p History has witnessed numerous clashes between different social systems which in the final count ended in the victory of the more progressive ones. And there can be no doubt that the present struggle between the two opposing systems—socialism and capitalism—will end in the complete victory of the socialist system. This firm belief rests on a scientific analysis of the laws of social development, on the facts of life. There can be no better proof of the strength and vitality of socialism than such events of world-historic importance as the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution and the consolidation of socialism in the USSR, and the development of the world socialist system. At the same time the aggravation of the general crisis of capitalism, the falling away of a number of countries from the capitalist system and the collapse of the colonial system of imperialism leave no doubt that the doom of capitalism is inevitable.

p The world of socialism is expanding while the world of capitalism is shrinking. Socialism will inevitably replace capitalism everywhere. Mankind’s transition from capitalism to socialism is the main content of our day and age. “Our epoch, whose main content is the transition from capitalism to socialism,” states the CPSU Programme, “is an epoch of struggle between the two opposing social systems, an epoch of socialist and national liberation revolutions, of the breakdown of imperialism and the abolition of the colonial system, an epoch of the transition of more and more 319 peoples to the socialist path, of the triumph of socialism and communism on a worldwide scale. The central factor of the present epoch is the international working class and its main creation, the world socialist system.”  [319•* 

p The entire course of mankind’s development in our epoch convincingly shows that the world system of socialism now stands in the centre of the socialist and of all progressive forces of the world in general. Being a beacon for mankind’s progressive movement and exerting revolutionary influence on the course of world development, the world socialist system is at the same time a great material force embodying the immortal ideas of MarxismLeninism, a force which bears the main burden of the struggle against imperialism and the greater share of responsibility for the future of the world.

p Above all the socialist system influences the course of world development by its economic growth whose high rates continuously augment its share in world industrial and agricultural production. The greater the socialist system’s success in economic development and the bigger its economic and political potential, the more important is the role it plays in finding solutions to crucial international issues, the problem of war and peace in particular. Thanks to the strength of the forces of socialism and peace it is now possible not only to expose but also frequently to cut short the reactionary intrigues of the imperialists.

The world socialist system plays a tremendous role in modern history also due to its ever increasing influence on the struggle of the peoples of the non-socialist states. By force of example it revolutionises the minds of the working people in capitalist countries inspiring them to fight against capitalism, and for peace and social progress, for the triumph of democracy and the victory of socialism. Today the peoples which are stirring to revolutionary action can rely on the support from the socialist system in their struggle against the export of counter-revolution by the world reaction. The socialist countries also assist them in the building of anewsocietv. The socialist countries are the most irreconcilable opponents of colonialism and staunch champions of national equality and state independence of the peoples. The 320 world socialist system opposes colonial domination and gives every support to the struggle of the peoples for independence; it is a mighty factor of the further successes of the national liberation movement.