competitive struggle that each of them is waging for his own personal benefit. For the capitalist common interests exist to the extent that they serve to satisfy his private interests and allow him to step up the exploitation and to fight off his competitors. For him the private interest is higher than the group interest of the syndicate or trust that links him with other employers. For the __PRINTERS_P_129_COMMENT__ 9---0798 130 members of a monopolist amalgamation the group interest takes precedence over the interests of the national economy, which they regard as a source of their own profits. For the capitalist or a group of capitalists the national interest amounts to nothing more than providing themselves with the best conditions for boosting their exploitation of the working people and suppressing their competitors within the limits of their own nation, as well as for struggling against competitors from other nations for the appropriation of the surplus value that can be extracted by exploiting the working people of other nations.
The capitalist's private interest forces him to see his enemies primarily in the workers, the results of whose labour he appropriates, as well as in his competitors, and prompts him to regard any grouping that he is obliged to enter as a detachment for launching attacks on other, hostile groupings. This gives an aggressive character to all manifestations of his individualist psychology, which kills all patriotic urges and feelings in him and replaces them with nationalism.
Thus, nationalism acts as a continuation of bourgeois individualism and as a manifestation of that hostile disunity which expresses the essence of capitalist production relations and creates antagonism between both individuals and social groupings that are linked by the community of economic life—social units, large social groups and nations.
The individualist nature of capitalist production relations determines the character of the interests and desires of the bourgeoisie and so also manifests itself in the content of the interests and desires of the non-proletarian strata of the working people. Lenin pointed repeatedly to the duality of the position of the petty proprietors, especially the peasantry. The objective fact that "the peasants are half labourers and half = property-owners,. . ."^^1^^ is also reflected in the contradictoriness of their psychology.
The urge towards joint action in the struggle against the oppression of the exploiters which prompts the peasant masses to desire to unify their forces and seek an alliance with the working class is opposed by self-seeking and selfish _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 30, p. 510.
131 motives, which force the peasants to hesitate between the position of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. This causes the susceptibility of the peasantry and the other non-proletarian strata of the working people to the influence of bourgeois nationalism, and explains the mixture of patriotism and nationalism that features in the psychology of many representatives of these strata.It would, however, be wrong to proceed from this to claim that the petty-bourgeois masses are identical with the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie habitually distorts patriotism, replacing it with nationalism, leaving no room for internationalist aspirations, whereas in the development of the psychology and ideology of the petty-bourgeois masses we can clearly see two opposed tendencies, reflecting the duality of their position: the tendency that has been expressed in the essentially reactionary concepts of reformists and anarchists, and the tendency that has been vividly expressed in the ideological postulates of revolutionary democrats.
Despite all the differences between reformism and anarchism, these trends act as extremes which come together over the main point—the effective rejection of the objective demands which the social nature of modern productive forces makes on production relations, and the effective urge to justify and perpetuate socio-economic disunity in one form or another.
The supporters of both Right-wing and ``Left'' opportunism in the communist movement advocate the predominance of group ownership, not wishing to see that it cannot serve as the basis for relations of socialist collectivism, since it does nothing to eliminate the antagonism between the interests and leads to a regeneration of private ownership.
The pseudo-revolutionary phrases of the Maoists in China conceal the aim of justifying the lack of economic cohesion in the separate natural or semi-natural farms which is being sanctified by the principle of "relying on one's own strength''. The demagogic appeals for the "democratisation of production" produced, for example, by the Right-wing opportunists in Czechoslovakia were also directed at disuniting the workers' collectives and turning enterprises into s-jtonomous economic cells operating at their own risk. The __PRINTERS_P_131_COMMENT__ 9* 132 Maoist principle of "relying on one's own strength" is used to justify not only economic disunity within the country, but also as isolationist national economic policy. The Rightwing opportunists also favour a nationalist economic policy and economic self-sufficiency. Nationalism is a typical feature of both reformist and anarchist ideology—the ideology that reflects the position of the petty-bourgeois strata, which have an interest in a system of economic fragmentation, since they see it as the condition for their retention of their habitual petty proprietorship.
Marx, Engels and Lenin constantly exposed all manifestations of reformism and anarchistic pseudo-- revolutionariness. At the same time, they were full of praise for the theoretical and practical activities of the revolutionary democrats. Proletarian revolutionaries have always regarded revolutionary democrats as their closest allies, and have treated them with deep respect. But this is not to say that proletarian ideology and policies are identical with those of revolutionary democracy, for there are substantial differences between them. One of the differences is over a fundamental principle in the ideology and policies of the working class— the principle of internationalism.
The internationalism of the working class differs substantially from the democratic principle of the fraternity of peoples, since it presupposes not merely the sovereignty and equality of peoples, each of which is impelled by its own specific interests, but all-round co-operation between peoples, which unites their efforts and demands from each people the combination of its own national interests with the common internationalist interests of the struggle against international capital and for the transition to socialism and communism.
In our view, one cannot agree with those writers who consider that the ideology and policies of revolutionary democracy are characterised by a particular form of nationalism, or with claims to the effect that in the ideology and policies of the working class ``democratic'' and socialist internationalism come together.
Needless to say, the terms ``democratic'' and ``socialist'' are not synonymous. When describing culture in bourgeois society, Lenin distinguished between the elements of 133 democratic culture (which mainly expresses the position of the peasant masses) and those of socialist culture (which expresses the position of the proletariat). Marxist-Leninist theory distinguishes a socialist (proletarian) revolution from various kinds of democratic revolution (bourgeois-democratic, national-democratic, etc.), and devotes particular attention to the development of a democratic revolution into a socialist one.
Evidently, one should similarly distinguish from proletarian internationalism the democratic principle of the fraternity of peoples, which reflects the positions of revolutionary strata of the non-proletarian working masses, primarily the peasantry. Nowadays this principle is followed by the revolutionary-democratic forces which ally- themselves with the working class. In the young national states that have thrown off colonial oppression these forces are struggling to rid the consciousness of the masses of the influence of reformist and anarchist aims, and particularly to purge the patriotic feelings and aspirations of the working people of all nationalist reactionary accretions and to unite patriotism with respect for the working people of all nations.
Leonid Brezhnev has said: ''. . . We attach great importance to contacts and ties between the Communist Parties and the revolutionary-democratic parties in the developing countries. These parties and organisations are our fellow-fighters in the struggle against imperialism, for social = progress."^^1^^ The Report of the CC CPSU to the 24th Party Congress again stressed that the co-operation of revolutionary-democratic parties with Communist Parties "fully meets the interests of the anti-imperialist movement, the strengthening of national independence and the cause of social = progress".^^2^^
Proletarian revolutionaries and Communists are striving to unite around themselves all democratic forces. Nevertheless, they do not dissolve their own ideology in the democratic ideology of the non-proletarian strata, nor in their own ideology do they merge the socialist elements with democratic ones (which are limited in comparison with the _-_-_
~^^1^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 154.
~^^2^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 28.
134 socialist elements). The Communists are striving to bring about a situation in which all strata of the working people adopt the viewpoint of the working class and the positions of its ideology. This ideology in all matters, including the question of national relations, is consistently socialist and is incompatible with eclecticism and the mixing of socialist elements with elements of non-socialist democratism.The relations of collectivism, which take shape in a proletarian environment on the basis of the social nature of the productive forces and the class struggle of the proletariat for the socialisation of the means of production, fully reveal their socialist essence when this struggle leads to the assertion of public ownership. Through public ownership proletarian collectivism attains a higher stage in its development and becomes socialist collectivism. It is clear that socialist internationalism, as pointed out above, should be viewed as a higher stage in the development of the relations of proletarian internationalism—a stage that expresses the fuller manifestation of their socialist essence, brought about by the victory of public ownership.
By virtue of its position the proletariat is the class "which the economics of capitalism has converted into the economic amalgamator'',^^1^^—the class that is called upon by history to assert the principles of collectivism in socio-economic relations by replacing private by public ownership. The proletariat is able to fulfil this historic mission, since it is directly linked with mechanised industry, which determines the development of the social nature of productive forces, and it is free of private property and has the propensity to organise, unite its forces and close its ranks—qualities that develop from its joint work on the factory floor.
However, under capitalism the resulting development of the elements of collectivism in the workers' environment encounters obstacles. The objective factor that opposes the development of the elements of collectivism into class solidarity and consistent proletarian collectivism is the socioeconomic disunity of the workers in the process of capitalist production.
_-_-_~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 32, p. 58.
135The joint working activity of the workers in a capitalist enterprise is characterised by their technical co-operation. But this activity does not, and cannot, assume the nature of socio-economic co-operation. Marx wrote: "Being independent of each other, the labourers are isolated persons, who enter into relations with the capitalist, but not with one another. ... As co-operators, as members of a working organism, they are but special modes of existence of = capital."^^1^^
In the course of capitalist production the workers act as isolated sellers of their labour. Their urge to obtain a higher price for this, their only commodity, expresses a private interest, similar to the interest of any private commodityowner who embarks on sale-and-purchase relations. In the context of a spontaneous workers' movement this private interest stands against the common interests of the working class, leads to competition between workers and encourages the formation of divisions within the workers' collectives, their various professional groups and the multinational contingents of the working class.
The operation of this factor can be seen in syndicalism, the drive by individual groups of workers to win from the bourgeoisie certain concessions for themselves (for the individual collective, for workers belonging to a single trade and united within "their own" trade union, etc.). It gives rise to tendencies for various strata among the workers to form splinter groups or for the working class to part from the non-- proletarian strata, as well as tendencies for the various national contingents of the working class to go their separate ways. A favourable medium for these tendencies is provided by capitalist production relations, which envelop the proletariat and whose effect it inevitably feels. The only means of surmounting these tendencies is the struggle of the proletariat to abolish capitalist production relations and to restructure society along socialist lines.
The objective factor that generates private interests and various types of sectional divisions in the proletarian environment is the economic position of proletarians as sellers of their own labour, but the operation of this factor can only _-_-_
~^^1^^ Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. 1, Moscow, 1973, p. 315.
136 be stopped on the objective basis that is formed by the practical struggle of the workers against the system that has placed them in this position. The class struggle of the proletariat against the capitalist system acts decisively on the relationships that take shape amongst the workers, overcomes the influence on them exerted by the tendencies arising from the predominance of private ownership, and strengthens the influence of the tendencies that are engendered by the development of the social nature of the productive forces.Direct workers' participation in the class struggle is the form of real social practice through which genuine proletarian class solidarity—proletarian collectivism, which resists all forms of sectional division — takes shape and develops. In the relations between the national contingents of the proletariat this solidarity is determined by the unity of their aims and by the need for joint struggle against international capital, which closes its ranks whenever there is a threat in any country that the power of the bourgeoisie will be ended. The internationalist revolutionary solidarity of the national contingents of the working class acts as an important principle of proletarian internationalism, incompatible with all manifestations of national isolation—and with nationalism, which expresses the urge to satisfy one's own national interests at the expense of those of other nations, and with the form of national selfishness that reduces everything to " patriotism'', which is combined—with total indifference to the interests of other nations—with the complete ignoring of the common, internationalist interests.
Whenever there is any intensification in the struggle between imperialism and socialism, the capitalist powers sink their growing differences and attempt to pursue a common policy to preserve and strengthen the system of exploitation and oppression. Consequentlv, there is a constantly increasing objective need to unite today's great revolutionary forces —the world system of socialism, the international working-class movement and the national liberation struggle.
The International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties in 1969 stressed that the vital condition for the amalgamation of all anti-imperialist forces lay in strengthening 137 the unity of the working class in all countries, unifying the world communist movement, and welding together the Communist and Workers' Parties on the basis of proletarian internationalism.
The ideological and organisational work of the MarxistLeninist parties is a powerful subjective factor in the development of internationalist proletarian class solidarity. The Marxist-Leninist parties strive to see that the proletarians of all nationalities clearly understand their common class interests and strengthen the unity within their ranks in the struggle against the bourgeoisie.
The Communist Parties are striving to assert the principles of proletarian collectivism and internationalism in relations between all the participants in the revolutionary struggle for socialism, by working out examples of these relations, built according to these principles, in the process of intraparty life.
By ensuring the socialisation of the means of production, the victory in this revolutionary struggle and the establishment of the dictatorship of the working class pave the way for the principles of comradely co-operation on which the relations between the workers have been built during their political struggle against the capitalists to be confirmed as the main principles in the socio-economic organisation of production. The socialisation of the means of production introduces into the objective foundations of internationalist proletarian class solidarity a new element—the general interest of the workers in the results of their joint labour. This enriches the content of the relations of proletarian collectivism and determines their development into relations of socialist collectivism. In international ties this process is expressed in the conversion of proletarian internationalism into its highest form—socialist internationalism. As a result of the victory of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the assertion of public ownership, the comradely solidarity of the national contingents of the working people, headed by the working class, which united their efforts in the common struggle against capital, develops into their co-operation and mutual assistance in joint constructive activity aimed at building socialism and communism and defending socialist gains from the aggressive onslaughts of the bourgeoisie.
138The unification of the peoples of Russia into a multinational socialist state is a vivid expression of the establishment and development of relations of socialist internationalism. The unity and militant comradeship of the proletariat of the whole of Russia were born in the class battles against tsarism and capitalism, and were strengthened and steeled under the guidance of the Leninist party. This proletariat acted as a powerful internationalist revolutionary force once it had united around itself all strata of the working people belonging to all the nations and nationalities of Russia and had impelled them to a socialist revolution. The Great October Socialist Revolution ensured the close amalgamation of all popular forces, headed by the working class, for the purpose of abolishing the system of capitalist exploitation and, at the same time, the system of national oppression. The establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat was the decisive political precondition for the fulfilment of this historic task and the formation of a socialist way of life for the country's nations and nationalities, and the main economic precondition was the assertion of public ownership of the means of production.
The setting up in the course of the revolutionary actions of the masses of a form of rule by the working people that was as internationalist in nature as the Soviets, the military-- political alliance between the Soviet republics which took shape during the struggle with the forces of external and internal counter-revolution, the close co-ordination of foreign policy, and the joint efforts to rehabilitate and develop the economy and strengthen defence capacity—all this furthered the assertion of socialist relationships between the nations and nationalities in the country and the development of a real movement of the whole people to weld the Soviet republics into a single multinational family. The result of this mass movement, led by the working class, and of the theoretical and political work carried out by the Party was the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
The unity of the fundamental interests of the members of a socialist society does not mean that the specific interests of the various nations and nationalities and the sectional interests of the various social groups or working collectives disappear. Public ownership does not eliminate the 139 differences between these interests, but it does create the objective possibility of correctly combining them. The policies of the CPSU aim to consistently realise this possibility. These policies are founded on an approach to problems arising in economic and cultural construction that enables the relations of socialist collectivism and internationalism to be developed and perfected in all spheres of social life, thereby raising the organisational level of the Soviet people as a new historical community of people welded together in socio-class and internationalist unity.
[140] ~ [141] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ PART II __ALPHA_LVL1__ THE ENRICHMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
__NOTE__ _CHAPTER_LVL2_ and _SECTION_LVL2_ moved
to page [141] because current script (2006.03.09) requires them to be together.
The ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism express the fundamental interests of the working class, and so serve to accomplish the tasks and aims of its revolutionary struggle. Lenin frequently stressed how effective proletarian internationalism was in action. He pointed out that only a party which was guided by the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism in its activities and policy, and did not just pay lip service to it, could be regarded as genuinely internationalist.
"The Bolshevik Party emerged, grew and developed as a party of true proletarian internationalists. It is profoundly internationalist in its ideology, structure and the nature of its = activities."^^1^^ Its nationalities programme was evolved and thoroughly substantiated by Lenin even before the revolution, and was a concrete expression of the theory and policy of proletarian internationalism as applied to the class struggle of the working class of multinational Russia against the tsarist autocratic system and imperialism.
The consistent internationalism of the policies of Lenin's Communist Party was a vital condition for the successful preparation and completion of the October Revolution. Once it had been accomplished, Soviet government, under the guidance of the Communist Party, began to consistently implement the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism _-_-_
~^^1^^ On the Centenary of the Birth of V. I. Lenin, p. 10.
144 throughout the country. The application of these principles in the concrete situation of a young multinational socialist state in which until recently national oppression and inequality had been the order of the day was an extremely complicated and difficult matter. No similar experiment or precedent was known to history.In order to successfully implement the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism, it was necessary, in the first place, to have the scientific Marxist theory of proletarian internationalism, which correctly displays and explains its essence, basic ideas, principles and criteria in various historical conditions of the revolutionary struggle of the proletariat. In the second place, the ability to correctly apply the general principles of internationalism in the Communist Party's national policy in the context of the dictatorship of the proletariat was also necessary. Thirdly, there was a need for a thorough and profound study oi the national composition of the population, the socio-economic and political conditions and level of development of the peoples and their most important national features, and for due note to be taken of these conditions and features when implementing a national policy.
A complete and correct resolution of the national question and the embodiment of the principles of internationalism in relations between the Soviet nations and nationalities could only be achieved on the basis of socialism. However, in the absence of the theoretical, ideological and political premises mentioned above, it would have been impossible to resolve this intricate problem. Under the direct leadership of Lenin, the Communist Party created all these premises.
As already stated, one of the most important principles of proletarian internationalism is the unconditional recognition of the equality of all nations, peoples and races. The bourgeois-democratic way of posing the question of the equal rights of nations ignores and obviates the matter of guarantees and practical enforcement of nations' equal rights. As Lenin often emphasised, an abstract or formal posing of the problem of national equality is in the very nature of bourgeois = democracy.^^1^^ It is characterised by its indissoluble link _-_-_
~^^1^^ See V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 145.
145 with the ideology of bourgeois nationalism, national selfishness and national exclusiveness.The history of capitalism shows that the genuine equality of nations and races cannot be effected on the basis of the capitalist system. The resolution "On the Tasks of the Party in the National Question'', passed at the 10th Congress of the RCP(B), declares: "The existence of capitalism without national oppression is as unthinkable as the existence of socialism without the emancipation of the oppressed nations and without national = freedom."^^1^^
The accomplishment of real equality between the peoples of the USSR is a great achievement of socialism and a graphic manifestation of the application of proletarian internationalism.
The problem of achieving real equality between the peoples occupied the central place in the solution of the national question in the USSR. It was a vital point in the implementation of the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism in relations between the various peoples of the Soviet Union.
The CPSU policy for attaining real equality between the peoples embraced all spheres of social life—economic, political and cultural. The resolution of this key issue was the sine qua non of the successful implementation of all the other principles and ideas of proletarian internationalism—fraternal co-operation and mutual assistance between the peoples, the consolidation of their friendship and internationalist unity, and so on.
The victory of the October Revolution in Russia put an end to the centuries-old system of the national and colonial oppression of numerous non-Russian nationalities. Soviet power consistently and unswervingly effected an emancipatory national programme catering for the peoples' selfdetermination, their equality and freedom.
The implementation of the peoples' right to self-- determination up to the point of secession was a vivid expression of the internationalist principle of the equality of all nations and all peoples, and of the recognition of their sovereignty _-_-_
~^^1^^ CPSU in the Resolutions and Decisions of Congresses, Conferences and CC Plenary Meetings, Vol. 2, Moscow, 1970, pp. 248--49 (in Russian).
__PRINTERS_P_145_COMMENT__ 10---0798 146 and freedom in determining their own destiny. In this connection, it should be said that, although the right of nations to self-determination, just like the principle of national equality, was first advanced by bourgeois democracy, this does not provide the grounds for dividing the principles of proletarian internationalism into democratic ones and socialist ones, as is done by some writers. The ideology and policies of proletarian (socialist) internationalism are single and monolithic, and all their principles have a single class, socialist content.The abolition of national oppression and inequality, and the granting of equal rights to all nationalities, which is guaranteed in the legislative acts of the Soviet state, were vital steps towards resolving the national question and establishing genuine equality between the peoples. Yet many peoples in the country, which were then poorly developed and did not possess sufficient material means and qualified manpower, etc., were prevented by their backwardness from taking advantage of the rights offered by the Soviet system to the same extent as the more developed nations. This backwardness constituted a very serious brake on progress with socialist construction. It consisted primarily of objective difficulties in giving effect to the internationalist principle of the equality of all nations and nationalities.
A situation was brought about where the equality of all nations and nationalities, which had been won and proclaimed by the socialist revolution and Soviet power, was for a time not exercised by many peoples. Consequently, the actual inequality between peoples remained in practice.
This inequality took the concrete form of substantial differences in the economic and social structures and character, and the levels of political and cultural development of the different peoples in the Soviet republics. In 1920 the total population of the Soviet republics was 140 million, including 65 million people of non-Russian nationality. The latter group included some 30 million people who were still at a pre-capitalist stage of development. Moreover, some of them still retained features of the patriarchal-tribal system, while others had a semi-patriarchal or semi-feudal = system.^^1^^
_-_-_~^^1^^ See CPSU in the Resolutions..., Vol. 2, pp. 251--52.
147The peoples of the independent Soviet republics could be subdivided into the following groups according to the level of their development during the early years of Soviet power:
1. Peoples which in the pre-Soviet period had reached the capitalist stage of development and were already fully developed bourgeois nations, having their own national working class and intelligentsia and their own relatively developed national culture (a press, literature and art). This group = includes^^1^^: the Russians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians, Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanians, Moldavians, Tatars and some other peoples. The group comprised the overwhelming majority of the population of the Soviet republics. However, even within this group there were substantial differences in the development levels of the nations listed. For instance, a considerable section of the Azerbaijanian people were still not involved in the process of national consolidation. In its development level the Moldavian nation lagged far behind the Russians, Ukrainians and some others.
2. Peoples which had embarked on the capitalist road, but had not yet fully covered it and which still retained strong vestiges of feudal relations. During the pre-Soviet period they were only at the starting point of their being welded into full-fledged nations. This group included the Uzbeks, Kazakhs and some others.
3. Peoples which before the October Revolution were at a feudal or feudal-patriarchal stage of development. Their consolidation into nations only began in the new historical conditions, in the course of socialist construction and as a result of it.
4. The last group is a very small one (in terms of its proportion to the total population of the Soviet republics), consisting of tribes and small nationalities which still preserved patriarchal-tribal relations. Such were the small nationalities and tribes of the North, the Soviet Far East and Siberia, and some mountain-dwelling nationalities in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Under the direct guidance of Lenin, the Communist Party worked out a detailed plan of measures to accomplish the _-_-_
~^^1^^ We are only referring here to the peoples living in the Soviet republics that existed in 1920--21.
__PRINTERS_P_147_COMMENT__ 10* 148 extremely complicated, difficult and multifaceted task of abolishing actual inequality. This plan, which envisaged a whole complex ol important socio-economic, political and cultural measures, was specifically reflected in the decisions of the 10th and 12th RCP (B) congresses.In those historical conditions the key role in the whole complex was gradually assumed by the socio-political measures designed to abolish political backwardness and give practical form to the peoples' political equality.
However, even during the dictatorship of the proletariat the simple legislative and constitutional proclamation of the various nations' equal rights did not as yet mean the ubiquitous realisation of this principle in the political sphere as well as the economic and cultural fields. It should be remembered that the backwardness of a number of peoples, inherited from the past, was reflected not only in their economic and cultural development, but also in their political development. The criterion for recognising the genuine implementation of the principle of the equality of peoples in social and political life is their possession of real opportunities for exercising (and actually exercising) all the political rights and obligations granted by the Soviet system. But many of the backward peoples did not have such opportunities. The working masses of these peoples were still typified by a low level of political awareness, a poorly developed class consciousness and the strong influence of the reactionary ideology of the exploiting classes and of religion.
The Party found the ways and means for solving this complicated question. The Soviet form of the political organisation of society, and national statehood proved to be the best means of abolishing political backwardness among the working people of the formerly oppressed nations, of raising their class self-awareness and of involving them in socialist construction. The Soviets were the essentially internationalist form of political organisation which with comparative ease and speed adapted itself to the concrete conditions and national distinctions of all the peoples and came to express the interests and will of these peoples' working masses.
In the resolution mentioned above the 10th RCP(B) Congress indicated that, in order to abolish the backwardness of the formerly oppressed peoples, it was necessary to help their 149 working masses "(a) to develop and consolidate Soviet statehood in their own areas in forms that are in accord with these peoples' national and everyday living conditions; (b) to develop and consolidate in their own areas a court, administration, economic bodies and local government made up of local people who know the way of life and mentality of the local population, and functioning in the local language; (c) to develop in their own areas a press, school, theatre, clubs and cultural and educational establishments in general that employ the vernacular; (d) to establish and develop a broad network of courses and schools providing both for general education and vocational training and using the local language as the medium of instruction. . . in order to accelerate the preparation of indigenous qualified workers and Soviet and Party staff in all fields of administration and primarily in educa- tion."^^1^^
A vital part in overcoming the political backwardness of the working masses of peoples which were then poorly developed was played by the measures conducted by the Party and Soviet government to organise the masses for the struggle against local exploiter elements, depriving these elements of their class privileges, and so on. The Communist Party carefully selected and recruited local proletarian elements into its own ranks and for work in the Soviets, and trained and educated national cadres for the Soviet and Party apparatus.
It was thanks to the consistent implementation of all these measures that the political equality of the peoples was established. For the large and developed nations the real expression of their political equality was the formation of independent Soviet republics, which subsequently united on a voluntary and equal basis to form the USSR, while in the case of other nations and nationalities real (actual) political equality was achieved in the course of a more or less lengthy period of nation-state construction. The reference here is to the formation and consolidation of autonomous republics, regions and national areas, the raising of national staff to work in the Soviets and the Party, and the development of all the means and attributes of the functioning of the local bodies of Soviet _-_-_
~^^1^^ CPSU in the Resolutions. . . , Vol. 2, p. 252.
150 power. The political equality of these nations and nationalities was expressed in the fact that each of them determined the form of their state structure in accordance with their own peculiarities and way of life.Like the other principles of proletarian internationalism, the principle of the equality of all the peoples and the equality of their rights were embodied in Soviet federation and autonomy as the structural form of the Soviet multinational state.^^1^^ These principles were consistently pursued in all the constitutions of both the individual Soviet republics and the USSR as a whole.
In April 1923, during the drawing up of the first Constitution of the USSR, the 12th RCP(B) Congress indicated in a resolution on the national question that the supreme bodies of the Union should be so structured as to fully reflect not only the common needs and requirements of all the nationalities of the Union, but also the specific needs and requirements of the individual nationalities.
The resolution of the 12th Party Congress established a number of practical measures to ensure that in the future central bodies of the USSR the individual republics would have equal rights and obligations both in their mutual relations and in relation to the central bodies of state power in the USSR. The resolution further envisaged the establishment within the system of the Union's supreme bodies of special representation of all the national republics and regions on the principle of equality (including, wherever possible, the representation of all the nationalities living in each republic); the construction of executive bodies of the Union on principles that ensured the real participation in them of the representatives of the republics and the satisfaction of the needs and demands of all the peoples in the country, and so on.
Since it was a concrete expression of Soviet socialist democracy, the principle of equality of rights for the different nations, which was implemented in the sphere ol political and nation-state development, was extremely important for the attainment of actual economic and cultural equality between the peoples.
However, it would be wrong to draw the conclusion that, _-_-_
~^^1^^ This question is given detailed treatment in Chapter~7.
151 first of all, the task of achieving actual equality between the peoples should be fully accomplished in the political field, and only later in the economic and cultural domains. The elimination of the backwardness of a number of peoples and their attainment of real equality with the other Soviet nations was a single process, embracing the political, economic and cultural spheres. But, as was pointed out earlier, the accomplishment of the political tasks was of paramount importance in this process.One of the principal tasks in Lenin's plan for achieving real equality between the peoples was the elimination of economic backwardness and the creation and boosting of modern industry among the peoples which were then at a low stage of development.
The resolution of the 10th RCP(B) Congress stated that "the priority task is the consistent elimination of all vestiges of national inequality in all spheres of social and economic life, and, primarily, the planned siting of industry in the outlying regions by transferring factories to the raw material sources (the textile, wool and tanning industries to Turkestan, Bashkiria, Kirghizstan and the Caucasus, = etc.)".^^1^^
This transfer of enterprises was of great importance to the development of industry in the backward areas only during the initial stages. Subsequently the large-scale construction of new factories developed in these regions.
The plan for improving the economies of the then poorly developed peoples specified concrete measures to organise the local poor, to draw them into co-operatives and to gradually transfer the working masses from backward economic forms to higher ones—from a nomadic existence to a settled way of life and agriculture, from domestic handicrafts to artels, from artel production to factory production and from small-scale agriculture to the planned, common tillage of the land.
In carrying out this plan, the Communist Party and the Soviet Government relocated a large number of industrial enterprises from the central industrial regions to the then poorly developed eastern regions and republics. Thousands of skilled workers and specialists went to these areas in order to help set up the enterprises on their new sites, to train local _-_-_
~^^1^^ CPSU in the Resolutions. . . Vol. 2, p. 253.
152 workers and specialists and to build new industrial enterprises.It was a difficult and complicated task to radically alter the backward forms of agriculture in some of the eastern republics. The socialist transformation of agriculture in these republics had to be preceded by such measures as the conversion of people from a nomadic way of life and primitive stockbreeding to a settled existence and farming, land and water reforms, and so on.
Neither the political nor economic measures to bring about the nationalities' actual equality would have been successful if they had not been conducted at the same time as measures to eliminate their cultural backwardness. The Communist Party organised the building of a vast network of cultural and educational establishments, and the development of a vernacular, press and theatre. A writing system was devised for over 40 nationalities, and illiteracy and semi- literacy were abolished. Great attention was given to the development of the educational system, the creation of a massive network of schools and the expansion of the higher educational system, secondary specialised educational establishments, various types of courses and vocational schools to train skilled workers and specialists, etc.
Lenin's plan for abolishing the peoples' inequality was being accomplished during the construction of socialism—the industrialisation of the country, the collectivisation of agriculture and the cultural revolution. The actual process of the construction of socialism took place in the context of a bitter class struggle with all the exploiter classes—the NEP bourgeoisie, the kulaks and the feudal bai elements.
One of the concrete forms of the manifestation of this class struggle was the struggle against nationalism, which appeared at that time in two basic forms—Great-Power, Great-Russian chauvinism and local nationalism. The 12th Party Congress struck a crushing blow at both these types of nationalism as expressed by two deviations within the Party. In the struggle with the nationalist deviationists a great part was played by the 4th CC RCP(B) Conference with senior officials from the national republics and regions in June 1923.
As the Soviet peoples gradually united to form the single family of the USSR, there was a need to surmount many difficulties arising from economic and cultural backwardness, 153 and to struggle against the attempts by counter-- revolutionaries to use for their own ends the legacy of the former national enmity, bourgeois nationalism, Great-Power chauvinism and the resistance of the nationalist deviationists within the Party.
The Communist Party's principled and uncompromising struggle against nationalism and chauvinism, and against nationalist deviations in the Party until their total ideological, political and organisational defeat was of vast importance to the successful construction of socialism, the resolution of the national question and the establishment of the peoples' real equality.
The socialist system in the USSR triumphed as early as the mid-thirties. The task of ensuring the real equality of the peoples was basically completed. The achievement of this real equality meant simultaneously the successful accomplishment of the task of ensuring the non-capitalist development of the formerly backward = peoples.^^1^^ All the peoples that had previously been at pre-capitalist stages of social development made a gigantic leap forward in their economic, political and cultural development, and drew level with the advanced Soviet socialist nations. This experience confirmed in practice and enriched Lenin's theory of the non-capitalist path of development for the formerly backward peoples towards socialism.
The decisive condition for development of this kind is the assistance to these peoples given by the working class of an advanced nation that has won political power. The most important role in the successful establishment of real equality among the Soviet peoples was played by the selfless and allround assistance from the Russian working class and the Russian people, as well as other developed nations, to the then _-_-_
~^^1^^ On the non-capitalist road of development followed by the backward peoples towards socialism see: M. S. Junusov. On the Historical Experience of Building Socialism in Formerly Backward Countries, Moscow, 1958; P. M. Alampiyev, The Elimination of Economic Inequality among the Peoples of the Soviet East and the Socialist Distribution of Industry, Moscow, 1958; From the Middle Ages to the Heights of Modern Progress. The Historical Experience of the Development of the Peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan from Pre-Capitalist Relations to Socialism, Moscow, 1965 (all in Russian).
154 poorly developed peoples so that they should create their own socialist economy, culture and national statehood.Also important in the accomplishment of all the primary tasks in the construction of a new society, including the attainment of real equality by the peoples of the Soviet Union, was, and still is, the mutual assistance between the working people of all nationalities in the most varied forms, which arose during the early days of the Soviet system.
The selfless assistance of the Russian working class and the Russian and other developed peoples to the formerly backward peoples, which was an ideal model of proletarian internationalism, played an invaluable part in overcoming the vestiges of national mistrust, dissension and enmity between the peoples, and in nurturing internationalist feelings among the working people of all the Soviet nationalities.
As a result of the accomplishment of the postwar five-year plans and the successes achieved in economic, political and cultural development, the Soviet Union has become a mature, developed socialist society and has embarked on a new stage of communist construction.
Socialism in the Soviet Union has triumphed completely and finally. The nations and national relations in the USSR are starting on a new stage in their development, marked by the all-round flourishing of the Soviet nations, their further drawing together and attainment of complete unity. As a result of the victory of socialism, the national question, as it was posed by history and still remains in the capitalist world, has been totally resolved in the USSR. Equally incontestable is the fact that the principal issue of the national question in socialist conditions—the real equality of the peoples— has also been resolved.
Tangible evidence of the successful solution of the national question and the peoples' attainment of real equality in the USSR is provided by their achievements in political, economic and cultural development during the Soviet years.
All the socialist nations and nationalities possess the real, guaranteed material conditions of life offered by Soviet society and equal rights to participate in all spheres of the country's socio-political life, and particularly in state construction. Fifty-eight Soviet nations and nationalities have their own national statehood in various forms: there are 15 155 sovereign Union republics, 20 autonomous republics, 8 autonomous regions and 10 national = areas.^^1^^
The USSR is a closely knit family of over 100 equal and free Soviet socialist nations and nationalities. The members of all the nationalities have real equal (i.e., guaranteed by the whole social and state system) political rights and obligations. They take an active part in all the country's socio-political organisations: Party, state, trade union, Komsomol and others. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the ruling party, the political guide and leader of the Soviet people, is a living embodiment of the ideas of proletarian internationalism, friendship and fraternity between equal peoples. The Party consists of the most progressive representatives of all the nations and nationalities of the USSR. The material economic basis for the real equality of all the Soviet nations and nationalities is provided by the socialist mode of production, which is the undisputed master of the whole economy. The achievements of the socialist economy in the USSR as a whole and each Soviet republic and people individually during thejSoviet period convey a vivid idea of the results of the abolition of national inequality in the economic sphere.
The development of the economies of the Soviet republics and the socialist nations and nationalities is characterised by the elimination of all vestiges of the old, pre-socialist economic structures and of the lopsided development of the economy. Each republic has a multisectoral economy, linked with those of other republics through the socialist division of _-_-_
~^^1^^ The discrepancy between the number of Soviet nations and nationalities (58) having their own statehood and the total number of nation-state formations (53) is explained as follows: (1) a number of nation-state formations are multinational. The Daghestan ASSR is the nation-state entity of the 10 indigenous nationalities; the KabardinianBalkar ASSR, the Checheno-Ingush ASSR, the Karachayevo-Cherkess Autonomous Region and the Khanty-Mansi National Area are state entities of 2 nationalities each; (2) some nations and nationalities have 2 nation-state formations. Such are the Ossetians (the North Ossetian ASSR within the RSFSR and the South Ossetian Autonomous Region in the Georgian SSR), the Azerbaijanians (the Azerbaijan SSR and, within it, the Nakhichevan ASSR), the Armenians (the Armenian SSR and the Nagorny Karabakh Autonomous Region in the Azerbaijan SSR) and the Georgians (the Georgian SSR and the Ajarian ASSR), while the Buryats have 3 nation-state formations (the Buryat ASSR, the Aginsk Buryat National Area and the Ust-Orda Buryat National Area).
156 labour, production specialisation and co-operation. The socialist division of labour between economic regions and republics provides the objective material base that ensures the friendly and equal economic co-operation between all the peoples of the USSR. As the material and technical basis of communism is gradually built, so this equitable co-operation between the peoples is expanded, and = consolidated.^^1^^All the Soviet republics have multisectoral economies. A good example is provided by Uzbekistan, which is the USSR's main producer of cotton. In the pre-revolutionary past cotton was the area's raison d'etre, and the primary processing of cotton constituted the only industry to talk of. In 1913 not a single ton of steel, ferrous rolled metal, coal, oil, cement or mineral fertiliser was produced by the area that is now Uzbekistan, while in 1972 it produced 405,000 tons of steel, 331,000 tons of ferrous rolled metal, 3,750,000 tons of coal, 1,712,000 tons of oil, 3,305,000 tons of cement and 5,283,000 tons of mineral fertiliser. In 1913 the area produced 3.3 million kilowatt-hours of electrical power, while the 1972 output was 23,500 million kwh. In 1972, 36,770 million cubic metres of natural gas was extracted in the republic; this industry did not exist locally before Soviet = times.^^2^^
All these facts testify to the enormous leap forward made by the working people of Uzbekistan in their economic development during the Soviet years. There are now over 100 different industries in the republic. Ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy and a chemical industry have been established, as well as heavy engineering, which produces tractors, nearly all types of machinery for processing and harvesting cotton, and other agricultural machinery, equipment for ginning factories and spinning mills, diesel engines, mechanical excavators, chemical equipment, trailing and hoisting gear and other machinery and equipment.
Although it is the country's largest cotton producer, Uzbekistan also supplies other agricultural produce—silk cocoons, kenaf, astrakhan, grapes, subtropical and other fruit, and various other farm and livestock produce.
_-_-_~^^1^^ This aspect is dealt with in detail in Chapter 8.
~^^2^^ See The Economy of the USSR in 1922--1972, p. 545 (in Russian).
157Uzbekistan is not an exceptional case. All the Soviet republics can be proud of successes that are just as impressive in their economic development. Two further examples are Kirghizia and Byelorussia. It should be recalled that the gross industrial output in Kirghizia in 1972 was 227 times as high as in 1913, and 121 times in the case of Byelorussia. The growth in various kinds of output is shown in the following table.
Types of industrial produce^^1^^ Kirghizia Byelorussia 1913 1972 1913 1972 Electricity ('000 million kwh) 4 0.003 20.9 Oil ('000 tons) 225 ~ 5,800 Coal ('000 tons) 103 700 Gas (million cu m) ~ 420 Mineral fertiliser f'OOO tons) 7,829 Cement ('000 tons) 10,100 33 43 Woollen fabrics (million m) 81 -- 0.4 26.3 Silk fabrics (million m) 8.8 20.8 Linen fabrics (million m) 0.01 61.9 Leather footwear (million pairs) 10.8 ~ 41 Granulated sugar ('000 tons) 185 T I 192 Butter and fats ('000 tons) 6.8^^2^^ ~ 71The figures given above show graphically that in Byelorussia as well as in Kirghizia industry made a great leap forward in its development. The overwhelming majority of the different sectors were created only during the Soviet years. Before the revolution industry in the area consisted mainly of small peat-cutting and timber enterprises and paper and cement production. The machine-tool, car, tractor, radio-- engineering, instrument-making and other industries were founded in the republic. Light industry and the food industry are nov.- highly developed. There have also been substantial advances in the development of agriculture.
_-_-_~^^1^^ See The Economy of the USSR in 1922--1972, pp. 532--33, 632--33.
~^^2^^ 1970 figure.
158 Kirghizia, which before the revolution was a backward and remote colonial outpost of tsarist Russia, is today a highly developed industrial-agrarian republic. It produces non-- ferrous metals, gas, oil, coal, reinforced-concrete articles, machine tools, instruments, electric motors, agricultural machinery, various foodstuffs and consumer goods. In the republic's agriculture cotton growing is widely developed, as well as livestock raising, particularly the rearing of fine-fleeced sheep, and the production of sugar beet and tobacco.All the Soviet republics and peoples of the USSR have their own developed socialist industry and large-scale, mechanised socialist agriculture. All this testifies to the successful establishment in the country of the real equality of all its peoples in the field of economic development.
Let us now survey the peoples' achievements in cultural development, illustrating their equality in this field too, and, firstly, in public education, which is a vital indication of peoples' cultural level. It should be recalled that in the prerevolutionary past some three-quarters of the population ( excluding children of pre-school age) were condemned to illitei acy. The peoples of the Far North, Central Asia and a number of outlying areas were almost totally illiterate. During the Soviet years 40 nationalities acquired a system of writing for the first time. Illiteracy among the population has been eliminated.
Nowadays in all republics all children of school age must attend school for a minimum of eight years. In the near future the transition to universal complete secondary education (10 years) will be complete. Higher and secondary specialised education have been greatly extended.
During the years in which the Soviet system has been in existence the country has trained 25.7 million specialists belonging to all the nationalities in the Soviet Union._
Members of all the Soviet nations and nationalities, including the smallest ones, feature among the students at secondary specialised and higher educational establishments.
Another important indication of the cultural level of a people is its literature, art, press and science. A rich development of literature and art is taking place in all republics in dozens of languages of the peoples of the USSR and in a vivid gamut of national forms. Soviet authors are writing in 75 159 languages spoken in the USSR. All the peoples throughout the country, united by their thoughts and goals, are making their contribution to the cultural development of socialist society.
The peoples are taking an active part in the development of science too. All the Union republics have their own academies of science with many research institutions that are conducting useful investigations in all fields of the social, technical and natural sciences.
Thus, backwardness and inequality have vanished once and for all from the Soviet Union. There are no longer any backward peoples. Socialism guarantees all the peoples of the USSR real equality politically, economically and culturally.
The statement that all the peoples of the USSR are equal does not mean that all the differences in the levels of their economic and cultural development have disappeared. There are still some differences between the republics and peoples as to the level of development of their productive forces, labour productivity, the availability of trained personnel, and so on. However, these differences do not affect the fundamental, qualitative features and peculiarities determining their real equality. These differences are being overcome by the Party's policy of continuing to level out the economic and cultural development of the various peoples. They will be completely surmounted in the course of communist construction, as a result of the elimination of the socio-economic and cultural differences between town and country, and of the disappearance of the substantial differences between mental and physical labour, and through the attainment of the complete social homogeneity of all the nations.
In economic development real equality means the elimination of all the pre-socialist economic structures and the appearance and consolidation of the socialist mode of production relations among all the peoples of the multinational Soviet Union. Nowadays there is no trace of any pre-socialist economic structures.
In political development real equality means not only the elimination of the whole system of national and colonial oppression, national inequality, enmity and mistrust between peoples, but also the implementation in all spheres of social life of the principle of equal political rights for the different 160 nations, the creation of a national statehood for the peoples and the consolidation of friendship, co-operation and mutual assistance between them. The multinational Soviet state embodies this political equality. In this area too there are no vestiges of the former political inequality of the peoples.
In the cultural development of the Soviet peoples the achievement of real equality means the elimination of cultural backwardness (illiteracy, semi-literacy, etc.) and the creation and development by all the peoples of the USSR of a culture that is socialist in content and national in form. The broad development of public education, the enormous growth in the number of higher educational establishments and scientific centres, and the creation of a vast socialist intelligentsia provide a graphic testimony to the Soviet peoples' attainment of real equality in their cultural development.
The CPSU Programme states: "Socialist society has not only guaranteed the political equality of nations and created Soviet national statehood, but has also abolished the economic and cultural inequality inherited from the old system. With reciprocal fraternal assistance, primarily from the great Russian people, all the Soviet non-Russian republics have set up their own modern industries, trained their own national working class and intelligentsia and developed a culture that is national in form and socialist in = content."^^1^^
Such is the content and essence of the concept of the real equality of the peoples of the USSR. When considering in this respect the differences existing in the levels of economic and cultural development of the Soviet nations and nationalities, one can come to the conclusion that these differences are purely quantitative and do not extend beyond the framework of the qualitative features, identical for all, that characterise the essence and historical level of development of the economy, political system and culture of the Soviet socialist nations.
The statement that real equality between the peoples of the USSR has only been achieved basically was correct when applied to the time when a socialist society had only been basically built in the country. It is wrong if applied to the modern developed socialist society. The most important _-_-_
~^^1^^ The Road to Communism, p. 461.
161 features of this society are: a high level of development of the ail-Union socialist economy, which includes the economies of the republics and which develops in accordance with a single state plan in the interests of the whole country and each republic individually; a single-type social structure of society as a whole and each nation and nationality in particular, which consist of the friendly working class, the collective-farm peasantry and the working intelligentsia; all-round development in the indissoluble unity of socialist all-Union and national statehood on the basis of the principles of socialist internationalism; the active participation of the working people of all nationalities in the advancement of science, technology and culture; and maintenance of the ideology of Marxism-Leninism, socialist internationalism and friendship between the peoples in all spheres of social life in the USSR.The principal features of developed socialist society arise from the objective criteria of the national equality achieved in the USSR. Thes criteria are: (1) the single and highly developed socialist economy, the component parts of which are the economies of each republic and every Soviet nation and nationality; (2) the single socialist state-political system; (3) the creation and development of a new, socialist, type of nations and nationalities, and their all-round flourishing on the basis of fraternal co-operation, mutual assistance and gradual drawing together; (4) the same type of social structure of all the Soviet nations and nationalities; and (5) the assertion of the social, ideological and political unity of the Soviet nations and nationalities, the vivid expression of which is the formation of the new historical community of people—the Soviet people—and the triumph of the ideology of socialist internationalism.
The setting and successful accomplishment of the task of achieving real equality between the peoples was an implementation and enrichment of one of the most important demands of proletarian internationalism—the principle of the equality of all nations and nationalities.
The question is sometimes raised as to whether it is legitimate to talk of the achievement of real equality between the peoples given that there is not as yet complete social equality. But then the concepts of "social equality" and "national equality" are not identical. In order to achieve __PRINTERS_P_161_COMMENT__ 11---0798 162 real equality between nations, it is necessary to abolish antagonistic class relations (i.e., to abolish the exploiter system and the exploiting classes of capitalists, feudal lords, etc.) and to establish on the basis of socialist production relations an alliance between the working class and the peasantry, and the equitable and comradely co-operation between the people employed in all sectors of socialist production. But in order to achieve complete social equality, it is necessary to overcome class distinctions, the substantial differences between town and country, and between mental and physical labour, and the implementation of the principle "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs'', i.e., the assertion of the highest phase of the communist formation.
Nor should the question of the real equality of nations be confused with another question, that of the equal provision of material and cultural values to Soviet citizens of different nationalities. The socialist stage of the communist formation does not yet provide for complete equality in meeting people's needs; that will only be achieved at the highest stage of communism. The real equality between the peoples that is established during the first stage of communism is the necessary precondition for bringing about the complete equality of all citizens as regards providing them with material and spiritual values.
Apart from the socialist nations in the USSR, there are also nationalities. Is this not an indication that there is some kind of inequality between the peoples of the USSR? In order to show that no inequality is involved here, the concept of a ``nationality'' must be explained, as well as the way in which it differs from a nation in socialist conditions.
A scientific investigation and definition of the essence of a nationality are extremely important when formulating development prospects for the nationalities of the North, the Soviet Far East, Daghestan and other areas of the Soviet Union. It is also important for the further development and assertion of the principles of socialist internationalism in the national relations in the USSR, and for the internationalist upbringing of the working people. Before the October Revolution and during the early years of the Soviet system nationalities differed from nations in that their economic basis consisted of pre-capitalist structures and relations, which to some 163 extent also iniluenced their political and cultural development. The nationalities had no industry or working class of their own, nor was there any developed national culture, intelligentsia or specialists. All this gave rise to special ways and means for involving the working masses of the nationalities in socialist construction, as well as the implementation of a series of preliminary measures.
During the Soviet years the overwhelming majority of the nationalities, primarily the larger ones, have consolidated into socialist nations. But not all the nationalities have formed nations. However, as a result of the victory of socialism, their social nature has been radically transformed, and they are no longer the same as they were during the transitional period. They are based on a socialist economy and social system, enjoy all the material and spiritual values of socialist society and so they are socialist nationalities.
There are no longer any fundamental differences between Soviet nationalities and nations. The nationalities are equal members of the great family of the USSR and are contributing to the building of communism. However, since differences, albeit not fundamental ones, do still exist between nations and nationalities, they cannot be ignored in economic and cultural construction and in the conduct of the national policy.
Essentially, these differences can be reduced to a number of interconnected objective factors: the size of the population, the level of economic and cultural development and the functions served by the language. All the existing Soviet nationalities are small in number. It goes withouc saying that nationalities that consist of only a few tens of thousands of people (not to mention even smaller ones) have much less leeway for developing a multisectoral economy and building up a national working class and specialists for all sectors of the economy than nations. The languages of the nationalities cannot fulfil all the social functions that can be performed by the languages of the socialist nations.
Of course, the nationalities (including the least numerous ones) are capable of producing, and do produce, leading figures in various spheres of social life. This is not to be wondered at, since, irrespective of their nationality, Soviet citizens have access to all the achievements of culture and can display all their abilities. But we are interested in the question __PRINTERS_P_163_COMMENT__ 11* 164 of the objective possibilities for the comprehensive development of the economy and culture of a particular nationality in its national habitat (territory, language, specialists, etc.).
When examining these processes, it is important to bear in mind the fundamentally vital conditions that are ensured by socialism. The nature of socialism is such that it encourages the all-round development of each nation and nationality, especially since the economy of the whole country is developing as a single entity and the demands of every nation and every nationality are satisfied not only by its own economy, but by the economy of the whole of the USSR. The correct combination of the interests of the entire country with the interests of individual nations and nationalities, the active participation of the working people of all nationalities in the construction of a new way of life, and their internationalist community strengthen the multinational Soviet society and intensify the economic and cultural ties between the different nations. All this does much to facilitate and accelerate the drawing together of nations and nationalities.
Thus, the real equality of nations that has been achieved in the USSR is not limited or infringed by the existence of the nationalities. As has already been pointed out, socialism ensures the assertion of real equality between all the peoples of the Soviet Union—both nations and nationalities.
The embodiment in Soviet reality and the enrichment of the internationalist principle of the equality of all races, nations and nationalities is linked indissolubly with the two main tendencies in the development of nations and national relations—the flourishing and drawing together of the socialist nations and nationalities. This law arose on the basis of socialism during and following the formation of nations of a new, socialist type. These nations differ fundamentally from bourgeois nations in their economic basis, political system, class structure, spiritual make-up and socio-political aims and aspirations.
The unity of the economic basis and the political system of the socialist nations, the leading role in them of the working class and their common aim of building communism generate the nations' common fundamental interests, an expression of which is the dominance of internationalist ideas and traits in their spiritual make-up.
165Socialist nations are a historically necessary and inevitable form of social development during the age of socialism and the gradual transition to communism.
The experience of building socialism in the USSR and other countries has proved that the socialist system is a powerful source of the regeneration and all-round development of nations, the flourishing of their economies and cultures, and the consolidation of their national statehood. The urge of the socialist nations to draw closer together reflects the social nature of a new type of nations and their single economic basis and political system, and common ideology, permeated by the spirit of internationalism.
The two main tendencies in the development of socialist nations—flourishing and drawing together—are in dialectical interconnection, mutual conditionality and unity. The drawing together of nations is a vital factor and is the source of their flourishing, while the flourishing of nations leads to their further drawing together. The flourishing and gradual drawing together of nations is a law of the development of socialist nations and national relations. The close unity, all-round flourishing and continuous drawing together of all nations and nationalities of the Soviet Union result from the nature of the Soviet system and constitute an objective feature of the development of socialism. All this has become possible only where real equality between the nations has been achieved. At the same time, the consolidation and guaranteeing of the real equality of all the Soviet socialist nations and nationalities are conditioned by the action of the law of the flourishing and drawing together of nations.
Moreover, it must be borne in mind that the flourishing of nations, i.e., the attainment of a high and comprehensive level of development of the nation's material and spiritual life and the conversion of these achievements into the property of all its members, can only occur in socialist nations and is inapplicable even to the most highly developed bourgeois nations with their antagonistic class nature. The working classes and social groups that comprise the overwhelming majority in any bourgeois nation and which are the real creators of all its wealth are deprived of it. Under capitalism even the progress of science and technology is used by the bourgeoisie in order to increase the exploitation of the working people.
166The genuine flourishing of nations can only be attained on the basis of socialism, when the national question has been successfully resolved and friendship and co-operation have been established between the nations. The most important condition and characteristic feature of the flourishing of nations are the absence of social antagonism within each nation. Another feature is the fact that it embraces all the Soviet nations and nationalities. In a mature socialist society there are no backward peoples.
The essence of the drawing together of socialist nations is that in all spheres of social life—economic, political and cultural—and in the course of their close contact, co-operation and mutual assistance, an exchange of material and spiritual values takes place, as well as the mutual assimilation of advanced experience, progressive traditions, new developments in living conditions and ways of life, spiritual make-up and so on. All the Soviet socialist nations and nationalities enrich one another, and more and more common features in their personalities and spiritual make-up are appearing. The drawing together of the Soviet nations and nationalities is a characteristic expression of the new type of national relations that are the order of the day in a socialist society.
Lenin also applied the concept of the drawing together of nations to capitalist conditions, meaning the breaking down of national ba-rriers and national isolation and the development of all kinds of ties between them during the advance of capitalism. But this process generally occurs through various types of violence, pressure and persecution of the weak and small nations and nationalities by the strong bourgeois nations, and through military conquest, and so on.
In a socialist society, on the other hand, it is an expression of their close co-operation and mutual assistance in all spheres of social life. Lenin pointed out that we support the drawing together of nations, but only if it is democratic and voluntary, and not = enforced.^^1^^ The genuinely democratic and free drawing together of nations can only take place after the victory of the socialist revolution. Naturally, it becomes comprehensive, more complete and embracing all spheres of _-_-_
~^^1^^ See V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 23, p. 67.
167 social life only after the total victory of socialism. The economic basis for the Soviet nations' merging is the socialist production relations, the socialist economic system and the socialist division of labour between the republics and regions of the USSR.Thus, the real equality between the Soviet nations and nationalities which has been established in the socialist society is determined by the operation of the objective law of the flourishing and drawing together of nations.
In full accordance with this law of the development of socialist nations, the CPSU Programme and the resolutions of the 23rd and 24th Party congresses outlined a policy for the continued all-round development of the economies of all the Soviet republics and their culture, the consolidation of the Soviet multinational state, the improvement of the national statehood of the peoples, the maximal strengthening of their friendship, and their further gradual drawing together.
As communism and its material and technical basis are constructed, so more favourable objective conditions are created for the further flourishing of the nations and their allround drawing together. "The building of the material and technical basis of communism leads to still greater unity of the Soviet peoples. The exchange of material and spiritual values between nations becomes more and more intensive, and the contribution of each republic to the common cause of communist construction = increases^^1^^."
The experience of the USSR proves irrefutably that the successful and final resolution of the national question, and in particular the attainment of real equality by all the Soviet nations, is the result of the complete victory of socialism and a correct Marxist-Leninist national policy, based on the scientific understanding and application of the objective laws of social development.
The triumph of the principles of socialist internationalism in the USSR is an expression of the complete victory of socialism and a result of the action of the objective law of national relations engendered by socialism—the flourishing and drawing together of socialist nations.
_-_-_~^^1^^ The Road to Communism, p. 559.
168 __*_*_*__The formation of the united and multinational Soviet people is a vivid expression of the internationalist unity and real equality of the socialist nations and nationalities. As a result of the complete and final victory of socialism in the USSR, the Soviet people has become a genuine embodiment of the monolithic unity of all the classes and social groups and all the nations and nationalities in the country.
One of the characteristic features of this new historical community—the Soviet people—is that it is an internationalist community of nations and nationalities. The Soviet people is not a new ethnic community or a single nation. It is an internationalist union of over 100 sovereign socialist nations and nationalities, each of which is participating, with complete freedom and on egalitarian principles, in the great creative process of building communism.
The monolithic cohesion of the Soviet people, determined as it is by the peculiarities of the development of a socialist society, is explained by the fact that it has a single economic basis—the socialist economic system; a single socialist state of the whole people, guided by the Communist Party; a single class structure, characterised by the firm alliance of the working class and the collective-farm peasantry with the leading role belonging to the working class; and a single, dominant ideology—Marxism-Leninism. All Soviet people— the members of all classes and social groups, and all nationalities—are united by a single aim—to build communism.
The development among people of all nationalities of common features in their spiritual make-up is a characteristic feature of this new historical community. It is a reflection of the fact that the formation of a new historical community is indissolubly linked with the inevitable process of the gradual drawing together of all the Soviet nations and nationalities. The attainment of real equality between all the nations and nationalities is of vital importance to the durable and monolithic nature of the unity of the people of the USSR.
A profound description of the essence of the Soviet people as a new historical community which arose during the years of socialist construction is given in the CPSU Central Committee's Report to the 24th Party Congress: "New, harmonious 169 relations, relations of friendship and co-operation, were formed between the classes and social groups, nations and nationalities in joint labour, in the struggle for socialism and in the battles fought in defence of socialism. Our people are welded together by a common Marxist-Leninist ideology and the lofty aims of building communism. The multinational Soviet people demonstrate this monolithic unity by their labour and by their unanimous approval of the Communist Party's = policy.^^1^^"
A study of the way in which the peoples of the USSR have attained real equality enables the following conclusions to be drawn:
(1) the accomplishment of this vital task has enriched and given concrete form to the internationalist principle of the equality and equal rights of all nations and nationalities. Soviet experience has shown the concrete content and methods for attaining the genuine equality of peoples;
(2) the experience of attaining real equality between peoples has shown its indissoluble and organic link with the implementation of the other internationalist principles of Lenin's national policy: the harmonising of the internationalist and national interests of the peoples; the fraternal friendship and co-operation between all the peoples; the selfless help to be given by the more developed and stronger nations to the backward and formerly oppressed peoples, and all-round mutual assistance between them;
(3) Soviet experience has shown that the great ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism can only be implemented on the basis of socialism and through the accomplishment of real equality between the peoples. The attainment of genuine equality between all the Soviet nations and nationalities is a triumph for the ideology of proletarian internationalism;
(4) given the multinational nature of the country, the formation of a single Soviet multinational state has been of crucial importance in accomplishing the real equality of the peoples, successfully resolving the national question and further developing socialist national relations. Thanks to the pooling of all the country's efforts and resources, the Soviet people _-_-_
~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 92.
170 managed in an extremely short historical period to abolish the economic and cultural backwardness inherited from tsarism and capitalism, to accomplish the industrialisation of the country and the socialist transformation of agriculture, as well as a genuine cultural revolution, to build socialism and to transform the USSR into a mighty and highly developed power, and to embark on the construction of a communist society. __NUMERIC_LVL2__ CHAPTER~7 __ALPHA_LVL2__ THE SOVIET MULTINATIONAL STATEThe creation of the Soviet national statehood of the peoples of the USSR and of a single Soviet multinational state was an embodiment and a development of the principles of proletarian internationalism.
From the very outset the socialist system and Soviet democracy cultivated in the working masses of all nationalities the idea of fraternal co-operation, mutual assistance and union in state, economic and cultural construction and in defence of their gains from hostile encroachment of any kind.
As early as 1916 Lenin brilliantly foresaw that after the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat the working masses of all nations, freed from national and social oppression, would do all in their power to draw closer together, merge with one another and form a union with the large and advanced socialist nations. The experience of the Soviet Union fully confirmed this prediction.
Soviet state construction advanced a new, Soviet type of federation, which was scientifically formulated and substantiated in the works of Lenin and in the decisions of the Communist Party and the Soviet state. The new type of federation arose only after the October Revolution as the masses gained in creative and revolutionary experience of building a Soviet state. The federal form of state system was reflected in the Declaration of Rights of the Working and Exploited People and the resolution On the Federal Institutions of the Russian 171 Republic both passed at the 3rd All-Russia Congress of Soviets in January 1918. The Party Programme adopted in 1919 at the 8th RCP(B) Congress stated that "as one of the transitional forms towards complete unity, the Party proposes the federal union of states organised along Soviet = lines".^^1^^
Soviet federation as a form of state system for the dictatorship of the proletariat in a multinational country was in full accordance with such principles of proletarian internationalism as the right of peoples to voluntarily and freely amalgamate to form a state; the equality and equal rights of republics that united; the sovereignty of all nations and nationalities and the state sovereignty of the Soviet republics which joined to form a single union state; and the harmonious combination of the internationalist interests and tasks of all the peoples and republics that had joined to form a federation, with their national interests and tasks. This last principle is tangibly expressed in the democratic centralism of the Soviet federal organisation of the multinational state.
The principles of Soviet federation were legislatively expressed in the Soviet state's first Constitution—the Constitution of the RSFSR adopted by the 5th All-Russia Congress of Soviets. The Constitution of the RSFSR formed the basis for the construction of Soviet national autonomous republics and regions. This form of construction developed widely after the Civil War and the debacle of the foreign military intervention.
During the Civil War and the foreign military intervention the peoples of the independent Soviet republics pooled their efforts in order to combat the internal and external enemy. Following official resolutions and proposals by the highest authorities in Byelorussia, the Ukraine and other Soviet republics, the All-Russia Central Executive Committee adopted a decision in June 1919 to pool the military and material resources of all the Soviet republics. A military alliance was formed between the Soviet republics, a single military command was set up and the councils of national economy and transport, and the labour commissariats of all the fraternal republics were amalgamated.
_-_-_~^^1^^ CPSU in the Resolutions. . . , Vol. 2, p. 45.
172Once the Civil War and the foreign intervention had come to an end, the main task was to pool the material resources of all the Soviet republics so as to combat the postwar devastation, rehabilitate their economy and consolidate the economic basis of the Soviet system.
In May 1920 the 4th All-Ukraine Congress of Soviets adopted a decision to establish closer ties with the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and requested the AllRussia Central Executive Council to permit the inclusion in this body of 30 representatives elected by the Congress. The representatives were accepted by an ARCEC decision of June 1920. In December 1920 the 8th All-Russia Congress of Soviets ratified the treaty between the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR on military-economic alliance. A number of people's commissariats of these republics were merged. Similar treaties on military economic alliance were concluded between the RSFSR and other Soviet republics: the Azerbaijan SSR in September 1920, Byelorussia in January 1921 and the Georgian SSR in May 1921. In September 1921 an agreement was reached between the RSFSR and the Armenian SSR on financial matters. These treaties and agreements expressed the desire of the peoples of the independent Soviet republics for closer co-operation and union.
The RSFSR was the centre of gravity of the drive towards unification that had begun in all the Soviet republics. This is hardly surprising, since ithe peoples of all the Soviet republics saw the RSFSR as the bulwark in the struggle against internal counter-revolution and the imperialist interventionists, as well as in the peaceful, socialist transformation of the country. The Government of the RSFSR enjoyed the utmost trust and authority in all the independent Soviet republics. At the request of these republics, their representatives were allowed to sit on the ARCEC and to participate in the AllRussia Congresses of Soviets and the work of the Government of the RSFSR.
Thus, the urge of the independent Soviet republics to unite with the RSFSR as the generally recognised leading centre gave it in fact several of the functions of federal bodies.
In 1920 Lenin thoroughly substantiated the case for the Soviet republics' unification. He pointed out the need for them to strive for ever closer federal unity, "bearing in mind, 173 first, that the Soviet republics, surrounded as they are by the imperialist powers of the whole world—which from the military standpoint are immeasurably stronger—cannot possibly continue to exist without the closest alliance; second, that a close economic alliance between the Soviet republics is necessary, otherwise the productive forces which have been ruined by imperialism cannot be restored and the well-being of the working people cannot be ensured; third, that there is a tendency towards the creation of a single world economy, regulated by the proletariat of all nations as an integral whole and according to a common plan. This tendency has already revealed itself quite clearly under capitalism and is bound to be further developed and consummated under so- cialism."^^1^^
The drive towards unification that developed in 1922 was a natural expression of the objective tendencies of development for the independent Soviet republics and of the desire of their peoples for state union—a desire arising from the very nature of the Soviet system and from the community of their interests and aims in the revolutionary transformation of society.
It is Lenin who must be given the credit for suggesting and designing a single socialist federal state in the form of a voluntary alliance of equal Soviet republics. This union state rested on the power of the Soviets, which had been born of the revolution and had already proved its viability in practice. Lenin's idea and practical plan were supported and approved by the CC RCP(B), which recognised the need to conclude a treaty between the Ukraine, Byelorussia, the Federation of the Transcaucasian Republics and the RSFSR, amalgamating them into a Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
The 1st Congress of Soviets of the USSR began on December 30, 1922. It was attended by representatives from the Russian Federation, the Ukraine, the Transcaucasian Federation and Byelorussia. Lenin was elected honorary chairman of the Congress. The Congress adopted the Declaration on the Formation of the USSR and the Treaty of Union. The Declaration stated that the USSR was a voluntary Union of equal peoples and that each republic was guaranteed the right of free secession from the Union, while membership of it was _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 147.
174 open to all Soviet socialist republics—both those already in existence and those that might appear subsequently. The treaty differentiated the responsibilities of the Union republics and the USSR as embodied in their supreme organs of power. The Congress elected a Central Executive Committee of the USSR.In his closing speech Mikhail Kalinin, who acted as chairman of the Congress, said: "Whole millennia have passed since the time when the best human minds began their theoretical strivings in search of forms that would enable the peoples to live in friendship and brotherhood, free of agony and internecine strife. Only now, today, is the first stone in this edifice actually being = laid."^^1^^
The founding of the USSR was a major victory for the Leninist national policy of the Communist Party. The formation of a single Soviet multinational state, organised and guided by the Communist Party led by Lenin, showed that the internationalist ideas and aspirations of the working class had gripped the minds of the working masses of all the peoples.
"The formation of the USSR was a triumph of internationalism, a manifestation of the political wisdom of the Communist Party, the working class and all working people of the Union republics, who regarded the pooling of their energies as the decisive condition for attaining the objectives of the Revolution and defending its = gains."^^2^^
For the first time in history a new type of union multinational state, built in accordance with the principles of proletarian internationalism, made its appearance and held firm. Embodied in the Soviet multinational state, these principles were given a more tangible form and underwent further development.
In the first place, there is the principle of the voluntary and free state amalgamation of the peoples into a single multinational state. Unlike bourgeois multinational states, which have generally arisen through violent subjugation, military seizure and the annexation of various territories with their native population by the state of the dominant bourgeois nation, _-_-_
~^^1^^ M. I. Kalinin, = Questions of Soviet Construction. Articles and Speeches (1919--1946), Moscow, 1958, p. 145 (in Russian).
~^^2^^ L. I. Brezhnev, Following Lenin's Course, p. 21.
175 the USSR was created on the basis of the voluntary and free union of the peoples and their republics. When forming the USSR, the Communist Party adhered rigorously and unswervingly to this principle. In December 1919 Lenin wrote:"We want a voluntary union of nations—a union which precludes any coercion of one nation by another—a union founded on complete confidence, on a clear recognition of brotherly unity, on absolutely voluntary = consent."^^1^^
The voluntary amalgamation of peoples and republics to form a single multinational state was ensured by the consistent implementation of Lenin's internationalist programme and national policy, and particularly of the right of nations and peoples to self-determination. Lenin explained the essence of this policy in 1915 as follows: "We demand freedom of self-determination, i.e., independence, i.e., freedom of secession for the oppressed nations, not because we have dreamt of splitting up the country economically, or of the ideal of small states, but on the contrary, because we want large states and the closer unity and even fusion of nations, only on a truly democratic, truly internationalist basis, which is inconceivable without the freedom to = secede."^^2^^
Consequently, the proposition of the right of nations ( peoples) to self-determination means that each people and nation has the right to determine its own destiny and its own state structure independently and without imposed solutions, interference or pressure from without. At its own wish and decision, it can secede and set up its own independent state, remain part of another state or enterinto a federation or other relations with it. The implementation of this fundamental requirement came to be one of the vital factors in surmounting the vestiges of the alienation, enmity and mistrust between the peoples that had been sown for centuries by the ruling exploiter classes and by the regime of national oppression.
The Communist Party declared in its Programme, adopted at the Sth Congress in 1919: "In order to overcome the mistrust on the part of the working masses of the oppressed countries towards the proletariat of states which previously _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 30, p. 293.
~^^2^^ Ibid., Vol. 21, pp. 413--14.
176 oppressed these countries, it is necessary to eliminate every single privilege of any national group, to establish the equal rights of nations and to recognise that colonies and underprivileged nations have the right to = secede."^^1^^The Soviet peoples' creation of their own national Soviet statehood was an important factor in the strengthening of mutual trust between them, which was a necessary condition for their subsequent voluntary union. After all, the peoples' desire to draw together and unite, which arose from the internationalist nature of Soviet power would not have been realised if there had been any vestiges of enmity and mistrust between them. The Leninist party and the working class decisively and consistently defended the equality of all nations and nationalities and the nations' right to self-- determination, including the formation of independent states, in order to establish the close voluntary alliance of equal peoples.
Thus, Soviet experience enriched the internationalist principle of the voluntary unification of the peoples by showing the practical ways in which it could be attained.
In the second place, there is the principle of complete equality and equal rights for all the united Soviet republics. The importance that Lenin attached to the consistent implementation of the principle of equality and equal rights in the relations between the independent Soviet republics which had united to form a single state is evidenced by the sharp criticism to which he subjected the plan for ``autonomisation'' that was contained in a letter to the members of the Political Bureau dated September 26, 1922.
In the third place, there is the principle of the sovereignty of all the nations and nationalities and the state sovereignty, of all the republics that united to form a single state. For the first time in history the sovereign rights of the peoples (nations and nationalities) were realised in practice and guaranteed as a result of the victory of the socialist revolution and the establishment of the Soviet system. The sovereignty of each Soviet nation and nationality is indissolubly linked with their genuine equality of rights and real equality in all spheres of social life. All the Union republics have state sovereignty in accordance with the Union Constitution that was drawn up _-_-_
~^^1^^ CPSU in the Resolutions. . . , Vol. 2, p. 45.
177 and accepted by their own representatives. Moreover, after their unification, the Soviet republics did not lose their sovereignty, as is claimed by various bourgeois nationalists and anti-communist ideologists, but, on the contrary, they strengthened it still further. When proceeding towards state unification, the peoples of the Soviet republics realised that this was a guarantee of their freedom and independence against infringement by imperialist predators. Each Soviet republic individually would have been unlikely to withstand the attack of any invader.The internationalist unity of the peoples of the USSR, their fraternal alliance, friendship and mutual assistance in a single multinational state are the real basis of their sovereignty.
The sovereignty of the Soviet republics should not be viewed in an abstract, formal way, separated from the assertion in socialist society of a new type of relations between peoples.
The criterion of the sovereignty of these Union republics is the real guarantee of their independence and freedom that is given by their voluntary and equal union in a single multinational state. Naturally, one cannot apply the same yardstick to the practical realisation of state sovereignty under capitalism as under socialism. The experience of Soviet federation and the Soviet multinational state has enriched the principle of state sovereignty with a new content, which applies only to socialist statehood.
In the fourth place, there is the principle of democratic centralism in the construction of the multinational Soviet state, which expressed the internationalist principle of harmonising internationalist tasks and interests with national ones. The experience of Soviet federation showed that the implementation of the principle of harmonising internationalist and national interests, with priority being given to the former, as applied to the structure and activities of a socialist multinational state, is best ensured by the consistent implementation of the principle of democratic centralism. The principle of the harmonisation of internationalist and national interests was thereby given a specific and enriched form through the experience of Soviet state construction. Democratic centralism best ensures the combination of the general interests of all the peoples and republics which have united in a __PRINTERS_P_177_COMMENT__ 12—0798 178 single federal state with the particular, specific interests of each of them. As the historical experience of the USSR has shown, the democratic centralism of the Soviet state system is in full accord with the economic system of socialism. The consistent implementation of this principle has always been the necessary condition for the successful building of socialism and communism.
The first Constitution of the USSR (adopted by the 2nd Congress of Soviets in 1924) gave legislative expression to these principles. These principles, which are fundamental to the building of the Soviet multinational state, are also reaffirmed in the Constitution of the USSR, adopted in = 1936.^^1^^
The formation of the USSR played an inestimable role in the organisation of fraternal co-operation and mutual assistance between the peoples, the elimination of inequality between them and the all-round economic, political and cultural development of all the country's nationalities. The implementation of the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism in state construction was one of the main conditions for the successful building of socialism and communism in the USSR.
As a result of the victory of socialism and the formation and development of socialist nations, the internationalist basis of the Soviet multinational state has strengthened still further. Socialist statehood—both the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the socialist state of the whole people—is internationalist in its internal, class nature.
Socialist statehood is political power which embodies and defends the unity and indivisibility of the fundamental interests and aims of the working class and the working people of all nationalities and which is fighting for the accomplishment of internationalist tasks, the social emancipation of all peoples, their friendship and brotherhood, and their increasing drawing together and unity.
The main socio-political basis of Soviet socialist statehood is formed by the internationalist alliance of the working class with the peasantry and the other non-proletarian working masses, with the leading role belonging to the working class _-_-_
~^^1^^ = See, for example, Articles 13, 15 and 17 and others in the Constitution of the USSR.
179 and its Party. The Soviets—the most important and massive political organisations in Soviet society—unite the working people of all nationalities on an internationalist, class basis.The great significance of the Soviets for welding the peoples together was fully revealed through the revolutionary creative activities of the working people. Thanks to their closeness and accessibility to all strata of the working population, the Soviets have enabled the many millions of peasants and all the working people of the various nationalities to unite around the working class. The internationalist nature of the Soviets prompted the working masses of the republics to create a single state.
A vital political guarantee of the consistent implementation of internationalism in socialist national-state construction is provided by the guidance of all state bodies and mass organisations by a single internationalist Communist Party.
The principles of proletarian internationalism are fundamental to the whole process of Soviet national-state construction. They give the deepest and most direct expression to the internationalist essence of socialist statehood.
The internationalist nature of the dictatorship of the proletariat is expressed in harmonising the two historical tendencies in the development of socialist nations—their all-round flourishing and gradual drawing together.
Lenin said that ''socialism, by organising production without class oppression, by ensuring the well-being of all members of the state, gives full play to the sympathies of the population, thereby promoting and greatly accelerating the drawing together and fusion of the = nations."^^1^^
The fact that the principles of socialist internationalism in Soviet national-state construction are objectively conditioned does not mean that they are given effect automatically. By restructuring the foundations of society along socialist lines the working class creates only the real possibility of resolving the national question, and it can only be . implemented where a multinational socialist state is so structured and a national policy is so enforced that they are in complete conformity with the internationalist nature of the dictatorship of the proletariat. This was made perfectly clear by Lenin in _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 22, p. 324.
__PRINTERS_P_179_COMMENT__ 12* 180 his work "The Discussion on Self-Determlnation Summed Up".^^1^^ National-state construction in the USSR has fully confirmed Lenin's prediction.Through the experience of socialist construction Lenin showed the deep dialectical interconnection between the national and the internationalist in national-state construction. He also showed the flimsiness of the attempts to set up an opposition between the internationalist nature of Soviet power, economic interests, etc., on the one hand, and the creation by the Soviet peoples of their own national republics, on the other.
Soviet national statehood is the form of power by the working people living in compact groups in a definite area that is peopled by the nations and nationalities of the USSR; it is socialist, internationalist in content and nature, and rests on a single political basis. It represents the organic unity of the national and the internationalist.
The national element in the statehood of the Soviet peoples is expressed in the construction of this statehood in accordance with the national-territorial principle, in the formation of state bodies on the basis of the broad representation of the indigenous nationalities, in the functioning of state bodies and the performance of clerical work in the national languages, in the specific nature of the structure and activities of government and administrative bodies, in the special representation of national-state formations in the administrative bodies of the whole multinational state, and so on.
The national Soviet socialist statehood was instrumental in overcoming the mistrust and alienation, national friction and conflict inherited from the past. It proved to be an influential factor in the elimination of the inequality of peoples, in the sharp upsurge in their economies and cultures, in the development of their creative initiative and the activity of the working people in the national areas, and in the consolidation and development of socialist democracy.
The principles of socialist internationalism are also given effect by the different forms of Soviet national-state construction: there is the Union republic, the autonomous republic, the autonomous region and the national area.
_-_-_~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 22, p. 325.
181The variety of forms of Soviet national statehood arises from many historically specific factors connected with differences in the size of population, the extent of the territory of national districts, the level of the socio-political, economic and cultural development of the peoples, and the national and other peculiarities of their development. The variety and flexibility of the forms of Soviet national-state construction have permitted of the best possible combination of national and internationalist interests at all stages in the building of the Soviet multinational state.
In the context of communist construction Soviet federation and the different forms of Soviet national statehood are also playing, and will continue to do so for a long time to come, an important part in further consolidating the friendship of the peoples, and in the socio-political, economic and cultural development of the Soviet nations and nationalities, and in their all-round drawing together. The CPSU Programme points to the need ".. .to make full use of, and advance the forms of, national statehood of the peoples of the USSR".^^1^^
Soviet federation and the forms of Soviet national statehood have always been important political forms of consolidating socio-political and ideological unity of Soviet society, the alliance of the working class and the peasantry, the friendship of the peoples, their all-round and increasing drawing together, and the combination of national and internationalist interests in the multinational Soviet society. This follows from the dialectics of the Marxist-Leninist view of the national question: proceeding towards the cohesion, unity and all-round drawing together of the nations through their total emancipation from social and national oppression and through the creation of maximally favourable conditions of development for each of them.
The thorough development and improvement of the forms of Soviet national statehood in combination with the strengthening of their internationalist unity comprise the objective law of the current stage in the development of the Soviet multinational state, which is in accord with the interests and tasks of communist construction. Consequently, premature rejection of the forms of Soviet national statehood, and the _-_-_
~^^1^^ The Road to Communism, p. 560.
182 abandonment of their further improvement and development can only injure the building of communism. The prospects and destiny of national statehood are inseparable from the development prospects of both the nations themselves and multinational Soviet society as a whole and Soviet statehood.From the very outset Lenin viewed Soviet federation as one of the transitional forms on the road to the complete unity of the working people of the various nations. By couching the task of attaining complete internationalist unity of the working people during socialist construction through federal forms in this general way, Lenin did not lay down any precise historical framework for the existence of a Soviet federation. He proceeded from the prolonged need for both federal and autonomous forms in the development of the Soviet multinational state.
Historical experience has shown that Soviet federation and Soviet autonomy were, in the context of the USSR, the best state forms for unifying the nations and nationalities, resolving the national question, organising fraternal co-operation and mutual assistance between the socialist nations and nationalities, as well as their all-round drawing together, and for paving the way for the ultimate fusion of the nations under communism. This leads to the conclusion that Soviet federation and autonomy are the principal political forms of the development of a multinational socialist society throughout the socialist period and the transition to communism, and not just during the transitional period from capitalism to socialism. In the course of communist construction the significance of the USSR as a state form of the joint struggle of tree peoples to achieve the programme aims of the Party and communist ideals that has fully justified itself historically continues to grow.
Lenin's principles for the building of Soviet federation and autonomy are of enormous international importance. Today they are being implemented in the national-state construction of a number of socialist countries. The General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Gustav Husak, once said: "In our country too the Leninist idea of the federal union of several .peoples in a single state created new conditions for fraternal relations and the closest co-operation 183 between Czechs and Slovaks within the united Czechoslovak Socialist Republic."
Historical experience also testifies convincingly that any deviation from the Leninist principles of socialist nationalstate construction leads inevitably to national friction, conflict and, ultimately, to a betrayal of the cause of proletarian internationalism. The experience of modern China provides eloquent confirmation of this. Beginning with the denial of nations' right to self-determination as one of the fundamental tenets of Marxist-Leninist theory that have universal application, Mao Tse-tung and his group have essentially discarded all Marxist-Leninist theory and practice in resolving the national question and have embarked on suppression and the forced assimilation of national minorities, the virtual abolition of national statehood, and Great Han chauvinism and nationalism.
Correct assessment of the immediate and more long-term outlook for the development of Soviet federation and Soviet national statehood exerts a direct influence on the evaluation and solution of many current problems in Soviet national-state construction, and so a strictly scientific approach to these questions is called for.
The internationalisation of the whole way of life of the peoples of the USSR, the intensification of which is a characteristic feature of a multinational developed socialist society, cannot fail to affect the development of the national statehood of the Soviet peoples.
The process of development of national statehood is primarily determined by the interaction of two general laws: firstly, by the further flourishing and gradual drawing together of the Soviet nations, and secondly, by the all-round development and improvement of socialist democracy during the construction of communism. The continued, increasingly complete and profound internationalisation of Soviet national statehood is the outcome of these laws. The concept of "the internationalisation of Soviet national statehood" must be distinguished from the concept of "the internationalism of Soviet national statehood''. Internationalism is an inalienable property of Soviet socialist national statehood, determined by its class nature and inherent in it at all stages of development. The internationalisation of Soviet national statehood, on the 184 other hand, is the objective historical process of the increasing accumulation of common features in the forms and methods of the operation of the national statehood of the Soviet nations and nationalities.
This process is closely linked with the expansion of the socialist base of Soviet national statehood and of the whole multinational Soviet state, and this base is already formed at the present time by the united, multinational Soviet people. The Soviet people is a fundamentally new, internationalist community of people, the fraternal socialist union of all the working people of the USSR—the workers in industry, agriculture and culture, performing both physical and mental labour; this union comprises the socialist base for the multinational state of the whole people. The consolidation of the social and internationalist unity of Soviet society is a vital social factor in the internationalisation of Soviet national statehood.
The continued deepening and development of the internationalisation of Soviet national statehood also underlie such processes as intensifying the social homogeneity of the Soviet nations, levelling up the socio-economic and cultural development of nations and republics, the growth of interrepublican and internation mobility of the population and of the multinational population of the national republics and districts, and the extension of economic, political and cultural relations between the nations. All this determines the tendency towards diminishing the importance and narrowing the spheres of manifestation of specific national features in the process of communist construction, while at the same time broadening the internationalist common features in all spheres of social life, including the national-state sphere. Thus, for example, after the resolution of the national question in the USSR and as a result of the all-round drawing together of the Soviet nations and nationalities, the specific national traits in the activities of the supreme representative bodies of the state power of the USSR began to appear to a markedly lesser degree than hitherto. This also applies, to one extent or another, to other spheres of national-state construction.
All this is also of fundamental methodological importance to the correct understanding of the general trends in the development of the Soviet multinational state and Soviet national statehood. The history of the development of socialist 185 statehood, including Soviet federalism, during the period of the transition from capitalism to socialism and during the socialist period shows that this development is the natural process of the florescence of the national statehood, economy and culture of every people in the Soviet Union, and is, at the same time, the process of the consolidation of the unity of the multinational state as a = whole.^^1^^ This is an important manifestation of the internationalism of socialist democracy.
The genuine internationalism of Soviet socialist democracy is expressed in the fact that it creates optimal political conditions for harmonising general and specific interests in the multinational Soviet society and for strengthening the unity of the Soviet multinational state on the basis of the complete and all-round development and flourishing of the statehood of all the Soviet nations and nationalities. Alohgside the improvements being made in the centralisation of state administration, the rights and jurisdiction of the Union and autonomous republics have also been extended, particularly during the last 15 years. It would be wrong to reduce this process only to the development of the particularly national and the specifically national in Soviet national statehood. If this were the case, the process would be wholly incompatible with the tasks of the utmost use and improvement of Soviet national statehood and with the strengthening of the internationalist unity of the whole multinational Soviet state.
Two interrelated processes are involved in the development of the Soviet multinational state: firstly, there is the extension of the rights and jurisdiction of the national republics, and the consolidation of their sovereignty, and, secondly, there is the strengthening of the internationalist unity of the Soviet multinational state, the Soviet federation. Both these processes are progressive, accord fully with the principles of socialist internationalism, meet the tasks of communist construction and promote the development of socialist democratism and the ever closer interaction and mutual assistance between the Soviet republics. The unity and interaction of these processes constitute a regular feature in the development of the Soviet multinational state and its forms today.
_-_-_~^^1^^ See = The Political Organisation of Soviet Society, Moscow, 1967, p. 73 (in Russian).
186This gives rise to a general approach to estimating the role and significance of the process of extending the rights and jurisdiction of the national republics. On the one hand, it would be wrong to absolutise this process and interpret it mechanically by claiming that the extension of the rights of the Soviet republics is a continued tendency in the development of a multinational state.
On the other hand, it is impossible to deny the interconnection of this process with the general law of the development of the Soviet multinational state referred to above, and to deny the need to extend the rights of national republics in certain cases during the construction of socialism and communism only on the ground that the intensity of the concrete manifestation of the process varies at different stages, and that the opportunities for extending the rights of republics are not limitless.
Inside a union socialist state the intensification of centralised government can, and does in fact, proceed at the same time as the extension of the rights and jurisdiction of the Union republics.
The 24th CPSU Congress stressed that the main point in the development of the Soviet multinational state was the correct consideration and harmonising of the national and the internationalist and of the interests of the entire Union and each national republic. In the CC CPSU Report to the 24th Party Congress Leonid Brezhnev said in this connection: "Further progress along the road of the all-round development of each of the fraternal Soviet republics, along the road of the further gradual drawing together of the nations and nationalities of our country, has been made during the past few years under the Party's leadership. This drawing together is taking place under conditions in which the closest attention is given to national features and the development of socialist national cultures. Constant consideration for the general interests of our entire Union and for the interests of each of its constituent republics forms the substance of the Party's policy in this = question."^^1^^
Thus, the internationalisation of Soviet national statehood and the consolidation of the internationalist unity of the _-_-_
~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 92.
187 Soviet multinational state are in no way contradicted by the extension of the rights and jurisdiction of the national republics. The growth in the role of the Union republics is occurring, as it should, not through any diminution in the role of the USSR. The Union republics' successful fulfilment of their expanded tasks and functions strengthens the unity and power of the USSR. Moreover, the expansion of the rights of national republics requires the enhancement of the role of the Union, and furthers this tendency in every way. By relieving the Union bodies of petty guardianship over the republican organs, it enables them to concentrate on basic affairs. The extension of the rights, the growth in the role and responsibility of the Union republics and the further strengthening of the leading role of the Union are interrelated and harmonious phenomena.As they develop, the national forms of statehood assume more and more features common to them all. This means that in the organisation, functioning and activities of the organs of the statehood of the Soviet peoples increasing importance attaches to the forms, features and methods that are common to all Soviet nations and republics.
One of the important manifestations of the national form of Soviet statehood is the fact that it is based on regions that are distinguished by their national composition ethnically. However, in the course of socialist and, particularly, communist construction the mobility of the population inevitably increases and the population of the national republics and regions becomes far more varied. All, or nearly all, of the Soviet national republics are multinational.
Leonid Brezhnev once said: "In each of the Soviet republics, in each region and in each major city you will find men and women of many nationalities living as neighbours and working together. Throughout the country there is a growing number of mixed marriages, which now run to millions.
"The more intensive the economic and social development of each national republic, the more pronounced the internationalisation of every aspect of our life in these republics. Take Soviet Kazakhstan, which has been growing so rapidly. Living there with the Kazakhs are now millions of Russians, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, Uzbeks, Byelorussians and people of other nationalities. Kazakh culture is 188 developing and becoming richer as it absorbs the best elements of Russian, Ukrainian, and other national cultures. Is this good or bad? We Communists confidently say: it is good, it is very good = indeed."^^1^^
This gives rise to a number of important consequences for the development of Soviet national statehood. Thus, the role of production and economic factors is enhanced when it is a question of defining national state borders, which have, in fact, lost their former significance within the USSR. The organs of national statehood are making increasingly wide use not only of the native language of the indigenous nationality, but also of Russian as a means of communication. This bilingual functioning of the organs of national statehood is an important trend in the further internationalisation of the national form of statehood of the peoples of the USSR, and is directly linked with such natural processes in the linguistic development of the Soviet peoples as the conversion of the Russian language into a lingua franca and the development of bilingualism among the non-Russian nationalities.
The growth in the multinational character of the population in the Soviet republics is also responsible for such trends in the internationalisation of Soviet national statehood as the broader representation of other nationalities within the higher and local organs of power and administration in the national republics.
In the conditions of Soviet socialist democracy the broad masses of all Soviet nationalities are involved in state administration. Soviet national statehood is highly important here. In fact, the percentage membership of the non-Russian nationalities among the deputies to the local Soviets is generally somewhat higher than their proportion in the population. This is particularly noticeable in the case of comparatively small nationalities which possess their own national autonomy.
Deputies from the indigenous nationalities also predominate numerically in the Supreme Soviets of most Union and autonomous republics and in many local Soviets of Working People's Deputies in the national republics, regions and areas. This is sometimes the case even when the indigenous _-_-_
~^^1^^ L. I. Brezhnev, = The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Moscow, 1972, p. 30.
189 nationality does not form the majority of the population. Thus, according to the 1970 census returns, Kirghiz accounted for 43.8 per cent of the total population of the Kirghiz SSR, but constituted nearly 60 per cent of all the deputies to the republic's Supreme Soviet.When discussing the internationalisation of Soviet national statehood, one must also deal with the question of the national-territorial principle in the construction of the Soviet multinational state and its application today. Lenin's view that Marxists cannot and should not completely adhere to the ``national-territorial'' principle is well known. The national composition of the population is one of the most important economic factors, but is not the only one, and the national factor should not be absolutised in this question, but should be subordinated to the common interests of strengthening the socialist system and the political, economic and cultural development of the whole multinational state.
In Soviet national-state construction the national-territorial principle does not mean that national-state formations can only arise and exist on the condition that the nationality in question constitutes an absolute majority of the population of such formations. It necessarily presupposes only that the particular, integral territory should be peopled in a compact way by the members of a particular nationality (sometimes two or three) who may form either an absolute or relative majority, or a more or lless considerable section of the population. Nor can one ignore the historically specific nature of the principle's application. It is perfectly obvious that the application of this principle cannot be uniform in both the conditions of the building of socialism in the USSR and in the modern conditions of the building of communism, where for many years now the natural and progressive process of reinforcing the mobility of the population has been taking place, together with that of the growth of the multinational nature of the population in the national republics and districts, and the increasingly complete and all-round drawing together of the Soviet nations and nationalities.
One must not absolutise the national factor and view the national-territorial principle in isolation from other principles and the very essence of Soviet national statehood. Marxism-Leninism teaches that the national should be 190 subordinated to the general social and to the common, internationalist aims and tasks of all the Soviet peoples. It is particularly important to stress this in the modern conditions of building communism in the USSR, where the general Soviet and internationalist element is coming to predominate in the life of all the peoples and where an intensive process is under way of internationalising all aspects of social life, including Soviet national statehood. "Communist construction in our multinational country implies the consistent pursuit of the line of bringing the nations together in every way, and strengthening their co-operation and mutual assistance. The way to this is by the further development of the economy and culture in all our republics, an improvement of mutual exchanges of achievements in material and spiritual culture and, of course, persistent effort to overcome the survivals of nationalism and = chauvinism."^^1^^
Soviet national statehood provides an increasingly broad and complete reflection of the unity of the interests of the working people of all the nationalities. Consequently, in modern conditions it would be unjustified to give one-sided emphasis to ethnic factors and make any change in the forms of Soviet national statehood, the formation of new autonomies or any changes in republican boundaries directly dependent on these factors. The feeling of the community of the whole Soviet people is now mature and strong, as is the understanding that the territory of any national republic is primarily a component part of the territory of the whole Soviet Union and is being used in the common internationalist interests of all the Soviet nations and nationalities.
Historical experience shows that Soviet socialist national statehood, which is internationalist in nature, provides broad and equal opportunities for the development of all the nationalities living in a particular republic.
An analysis of the embodiment and development of the principles of proletarian internationalism in Soviet nationalstate construction permits of the following main conclusions:
(1) the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a new historical type of multinational state, embodying the internationalist nature of the working class and socialism;
_-_-_~^^1^^ L. I. Brezhnev, = Lenin's Course Lives On and Triumphs, Moscow, 1970, p. 42.
191(2) all the basic principles and forms of constructing the Soviet multinational state constitute a direct and practical realisation, concretisation and development of the principles of proletarian internationalism;
(3) the development of the Soviet multinational state provides a particularly graphic illustration of the dialectical correlation of the national and the internationalist: a statehood that is socialist and internationalist in essence is not simply non-national, but arises naturally and develops in national forms; in turn, genuinely national statehood is only created on an internationalist, socialist base;
(4) the principle of the free and sovereign self-- determination of nations has been enriched by such concrete forms as the creation by all the peoples living in compact groups in a definite area of their own statehood, up to and including the sovereign statehood of the constituent Soviet socialist republics;
(5) the experience of the USSR has fully confirmed the conclusion that unlike formal bourgeois democracy, which is usually just proclaimed but never gives practical effect to national equality, socialist democracy guarantees equal rights and opportunities for the peoples and paves the way for the solution of national problems, taking account of the fundamental interests of the working people of different nationalities.
__NUMERIC_LVL2__The principles of proletarian internationalism—the fraternal co-operation of peoples based on help and mutual assistance, the equality of nations and nationalities, the selfdetermination of peoples and their voluntary union, the unity of the common internationalist and national interests of the working people, the struggle against bourgeois nationalism and chauvinism, and so on—have also been implemented in 192 the course of the non-capitalist development of the peoples of the eastern parts of the Soviet Union.
It will be recalled that one of the necessary conditions for a non-capitalist path of development is the help given by the victorious proletariat of the advanced countries. Without the assistance from the state of a victorious proletariat, peoples that have gained freedom but are still backward and poorly developed are unable to found a highly developed socialist industry and agriculture or a progressive culture that is national in form and sociialist in content. The conditions for the elimination of the backwardness of these peoples in the multinational Soviet Union were favourable, since the Union contained a number of developed peoples, and primarily the Russian people. In Soviet conditions it was the Russian revolutionary working class, which possessed extensive internationalist traditions, that was the most prepared to fulfil its internationalist mission—to render assistance to the backward peoples. This help and the readiness to make enormous efforts and sacrifice a great deal in order to overcome the backwardness of the outlying national areas and to accelerate their development were declared by Lenin to be the Russian proletariat's lofty internationalist duty. The Russian working class and the Russian people honourably discharged this duty.
The specifics of socialist changes in the formerly backward national areas reflected the historical, economic and social conditions of their development. The Communist Party gave careful consideration to Lenin's instruction that in countries where the peasantry formed the bulk of the population the transition to socialism would have to be "slower, more cautious and more = systematic. . .".^^1^^ In the country's eastern national areas this process was even more difficult owing to the backwardness they had inherited from the past and to patriarchal and feudal vestiges. Nevertheless, here too it proceeded at a rapid pace in order to eliminate this backwardness. These historic transformations were achieved thanks to the guidance and comprehensive assistance of the Union Government and the Government of the RSFSR, in which the assistance of the economically and culturally advanced peoples of the USSR was embodied.
_-_-_~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 32, p. 317.
193In organising economic assistance to the liberated but still backward national outskirts, the Communist Party and the Soviet Government not only established the higher development rates envisaged in the state economic plans, but also employed various other means. There was, for example, the inclusion of these areas in large developed economic regions (in accordance with the will of their peoples), a system of subsidies from the ail-Union, republican and territory incomes to the budgets of the national republics and regions, the direct lederal financing of some of the cultural and educational establishments of the economically underdeveloped peoples, the preferential treatment of these peoples in taxation, credit and state purchasing, a proportional income deduction from the major sectors of nationwide importance that were situated in the territory of particular nationalities for their benefit, and many = others.^^1^^
The implementation of these and similar measures is a graphic example of the fulfilment by the countiy's developed peoples of their internationalist duty towards the formerly backward peoples.
Proletarian internationalism was also manifested in the accomplishment of a social task that was as important to these regions as the formation of a working class from the indigenous nationalities. The main basis for the training of a national working class was an industry that was developing rapidly in the eastern republics and regions of the USSR thanks to the assistance given by the fraternal peoples, and primarily the Russian people. At the same time, skilled workers from the national republics and regions received training through working for fixed periods at large enterprises in the developed industrial regions of the country, through the invitation to factories that were being built of skilled workers from similar enterprises, through the organisation of on-job study among the voung people of the area, and so on.
_-_-_~^^1^^ Many facts illustrating these measures are provided in the numerous monographs on the development of the economies and cultures it the eastern republics of the Soviet Union, in works on world history and on the history of the Communist Parties, state and law and the economies of these republics, as well as in works specially devoted to the question of mutual assistance between the Soviet peoples, including assistance to the formerly backward peoples.
__PRINTERS_P_193_COMMENT__ 13—0798 194The setting up of industrial centres in the former national periphery and the significant growth in the numbers ol skilled workers from among the indigenous nationalities strengthened the social base of the dictatorship of the proletariat in these regions. These industrial centres were also a basis for the unity of the peasants around the contingents of national workers that were then forming, and made a great contribution to the internationalist welding of the working people of the indigenous nationalities with the country's multinational working class.
The Russian working class's constant help in the industrial development of the less developed national areas was provided in a number of ways: the relocation of industrial enterprises to these regions, the creation of the material and technical basis for the socialist transformation of agriculture, the participation of engineering and technical personnel of the developed peoples in building new industrial installations in the backward national areas, the setting up there of a broad network of higher education centres and research institutions with the help of Russian scientists and scientists of the other developed peoples, and so on.
Through its national policy, which was permeated with profound and consistent proletarian internationalism, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union achieved the eradication from among the formerly backward peoples of their erstwhile mistrust of the measures issuing from the central authorities in Russia. At the same time, the Communist Party struggled indefatigably against any deviations from the general Party line those that favoured local nationalism and Great-Power chauvinism. Their defeat was of great importance to the success of the non-capitalist development of a number of peoples in the eastern areas of the country.
All this intricate work to implement the Communist Party's national policy was supervised by Lenin, who demanded that Communists should display particular caution and attentiveness towards the needs of the backward peoples.
Thus, the assistance given to the peoples that were moving on towards socialism bypassing the capitalist stage of development was marked by a great variety of means used to achieve this end. This experience was not only an implementation of the principles of proletarian, socialist 195 internationalism, but also served to further develop and enrich these principles.
But what aspects, principles and ideas of socialist internationalism have been developed and enriched by the experience of providing assistance to the underdeveloped peoples of the Soviet Union in their practical non-capitalist development? Close examination of this question is justified since, as Lenin taught, the assistance of a victorious proletariat in the advanced countries that is given to backward countries that have embarked on a non-capitalist path of development is absolutely essential if these countries are to develop in this way and build socialism. The following points appear to be the most important:
1. The assistance to the formerly backward peoples by a victorious proletariat is an objective law of the development of a socialist revolution, originating from its internationalist nature and the profound interest of the proletariat in the socialist development of these peoples. Thus, there is every reason to talk of the objective historical necessity of such help, which is a sine qua non of non-capitalist development. Lenin's classic formulation of the issue is that: "With the aid of the proletariat of the advanced countries, backward countries can go over to the Soviet system and, through certain stages of development, to communism, without having to pass through the capitalist stage."^^1^^
Proceeding from Lenin's outlines, the Communist Party determined the practical ways of achieving non-capitalist development and the assistance that the underdeveloped peoples of Russia would need. A fully evolved programme for this assistance was formulated in the decisions on the national question produced by the 10th and 12th congresses of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and the 4th Conference of the CC RCP(B) with executives from the national republics and regions in = 1923.^^2^^
The results of this scientifically substantiated policy of the Communist Party are now clear for all to see. The peoples of the formerly backward areas of Russia are now deeply _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin. Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 244.
~^^2^^ See = CPSU in the Resolutions. . . , Vol. 2, pp. 246--56, 433--43 and 488--94.
__PRINTERS_P_195_COMMENT__ 13* 196 grateful to the fraternal peoples, and primarily to the Russian people, for this selfless assistance. Speaking at the 24th CPSU Congress M. Gapurov, the First Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Turkmenia, said: "During the years of Soviet power, as a result of the implementation of Lenin's national policy and the fraternal assistance of all the peoples in our country, and primarily the great Russian people, Turkmenistan—once the most backward fringe of tsarist Russia—has become an industrially and agriculturally developed Soviet socialist republic. Modern industry and a largescale mechanised agriculture have been established there, and a genuine cultural revolution has taken = place."^^1^^Today Lenin's conclusions are being confirmed once again by the experience of many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, which, as was pointed out at the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties in 1969 by Leonid Brezhnev, are "providing fresh practical confirmation of the Leninist conclusion that in our epoch the peoples who win liberation from colonial oppression can advance along the path of social progress bypassing capitalism. One of the most important conditions which make such development possible is co-operation between the progressive young states and the socialist = countries."^^2^^
Lenin fully substantiated the reasons prompting a victorious proletariat in an advanced country to provide this assistance to the backward peoples. On the one hand, there is the feeling that comes naturally to the proletariat owing to its socialist nature—the feeling of proletarian internationalism and solidarity with the working people of all countries and peoples which are struggling for their social and national emancipation. On the other hand, the proletariat has a deep class interest in seeing that as many countries and peoples as possible, including the backward peoples, embark on the road of socialist construction, since this strengthens the position of socialism in the world, weakens imperialism and thereby gives the proletariat substantial assistance in ensuring its own victory. "We shall exert every effort,'' Lenin wrote, "to foster association and merger with the Mongolians, _-_-_
~^^1^^ = 24th Congress of the CPSU, Verbatim Report, Vol. 1, pp. 469--70 (in Russian).
~^^2^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 152.
197 Persians, Indians, Egyptians. We believe it is our duty and in our interest to do this, for otherwise socialism in Europe will not be secure. We shall endeavour to ... help them pass to the use of machinery, to the lightening of labour, to democracy, to = socialism."^^1^^ History has fully confirmed this.The mutual benefits arising from the provision of such assistance for both the countries which have thrown off colonial oppression and for the advanced socialist countries themselves were stressed at the 24th Party Congress. The CC CPSU Report to the Congress pointed out: "The USSR's political and economic co-operation with the liberated countries has been further developed in the last few years. Our trade with them is growing. Dozens of industrial and agricultural enterprises have been built in many countries of Asia and Africa with our participation. We have also been making a contribution to the training of personnel for these countries. All this is being done in the mutual = interest."^^2^^ In another speech Leonid Brezhnev made the point that "the states which have embarked on non-capitalist development are making a tangible contribution to the anti-imperialist struggle".^^3^^ The assistance of the victorious proletariat in the advanced countries to the working people of the developing countries in order to help them along the path of non-- capitalist development is a vital feature of social development today.
An equally objective feature is the cohesion of the peoples that have thrown off the capitalist yoke under the leadership of the working class which has won state power, in order to provide maximal all-round mutual assistance. All the peoples which are embarking on socialist development have an interest in this unity, and they all contribute to it. Referring to the monolithic unity of the Soviet peoples, Leonid Brezhnev pointed out in the CC CPSU Report to the 24th Party Congress: "All the nations and nationalities of our country, above all, the great Russian people, played their role in the formation, consolidation and development of this mighty union of equal nations that have taken the road to = socialism."^^4^^
_-_-_~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 23. p. 67.
~^^2^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 25.
~^^3^^ = International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 152.
~^^4^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 91.
198The policies of the CPSU and the Soviet socialist state for providing maximal all-round assistance to the backward peoples that have embarked on the non-capitalist path of development has always been scientifically based. Lenin brilliantly forecast the multifaceted nature of this assistance. He stressed the need for political, economic and cultural assistance to the backward peoples as early as 1916. But its all-embracing nature and scale could only be fully generalised theoretically on the basis of practical experience. This experience was provided by the construction of socialism in the eastern republics of the Soviet Union. Lenin's report at the 2nd Congress of the Communist International mentions, in concrete terms, assistance to the backward peoples with all the means at the disposal of the Soviet governments. The Programme of the Communist International, adopted in 1928, pointed out that non-capitalist development could only be achieved provided backward countries were rendered real powerful assistance by the countries in which the proletarian dictatorship was = established.^^1^^
2. The basic instructions given by Lenin and the rich Soviet experience of providing assistance to previously backward peoples in order to encourage their non-capitalist development have enabled the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to formulate the basic principles of this assistance, which is an important contribution to the theory and practice of proletarian internationalism. These principles include: (a) the assistance must be based on the dialectical combination of the general, internationalist tasks and interests of the victorious proletariat with the tasks and interests of the peoples that are embarking on non-capitalist development. Furthermore, the fundamental interests of all peoples and their union must be given priority over the particular, transient and temporary interests of individual peoples, since, without the accomplishment of the general, internationalist tasks of the peoples, the tasks confronting each one of them individually cannot be successfully fulfilled; (b) assistance to the backward peoples must be offered voluntarily and accepted voluntarily; (c) the assistance must be unselfish and not _-_-_
~^^1^^ See The Programme of the Communist International, London, 1929, pp. 40--41.
199 accompanied by any political, economic or military conditions (except, of course, the necessary condition of struggle against imperialism and for democracy, socialism and communism); (d) it must be based on the complete equality of the peoples participating and must totally exclude relations of subordination and domination; (e) it must be offered on a scale that sets up the necessary conditions for non-capitalist development, but in such a way that it will not weaken the economic and military potential of the countries providing the assistance, since their economic and military power is the essential condition and vital guarantee of building socialism—in the countries pursuing a non-capitalist path as well; (f) the assistance to the working people of the backward nations presupposes the enthusiastic and constructive efforts of the peoples to which it is given.Socialism is built, of course, through a people's constructive labour. Consequently, it is not a question of a people's accepting ``charity'', but of receiving help that will enable a backward people to stand on its own feet. At the same time, the peoples receiving this assistance should, in turn, help the peoples providing this assistance and contribute as best they can to the common cause of socialist construction and the international anti-imperialist and democratic movement. With the economic and cultural growth of the backward peoples, their contribution to the common cause of socialist construction and their ``repayments'' should naturally grow.
This has been fully confirmed by Soviet experience. In his speech at the 24th CPSU Congress M. Gapurov commented: "While having high regard for the enormous concern of the Communist Party and the Soviet Government, and the assistance of the fraternal peoples in developing the economy and culture of Turkmenistan, the working people of our republic, in their turn, are doing everything possible to increase their contribution to the common cause of creating the material and technical basis of = communism."^^1^^ All the speakers at the Congress from the eastern Soviet republics, as well as those from other Union republics, stressed that all the peoples of the USSR see it as their internationalist duty to _-_-_
~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, = Verbatim Report, Vol. I, p. 470.
200 Emacs-File-stamp: "/home/ysverdlov/leninist.biz/en/1976/TPPI307/20060308/299.tx" __EMAIL__ webmaster@leninist.biz __OCR__ ABBYY 6 Professional (2006.03.06) __WHERE_PAGE_NUMBERS__ top __FOOTNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [0-9]+ maximally increase their contribution to the common cause of communist construction in the country.3. The experience of non-capitalist development by the peoples of the eastern parts of the USSR has enriched the theory of proletarian, socialist internationalism through various concrete forms of assistance to the peoples following a non-capitalist course of development and through the theoretical interpretation of the inevitable influence of various objective factors on these forms.
When speaking at the 2nd Congress of the Communist International and presenting the report referred to above, Lenin submitted his proposition about assistance given by the proletariat of the advanced countries to the backward peoples in order to impel them towards socialism, bypassing the capitalist stage of development, and commented: "The necessary means for this cannot be indicated in advance. These will be prompted by practical = experience."^^1^^
Rich practical experience of non-capitalist development and of the ways and means that serve to attain that objective, including the forms of assistance to the backward peoples that are required in differing conditions, has been provided by the non-capitalist course of development of the peoples living in the eastern parts of the Soviet Union. It has revealed not only the wealth and variety of the forms of this assistance, but also the objective factors regulating the use of one form or another. These factors are the forms of state ties between the peoples (primarily, the question of whether they are united within the bounds of a single state or are in different states), the level of economic development attained by each of the peoples participating in these ties, the economic capacity of each of them, international factors and many other circumstances.
4. The experience of the non-capitalist development of the peoples of the eastern Soviet regions has enriched the theory of proletarian, socialist internationalism in that it has convincingly shown that assistance to the backward peoples as a necessary condition for their non-capitalist development must be effected primarily at state level. The chief role in this _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 244.
201 belongs to the socialist state, which acts as the organiser of assistance to the backward peoples in all its forms, including, whenever necessary, assistance granted at public level.Obviously, before a proletariat has won political power its assistance to other peoples will not be at state level. It takes the form of various kinds of moral and political support, material assistance from funds collected by workers or made available by workers' organisations, and voluntary participation in the armed struggle of other peoples for their national and social emancipation, and so on.
Once the proletariat has assumed political power, its possibilities in this field grow immeasurably. Having created its own socialist state, the victorious proletariat can render the peoples in the underdeveloped countries direct state assistance. Although the importance of public forms of assistance continues to grow even after the victory of a socialist revolution, state assistance nevertheless plays the leading and predominant role. Once it has won power, the proletariat concentrates in the hands of its socialist state vast economic resources, which expand with giant strides as socialism and communism are built up, as well as material and organisational means (economic, political, cultural and ideological). In addition, a socialist state possesses vast experience of victorious revolutionary struggle for the building of socialism, which can be imaginatively used by other peoples on a large scale. Military power is also concentrated in its hands, and so it is able to defend the revolutionary gains of the peoples, which are being assisted, from any encroachment by the imperialists. Thanks to all this, assistance may exert an enormous, and sometimes decisive, influence on the development of these peoples. Only on the basis of these resources can assistance be given on a scale that will allow the backward peoples to build socialism, bypassing the capitalist stage of development.
The leading role of state forms of assistance and mutual help between peoples does not just result from the fact that vast resources and other means are concentrated and placed at the disposal of the socialist state. It also follows from the enormous upsurge of organisational activity in this field and from its all-embracing character, which is within the capability only of an organisation of the working people that is as powerful as a socialist state led by the Communist Party.
202The decisive nature of state forms of assistance was stressed by Lenin: "If the victorious revolutionary proletariat conducts systematic propaganda among them [backward peoples—Auth.] and the Soviet governments come to their aid with all the means at their disposal—in that event it will be mistaken to assume that the backward peoples must inevitably go through the capitalist stage of = development."^^1^^ As this quotation shows, it was a matter of help being given to the backward peoples by the Soviet Government,"i.e., of state assistance.
After the formation of the USSR assistance to the backward peoples of the country took the form of a consistent and comprehensive range of nationwide economic policies. For instance, the budgets of a number of Union republics were underwritten for many years, primarily by subsidies from the ail-Union budget.
Naturally, the provision of assistance by a socialist state involves the wide use of means that are organically inherent in state activity—the standards of law and the state, financial and other legal relations based on them.
A socialist state also conducts organisational work that is not always given direct legal expression. But activity of this kind too is founded on the legal enactments of state bodies and the state administration. Where the state assistance of a socialist state to the peoples of other countries is involved, these relations assume the international-legal character.
However, all this is not to belittle the importance of publicforms of assistance. Soviet history knows of numerous forms of patronage and other public assistance provided by economically advanced peoples to the backward = peoples.^^2^^
The leading role of the Soviet state in providing assistance to formerly backward peoples follows from that state's very nature as the organiser of socialist and communist construction. The commanding position of the state in the effecting of state and public mutual assistance between peoples is also determined by the fact that economic and cultural construction in a socialist society develops in accordance with a single, _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 244.
~^^2^^ One of the many examples of assistance of this type is the patronage exercised by Russian textile workers from the central regions of (lie country over the cotton-growing regions of Central Asia.
203 scientifically formulated plan. Its implementation calls for the concentration of control over the development of society, including the provision of assistance to the peoples in need of it, within a single system of administration, such as the socialist state guided by the Communist Party.Lenin regarded the taking of measures to accelerate the development of the backward peoples as a manifestation of genuine proletarian internationalism. In his work "The Question of Nationalities or 'Autonomisation'" (December 1922) he wrote that "internationalism on the part of oppressors or 'great' nations, as they are called. .. must consist not only in the observance of the formal equality of nations but even in an inequality of the oppressor nation, the great nation, that must make up for the inequality which obtains in actual practice. Anybody who does not understand this has not grasped the real proletarian attitude to the national question, he is still essentially petty bourgeois in his point of view and is, therefore, sure to descend to the bourgeois point of = view."^^1^^
This was the way in which the Russian workers and the Russian people understood their task of providing intensive assistance to the fraternal peoples. For instance, in April 1933 a workers' delegation from Leningrad wrote in a message of greeting to the First Conference on Exploring the Productive Forces of Tajikistan: "The workers of Leningrad— the bulwark of the October Revolution—will continue to help the fraternal people of Tajikistan, which was enslaved by the tsarist government like a colonial country, in order to place it in the same political and economic conditions as are enjoyed by all the peoples of the = USSR."^^2^^
Moreover, the accelerated development of the once backward peoples was to take place, as Lenin and the Communist Party taught, in forms and through methods that took account of the whole totality of national and other local conditions and peculiarities at a particular period and seek the most correct ways, given the specific conditions, of unleashing the creative initiative of the masses, and involve them in" active work to build socialism. Lenin frequently stressed _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 36, p. 608.
~^^2^^ Quoted from A. Bogoutdinov and A. Vishnevsky, = The Role of the Russian Working Class in the Historical Destiny of the Tajik People, p. 10.) (in Russian).
204 that in work among the less developed peoples it was necessary to observe particular tact and to have full regard for the local national, historical and other conditions and features. He regarded it as obligatory "to regard with particular caution and attention the survivals of national sentiments in the countries and among nationalities which have been oppressed the = longest. . .".^^1^^The embodiment in the eastern parts of the Soviet Union of an important principle of proletarian internationalism, the principle of the self-determination and voluntary unification of peoples, fully upheld the enormous historic significance of the Communist Party's policy, substantiated by Lenin, of the right of nations to self-determination up to the point of seceding and forming their own independent state, as the genuinely democratic solution of the national question. It proved indispensable for surmounting the national mistrust engendered by the now defunct exploiter system and formed the basis for the voluntary state unification of the peoples.
Furthermore, experience showed that the form to be taken by this voluntary unification of the peoples of a multinational country was the setting up of national-territorial autonomy and socialist federation. All this made it possible to combine centralised government with maximal consideration of the different ways of life and the national, natural, economic and other local conditions and peculiarities, the conduct of clerical work in the local languages and the involvement of the indigenous working people in state administration, and, thanks to these measures, Soviet power was brought still closer to the working people of the formerly oppressed peoples.
National-territorial autonomy proceeds from the need to combine national and economic factors, with the importance of each of them depending on the specific conditions of each autonomous entity and on other factors.
State practice of building autonomous entities in the eastern parts of the Soviet Union has also shown the wealth of forms of autonomy as regards their legal status: for example, the Turkestan ASSR was endowed with wider powers than other autonomous republics and the Kazakh ASSR with the usual powers of autonomous republics. Autonomous regions _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 151.
205 have also been set up, as well as autonomous republics. Thus, in 1925--30 the Karakalpak Autonomous Region formed part of the Kazakh Autonomous = Republic,^^1^^ and the Gorny-- Badakhshan Autonomous Region is part of the Tajik SSR. In some circumstances it is best to create multinational autonomous entities, sometimes the most justifiable solution is an autonomous entity consisting of one or two indigenous nationalities.The experience of the eastern regions of the Soviet Union has shown that socialist autonomy and federation run counter to neither the economic drawing together of peoples nor the consistent application of the universal principle of governing a socialist state—the principle of democratic centralism. Moreover, in the context of a socialist multinational state autonomy and federation serve to implement the principles of democratic centralism more fully and consistently: the combination of centralised planned government of the country with full account being taken of the features of the federal republics and their broad rights, including the right of active participation in running the federation, the combination of the common, internationalist interests of all the Soviet peoples with the interests of the republics, and the combination of the internationalist and the national, with precedence being given to the internationalist element.
The experience of the non-capitalist development of the peoples of the eastern parts of the Soviet Union has seen the implementation of one of the most important principles of proletarian internationalism—the combination oj the common, internationalist and national interests of the working people. It will be recalled that this principle is founded on the interdependence of the accomplishment of the working people's internationalist and national tasks: the carrying through of the national tasks of each of the Soviet peoples depends on the successful accomplishment of the common [asks of all the Soviet peoples and relies on the achievements made in the development of all the fraternal Soviet peoples and the _-_-_
~^^1^^ The Karakalpak Autonomous Region was formed as a result of the national and state demarcation of Central Asia. In 1925 it was included in the Kazakh ASSR, but in 1930 it was incorporated into the RSFSR. In 1932 the region was transformed into the Karakalpak ASSR within the RSFSR. In accordance with the 1936 Constitution of the USSR, it is now an autonomous republic within the Uzbek SSR.
206 country as a whole. But the accomplishment of the common internationalist tasks of the peoples of the USSR proceeds from the successes of all of its peoples and is based on their comprehensive development and mutual assistance, as well as on their contribution to the common cause of building a communist society.The Soviet people's interest in mutual success is a natural expression of the fact that they all have a single common cause and common objectives. Their internationalist consciousness is determined primarily by the socialist nature of Soviet society and by the unity and co-operation of all the Soviet peoples in the building of communism.
Perceiving the profound unity between their own national interests and the general interests of the country, the peoples which embarked on non-capitalist development contributed as much as they could to the economic development of the Soviet state from the very first days of its existence by supplying agricultural produce, raw materials, fuel resources, and so on. The contribution of these national districts to the economy of the country as a whole grew in pace with their own economic development. The significance of this contribution became particularly clear during the Soviet people's Great Patriotic War against the nazi invaders, when the Soviet eastern republics served as one of the country's most important arsenals, industrial bases and sources of food supplies, and also during the postwar period, when they had an important part to play in rehabilitating the economy of the areas temporarily occupied by the enemy.
The fundamental internationalist interests of all the Soviet peoples and of their union must always be given priority over the particular, transient and temporary interests of each of the peoples. While developing its own economy and culture, every republic should make, and is making, its maximal contribution towards accomplishing the tasks of the whole Union. This is the essence of socialist internationalism. The working people of the Soviet eastern republics see it as their chief internationalist task to strengthen the Soviet Union and multiply their contribution to the common cause of building communism.
The non-capitalist development of the peoples of the eastern part of the USSR shows convincingly that relentless 207
struggle against nationalism and chauvinism is a necessary condition for the assertion of the principles of proletarian internationalism.
As is generally appreciated, in the national and formerly backward regions that embarked on non-capitalist development the emancipation of the masses from the grip of feudal, and in some cases even pre-feudal, ideology was extremely complicated. In these areas the process of overcoming the influence on the masses exerted by the exploiter elements and the priesthood was far more difficult than in the central regions of the country. Any manifestation of national nihilism, and disrespect for national traditions, insufficient regard for national peculiarities, and the adoption of measures that did not take due account of the level of socio-economic development or the psychology of the local populace hindered the overcoming of the former feeling of national mistrust and were used by bourgeois nationalist elements for purposes that were hostile to the class interests of the working people.
At the same time, the exaggeration of the national factor, its opposition to the general interests of the country, the slightest mistrust of the measures issuing from the Union Government, and other manifestations of nationalism retarded the non-capitalist development of these peoples. One of the manifestations of nationalism was the attempt by nationalist elements to bring about the ``super-industrialisation'' of the previously backward national areas through a lowering of the rate of industrialisation of the central regions of the country—without consideration of the point that the industrialisation of the central regions was the guarantee of the industrialisation of the country as a whole and of the strengthening of its defensive capacity, or the point that the eastern republics were not prepared for this ``super-industrialisation'' in view of the level of their economic and cultural development and, in particular, the shortage of the necessary skilled manpower.
By guiding the creative energies of the peoples of the previously backward national areas and consistently implementing the principles of proletarian internationalism, the Communist Party and the Soviet state led these and all the other Soviet peoples to socialism.
Today all the Soviet peoples have become economically 208 and culturally highly developed nations and nationalities. They are all making a solid contribution to the cause of communist construction. Kazakhstan and each of the republics of Soviet Central Asia are shining examples of this. Speaking of the development of the economy of the Kazakh SSR, D. A. Kunayev, the First Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, pointed out: "In the previously uninhabited areas new industrial complexes have taken shape and new sectors of production and new industrial giants have sprung up. Large hydro- and thermal-electric power stations have been built, and thousands of kilometres of railway tracks and roads have been laid. Kazakhstan today has an industrial output that is 145 times as great as in 1913 and 18.7 times as great as in the prewar year of 1940. We have seen the economic map of the republic change with our own eyes. . . Kazakhstan has become the country's major economic region."
As a result of the complete victory of socialism and the CPSU's policy of evening out the levels of economic, sociopolitical and cultural development achieved by the different peoples, all the Soviet republics have made progress in every field. As CC CPSU General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev has stressed, "on the basis of the Leninist national policy, at the cost of intense effort by the whole Soviet people we have achieved a state in which the term backward national outlying area, a usual one for old Russia, has disappeared . . . this is a splendid achievement for our Party, an achievement of socialism, of the socialist friendship of = nations".^^1^^
The experience of the implementation in the USSR of the principles of proletarian internationalism as regards the noncapitalist development of a number of peoples is of vast international significance. It is important in that ;t can be used by other countries and peoples.
S. A. Dange, the Chairman of the National Council of the Communist Party of India, said in his speech at the meeting held to mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of the USSR that no one could fail to note the fact and lesson that the unity and progress of the various peoples, speaking different languages, which lived in the Soviet Union—peoples _-_-_
~^^1^^ L. I. Brezhnev, = The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, p. 24.
209 having different cultures, traditions and religions—could be ensured only through the abolition of feudalism and capitalism and through socialism, developing according to the principles of = Marxism-Leninism.^^1^^The Soviet experience of non-capitalist development is also particularly valuable as regards the provision of assistance by the socialist countries to the peoples that have embarked on the path of non-capitalist development in Asia, Africa and Latin America. As has already been pointed out, this is because the provision of varied assistance by the more developed socialist nations to the working people of the less developed nationalities is one of the most important laws in the transition of the developing countries to socialism.
All this makes it important to theoretically generalise the experience acquired here and so develop the principles of socialist internationalism.
Thus, the transition of the formerly backward peoples of the USSR to socialism, bypassing the capitalist stage of development, was more than just an embodiment of the principles of socialist internationalism; the experience of this transition, in its turn, has served the cause of further developing the theory of socialist internationalism and has enriched it with new conclusions.
__NUMERIC_LVL2__The building of communism in the USSR and the creation of its material and technical base are carried out by means of the fraternal co-operation of all the country's peoples. The nature and forms of this co-operation are wholly determined by the principles of socialist internationalism. At the same time, these principles are themselves enriched and perfected _-_-_
~^^1^^ __NOTE__ Error in original: superscript "2" (not 1). Pravda, December 24, 1972.
__PRINTERS_P_209_COMMENT__ 14—0798 210 during the process ol communist construction. For the purposes of theoretical analysis we shall select from among these principles only some of those that emerge from the experience of fraternal co-operation between the peoples in the process of creating the material and technical base of communism: the further strengthening of the unity of the nations and nationalities; the enrichment of the principle of national equality; the smooth combination of the national interests of each socialist nation and nationality with the internationalist interests; and the increasing expansion of mutual assistance between the socialist nations and nationalities.In public life all social phenomena are mutually determined and interconnected. Both the development ol nations and the improving ol national relations occur as the tasks of building communism are gradually accomplished and are under its direct influence.
An advanced socialist society, that is, constructing communism, is characterised by the high level of development of its economy, which represents an interconnected economic complex that incorporates the economies of all the constituent republics and develops in accordance with a single plan in the interests of the whole country and each republic individually. During the process whereby the material and technical base of communism is created a still closer economic amalgamation of the nations and nationalities takes place. An advanced socialist society involves, in the first place, the improvement of the forms of economic ties among the nations that have taken shape during the construction ol socialism and, in the second place, the gradual development of new, rational forms of economic co-operation. The CPSU Programme stresses that the creation of the material and technical base of communism demands still closer cohesion and mutual assistance on the part of the Soviet peoples.
Thanks to the joint efforts of all the Soviet nations and nationalities, considerable successes have been achieved in communist construction in the USSR in recent years. The country's national income grows steadily year by year; industrial and agricultural output is going up; and labour productivity is also rising.
The successes in the country's economic development form a sound base for the growth of the working people's 211 prosperity and the rise in their cultural level. The minimal and average earnings of workers and white collar staff are increasing everywhere; the income of collective farmers from the social economy is rising; the pension age, on the other hand, is falling, and the payment of sickness and disablement benefits to the members of collective farms is being established: the social consumption funds and retail trade turnover are growing, and housing construction is expanding considerably: national education and health services are being improved; and science and culture are developing with increasing effectiveness.
All these and other successes in the construction of the material and technical base provide a good foundation for the further political and ideological consolidation of the unity and friendship of the Soviet nations and nationalities. Important socio-economic and cultural changes have occurred and are occurring in each Union republic.
The close economic and cultural co-operation and interrelationship of the socialist nations permit of the increasingly rational organisation of production with a view to the rapid growth of the material and spiritual resources of the peoples. Lenin wrote that "socialism alone will make possible the wide expansion of social production and distribution on scientific lines and their actual subordination to the aim of easing the lives of the working people and of improving their welfare as much as = possible".^^1^^
Great opportunities and broad prospects here opened up before the Soviet people in the light of the 24th CPSU Congress decisions on the further socio-economic development of the country and the acceleration in the creation of the material and technical base of communism. It will be recalled that the Congress accorded priority over the next few years to ensuring a significant rise in the material and cultural standard of living of the people on the basis of a high rale of development in socialist production, an increase in its efficiency, scientific and technological progress, and an acceleration in the growth of labour productivity. During the Ninth Five-Year Plan the national income is increasing by 38.6 per cent. Industrial output is growing by 47 per cent, the _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin. Collected Works. Vol. 27. p. 411.
__PRINTERS_P_211_COMMENT__ 14* 212 average annual agricultural output by 20--22 per cent, and the people's real per capita incomes arc rising by nearly a third.The strengthening of the economic ties and the unity of the Soviet nations and nationalities are determined by the operation of the economic laws of socialism.
For example, the law of planned and balanced development, which permits of the smooth development of the economy of the whole Union, including each republic, also leads to the growth of the economic ties between the nations and nationalities. By determining the optimal balance in the development of the production of all the economic regions and of the economic ties between them, the effect of this law strengthens the amalgamation of all the areas in the country into a single whole. Not only does it ensure the best economic use of social labour and the efficient employment of natural resources, but it also strengthens the mutual ties between the nations and nationalities.
The rational social division of labour both between the Union republics and inside them is very important to the creation of a single material and technical base for communism. The economic and natural conditions of a region are the basis for the creation in it of particular industries, for its specialisation and for its economic links with other regions. Specialisation and the co-operation of production are two interconnected processes for improving the division of labour between republics and two forms of efficient co-operation between peoples. Specialisation leads to the preferential development of specific forms of production in those areas where the natural and labour resources enable a particular commodity to be produced with the least expenditure, and cooperation promotes close links between these regions.
As the CPSU Programme emphasises, "the development of the specialisation and co-operation, and appropriate combination of related enterprises is a most important condition for technical progress and the rational organisation of social = labour."^^1^^
The 24th CPSU Congress devoted a great deal of attention to the economic and cultural development of all the Union republics. In the Kazakh SSR, for instance, industrial output _-_-_
~^^1^^ The Road to Communism, p. 521.
213 is increasing during the Ninth Five-Year Plan by 57--60 per cent, which is well above the planned growth rate for the country as a whole. During these years Kazakhstan will become a republic of powerful industrial complexes and largescale, highly mechanised state and collective farms. The economic pattern of Kazakhstan will continue to be dominated by the leading heavy industries—ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, the chemical and fuel industry, and so on.Intra-regional production ties, which are taking shape as the local economies grow, are becoming increasingly important, and economic ties and exchanges between individual regions and republics are developing rapidly. They strengthen the community of the economic life of each nation and economically unify them still more.
Large economic regions consisting of adjacent Union republics, districts and territories that are united by mutual interests and community of economic activities have been formed in the USSR. There are 19 economic regions—10 in the RSFSR and 3 in the Ukrainian SSR; the Transcaucasian republics, the Baltic area, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Byelorussia and Moldavia each form a large economic region. By strengthening the ties within them and between them, the development of these economic regions does still more to promote the efficient use of the possibilities for creating the material and technical base of communism.
The complex development of these regions not only makes it possible for each nation and nationality to attain a higher economic level, but also favours their closer drawing together. The cohesion and unity between these regions form one of the material foundations that strengthen the internationalist nature of that new historical community—the Soviet people.
Management and planning of the economy are highly important in strengthening the ties between the republics. In particular, planning establishes the specific links and co-- ordinates the economic integration of the Union republics. Thus, the economy of each republic is directly connected with the economic life of other republics. The material and technical base of communism can be created only through the united and joint efforts and labour of all the Soviet nations and nationalities.
214The need to improve planning' methods was pointed out at the 24th CPSU Congress.
"Planning must rest on a more precise study of social requirements, on scientific forecasts of our economic possibilities, on all-round analysis and evaluation of different variants of decisions, and of their immediate and long-term consequences. In order to fulfil this responsible and complex task there is need to broaden the horizons of economic plan- ning."^^1^^
The transfer by each republic of a certain proportion of its output to an all-Union fund and its receipt from other republics of what it itself requires are typical features of economic co-operation. In this way the steady development of their economies is assured. For instance, the Ukrainian SSR accounts for about half of the pig iron cast in the country, 40 per cent of its steel and rolled metal, 57 per cent of its iron ore, one-third of its coal and over 30 per cent of its natural gas. The republic's industrial output is sent to many areas of the country. In turn, mutual assistance and close ties with other fraternal republics facilitate the accelerated development of the Ukraine's economy. From the other republics it imports oil, timber, cotton, certain types of equipment, textiles and other ready-made commodities.
Equally typical are Kazakhstan's broad economic links with other fraternal republics. The Kazakh SSR imports assorted machinery and gas and oil pipelines from the RSFSR, Georgia and Azerbaijan and exports steel to the Lithuanian. Latvian, Uzbek, Kirghiz, Tajik and Turkmenian republics and the Tatar and Kalmyk autonomous republics; pig iron to the Uzbek and Turkmenian republics and the Bashkir and Udmurt autonomous republics; rolled sheets of copper-nickel alloy to the RSFSR and the Ukrainian, Estonian, Armenian and Uzbek republics; rolled bronze to all the Union republics: powdered lead to the RSFSR and the Ukrainian, Byelorussian, Moldavian, Azerbaijan and Uzbek republics, and so on.
Vitally important to the strengthening of the economic ties and the unity of the Soviet nations and nationalities are the CPSU and the Soviet Government decisions on ensuring further improvements in the siting of productive forces and on Improving territorial economic links.
_-_-_~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 80.
215A major role in the expansion of economic links is played by the activities of the central planning organisations and the recommendations provided by the science of economics. A high level ot economic development considerably raises the demands made on planning, management and economic methods.
"The interdependence of all the economic links is enhancing, adding to the importance of long-term planning, of forging a system of inter-industry connections, and of improving material = supplies."^^1^^ The general rationalisation and growth of economic links will continue to provide the material basis for the drawing together of nations.
The elimination of outdated forms of industrial management and their replacement with new and more sophisticated ones also improve and strengthen the economic ties between the republics and regions.
As has already been pointed out, relying on the principles of proletarian internationalism, the CPSU and the Soviet Government have extended the rights of the republics regarding the management of their economies by transferring to republican control many industrial, transport and other enterprises that were previously run centrally, mixed Union and republican ministries have been created, and the powers of the republican ministries have been enlarged. The budget rights of the republics (the budget income and expenditure are planned for each republic as a whole) and their rights as regards planning the economy and capital construction have been extended. All this further improves and intensifies the links between the republics. The further levelling up of their economic development is proceeding apace in the developed socialist society. The CPSU is devoting constant attentipn to the further levelling up of the economic development of the republics and nations. Thus, in the decisions of the 24th CPSU Congress the cask was set to speed up the development of Siberia, the Far East, Central Asia and Kazakhstan. The Communist Party's concern for the accelerated development of a number of Union republics is an embodiment of the consistent pursuance of the Leninist national policy and the principles ol proletarian internationalism. Referring to this at the Congress, S. R. Rashidov, the _-_-_
~^^1^^ Ibid., pp. 48--49).
216 First Secretary of the CC of the CP of Uzbekistan, said: "These fruits can be seen in all spheres of economic, social and socio-political life, in the steady growth of the productive forces of each Union republic and in the flourishing of a culture that is national in form and socialist in content. We see them in the joint labour and fraternal co-operation of the peoples of the Soviet Union, closely united around the Leninist party and welded together by the unsunderable bonds of internationalist unity with the great Russian = people."^^1^^The further consolidation of the common economic interest of the Soviet nations and nationalities, and the increasingly smooth harmonisation of the interests of the whole Union and its constituent republics are proceeding in the course of the creation of the material and technical base of communism.
The economic interest determines the aim, to achieve which a society, class or nation directs its economic activities. During the construction of socialism all the Soviet peoples had a common aim—to establish socialist relations—but, owing to their former inequality, they set about resolving specific economic tasks, abolishing the capitalist and pre-capitalist economies.
The nature of socialist production relations is also expressed in the structure of the economic interest. Socialist nations have common economic interests, which should be understood primarily as the coincidence of fundamental national interests with internationalist ones. It is a highly complex matter to take account of the interests of the whole Union and the interests of each fraternal republic and to combine them rationally. It can be further complicated by local partisanship, the opposition of partial interests to the common interests.
In his report The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Leonid Brezhnev had the following to say on this point: "There are also objective problems in our federal state, such as finding the most correct way of developing the individual nations and nationalities and the most correct balance between the interests of each nation and nationality and the common interests of the Soviet people as a whole. In dealing with these problems, our Party closely follows Lenin's injunction that the maximum concern has to be _-_-_
~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, Verbatim Report, = Vol. I, p. 198 (in Russian).
217 shown for the development and interests of each = nation."^^1^^The practice of communist construction shows that, in order to smoothly combine the economic interests of the socialist nations, the prime necessity is to take account of the interest of the whole Union, since there can be no material and technical base of communism for just the Kazakh or Uzbek, Moldavian or Estonian nation, for example. A single material and technical base of communism for the whole Soviet people, the whole of Soviet society, is being founded. On the other hand, in order to speed up the achievement of this objective and the constant growth of resources and the economic potential, it is necessary to take account of the interest of each republic and each economic region.
The further enrichment and development of the vital principle of socialist internationalism—the strengthening of help and mutual assistance between the Soviet nations and nationalities—are provided by the fact that during the creation of the material and technical base of communism an increasing role in the relations between the nations is played by mutual assistance. This results from the fact that all the Soviet nations and nationalities have become economically and culturally highly developed.
The main direction in the practical implementation of this principle during the building of socialism and communism is the concentrated and all-round assistance provided by all the Soviet peoples to each one individually. Help and mutual assistance are provided in many forms: in the solution, by the supreme bodies of the USSR with the active participation of the republics, of the most important questions arising in economic and cultural construction both on a nationwide scale and in individual republics, in centralised planning, in the redistribution through the Union budget of financial resources in order to accomplish the tasks that are common to the whole Union and those that confront each republic, in the redistribution of material resources for the specialisation and cooperation of production, and so on.
A vivid manifestation of socialist internationalism and of the growing co-operation between the nations is the important building projects that are being accomplished through _-_-_
~^^1^^ L. I. Brezhnev, = The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist Repbulics. Moscow, 1972, p. 36.
218 the joint efforts of several republics. For instance, the Karaganda Iron and Steel Works, the Sokolovo-Sarbai Mining Combine and the Ust-Kamenogorsk and Bukhtarma hydroelectric stations were, or are being, built with the direct assistance of all the Soviet peoples and the active participation of their members in Kazakhstan.Young people from the fraternal republics have arrived for work at Kazakhstan's new iron and steel works, as at other building projects in the eastern part of the country. Many other sites in the Ukraine, the Urals and the Kuzbas have sent skilled workers and engineering and technical staff there. The members of over 30 nationalities are now working and living as a close-knit family in Temirtau. The opening up of new farmland provides a further graphic example of the accomplishment of major economic tasks through the combined efforts of the Soviet republics. When the virgin soil was being upturned in Kazakhstan, help flowed in from all the peoples of the USSR in the form of equipment, materials and, most important of all, manpower.
Help and mutual assistance constitute a major principle in the relations between peoples, not just in a single country but also in the whole world system of socialism. At the current stage, however, it is impossible to sav that these relations are completely identical, since help and mutual assistance between the nations of a single country mean the internal redistribution of its resources, while the second case involves the transfer of commodities from one state to another.
The economic mutual relations in a developed socialist society differ from the ties that were formed during the early years of socialist construction. Nowadays they are varied, permanent and mutual, whereas previously it was basically a question of help from the developed to the backward areas in order to eliminate real inequality.
In the variety of the socialist economic links that unite and weld together the multinational collectives one can single out several types: international ties within the v/orld socialist system, between the socialist nations and nationalities of a single country and between the economic regions of a particular republic.
The broadening and deepening of the economic ties and interrelations in the course of the creation of the material 219 and technical base of communism strengthen the unity of the economic life of the whole Soviet people as a new internationalist community and of each Soviet nation.
The Soviet people is, in the first place, an integral socialist social collective having common features in its economic, political, ideological and spiritual life and having a community oi interests and a unity of aims, which are being realised as a result of the joint activities of the equal members of this phenomenon. In the second place, it is a socio-class community characterised by its community of economic life, social structure, socio-political system, the Marxist-Leninist ideology, the socialist content of its culture, way of life and traditions, national psychology, a common lingua franca, and the awareness of belonging to a single fatherland and to a new historical community. In the third place, the Soviet people is a single entity formed out of national variety and various nations, nationalities and national groups.
The internationalisation of the economic life of the Soviet people provides the material basis for strengthening the friendship of the peoples and for the further drawing together of the nations in other spheres of social life.
The unity of the Soviet multinational people and the friendship between them are increasingly strengthened during the building of communism. All social changes in the USSR, including the creation of the material and technical base of communism, are caused by the effect of two tendencies of socialism in the development of national relations: firstly, the all-round development of the nation, i.e.. the further growth of the economy and culture of each nation and nationality; and, secondly, the further gradual drawing together of the nations and nationalities, i.e., their closer amalgamation, the strengthening of their unity and the appearance and consolidation among them of common features. In the CC CPSU Report to the 24th Party Congress Leonid Brezhnev said on this subject: "Further progress along the road of the all-round development ol each of the fraternal Soviet republics, along the road of the further gradual drawing together of the nations and nationalities of our country, has been made during the past few years under the Party's = leadership."^^1^^
_-_-_~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 92.
220 __NUMERIC_LVL2__Socialism has given rise to a fundamentally new type of nations and national interrelations. It has created conditions in which there is no place for national enmity and mistrust or for the economic and cultural backwardness of any people. All the paths along which the Soviet peoples are travelling and developing are leading them towards an unsunderable fraternal alliance and internationalist unity.
The process of the socialist transformation of the whole way of life of the Soviet peoples meant at the same time the gradual elimination of the glaring differences between them engendered by the unequal level of their development under tsarism. In the course of this transformation a fundamental change gradually took place not only in the basic conditions of life that were common to all the nations and nationalities, but also in the features that distinguished one people from another. They were freed from their limited parochialism and from the archaic, religious and other negative features arising from the general backwardness and seclusion of these peoples in the past and from the vices of the exploiter society.
On the basis of all this a host of new phenomena, elements and forms is taking shape in the most varied spheres of life of each individual people in the USSR, making it internally similar, close and near to all the other -peoples of the country. Thanks to their unity of interests and aims and their common world outlook all the nations and nationalities have been welded into a single indissoluble whole. Their whole way of life is permeated by a spirit of internationalism. Mutually supplementing and conditioning one another, the internationalist and the national have come together in dialectical unity in the life of the socialist nations and nationalities.
By the internationalist in the life of the Soviet peoples is meant the unity of the fundamentals of their economic and social system and of the principles of their ideological and moral base, and the unity of their fundamental interests and aspirations that has formed objectively on this basis.
221The national in the life of the Soviet peoples refers to the everyday economic, cultural and moral values and the sociopsychological features which have developed historically in the specific living conditions of each ethnic community and which continue to serve society, constantly enriching themselves and developing. Under the influence of a changing historical environment, all national elements are developing more and more and, while remaining national in form, are outgrowing their earlier framework as regards the function they perform and enter into the everyday life of other peoples or are adopted by them as elements that are familiar to them and are in full accord with their needs.
In a socialist society the internationalist and national differ in nature and sphere of action, and, at first glance, even appear to be two opposite poles in social life. In fact, though, there is a necessary and profound interconditionality and unity between them. The internationalist does not exclude the national, but presupposes it. So, in its turn, the national cannot exist in a "pure form" in isolation from the internationalist. It is always in close interaction with the internationalist and ultimately develops into it.
This unity and interconditionality of the internationalist and the national does not imply the absence of substantial differences and contradictions between them. But under socialism these contradictions are overcome by non-violent means, since under this system there are no grounds for the appearance of serious conflict between = them.^^1^^ The internationalist is the objective foundation on which the uniting of the peoples and the interpenetration and drawing together of all the aspects of their life take place. Nor, in its Marxist-- Leninist sense, is the national something that disunites peoples and sets them against internationalist cohesion. It merely distinguishes peoples, introducing a variety of forms into the _-_-_
~^^1^^ On the correlation of the national and internationalist see: I. Tsameryan, A New Stage in the Development of National Relations in the USSR, Moscow, 1962; M. S. Junusov, The Dialectics of the Development of National Relations during the Building of Socialism and Communism, Moscow, 1963; N. Jandildin, Communism and. the Development of National Relations, Moscow, 1964; P. M. Rogachev, and M. A. Sverdlin, The Nation—the People—Mankind, Moscow, 1967; N. Jandildin, The Nature of National Psychology, Alma Ata, 1971 (all in Russian).
222 common internationalist elements and thus making them even richer and more varied.During their socialist development all the peoples of the USSR have accomplished an unprecedented leap from backwardness to the heights of modern progress. All the Soviet nations and nationalities are now proud of belonging to the united Soviet people and of the great achievements of their socialist fatherland. This great patriotic feeling has been described by Leonid Brezhnev as the common national pride of Ike Soviet person. At the same time, the members of each people possess their own natural national feelings, which are less broad and less deep than this common national pride yet organically combined with the feeling of Soviet patriotism and with the awareness of their internationalist duty to the country. Owing to the presence of these feelings, it is possible in some cases for there to appear a divergence between natural national pride and the common patriotic and internationalist feelings of the Soviet person, i.e., a certain absolutisation of the national aspects. This occurs whenever the individual members of a nation become carried away by the desire to display and propagandise the successes of their own republic, give expression to their emotional attitude towards it and so blur the borderline between true and perfectly natural national pride and national self-esteem. The latter consists essentially of bias and subjectivism in assessing the real part played by ``us'' and ``them'' in the development and prosperity of a given republic, ascribing the decisive merits to one's own particular nation without taking account of objective historical factors, and belittling or ignoring the importance of the assistance and participation of the other fraternal peoples.
This occurrence has some affinity with the gnosiological roots of idealism, which Lenin saw in the one-sidedness, inllexibility, subjectivism, subjective blindness and the absence of an understanding of certain subtleties in the complex process of human cognition. In other words, in cue most vital human cognition there are certain elements, Hie metaphysical interpretation of which inevitably leads to the quagmire of idealism. Similarly, the biased and subjectivist assessment of certain elements, aspects arid details of the development of the Soviet nations can, if it is not perceived in time and measures are not taken to eliminate it, develop into blatant 223 lapses, into national narrow-mindedness, or national self-- conceit. Paraphrasing Lenin's well-known figurative description, one can say that these lapses resemble a sterile flower growing on the solid tree of the internationalist fraternity of the Soviet peoples.
What is more, during a period in which the world is divided into two opposing systems and a bitter class and ideological struggle for men's minds is taking place, socialist society is never completely free of non-socialist elements that are anxious to take advantage of any opportunity to damage the internationalist unity of the working people. However, no matter what form it might take, the contradiction between the internationalist and the national in socialist society is not antagonistic in nature, and the ways in which it can be resolved remain socialist. It will be overcome with comparative ease during the communist transformation of Soviet society.
Alien to Marxism-Leninism are both the biased admiration of everything that is national or the artificial exaggeration of it and the arrogantly nihilist disdain for it or empty indifference to it. Speaking of the further all-round development of the Soviet nations and nationalities and of their gradual drawing together, Leonid Brezhnev stressed: "This drawing together is taking place under conditions in which the closest attention is given to national features and the development of socialist national cultures. Constant consideration for the general interests of our entire Union and for the interests of each of its constituent republics forms the substance of the Party's policy in this = question."^^1^^
Lenin regarded the historically specific approach to the problem as being absolutely necessary for a theoretically valid elucidation of the question of the general and the particular in the national question. This vital stipulation of Lenin's must also be honoured when working on the theoretical aspects of the development of national relations in a socialist society. The careful study of specific manifestations of the internationalist and the national in concrete spheres of the life of the Soviet peoples enables one to reliably reflect in theory the general deep-going processes that are taking place at the present stage in the development of national relations _-_-_
~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 92.
224 and to reach correct conclusions regarding the direction and nature of these in the near and long-term future.Thus, there is a single economy for all the nations and nationalities of the USSR. Consequently, all the vital principles for the management of production and the distribution oi the national income are also internationalist. The economic possibilities and resources of all the republics have fused into a single whole. Throughout the country the same principles of nationwide planning are in operation, as well as a single railway, air and water transport system, a single energy network is being set up, and so on.
The basic principle of socialism—"from each according to his ability, to each according to his work"—which is being realised on the basis of the social ownership of the means of production, determines the equal position and equal opportunities for all Soviet peoples in the sphere of material production.
The economic life of each Soviet national republic is part of the all-Union whole. The Union republic is a particular economic complex that is called upon to ensure the effective use of the local energy, natural and manpower resources and communications and the maximal satisfaction of the requirements of the population through their own production, but, at the same time, it also specialises in the individual sectors of the economy of national importance that are best carried out in the conditions existing in that particular economic region.
The economy of the Soviet republics is not a closed and self-contained entity that can be opposed to the Soviet economic community. It interacts smoothly with the economy of the country, like a part with the whole, and with the economy of all the other republics and districts. Consequently, as Leonid Brezhnev has pointed out, the Soviet economy is not the sum total of the economies of the individual republics and districts, but a single economic organism that has taken shape on the basis of the common economic aims and interests of all the nations and nationalities.
The leading aspects of the activities of the national economic centres are co-ordinated and directed by all-Union economic state management organs. By considering the general and specific laws of socialist economics and state and 225 national interests, this centre regulates the directions, level and pace of the development of the country's most important economic sectors, the rational division of labour and the regular exchange of material commodities between the Soviet republics.
An internationalist economic community is not only broader and larger than a national one, but is also, to some extent, qualitatively different from it. The forms and means of uniting and amalgamating its component elements, as well as these component elements themselves, are more varied.
A national economic community is also considerably selfsufficient, since it expresses the concrete, specific features of the local conditions; not all its features and Junctions coincide with the corresponding features and functi Dns of the economic community of the whole Soviet people.
The unity of the internationalist and the national is also vividly reflected in the social structure of the Soviet peoples. Like the whole Soviet people, the nation in the USSR is an embodiment of the unity of the working class, the collectivefarm peasantry and the intelligentsia. At one and the same time each of them acts both as part of a particular ethnic community with a greater or lesser degree of its characteristic national features, and as part of the appropriate class in the USSR or the Soviet intelligentsia with all their profoundly internationalist internal features and qualities.
Thus, each national contingent of the Soviet working class is the vehicle not only of the common proletarian and socialist revolutionary traditions, the new, Soviet internationalist character traits, and class-psychological and professional habits, skills and qualities, but also of the centuries-old and constantly developing best features and traditions of its people, its cultural and moral values, and its economic and labour experience. There are deep continuous ties between these new internationalist and national features and traditions. They exist not alongside one another, but as organically necessary constituent parts or aspects of a single whole. Consequently, they do not split the consciousness of the working class, pulling it in different directions, but, on the contrary, make its cultural world richer and more varied, and ensure its unity with the Soviet and world working class, on the one hand, and with its own people, on the other.
__PRINTERS_P_225_COMMENT__ 15---0798 226It is the working class, which is the class that is most internationalist in essence, that plays the leading role in the gradual drawing together of all the nations and nationalities in the country.
The community of the economic basis, and the political and ideological superstructure, which has welded all the country's working people into a single social whole irrespective of national affiliation, have given rise to the formation in them of the feeling of belonging to a new historical community—the Soviet people—to a common national pride in their socialist motherland, to the feeling of the lofty duty of a citizen of the USSR, to an awareness of the community oi the fundamental interests and objectives of all the Soviet peoples, to a deep internationalism and solidarity with the working people of all countries who are struggling for freedom, progress and socialism, to the noble spirit of comradeship and collectivism, to adherence to the principles of communist morality and to irreconcilability to all injustices and shortcomings.
The dialectical interpenetration and unity of the national and internationalist is manifested in spiritual = culture.^^1^^ It is in culture, and particularly in art, that the most prominent expression is given to the specifically national element that exists in the most varied spheres of a people's activities. Against the background of a single internationalist content a varied and multicoloured form acts as a more expressive side of Soviet culture, standing out particularly through its vivid shades.
At the modern stage in the development of Soviet society many features and qualities of culture which previously fitted completely into the framework of its national form are more and more intensively taking on an internationalist significance. The essence of the internationalisation of a national form of culture is, in the first place, that, as a result of further improvement, many (aboriginal) elements of a national form outgrew their former ethnic bounds and evoke a broader, internationalist response. In the second place, as different _-_-_
~^^1^^ See: = A. I. Arnoldov, Socialism and Culture, Moscow, 1962; Communism and Culture, Moscow, 1966; A. Yegorov, "The Building of Communism and the Development of the National Cultures'', Kommunist No.~1, 1969, etc. (all in Russian).
227 cultures co-operate, each of them creatively assimilates various elements of the others, endowing them with several features of its own colouring, thereby extending the sphere of its own emotional effect. In the third place, as the intellectual level of Soviet people of all nationalities rises, so they steadily develop a capacity to appreciate and enjoy the cultural values of other peoples, and not just their own, which is one of the factors that is internationalising the national form of each people's culture. This is also facilitated to no small degree by the increasing flow of information, which is already involving the cultural achievements of all the nations and nationalities of the USSR.Thus, it cannot be said that the only internationalist element is the socialist content of Soviet culture, which constitutes the principal direction of its development, its ideological and political base and the methodological basis that follows from its general world outlook. Internationalist features are also being increasingly assumed by its varied means of expression in which the socialist content is manifested: artistic styles, devices for the aesthetic depiction of reality, and so on.
The unity of the internationalist and the national also appears in everyday life. A historically determined kind of economy that dominates the labour of a particular people gives rise to a particular way of life that conforms to its requirements. The features of the social system, the geographical environment, the predominant ideology, etc., also play a considerable role in forming the various specific elements of this way of life. The particular features of a people's economic activities in conjunction with the peculiarities of the natural and climatic conditions do much to determine, for example, the type of housing, the forms of clothing and the household utensils, and the methods for preparing and storing food.
The nature of the social system, traditions and customs make their imprint on family and marital relations. Moreover, the influence of these factors on the forms and nature of life in the towns and in the countryside is not identical. Town life is more varied than country life. As productive forces develop, a people's way of life is enriched through the introduction of the results of that development, and these give it an increasingly internationalist character.
__PRINTERS_P_227_COMMENT__ 15* 228The socialist transformation of society has opened up before all the peoples of the USSR an equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits of modern civilisation, the powerful development of productive forces and the scientific and technological revolution. Such achievements of civilisation, now being widely introduced into the life of the whole population of the country, as electricity, radio and television, gas, accommodation amenities, modern household implements, service facilities, cultural institutions and modern styles of dress not only make vital elements of the Soviet peoples' way of life outwardly similar, but also do much to alter their requirements, tastes and habits.
The elimination of sharp contrasts between town and country, the growing urbanisation of the population and the enormous rise in living standards in the village are gradually effacing differences in the life styles of the various social strata both within each Soviet nation and on the scale of the whole Union.
As a result of the emancipation of women, the elimination of all restrictions on their rights in society and the family, the destruction of ``national'' customs and traditions that infringed women's human dignity, which had existed among many peoples for centuries, and the adoption and enforcement of a unified Soviet legislation on complete equality between men and women, common social and legislative foundations for marital and family relations were laid down for all Soviet nations and nationalities.
One of the inevitable results of the development of socialist national relations is the exchange of staff between the friendly nations and the natural migration of the population, from one republic to another. The once largely homogeneous population of each republic is becoming increasingly multinational. In a vast number of enterprises and building projects, collective and state farms, institutions and educational establishments people of the most varied nationalities are working side by side. They are in close contact not only at work, but also as regards the areas where they live and all other spheres of their activity. Thanks to this contact, they borrow from one another all the best features pertaining to living conditions. Particularly successful exchanges involve those elements of a ``foreign'' way of life that are best 229 adapted to the economic, natural and climatic conditions of a particular republic or locality.
The fruits of the distinctive and constructive activities and creative thought of each people, as embodied in particular architectural styles and in the totality of specific forms in applied and decorative art, furnishings and the production of luxury and household articles, etc., which have withstood the test of time, comprise a valuable treasury which is carefully preserved and widely used by the Soviet peoples to satisfy their various living and aesthetic requirements.
The vitality of the best, progressive national adaptations to everyday life is explained by the fact that, in conjunction with the achievements of modern scientific and technological progress, they provide the life of the Soviet people with a variety of forms, shades and styles. The national element in everyday life not only creates a particular kind of comfort that accords with the habitual tastes of a particular people, or at least a certain part of it, but also performs a number of necessary practical functions arising from the peculiarity of the local natural and climatic conditions and the character of the type of economic activity that predominates in the locality.
Of course, even a highly developed industry cannot instantly provide a complete supply of modern consumer goods that takes into account all the particular features and various climatic zones, all the conditions of life in town and country, national tastes and customs, the specific features of each type of labour activity, and so on. There are certain areas of life, particularly in the village, which have still not been sufficiently modernised by Soviet industry. Consequently, a considerable number of elements and details of the old national way of life for which there is as yet no better substitute continue to perform their earlier functions. These include some which do not fully answer to the demands of the present time. One should neither idealise these details of national life, since they bear the imprint of a time when the level of industrial development and technological thought was low, nor should one ignore them, since they are still useful.
Many elements of the national way of life are so original and accomplished that they will still continue for a long time 230 to satisfy the tastes and needs of Soviet people in the very same form in which they were inherited from the past. These elements are primarily the art of preparing the various national dishes, the different kinds of national dress and folk art. There is good reason for the particular prominence given in the USSR Council of Ministers edict "On measures to further develop folk art" to the need to do everything possible to develop the painting of miniatures, wood painting, stonemasonry, carvings on bone, the decorative fashioning of metal and pottery, the production of hand-woven carpets and decorative patterned weaving, stitching, lacework, etc., "with a view to maximally satisfying the demand of the population and the foreign market for these = commodities".^^1^^
The common and the particular in the way of life of the peoples of the USSR interact, supplementing and enriching each other. However, Soviet people are not indifferent to the qualities and social significance and orientation of either. Just as one cannot, by reference to what is ``common'', preach a monotonous mediocrity, so under the banner of the " national" it is impermissible to propagandise a motley primitivism or ideological deformity. Both the internationalist and the national in mutual combination are values of high standing, but their genuine unity is only possible on the basis of the highest affection and ideological purity.
The internationalist and the national in the life of the Soviet peoples will continue to develop as two aspects of a single social progress. The ascendant development of the internationalist in Soviet life means the further drawing together of all the Soviet peoples and the gradual extinction of primarily those distinctions between them that have, to one extent or another, resulted from the presence of individual socially negative phenomena encouraging disunity. As for the development of the national in Soviet conditions, it cannot even be imagined outside and independently of the internationalist. In any sphere of national life this development leads to the strengthening of its common socialist aspects and its gradual internationalisation both in spirit and in nature.
_-_-_~^^1^^ = Collected Edicts of the Government of the USSR, No.~16, 1968, Article 108.
231It is not a question of all that is national being absorbed by the internationalist, at least not in the immediate future. For a long time yet the national will remain and will develop in various spheres—in language, culture, ways of life, traditions and so on.
The further drawing together of the Soviet nations and the consolidation of their internationalist community in the most varied spheres constitute the vital condition for the still greater advance of each of them. And, on the contrary, the allround progress of each nation is inevitably accompanied by the expansion and deepening of the process of the internationalisation of all aspects of its life.
__NUMERIC_LVL2__The historical experience of the CPSU indicates that irreconcilability and a refusal to compromise are required in the struggle against all manifestations of bourgeois nationalism and chauvinism. The specific features of the USSR as a multinational state have facilitated the enrichment of this experience of the CPSU, have made it unique in its variety and have given it an international character. This experience has upheld the correctness of the Marxist-Leninist analysis of the socio-class nature of bourgeois nationalism and of its organic link with opportunism.
While struggling against the rampant chauvinism of tsarism and the bourgeoisie and exposing the nationalist policies of the bourgeoisie in the outlying areas, the Bolsheviks, under the leadership of Lenin, were also mounting a consistent struggle against the Bundists, the Trotskyists and other Right or ``Left'' opportunists in the Russian working-class movement and in their own ranks, revealing the petty-- bourgeois nationalist basis of their views and exposing them as vehicles of bourgeois ideology and policies among the 232 working people. In this struggle the Bolsheviks were able to uphold the internationalist principle of the organisation of the proletarian party and to unite the oppressed and exploited masses of the outlying national districts around the Russian proletarian vanguard.
After the victory of the October Socialist Revolution the Communist Party's struggle against bourgeois nationalism assumed new forms. The party mounted a determined struggle both against hostile nationalist organisations and counter-revolution fomented by the bourgeoisie and the landowners but draped with the national flag in order to deceive the masses, and against nationalist deviations within its own ranks.
The bourgeois nationalist governments that arose in the outlying districts—the Ukrainian Rada, the Lithuanian Taryba, the Transcaucasian Commissariat, the Kokand Autonomous Area, etc.—strove to break away from revolutionary Russia and to set up their own bourgeois national states. Operating in the same camp as the nationalist bourgeoisie were bourgeois and petty-bourgeois parties, such as the Dashnakist Party in Armenia, the Mussavat (Equality) Party in Azerbaijan, the Georgian Mensheviks, and so on.
While carrying out its national programme and directing national-state construction, the Communist Party was also struggling resolutely against bourgeois nationalist governments and organisations and exposing their anti-popular character.
During the Civil War and the foreign intervention the military and political union of the peoples of Russia took shape and grew stronger, and constituted a new stage in the development of proletarian internationalism and socialist patriotism. This union was tangibly expressed in the creation of the internationalist Red Army, in the amalgamation of the Soviet republics' economic efforts and in the organisation of a powerful partisan movement in the outlying areas.
Prominent in the implementation of the party's national policy was the struggle against the deviations—great-power chauvinism and local nationalism—that sprang up in the work of individual officials and some party and Soviet organisations. Particularly dangerous during the early years " after the victory of the Revolution was the deviation towards 233 great-power chauvinism. In September 1921 Lenin wrote: "It is terribly important . . . to win the confidence of the natives; to win it over again and again; to prove that we are not imperialists, that we shall not. tolerate any deviation in that direction.
"This is a world-wide question, and that is no exaggeration.
"There you must be especially strict.
"It will have an effect on India and the East; it is no joke, it calls for exceptional = caution."^^1^^
A great deal of the vital work that went into the creation of the USSR, carried out by central and local Soviet and party bodies, took place during the bitter struggle against great-power chauvinists and local nationalists, not to mention the Trotskyists, Bukharinites and other opportunists who supported the national deviationists. When preparing material on the formation of the USSR for a Plenary Session of the CC RCP(B) in 1922, Lenin wrote: "I declare war to the death on dominant nation chauvinism.
"It must be absolutely insisted that the Union Central
Executive Committee should be presided over in turn by a
Russian,
Ukrainian,
Georgian, etc.
Absolutely!''^^2^^
In addition to great-power chauvinism, the party also had to struggle consistently against local nationalism. The smallness of the numbers of the proletariat in the outlying areas and the infiltration of party organisations by people from the petty-bourgeois parties and nationalist organisations converted the deviation towards local nationalism into a serious menace.
The struggle against both these deviations in the national question took on particular significance during the period of the New Economic Policy, when some revival of capitalist elements in the centre and in the localities favoured the growth of bourgeois nationalism in all its manifestations. The 10th and 12th Congresses of the RCP(B), which _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin. Collected Works, Vol. 45. p. 298.
~^^2^^ Ibid., Vol. 33, p. 372.
234 determined the party's tasks with regard to a national policy, demanded that party organisations should struggle determinedly against both deviations. The resolution of the 10th Congress of the RCP(B) held in 1921 declared that " without overcoming the colonialist and nationalistic vestiges in the Party ranks it is impossible to set up in the outlying areas strong and truly communist organisations that are linked with the masses and which weld together the proletarian and semi-proletarian elements of the indigenous and Russian population on the basis of = internationalism".^^1^^At the same time the Congress adopted a detailed programme to eliminate the real inequality existing between the peoples and to intensify educative work among the working masses in the spirit of proletarian internationalism and socialist patriotism.
Particularly significant for the intensification of all the work for the internationalist education of the working people was the Congress's indication of the need to consolidate the party organisations in the outlying areas by recruiting proletarian and poor peasant strata from the local population. While struggling resolutely against all manifestations of nationalism, the Communist Party considered that in some cases the deviation towards local nationalism arose as a reaction against great-power chauvinism.
The Central Committee of the RCP(B) took concrete measures to correct the mistakes that had been made and to implement Lenin's national policy. In the autumn of 1919 a commission from the All-Russia Central Executive Committee and the Soviet of People's Commissars was sent out to Turkestan in order to strengthen the alliance between the peoples of Turkestan and the working people of Soviet Russia and to rectify the errors that had been committed by local officials in conducting the national policy. In his letter "To the Communists of Turkestan" Lenin formulated a concrete programme for implementing the national policy in Central Asia. He demanded the establishment of firm links with the working masses, the abolition of all the privileges left over from the period of tsarist and bourgeois domination, _-_-_
~^^1^^ The CPSU in the Resolutions. . . , Vol. 2, pp. 255--56.
235 and a merciless struggle against colonial and chauvinist at- titudes.^^1^^Lenin's letter formed the basis of the Turkestan Commission's work and was warmly approved by the 5th General Party Conference of the Communist Party of Turkestan, held in 1920. The party's Central Committee resolutely condemned the attempts of local nationalists to tear the working people of Turkestan away from Soviet Russia and to create a special "Turkic Communist Party''. In the special resolutions "On Our Tasks in Turkerstan" and "On the Organisation of Power in Turkestan" (1920) the CC RCP(B) Political Bureau asserted once again that in Turkestan there should be a single internationalist Communist Party that should form part of the RCP(B) as a district organisation.
A serious struggle against the nationalist elements developed in the party organisation of Kazakhstan. At its 2nd Regional Conference in 1922 the great-power chauvinists and local nationalists were soundly defeated. This course of pursuing a consistent policy of proletarian internationalism was supported by the CC RCP(B).
The party had to put up a considerable fight against the Georgian national deviationists (the Mdivani group), who were pursuing a great-power chauvinist policy towards some of the peoples living in the republic. In particular, they opposed the granting of autonomy to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, demanded Georgian isolation (the creation of a separate army and currency, and the conducting of an independent foreign trade), and opposed the formation of the Transcaucasian Federation and the creation of the USSR. The group of Georgian national deviationists was harshly criticised by the communists of Georgia and the Transcaucasian Regional Committee of the RCP(B), and was roundly defeated at the 12th Party Congress in 1923.
At the Congress the delegations listened to Lenin's letter "The Question of Nationalities or 'Autonomisation''', which provided the basis for the Congress's resolution on the national question.
The 12th RCP(B) Congress revealed the socio-class nature and essence of both deviations over the national question and _-_-_
~^^1^^ See V. I. Lenin. Collected Works, Vol. 30, p. 138.
236 devised a number of concrete measures to eradicate them and intensify internationalist education. The congress recommended that a broad network of Marxist-Leninist study circles should be set up for party officials in the national republics, that measures should be adopted to publish political literature in the local languages, that the activities of the University of the Peoples of the East and its local branches should be improved and that the level of the whole system of political and agitation work among the masses in the republics and national districts should be raised.The questions involved in resisting deviations over the national policy were discussed at special plenary sessions and conferences of the Communist Parties in all the Soviet republics. The 1st All-Ukraine Conference of the Communist Party (B) of the Ukraine (May 1921) held a special discussion on the national question and adopted a detailed resolution in which particular attention was given to the struggle against nationalist deviations. Measures to combat nationalism and intensify internationalist education were the focus of attention of the 6th (1921) and 7th (1923) Party Conferences of the Ukraine, the 6th Congress of the Communist Party (March 1922) and the 12th Party Conference of Byelorussia (1923), as well as the party organisations of other Soviet republics.
Particularly important in the struggle against national deviationists was the 4th Conference held between the CC RCP(B) and responsible officials from the national republics and districts (1923). The groups formed by the Tatar nationalists (Sultan Galiyev) and the Uzbek national deviationists were exposed at the conference. As was shown by material presented by the special Central Control Commission headed by V. V. Kuibyshev, the nationalist Sultan = Galiyev^^1^^ had the backing of members of the classes overthrown by the revolution, was connected with the imperialist intelligence services and was firmly opposed to Soviet = rule.^^2^^
The conference focused the attention of all the party organisations in the national republics and districts on the _-_-_
~^^1^^ Significantly, in recent years anti-communists have been trying to ``rehabilitate'' Sultan Galiyev and his group, depicting him, despite the fads, as the "true leader" of all the Moslem peoples in Russia.
~^^2^^ See The CPSU in the Resolutions. . ., Vol. 2, pp. 486--88.
237 task of promoting cadres from the proletarian and semiproletarian strata of the indigenous population and of strengthening the young communist organisations in the outlying areas, and on the practical implementation of the decisions on the national question taken by the 12th RCP(B) Congress.The decisions of this Congress and the 4th Conference were widely discussed in the republican and district party organisations and formed the basis for practical work in the localities.
Purging the party of casual and openly hostile elements was an important means of resisting nationalism and of strengthening the party organisations. A purge (on the basis of a decision of the 10th RCP(B) Congress) was carried out in all organisations, but it was particularly important in the party organisations of the outlying national areas. In July 1923 a Plenary Session of the CC of the Communist Party of Turkestan was held, and it adopted the detailed resolution "On Measures to Implement the Decisions of the 12th RCP(B) Congress and the 4th Conference on the National Question''. The Plenary Session decided to purge the party and Soviet apparatus once again of all nationalist elements (both greatpower and local nationalist), to intensify the work to train party, Soviet and economic officials from among the region's working people and to pay particular attention to introducing the local languages into clerical work. On the basis of these decisions, the republic's state apparatus was reorganised and its staff considerably reduced. At the same time, a special commission to recruit and train for party and Soviet work members of the working people from the indigenous nationalities recruited (between February and May 1924) 382 trainees and put on to the waiting list the names of 2,415 Uzbeks, Kirghiz and Turkmenians. 400 people signed on for courses to train as secretaries of volost executive committees. A check of the state of the Turkmenian district party organisation in 1923 showed that about 60 per cent of its membership were completely illiterate, and the education of a further 30 per cent had only reached the level of the most elementary groups. Having taken a number of measures to train cadres, the CC of the Communist Party of Turkestan put 43 officials at the disposal of the 238 Turkmenian district party committee. The party committees promoted over GO people to executive jobs, basically from the local, Turkmenian population.
In September 1923 the Secretariat of the RCP(B) Central Committee discussed the report of the Turkmenian area party committee. The CC pointed to the feeble nature of the work that had been carried out among the peasants and suggested that the patronage of urban party cells over rural ones should be intensified. The CC RCP(B) drew particular attention to the need to combat illiteracy and cultural backwardness. Concrete decisions on the realisation of the indications given by the 12th Party Congress and the 4th CC RCP(B) Conference on the national question were taken by the party organisations of the Union and autonomous republics (the Ukrainian, Byelorussian and Tatar republics, etc.).
The party's struggle against the nationalist deviations lasted throughout the period of the construction of socialism. It was particularly fierce during the period of socialist industrialisation and the collectivisation of agriculture. It will be recalled that the socialist offensive gave rise to furious resistance from capitalist elements and national deviationists. The exposure and defeat of the nationalists were organically linked with the party's struggle against the antiLeninist groups—the "new opposition'', the Trotsky-- Zinoviev bloc and the Bukharin-Rykov group of Right-wing capitulationists. The opportunists supported the national deviationists in the centre and in the outlying areas, and attempted to distort the party line over the national policy. Consequently, the most important condition for the successful struggle against great-power chauvinism and local nationalism was the defeat of all the Right and ``Left'' opportunist groupings within the party.
The overcoming of nationalist tendencies had its own particular features in each specific case. In Byelorussia, for instance, the struggle had to be waged against Byelorussian, Jewish and Polish bourgeois nationalists. They spread defeatist sentiments and opposed the general aim of socialist construction. Jewish nationalism was particularly deep-rooted in Byelorussia. A special letter from the CC of the CP of Byelorussia, "On Ridding Ourselves of the Non-Bolshevik Traditions Inherited from the Bund'', described the counter-- 239 revolutionary nature of that organisation and its Menshevism and nationalism. In the Ukraine the struggle against nationalism was connected with the exposure of D. Lebed's theory of the "two cultures'', which was based on an opposition seen between Russian and Ukrainian culture, and with refuting the chauvinist views of A. Shumsky and others.
Under the guidance of the CC of the All-Russia Communist Party (B), the republican party organisations resolutely rebuffed the opportunists and nationalists.
In addition to the uncompromising struggle waged against the various manifestations of nationalism and opportunism, the party organisations in the national republics and districts conducted a great deal of multifaceted work to educate the working people in the spirit of internationalism. This work took the form of widespread explanation of the principles underlying the Leninist national policy, the promotion of cadres from the local indigenous population for work in the party and state apparatus, the training of ideologically steeled cadres from among the working people, the creation of internationalist production collectives and the development of a culture that was socialist in content and national in form.
During the years covered by the first five-year plans the development of the country's economy and the distribution of financial resources were carried out in such a way as to ensure the forced growth of the previously backward national areas. Special measures were put into effect to recruit industrial manpower from the rural population, to settle the nomadic peoples, and so on. At the same time, in the centre and in the localities specialist cadres were being trained, the network of educational and scientific institutions was being expanded and the process of the rapid development and mutual enrichment of the cultures of the socialist nations was in full swing.
By consistently pursuing the Leninist national policy, the Communist Party continued to nip in the bud any manifestations of nationalism.
The 16th Party Congress (1930) provided a detailed description of both nationalist deviations, revealed their socioclass origins and urged the party organisations to fiercely resist all nationalist tendencies. The 17th CPSU(B) Congress 240 in 1934 instructed the party organisations to step up their efforts to educate the working people in the spirit of internationalism. The Congress laid down the principal task in the struggle against manifestations of bourgeois nationalism and observed that the greatest danger emanated from the deviation against which the struggle had slackened.
The economic and social causes that engendered bourgeois nationalist ideology were eradicated during the building of socialism. The victory of the socialist economic system, the abolition of the exploiter classes, the growth of the national working class and the expansion of its role in social life, the socialist transformation of the peasantry, the formation of a new, socialist intelligentsia, the levelling up of the social structure of all the socialist nations, and the enormous work conducted by the party in order to educate the working people in the spirit of internationalism paved the way for the development and consolidation of the peoples' friendship and the assertion and triumph of the ideology of socialist internationalism. In his report on the 50th anniversary of the USSR Leonid Brezhnev said: "It stands to the Party's credit that millions upon millions of Soviet men of every nation and nationality have adopted internationalism—once the ideal of a handful of Communists—as their deep conviction and standard of = behaviour."^^1^^
However, the victory of socialism in the USSR and the eradication of the social origins of bourgeois nationalist ideology do not automatically mean its complete disappearance.
Experience has shown that nationalist prejudices and the exaggerated or distorted manifestation of national feelings constitute an extremely tenacious phenomenon that remains deep-rooted in the psychology of politically immature people.
The roots of nationalist vestiges extend far back into the remote past, when the predominant classes artificially incited dislike and enmity between the peoples. Over an enormous period of time nationalist views have been handed down from generation to generation in some families and have _-_-_
~^^1^^ L. I. Brezhnev, = The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, p. 34.
241 become stereotyped reflexes. The negative inertia of such vestiges and their persistence are explained by the fact that they are readily understood as something that is perfectly natural. Lenin foresaw that it would be a lengthy process to overcome nationalist prejudices. He wrote: "These prejudices are bound to die out very slowly, for they can disappear only after imperialism and capitalism have disappeared in the advanced countries, and after the entire foundation of the backward countries' economic life has radically changed."^^1^^During the years of Soviet rule many formerly backward peoples have made a genuine leap forward from backwardness to progress in an unprecedentedly short period and have become developed socialist nations. These enormous successes have developed the peoples' sense of national pride. In itself, this phenomenon is completely natural and progressive. However, where there has been insufficient internationalist education this feeling of national pride may generate national exclusiveness, national self-conceit and a disdainful attitude towards the members of other peoples.
Then, of course, there is the influence of bourgeois ideology and the hostile intrigues of the numerous foundations and individuals specially engaged in the falsification of the CPSU's national policy. The 24th CPSU Congress pointed to the activation of bourgeois ideology in recent years and to the need to step up the struggle against it. The Congress emphasised that when falsifying the Leninist national policy, imperialist propaganda makes use of the most sophisticated devices and powerful technical means. All the instruments for affecting men's minds—the press, cinema and radio, which are controlled by the bourgeoisie—are mobilised for the purpose of misleading people and slandering socialism and the friendship of the peoples of the USSR. The air is saturated with all kinds of imagined rubbish about the lives of Soviet people. The incitement of nationalism and the encouragement and revival of nationalist vestiges constitute one of the principal directions of anti-communism in its struggle against socialism.
_-_-_~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 150.
__PRINTERS_P_241_COMMENT__ 16—0798 242It is well known that in the USA, the FRG, Britain and other large capitalist countries there are some 200 institutes, faculties and other ``scientific'' centres that specialise in falsifying the national policy of the CPSU and other Communist and Workers' Parties and in slandering the socialist system. Attached to these centres of modern anti-communism and working under their direct supervision are hundreds of various emigre organisations employing war criminals, traitors, members of the classes overthrown by the revolution and the reactionary clergy.
Nationalist survivals are closely associated with various kinds of revisionism and opportunism. The experience of the world emancipatory struggle shows that attempts to oppose national interests to internationalist ones, the rejection of concerted action and the exaggeration of national peculiarities and other manifestations of bourgeois nationalism are closely linked and generally constitute the foundation of opportunist errors and the gradual slide towards the positions of an alien class. The well-known events in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968 indicate that external and internal reaction feed parasitically on the national feelings of a sector of the population and do their utmost to inflate nationalist passions so as to use them for counter-- revolutionary purposes. All counter-revolutionary, revisionist and nationalist elements are united by their hatred of popular rule and revolutionary transformations, and by their urge to slander and distort the great gains of socialism and to undermine the friendship of the peoples of the socialist countries.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union is leading the struggle against the vestiges of nationalism in all its manifestations bearing in mind that the most dangerous are the ones that people stop fighting against.
The Communist Party teaches that patience and caution must be displayed in educative work, that there should be no undue haste and that attention must be focused on the basic point.
Adherence to principle and rigorous objectivity in the struggle against vestiges of bourgeois nationalism are also reflected in the tactical approach to the problems posed by the struggle. Lenin's instructions on the point have not lost 243 their aptness and relevance. Lenin taught that a Communist from the centre should test himself to see whether he took lull account of national specifics when struggling against these vestiges, while a local Communist should test himself to see whether he displayed the necessary vigilance in the struggle against nationalism and whether he was sufficiently concerned for the internationalist education of the working people in his republic or national area.
An enormous role in the communist education of the working people and in the elimination of all remnants of the bourgeois world outlook, including nationalism, belongs to party leadership. Internationalism is the content of the ideology of the party of the working class. It is organically linked with its organisational structure and with its practical activities.
The struggle against vestiges of bourgeois nationalism is of considerable importance during the process of the building of socialist and communist society. It is important to each nation individually and to the whole Soviet people. This was precisely Lenin's teaching. He demanded that ''. . .patient, persistent, stubborn and concerted effort foil the nationalist machinations of the bourgeoisie and vanquish nationalist prejudices of every kind, and set the working people of the world an example of a really solid alliance of the workers and peasants of different = nations. . .".^^1^^
The strengthening of the indestructible friendship between the peoples of the Soviet Union and the further consolidation of the powerful alliance between the equal nations that are now proceeding towards communism require constant consideration of both the general interests of the whole Union and the interests of each of the republics forming it. The combination of the national and the internationalist in all spheres of the life of the socialist nations, and the drive towards their further gradual drawing together and all-round advance call for relentless struggle against nationalist vestiges wherever they appear. As Leonid Brezhnev said at the 24th CPSU Congress, "the Party shall continue to educate all the working people in the spirit of socialist internationalism, intolerance of nationalism, chauvinism, national _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 30, p. 297.
__PRINTERS_P_243_COMMENT__ 16* 244 narrowness and conceit in any form, in a spirit of profound respect for all nations and = nationalities."^^1^^The CPSU views internationalist education as one of the central tasks of all party, Soviet, economic, cultural and public organisations. In the course of this education thorough use is made of the revolutionary, militant and labour traditions of the working class and of the working people in all republics, and deeper research is being conducted into significance of the processes of the advance and drawing together of the socialist nations, which favourably influence all spheres of the life of Soviet society.
_-_-_~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 92.
[245] __NUMERIC_LVL1__As has already been pointed out, socialist internationalism is a new, higher stage in the development of internationalism. It is the direct continuation and further development of proletarian internationalism, and it is a constituent and indissoluble part of the Marxist-Leninist theory of scientific communism. In Soviet literature the view has taken shape that internationalism passes through the following basic stages in its historical development.
The first stage covers the time from its appearance in the middle of the last century to the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution. During this period proletarian internationalism manifested itself in the mutual assistance and support of the working class and its party in the struggle against capitalism. The Marxist-Leninist ideas of internationalism are widespread among working people the world over and are becoming a banner in the struggle for emancipation from social and national oppression.
The second stage in the development of internationalism embraces the period from the October Revolution of 1917 to the victory of a popular democratic system in a number of European and Asian countries after the Second World War and the formation of the world system of socialism. The characteristic feature of this stage in the development of internationalism is the fact that the ideas of the friendship and brotherhood of peoples become the predominant ideology in the mutual relations between peoples, now freed from 248 exploitation, within the framework of a single multinational socialist state, as was described in greater detail in the previous chapters.
The third stage in the development of internationalism begins with the appearance of the world socialist system and continues into the present time. In the new historical conditions internationalism is advancing to a new stage. As at the second stage, it is socialist internationalism, and it has a number of characteristic features and traits.
With the appearance of the world system of socialism, internationalism becomes the predominant ideology not only within the socialist states, but also in the mutual relations between them. While remaining the most important principle in the international communist and working-class movement, in the policies of a socialist state and in the mutual relations between socialist nations, socialist internationalism also acts as the basis of the interstate relations of the socialist countries. Internationalism is becoming a broad and ubiquitous social practice in interstate relations. Socialist internationalism is characterised by the broad application of the ideas of internationalism not only in theory or revolutionary struggle, but also in the state, economic and cultural construction of the socialist states, in the legislative and day-to-day activity of Party, state and public organs and organisations, and in the life and work of the masses.
With the development and consolidation of world socialism, the geographical boundaries of socialist patriotism are expanding; it is transcending national frontiers, is involving many nations and nationalities, and is gradually approximating to internationalism within the framework of the whole socialist community.
The principles of socialist internationalism in the relations between the socialist states and nations are becoming internationally accepted legal norms. This is being juridically recorded in the treaties between the socialist states, in the legislative enactments of the socialist states, and in their joint declarations and communiques. Thus, the Declaration of the Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties of the socialist countries in 1957 states that "the socialist countries base their relations on principles of complete equality, respect for territorial integrity, state independence and 249 sovereignty and non-interference in one another's = affairs".^^1^^ The same idea is also emphasised in the 1960 Declaration of the Meeting of Communist and Workers' = Parties.^^2^^
The participants in the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties in 1969 also upheld the community of their position that the foundation for the development of the fraternal alliance between the socialist states and of the mutual relations between the fraternal parties was formed bv the principles of proletarian internationalism, solidarity and mutual assistance and support, respect for one another's independence and equality, sovereignty and noninterference in internal affairs. Strict observance of these principles is the necessary condition for the development of comradely co-operation between the fraternal parties, for the consolidation of the unitv of the communist movement and for the establishment of a new type of international = relations.^^3^^
The principles of socialist internationalism as the foundation for the mutual relations between socialist states are also mentioned in the bilateral treaties of friendship, co-- operation and mutual assistance, in the Charter of the CMEA, in the Fundamental Principles of the International Division of Labour, in the Comprehensive Programme for the Further Extension and Improvement of Co-operation and the Development of Socialist Economic Integration by the CMEA Member Countries and in other official international documents.
The principles of internationalism have been accorded juridical recognition in important legislative enactments by the socialist states. For instance, in the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bulgaria adopted in May 1971 " socialist internationalism" is listed among the "basic principles on which the political system of society is built and func- tions".^^4^^
_-_-_~^^1^^ = The Struggle for Peace, Democracy and Socialism, Moscow, 1963, p. 12.
~^^2^^ Ibid., p. 50.
~^^3^^ = See International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, pp. 22--23, 36--37.
~^^4^^ = See ``The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bulgaria'', Rabotnichesko Delo, May 9, 1971.
250In accordance with the principles of internationalism, new relationships—international relationships of a socialist type—are being established between the socialist states. The establishment of a qualitatively new type of interrelations between peoples is a lengthy, complicated, and contradictory process. It involves many objective and subjective difficulties and contradictions. However, as is pointed out in the 24th CPSU Congress Resolution, "despite some difficulties and complications, the strengthening of friendship and cohesion of the socialist countries has continued to be the predominant = tendency."^^1^^ The Resolution also points to the successful development and consolidation of the Soviet Union's co-operation with the fraternal states and refers to the CPSU's systematic and varied links with the Communist and Workers' Parties in the fraternal countries and to the substantial successes achieved in co-ordinating their foreign = policies.^^2^^ Rich collective experience in socialist construction, the solution of urgent social problems, and the defence of socialist gains has been accumulated. The unity and cohesion of the socialist countries on the principles of internationalism are of paramount importance in the present context of the bitter ideological struggle between socialism and imperialism, and Marxism-Leninism and bourgeois ideology. In order to successfully defend these principles as the basis for the socialist states' fraternal co-operation, it is necessary, in the first instance, to correctly interpret them. Consequently, an understanding of the essence and principles of socialist internationalism in present-day conditions is not only of scientific interest, but also has great practical significance. The importance of this is also explained by the fact that Marxist-Leninist ideas of internationalism have become so widespread and have acquired such enormous authority and attraction that it is now becoming increasingly difficult for opportunists and revisionists to openly oppose them, since this is foredoomed to failure. For this reason attempts are being made more and more frequently to struggle against Marxism-Leninism and socialist' internationalism under the cover of false oaths of loyalty to them.
_-_-_~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 211
~^^2^^ See ibid.
251All modern revisionists and nationalists pay lip-service to ``internationalism'', but only as they interpret it. They take internationalism to mean only ``equality'' or " coexistence'', ignoring its class essence.
Socialist internationalism is quite frequently regarded as being only an ideology. Yet it is perfectly obvious that the concept is not exhausted by ideology alone. The experience of world socialism has shown that socialist internationalism is also a matter of the policies and broad social practice that corresponds to this ideology. These policies and social practice are put into effect by the parties of the working class and, in socialist conditions, by state bodies and public, economic and other organisations. The policies and social practice embrace all spheres of state, economic, cultural and ideological activity. Experience has shown how important it is that these policies and social practice should correspond to the Marxist-Leninist ideology of internationalism and that the protestations of loyalty to MarxismLeninism and socialist internationalism should be supported by practical deeds aimed at consolidating the unity and cohesion of the socialist countries.
The practice of co-operation and mutual assistance between the socialist countries has also shown that internationalism involves the sphere of moral principles, psychology, feelings of fraternal solidarity, mutual trust and respect for one another on the part of people belonging to different nationalities. But it would be one-sided, imprecise and, consequently, incorrect to regard internationalism as just a feeling or as just a policy. Only an all-embracing approach to this complex and multifaceted phenomenon of social life enables it to be correctly understood and placed at the service of the great cause of the revolutionary transformation of society on the basis of communism for the sake of the progressive development of humanity. Nor can one ignore the fact that socialist internationalism is the scientific Marxist-Leninist ideology of the community of the interests and aims of the working class in its struggle for emancipation from social and national oppression and for the building of a new, socialist society; it is the policies and broad practice in state economic and cultural construction directed at the advance and drawing together of the peoples, and it 252 is also the moral principles and feelings of equality, mutual respect, fraternity and friendship between the peoples.
Internationalism is the ideology of the community of the interests of the working class. In socialist conditions the social base of internationalism is broadened. Nowadays the working peasantry, the intelligentsia and all working people in the socialist countries, not just the working class, are advancing under the banner of internationalism. At the same time, internationalism as an ideology was, and remains, the ideology of the working class—the most progressive and organised class in modern society.
In the socialist countries the working class has achieved political power. The social and political causes of national enmity have been eliminated there. On this basis the ideas of internationalist solidarity are taking root in the working masses and are becoming a great force in the struggle to build socialism and communism and to weld together the countries of the socialist community on the basis of the Marxist-Leninist principles of socialist internationalism.
From the accumulated experience of the mutual relations between the socialist states and from a study of the party documents of the world communist movement the following principles of socialist internationalism can be formulated:
1. Internationalist solidarity, unity and cohesion on the basis of Marxism-Leninism, comradely mutual assistance and support in the building of socialism and communism, and in the struggle against imperialism and reaction.
2. Respect for national and state sovereignty and independence.
3. Non-interference in the internal affairs of the socialist states and parties.
4. Voluntary participation, complete equality and equal responsibility in the discharging of internationalist duty.
5. The combination of patriotism and internationalism and national and international interests, and mutual benefit.
6. Respect for the national feelings and dignity of other peoples, the struggle against nationalism and chauvinism, and the upbringing of the working people of all nationalities in the spirit of socialist internationalism and mutual trust.
Just as important as the formulation of the principles of socialist internationalism is their correct scientific 253 interpretation. A bitter ideological struggle is proceeding around the interpretation of these principles. Revisionists are trying to distort their essence. Accordingly, it is necessary to examine at least a few of them. Moreover, it must be borne in mind that with the development of socialist society their content and essence also develop, are supplemented and become more precise. This is well illustrated by the development of the concept of sovereignty.
Sovereignty is the unlimited right of a people (nation or nationality) to decide its own destiny and to freely select its own social system, form of administration and its leaders. In the modern historical conditions of the transition from capitalism to socialism this means primarily the right of a people to build socialism and communism—the most just and humane society, providing all the working people with freedom from exploitation and oppression. National and state sovereignty also incorporates the right of a people to freely choose its allies and to enter voluntarily into alliances and amalgamations with other free peoples.
Those who wish to sunder the unity of the socialist states by "driving wedges" into their mutual relations endeavour to set up an opposition between the internationalist solidarity of the working people and national or state sovereignty, frequently calling for "complete autonomy" or " unlimited sovereignty".
Anarchist discussions of the question of "complete sovereignty" have nothing in common with the true interests of the peoples and their genuine sovereignty. The recent events in Croatia indicate where these ideas of "complete sovereignty" lead. A great deal of clamour about ``sovereignty'' accompanied the founding of the nationalist organisation "Matica Hrvatska'', of which Yugoslavia's President Tito said that "it has become a kind of parallel party, which is now very powerful. Anti-socialist organisations are springing up under its aegis and are opposing not only us and the leadership of Yugoslavia, but also the Yugoslav state as a whole. . .. They are not in favour of the present state, but in favour of some other, `Paveli\'c type' = state."^^1^^ Clearly, the idea was to use the "complete sovereignty" device to _-_-_
~^^1^^ Borba, December 3, 1971.
254 camouflage a resurgence of the puppet fascist state, totally dependent on nazi Germany, that had been rejected and destroyed by the people.As was shown at the December 1971 session of the Communist League Presidium, the ``fighters'' for ''complete sovereignty" can all be traced to the West, which is also the source of the ``inspirers'' of nationalist = demonstration.^^1^^
The working people of the socialist countries do not allow themselves to be deluded by talk of "complete sovereignty''. Under the guidance of their Marxist-Leninist parties, they firmly uphold the genuine national sovereignty that follows from the principle of socialist internationalism.
Similar anarchist calls for "complete autonomy" were ridiculed long ago by Frederick Engels. Exposing Bakunin's anarchist illusions, Engels wrote: "Every individual and every community is autonomous; but as to how a society of even only two people is possible unless each gives up some of his autonomy, Bakunin again maintains = silence."^^2^^ This point is also passed over in silence by the modern champions of "unlimited autonomy".
When resolving such questions, Marxists-Leninists are guided by the instructions of Lenin, who stressed the dialectical interrelation between the sovereignty of nations and their fraternal internationalist friendship. In his article "The Right of Nations to Self-Determination" Lenin resolutely championed the right of a nation to self-- determination up to and including secession and the formation of its own states. At the same time, he convincingly proved that this did not mean a call for disunity. "To accuse those who support freedom of self-determination, i.e., freedom to secede, of encouraging separatism, is as foolish and hypocritical as accusing those who advocate freedom of divorce of encouraging the destruction of family ties. . . .
"From their daily experience the masses know perfectly well the value of geographical and economic ties and the advantages of a big market and a big state. They will, therefore, resort to secession only when national oppression and _-_-_
~^^1^^ Borba, December 3, 1971.
~^^2^^ Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, = Selected Works in three volumes Vol.~II, Moscow, 1973, p. 426.
255 national friction make joint life absolutely intolerable and hinder any and all economic intercourse.. . ."The interests of the working class and of its struggle against capitalism demand complete solidarity and the closest unity of the workers of all nations; they demand resistance to the nationalist policy of the bourgeoisie of every nationality."^^1^^
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the fraternal parties of other socialist countries have made a considerable contribution to the further development of the correct understanding of the correlation between internationalist solidarity and national sovereignty.
Particularly important in modern circumstances is the class approach towards evaluating national and state sovereignty. For instance, a joint Soviet-Czechoslovak communique declares: "The Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia are unanimous in the class assessment of the sovereignty of the socialist state as an expression of the role of the working class and all the working people. . . . The class understanding of sovereignty includes both the inalienable right of each socialist state and each Communist Party to determine the forms and methods of socialist construction, and the direct duty to defend the role of the working class and the whole working people and their revolutionary socialist gains. In this sense, each Communist Party is answerable for its activities to the people of its own country and bears an internationalist responsibility to the countries of the socialist community and to the international communist and workingclass = movement."^^2^^
A Czechoslovak delegation declared that it "regards the all-embracing co-operation and close alliance of Czechoslovakia with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries in the struggle against their common enemy, imperialism, as the foundation for the true sovereignty of Czechoslovakia and as a guarantee of national independence and socialist development".^^3^^ To implement socialist internationalism in practice means to consider the sovereignty of each particular _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 20, pp. 422--24.
~^^2^^ Pravda, October 29, 1969.
~^^3^^ Ibid.
256 country, proceeding from the common interests of the world socialist system as a whole.The correct understanding of the principle of sovereignty and independence closely involves the principle of the complete equality of large and small peoples and states, voluntary co-operation and non-interference in each other s internal affairs. In the socialist community the equality of all large and small states and peoples is not only declared, but is also actually secured in all spheres of their life and activity. Lenin wrote: "No privileges for any nation or any one language! Not even the slightest degree of oppression or the slightest injustice in respect of a national minority—such are the principles of working-class = democracy."^^1^^
As a result of the implementation of Leninist principles of co-operation among socialist countries, considerable successes have been achieved in the levelling up of the economic, social and cultural development of the socialist countries. Economically developed countries render fraternal assistance to the backward peoples in order to enable them to bridge the gap and, in the shortest historical period of time, to reach the level of development of the economically advanced countries and peoples.
The all-round co-operation of the socialist countries proceeds through voluntary participation and equality, and does not involve the creation of supra-national bodies. The international organisations and bodies established by the socialist countries (the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, Warsaw Treaty Organisation, etc.) work on the basis of the equal representation of large and small countries.
Economic integration in the socialist countries involves observing the state sovereignty and complete independence of the party and state bodies of each particular country (for details see the next chapter). Socialist countries deal independently with their organisations' planning, cost-accounting and financial activities. Each country voluntarily takes on commitments involving its participation in joint action. At the same time, non-participation by some countries in certain measures envisaged in the Comprehensive Programme should not be an obstacle to joint co-operation by the interested _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 19, p. 92.
257 countries. Non-participation by some CMEA members in certain activities should not influence their co-operation in other fields.The experience of co-operation by socialist countries has demonstrated the outstanding importance of these provisions. The CMEA Charter demands that all important issues should be approved unanimously. Sometimes this has brought about difficulties in resolving certain urgent questions, since a number of countries were not prepared to participate in the actions required. The Comprehensive Programme has introduced a new concept: "interested countries''. This means that, while the principle of unanimity is used in resolving the most important questions, in dealing with more specific issues the approvement by the interested countries is essential. A CMEA member can at any moment declare that it is interested in a particular measure prescribed by the Comprehensive Programme (in which for some reason it had not participated earlier) on the conditions which must be agreed by the interested countries and the given country.
Strictly adhering to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, the socialist countries render each other fraternal assistance and support in the development of the economy and culture, the growth of the working people's welfare and the defence of socialist gains. Reactionary circles have not given up the policy of force and open intervention against the peoples struggling for their freedom. This being so, the peace and security of peoples can be maintained and preserved only through the power, cohesion and peaceful policy of the socialist community.
The well-known events in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968) confirm that it is communists' sacred duty to repulse any attempts by imperialist reaction and its puppets within a country to export counter-revolution.
Experience of modern social development prompted important propositions on the defence of the socialist community and the positions of world socialism. They were formulated in a joint letter addressed to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia by the Central Committees of the Communist and Workers' Parties of Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland and the Soviet __PRINTERS_P_257_COMMENT__ 17---0798 258 Union. These provisions were later unanimously approved by the congresses of the Marxist-Leninist parties of these countries. "Our parties and peoples,'' the letter says, "bear historical responsibility for the defence of the revolutionary gains achieved.
"Each of our parties is responsible not only to its own working class and its own people, but also to the international working class and international communist movement, and cannot ignore the obligations arising from this. That is why we must be guided by solidarity and cohesion in the defence of socialist gains, our security and the international positions of the socialist community as a = whole."^^1^^
This is a new and fundamentally important provision in the development of the theory and practice of world socialism. It reflects the further development of questions of the mutual relationships and mutual responsibility of the countries in the socialist community, which acts as a single and undivided force. All the members of the community must defend both every component of it and the community as a v/hole.
The peoples in the socialist countries have made great sacrifices to defeat nazism and to win freedom and independence and the opportunity to march on towards progress and socialism. The borders of the socialist world have shifted to the centre of Europe. The working people in the socialist countries cannot let these historical gains of socialism and the independence and security of the peoples of the socialist community be jeopardised. They cannot allow imperialism, in a peaceful or non-peaceful way, from within or from without, to breach the socialist system and change the balance of power in Europe in its favour.
The interests of peace, security and freedom call for the unity of socialist forces. The socialist countries are linked by treaties and agreements with each other. These mutual commitments of states and peoples are based on their common desire to defend socialism and guarantee the collective security of the socialist countries.
The correct understanding of the principle of combining national and internationalist interests and the correlation _-_-_
~^^1^^ Pravda, July 18, 1968.
259 of patriotism and internationalism are especially important in today's conditions. These questions are interpreted in different ways.Outwardly, patriotism and internationalism appear to be opposite forces. Patriotism means love for one's own land and for its people. On the other hand, socialist internationalism means unity and cohesion with all the peoples in the socialist community and with working people throughout the world.^^1^^
However, in a socialist context this difference is only apparent. In socialist society, patriotism and socialist internationalism are linked together in a deep organic unity. As socialism develops, this unity becomes more and more evident.
Under socialism, as mentioned above, basic national interests, correctly understood, coincide objectively with the internationalist interests of the socialist community as a whole. However, this does not mean that national and internationalist interests are completely identical. Alongside the joint interests of the socialist countries, every country has its own specific interests. This is stipulated by the specific nature of its historical path, the level of economic and cultural development, and so on.
One should not take a simplistic view and represent the situation as though, alongside national interests, there were also some special interests. Fundamental, general interests are manifested through specific national conditions. Under their influence, they vary and become concrete, assuming their national form. Socialism gives rise to the objective opportunity to organically combine the basic interests of particular countries, if correctly understood, with the internationalist interests of the socialist community as a whole. This is founded on the following objective and subjective prerequisites:
1) The community of the socio-economic and political systems in socialist countries. In these countries, the basic means _-_-_
~^^1^^ On the content and development of the concepts of ``patriotism'' and ``internationalism'' see for details: Communist Construction and Man's Spiritual World, Moscow, 1966, pp. 303--31; F. T. Konstantinov, The Development of Internationalism Through the Experience of the Socialist Community, Moscow, 1970 (both in Russian).
__PRINTERS_P_259_COMMENT__ 17* 260 of production arc publicly owned. Power belongs to the working class in alliance with all the working people, led by Communist and Workers' Parties, although this power, which is common in its class content, is exercised in different forms.2) The Marxist-Leninist theory of scientific communism and proletarian internationalism is the dominant ideology. It is creatively developed by the Communist and Workers' Parties of the socialist countries.
3) The socialist countries are united by common goals: the construction of socialism and communism and the struggle for peace and security.
4) All socialist countries have one common enemy— imperialism—which is seeking to enslave and oppress the world's peoples.
5) The tendency towards the wider internationalisation of social production and life is on the increase owing to the scientific and technological revolution and the development of the mass media and the mobility of the population.
On this basis, the growth of patriotism and its fusion with socialist internationalism take place. Under socialism, the achievements of a working man are the achievements of a whole collective, the country and the whole community. That is why concern for progress and for the economic and cultural flourishing of each socialist nation and country is, at the same time, concern for the socialist community as a whole.
The greater the achievements of each particular socialist country, the larger is its specific contribution towards strengthening the world socialist system and the world's progressive, anti-imperialist forces, and towards accelerating the transition from capitalism to communism. By the same token, the failure to carry out obligations to one's own people causes harm to socialism and internationalism.
On the basis of these socio-economic and political factors, brought about by the socialist system, and as a result of the internationalisation of production caused by today's scientific and technological progress, important changes are taking place in national psychology. As tourism, communications and the mass media develop, man's horizons and outlook expand.
261Consistent socialist internationalism and true patriotism, far from being mutually exclusive, are inconceivable without each other. The only real patriots and internationalists are those who fight for the freedom and independence of their people and who support the struggle of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries in order to secure and strengthen peace. Hence, patriotism and socialist internationalism are inseparable.
While combining with socialist patriotism, socialist internationalism opposes bourgeois nationalism and cosmopolitanism, whose adherents try to pose as patriots or internationalists.
Nationalism and cosmopolitanism are a bourgeois ideology and a means of social and national oppression of the working masses. In outward appearance, they are opposite ideological trends. However, they are essentially identical in that they serve the interests of the bourgeoisie.
Capitalism, which by its nature seeks to transcend the boundaries of one state and penetrate into other countries, is a powerful factor undermining the idea of the nation and the fatherland which it itself formerly exalted. That is why, during the transition to the monopoly stage of development, rich international cartels which do not have enough room within the framework of their own states try to replace patriotism with cosmopolitanism—the ideology which is in line with their expansionist intentions.
The organic combination of national and internationalist interests and of patriotism and internationalism enables the socialist countries to build their economic relations on the basis of mutual benefit, fraternal mutual assistance and support. The experience of relationships between the socialist countries proves that any attempts to derive advantage for one country to the detriment of another socialist country and, consequently, of the socialist community as a whole, will ultimately damage that country.
This being so, one should remember the approach to the question of assistance to Bulgaria, which was adopted by that great Bulgarian patriot and convinced internationalist Georgi Dimitrov. Whenever asking the Soviet Government for assistance, he first enquired whether this request might hinder socialist construction in the USSR. When receiving 262 assistance from the Soviet Union, Dimitrov noted, we must be concerned not only for our own country, but also for the socialist community as a whole, and primarily for the USSR and its power, for this ultimately determines the fate and security of all the socialist countries.
Co-operation between the socialist states is based on the sincere desire to achieve a common upsurge. As the criterion of their contribution to the struggle for the international victory of socialism, some people only consider the domestic successes of their own countries, ignoring internationalist needs and the necessity for concerted action by all the socialist countries. Such a position cannot be regarded as consistently internationalist.
The attempts to pursue the policy of "national Marxism and socialism'', which is isolated from the socialist community, have nothing in common with the truly national and internationalist interests of the peoples of the socialist countries. Such attempts in the end can only cause harm to one's own country. One cannot separate the principles of internationalism and apply only a principle which is advantageous in a particular situation—a trick quite often practised by the falsifiers of internationalism.
Petty-bourgeois revolutionaries and revisionists interpret socialist internationalism one-sidedly, as only the preservation of sovereignty, equality and non-interference in internal affairs, and ignore the necessity for unity and cohesion, mutual assistance, friendly support and fraternal co-- operation between the socialist countries. Socialist internationalism is thus reduced to general democratic slogans and calls for non-interference, equality and sovereignty. Of course, as was mentioned above, socialist internationalism does not ignore these general democratic demands. On the contrary, it completely supports them and raises them to a new level. In a socialist context these slogans are implemented, not just declared, and become a real law of daily life.
However, socialist internationalism is not exhausted by this alone. Fraternal mutual assistance, comradely support, close co-operation in economics, politics, ideology and the defence of the socialist states and thorough observance of equality and respect for national sovereignty are one of the major principles. All these elements are inseparable for a 263 correct understanding of socialist internationalism. Such an understanding of socialist internationalism and of its basic principles is directed towards the implementation of the great goal—the advance of every socialist country and the strengthening of the unity and cohesion of the socialist states.
The correct understanding of the content and principles of socialist internationalism is closelv linked with the definition of its criteria and with the fulfilment of internationalist duty. The dialectical unity of the inward and outward aspects of internationalist duty and of the criterion of internationalism is expressed best of all in Lenin's formula: to do "the utmost possible in one country for the development, support and awakening of the revolution in all countries."^^1^^ In the modern context of the socialist countries this demand of Lenin's means doing one's best for the successes of socialist construction in one's own country, promoting in every possible way the victories of socialism in the fraternal socialist countries, strengthening the unity and cohesion of the socialist states and supporting the world revolutionary national liberation movement against imperialism, for peace and socialism.
Today, one's attitude towards the socialist community and the USSR—the bulwark and the main nillar of world socialism—is the hig-hest form of the manifestation of internationalism and its principal criterion. Consistent internationalists ave those who support the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries, and who together with them, fight for peace and security and against imperialist aggression. The ardent patriot and consistent internationalist Georgi Dimitrov wrote in 1937 that "there is, and can be, no more correct criterion than one's attitude to the Soviet Union, in defining who is a friend and who is an enemy of the working class and socialism, who is a supporter and who is an opponent of democracy and peace. One's attitude to the great country of socialism is a touchstone when examining" the sincerity and honesty of every activist in the working-class movement, every workers' party and working people's organisation, and every democrat in the capitalist = countries."^^2^^
_-_-_~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 28, p. 292.
~^^2^^ G.~Dimitrov, Works, Vol. 10, Sofia. 1954, p. 392 (in Bulgarian).
264These words of the great revolutionary fighter have remained completely in force up to our time. The new Programme of the Bulgarian Communist Party, adopted in April 1971, says that "the definition given by Georgi Dimitrov in the mid-1930s of the attitude towards the CPSU and the Soviet Union as being the touchstone of proletarian internationalism and of the truly revolutionary character of the political movement, party and activist, is becoming even more important and powerful = today".^^1^^ The same position is adopted by other Marxist-Leninist parties. In a speech delivered to the delegates of the Sixth Congress of the Polish United Workers' Party, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Erich Honecker declared: "We completely agree with your Party, considering the attitude to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the attitude to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics—the country of the builders of communism and the pioneers of human progress—as the touchstone of one's adherence to the ideas of = Marxism-Leninism."^^2^^
In the modern context the Soviet Union and the socialist community as a whole form a solid bulwark of world peace and socialism. That is why all-round support to the socialist community is an internationalist duty of working people throughout the world and is the highest manifestation of internationalism. "The defence of socialism is an internationalist duty of Communists,'' says the Final Document of the 1969 International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties.^^3^^
The community of the socialist countries is a practical implementation of the ideas and principles of socialist internationalism. The world socialist community was generated by internationalist solidarity and is the main achievement of the international working class. That is why concern for gradually expanding and strengthening the socialist community and for transforming it into a single all-- embracing system is the highest internationalist duty of the communists and working people in all socialist countries and of _-_-_
~^^1^^ "The Programme of the Bulgarian Communist Party'', = Rabotnichesko Delo, April 29, 1971 (in Bulgarian).
~^^2^^ Trybuna Ludu, December 8, 1971.
^^3^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 23.
265 progressive forces throughout the world. The strengthening of world socialism is in the vital interests of the socialist countries and of humanity as a whole.The relationships of friendship and co-operation which have taken shape between the socialist countries are relationships between free peoples who have overthrown oppression and exploitation and have chosen the path of socialist development. They are relationships of the highest, socialist type. The establishment of fundamentally new, socialist relations between states is not an accidental but a law-governed phenomenon which has solid socio-economic and ideological foundations and deep historical roots.
The Statement of the 1960 Meeting of Representatives of the Communist and Workers' Parties defines the world socialist system as "a social, economic and political community of free and sovereign peoples united by the close bonds of international socialist solidarity, by common interests and objectives, and following the path of socialism and commu- nism".^^1^^
The world socialist system is not a temporary grouping or a military-political bloc, as bourgeois propagandists seek to depict it, but a qualitatively new stage in the development of society. The world socialist system comprises a number of sovereign, independent socialist states and each of them has its own national economy, which is an independent component of the single world socialist economy that is taking shape today.
In addition to the notion of "the world socialist system'', there is also the concept of "the socialist community".
In our opinion, the "socialist community" expresses more precisely the essence of the relationships between the socialist states as relationships of a new, socialist type. This idea is conveyed in a number of important documents: the Programme of the CPSU, the Declaration, Statement and Final Document of the 1969 International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, and the multilateral and bilateral treaties between the socialist states.
Defining the socialist community as a great common achievement, Leonid Brezhnev declared at a meeting in _-_-_
~^^1^^ The Struggle for Peace, Democracy and Socialism, p. 50.
266Prague on February 23, 1973: "The close, voluntary solidarity of sovereign, independent states in the name of socialism and communism, profound respect for one another, complete equality and fraternal mutual assistance—that is what our community means!
"The broadest co-operation in all spheres of politics, economics and culture in the interests of each fraternal country and of the cause of socialism as a whole—that is what our community means!
"Unity in the struggle against imperialism, a firm rebuff to the policy of aggression, and solidarity with all who champion the cause of freedom, independence and social progress—that is what our community = means!"^^1^^
The strengthening of the world socialist community largely depends on how aptly it utilises the tremendous opportunities which are presented by the economies and political system of the socialist states and by the Marxist-Leninist ideology.
During the postwar years, the socialist community gradualy took shape, strengthened and stabilised in spile of considerable difficulties and contradictions. Fraternal co-operation was improved and perfected, and corresponding bodies appeared.
At the same time, the socialist community has provided true equality and independence for every one of its members. These states, guided by the principles of complete equality, mutual benefit and comradely mutual assistance, are perfecting their economic, political and cultural co-operation. This accords with the interests of the masses of each particular socialist country and of the community as a whole.
The development of human society and the vast experience accumulated by the masses in their struggle for social and national emancipation convince the working people of the necessity for closer cohesion between peoples in the process of socialist construction. This is demanded by the interests of the rapid development of productive forces and the tasks of the successful implementation of the scientific and technological revolution, the defence of socialist gains and victory in the historic competition between socialism and capitalism.
The fraternal co-operation between the socialist countries _-_-_
~^^1^^ Pravda. February 24, 1973.
267 in the process of joint socialist and communist construction leads naturally to the increasing cohesion of the peoples in these countries, to socialist economic integration and to the establishment of a new internationalist community of peoples within the framework of the socialist = community.^^1^^ The Programme of the CPSU says: "The establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and, later, of the world socialist system is the commencement of the historical process of all-round association of the = peoples."^^2^^ This natural desire of the masses in the socialist countries to draw closer together is based on objective historical processes.The historical experience of the relationships between different peoples and states shows that ideological unity or the more or less durable coincidence of the political ends of two or more peoples are still insufficient for lasting and solid cooperation. In order to be solid, the co-operation of states should also be based on mutually beneficial economic cooperation. The economy of one country should harmonise with the economy of the other, thus promoting the development of productive forces and the progress of human development.
The interests of accelerating scientific and technological progress also call for the further cohesion of the socialist countries and the consistent implementation of socialist integration. Practical measures in the field of co-operation and specialisation of industrial and agricultural production have already been outlined by the socialist countries in accordance with this objective law. With due regard for the interests and opportunities of each particular country, the basic branches of the economy or the specialised enterprises which are to be developed in each socialist state belonging to the CMEA are determined.
_-_-_~^^1^^ The earliest forms of communities in history are known to be the clan, the tribe and tribal alliances. Nationalities and nations emerged at certain stages in social development. A new internationalist community of people—the Soviet people—has emerged in the Soviet Union. Nowadays, in our opinion, we are witnessing the beginning of the formation of a new, broader ideological and political community of peoples within the socialist community. This is a comprehensive and intricate process, but it has begun and is forging ahead.
~^^2^^ = Programme of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Moscow, 1961, p. 23.
268The growing cohesion of the socialist countries is taking place through the dialectical unity of two interconnected tendencies, On the one hand, in each particular socialist country the material and technical basis of socialism and communism is being constructed, the economy is developing and its sovereignty is strengthening. On the other hand, at the same time the socialist states are drawing closer together; in the course of fraternal co-operation and mutual assistance, through the co-ordination of economic plans and deepening specialisation and co-operation of production, the process of socialist economic integration is taking place and the foundations of the future world communist economy are being laid.
In their development, the productive forces of the socialist states leave the national boundaries of one country and gradually become internationalist within the framework of the socialist community. This calls for closer relationships between the socialist states and for the further development of socialist integration.
In the context of the socialist community, the opportunities presented by the new social system come to light more readily than in just one socialist state. Nowadays, the socialist social system rests upon the resources and creative activities of the masses of the socialist community as a whole. The world socialist system possesses all the necessary prerequisites and opportunities to defeat the world capitalist system in economic competition and become the one all-- embracing system. This is substantiated by the objective laws of the development of society.
As a result of the victory of socialism in economics, socialist economic laws operate not only within a single country, but also in the relationships between the sociali.it states. That is why in the relations between these states, in spite of certain complications, there can be no irreconcilable contradictions between the tendencies of economic unification and the interests of particular national states, which are characteristic of the capitalist countries. The progressive tendency towards the economic cohesion of peoples for the first time in history has received the opportunity to develop in the interests of all peoples and the further growth of productive forces in the relations of the socialist states.
269Of course, the co-operation of the socialist states is experiencing certain difficulties; they can be explained by historical features, the heritage of the past, and also by the unequal starting point of the economic development of different countries, the weak spots of the economies of some countries, which have not been overcome completely, the different levels of prices, tariffs and wages, and so on.
The Communist and Workers' Parties of the socialist states have condemned the attempts to create all the heavy industries in their countries without due regard for natural conditions and economic opportunities. As a result of these attempts and of miscalculations in economic planning, a number of these countries used to set unrealistic targets for construction in heavy industry and start some construction work without due economic consideration.
Besides these objective and subjective factors, the lack of necessary experience in relations between socialist states adversely affected the situation. The legal foundations and the protocol for relationships were not sufficiently worked out, there was a shortage of skilled and experienced personnel to develop practical contacts between the states, and so on.
The attempts by elements hostile to socialism to exaggerate these shortcomings testify only to the ill-meaning character of this propaganda. "The establishment and development of a union of free peoples is a difficult and lengthy process. It is made hard enough by the fact that completely new and unprecedented paths of interstate relations are being blazed. Also by the fact that we are having to overcome a fair amount of various vestiges, remaining in people's consciousness, inherited from the overthrown exploiter = system."^^1^^
The subversive activities of the imperialist powers and the divisive activities of various nationalist elements do great harm to the fraternal co-operation between the socialist countries and their inevitable cohesion in the course of socialist construction. Imperialists and their accomplices spare no effort to destroy the fraternal friendship and co-operation of the socialist states.
Lenin warned that "it is in the interest of capital to destroy its enemy (the revolutionary proletariat) bit by = bit. . . ."^^2^^
_-_-_~^^1^^ Pravda, December 4, 1964.
~^^2^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 27, p. 333.
270This warning of Lenin's has retained its topicality up to our days. The forces of socialism have grown to such an extent that imperialist reaction is unable to defeat them in an open struggle. For this reason, imperialists pin their hopes on nationalism and revisionism, seeking to undermine the unity of the socialist states and the world communist movement. Imperialist ideologists openly admit: "Every Western government favors a 'policy of movement' in Eastern Europe, a policy which implies the encouragement of East European = polycentrism. . . ."^^1^^
Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote: "Whenever a country increases the scope of its external independence from Soviet control, it should be rewarded. .. and similarly whenever an opposite trend develops, the United States should be prepared to discontinue its = assistance. . . ."^^2^^
The 24th Congress of the CPSU and the congresses of the fraternal Communist and Workers' Parties of Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Czechoslovakia, Mongolia and Poland have paid serious attention to the unity and cohesion of the socialist countries. The Report delivered to the 24th Congress of the CPSU stresses: "The CC's attention has been constantly centered on questions of further cohesion and development of the world socialist system, and relations with the fraternal socialist countries and their Communist = Parties."^^3^^
The co-operation with the Communist and Workers' Parties of the fraternal countries "has enabled us jointly to work on the fundamental problems of socialist and communist construction, to find the most rational forms of economic relations, collectively to lay down a common line in foreign affairs, and to exchange opinion on questions relating to the work in sphere of ideology and culture.
"The period under review was marked by important successes in co-ordinating the foreign-policy activity of the fraternal parties and states. The most important international problems and events in this period were considered _-_-_
~^^1^^ East Europe in Transition, Baltimore, 1966, p. 327.
~^^2^^ Z.~Brzezinski, Alternative to Partition, p. 54.
~^^3^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 9.
271 collectively by the representatives of socialist countries on various = levels".^^1^^The events in the People's Republic of China give rise to serious concern on the part of Communists in the Soviet Union and the other socialist states. The Chinese leaders have advanced their own ideological and political platform in regard to the basic questions of international affairs and the world communist movement, a platform which is incompatible with Leninism. Showing restraint and yielding to no provocations, the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Soviet Government have been doing their utmost to normalise relationships with the Chinese People's Republic. Denouncing the slanderous fabrications of Peking's propaganda about the policy of the Soviet Government and the Party, the CPSU "stands for normalisation of relations between the USSR and the PRC, and restoration of good-neighbourliness and friendship between the Soviet and the Chinese peoples. Improvement of relations between the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China would meet the vital, long-term interests of both countries, the interests of world socialism, the interests of intensifying the struggle against = imperialism."^^2^^
The report delivered at the Ceremonial Meeting devoted to the 50th Anniversary of the formation of the USSR and the reports delivered at other meetings express the firm belief that the objective interests of the peoples of the USSR and the PRC, and the laws of history will ultimately prevail over the subjective political distortions of Mao's group and that Soviet-Chinese friendship will be restored.
The development of co-operation between the socialist states has also raised the question of the military assistance to be provided by the countries of the socialist community to a state in which, for some reason, the socialist gains are threatened by internal counter-revolution and imperialist reaction. Proceeding from these principles, the socialist states provided such assistance to the Czechoslovak people in 1968.
The document of the Central Committee of the CPC entitled "The Lessons of the Crisis" says: "The entry into _-_-_
~^^1^^ Ibid., pp. 10--11.
~^^2^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, pp. 212--13.
272 Czechoslovakia of the allied forces of the five socialist states was an act of internationalist solidarity, which accorded both with the common interests of the Czechoslovak working people and with the interests of the international working class, the socialist community and the class interests of the international communist movement. This internationalist act saved the lives of thousands of people, ensured internal and external conditions for peaceful labour, consolidated the western borders of the socialist camp and destroyed the hopes of imperialist circles to revise the results of the Second World War."The Communists of Czechoslovakia have successfully withstood the severe trials. The 14th Congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was a further important stage on the road of strengthening the positions of socialism in Czechoslovakia.
The 24th Congress of the CPSU mapped out the route for further consolidating the socialist community. It stressed the necessity to comprehensively perfect and develop the economic, scientific and technological ties of the Soviet Union and the other socialist states in order to further strengthen the socialist community and consistently develop the economic integration of the CMEA countries, and to develop comprehensive forms of co-operation between the socialist countries covering material production, science, technology and foreign trade.
The report on "The 50th Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" once again declared that the CPSU and the Soviet state regarded the strengthening and development of the world socialist system as their main task, and that in the present context the necessity for the cohesion and close co-operation between the socialist countries had grown. Leonid Brezhnev stressed: "Moreover, we require unity, cohesion and co-operation in order to safeguard and consolidate the peace, so vital for all the peoples, as successfully as possible, to carry forward the international detente, and to effectively repulse all aggressive sallies of the imperialists, all attempts to impinge on the interests of = socialism."^^1^^
_-_-_~^^1^^ L. I. Brezhnev, = The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, p. 43.
273 __NUMERIC_LVL2__The constant development of economic ties and the division of labour between the socialist countries, the perfecting of organisational forms of mutual co-operation in the economic sphere and the consistent observance in economic relations of the principles of socialist internationalism are vital factors in the development and drawing together of the national economies of these countries.
The steady growth of productive forces in the CMEA member countries and the successful implementation of economic reforms have enabled these countries to proceed to a new stage in the development of mutual economic ties—the stage of socialist international economic integration. The broadening and extension of this integration are a characteristic feature of the present stage in the development of the world socialist economy.
The constant improvement of the economic co-operation between the fraternal countries, at the basis of which are the principles of socialist internationalism, is carried out in the interests of each of these countries and of the socialist community as a whole.
The Comprehensive Programme for the Further Extension and Improvement of Co-operation and the Development of Socialist Economic Integration by the CMEA Member-- Countries was adopted at the 25th CMEA Session in 1971. It is planned to be implemented by stages in the course of 15--20 years. Socialist economic integration is a vast force for the construction of a new society.
The Programme determines the concrete path to be pursued and the time scale for the joint solution of the major economic problems. They include, for example, the provision of the national economies with fuel and raw materials and technically more sophisticated equipment, as well as the more complete satisfaction of the population's demands for goods.
__PRINTERS_P_259_COMMENT__ 18---0798 274The Programme is comprehensive in that it embraces all aspects of economic activity and caters for the co-operation of the CMEA member countries' efforts at all stages of material production—from co-operation in forecasting, through the co-ordination of economic plans and the oigamsation of joint scientific and technical research, to co-operation, specialisation in production and marketing. The Programme is a complex of economic and organisational measures founded on the firm and stable international socialist division of labour. It regards integration as an objective historical process in the development of world socialism.
The Communique of the 25th CMEA Session stated that "the participants in the Session proceed from the assumption that the extension and improvement of economic, scientific and technoiogical co-operation and the development of socialist economic integration is a process of the international socialist division of labour, the drawing closer of the economies and the formation of a modern, higtily effective structure of national economies, the gradual drawing closer and evening out of their economic development levels, the formation of deep and stable links in the key branches of the economy, science and technology, the expansion and consolidation on that basis of the international market ol these countries, and the improvement of commodity-money relations —this process being regulated by the Communist and Workers' Parties and the governments of the CMEA member countries purposefully and according to = plan."^^1^^
This stipulation is recorded in the Comprehensive Programme = itself.^^2^^ The implementation of the Comprehensive Programme is of great political and economic importance for the socio-economic progress of each country, the further cohesion of the CMEA countries and the intensification of the impact of the socialist community on world development.
The economic integration of the CMEA countries is an objective process that is regulated by the Communist and Workers Parties and the governments of the socialist countries according to plan. This constitutes its fundamental difference _-_-_
~^^1^^ Pravda, July 30, 1971.
~^^2^^ = Comprehensive Programme for the Further Extension and Improvement of Socialist Economic Integration by the CMEA Member Countries, Moscow, 1971, p. 9.
275 from the process of international capitalist integration. It differs from capitalist integration in the nature of its aims and in the mechanism of its development.The Communist and Workers' Parties and the governments of the CMEA countries are developing socialist economic integration in order to implement the key socio-economic tasks of their countries, with greater success to bring about a further rise in their productive forces, to attain the highest scientific and technological level, to advance the people's welfare and to strengthen the defence capability of the CMEA countries.
The development of socialist integration is based on the principles of socialist internationalism, respect for state sovereignty, independence and national interests, non-- interference in the countries' internal affairs, full equality and mutual benefit. Socialist internationalism in economic relations between the fraternal countries is expressed in the implementation of such inter-related principles as unity, comradely mutual assistance, the organic combination of the socialist countries' national, and common, internationalist interests, and the maximal contribution that each of these countries can be expected to make to their joint efforts to develop the world socialist system. Historical experience has fully upheld the viability of these principles.
We shall now examine some of the most graphic examples of the consistent implementation of several of these principles of socialist internationalism in the economic relations between the fraternal countries.
The comradely mutual assistance between the socialist countries, including the selfless and all-round help provided by the industrially more developed countries to their less developed companions is an important principle of socialist internationalism. The socialist countries are always ready to provide one another with direct or indirect assistance both on a reciprocal basis and unilaterally (on favourable terms or gratuitously). Thus, each socialist country can count on the assistance of other socialist states. In the socialist world the forms of international economic co-operation are simultaneously those of mutual assistance.
This assistance can take the following organisational forms: the joint building and exploitation of industrial and other __PRINTERS_P_275_COMMENT__ 18* 276 projects through participation by financial, material and technical means and by manpower; the rendering of assistance in reaching the designed capacity and attaining the planned technical and economic indices for the performance of the enterprises built with the assistance of other fraternal countries, the provision of various credits on favourable terms as regards the granting and repayment; the application, in necessary cases, of stimulatory foreign trade prices; the offering of effective assistance in developing science and technology; maximal help in training national skilled personnel and the provision of specialists; and gratuitous assistance.
The question of stimulating the accelerated growth and raising the efficiency of the economy of the Mongolian People's Republic features prominently in the Comprehensive Programme. The creation of an optimal complex in the economy of the Mongolian People's Republic calls for considerable investments and assistance on the part of the CMEA member countries.
Considering the economic position of Mongolia and the specific problems associated with this, the CMEA countries will, on multilateral or bilateral basis, co-ordinate and devise special measures to accelerate the development and raise the efficiency of the economy of the MPR, taking account of her natural and economic conditions, and also to further extend and improve co-operation and the development of socialist economic integration. The Comprehensive Programme envisages the rendering by some countries to the Mongolian People's Republic, in cases co-ordinated with her, of assistance not subject to repayment.
Great assistance is also being received from the Soviet Union and other CMEA countries by the Republic of Cuba, which was accepted as a member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance in 1972. At the 26th CMEA Session the head of the Cuban delegation, Carlos Rafael Rodriguez, a member of the Secretariat of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and a minister in the Revolutionary Government, declared that "Cuba's successes are indissolubly linked with the enormous assistance that Cuba is receiving from fraternal socialist countries and that today it is impossible to imagine the development of the Cuban economy without the close economic co-operation with the CMEA countries and 277 without Cuba's attachment to the process of socialist integration."^^1^^
The specific features of the economy and geographical position of the Republic of Cuba are also taken into account when implementing the Comprehensive Programme of socialist integration. Cuba's participation in this integration furthers the consolidation of the unity and cohesion of the socialist community.
The CMEA countries are also providing necessary assistance to socialist countries that are not as yet participating in the international isocialist economic integration. The Soviet Union and other socialist countries are providing disinterested and substantial assistance to the heroic Vietnamese people, for example, so that they can eliminate the consequences of many years of imperialist aggression and build socialism. Support for Vietnam is the internationalist duty and the common cause of all socialist countries.
Close co-operation with the GMEA countries is important for the creation of the material and technical base of socialism in the Korean People's Democratic Republic and Yugoslavia.
The basis of international socialist economic assistance is formed by solidarity, a common aim and the desire to help one's friends to achieve the greatest successes in the development of their national economy and to speed up the victory of all the world's socialist countries in peaceful economic competition with the industrially developed capitalist countries. Thus, deliveries of equipment and raw materials on credit as technical assistance or commodity exchange from the USSR have been, and still are, one of the decisive factors in accelerating the growth rates of production and are an important external source of socialist industrialisation in other fraternal countries. Deliveries of equipment and materials for complete plants from the USSR to the socialist countries as technical assistance for the building of key economic installations increased from 21 million rubles in 1950 to 490 million rubles in 1970. These deliveries have also been expanding in recent years. They are furthering the development in the CMEA countries of the electronics, chemical, oil-processing _-_-_
~^^1^^ Pravda, July 12. 1972.
278 and power industries, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy and other sectors of the economy.The credits supplied by some socialist countries to others on favourable and mutually beneficial terms are one of the forms of economic mutual assistance, and, primarily, of the assistance by the more developed countries to the industrially less developed ones.
One of the important organisational forms of the close economic co-operation and mutual assistance between the fraternal countries is the provision of technical assistance to one another for building major economic installations. True to its internationalist duty, the USSR is providing the socialist states with broad economic and technical assistance for the development of their national economies. Between 1966 and 1970 over 300 industrial and agricultural installations were built or modernised in the socialist countries wish the technical assistance of the Soviet Union.
In turn, the CMEA countries are providing technical assistance to the Soviet Union so that it can develop individual sectors of its economy. For example, between 1966 and 1970 the USSR received equipment for several dozen chemical factories from the CMEA countries.
Mutual assistance between the socialist countries is also manifested in the joint agreeing and establishing of the mutually beneficial prices that are used in trade between them.
The principle of mutual assistance is also vividly reflected in the sphere of scientific and technological co-operation between the socialist countries.
Like the other principles of socialist internationalism, mutual assistance is extremely manifest in the activities of that international economic organisation of a new, socialist type— the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. This principle is directly reflected in the very name of the organisation. By its nature, principles and aims the CMEA differs radically from that international capitalist organisation—the European Economic Community.
The development of international socialist economic integration presupposes the further enhancement of the role and authority of the CMEA, which in its practical activities will take all the necessary steps to implement the Comprehensive 279 Programme of this integration. The desire of the CMEA countries for international economic unity is in full accord with socialist internationalism.
The unity, solidarity and mutual assistance of the socialist countries presuppose complete mutual trust between them. This plavs an important part in the constant expansion of their economic ties and the rational division of labour between the socialist states, as well as their economic drawing together in general, and in the consolidation of the world socialist svs-tem. Speaking at the 24th CPSU Congress, Janos Kadar stressed: "We regard the mutual trust, fraternal friendship and co-operation that weld the Hungarian People's Republic solidly to the Soviet Union and the other allied states as the main guarantee of the national independence, peace and socialist future of the Hungarian = people."^^1^^
The imperialist bourgeoisie is trying to depict the relations between the socialist countries in a false li.arht, to incite nationalism, to sow mistrust and suspicion, and to drive wedges between them, particularly between the USSR and the other socialist countries. With the improvement and development of economic relations between the socialist states, complete mutual trust is being achieved between the peoples of these countries. It is fostered by the planned economv, the public, socialist ownership of the basic means of production, and the joint planned regulation of the objective economic ties between the countries through the improvement of various organisational forms of co-operation and through the conclusion and timely realisation of international economic treaties and agreements.
This purpose is also served by the conference of representatives of the CMEA countries that was held in December 1969 in order to promote improvements in the legal principles governing mutual economic, scientific and technological co-operation through the study and consistent solution of the legal problems posed by this co-operation.
Legally speaking, the mutual trust between the CMEA countries is fostered by the appropriate stipulations of the Comprehensive Programme. One of the principal tasks in improving the legal basis of their economic, scientific and _-_-_
~^^1^^ = 24th Congress of the CPSU, Verbatim Report, Vol. I, p. 285 (in Russian).
280 technological co-operation is considered by the CMEA countries to be the development of common legal procedures that will ensure the most favourable legal conditions for extending and improving their co-operation and for developing socialist economic integration; in particular, this will mean raising the material responsibility of the parties involved for failing to discharge or improperly discharging the commitments they have accepted.Common legal norms and conditions are established through the countries concluding appropriate agreements or through their acceptance of recommendations made by CMEA bodies. A great deal of positive experience has been accumulated in this field. For instance, it was in order to promote mutual trust in economic relations between individual socialist countries that proposals were made and approved in May 1967 by the CMEA Executive Committee concerning effective measures to improve the work on specialisation and co-- operation of production and, in particular, on the procedure for preparing, formalising and carrying out specialisation and cooperation of production.
The contracting parties work out the basic elements of draft treaties or agreements on specialisation and co-- operation of production or contracts for the delivery of specialised commodities. On the basis of materials and proposals forwarded by the various countries, the CMEA bodies recommend the interested countries to sign appropriate agreements between their responsible bodies or economic organisations. Such agreements also provide suitable conditions and guarantees for the accomplishment of interstate specialisation of production. Moreover, deliveries in accordance with the commitments for specialisation and co-operation of production that have been accepted are also reflected in intergovernmental trade agreements.
In January 1973 at its 61st Session the Executive Committee of the CMEA gave its approval to model stipulations concerning the terms for the inauguration and activities of international economic organisations in the CMEA countries, which had been drawn up at the conference of representatives of these countries on legal questions.
Mutual consideration of requirements and possibilities, attentiveness to the interests of different countries and the 281 mutual discharging of commitments regarding quantity, quality, range and time limits promote the establishment of trust between the parties to the various agreements. "Only exclusive attention to the interests of various nations can remove grounds for conflicts, can remove mutual = mistrust. . . ."^^1^^
An active role in consolidating economic co-operation will be played by currency-financial and credit relations. The Comprehensive Programme envisages the enhancement of the role of a collective currency (the transferable ruble), so that it will be able to fully perform the major functions of an international socialist currency of the CMEA countries.
In the economic ties between the fraternal countries socialist internationalism is also expressed in the organic combination of the interests of each individual country with the interests that are common to all the countries.
Lenin pointed out that an internationalist must fight against small-nation narrow-mindedness, seclusion and isolation, consider the whole and the general, and subordinate the particular to the general interest. He further declared that the democratic interests of one country must be subordinated to the democratic interests of several and all countries.
The theoretical tenets of Lenin and the practical experience of the USSR and the whole world socialist system show that the organic combination of national and internationalist interests, including economic interests, are not something that is fossilised and invariable; in certain circumstances it requires a considerable preponderance in favour of internationalist interests and tasks, and the subordination of particular interests to general interests.
The countries of the socialist community have learned to successfully conduct their day-to-day work and to patiently seek just solutions to questions which are insoluble under capitalism. In the course of this work the CMEA countries find the correct combination of the interests of each country and the interests of them all, and are able to co-operate, removing everything that might hinder or complicate their general advance.
Leonid Brezhnev has said: "The economic integration of the socialist countries is a new and complex process. It _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 33, p. 386.
282 implies a new and broader annroach to many economic questions and the ability to find the most rational solutions, meeting the interests not only of the given country, but of all the co-operating partners. It requires firm orientation on the latest scientific and technical achievements, and the most profitable and technically advanced lines of = production."^^1^^As the Comprehensive Programme points out, the basic ways for the gradual drawing closer and evening out of the economic development levels of the CMEA countries are first and foremost the maximum mobilisation and effective utilisation of their own efforts and resources as well as the emplovment of the advantages offered by the international socialist division of labour. The rational combination of the domestic and foreign factors in the development of the fraternal countries' national economies is thereby envisaged.
The successful development of the national economy and the improvement of social relations, and the all-round progress of each socialist country are in the interests of the common cause of socialism. The relatively small European socialist countries would have verv limited possibilities for organising modern economically efficient production if thev could count only on their own internal resources and national market. The socialist international division of labour enables large-scale mass production to be organised and the social productivity of labour to be raised.
The joint document "Main Principles of the International Socialist Division of Labour'', worked out at the 15th Session of the CMEA and approved by the Tune 1962 Meeting of the renresen'tatives of Communist and Workers' Parties of the CMEA member countries, declares:
"The highway to the further upsurge in the world socialist economy lies through combining the efforts of each socialist country to develop its national economy with the common efforts to consolidate and expand economic co-operation and mutual = assistance."^^2^^
At each historical stage the international socialist division of labour promotes the accomplishment of the principal tasks _-_-_
~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 13.
~^^2^^ = Main Principles of the International Socialist Division of Labour. Moscow, 1964, p. 5 (in Russian).
283 confronting each socialist country individually and the world socialist system as a whole.The tendency towards the drawing together of the socialist countries is in accordance both with the economic and the political interests of the working people and the principles of socialist internationalism. Lenin pointed out that "economic expediency and internationalist and democratic instinct and consciousness demand the earliest association of all nations and their merging in a socialist = society."^^1^^
The socialist states' common ultimate objective, communism, determines the setting and fulfilment of the principal economic task not only within these states' national framewo»k—the creation of the material and technical basis of socialism and communism—but also on an international scale— the increasingly close mutual drawing together of their national economies. This latter task is the common, internationalist economic task of the socialist countries during the construction of communist society. It is expressed in the general line of the fraternal countries' and socialist states' policy in their relations with one another.
The common aims and tasks of the struggle of the working people in the socialist countries and the fact that they all have the same type of their social and state system create conditions under which the temporary controversies that arise over individual economic matters should not affect their interstate relations. They can be resolved through comradely discussion and on the basis of the principles of socialist internationalism.
The mutual co-ordination of their national economic plans is being increasingly developed among the CMEA countries as the means of rationally combining their specifically national economic interests and their common,, internationalist interests.
The co-ordination of the CMEA member countries' national economic plans for 1971--1975 has contributed a great deal towards resolving a number of major problems in the development of their economies. As a result of the co-ordination of their plans, such important problems among the CMEA countries have been resolved as the growth and consolidation of _-_-_
~^^1^^ V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 23, p. 68.
284 their fuel and energy base and the provision of ferrous metallurgy with its basic raw material and fuel. The co-ordination of the plans also facilitates the expansion of the engineering industries and the increase of the share of their output in reciprocal deliveries, the supply of raw materials to the chemical industry, the growth of reciprocal deliveries of non-ferrous metals and the development of the light industry and food industries, agriculture and transport.As a result of co-ordinating the national economic plans for 1971--1975, the appropriate protocols have been signed and long-term trade and other economic agreements have been concluded which legally regulate the process of the further development of the CMEA countries' economic integration.
The supplementing of the co-ordination of five-year plans by the co-ordination of plans covering a longer period—10--15 or more years—is an indication of the further improvement of joint planning activities. The co-ordination of long-term planning will make it possible to reach agreement on concrete measures to resolve major problems in the development of economic, scientific and technical co-operation and in the conclusion of multilateral and bilateral agreements covering a wide range of interrelated questions.
A new element in improving joint planning is the working out by the fraternal countries of forecasts in the development of the key sectors of the economy in order to reveal opportunities for resolving major economic, scientific and technical problems in the development of the economy of the socialist countries.
A characteristic feature of the further development of socialist economic integration between the CMEA countries is the joint planning of individual industries and lines of production, which is a new form of co-operation in the planning field intended to secure advanced scientific and technological results as soon as possible, raise labour productivity and ensure the more complete satisfaction of their requirements for the products of the selected industries or lines of production.
Joint planning of this kind is already being carried out in the CMEA countries in producing certain kinds of metalcutting lathes and rolled metal and founding a container transport system. This form of co-operation has enormous 285 prospects as regards the production of computers through the formation of a single computing system in the fraternal countries. In order to further improve co-operation in planning and to promote the efficient participation in it of central planning bodies, the 25th CMEA Session set up a CMEA Committee on Co-operation in Planning.
The co-operation of plans as the basic method for organising economic, scientific and technological co-operation between the CMEA countries and ensuring the close relationship between its separate organisational forms combines harmoniously with commodity exchange.
One of the directions in the further improvement of joint planning activities among the interested socialist countries is the maintenance of closer ties and interaction between these activities and national planning.
Improving the co-ordination of national economic plans depends largely on bettering the organisation of the foreign economic activities of each CMEA country and agreement upon its organisational forms and methods in the relations between these countries. Enhancing the role of the state planning bodies of the CMEA countries in conducting a whole complex of measures to co-ordinate plans presupposes the more active participation in it of the bodies and organisations that systematically regulate and carry out foreign trade and other foreign economic activities. An important direction in improving the co-ordination of the CMEA countries' plans is the ensuring of a comprehensive solution of the problems being co-ordinated and the embracing of the sphere of research and development, production, marketing and investment, which are of mutual interest.
The principle of socialist internationalism—'the harmonious combination of specific and common interests—requires the elimination of vestiges of nationalism, which manifest themselves in the exaggeration of national peculiarities in comparison with general laws and tendencies, and in the underestimation of the development of international socialist division of labour.
Socialist internationalism presupposes the maximal contribution that each country can be expected to make to the common cause of the development of the world socialist system and to the economic development and drawing together 286 of all the socialist countries. "The material prerequisites for the building of communism are created through the constructive labour of the people of each country and through the constant increase in its contribution to the common cause of consolidating the socialist = system."^^1^^ The successes of the world system of socialism as a whole depend on the contribution made by each country. These stipulations were also emphasised at the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties in 1969, as well as in the Comprehensive Programme.^^2^^
While improving their mutual economic co-operation, the CMEA countries are endeavouring to develop and consolidate their economic ties with the other socialist countries, i.e., are promoting the raising and evening out of the economic development levels of these countries, and the growth of the economic potential of the world socialist system as a whole.
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance is not an isolated grouping. Any country that is not a member of the CMEA may participate fully or partially in carrying out the measures provided for in the Comprehensive Programme. Some countries in this category actually are taking part, in one form or another, in the work of the CMEA bodies. In the relations between the CMEA countries and some other socialist countries there are objective possibilities not only for drawing closer together, but also for integrating their national economies.
The socialist economic integration of the CMEA countries is a special stage in the objective process of the internationalisation of economic life. It implies not only the increasingly close and all-round drawing together of the independent national economies of the interested sovereign socialist states, but also their gradual merging accompanied by the rational change of their mutually adapting sectoral structures of national production and consumption, and the formation of deep and stable mutual economic, scientific and technical links.
_-_-_~^^1^^ = Main Principles of the International Socialist Division of Labour, p. 28.
~^^2^^ See = The Comprehensive Programme for the Further Extension and Improvement of Co-operation and the Development of Socialist Economic Integration by the CMEA Member Countries.
287The process of the integration of the national economies of the CMEA countries is objectively conditioned by the further growth of productive forces, by the promotion of scientific and technological progress and by the need to ensure victory in the economic contest between these countries and the developed capitalist states.
The development of the multinational Soviet state over more than 50 years and of the world socialist community over a quarter of a century shows that the objective tendency towards the creation of a single world economy, already operating under capitalism, is intensified under socialism.
As a result of collective efforts, in the stubborn struggle againsit the class enemy, a firm alliance has been forged between the socialist states and a reliable system of all-round mutual fraternal co-operation has taken shape that has come to be a natural form of life for each of them.
The experience of the CMEA countries shows that international specialisation and co-operation ensure the increasing elficiency of production and of these countries' foreign economic ties. In modern circumstances the output of a number of industries has reached such a scale that the internal market of the individual socialist countries has become relatively narrow. The further growth of production and the raising of the level of its concentration in each of them depend not only on internal and external demand, but also on the corresponding imports of various commodities and services on the international socialist market.
Under the guidance of their Communist and Workers' Parties and through combining their own efforts with the development of mutual co-operation, the CMEA countries have achieved major successes in all spheres of socio-- political and economic life. The growth rates of national income and industrial production are higher in the CMEA countries than in the capitalist ones. The CMEA countries account for a quarter of the world's national income and over third of its industrial production.
The contribution made by each country—large or small, more industrially developed or less—to the common cause is ensured primarily by the more complete and rational utilisation of its internal resources arid possibilities (natural, economic) and by consideration of the country's economic 288 approximation to other socialist countries. It is this that ensures high rates of growth of productive forces and higher quality and falling production costs. Practice shows that any slowing down in the production growth rates in individual socialist countries and the inadequate use of the advantages of the international socialist division of labour are also reflected in the economic growth rates of the world socialist system as a whole.
The size of the contribution made by a socialist country to the common cause depends primarily on the level of its economic development and the availability of its own sources of the most essential fuels and raw and other materials, and on the extent of its participation in the rational division of labour with other fraternal countries. Consequently, as was pointed out at the 9th Plenary Meeting of the CC of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (1965), socialist internationalism too is manifested in "how each Party will be able to contribute as much as possible to strengthening the world socialist system through the more rapid development of productive forces and increasing labour productivity, as well as through economic = co-operation."^^1^^
The active participation of each socialist country in strengthening the economic co-operation with other fraternal countries is its contribution to the common cause.
The most substantial material contribution to the development of the world socialist system as a whole and to the development of the economic integration of the CMEA countries is made by the Soviet Union. The USSR accounts for the bulk of the socialist countries' overall production and foreign trade turnover. "The Communist Party of the Soviet Union has regarded, and continues to regard, it as its internationalist duty in every way to promote the further growth of the might of the world socialist = system."^^2^^
In their economic relations with one another, as in their relations with non-socialist countries, the socialist countries adhere to such principles as equality, mutual benefit, voluntariness, mutual respect for territorial integrity, state independence and sovereignty and non-interference in one an- _-_-_
~^^1^^ Neues Deutschland, April 28, 1965.
~^^2^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 19.
289 other's internal affairs. The complete implementation of these principles in economic relations between socialist states results from the new, socialist nature of interstate relations that are based on the principles of socialist internationalism.The independence and sovereignty of the socialist states and their complete independence in the pursuance of their domestic and foreign policies do not imply the isolated, secluded development of their national economies. Quite the opposite, they presuppose the constant expansion of the all-round ties between the socialist countries, the strengthening of their economic interdependence and, consequently, their drawing together in the economic sphere. The constant improvement of the mutual economic co-operation between the countries of the world socialist system actually strengthens, rather than infringes, their state independence and sovereignty.
Every socialist state is completely independent as regards the development of its national economy and its foreign economic links. However, this does not mean that countries which have social and state system of the same type are exercising this independence in isolation and without consideration of their common goal.
The economic interdependence in the relations of the equal and sovereign socialist states, resulting from the development of the international division of labour, is systematic and stable, and is founded on voluntariness and mutual benefit with consideration of the interests of the socialist community. The expansion and deepening of the rational division of labour between the socialist countries are in direct proportion to the development and consolidation of the mutually beneficial interdependence of their national economies.
Under socialism mutual advantage in economic relations between countries can only be used if account is taken of the principles of socialist internationalism. The purpose of developing mutual economic links between the socialist countries is not to obtain maximal profits, but the satisfaction of the growing import requirements and the realisation of the export potential of these countries and the encouragement of the development and drawing together of their national economies.
During, and as a result of the co-ordination of national economic plans between the CMEA countries __PRINTERS_P_289_COMMENT__ 1/2 19--0798 290 intergovernmental agreements were signed on the co-operation and specialisation of production, which also envisage the harmonious combination of the principles of socialist mutual assistance and economic benefit.
Participation in the international specialisation of production is particularly important for those countries which have a relatively small domestic market capacity and quite high production export and import consumption quotas. Thus, within the CMEA framework Bulgaria, for example, specialises in producing electric trolley cars, engines, electric hoists, bearings, machinery for agriculture and the food industry, and a number of other types of produce. Consequently, Bulgaria's active participation in economic integration with the other CMEA countries enables her to organise the efficient serial production of these commodities and to set up appropriate optimal production capacities, i.e., to satisfy national interests, bearing in mind the interests of the other CMEA countries.
The rate at which Bulgarian engineering develops in the future will largely depend on the consistent extension of Bulgarian integration with the socialist countries, and primarily with the Soviet Union. At present the Soviet Union and Bulgaria are carrying through the specialisation and co-operation of the computer industry, car and tractor production, the electronical engineering, shipbuilding and various other sectors of production.
As a result of participation in socialist economic integration, Czechoslovakia and other socialist countries are able to select for preferential development the economic sectors and subsectors that determine the rate of technological progress. During the current five-year plan the USSR and Czechoslovakia, for example, are conducting mutually beneficial specialisation and co-operation in production, and particularly as regards the founding of a standardised computing hardware and in the chemical industry, which enables available production capacity to be employed more efficiently and optimal production capacities to be created.
The specialisation and co-operation of the industry of the USSR with that of the other CMEA countries is proceeding on an ever increasing scale in the production and delivery of parts and assemblies for the manufacture of cars, buses, road-- 291 building and other types of vehicles and equipment, and also in developing the production of computer hardware.
By combining their national and internationalist interests, the co-ordination of national economic plans enables the CMEA countries to find a more rational and efficient solution to the complex fuel and raw materials problem, bearing in mind the principles of socialist mutual assistance and mutual benefit. The Soviet Union satisfies 70 per cent and upwards of the CMEA countries' requirements and a considerable portion of the needs of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Korean People's Democratic Republic for a number of vital imported raw materials and fuels. Supplies from the USSR almost entirely cover the CMEA countries' imports of oil and pig iron, three-fifths of their imported coitton, more than three-fifths of their imported ferrous rolled metal, coal and manganese ore, and over two-thirds of their imported timber material.
The further growth of these countries' production will generate their increasing need for fuel and energy resources and raw materials, which will be met to a considerable extent by deliveries from the USSR. This applies primarily to oil, gas, electrical energy, iron, manganese and chrome ores, ferrous rolled metal and other raw material commodities. The growing volume of supplies of fuel and energy resources and raw materials represent the Soviet Union's great contribution to resolving the fuel and raw material problem.
The construction in the USSR of a high-capacity gas pipeline will also enable supplies of natural gas from Siberia via the European part of the Soviet Union to be boosted and delivered to Czechoslovakia and Poland, and will make it possible to start supplying the GDR, Bulgaria and Hungary with gas.
It will be recalled that the constantly increasing Soviet deliveries of primary commodities, fuel and materials to the European socialist countries are not covered fully by deliveries of corresponding raw material commodities from these countries to the USSR. Consequently, the economic ties between the USSR and the CMEA countries involve considerable prominence being given to the exchange of Soviet primary commodities for manufactured goods, particularly machinery and equipment from the European socialist __PRINTERS_P_291_COMMENT__ 19* 292 countries. The volume of return supplies of primary commodities and materials to the USSR from the European socialist countries amounts to only about a third of the value of Soviet deliveries of raw materials.
True to the principles of socialist internationalism, the USSR is expanding its production for the foreign market of fuel, primary commodities and materials, exporting them to the other CMEA countries, although it would be economically more beneficial for it to increase the production and export of machinery and equipment. For instance, in order to receive one transferable ruble from the export of iron ore, raw material for the production of mineral fertiliser, coal and electrical power, the Soviet economy has to invest 5-8 times more resources than if it were exporting = machinery.^^1^^
Nevertheless, the prominence accorded to the principles of socialist internationalism in comparison with the principle of economic benefit and the primary consideration of common strategy do not mean the underestimation of the economic factor in the development of mutual economic ties between the socialist countries. The socialist countries' achievement of mutual benefit in foreign economic -ties and the comparison of the results of the marketing and purchase of individual lines of produce with the results of their domestic pro-' duction means carrying out economic accounting on an interstate scale.
With the emergence of socialist production relations beyond the bounds of a single country, the need arises to employ economic accounting not only within the national framework of each of the socialist countries, but also in the economic relations between them. Objective economic laws, including the law of value, operate not only in each country, but also on an international scale. In the first case the centralised distribution and exchange of goods takes place according to planned material and technical supplies, while in the latter case only indirect regulation of the exchange of commodities occurs through their reciprocal deliveries, jointly agreed but planned separately by each of the states participating.
_-_-_~^^1^^ See = World Economy and International Relations, No.~5, 1966, p. 19 (in Russian).
293The equivalent exchange of goods as an objectively necessary form of economic ties between the various owners of the means of production as embodied by the socialist states, and the implementation of the principle of mutual benefit and economic accounting give rise to the specific features involved in applying economic accounting on an international scale.
The Directives of the 24th CPSU Congress for the 9th Five-Year Plan provide for raising the initiative and responsibility of ministries and enterprises for developing foreign economic ties that are beneficial to the national economy, the consistent application of the principles of economic accounting in foreign economic relations, enhancing the material interest of all links of foreign trade and industry in discharging international commitments and attaining high efficiency in economic, scientific and technological co-- operation, and also their responsibility in this matter.
Economic accounting in relations between socialist states also includes ensuring through foreign economic ties the balanced development of each national economy and the world socialist economy as a whole. Balanced development within the framework of the world socialist system as a whole is basically maintained through the co-ordination ol national economic plans by the CMEA and through long-term trade agreements, and is implemented in the mutual exchange of the results of economic activity.
The need to combine the principles of socialist internationalism and economic accounting in the development of the fraternal countries' mutual economic relations results objectively from the corresponding role of the content and form of public ownership. The socialist nature of same-type public ownership of the basic means of production eliminates antagonism between the fraternal countries, accelerates their economic drawing together, and gives priority to the principles of socialist internationalism, but its national-state form presupposes the employment of commodity-money forms of this drawing together and the existence of non-antagonistic contradictions, and requires the exchange of goods as full equivalents.
An exchange of this sort involves its own features and problems, arising from the various swings and levels of world 294 prices on raw materials and manufactured goods, and from the differing levels of efficiency of their production. Here the effect is felt to a greater extent of such objective factors as the absence of particular minerals, the inadequacy and inefficiency of mining operations and the differing levels of economic development in individual countries.
The Comprehensive Programme for developing the economic integration of the CMEA member countries provides for a fuller satisfaction of the growing needs for the output of the fuel and energy, metallurgical and Other primary commodity industries, through pooling the efforts of the countries interested to develop these industries, employing various mutually beneficial forms of multilateral and bilateral cooperation, and also the most rational and economic methods for the use of fuel and energy resources and raw materials by consumers.
The rational combination of the principles of socialist internationalism and economic accounting is tangibly accomplished and expressed, for instance, in the form of cooperation between the USSR and the other fraternal countries whereby the latter provide credit for the purpose of expanding the production of certain types of fuel and raw materials in the USSR. For example, in accordance with a Soviet-Polish agreement, Poland is co-operating in order to boost the output of potassium salts in the USSR.
Following an agreement between the USSR and Czechoslovakia on co-oiperation to develop the production of oil in the USSR, Czechoslovakia is providing the Soviet Union with credit to the tune of 500 million rubles in order to expand oil production. It will be repaid by deliveries of oil, which in 1975 amounted to nearly a third of all the oil imported by Czechoslovakia from the USSR.
The People's Republic of Bulgaria has expressed interest in participating through capital investment and other means in building the Ust-Ilim pulp-and-paper combine in the USSR, a new iron and steel works, additional capacities for producing raw materials, fertiliser, asbestos, oil and gas.
The development of the economic integration of the CMEA countries presupposes, above all, the increasingly broad use of new, and the improvement of traditional, organisational forms and methods of mutual economic, scientific and 295 technological co-operation. The principles of socialist internationalism are graphically reflected in all of this.
The holding of multilateral and bilateral mutual consultations on the basic questions of economic policy is a new form of co-operation between the fraternal countries and one of the main paths for the development of their integration. These questions include the main aims and tasks in the socio-- economic, scientific and technological spheres which are posed in each of the countries participating in the consultations, the stages at which these tasks are to be accomplished and also the problems whose solution is, in the view of the interested countries, beyond the powers of the individual CMEA member countries. This form of co-operation, as well as other new organisational forms and methods, characterises the process of the development of the CMEA countries' economic integration from the qualitative point of view.
The new organisational forms and methods must also be seen to include the new types of joint planning, the agreements on specialisation and co-operation of production and the specialised and sectoral international economic organisations. These types of co-operation constitute an example of the harmonious combination of the CMEA countries' national and common, internationalist interests.
An important means and qualitative indicator of the development of the CMEA countries' economic integration is the systematic expansion of international specialisation and co-operation in production, science and technology, and the pooling of the interested countries' efforts in mineral prospecting and processing, in the construction of production installations and also in the research work.
In order to further improve scientific and technological co-operation, the 25th CMEA Session reorganised the appropriate CMEA commission into the CMEA Committee on Scientific and Technical Co-operation. The International Institute of Economic Problems of the World Socialist System will also help to resolve the theoretical and methodological questions of the fraternal countries' economic, scientific and technical co-operation.
The process of the CMEA countries' economic integration presupposes the expansion of the direct links between the participants' ministries, government departments and other 296 state bodies and their economic, research and development and design organisations.
The CMEA countries' joint building and exploitation of the Druzhba Oil Pipeline and the Railway Waggon Pool (RWP) serve as indicators and elements of the development of the integration processes within the CMEA community. In the course of the five-year plan period the capacity of the oil pipeline is being further expanded and the network of the main gas pipelines and electrical transmission lines is being enlarged.
The Mir power grid occupies an important place in the development of the integrational processes in the socialist community. At the beginning of 1972 the total established capacity of the CMEA countries' power systems, all working in parallel, was in excess of 58 million kilowatts. The reciprocal deliveries of electrical power through this unified power system increase from year to year. In order to provide for the accelerated development of the energy base and to satisfy the increasing demands of the CMEA countries' economies for electrical power, the 26th CMEA Session accepted recommendations for expanding the parallel work of the unified power systems on the basis of the interested countries' joint construction of a high-capacity 750 kilowatt electrical transmission line, and also for the construction of atomic power stations.
The development by the interested countries of the existing international economic organisations and the setting up of new ones form an important element and yardstick of the development of these countries' socialist economic integration. A useful role is also being played by such international organisations of the fraternal countries, as the Organisation for Co-operation in the Ball-Bearing Industry (OCBI), Interkhim, Intermetall, etc. Specialisation in the production of bearings between the countries belonging to the OCBI is proceeding apace. Fruitful work is also being accomplished by the international organisation Intermetall. In 1969 exchanges were carried out through it involving 98,500 tons of metal goods, while in 1971, for instance, this figure rose to almost 2 million tons.
Constant improvements are being made to the work of the International Bank for Economic Co-operation. A further 297 important level in accelerating socialist economic integration is provided by the International Investment Bank. It bears responsibility for concentrating resources for capital construction.
The development of the CMEA countries' economic integration can also be described quantitatively, using the system of the appropriate indicator of social production, consumption and foreign trade. It will be recalled that the process of the international socialist division of labour within the framework of the CMEA countries' economic integration is being carried out both in depth and in breadth. One of the important indicators of the deepening of the division of labour between these countries is the faster growth of their mutual trade turnover as compared with the growth of their social production. From 1961 to 1970, for example, the volume of the CMEA countries' mutual trade grew 2.3 times, while their national income rose by 1.9 times. The higher export growth rates in comparison with the growth of the national income bring about a rise in the share of the export quota in the national income. In Hungary, for instance, the volume of export accounts for some two-fifths of the national income, one-fifth in Poland and about a quarter in the = GDR.^^1^^
The average annual growth rate in the USSR's trade with the CMEA countries in 1966--70 stood at about 7.7 per cent, i. e., the .growth in trade turnover exceeded the increase in the Soviet Union's national income. This testifies to the growing Soviet participation in the process of deepening the division of labour with the other CMEA countries. This tendency has also been sustained in 1971--75: the average annual growth rate in the USSR's trade with the CMEA countries exceeded 9 per cent, i.e., it surpassed the average annual growth rates in the USSR's industrial production and national income over this period. An indicator of the expansion of mutual economic ties is the faster growth in the CMEA countries' mutual trade in comparison with the growth of their overall foreign trade turnover. In 1970 the volume of the CMEA countries' mutual trade grew by 132 per cent over the 1960 level, and their joint exports and _-_-_
~^^1^^ = The World of Socialism in Facts and Figures 1970, Moscow, 1971, p. 152 (in Russian).
298 imports by 129 per cent. This tendency was also maintained in the 1971--75 period. This indicates an activation in the participation of the Soviet Union and the other CMEA countries in the process of expanding the rational division of labour within the framework of mutual economic integration.Mutual trade accounts for 48 per cent of the exports and imports of the EEC capitalist countries, while trade between the CMEA countries accounts for over 60 per cent of their total exports and imports.
The rational correlation of the share of individual groups of countries in the foreign trade turnover of a particular CMEA member country is largely determined by the harmonious combination of common, internationalist and national economic interests and the principles of socialist mutual assistance and economic benefit, and also by that country's strategy and tactics and its whole foreign policy activity.
All this is reflected also in the further development of trade between the socialist countries. It too brings an active influence to bear on the further upsurge in the economy of each of the CMEA countries and fosters the further development of socialist economic integration. The countries are improving the organisational forms of their mutual trade, the development of which is based on combining the principles of socialist internationalism and economic benefit.
The principles of socialist internationalist mutual assistance and economic benefit are also combined in the field of scientific and technical co-operation between the fraternal countries. The interested countries jointly resolve the problems that arise in connection with their gratuitous transmission to one another of scientific and technical documentation. The solution of these problems is facilitated by the proposals accepted by the CMEA Executive Committee in 1967 on financial matters associated with the countries' material interest when carrying out joint scientific and technological research and also when applying its results.
In the conduct of scientific and technological research carried out in accordance with plans for co-ordination, each CMEA country bears all the expenses arising therefrom. The results achieved may be conveyed by the participating countries to other socialist countries either gratuitously or on 299 mutually beneficial terms, with due account being taken of the reimbursement of a part of the research expenses incurred by each of them.
The principles of comradely mutual assistance and economic benefit are successfully combined in the activities of such international economic and scientific production amalgamations, set up by the interested CMEA countries, as, for instance, Interatominstrument, which meets the needs of the countries participating for instruments and equipment involved in nuclear technology.
The constant strengthening and improving of the economic, scientific and technological co-operation between the socialist states and the enhancement of its role in the development and drawing together of their national economies make it expedient to jointly formulate the general principles behind this co-operation. The CMEA countries already have a certain amount of experience from drafting the Mam Principles of International Socialist Division of Labour and from the practical concretisation of these principles as far as sectoral level (e.g., in engineering). The specification of these principles as applied to individual forms of economic co-operation, particularly foreign trade, was reflected in the CMEA countries' joint drafting and agreement of the General Terms of Deliveries and the General Terms of Assembly.
This specification of general principles is also expedient in other organisational forms of the socialist countries' economic co-operation. This would promote the gradual realisation of the objective process of the drawing together and integration of their national economies.
Not only the joint drafting, correct interpretation and specification of the legal norms and general organisational principles of co-operation and the objective principles of the international socialist division of labour, but also their strict mutual observance are important for the stable and rational developme'nt of economic ties between the states in the world socialist system.
The direct or indirect infringement of these general principles of relations between the socialist countries, a dogmatic approach or their arbitrary, incorrect interpretation will only complicate the further drawing together of the national economies.
__PRINTERS_P_299_COMMENT__ 20* 300 Emacs-File-stamp: "/home/ysverdlov/leninist.biz/en/1976/TPPI307/20060308/307.tx" __EMAIL__ webmaster@leninist.biz __OCR__ ABBYY 6 Professional (2006.03.06) __WHERE_PAGE_NUMBERS__ top __FOOTNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [0-9]+The consequences of any departure from the principles of socialist internationalism for a country's economy can be clearly seen from the example of China. The practical result of the nationalist line taken by the Chinese leadership is the rapid decrease in the economic, scientific and technological co-operation between China and the socialist countries and the reorientation of her foreign trade towards the imperialist states. Chinese trade with the CMEA countries diminished from 2,000 million rubles in 1960 to 285 million rubles in 1969. This is particularly true of Chinese trade with the Soviet Union, which has fallen from 1,500 million rubles to 51 million rubles. During this period China's share in the overall trade turnover in the international socialist market fell from 11 per cent to 2.3 per cent.
The Soviet Union wishes to see China a flourishing socialist state and to work for peace alongside her. But when this happens depends on China herself.
History teaches that the practical implementation of the reorientation of a socialist country's foreign economic ties towards imperialist states, and its theoretical justification involves the infringement of the general principles of socialist internationalism, the bringing to the fore of purely commercial advantage and the consignment to oblivion of common class interests and objectives. It does not consolidate the particular country's unity with other fraternal countries politically, nor does it accord with its fundamental national economic interests and aims.
Loyalty to socialist internationalism is a guarantee of a successful development of economic ties between the socialist countries, of the world socialist community and the growth of its influence on the course of international events.
As they put into effect measures to develop socialist economic integration, the CMEA countries naturally encounter the difficulties of growth, temporary shortcomings and intricate, still unsolved problems.
While describing the CMEA countries' achievements in economic co-operation at the 24th CPSU Congress, Leonid Brezhnev pointed out: "Like other members of CMEA, we believe that the possibilities of the socialist division of labour are not yet being fully used. Practice had led us to this general conclusion: it is necessary to deepen specialisation 301 and co-operation of production, to tie in our national economic plans, more closely in a word, to advance along the way of the socialist countries' economic = integration."^^1^^
The process of the economic drawing together and merging generates a flexibility and variety of organisational forms and methods for co-operation. It presupposes the eradication of the various survivals that have remained in people's consciousness from feudalism and capitalism, nationalism and national narrow-mindedness, which do not disappear automatically with the establishment of the socialist system.
Depending on the influence of objective and subjective factors, the process of the internationalisation of economic life is given practical effect in the case of individual countries or groups of countries through various organisational forms and at a different pace, and affects a different range of economic sectors.
On the whole, the relations between the socialist countries are increasingly characterised by constantly growing political, economic and cultural ties, the development of economic integration, the intensive exchange of experience and know-how and close co-operation in foreign policy.
The economic, scientific and technological co-operation between the fraternal countries, based as it is on the principles of socialist internationalism, has played, and will continue to play, a growing role in the development and drawing together of their national economies and in strengthening the _ unity of the countries of the socialist community. This is perfectly natural. Unity, cohesion and joint effort are now primarily required in order to more quickly and efficiently develop socialist society and build communism. But, as is stressed in the Resolution passed at the Special (Jubilee) CMEA Session marking its 25th anniversary which was held in June 1974, the strengthening of the community of the socialist CMEA member countries is not leading to the setting up of a closed economic grouping. On the contrary, at present CMEA is sustaining and developing relations in one form or another with over 20 international economic, scientific and technical organisations. What is more, the _-_-_
~^^1^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 13.
302 socialist states are prepared to expand their co-operation with all the countries of the world, irrespective of their social and political systems, on the principles of equality, mutual benefit and non-interference in one another's internal affairs. The relaxation of international tension that has been achieved by the forces of peace and progress is now paving the way for the practical implementation of broad and longterm co-operation with all the developed capitalist states, and this is precisely in the interests of the peoples throughout the world. [303] __ALPHA_LVL1__ CONCLUSIONAs this book has shown, the theoretical questions of proletarian internationalism belong to those problems in the social sciences whose solution involves the study of the experience of socialist and communist construction and the practice of the development of the contemporary communist and working-class movement and the whole of the world revolutionary movement.
Proletarian socialist internationalism acts as a class-- conscious and scientifically well-founded position and as a reliable guideline in resolving all the intricate questions of the mutual relations between socialist nations and states, the national contingents of the working-class and communist movement and the whole world revolutionary process. Proletarian, socialist internationalism is fulfilling its historical mission as the world outlook, ideology, policy, morality and socio-- psychological line of the working class in national relations. The power of proletarian internationalism to bring about revolutionary transformation is only realised when it becomes a vital element not of the scientific and theoretical consciousness of the working class alone, but also of the mass consciousness of broad sections of the working people. Its ideas and principles must penetrate into practical policies and day-to-day activities, become an inalienable element in the spiritual world of the individual, and find a response in his emotional life. Only then will proletarian internationalism be embodied in reality and be real internationalism.
Internationalism expresses the level of the development of revolutionary practice at which it has emerged beyond national and state boundaries. Thus, proletarian 304 internationalism became embodied in the practice of the class struggle when the revolutionary solidarity of the workers of various nations and countries took shape. The same must be said of the communist movement, which is developing as an international movement under the impact of the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism. In the context of the building of socialism and communism, proletarian, socialist internationalism has begun to develop as the practice of the development of national relations. In the multinational Soviet state, the national question has always been a fundamental question in the building of a socialist society. On its correct solution largely depended the destiny of the new system. An enormous role belongs to the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism as regards the use of the opportunities inherent in the socialist economy, state and culture and for the organisation of fraternal co-operation and mutual assistance between the peoples.
The national question in the USSR has been resolved on the basis of consistent implementation of the Leninist ideas and principles of socialist internationalism.
The Soviet people is a new historical community. It has taken shape following the elimination of antagonism between the classes and nations, and the assertion of harmonious relations between them.
The Soviet people is the very broadest human community. All classes and social groups, all nations and nationalities are developing as parts of this single social formation. The historical experience of the rebirth, development, drawing together and florescence of the large and small nations of the USSR cannot be correctly understood and interpreted at a deep theoretical level without considering the fact that they are all specific parts of a new human community. The formation of the Soviet people as a new historical community constitutes a major event in the development of the practice of socialist internationalism. Its appearance is a triumph for the socio-political ideals of the working class.
Socialist internationalism today has become the practice of the development of international relations, and socialism has emerged beyond the bounds of a single country and has begun to develop as the world socialist community of equal and sovereign peoples.
305The countries of the world system of socialism proceed from the principles of socialist internationalism when organising specialisation and co-operation of production, developing foreign trade, exchanging material and spiritual values, co-ordinating their current and long-term economic development plans and foreign policy objectives, systematically developing international economic integration and organising co-operation between their armed forces.
As more and more peoples and countries embark on the path of socialist construction, so there develops an increasing variety of methods, devices and paces in the revolutionary transformation in social life too. The general features of this process also become more clear-cut. Accordingly, the role and significance of proletarian internationalism in socialist construction are further enhanced. The principles of proletarian internationalism enable the general and the particular in the activities of all the national contingents of the working class to be correctly combined. Proletarian, socialist internationalism has been embodied in such forms of present-day social practice as the assertion of the community of the socialist nations, the formation of the world socialist system, the development of the world communist and working-class movement, and in the practice of the interaction of all the anti-imperialist forces of today. Consequently, the content of the principles of proletarian internationalism has been enriched and deepened, the forms in which internationalist cohesion and solidarity are manifest have become multilateral, and new forms and methods of co-operation between Communist and Workers' Parties have made their appearance. The increasing complexity of the practice of internationalist ties has created the possibility and engendered the demand for the creative development and enrichment of the theory of proletarian internationalism. This task is being accomplished through the collective efforts of the world communist movement. As the outstanding leaders of the world's communist movement frequently point out, the leading role here is played by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
The development of the world communist movement in the context of an increasingly bitter class struggle has raised the question of the responsibility of Communist and 306 Workers' Parties. "Each Communist Party is responsible for its activity to its own working class and people and, at the same time, to the international working = class."^^1^^ This dual responsibility on the part of the Communist and Workers' Parties results from the very nature of the communist movement and from the dialectical unity of its national and internationalist tasks. The proposition concerning the indivisibility of the internationalism and patriotic responsibility of the Communist and Workers' Parties is a creative development of theoretical questions of proletarian internationalism and, in particular, of internationalist duty.
In a situation in which international reaction is endeavouring to regain the positions it has lost each national contingent is taking on increasing responsibility for the future of peace and social progress. The incitement of nationalism is one of the chief means used by imperialism in the struggle against the unity of socialism and of all anti-- imperialist forces. The world communist movement is growing stronger in the struggle for the interests of the working class and against imperialism, and every retreat from the principles of proletarian internationalism weakens and undermines the unity of the communist and working-class movement. The struggle against ``Left'' and Right-wing opportunism and against nationalism, in which these two tendencies come together is a necessary condition for the development of the world communist movement. Opportunists set up an opposition between internationalist duty and the policy of peaceful coexistence, or they identify them. The principles of peaceful coexistence (non-interference in countries' internal affairs, the rejection of the use of armed force in resolving disputes, etc.) are identified by Right-wing revisionists with the principles of proletarian, socialist internationalism, thereby ignoring the historical necessity for co-operation and mutual assistance, acknowledgement of equal responsibility for the consolidation of world socialism, the co-ordination of the struggle against imperialism, and the provision of moral, political, economic and military assistance to the peoples that are fighting to gain their national and social emancipation. By claiming that armed struggle is the _-_-_
~^^1^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, p. 37.
307 only form of struggle to be used against the imperialists, the ``Left'' opportunists refuse to acknowledge the peaceful competition between socialism and capitalism as a form of class struggle and regard the actions of the socialist states to pursue a policy of peaceful coexistence as a denial of internationalist duty. Historical experience testifies that, while pursuing a policy of peaceful coexistence, the CPSU is not for a moment retreating from its unshakeable ideological piinciples—Marxism-Leninism and proletarian, socialist internationalism.Communists associate their most cherished hopes, dreams and aspirations with internationalism. They strive for peace and friendship between peoples ardently and with all their heart. For revolutionaries internationalism is a kind of touchstone in organising the mutual ulations between the national contingents of the world revolutionary movement. It is the ideological and theoretical basis for the cohesion of the three powerful revolutionary forces of modern times—world socialism, the working-class movement and the national liberation movement. The words of the Internationale "The International unites the human race" have proved to be prophetic.
__ALPHA_LVL0__ The End. [END] [308]REQUEST TO READERS
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Please send all your comments to 21, Zubovsky Boulevard, Moscow, USSR.
[309] PROGRESS PUBLISHERS Will soon publishProgress. The International Communist and Working-Class Movement Series
The Revolutionary Movement of Our Time and Nationalism
The book exposes nationalism as one of the most dangerous counter-revolutionary weapons used by modern imperialism to split the progressive and democratic forces on all continents. There is a wealth of factual material to reveal the causes of the emergence and historical varieties of nationalism, its structural elements, including nationalistic psychology. The book convincingly explains why nationalism has become a major obstacle in the way of revolutionary progress. The monograph analyses the ways and means of overcoming nationalist deviations in the contemporary revolutionary process.
[310]PROGRESS PUBLISHERS~
Will soon publish~
Progress. The International Communist and Working-Class Movement Series~
The Working Class—The Leading Force of the World Revolutionary Process (A Critique of Bourgeois and Reformist Conceptions).
This book is written by research workers of the Institute of the International Working-Class Movement and analyses the bourgeois and reformist concepts of the ``deproletarianisation'' of the working class and its ``integration'' into the capitalist system. The book describes the processes determining the make-up and development tendencies of today's working class, and its role in the struggle against imperialism, for peace, democracy and social progress.
[311]PROGRESS PUBLISHERS~
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Progress. The International Communist and Working-Class Movement Series~
Leninism and the World Revolutionary " Working-Class Movement.
The book gives an account of Lenin's elaboration of the principles of strategy and tactics in the revolutionary working-class movement, of the process of unification on the basis of Leninism of the leading" forces in the international working class, and of the birth and development of the world communist movement. Drawing on the wealth of Lenin's writings the authors discuss the statements which are crucial for an understanding of the contemporary problems in the struggle for oroletarian unity and the consolidation of the anti-imperialist front.
The book contains articles by M. Suslov, W. Rochet, W. Ulbricht and Gus Hall.
[312]the international communist and Corking-class movement
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The Theory and Practice of Proletarian Internationalism
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__NOTE__ Dust jacket:This book surveys a broad range of topical Mines in the theory and practice of proletarian (socialist) internationalism as the working class's ideology, policy and system of moral principles in the national question. An examination is made of the dialectics of the correlation of the national and internationalist interests of the working class and of all working people, as well as the content and social functions of internationalist duty. The multinational Soviet Union's experience of socialist and communist construction and the experience of the fraternal international community of all the socialist countries are adduced to show how the ideas and principles of proletarian internationalism have been enriched and creatively developed.
This book has been written by a team composed of philosophers, historians and economists from institutes under the USSR Academy of Sciences and several Union republics. They are all prominent specialists on aspects of proletarian internationalism and national relations.
