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p In formations where production relations are based on private ownership of the means of production, classes and class relations are the chief elements of the social structure. Lenin gave the following definition of classes in his work "A Great Beginning": "Classes are large groups of people differing from each other by the place they occupy in a historically determined system of 93 social production, by their relation (in most cases fixed and formulated in law) to the means of production, by their role in the social organisation of labour, and, consequently, by the dimensions of the share of social wealth of which they dispose and the mode of acquiring it."  [93•1 

p Here Lenin points out the chief economic characteristics of classes. However, class distinctions are also manifested in politics, everyday life, ideology, etc. Each class has its own political consciousness, morality, etc. Ultimately, however, all of them are determined by economic distinctions, which are the most important distinctions of all.

p The most essential class characteristic is people’s relation to the means of production. It is this which determines all other characteristics. Indeed, it is because the bourgeoisie in capitalist society owns the basic means of production that it appropriates in the form of profit the bulk of the material and cultural values that society creates, and dominates not only in the economic sphere, but also in politics and ideology.

Recognition of the fact that classes differ mainly in their relation to the means of production leads to exceptionally significant revolutionary conclusions. Abolishing classes and building a classless society involves the abolition of private

94 ownership of the means of production and, as Lenin put it, "placing al. citizens on an equa. footing with regard to the means of production belonging to society as a whole".  [94•1  Public ownership of the means or production forms the economic basis of socialism. That is why the demand to socialise the means of production on socialist lines is the main point in the programmes of the parties which are building, or intending to build, socialism.

p Classes have not always existed. The way in which they emerged was dealt with at length by Engels, in Anti-Duhrin. and The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State.

p Engels analysed the process of the emergence of classes from the materialist standpoint. He proved that the formation of classes depends directly on economic factors and the development of material production.

p Classes appeared in the period when the primitive-communal system was disintegrating. The most general precondition for their emergence was the development of the productive forces which brought about a surplus product, division of labour, exchange of goods and private ownership of the means of production. The emergence of a surplus product made exploitation possible. 95 Prior to its emergence, to take from a person what he had produced meant to doom him to death. Now, however, he produced more than he needed to survive, and so the surplus product could be appropriated by another person without any drastic consequences: the producer could still live and work, i. e., he was able to create more surplus product. The development of forms of exchange and the growth of labour productivity were conducive to the emergence of private ownership of the means of production. As a result, economic inequality appeared: some had more while others had less, and still others nothing at all. The propertyless became dependent on the propertied.

p The earliest class society in history was the slave-owning one. The class of exploiters-the slave-owners-was initially formed by way of isolating the clan and tribal hierarchy from the rank and file within the community, e. g. priests, elders, and military leaders. The exploited class was formed out of prisoners of war made into slaves, as well as clan and tribe members who had fallen into debt.

p In different regions of the world classes emerged at different times and had their own specific features. According to historical research, the earliest class societies appeared in Egypt and the Middle East countries in the late 4th and early 3rd millennium B.C. For the majority of the peoples classes have existed for several millennia. 96 However, in several countries that lagged behind in their economic development and have only recently liberated themselves from colonial oppression (e. g. in Tropical Africa), the process of class formation is still underway.

p Each socio-economic formation (except for the primitive-communal system) is characterised by a definite class structure and inter-class relations, comprising both main and secondary classes of the given society. The main classes are those that were created by the given mode of production. In an antagonistic class society they are the class which owns the basic means of production, and its antagonist- the exploited class. The slaves and slave-owners in a slave-owning society, the peasants and feudal lords under the feudal system, and the proletariat and bourgeoisie under capitalism are the main classes in antagonistic societies. There are also secondary classes, which are not brought about by the dominant mode of production (e. g. free craftsmen in a slave-owning society, peasants in a capitalist society, etc.). In addition, there are various social strata which are not classes but are essentially similar to classes such as the intelligentsia and the clergy. Classes in themselves are not uniform. For example, under capitalism there are the industrial and the agricultural proletariat. Within the bourgeois class there is the petty bourgeoisie, as well as the middle and monopoly bourgeoisie.

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p Some peoples had castes-hereditary and very isolated groups of people occupying a certain place in the social structure. As a rule, castes had traditional occupations, and contacts between them were very restricted. Features of the caste structure existed in the social systems of many ancient and medieval states. In Ancient Egypt, there was a privileged caste of priests; in Japan, the Samurai, etc. In India the caste system was all-pervading.

p In some countries, traces of caste division remain to our day. Castes have always been a serious impediment to social development and are even more so today. It is impossible to overcome backwardness in the East without the eradication of caste distinctions and prejudices.

p As classes emerge, an inter-class struggle begins. History shows that class struggles have taken place in all antagonistic societies. Marx and Engels wrote in the Manifesto of the Communist Party that the history of all known antagonistic societies had been the history of class struggles. "Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary re-constitution of society at large, or in the

p 7—1143

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p common ruin of the contending classes.”   [98•1 

p Bourgeois ideologists, intimidated by the class struggle of the workers, are trying to prove that it is accidental and impedes historical progress. Rejecting these inventions, Marxism-Leninism has proved that class struggle is inevitable. The source of the class struggle is the contrasting nature of class interests. In capitalist society the interests of the worker and the capitalist are opposite and irreconcilable. The bourgeoisie as a class is interested in increasing exploitation, preserving the capitalist system and strengthening its economic and political domination. The working class, by virtue of its position under capitalism, is interested in the elimination of exploitation, private ownership and the social oppression based on it, arid in the destruction of the exploiter state. Marx and Engels showed that the class struggle is the motive force behind social development in antagonistic formations. At a certain stage of social evolution, the class struggle inevitably leads to social revolution. And revolution is the peak of the class struggle, when the revolutionary class assumes political power and a cardinal change is brought about in all social relations. Through social revolution, the transition is made from the 99 old to a new socio-economic formation, i. e. historical progress is achieved. A revolutionary class struggle is the only way to carry out the urgent tasks of social development.

p In each antagonistic formation the class struggle has its own specific features determined by the mode of production and the class structure of society.

p Capitalist society is one of profound social contrasts and class antagonisms. Class contradictions have become simplified since, as capitalism advances, society is more and more polarised into two opposing classes - the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The class struggle of the proletariat is better organised and developed than the class struggle in the preceding formations.

p The earliest form of the proletarian class struggle is its economic struggle, i. e. protection of its current economic interests (the struggle to obtain wage rises and improved labour conditions, the fight against unemployment, etc.). It is during this struggle that trade unions, which are the first organisations of the working class, appear. The economic struggle is vitally important and undoubtedly brings positive results. Yet it cannot solve fundamental problems: it does not organise the working class into a single whole; political organisations do not emerge in its course; class consciousness does not take shape.

p The political struggle is the promotion by 100 workers and other oppressed sections of the population of their political interests, the fight for sharing political power and, ultimately, for the establishment of working-class domination in the system of political relations.

p The political struggle in its conscious form is impossible without an ideological struggle, which comprises its intellectual foundation, without a theoretical substantiation of political objectives and without educating the working class in the socialist spirit.

p Today, the class struggle has assumed certain important features related to the characteristics typical of the epoch. The development of the world socialist system into a decisive factor in the evolution of mankind, the growing general crisis of capitalism, and the scientific and technological revolution have all had a marked influence on the content and forms of the class struggle.

p Of indisputable importance is the fact that today the struggle of the workers in each country against the rule of capital forms part of the world revolutionary process, which incorporates, in addition to the working-class movement in bourgeois countries, the development of existing socialism and the national liberation movement. Today it is difficult to separate the revolutionary movement in any developed or developing capitalist country from the international (global) confrontation of the two world systems, with the 101 world system of developed socialism and the international working class opposing the capitalist system.

p Today, the ranks of the working class and the size of its Marxist parties are steadily growing, as is the level of political organisation of the working class and other working people. Today, there are Communist parties in almost 100 countries, and the overall number of Communists exceeds 70 million. The role of Communist parties in the capitalist and developing countries is also growing. In Western Europe alone, around 800,000 people have joined their ranks over the past decade. The major forms of the class struggle are becoming increasingly intermingled, and political action is mounting.

p The social basis of the class struggle is now expanding with the middle strata of society, a considerable part of the intelligentsia, and young people joining ranks with various strata of the working class. Mass social movements directed against monopolies are stepping up their activities and the anti-war movement is spreading.

p As the working-class and communist movement gains in scope and force, the need arises to intensify the struggle against opportunism and revisionism-because the new contingents joining the communist movement sometimes bring with them elements of bourgeois and petty- 102 bourgeois ideology and mentality. Revisionism is an attempt to revise Marxism-Leninism on the pretext of developing it. This leads to opportunism : a direct betrayal of the interests of the working class and a rejection of its struggle against capital. Both phenomena are products of bourgeois ideology and mentality.

p Bourgeois theoreticians, right-wing socialdemocratic ideologists, and revisionist critics of Marxism deny the significance of the class struggle in present-day capitalist society. The views held on this issue by the theoretical leaders of the British Labour Party are typical. While not denying the inevitability of class political conflicts in the past, they assert that now there is no ground for the existence of such contradictions in Britain, and that differences of opinion concerning class privileges, including on economic issues, can be successfully resolved within the democratic system of the bourgeois state. The actual status of the working class in Britain, however, by no means corresponds to the assertions of Labour leaders. Just as in other West European countries, class conflicts, including those related to political issues, are a common thing in Britain. Suffice it to say that today’s peace movement, which is led by the workers, undoubtedly has a class political side to it. Demonstrations against the threat of a nuclear catastrophe represent a protest against the policies of imperialist ruling 103 circles which are incompatible with the vital interests of the people.

p Certain theoreticians, declaring that they are “friends” of the workers and even Marxists, substitute antagonism between nations, i. e. between the rich and poor nations, for the class struggle and class antagonism. In their opinion, the national liberation movement and the class struggle of the peoples of Africa are conditioned primarily not by the fundamental socio-economic contradictions typical of these countries, but by a clash of two types of nationalism: the “Western”, which is allegedly liberal and inclined to compromise, and the “Eastern”, which is " aggressive" and leans towards communist ideology. They assert that the strengthening of “Eastern” nationalism represents a great danger to mankind. Historical experience has shown, however, that conflicts arising between nations and the ideology of nationalism which reflects them are inseparable from class contradictions. The resolution of the latter facilitates the establishment of friendly relations between nations. It is not nationalism, which breeds hostility between peoples, but proletarian and socialist internationalism that has always been the principle upheld by the revolutionary working class.

The theory of a "world countryside" as opposed to the "world town" is doing great harm to the international class struggle which the 104 workers are waging against their exploiters. It is essentially directed against recognising the leading role of the working class in the revolutionary movement. This view is held by those who substitute an invented antagonism between the peoples of the West and East, the North and South, for the class approach to the evaluation of international forces fighting for freedom, democracy and socialism.