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p BORIS PONOMAREV

p ALTERNATE MEMBER OF THE
POLITICAL BUREAU, CC CPSU
AND SECRETARY OF THE CC CPSU

p The vivid and profound report of Comrade Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet, at the anniversary meeting in the Kremlin summed up the vast experience of the CPSU as the vanguard of the Soviet people and part of the international communist movement and the entire liberation movement, and showed the creative approach of our Party to Marxism-Leninism and its concern for developing revolutionary theory and translating it into practice.

p The report of the outstanding Leninist, Comrade Brezhnev, the speeches of leaders of socialist countries, Communist parties, and young independent states and also of representatives of the national liberation movements contain an exhaustive exposition of the historic significance of the October Revolution and socialism’s subsequent achievements for all nations, for the international working-class movement and for the world. These speeches-altogether over a hundred-vividly and impressively illustrated how relevant is the legacy of the October Revolution, and how the influence of its ideas is 23 increasing all over the world. They convincingly proved that the ideas of the October Revolution are eternally young and continue to inspire the fighters for freedom and happiness of the working people. Every new generation of revolutionaries finds in the universal experience of the first victorious socialist revolution, in the first experience of building socialism, inexhaustible material for drawing conclusions and lessons and for understanding the laws and motive forces of revolution and progress.

The Great October Revolution tremendously increased the scale of revolutionary practice, the multiform experience of activity aimed at revolutionary liberation and transformation. The role of theory and its interaction with practice underwent an essential change with the victory of the revolution. To quote Lenin, "the historical moment has arrived when theory is being transformed into practice, vitalised by practice, corrected by practice, tested by practice”.  [23•* 

I

p As we mark the 60th anniversary of the revolution, we have every right to say that the post-October era has distinctly and irrevocably established itself in the history of mankind. The first and main feature that distinguishes it is the irresistible progress of human society towards socialism.

p After 1917, socialism, which was at first only a dream, then a theory, and lastly a movement, became a socioeconomic and state-political reality. The homeland of the October Revolution was the first country to build the foundations of socialism. Shortly afterwards the Mongolian People’s Republic embarked upon non-capitalist and then socialist development. Then the number of countries 24 that broke away from capitalism increased sharply as a result of the victory of the nations over fascism in the Second World War. Today socialism is being put into effect in a large group of European, Asian, Latin American, and African countries.

p Communist parties equipped with Marxist-Leninist theory now play the leading role in establishing and developing socialist society, and charting the domestic and foreign policy of the socialist states. The importance of our theory is today greater than ever before. This is due above all to the colossal extension of the sphere of its application, to the involvement of more and more contingents, streams and currents in the world revolutionary process. Its importance is also growing because the tasks of developing the socialist world are becoming more complex, and because of the continuing expansion of relations between socialist countries, the emergence of new economic, social, and cultural problems at the stage of developed socialism, the appearance of new opportunities for radical socio-political changes in the advanced capitalist countries, and the emergence of a new situation in areas of the national liberation movement. Each Marxist-Leninist party, operating in the conditions of its own country, can participate in the creative development of our internationalist teaching.

p Life gives rise to new concepts, new terms. For instance, the concept of "real (existing) socialism" has appeared. Sometimes one hears doubts whether this concept is legitimate. So, it would, evidently, be appropriate to dwell on this subject.

p Indeed, what is meant by real socialism?

p Real socialism is a definite state-political reality. It is a new type of state in which power belongs to the working people headed by the working class and its revolutionary vanguard-the Communist Party. This was the type of state formed in our country as a result of the October Revolution. Now there is a system of socialist 25 states on the international scene that has become a major factor in international politics.

p Further, real socialism is a definite economic reality. It is a qualitatively new mode of production based on social ownership of the means of production that puts an end to exploitation of man by man. In the international context the socialist economy is becoming an increasingly important part of the world economy.

p Real socialism is a new type of social relations. It is a society whose social base is an alliance of the working class, the peasantry, and the intelligentsia. Socialist society, unlike capitalist society with its class antagonisms and its national contradictions, is characterised by the establishment of the principles of social equality and justice, and of internationalism, by the gradual drawing together of all classes and social strata, of all nations and ethnic groups, by growing social homogeneity.

p Real socialism is a new cultural and moral reality. It embodies qualitatively new relations between people, relations that are permeated with the spirit of comradeship and humanism. It is a new socialist culture that absorbs the greatest achievements of human civilisation. It embodies new moral values on whose basis a new man is moulded, with his mature sense of civic duty, noble ideals, and moral qualities. It is a socialist way of life that fosters the all-round, harmonious development of the individual.

p Real socialism is a result of the active, vigorous creative effort of the masses of people themselves under the leadership of Marxist-Leninist parties. The labour and socio-political activity of millions enriches, deepens, and concretises the ideas of socialism expressed in theory. This socialism emerges from bitter class struggle inside a country and on the world scene. It takes shape in the process of surmounting the opposition of the world imperialist system and the internal difficulties that arise in the 26 course of economic, social, and cultural development. In it the greatest achievements of human thought and the practice of millions are blended into one alloy.

p Thus, socialist society is the practical embodiment of the ideas of scientific socialism which is the theoretical expression of the interests of the international working class, of all working people. What Marx and Engels predicted in principle more than a hundred years ago and what Lenin elaborated as a detailed concept has now become reality.

p The international experience of the struggle for socialism and of the building of socialism is extremely varied. Each country and each people contributes its own national features to it. However, in this complex historical process, with its diversity of conditions and forms, some general, fundamental features of socialism as such come to the fore.

p The most general and most essential features that we can justly regard as criteria of real socialism are the following: the leading role of the Marxist-Leninist party, of the working class leaning on alliance with other working strata; socialist statehood, and social ownership of the means of production; the fundamentally new aim of social production-not profit but the interests of man, his wellbeing, his social and intellectual development; the integration of scientific and technological progress with a planned economy which rules out unemployment and inflation; and the broad rights of the working man guaranteed by the social system itself. These features underlie the formation of the new, higher social system that is replacing capitalism.

p The totality of the basic, fundamental features of the socialist system is most fully and tangibly expressed in developed, mature socialism. As Comrade Brezhnev put it, this is a "stage of maturity of the new society at which the restructuring of the entire system of social relations on the collectivist principles intrinsic to socialism is being 27 completed”.  [27•*  The new Constitution of the USSR proclaims and confirms precisely those socio-economic, political, and moral principles of the organisation of society and the state which are characteristic of developed socialism. The diversity and breadth of our socialist democracy, the basic feature of the political system, which organically combines the principles of state and public administration, the leading role of the Party, and the activity and initiative of the masses-all this is mirrored in the Constitution. The new Constitution reflects the further development of the Marxist-Leninist theory of the state. One of its prominent features as a constitution of the socialist type is that it not only records the achievements of socialism and formalises them in the law, but that it also defines the basic aims and tasks of socialism’s further development. The implementation of the combined measures aimed at achieving the highest goal of the state, the creation of a classless communist society, becomes the Fundamental Law of the state. The principles recorded in the Constitution open up prospects of constantly improving socialism’s political system, of an ever broader participation of citizens in running the affairs of the state and society and, in the last analysis, of putting into practice the Party’s programmatic provision of communist self-government. No bourgeois constitution contains, or can contain, all these things.

p The nationwide discussion of the draft Constitution showed the civic maturity and enhanced political level of the Soviet people and was a vivid manifestation of their solidarity with the Communist Party. The process by which the Constitution was adopted demonstrated to the world the high social consciousness of the people and the profoundly democratic nature of the socialist system.

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p All this means that the new Constitution of the USSR is a substantial contribution to the international theoretical and practical experience of socialism. The norms and principles proclaimed in it are likewise the reality of socialism. Today, we have every reason for saying that the international impact of the October Revolution on the progress of mankind is being continued by the real (existing) socialism.

p The socialist countries are rightly regarded the creation of the international working-class movement, of which they are an inalienable part. In turn, having become a sociopolitical and economic reality, socialism is playing an increasingly important role in world development.

p This role can be briefly described as follows: 

p - socialism is the chief factor in the steadily changing alignment of forces in the world in favour of peace, democracy, national independence, and social progress; 

p - the experience of many nations has proved that the theoretically substantiated ideals of socialism are attainable as a social and political system higher than capitalism; 

p - the results achieved in building the new society facilitate the ever broader spread of socialist ideas and break down anti-communist prejudices and bourgeois ideology; 

p - real socialism demonstrates the superiority of the new, genuinely internationalist relations between states based on the principles of fraternity and mutual assistance of the peoples; 

p - it is a mighty bastion of peace, which by its very existence and policy bars the way to a world war; it constructively influences the entire system of international relations, helping consolidate peace and settle controversial issues by negotiation; 

p - it beneficially influences the external and, indirectly, domestic political conditions of the class struggle in capitalist countries; 

p - it assists hundreds of millions of people upholding the national sovereignty of their countries which have liberated 29 themselves from colonialism and embarked on the road of independent development.

p A number of factors contribute to the continuously mounting impact of socialism on mankind’s development. The October Revolution accelerated the appearance and consolidation of the forces rejecting capitalism and aspiring to the socialist ideal. The world communist movement, a qualitatively new force in the working-class movement, took shape under its direct influence. Its impact promoted the formation of revolutionary-democratic movements and organisations in colonial and dependent countries. These new forces, which differ from each other in character but are united by their anti-imperialist orientation, have acquired their own dynamics and sunk deep roots in the masses, in their national life. Drawing upon the experience accumulated by the international revolutionary movement, they are advancing towards the common goal of all peoples-national and social liberation.

p The abolition of capitalism and transformation of society along socialist lines are increasingly becoming an objective necessity, a vital demand of our epoch. The spread of the ideas of socialism the world over is a vivid indication of overall social progress.

The deepening of the general crisis of the capitalist system, as well as the processes directly bound up with the scientific and technological revolution and with the aggravation of global problems, such as energy, food, and environmental protection, work increasingly in favour of socialism. Only socialism and its principles of international relations can ensure the effective solution of the major problems of the twentieth century and secure for the peoples and countries a new, higher level of scientific, technical, economic, and cultural co-operation, the need for which springs from the character and power of the productive forces of the present and future.

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II

p The greatest significance of the October Revolution is to be traced to the fact that its victory brought about a qualitative change in man’s age-old problem of war and peace.

p From the first fundamental document of Soviet powerLenin’s Decree on Peace-and up to the new Constitution of the USSR the entire 60-year history of the Soviet state is a convincing illustration of the fact that, to quote Leonid Brezhnev, "the first state of victorious socialism has for all time inscribed on its banner the word ‘peace’ as the highest principle of its foreign policy, which meets the interests of its own people and all the other peoples of our planet”.  [30•* 

p The CPSU and the Soviet Government consistently and steadfastly pursue a policy aimed at ensuring the peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems, and the exclusion of world war from the life of society. Now this policy is affirmed in the Fundamental Law of our country.

p Before the whole world the Constitution of the USSR solemnly reaffirms that the Soviet Union is a country of friendship and peace among nations. It reiterates that socialism and peace are inseparable: this is not only one of the most stable traditions of the new society, but also one of the main features of the very nature of the socialist state.

p The peaceloving and internationalist policy of the Soviet Union, and of the socialist community as a whole, has strongly influenced the entire system of international relations. The Declaration on the Granting of Independence to colonial countries and peoples, the UN Declaration on the prohibition of the use of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons, international covenants concerning human rights 31 and many other UN documents were adopted on the initiative and with the support of the USSR.

p In our nuclear age, the Soviet policy of peace has truly vital significance for all peoples and for all mankind, because the menace associated with world war, of which Lenin warned as early as 1918, now exists in all its stark reality, namely, the menace of disrupting the very conditions of existence of human society.

p It was incredibly difficult to curb the forces of imperialist aggression that unleashed the cold war against the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, to avert the danger of a thermonuclear catastrophe, and achieve a relaxation of international tension. All this required colossal efforts and the outlay of huge resources so needed for the fuller utilisation of all the potentialities of socialism.

p After all, it involved countering the laws inherent in imperialism and stemming from the foundations of its economy and politics, laws that for a long time had inevitably led to world wars in the setting of monopoly capital’s supremacy.

p An outstanding role in this was played by the Peace Programme adopted at the 24th CPSU Congress. This Programme was broadly acclaimed by peace forces throughout the world and became a powerful lever for restructuring international relations on the principles of peaceful coexistence. Comrade Rodney Arismendi, a prominent leader of the international communist movement, recently aptly pointed out: "We owe it to the 60 years of revolutionary development since October 1917 that today war is no longer inevitable and that we are successfully pursuing a policy of peace and detente.”

p As is known, our Party, its Central Committee, and the Political Bureau of the CC CPSU, headed by Comrade Leonid Brezhnev, are today working to implement the Programme of further struggle for peace and international co-operation, and the freedom and independence of the peoples, drawn up by the 25th Congress.

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p We regard ending the arms race and going over to disarmament as the central objective in consolidating and deepening detente.

p Acting in close co-ordination with other socialist countries, the Soviet Union has come out with a truly allembracing programme in this sphere. The fraternal socialist countries’ initiatives cover the entire range of approaches to the problem of disarmament.

p For a long time the USSR has affirmed its readiness to achieve general and complete disarmament. Our readiness has been recently inscribed in the new Constitution of the USSR.

p At the latest session of the UN General Assembly the Soviet Union repeated that it was ready without delay to start discussing the problem of nuclear disarmament in all its aspects. All existing governments have long since been forwarded the Soviet proposals concerning a world treaty on the non-use of force in international relations and the simultaneous prohibition of nuclear weapons for all time.

p In his report at the anniversary meeting in the Kremlin on November 2, 1977, Comrade Brezhnev has proposed a radical step, namely, an agreement on a simultaneous cessation of manufacturing nuclear weapons by all countries and a gradual reduction of existing stockpiles. This would mean that from now on nuclear materials will be produced exclusively for peaceful purposes. The atom for peace alone! There is no doubt that realisation of this proposal would be a tremendous step forward in solving the problem of preventing nuclear war, which is the key problem of our epoch.

p Moreover, Comrade Brezhnev said that in addition to a ban on all nuclear weapons tests for a specified period the USSR is prepared to declare a moratorium on nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes. The purpose of this proposal is to clear the road for the signing of the largely completed text of an agreement on a total ban on all nuclear tests. The peoples of the world have long been 33 demanding to ban tests not only in the atmosphere, in outer space, and under water, but also under ground.

p For many years we have been advocating effective measures to back up the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union took the initiative in proposing a treaty prohibiting development and manufacture of new types of weapons of mass annihilation, and of new systems of such weapons. We insist on the earliest possible conclusion of an international agreement on the prohibition and destruction of accumulated stockpiles of chemical weapons similar to the Convention on the prohibition of the development, production and stockpiling of bacteriological (biological) and toxin weapons that has already been signed.

p The Soviet Union has submitted detailed proposals on reducing armed forces and armaments, notably in Central Europe. We have repeatedly offered to conclude an agreement on the dismantling of all military bases on foreign territories and the withdrawal of troops from these territories. The USSR steadfastly urges a reduction of military budgets and the use of part of these resources for economic assistance to liberated nations. One of the more important Soviet initiatives is the proposal to withdraw nuclear-armed vessels from separate areas of the World Ocean. The Soviet Union supports the creation of peace zones, particularly in the Indian Ocean.

p The USSR consistently opposes the maintenance of military blocs. Time and again we have proposed the simultaneous dissolution of NATO and the Warsaw Treaty Organisation and, as a first step, the abolition of their military organisations.

p At a reception given in honour of an Indian government delegation. Comrade Brezhnev enunciated a detailed programme to complement political detente in Europe with military detente, which provides for an agreement not to take action that could lead to the enlargement of the existing military-political groupings and the conclusion by the participants in the European Conference of a treaty 34 not to use nuclear weapons first against each other. The draft of such a treaty was made public by the Political Consultative Committee of the Warsaw Treaty Organisation.

p Lastly, the Soviet Union has proposed assuming a reciprocal commitment not to conduct military exercises that would involve more than 50,000-60,000 troops.

p Needless to say, this broad programme of giving material form to detente is not an easy undertaking. It is absolutely clear that the changes for the better in international relations have not transformed the nature of imperialism. Aggressive militarist circles are making one effort after another to undermine detente. It is obvious that their main objective here is to weaken the positions of the Soviet Union and the socialist community as the principal material and political bulwark of the peace forces. This became especially evident when the international situation deteriorated at the close of 1976 and during the first few months of this year.

p There began what can be described as a crusade against detente. The very concept of detente was questioned. Every conceivable argument was used. Some opponents of detente maintained that it is a "one-way street”, that it benefits only the socialist countries. Others contended that nothing had been achieved in the way of detente, that it was all an illusion. Still others attempted to counterpose the so-called question of human rights to detente and to revert to a sharp confrontation behind a smokescreen of demagogic rhetoric about freedoms.

p A cause of particularly great anxiety is the development of new types of mass destruction weapons and delivery vehicles-neutron bombs, cruise missiles, and the like. “Theories” about the possibility and even expediency of “localised”, “limited” nuclear wars are being revived. To justify inflated military budgets the bogey of a "growing 35 Soviet military threat" is being massively used again. There is growing danger of a fresh round in the arms race, and of the threat of nuclear war re-emerging at a new level.

p Yet international developments of the past few months have also shown something else, namely, that the development of detente is grounded in powerful objective tendencies, that detente has sunk deep roots in present-day international life, and that in this area there is now a considerable margin of safety.

p The wave of protests against the production of the neutron bomb has demonstrated the hollowness of the imperialist propagandists’ speculation that people have "grown used" to living with the nuclear sword of Damocles hanging over their heads and that fear of the nuclear war threat has diminished among a considerable section of people. More, it has become evident that realisticallyminded circles in a number of capitalist countries acknowledge the peaceful character of the foreign policy pursued by the socialist countries and are prepared to oppose the cold war demagogues.

p In the last analysis, the firm policy of the socialist countries to preserve and consolidate detente has proved viable. The attacks of its adversaries did not yield the results they expected.

p Of course, this gives no grounds whatsoever for complacency. There is no denying that in the NATO countries the arms race has reached an unprecedentedly high level, or that it conflicts with political detente and runs counter to the assurances of Western statesmen that they want peace. This means that the tendency towards detente is realised and asserted not automatically, but chiefly as a result of the policy of the socialist countries and the vigorous actions of the world’s peace forces.

p Today, the most burning and urgent problem is to find a way for ending the continuing stockpiling of armaments. For as history shows, if they are not defused in time, 36 shooting is bound to begin. The peril is all the greater in view of the existence of forces so blinded by cupidity and class hatred that they might risk precipitating a catastrophic military conflict.

p This makes struggle to end the arms race and bring about disarmament the sacred duty of all those who consider themselves democrats and humanists, to say nothing of Communists. Also, it must be emphasised that words alone cannot halt the production of neutron bombs or cruise missiles. Words will not stop the spread of nuclear weapons. What is needed is action-vigorous, militant, and determined action. It is necessary to use every resource to build up the mass character, scale, and intensity of the struggle against militarism and aggression.

p To put an end to the arms race is a task on which the future of mankind depends. We Soviet people. Communists of the Soviet Union, have been and will continue doing everything in our power to prevent the flames of a nuclear war from ever enveloping our planet.

p The opponents of detente are stepping up their efforts not only in the sphere of armaments production. " Psychological warfare" against the socialist countries reached its peak in 1976 and early in 1977. The propaganda campaign of slander launched under the false pretext of defending freedoms and human rights has many diverse aims. Directly, and more often indirectly, it serves the policy of stepping up the arms race with all the wellknown consequences. It is being used to befog the minds of the masses in the capitalist world gripped by an extremely severe crisis, mass unemployment, and galloping inflation, from which the leaders of capitalist society cannot extricate themselves no matter how hard they try. In this situation, when the capitalist system is manifestly discrediting itself on an unparalleled scale, when the striving to resolve critical problems by socialist methods is growing and the struggle of the working people against 37 state-monopoly rule is mounting, the anti-Soviet and anti-socialist campaigns are meant by the architects to turn the masses away from socialism and create a gulf between the socialist countries and the peoples of the West.

p Neither has imperialism abandoned its attempts at “eroding” the social system in the socialist countries by means of subversive propaganda campaigns, and by supporting all kinds of turncoats and enemies of socialism. However futile these efforts are in our time, they do spoil the international climate, because they amount to interference in the internal affairs of the socialist countries, to say nothing of the fact that they serve the same old aim of discrediting socialism and justifying military preparations against it.

p The efforts of imperialist circles and the Peking leadership, which acts in collusion with them, to split the ranks of the forces opposing imperialism have grown to unprecedented dimensions. Political manoeuvres are being used to upset relations between socialist countries, attempts are made at exacerbating inter-state conflicts arising in certain regions, and, of late, especially intensive efforts have been witnessed to set the Communist parties of socialist and capitalist countries against one another.

p It stands to reason that on the historical plane such subversive acts and manoeuvres are doomed to ignominious failure. If imperialism was unable to overcome the new society with its material force when it was superior in the economic and the military-technical fields, it cannot hope to compete with socialism in the ideological field. Is it not typical, and paradoxical for that matter, that bourgeois ideologists often attack socialism under the flag of defending the ideas of “humanist” and " democratic" socialism? The apologists of capitalism must be in a bad way if they have to make themselves ridiculous by posing as the advocates of a "better socialism" than the one actually in existence.

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p There is no denying all this. But, deplorably, the bourgeoisie sometimes manages to confuse a certain part of the population by its specious methods. That is why departure from the principle of solidarity, groundless criticism of existing socialism, and disassociation from it, is not simply a theoretical problem or a problem concerning relations between Communist parties. It is directly connected with detente and the prospects of preventing war. When the general public and the mass of the people in a capitalist country receive truthful information about the state of affairs in the socialist countries, about the Soviet Union and its policy, this has a definite effect on the ruling circles, and those who have aggressive intents will think twice before they put their designs into practice, lest they reap a storm of anger and indignation on the part of their own people who know the truth and will not let themselves be deceived.

p On the other hand, picking faults with the socialist countries helps distort the people’s idea of their aims and policies, weakens the resistance of the masses to the aggressive schemes of reactionary circles, and lessens their apprehensions of the people’s reaction to an attempt on their part to unleash war.

p It is no exaggeration to say that the anti-war forces in the world have never been as strong as now. Never before has the potential of the worldwide struggle for peace been as great as now. But to enable these forces to contribute to the consolidation of detente and the curbing of the arms race, and to the cause of genuine disarmament, there must be active, concerted action and enterprise, above all, on the part of the Communist parties, the vanguard of the workers’ movement.

p A good foundation for such action is the document of the 1976 Berlin Conference. Obviously, the ideas and proposals which the fraternal parties jointly formulated in that document must be utilised more extensively and persistently in the practical struggle. It is well known that 39 the Berlin programme had been prepared with due consideration for the fact that, as time passes, the dialectical connection between the struggle for the strengthening of peace and the struggle for social progress, between the struggle for peace and the internationalist co-operation of Communists of all countries would become greater. The intervening period has confirmed the correctness of this approach. The ability of the communist movement to influence the course of events in the world and ensure an increasing superiority of the peace forces over the forces of war is in many ways related to the degree of solidarity among the fraternal parties.

The great aim of securing lasting world peace and ruling out war in international affairs is becoming feasible in practice. But the attainment of this aim demands persistent renewal of efforts, deeper mutual understanding, and closer unity of the peaceloving forces.

III

p All the important social achievements of the past sixty years stem from the October Revolution of 1917 and are a part of the worldwide revolutionary process started in the days "that shook the world”. Now, in the 70s, it has become especially evident that the forces of national and social liberation have approached qualitatively new frontiers.

p The ideas of the October Revolution, embodied in the achievements of socialism, the international working-class and national liberation movements, are a powerful and increasingly effective accelerator of social progress throughout the world. The torch of the revolutionary transformation of all the pillars of the life of mankind, lit by the October Revolution, is held aloft by the international communist movement. This movement is in an important stage of its development, a period of great 40 events and new opportunities. In general, as an international force, it is on the upgrade.

p This also applies to the parties waging a complex and hard struggle in the capitalist countries. Some of them have achieved considerable successes and have substantially strengthened their prestige and influence. No other political force in the capitalist world so deeply and fully expresses and so selflessly defends the rights of the working people, the national interests of its country, and the needs of social progress as do the Communists. The role of the Communist parties as the leading factor of broad international solidarity with the liberation movements, with fighters against imperialism’s aggressive designs, and with victims of reaction, has become visibly greater. In the area under capitalist rule they were and remain the chief motivating force in the struggle for strengthening detente, for international security, and against the arms race.

p At times such as these, when new phenomena keep coming to hand, and when theory is called upon to tackle many problems on the solution of which the immediate future of the revolutionary process depends, Lenin’s call for a scientific, Marxist approach to large-scale historical changes is particularly relevant. Lenin said that the politically conscious man "must evaluate these new changes, ’make use’ of them, grasp them, if we may use that expression, and at the same time, he must not allow himself to drift helplessly with the stream, he must not throw out the old baggage, he must preserve the essentials in the forms of activity and not merely in theory, in the programme, in the principles of policy”.  [40•*  Continuity in Marxist-Leninist theory and policy reflects the objective internationalist unity of the world historical process and a close relationship between its various stages.

p The Communist Party of the Soviet Union has always 41 followed with great interest and respect the efforts of the fraternal parties to find specific ways of building socialism, taking into account the particular conditions in their countries and their own experience. As was said more than fifteen years ago in the CPSU Programme, "while the principal law-governed processes of the socialist revolution are common to all countries, the diversity of the national peculiarities and traditions that have arisen in the course of history creates specific conditions for the revolutionary process, the variety of forms and rates of the proletariat’s advent to power”.  [41•* 

p Drawing on the analysis of the social structure of their country and carefully taking into account the interests and needs of all sections of the working people, the Communist parties are working on such a cardinal problem as the building of broad alliances that would embrace the majority of the people and be able to effect major social transformations. Each party is looking for ways and means best suited for its country of securing united action with other left, democratic forces, parties, and organisations, and is fighting for the leading role and the initiative within political alliances and blocs.

p It stands to reason that whatever the social composition of the anti-monopoly coalition may be, the working class should be its leading and determining force. It also stands to reason that the fraternal parties are putting special emphasis on strengthening their positions in the working class and, among other things, directly at industrial enterprises.

p Alliances of this kind would isolate the reactionary rightist forces and would lay the political foundation for relatively peaceful social transformations, with socialism as their ultimate aim. But it stands to reason, too, that the road to socialism is under all conditions a road of 42 class struggle. This is because the ruling class has never anywhere voluntarily given up power, or its riches and privileges, nor ever will, without resorting to every possible means, including, if feasible, the most extreme means, to preserve its rule and crush the revolution.

p The peculiarities of the situation in different capitalist countries, the diversity of the experience gained by different Communist parties, and the fact that their concrete strategic and tactical guidelines have not been sufficiently tested in practice serve objectively as a warning against hasty generalisations, against making an absolute of specific solutions and raising them to the rank of theoretical verities. "Whatever routes are chosen,” said Comrade Brezhnev, "the ultimate mission of the Communists is to lead the masses to the principal goal, to socialism. The experience of the struggle for the victory of the October Revolution has shown that changes of tactics, compromises in order to win new allies, are quite possible in revolutionary practice. But we are also convinced of something else: under no circumstances may principles be sacrificed for the sake of a tactical advantage.”  [42•* 

p An extensive, accurate, and well-thought-out assessment of the experience gained by the revolutionary forces in the past, in various countries and in different circumstances, by the ruling Marxist-Leninist parties and also by the parties directly engaged in the struggle against capitalism has always been an essential condition for working out and implementing a correct policy, and for a truly creative and effective approach to new problems. We have known for a long time that mastering the whole body of Marxist-Leninist theory is not a merely bookish, academic process. It requires, above all, such knowledge of one’s own experience and the international experience of revolutionary struggle that would enable to draw 43 lessons, to set the correct guidelines for practical action, and to take into account all the dangers and pitfalls, and all the possible options in the event of a radical change in the situation.

p The Communist Party of the Soviet Union does not impose on anyone the conclusions it has drawn from its own vast experience or from the international experience of modern socialism. But we are convinced that life and revolutionary practice forcefully confirm again and again that there are fundamental, inalienable features in the socialist revolution and the building of socialism in any country. These features, formulated in a condensed and theoretically generalised form by Leonid Brezhnev in his report, "The Great October Revolution and Mankind’s Progress”, include effective political power of the working class, acting in alliance with all other working people; use of this power to end the social-economic domination of capitalists and other exploiters; the inspiring and organising role of the working class and its communist vanguard in uniting the mass of working people to build socialism, and, finally, the ability of the working people’s power to defend the revolution against the inevitable attacks of the class adversary. This is our understanding of the most general objective laws governing the transition from capitalism to socialism.

p The achievements and the growing ideological and political potential of the communist movement are causing obvious anxiety among the class enemies. In conditions of crises and historic political setbacks, imperialism is rallying all its political and ideological resources. Coordinated subversive campaigns against the fraternal parties and our movement as a whole have become an inalienable and increasingly important element of the global strategy of imperialism. It is using all the means available, resorting to the most barbarous reprisals, inciting fascist-type anti-communist thugs and left extremists, persecuting progressives, as, say, in West Germany with the 44 notorious Berutsverbote and, of course, constantly manipulating public opinion through the mass media.

p What extremes of wanton violence the monopoly bourgeoisie will go to when its vital interests are at stake is illustrated by the events in Latin America.

p In response to the successes of the liberation movement, imperialism and domestic reaction have mounted a counteroffensive there, exacting a heavy toll of life and causing great suffering for the peoples of the continent. Imperialism and the local oligarchies have managed to strike serious blows at the working-class and liberation movement in Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, and certain other countries, and to create a zone of fascist tyranny in the southern part of the continent. The Communist parties in these countries have suffered grave losses and have been compelled to go deep underground.

p And yet there are no reasons for regarding this as a triumph for reaction and fascism in Latin America. The liberation movement is alive and is again gathering strength. In its vanguard stand Communist parties founded soon after the October Revolution and possessing a more than 50 years’ history of dedicated and heroic struggle for the interests of the working people in their countries. Acting in extremely difficult conditions, they are carrying the ideas of Marxism-Leninism to the masses, spreading the truth about socialism, and waging a determined struggle against anti-communism and various currents of right and “left” opportunism.

p There has hardly been any other time in the history of the communist movement when bourgeois propaganda loosened such a stream of venomous words against the fraternal parties as it does today. The aims of the organisers of this propaganda campaign are more than obvious. Their purpose is to undermine the unity of the communist movement, to set the Communist parties against each other and, first of all, to drive a wedge between the Communist parties of capitalist countries and the ruling 45 Marxist-Leninist parties. The method used in these provocative actions is also fairly obvious. The class enemy is trying to take advantage of the natural fact that the different conditions in which the fraternal parties are working and the differences in their present political possibilities and immediate aims and objectives result in differences in their approach to various problems. The aim of the present anti-communist campaigns, specifically the propaganda ballyhoo about Eurocommunism, a concept invented by the bourgeoisie, is to interfere in the discussion of these problems, to try to turn differences of views into discord and discord into division.

p Therefore, it is especially important for the Communists today to arrange an exchange of views and experience and comradely discussions between different parties on the basis of principle and mutual respect, taking into account one another’s interests, that is to say, the common interests of our movement.

p The attempts to besmirch the glorious historic past of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries and to ignore their experience and services to the revolutionary movement-whatever the motives behind this approachultimately work against those who expect to derive an advantage from it. To resort to such methods means weakening and undermining the people’s faith in the socialist transformations of the world, and tarnishing the image of socialism.

p The Soviet Communists, faithful to the Leninist internationalist tradition, never fail to display solidarity with the activity of their comrades in the capitalist countries, to express their deep fellow-feeling for them, and to wish them further success in their struggle for the interests of the working class and all working people. A’ the same time, the internationalist position of our class brothers abroad and their solidarity with our efforts are an important stimulus for the political activity and work 46 of the Soviet people, help them to solve the problems arising in socialist society, and afford us substantial moral and political support.

This is why the CC CPSU deeply appreciates as a demonstration of true internationalism the presence at the October festivities of so many high-ranking delegations of the fraternal parties and of other democratic parties and states, their speeches and their meetings with the Soviet people.

IV

p Since the birth of the first socialist state internationalism has become one of the guiding principles of the Communist Party, now the ruling party, in its activity at home and on the international scene. At present, with the adoption of the new Soviet Constitution, it has acquired the force of law.

p The formation of the world socialist system has deepened and extended the forms and content of the internationalist solidarity of the working people. One of the forms to emerge and take root is socialist internationalism which applies and develops the principles of proletarian internationalism in relations between sovereign socialist states.

p The development of internationalism has also found expression in the fact that, after the collapse of the imperialist colonial system and the establishment of many dozens of anti-imperialist and socialist-oriented states, its principles are being applied in practice in the diverse relations maintained by the socialist countries with this new, dynamic force in world affairs and social progress. As we know, a concise formulation of the present meaning of internationalism was given by the 1969 Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties: "Peoples of the socialist countries, workers, democratic forces in the capitalist countries, newly liberated peoples and those who are oppressed, unite in a 47 common struggle against imperialism, tor peace, national liberation, social progress, democracy and socialism!"  [47•* 

p It is argued sometimes that the term “proletarian” is no longer applicable to this “broad” and “new” concept of internationalism. But in the lifetime of Marx and Engels, too, the term did not apply solely and exclusively to solidarity between proletarians of different countries. In the course of time, ever broader masses of people belonging to different social strata began taking part in solidarity movements. As we see it, this shows that internationalism’s class content has become even more distinct, not that it has lost its proletarian character. The growing numbers of adherents of internationalist solidarity show, in fact, that the working class is making good progress in its world historic mission-that of uniting on a common platform all those who can fight for peace, democracy, freedom of the nations, and for socialism.

p The term "proletarian internationalism" is not out of date. Today, it still points correctly to the origins of internationalism, to its class foundation, and to its principal and most consistent champion. The working class unites all working people on the platform of its ideas in their struggle against exploiters and oppressors. And there is no more reason to give up the term, which shows the revolutionary fighters’ fidelity to tradition, than there would be to change the famous slogan, "Proletarians of All Countries, Unite!”, on the grounds, say, that there is no longer any proletariat in the socialist countries, but a working class, the leading socio-political force of the new society.

p Sometimes it is argued that the principle of proletarian internationalism must be radically revised, because the connection between the international and the national in the general development of mankind has changed, and " priority" now belongs to the national principle. In actual fact 48 there are no grounds for counterposing the national to the international.

p Certainly, the growth of the Communist parties into an influential political force does increase the volume of their national tasks, and in some ways also changes the very nature of these tasks. The growing significance of the problems of national independence-and this also in the conditions of developed capitalism-gives patriotic demands added weight in the policy of Communists, heightens the Communists’ role as the most consistent and staunchest champions of the nation’s true interests, and is a factor for uniting all the sound forces of society in the striving for a democratic solution to the critical impasse brought about by the domination of monopoly capital. The Communists are the initiators and the principal force in the struggle against world imperialism’s pressure on their country, and against the threat to its sovereignty from all kinds of supranational monopoly alliances and organisations.

p There is no denying all this. But if each of these processes is examined in isolation from the general course of historical development, if each one is regarded as an absolute law in itself, this one-sidedness may lead to the erroneous conclusion that the role of internationalism is practically reduced to nought.

p But if we examine the facts from every angle, as Marxism-Leninism requires, we shall easily see that the practical significance of the international solidarity of Communists, and of all progressive forces, has increased. The connection between the national and the international in the communist movement, in all revolutionary practice, has become still closer and more essential. There has never been, nor can there be-and especially today-any antagonistic contradiction between the national interests of a people, of a Communist Party, and the international interests of the world revolutionary movement.

p The internationalisation of social life, which Lenin 49 observed as early as in the beginning of the twentieth century, increases the impact of international factors on the development of any country, on the activity of all social and political movements of every nation. Conditions of struggle within national frontiers have never depended so much as now on the alignment of world forces, the activities of the socialist countries in the international field, and the active efforts of all other elements of the world’s anti-imperialist movement.

p At the same time, a large number of problems is arising these days that demand unity on the international plane. And the proportion of internationalist tasks is increasing in the activities of each fraternal party. The main objective is to launch an extensive campaign for the prevention of world war, for the strengthening of world peace, against the arms race, and against the aggressive acts and plans of imperialism.

p The international character of the class struggle of working people acting in concert against the domination of the so-called multinationals, has become noticeably more pronounced. International support for liberation and democratic movements, and solidarity with prisoners of reaction is acquiring ever greater importance. The need for internationalism is also prompted by the fact that monopoly capital is now making more vigorous efforts to join forces on an international scale and co-ordinate its activities in the struggle against the revolutionary forces.

p It is noteworthy that the Social-Democratic parties, with the help of the Socialist International, have lately been actively strengthening ties among themselves and with other political forces. Disregarding possible charges of interference and violation of the sovereignty of parties, the Socialist International regularly holds congresses, convenes meetings of its Bureau and of other central bodies, and sends commissions representing several parties to various parts of the world. In other words, it is in every way stimulating interest in international problems.

50

p In discussions of the meaning of internationalism it is sometimes counterposed, as it were, to the firmly established principles and norms of relations between fraternal parties, such as respect for the independence and equal rights of each party, non-interference in one another’s internal affairs, unconditional sovereignty of parties, and their complete independence in defining policy. The CPSU is against such counterposing. More, fully in keeping with the Document of the Berlin Conference, it holds that the modern understanding of proletarian internationalism organically includes these norms and principles.

p For those who do not want to stir up trouble it is clear that a world communist centre is a thing of the past. And, with all due respect for this past and paying tribute to the outstanding role played by the Comintern in furthering the revolutionary forces of the present epoch, no Marxist-Leninist has suggested reviving it in any form whatever.

p For the communist movement to develop successfully, continuous care must be taken to see that the forms of relations among the fraternal parties should conform with the needs of a given historical stage. At this time, the ideas of the world community of Communists and the traditions of international solidarity find expression in international campaigns, in broad and systematic contacts between parties, in collective theoretical work, in bilateral and multilateral meetings, and in joint political actions on concrete issues of world politics.

p Undoubtedly, the common views of the fraternal parties on a large range of vital problems pertaining to the struggle for peace, detente, and social progress are a sound foundation for the further development and strengthening of the internationalist unity of action of Communists.

p With the victory of the October Revolution the national liberation movement became an integral part of the world revolutionary process. History has strikingly confirmed Lenin’s prediction that "the socialist revolution will not 51 be solely, or chiefly, a struggle of the revolutionary proletarians in each country against their bourgeoisie-no, it will be a struggle of all the imperialist-oppressed colonies and countries, of all dependent countries, against international imperialism”.  [51•*  The emergence of the first socialist state, and thereupon of the system of socialist states, gave powerful impetus to the national liberation struggle. Progressive forces all over the world organised and won the battle against colonialism.

p At present, a struggle to stamp out the last remaining colonial racist regimes is raging in the southern part of the African continent. The world is witnessing grave crimes by the oppressors of the many millions of Africans in Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. All our sympathy and all our support is with the fighters for freedom and vital human rights in these countries, and for the complete elimination of the disgraceful system of apartheid. We firmly believe that the hour of the final triumph of the just cause of the peoples in southern Africa is near.

p The national liberation movement has entered a qualitatively new stage. The tasks of economic and social emancipation have moved to the forefront. They are exceedingly difficult tasks, because they involve overcoming the ageold economic backwardness, a grave consequence of the colonial past, and uprooting archaic social structures, involving a sharp clash with imperialism and local reaction. Using such neo-colonialist levers as export of capital, manipulation of prices and exchange rates, and the pressure of multinationals and international financial bodies, imperialism is trying to consolidate the dependent condition of the liberated countries and to perpetuate their backwardness. Imperialism is sowing discord among the liberated states, seeking to magnify the contradictions rooted in the past, and provoking fratricidal armed conflicts.

p The struggle over the choice of paths of development 52 is becoming increasingly acute. It is closely associated with the growing social stratification. In a number of regions the progressive social forces and the mass of the people show their preference for the socialist orientation. The number of countries that have opted for the socialist orientation and have begun building a new economy not dominated by foreign and local capital is growing. Some revolutionary-democratic parties have proclaimed Marxism-Leninism the ideological and political basis of their activity. As a result, the national liberation movement has begun to merge with the theory of scientific socialism. This has created better conditions for the transition of states which emerged from the movement to socialist reforms.

p In the present stage, the young national states’ co-operation with the socialist world, based on equality and mutual benefit, has become tremendously important. Alongside the further deepening and development of bilateral ties, which promote their economic modernisation and social progress, an increasingly greater part belongs now to their co-operation with socialist countries in the striving for radical change in the entire system of world economic relations and against the exploitation of the liberated states by international imperialism, as well as in the struggle for world peace and security.

p Having entered the seventh decade of the epoch ushered in by the October Revolution, the Soviet people led by Lenin’s Party are optimistic and confident in their future. The indomitable social forces awakened and inspired by the October Revolution are seeking and finding solutions to the key problems of our times along the road indicated and illumined by that revolution.

p — The historical experience of the October Revolution scientifically generalised by the Marxist-Leninist parties, and the international experience of the revolutionary 53 struggle, contain a tremendous politico-ideological charge, are a guarantee of the still further spread of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism in all countries, and a source of new victories in the socialist reconstruction of the world.

p — The radical change in the alignment of world forces begun by the October Revolution, which brought about the irreversible historical superiority of the socialist forces and the forces of social progress, democracy, and peace, has created conditions for preventing world war, for securing lasting peace, and for solving in the interests of all nations a number of other acute global problems-ecological, raw materials, energy, and food.

p — The new society, which has been established in a number of countries and has reached maturity in its first base, the Soviet Union, is successfully implementing the great principle formulated by Marx and Engels and promulgated as law in the new Soviet Constitution: "The free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.”  [53•* 

Implementation of this principle will secure many fresh successes for the great Marxist-Leninist teaching, and for the cause of peace and communism.