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p HERMANN AXEN

p MEMBER OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU AND
SECRETARY OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTKE OF THE
SOCIALIST UNITY PARTY OF GERMANY

p Dear comrades, the past few days have made an unforgettable impression on all of us. We were happy and proud to see the enthusiasm with which the glorious Soviet people, the fraternal peoples of the socialist community, and all progressive mankind celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Great October Revolution.

p Communists and people of the German Democratic Republic received the report of Comrade Leonid Brezhnev at the jubilee meeting on the 60th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution with wholehearted approval. We consider it a keynote document, because it most convincingly shows the following:

p 1. Over the past 60 years the Soviet Union, the first country in the world to have built socialist society, has achieved the highest stage of human progress. And as it lays the foundations of communism, its role of pioneer and vanguard is increasing. The 60 years of Soviet power prove that the October Revolution has started the epoch of the victorious materialisation of the ideals of freedom, peace, labour, equality, and fraternity. The 60-year practice of the Land of Lenin has brilliantly confirmed the truly 55 scientific character of Marxism-Leninism, and has served as irrefutable proof of the universal significance of the theory of socialist revolution and the building of socialism, which, thanks to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, has enriched the science of Marxism-Leninism.

p 2. The October Revolution and the building of socialism have done away with the exploiter system which prevailed since society became divided into classes. The strengthening of the world socialist system, the collapse of the colonial empires, the successes of national liberation movements and socialist revolutions, the ever decreasing sphere of influence and the imminent decline of capitalism have brought about serious changes in the correlation of forces in the international arena and a turn from the cold war to detente. For the first time peace has reigned on earth for more than three decades.

p 3. During the 60 years since the October Revolution conditions have been created for the Soviet Union and other countries of the socialist community to make further social progress. This will make it possible for the socialist world to confirm its superiority in all key spheres and decisive sectors of the class struggle, thus facilitating the maintenance of stable peace and the transition of ever new countries from capitalism to socialism and communism.

p 4. The new Soviet proposals for a simultaneous halt in the production of nuclear weapons by all states and for a moratorium covering all nuclear explosions, including those for peaceful purposes, and the appeal To the Peoples, Parliaments and Governments of All Countries will give new impetus to the peoples’ struggle for peace and security. These initiatives have convincingly demonstrated the vanguard role of the Soviet Union in the struggle for peace, international detente, and social progress.

p It is quite safe to say that Comrade Brezhnev’s report will tremendously stimulate the activities of all progressive forces.

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p The delegation of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany wishes to state that it fully agrees with Comrade Mikhail Suslov’s and Comrade Boris Ponomarev’s meaningful speeches.

p Permit me now to touch upon two aspects connected with the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution and with our future tasks.

p The first aspect concerns the universal importance of the experience of the socialist revolution and of the building of socialism in the Soviet Union. We speak about this not in general terms, but on the basis of the concrete experience of the revolutionary process successfully unfolding for the past thirty years on German soil. The emergence and strengthening of a socialist workers’ and peasants’ state on German soil is one of the international effects of the October Revolution determining the specific features of our epoch. This may be rightly described as a turning point in the history of Europe. The fact that the glorious Soviet Army smashed nazism, the strongest and most criminal striking force of world imperialism, and the subsequent revolutionary transition to socialism on German soil testifies to the all-conquering material and ideological forces generated by the Great October Revolution which led to the victory of socialism in the German Democratic Republic. Two main factors account for this victory.

p First, the Soviet Union’s feat of liberation led to the complete elimination of the imperialist fascist state apparatus, while the presence of Soviet troops provided military protection for the ongoing people’s revolution.

p Second, the German working class had a tried and tested vanguard-the Communist Party of Germany-which had acquired a thorough understanding of Marxism-Leninism in the course of its heroic class battles and which, after merging with the Social-Democratic Party, won the majority of the working class and the working people to the side of the socialist revolution.

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p That the German Democratic Republic is a firmly established socialist state it owes to the fact that the Socialist Unity Party of Germany has consistently and creatively used the basic experience of the CPSU at every stage of the Republic’s development-of course, taking into consideration the specific historical and national features of our country. This was not always easy to do. After 1945 world imperialism did everything possible to block socialism on German soil.

p From the first days of its existence the Socialist Unity Party of Germany has done everything in its power to make it possible for the whole of Germany to embark on a democratic, progressive, and hence peaceful, road. Our Party has worked consistently and hard to achieve this goal. It proved impossible, however, to secure a progressive course of development for all the German people at that time on account of the resistance of the united forces of international monopoly capital. But neither could the forces of imperialism succeed in re-establishing the exploiter system throughout Germany. Thus, a separate Federal Republic of Germany came into being. The building of socialism in the German Democratic Republic was the splendid result of the class struggle on German soil and an important historic event. Nowadays, there are on German soil two states with opposite social systems-the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany; there are two peoples and two nations-the socialist nation of the German Democratic Republic and the capitalist nation of the Federal Republic of Germany.

p Imperialists are well aware that the stronger the ties of the socialist countries with the Soviet Union, the main force of world socialism, the surer and more successful will be the building of the new society. Therefore, with the help of nationalist slogans and concepts, imperialists have been seeking, and continue to seek, to undermine our friendship with the Soviet people and thus thwart our successful advance along the socialist road.

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p Confrontation between the socialist German Democratic Republic and the capitalist Federal Republic of Germany is, in fact, a reflection in a most acute form of the struggle and competition between the two opposite world systems. The failure of the imperialist "rolling back" policy was at the same time a failure for the revenge-seeking plans of German imperialism. However, monopoly capital in the Federal Republic of Germany stubbornly refuses to reconcile itself to the existence of the socialist German Democratic Republic. The ruling circles in the FRG persist in distorting and violating the system of European agreements and the Helsinki Final Act in their struggle against our workers’ and peasants’ state.

p The German Democratic Republic is doing its utmost to assert the principles of peaceful coexistence as the norm of relations between the GDR and FRG in all spheres. In this we proceed from factors that Bonn, too, must take into account. First, there is no alternative to peaceful coexistence. Second, trade with socialist countries, including the GDR, is ever more important for the crisis-stricken FRG. The FRG must learn to respect and recognise the GDR as an independent socialist state.

p It should be pointed out that the class objectives of German imperialism and the actual correlation of class forces between socialism and imperialism, a correlation of basic importance, are two different things. The German Democratic Republic has for all time become an inseparable part of the socialist community. As developed socialist society makes further advances, the natural process of the convergence of the different nations and peoples of our socialist community is becoming more far-reaching and dynamic.

p The successful development of the socialist German state and its firm commitment to world socialism is truly convincing proof of the universal significance of the experience of the CPSU and the triumph of the ideas of the Great October Revolution.

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p The German Democratic Republic is marching forward successfully, because our Party has always carried aloft the great banner of the October Revolution. And on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Great October Revolution, Comrade Leonid Brezhnev has rightly said: " Without Marx, Engels, or Lenin, without Marxism-Leninism, there could be no October Revolution, and without it there could be no socialist GDR.”  [59•* 

p “The firm ties with the Party of Lenin,” Erich Honecker said at the 9th Congress of the SUPG, "are a matter of principle in determining class positions and a decisive criterion for any revolutionary and internationalist. This has been true since the Great October Revolution, this remains true today, and will be all the more true in future.”

p The second aspect which I would like to deal with concerns the necessity of strengthening the unity of action and ideology of the international communist movement in the new stage of struggle. The 60th anniversary of the October Revolution coincides with this new stage. That is why we consider Comrade Brezhnev’s speech a document that offers guidance in solving the problems our movement will face in the immediate future.

p In our opinion, the new stage will be characterised primarily by new development processes in socialist, capitalist, and developing countries. In the USSR the foundations of communism are being laid. In many other fraternal countries a developed socialist society is being built. Thus, socialism has entered a new, higher stage of development. The magnetic force of the social and political aspects of developed socialism in solving all the tasks confronting us is constantly increasing. The practical implementation of the ideas of scientific communism appeals ever more strongly to the minds and hearts of the people in non-socialist countries. At the turn of the century the revolutionary workers’ movement influenced the course 60 of history above all through the persuasive truth of Marxist-Leninist theory and through the revolutionary and militant character of its anti-capitalist action. Nowadays, socialism exerts a decisive material and ideological influence on world political development by its practical achievements.

p These achievements are determined first of all by the main objective of the socialist countries-the further raising of the living standard and cultural level of the people. Unity of economic and social policy in socialist countries is an objective law. This means that under socialism the wellbeing of the people is central. "Never before have we had such favourable opportunities for carrying out the tasks for which, in the final count, the revolution was accomplished-for raising the wellbeing of the masses, extending socialist democracy and furthering the harmonious development of the individual,” Comrade Brezhnev said at the jubilee meeting on the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution.  [60•*  It is precisely towards this goal that the course charted by the 9th Congress of the SUPG is directed.

p Extending socialist democracy is the main objective in the development of the state in the countries of the socialist community. In these countries, where class antagonisms have been eliminated, different classes and sections of the population are drawing closer together. Most of these countries, however different their ways of development may be, have as their objective the gradual elimination of the basic distinctions between town and country, and between physical and mental labour. With the heightening of the leading role of the working class, the moral and political unity of the people increases. The profoundly humane and democratic essence of the new social system is vividly reflected in the new Constitution of the USSR, a constitution of developed socialism and of communist construction. This Constitution confirms that socialism alone guarantees human rights. The might and successes of 61 socialism are sure guarantees of man’s fundamental rights and freedoms which, in turn, ensure the protection of the dignity and the harmonious development of the individual. Thus, the Fundamental Law of the USSR is a charter of genuine rights and freedoms, democracy, and man’s civic duties, the charter of a society which is on the threshold of communism. The new Constitution of the Soviet people is the world’s most progressive fundamental law.

p Inspired by the example of peoples who are successfully building socialism, the national liberation movement is rapidly gaining strength. Many countries that have won national liberation have chosen the non-capitalist path of development. More and more countries take the socialist orientation. The Asian, African, and Latin American countries are ever more actively demanding equality in political and economic relations with international monopoly capital. With the loss of its political domination on the international scene and of its nuclear weapons monopoly, and with the collapse of the colonial system, imperialism is losing its former monopoly grip on the natural resources and strategic positions in the developing countries, though we are, of course, aware that the influence of the international corporations of the main imperialist countries is still very strong.

p The general crisis of capitalism is assuming such proportions that the masses in the capitalist countries no longer can, or wish to, live in the old way. The working people in the majority of the industrially advanced capitalist countries are ever more insistently demanding radical democratic and social changes. This enhances the role and responsibility of the Communist parties. There is no other force, apart from the Communist parties, capable of showing the masses the way out of the crisis and exploitation, and of leading them in the struggle for their aims.

p The successes achieved by the three main revolutionary forces in the present-day world briefly described here determine the specific features of the new stage in the 62 international class struggle. Socialism has already taken firm root on three continents, and the process of revolutionary transition to socialism is already under way on the fourth continent-Africa. These facts demonstrate that the international revolutionary process is developing at a faster rate than before. It follows from this that the revolutionary transition to socialism, as Lenin predicted, will take ever more diverse forms. As the fraternal paities correctly emphasise, this calls for greater skill on the part of Communist and Workers’ parties in correctly and creatively applying the general laws of Marxism-Leninism in the specific national conditions of struggle in their countries. Underestimation of the national factor in the revolutionary struggle is extremely harmful.

p The contemporary revolutionary process is not only characterised by the growing variety of forms of transition to socialism, but also by growing internationalisation of the revolutionary process and the class struggle-a phenomenon corroborated by numerous facts. This phenomenon can be explained primarily by the internationalisation of production and exchange, which is typical both of socialism and imperialism. The ability to cope with the processes of internationalisation largely determines the course of economic competition and struggle between socialism and imperialism. Such problems as protection of the environment, soil, sea, air, atmosphere and space, supply of power resources, and the battle against disease and hunger are acquiring worldwide importance. Imperialism has become the main obstacle to the solution of these vitally important problems. So, only joint international struggle of all antiimperialist, peaceloving, and realistically-minded forces can secure the solution of these problems in the interests of the peoples of the world.

p Another factor of international significance exerting a decisive influence on the world revolutionary process is the struggle for peace and the prevention of a nuclear war. The struggle to limit the arms race and achieve 63 disarmament is becoming the main objective in international politics, and can only be attained through joint and consistent international action by peace forces in all countries. There is no doubt that this struggle will be hard and long. The success of this struggle depends first of all on unity of action by the international working class and of all antiimperialist and peaceloving forces in the international arena.

p For this reason, on behalf of our Party and the people of the GDR, Comrade Erich Honecker in his speech at the Berlin meeting on the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution on November 5, heartily welcomed Leonid Brezhnev’s new peace proposals and the new peace appeal of the Party and government of the Soviet Union.

p And, finally, internationalisation is increasingly seen in the class struggle. This is due clearly to the growing might and international influence of socialism, the deepening general crisis of capitalism, the intensifying national and socialist liberation revolutions, and other factors mentioned earlier. The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the SUPG in the report to the 9th Party Congress emphasised the following:

p “One cannot but see that many of the new tasks facing Communists today can only be accomplished by them jointly, in the process of a co-ordinated struggle and on the basis of a common platform of action. The rich experience of the revolutionary battles of the past and present bears out the following conclusion made by Marx, Engels, and Lenin: so long as class enemies join forces organisationally on a world scale, the revolutionary movement can achieve its aims only if it acts in concert in all countries and continents regardless of the frontiers dividing them.”

p Despite all the successes achieved by the three main revolutionary forces, we must not overlook the fact that imperialism will not reconcile itself to defeat. The forced adaptation of imperialism to the changed correlation of forces in the world does not signify that it has given up 64 its class objectives. Despite the aggravation of contradictions between the imperialists, international monopoly capital is united in its intention to prevent the further narrowing of the spheres of its influence and is making joint efforts on a world scale to weaken and disrupt the revolutionary forces. The imperialist powers are trying through NATO and various international state monopoly organisations, such as the European Community, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, through summit conferences, and a so-called dialogue between North and South, etc., to unite all capitalist forces politically, economically, ideologically, and militarily against the socialist and developing countries, and against the workers’ movement in capitalist countries.

p The arms race, the activity of military alliances, and ideological campaigns to stir up national hatred, provoke conflicts, perpetrate acts of intervention, organise reactionary conspiracies and assassinations-all these actions are a part of the overall imperialist strategy aimed at impeding or reversing social progress.

p Inasmuch as, in view of the present correlation of forces, imperialism cannot run the risk of a direct military confrontation with socialism, it is laying special emphasis on psychological warfare. This change in imperialism’s tactics has been thoroughly analysed by Comrade Ponomarev in his report.

p The main propaganda ploy in psychological warfare is raising a hue and cry over human rights. What hypocrisy! On the one hand, imperialists extol the neutron bomb, because it exterminates people, leaving property intact. On the other, we hear pathetic appeals to observe human rights and establish human contacts.

p Those who, for various reasons, are swayed by this false propaganda and dissociate themselves from socialist countries, objectively facilitate the struggle of the aggressive circles in capitalist countries against international detente. Besides, continued dissociation from existing socialism is 65 not only an ideological matter. Those who undermine the faith of the working class in the correctness and superiority of socialism objectively divert the working class from the correct road in the struggle for peace and against the war danger. In the event of serious changes in the international situation this could lead to dangerous consequences. That is why solidarity of the revolutionary forces with existing socialism is an integral and decisive part of the struggle for peace and social progress.

p In this connection we cannot afford to overlook the negative effect on the international class struggle of the greatpower and chauvinist policies of the Chinese leaders, who are extending their political, military, and economic cooperation with the main imperialist countries, particularly the United States, the Federal Republic of Germany, and now with Japan. On an international plane this policy weakens the world anti-imperialist front, and on a national plane it undermines the positions of socialism in China. The anti-Soviet course intensified by the present Chinese leadership after the llth Congress of the Communist Party of China demonstrates their betrayal of Marxism-Leninism and of proletarian internationalism. This course is a threat to the cause of peace and socialism.

p The victory of the progressive forces in the struggle against the intrigues of imperialism in Cuba, Indochina, and Angola proves that the importance of the international factors in the revolutionary movement is constantly increasing. Therefore, it is imperative that in the present-day revolutionary process the unity of our communist movement with all other revolutionary forces should be stronger than ever before. Those who disregard this weaken the main source of our strength.

p The international communist movement, guided by tried and tested principles and norms, is using various forms and methods of international co-operation. These include bilateral, multilateral, regional and international conferences, symposia, and scientific conferences such as the 66 present one. The successful and constructive international conferences of Communist and Workers’ parties held in Moscow, the conferences of Communist and Workers’ parties of Latin America and of Arab countries, as well as the Berlin Conference of the Communist and Workers’ Parties of Europe are also vivid examples of such co-operation.

p The Socialist Unity Party of Germany will support all initiatives and proposals aimed at organising and successfully carrying out joint actions of Communists in the struggle against imperialism and the war danger, for peace and security, and for the creative elaboration of the main theoretical questions of our struggle.

We must redouble action and strengthen the ideological unity of the international communist movement. We are bidden to do so by the famous appeal of the Communist Manifesto, by the world-transforming accomplishments of Lenin’s Party and the Soviet state, and by our communist duty to our peoples, the international working class and progressive mankind.