Marxist Leninist Teaching on war - Dialectic Materialism
THE MARXIST-LENINIST TEACHING ON WAR AND METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF SOVIET MILITARY THEORY
Fyodorov
Thus, an analysis of the military power of states, of its material and spiritual foundations, as well as of the military potential, shows that all their elements form a dialectical unity, and this makes it necessary to consider all of them comprehensively, and to use them in the defence of the socialist country against imperialist aggression.
The high level of the defensive power, fighting efficiency and combat readiness of the Soviet Armed Forces is a result of the cognition and skillful utilisation by them of the laws of social and military development; it is based on the creative application of Marxism-Leninism, natural and military science.
The vital requirements of the defence of the socialist country, the developments in the military field, the maintenance of the high and constant combat readiness of the army and navy make it necessary to raise the scientific level of the leadership in strengthening the defensive capacity of the country, in training and educating the servicemen. This level depends on how deeply one is able to understand the objective laws governing social development in general and military affairs in particular, on one’s ability to work out the most rational forms for the application of these laws.
An essential condition for the fulfilment of this task is the application of Marxist-Leninist philosophy to the military theory and practice, the solution of the problems of military science on the basis of the methodology of dialectical and historical materialism.
1. DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM—THE UNIVERSAL METHOD OF COGNITION
AND REVOLUTIONARY ACTION. ITS APPLICATION IN SOVIET MILITARY THEORY
Dialectical and historical materialism is one of the three component parts of Marxism and is, in fact, its philosophical basis. It combines philosophical materialism and materialist dialectics (dialectical materialism) and historical materialism. This single philosophical teaching has definite facets and aspects. Dialectical and historical materialism is the science about the relation of thinking, consciousness to being, matter, about the universal laws governing the development of nature, human society and thinking. It is a philosophical world outlook that fulfils the functions of a theory of cognition, serves as a universal method of cognition and practical action. Marxist-Leninist philosophy is therefore of enormous importance in laying a basis for the policies of the CPSU and other Marxist-Leninist Parties. It serves as the ideological and methodological basis for the development of science, including military science.
Relation of Marxist Philosophyto Science and Practice
The most important feature of Marxist Leninist philosophy, one that distin guishes itFfrom aVfOrmer and present philosophical systems, is its capacity for unlimited creative development and improvement. The possibilities for the development of Marxist-Leninist theory and its philosophical basis are just as unlimited and multifarious as human experience. Marxist-Leninist philosophy develops in indissoluble connection with practice, with the struggle for a revolutionary transformation of the world, for the ideological purity of revolutionary theory.
Laying the foundation for the new world outlook, Karl Marx wrote: “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it." [378•1 This set a completely new task to philosophy—that of combining philosophy with practice, scientific communism with the activity of the working masses, with their struggle for the translation of revolutionary theory into practice.
With the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution the link between theory and practice acquired qualitatively new features. When the proletariat won political power and the possibility emerged for realising the ideas of Marxism on a country-wide scale, Lenin wrote: “... the historical moment has arrived when theory is being transformed into practice, vitalised by practice, corrected by practice, tested by practice..." [379•1 . (Author’s emphasis.)
The connection between theory and practice has grown even deeper and more varied in form at the present stage of communist construction in the USSR.
The indissoluble link between theory and practice does not mean, however, that the difference between them has been abolished. It is fairly easy to resolve many urgent questions theoretically, but to resolve them practically is often a difficult, and at times an impossible, task.
In modern conditions the unity of theory and practice is reflected in the fact that the CPSU and the people as a whole combine theoretical and practical work in their activities, that theoretical principles are directly linked with practical ones, that they proceed from generalised practice and are translated into practice. The interval between the theoretical and practical solution of urgent problems has become much shorter, since there are no antagonistic social forces. Yet, this interval cannot disappear altogether.
Marxism-Leninism creates a theoretical basis for the solution of concrete problems and for the attainment of the ultimate aims of the working people’s struggle. This unity is expressed in the Party policy.
The use of Marxist-Leninist philosophy for the solution of various problems is no simple matter. Historical experience shows that it is easier to learn definite propositions, formulas and principles of Marxist-Leninist philosophy than it is to use them creatively for the solution of theoretical and practical tasks in the various fields of knowledge and in human activity. Lenin noted that such “highly eminent Marxists" as Kautsky, Otto Bauer and others who had studied dialectics and taught it to others, turned out to be far from dialecticians when they applied them in life, in practice. To a great extent this applies also to Georgi Plekhanov, who did much to work 380out and disseminate Marxist philosophy, but was unable to apply it to the new historical conditions, to life, to the practice of the international communist movement.
Thus, it is one thing to know the propositions and formulas of Marxist-Leninist philosophy, and quite another to apply them in science and practice. The latter requires special skill. In turn, this skill presupposes a sustained, strictly consistent devotion to the Party, the adherence to a class point of view.
The elaboration of Soviet military doctrine, which has generalised the military experience in our epoch, the emergence and development of Soviet military science, are organically linked with Marxist-Leninist philosophy.
The Application of Philosophy in Military Science and the Philosophical Problems of the Latter
It would be illogical to demand of philosophy the solution of questions that are the subject-matter of military science. It would be equally wrong to attempt to resolve specific philosophical questions of military science without philosophy. This applies with special force when the question about the essence and content of war in general, and nuclear war in particular, is being analysed. Though recognising the dialectico-materialistic definition that war is the continuation of politics by violent means, some authors attempt to reduce war solely to the armed struggle, ignore its political content and belittle other forms of struggle during the war. In the heat of argument some even begin to prove that Lenin’s proposition on war being the continuation of politics by violent means has become outmoded. Others approach this proposition dogmatically and refuse to see the changes that can take place in the essence and content of war.
Such views are indicative of a one-sided approach to the solution of the philosophical questions of modern war, which are of crucial importance to Soviet military science. The reasons for such one-sidedness are not new. Their roots go back to the history of philosophy and other sciences.
Marxist-Leninist philosophy does not only study the general character of the interrelations between philosophy and the individual sciences, but also determines what there is in the individual sciences that has a philosophical content, how science should be approached from a philosophical point of view.
In Soviet military science philosophical significance is attached to problems having an ideological, methodological nature. A philosophical approach to scientific questions means that a study is made of the indissoluble links of the separate phenomena and processes in military affairs with social life, the general dialectical processes in the single but endlessly varied world. It is expressed in the analysis of aspects of military affairs which are of general importance in scientific knowledge. A philosophical problem, for example, is the question about the specific manifestation of the more general laws of the development of nature, society and thinking, and also the philosophical categories in the military sphere. This problem is linked with the problems of the regularities of wars and the methods of conducting wars, the correlation between the subjective and objective in the armed struggle, the interrelation between military theory and practice. Of ideological importance are also questions about the objective basis and causes of changes in the methods and forms of the armed struggle and the war as a whole, changes in the relation between man and equipment in the military field, the interrelations between the military collective and the individual, etc. There is a philosophical content in the aggregate of problems linked with the search for objective truth in military science.
Soviet military science resolves all its theoretical and practical tasks by adopting a conscious approach to philosophical problems of military science and by creating conditions for the application of Marxist-Leninist philosophy in the military field.
What conditions are these?
An essential condition for the creative use of MarxistLeninist philosophy in military affairs is its deep mastery, a knowledge of its essence, the observance of all its demands and principles.
Marxist-Leninist philosophy is a guide for cognition and action, the soul of all sciences.
In addition to understanding what scientific philosophy can and does give to military science, it is essential deeply to know military science itself, its laws and principles.
Key military problems are analysed with the help of Marxist-Leninist philosophy. It must be used in its entirety and it is inadmissible wilfully to apply some formulas, 382principles, laws and categories, while ignoring their relation to other principles, formulas or categories.
There are no processes either in nature or in society in which one single law of materialist dialectics operates while the-others do not. There are no processes in which we could use one category without using all the other categories of dialectical materialism, for each category reflects only one feature or aspect, only some definite relations, etc., but does not give an understanding of the phenomenon in its entirety. This does not mean that we cannot analyse some single nexus (for example, the causal relation or that between necessity and chance), but even-in that case the dialectical method is applied as a whole.
To embrace the world, scientific concepts must be flexible, mobile, relative, interrelated, inseparable though contradictory. Only in that case are concepts able to reflect everchanging life, if they are not static, if they are in constant motion, if one constantly changes into another. Flexibility applied subjectively is fallacious. Flexibility applied objectively, that is reflecting all the aspects of the material process and its unity, is dialectics, is a correct reflection of the world’s eternal development. This Marxist demand is of the greatest importance, always and everywhere, in everything. Serious negative consequences inevitably resulted when it was ignored.
Now that the revolution in military affairs has been sparked off and is developing, that methods of fighting have changed radically, it is particularly essential for the military to be able to use flexible and viable concepts in their reasoning. At the same time these concepts must not only be flexible and mobile, but also stable. However, the stability of the concepts must not exceed the stability of the objects, phenomena and processes reflected in these concepts. For example, some concepts of military science are now being filled with a new content, and this must be taken into consideration. Among these concepts are “co-operation”, “meeting engagement”, “manoeuvring”, etc. At the same time new concepts have emerged—nuclear missile strike, nuclear missile umbrella, etc.
The dialectico-materialist approach to the understanding of war and its separate processes presupposes also the observance of the principle of the unity of empirical knowledge and logical thinking. These are two levels of knowledge, the 383lower and the higher. The first gives us a knowledge of the phenomenon, the second a knowledge of the essence, of the laws governing the phenomena of the objective world. This principle teaches the soldiers to use different methods for the analysis of empirical material, for its theoretical processing, and for testing the correctness of the propositions of military theory. It presupposes also a correct understanding of the relation between the objective and the subjective. Relying on the materialist views on the objective laws of war, Soviet military theory does not fetishise these laws, but teaches the military to apply them actively in the interests of the victory over the enemy. Thanks to this proposition it is able to develop creatively and to improve in keeping with changing conditions.
The Universal Method of Cognition and Its Application in Military Affairs
The concept “method” is a poly–semantic one. In its most general sense “method” is the way towards the achievement of some aim, it is a means or aggregate of means used for the solution of some definite task. The number and character of scientific methods changed in the course of history in accordance with the development of human knowledge and social practice.
Some methods are general to many sciences (the method of observation, comparison, experiment). Every science, including military science, has also specific methods of its own.
There are methods commonly called logical ones. No science can do without them. They are the method of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, the method of passing from the concrete to the abstract and from the abstract to the concrete.
Among the multifarious methods of cognition a special place is held by dialectical materialism, which is a universal method. It is universal because it combines the methods of cognition and revolutionary action as an expression of the unity of theory and practice, of objectiveness and dedication to Party ideals. It is used in all sciences, is the basis and guiding principle for all general scientific and specific methods, is made concrete and realised by all these methods.
The dialectical method of cognition is the way of achieving the truth, the way of the movement of thought, corresponding to the more general laws governing the development of the 384material world, to the nature of the objects, phenomena and processes of study. Its role in the development of all sciences, including Soviet military science, grows incessantly. The universal method of cognition and practical action is important because it is needed first and foremost by science itself, which develops rapidly while simultaneously going through a process of differentiation and integration. The growing importance of the universal method is conditioned also by the complexity of social practice in our highly dynamic and contradictory age. This is further determined by the internal laws governing the development of philosophy itself. Without reliance on dialectical materialism there can be no successful struggle against bourgeois ideology, against the ideology both of Right and “Left” revisionism and nationalism. The universal method is growing in importance also because of the revolution in military affairs. The rapid change of some of the concepts and categories of military science, the change in the content of others, the new character of the interrelations between the various elements in military science, the limitations imposed on military practice, which is the motive force of the development of military science and a criterion of the correctness of its principles, all this assails military science with questions which cannot be resolved without a general philosophical method.
The immediate aim of science is truth, the final aim—practice. Every genuinely scientific truth is quite simple but the road leading to it is intricate. Dialectical materialism makes it possible to attain truth in the shortest way, to avoid many zigzags and deviations from objective truth. Dialectical materialism is an analogue of reality. That means that it is nothing but the conscious use in cognition of the most general laws of the development of the objects, phenomena and processes.
The demands of the dialectical method of cognition are an expression of the main laws and principles of MarxistLeninist philosophy as applied to the scientific cognition of the material world. In this field philosophical laws and principles sometimes act as prerequisites, sometimes as essential standards of reasoning, as its rules. Let us examine the principal ones of them as applied to military affairs.
The principle of objectivity is the essential and initial principle of all scientific knowledge, it is based on the 385recognition of the objective nature of truth. As applied to military affairs this means that it is essential organically to combine a decisive, brave offensive spirit with a comprehensive objective evaluation of the situation and the reliable provision of all the necessary means required by the troops during action. This forms the realistic Party approach, which is directly opposed to adventurism, so typical of the policy and strategy of the modern imperialist states. The scientific reflection of reality, the analysis of the objective state of affairs, a sober appraisal of the situation are the basis underlying Soviet military science and practice.
The demand for all-sided study evolves from the fundamental principle of Marxist-Leninist philosophy about the unity of the world and universal interrelations, the mutual dependence of objects and phenomena of nature and society. It consists in the analysis of the entire aggregate of the links and relations of every object, every phenomenon and process with other objects, phenomena and processes. In order really to know an object it is necessary to embrace, to study all its aspects, all its links and “mediacies”. Although this can never be achieved in full measure the emphasis on all-sided study helps to avoid errors and rigid attitudes. This demand finds its concrete expression in the Marxist-Leninist approach to war, which is regarded in all its aspects, in connection with its socio-economic and political sources and causes, in the unity of the armed struggle and the economic, ideological and diplomatic forms of warfare. It is embodied in the regulations and manuals, in the demands for an all-sided appraisal of the situation when operations, battles and combat are planned. The strength of Soviet military science, its superiority over bourgeois military science, consists in the fact that it is guided by the Marxist-Leninist dialectical method and strives for the comprehensive study of all the principles and conditions securing victory over the aggressor.
Several methodological demands evolve from the principle of development. The dialectico-materialist understanding of development, the general laws of movement, are a reliable general methodological basis for the solution of the fundamental problems of Soviet military science and practice. As applied to the process of cognition these laws act as important methodological demands.
The law of the mutual transformation of quantitative and qualitative changes obliges us to consider development in the military field in the unity of the quantitative and qualitative changes, in their mutual transitions. It enables us to understand the leap-like character of military development, the most profound expression of which is the modern revolution in the military field. Soviet military science, relying on dialectical materialism, correctly revealed the radical changes in military affairs, drew and continues to draw conclusions from them and to apply their results in the development of the Soviet Armed Forces, in the training and education of the personnel; it theoretically substantiates the application of new methods and forms of armed struggle in accordance with changes in military affairs.
The law of the unity and struggle of opposites, revealing the source of all development, gives rise to the general methodological demand which Lenin formulated as follows: “The reflection of nature in man’s thought must be understood not ‘lifelessly’, not ‘abstractly’, not devoid of movement, NOT WITHOUT CONTRADICTIONS, but in the eternal PROCESS of movement, the arising of contradictions and their solution." [386•1
War and military matters are distinguished by a particular contradictoriness. One cannot understand the socio–political content of every given war without first revealing the contradictions that have given rise to it. The armed struggle is a sharp contradiction, a duel of two opposing forces. Contradictions constantly emerge between weapons and military equipment, on the one hand, and the methods and forms of the armed struggle, on the other. The relations between defence and offensive, between the means of attack and the means of defence, between fire and movement, etc., are also contradictory.
Soviet military science is effective because it reveals the contradictions in military development consciously and opportunely and determines the ways and means for transcending them.
The methodological importance to military science of the law of the negation of the negation, which reveals the general trend of development, the relation of the old to the new in 387the development process, the spiral form of its ascendancy, consists in its demand for a critical, not a nihilistic, approach to the experience of the past, a critical and not nihilistic attitude towards bourgeois military science and equipment. It prevents military thought from stagnating and becoming rigid because it regards every stage in military development as a transition to a new, higher stage.
In studying the phenomena in the military field it is essential to use all the categories of dialectical materialism. Their choice and the form of their application are determined by the nature of the military phenomena being studied and by the tasks and trends of military-scientific research.
The supreme principle of the Marxist-Leninist theory of cognition is the quest for truth—the unconditional demand, strictly obligatory for any genuine science. Objective truth which does not tolerate the slightest distortion for any reason whatever is vitally essential in all spheres of activity, and in military activity in particular. A precise appraisal of the relation of forces is an unconditional demand of any scientifically based policy. The truth, no matter how unpleasant it may be, must be faced. A policy that does not satisfy this condition is doomed to failure.
Such are the most general demands of dialectical materialism, the universal method of scientific cognition. They are simultaneously the principles and laws of dialectical thinking. Being conditioned by the objective nature of objects and phenomena, they become an irreplaceable guiding star in all fields of scientific knowledge. The application of dialectical materialism, the general method of cognition, gives Marxist military science enormous advantages over bourgeois military science.
Notes
[378•1] K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works, in one volume, Moscow, 1968, p. 30.
[379•1] V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 26, p. 413.
[386•1] V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 38, p. 195.
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