9

p A salient feature of our epoch is the progress of the national liberation movement, which, after the Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia, became an inalienable part of the world revolutionary process. Comprising as they do a dynamic contingent of this movement, the young independent African states and the revolutionary liberation organisations in Southern Africa play an important role in the struggle for peace and for a democratic reorganisation of international political and economic relations.

p The fact thai the newly free countries play an increasing part in world development is a direct consequence of their growing friendship and cooperation with world socialism and, primarily, with the Soviet Union. History has confirmed this. In his report on the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution, Leonid Brezhnev said: "It was the victory of the October Revolution that really awakened the political consciousness of the colonial peoples and helped them to achieve such great success in their fight for liberation from oppression by imperialism.”  [9•1 

p The first enactments of the Soviet state—the Decree on Peace, the Declaration of Rights of the Peoples of Russia, and the appeal To All the Working Moslems of Russia and the East—evoked a great response in the African colonies. The distinguished African leader Amilcar Cabral wrote that the Great October Socialist Revolution not only changed the 10 life of the peoples of Russia but also indicated the path of revolutionary struggle to millions of oppressed people and contributed to the successful development of the national liberation movement in the whole world.

p Naturally, one of the main trends of Soviet foreign policy is that of supporting the peoples fighting against colonial oppression. This is recognised by many foreign observers. The American Edward Wilson, for example, notes that in the period between the two world wars Moscow did much to convince "Africans that national independence was not beyond their reach".  [10•2 

p The collapse of the colonial empires in Africa resulted from the rapid upsurge of the African national liberation movement. In many respects this upsurge was stimulated by the defeat of nazi Germany in which the USSR played the^decisive role. The rout of nazism destroyed the conception of racial superiority which justified the domination of some^nations over others. As more and more independent countries appeared on the African continent, the USSR began to furnish extensive moral, political, diplomatic and material support to the young states in their efforts to strengthen independence and promote national revival.

p The desire to cooperate with all anti-imperialist forces in the world, the socialist states in the first place, is a distinguishing feature of the foreign policy pursued by the majority of newly free states. The establishment and maintenance of good relations with the African countries is also an important trend in the foreign policy of the USSR. In his report to the 25th CPSU Congress Leonid Brezhnev said that the Soviet Union’s ties with countries that had liberated themselves from colonial dependence had multiplied and strengthened.

p African countries which had cast off colonial dependence differ in terms of their social systems, type of international ties, and level of economic development. But on the international scene the overwhelming majority of them are united in their mounting struggle against imperialism, for political and economic rights, real sovereignty and social progress. These criteria in assessing their stand on international 11 issues point to their positive contribution to the common struggle for international peace and security.

p Soviet foreign policy is a class policy. The Soviet Union’s relations with developing African countries rest on its desire to promote their complete decolonisation and, consequently, further envigorate the anti-imperialist struggle and strengthen the militant unity of all its participants.

p In its relations with the developing countries and those which have not yet freed themselves from racial and colonial oppression, the Soviet Union adheres to the principles of international solidarity with peoples fighting against imperialism, colonialism and neocolonialism. These principles stem from proletarian internationalism whose importance today was emphasised by Leonid Brezhnev in his report to the 25th CPSU Congress, and’ from the humaneness of socialist foreign policy.

p The USSR consistently implements Lenin’s idea of worldwide cooperation between the forces of socialism and national liberation. "The foreign policy of the proletariat is alliance with the revolutionaries of the advanced countries and with all the oppressed nations against all and any imperialists,” Lenin wrote.  [11•3 

p The main content of this policy at the contemporary stage was defined in the decisions of the 24th and 25th CPSU congresses, plenary meetings of the CC CPSU and in the speeches and statements by Leonid Brezhnev, and consists in the following: 

p —active support for all forces fighting against imperialism, for the abolition of the remnants of colonial systems, against neocolonialism, racialism, apartheid and Zionism, for political and economic independence, for true equality in the international division of labour, for full sovereignty over their natural resources;

p —equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with all countries;

p —non-recognition and resolute condemnation of racialist regimes, anti-popular dictatorships and military juntas, and participation in all sorts of boycotts and sanctions against them;

12

p —priority assistance to states that have taken the progressive path of development and, first and foremost, to the socialist-oriented countries.

p The last point reflects the revolutionary character of the Soviet social system to which ideological and political indifference is totally alien. Leonid Brezhnev said in his report to the 25th Party’ Congress: "We do not conceal our views. In the developing countries, as everywhere else, we are on the side of the forces of progress, democracy and national independence, and regard them as friends and comrades in struggle.”  [12•4 

p Since independent African countries have different political, economic and social systems, it is only natural that their relations with the USSR are also different. The substance of relations and cooperation depends on the degree of independence enjoyed by each African country. Practice shows that the USSR has broader relations with states which adhere to revolutionary-democratic ideology and which increasingly assimilate the ideas of scientific socialism. At the same time the Soviet Union seeks to extend cooperation with states which are ruled by other political forces, including the national bourgeoisie. The Soviet Union’s contacts with countries whose sovereignty is still limited due to various reasons, are based on the letter’s longing for full independence, and its attainment is undoubtedly promoted by their cooperation with the socialist states.

p In a’word, the Soviet Union’s concept of relations with the African countries is to assist in every possible way full decolonialisation and independent development, and to consolidate a new type of equitable and mutually beneficial international relations on the basis of non-interference in one another’s internal affairs. "It is an immutable principle of our Leninist foreign policy,” Leonid Brezhnev emphasised, "to respect the sacred right of every people, every country, to choose Hs own way of development.”  [12•5 

p The Soviet Union’s cooperation with the young independent African states promotes the solution of the basic problems of the national democratic revolutions, and is designed to support the developing countries in their efforts to 13 reorganise their relations with the industrial capitalist states on a just and democratic basis.

p The aims and content of this cooperation are: in the political sphere—to consolidate the independence of the developing states, politically and diplomatically to uphold their interests in international organisations, ensure their right to choose their own path of social development, and abolish inequality in international relations; in the economic sphere—to assist in building up the national economy, getting rid of imperialist exploitation, neocolonialist diktat and dependence, asserting sovereignty over natural wealth and securing equality in the international division of labour; in the ideological sphere—to support the struggle against the ideological expansion of neocolonialism, help to assimilate the ideas of scientific socialism, and to expose bourgeois and social-reformist theories of socio-economic development which are modified conceptions of national and racial oppression; in the scientific and cultural sphere—to help promote national science and culture, train personnel, and establish national art and literature through cultural exchange; in the military sphere—to strengthen the defensive capability of the independent states, create conditions for repulsing imperialist and neocolonialist aggression, and to protect them against military pressure or direct aggressive and expansionist acts of imperialism.

p The past twenty years abound in examples illustrating that such a course is indeed fruitful. In 1960, on the initiative of the Soviet Union, the UN adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, in 1963 it adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and in 1973 a declaration condemning apartheid. Since 1967 the USSR has been waging a consistent political and diplomatic struggle in defence of the just cause of the Arab peoples. At the Sixth and Seventh Special and at the 29th, 30th, 31st and 32nd regular sessions of the UN General Assembly and at the Fourth UNCTAD, the Soviet Union resolutely supported the developing countries which demanded complete sovereignty over their natural resources and the restructuring of their economic relations with the capitalist countries on an equitable and just basis.

p The USSR and other socialist states have been furnishing substantial assistance, including military, to all truly 14 national liberation movements resisting racial and colonial oppression, and to peoples fighting against aggression and for their national liberation. This policy is rooted in Lenin’s teaching about just and unjust wars. The struggle waged by the peoples of colonies and dependencies for liberation and an armed rebuff to aggression are always just. This has been borne out by the events in Angola where fraternal assistance from the USSR, Cuba, and other countries of the socialist community overturned the plans of the neocolonialists. The Angolan patriots achieved a magnificent victory, and its President, MPLA Chairman Agostinho Neto expressed his gratitude to the Soviet people, the CPSU and the Soviet Government for their solidarity with the struggle of the Angolan people for full independence.

p The USSR fully supports the struggle for liberation from racialist regimes waged by the African patriots of South Africa and Namibia. In an interview for the French newspaper Le Monde, Leonid Brezhnev said that the peoples of the African continent "are fighting against the shameful phenomena of racism and apartheid. This is a just struggle and my country has always supported and will support such a struggle".  [14•6 

p The victories of the peoples of Mozambique and Angola, the revolutionary events in Ethiopia and other African countries are also a result of the enormous influence exerted on the course of world development by_£ the policy of peaceful coexistence and detente, which, as the final document of the Conference of the Communist and Workers’ Parties of Europe (Berlin, June 1976) states, "in no way mean the maintenance of the political and social status quo in the various countries but, on the contrary, create optimum conditions for the development of the struggle of the working.class and all democratic forces as well as for the implementation of the inalienable right of each and every people freely to choose and follow its own course of development".  [14•7  These factors have a positive impact also on the Soviet Union’s relations with African countries, since they give them fresh opportunities to speed up their advance towards genuine independence.

p The Soviet Union’s cooperation with the developing African countries is a complicated process. It implies goodwill 15 of the sides concerned, their ability to see the whole international scene and take^into account the main trends of historical development. An indicator of the realistic nature of the policy currently pursued by the independent African states is their desire to strengthen political links and contacts with the USSR. It reflects the objective fact that the main contradiction in the newly-free countries is the antagonism between their interests and those of state-monopoly capitalism; the further development of these countries along the path of national independence can only take place in the course of struggle against neocolonialism.

p Foreign policy is always consistent with the state’s social structure and the nature of the forces standing at its head. "In the land in which the small-proprietor population greatly predominates over the purely proletarian population, the difference between the proletarian revolutionary and petty-bourgeois revolutionary will inevitably make itself felt, and from time to time will make itself felt very sharply. The latter vacillates and wavers at every turn of events,” Lenin wrote.  [15•8  This tenet fully applies to the young African states today. It is strikingly confirmed by the zigzags in foreign policy of each one of them which unavoidably influences their relations with the USSR.

p Serious transformations in domestic life are a typical feature of the majority of independent African countries. They step up the struggle against imperialism for economic independence and social emancipation and carry out deepgoing progressive changes. Here, too, the young states are very considerably assisted by the Soviet Union.

p The USSR has signed agreements on trade, economic and technical cooperation with over 30 African countries. With Soviet assistance more than 400 various projects have either been completed or are under construction on the continent; 70 per cent of them are government industrial enterprises. The creation_ of the state sector with Soviet aid strengthens the economic and political independence of the African states.

p The Soviet Union’s economic cooperation with African countries and the scientific and technical assistance which it gives them, differ basically from their economic relations and links with the capitalist states, though at first glance 16 they might seem identical since they also include economic and technical support, the sharing of know-how, help in training national personnel, trade, and so forth. The difference is in the purpose of this aid and its results.

p The economic measures of the USA, Japan and West European states in Africa are an element of neocolonialist strategy designed to retain the continent’s newly free countries within the world capitalist system of economy and turn them into an industrial and raw materials branch of the monopolistic industrial centres so as to continue exploiting these countries in the changed conditions and impose new forms of dependence upon them hy resorting to new methods.

p The Soviet Union’s economic relations with independent African countries rest on full equality. It helps them promote their economic growth and build up national economic complexes and key branches of production on the basis of modern technology. The following figures are indicative: as of 1 January 1977, contracts signed with the USSR ensured the following annual production growth: electricity —2.9 million kw, pig iron—2.75 million tons, steel—4.4 million tons, iron ore—3.5 million tons, oil products—2.65 million tons, and cement—1.65 million tons. Just to compare, in 1970 all developing countries produced some 15 million tons of pig iron and 20 million tons of steel. The Soviet Union backs the African states which nationalise the property of foreign monopolies. This was emphasised by Leonid Brezhnev. "The Soviet Union,” he said, "fully supports the legitimate aspirations of the young states, their determination to put an end to all imperialist exploitation, and to take full charge of their own national wealth.”  [16•9 

p Soviet economic assistance to independent African countries is not conhned to the industrial sphere alone. It takes into account that their economy is chiefly agrarian. Though agriculture is their most backward branch, about 80 per cent of the population are engaged in it. Its reorganisation is therefore extremely important for promoting_keconomic growth in general, and for solving the acute problem of food supply, in particular.

p Agricultural projects occupy an important place in the total volume of Soviet aid to Africa. With Soviet assistance about 70 agricultural projects have been built or are under 17 construction on the continent. They include irrigation systems, cattle farms, grain elevators, farm machinery repair shops and factories processing agricultural products.

p Trade between the USSR and African countries is developing on a mutually beneficial basis. From 1960 to 1978 the number of countries with which the USSR had trade agreements increased sixfold. There was a similar growth in trade turnover in this period. Industrial goods, transport facilities, machines and plant account for more than 90 per cent of Soviet exports. In exchange the USSR receives not only traditional African exports, but, and this is important, certain types of industrial consumer goods as well. This sort of trade plays an important role in promoting the economic growth of the young states, and broadens the market for their commodities.

p Thus, the Soviet Union’s economic cooperation with free Africa, however diverse its trends and forms may be, is chiefly designed to help the young states to cope with key problems of economic development.

p A major role in strengthening relations between the USSR and African states is played by scientific and cultural ties which promote mutual understanding between peoples, the development of science and the creation of new cultural values. As the national liberation revolutions gained in depth and scope the African public came face to face with the acute problem of achieving cultural decolonialisation, including the liquidation of almost 100 per cent illiteracy, the training of national personnel and the promotion of science, art and literature. Now, after long years of colonial oppression, the African peoples have entered the stage of cultural revival. Having won independence Africa destroyed the closed system of social relations tied up to home countries. Today the young states are anxious to do away with cultural backwardness inherited from colonialism as quickly as possible, and gain access to the achievements of world technological, scientific and socio-political thought.

p As they promote scientific and cultural links with African countries the CPSU and the Soviet Government are guided by the principles of proletarian internationalism. The aims the USSR pursues by establishing and expanding such ties are clearly defined in the CPSU Programme, which says: "The Party considers it necessary to expand the Soviet Union’s cultural relations with the countries of the socialist 18 system and with all other countries for the purpose of exchanging scientific and cultural achievements and of bringing about mutual understanding and friendship among the peoples.”  [18•10 

p Scientific and cultural cooperation not only supplements Soviet economic and technical assistance to the African countries, but also plays an important role of its own. Thanks to exchange in this sphere African peoples are able to familiarise themselves with the many aspects of Soviet culture, which is national in form and socialist in content, and come to appreciate the internationalist, profoundly humane character of the Soviet people. On its part the Soviet public gains a better understanding of the cultural and psychological features of the different African peoples. Such mutual understanding is particularly important in conditions of the acute ideological struggle in the modern world.

p “In order to create an atmosphere of trust among states, so necessary for a lasting peace, peoples must get to know and understand each other better. This is the starting point from which we approach all cultural exchanges and human contacts,” said Leonid Brezhnev in his speech at the Conference of the Communist and Workers’ Parties of Europe in Berlin.  [18•11 

p An essential requisite for the successful struggle of the African peoples for the consolidation of their independence is the establishment of national networks of colleges and universities and scientific institutions. African countries must have their own specialists in all fields of knowledge in order to surmount economic backwardness. In many respects this task is being solved as a result of the expansion of scientific and cultural ties of the African states with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries.

p For instance, as of 1977, about 100 educational institutions had been or were being built with Soviet assistance, including 14 higher and 13 secondary schools, and 72 vocational training centres. The number of African students in the USSR increased twelvefold from 1961 to 1978. Annually 3,000 scholarships are designated for their education. Moreover, nearly 200,000 specialists and skilled workers were trained, in the course of construction and operation of industrial and other projects in the African countries 19 themselves, and also in I heir educational centres which were built with Soviet assistance, and some 5,000 African engineers and technicians underwent after-graduation training at leading Soviet industrial enterprises.

p Practice shows that objective difficulties sometimes do crop up in the Soviet Union’s relations with African countries in view of their specific features. However, the main thing which has to be borne in mind is that the strengthening positions of world socialism and its tighter links with newly free countries accelerate progressive changes in Africa, involving more and more democratic and national liberation forces. On the whole, events of the past several years on the African continent confirm the correctness of the Soviet Union’s foreign policy course.

p The newly free African countries have made considerable progress towards real national, economic and social independence. But freedom fighters have a long and difficult road to traverse, and face a very broad range of problems which can be solved only in conditions of durable world peace, equality of peoples, and extensive and mutually beneficial cooperation of all states. It is this course in international relations which the Soviet Union upholds.

p Soviet-African cooperation in the struggle for international peace and security is a major condition for the developing countries in their efforts to overcome backwardness and more effectively to implement their economic and social programmes, and has a most benign influence on contemporary development as a whole.

p Africa welcomes the Soviet Union’s determined struggle for disarmament. The African peoples are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that stopping the arms race would facilitate their countries’ economic development, by opening good prospects for obtaining economic aid through cuts in arms spending by the industrialised countries. At the same time the general shift of material means from the military to the civilian sphere stimulates the participation of the developing countries in international economic cooperation and trade.

p It is also important that the Soviet Union provides African countries with more than just an example of how their peoples can practically get rid of social and national oppression and surmount backwardness. The relations between the Soviet Union and African countries show that world 20 socialism influences the course of world developments in two ways, first by its successes, might and force of example, and second, by its purposeful policy. The first influences their choice of social orientation, while the second helps them to solve national problems.

p The Soviet Union’s unremitting support for independent African countries and national liberation movements is acknowledged by those of their leaders who have kept their sense of reality. They manifested their attitude with fresh force in congratulatory speeches and messages on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution. All of them stressed that were it not for the Soviet Union’s material help and moral support many victories over imperialism would have not been achieved.

p In spite of difficulties, temporary setbacks in some sectors and zigzags in the policies of individual developing states, the national liberation movement in Africa is on the upsurge. Soviet-African relations are also expanding, particularly their political content, inasmuch as progressive revolutionary change in the former colonies and dependencies can only become all-embracing if they strengthen their solidarity with the socialist world. Internationalism is not merely an obligation of some revolutionary contingents to others. It is a question of revolutionary conscience. History shows that any kind of isolation of developing countries from other streams of the world revolutionary process handicaps the struggle and sometimes leads to defeat. And, on the contrary, reliance on the socialist community and interaction with the USSR and other socialist countries ensures the biggest successes for the national liberation forces.

p As regards the Soviet Union, it is a reliable friend of the young African states and is prepared to give them every assistance and support in their progressive development.

The Soviet Union, said Leonid Brezhnev, is convinced that "no power on earth can wipe out the results of the heroic liberation struggle of millions upon millions of people in the former colonies and semi-colonies of imperialism. The cause of the peoples’ liberation is indomitable, the future belongs to it. The light kindled by the October Revolution shall not fail on this front of world history, either.”  [20•12