p According to historical materialism, the state did not always exist, but emerged at a definite stage in the dpvp]ppnl- of society or. to be more precise, when society was divided into exploiting and exploited classes. In primordial society, where collective labour, common ownership of the means of production and relations of co-operation and mutual assistance predominated, there were neither classes nor a state. Human relationships, labour duties and all other aspects of social life were regulated by customs and traditions, passed 396 down from one generation to another. Communal officials were elected and those who were chosen for public employment relied in their activities exclusively on the authority and respect they enjoyed among members of the commune or the clan.

p When classes emerged the situation underwent considerable changes. Society began to disintegrate increasingly into groups with opposite interests, with one group beginning to make its living by appropriating the labour of the other. Society became threatened by a fierce and irreconcilable class struggle between the exploiters and the exploited. This meant that a certain apparatus of coercion was required systematically to crush the resistance of the exploited, and thus place the class struggle within certain bounds of the “order” needed for society to function and develop. The state was this apparatus which became separated from society and stood above it. The state became a machine protecting the order preferred by and advantageous to the class that dominated the economy. With its help, this class also became the politically dominant class and acquired a new means for the suppression and exploitation of the oppressed class.  [396•1 

p The state is thus an instrument in tht> hands nf the ruling class for suppressing and oppressing the working people, the exploited masses.

p The territorial principle of dividing up the population is one of the main features of the state. 397 In tribal society its members were united into a single whole by blood relationships. It was only after the appearance of private property and commodity exchange that clans and tribes intermingled, thus paving the way for the unification of people on the territorial, residential principle.

p Another distinguishing feature of the state is the presence of public authority in society. In the case of tribal organisation of society, it was the people who had the authority. It was the people themselves who, for many centuries, maintained the established order, punished the guilty and forced them to observe the existing norms of behaviour. In the state, however, authority separates from the people, rises above them and becomes opposed to the population in the form of special groups of people with an armed force, prisons and other similar institutions at their disposal.

p Finally, the state is characterised by the collection of taxes levied on the population. These represent the material base the state needs to maintain, the people who exercise the power.

p Since the exploiting stater is, by nature, an instrument for oppressing and suppressing the exploited and for protecting relations between people, such as are to the liking and advantage of the exploiters, its main function is to stamp out resistance among the exploited. Its entire mechanism and all its organs are geared to check the actions of the exploited classes against the exploiters, either at the very outset or at the point where they become dangerous for the latter.

p While oppressing the working people physically, the exploiting state also oppresses them morally. It has a ramified network of ideological institutions, including the church, to propagate ideas, views and moral principles expressing the interests of the ruling class. Besides, the state interferes in the economy whenever and as far as is advantageous to the ruling class, and influences the course of its development. This becomes especially pronounced in the period of imperialism, when the state interferes in economic matters in the interests of the big monopolies, whom it obediently serves.

p The state also performs an external function, which is not the main one of its activities, but is still necessary in order for the ruling class’s interests to be realised. It protects the country from encroachment on its sovereignty by other states, wages wars to seize new territory and spheres of influence, and pursues the interests of the ruling class in solving international political and economic issues.

The external function of the state is intimately linked with its internal functions, its purpose being to protect the interests of the ruling class both domestically and in relations with other countries.