POLITICAL CONTENT AND SPECIFIC FEATURES OF WAR IN DEFENCE OF THE SOCIALIST MOTHERLAND

Marxism-Leninism on War and Army

Fyodorov

[introduction.]

War in defence of the socialist motherland is a special kind of war that differs essentially from other just wars as regards its origin, aims and character, and also as regards the attitude to it of the popular masses.

Unconditional Justness of Wars in Defence of the Socialist Motherland

Such wars are unconditionally just. They are waged for the sake of revolutionary and liberation aims no exploiter state ever pursued or is able to pursue.

The main aims the socialist states pursue in wars imposed on them by the imperialist aggressors arc the following: 

first, defence of socialism, the most just social system in history; 

second, defence of the freedom and independence of the socialist nations, their territory, culture and their very existence; 

third, assistance to other socialist states in rebuffing aggression; 

fourth, assistance to the working class, the working masses of the capitalist countries, the peoples of the colonies and dependent countries, and to the young national states in their liberation struggle against imperialist oppression and foreign enslavement.

These aims are directly opposed to the predatory aims pursued by the exploiter classes in unjust, annexationist wars, and in the imperialist counter-revolutionary wars against the socialist countries. They also differ fundamentally from the aims of the just, liberation wars waged by bourgeois states. Wars in defence of the socialist motherland continue the politics of the proletarian revolution. In a concrete explanation of the Marxist principle on the political essence of war as applying to the defence of the socialist motherland, Lenin wrote: “Our war is the continuation of the politics of revolution, the politics of overthrowing the exploiters, capitalists and landowners." [153•1

As distinct from the liberation wars waged by the exploiter classes, a patriotic war of a socialist state can never be transformed into an annexationist, unjust war. In defending its just and noble aims, a socialist country never strikes a deal with imperialist aggressors to the detriment of the interests of other peoples. Conversely,, wars between exploiter states often end in a deal between the ruling circles of the warring countries and the betrayal of the interests of their peoples. Moreover, when the working masses rise in revolution against the existing system, the exploiter classes of the belligerent slates often stop the war and unite to suppress the revolution.

The staunch resolve of the people of a socialist country to stand all the trials of modern war is a guarantee of their victory over the aggressor. The experience of the two patriotic wars of the Soviet state has proved this beyond doubt.

Hence, the justness of the aims and tasks of the armed defence of the socialist motherland and the people’s unshakeable conviction that it is really just, are a decisive condition for their victory in the patriotic war.

Revolutionary Character of Wars in Defence of Socialism

Wars in defence of the socialist motherland have a consistently revolutionary character. This specific feature is expressed in the class content of the wars waged by socialist states, in the main aims these states pursue in wars, and in the results of these wars.

As regards their class content wars in defence of the socialist motherland are a continuation of the class struggle of the proletariat and its allies against the international imperialist bourgeoisie and all reactionary forces of the old society.

Lenin wrote that the war of a socialist state against imperialist intervention has the character of an international civil war.

A civil war in an individual socialist country often combines with armed struggle against foreign imperialists, as was the case in Russia in 1918–1920. The war in Korea between 1950 and 1953 also combined the national liberation war against the US interventionists and the civil war against the counter-revolutionary forces of the Korean landowners and the bourgeoisie.

Wars in defence of the socialist motherland have a revolutionary class character even if they are not attended by civil war. As regards its content the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union (1941–1945) was not only a national liberation, anti-fascist war, but also an irreconcilable struggle against the most reactionary forces of international imperialism at that time. It was marked by features of an international civil war, since it decided the fate of socialism not only in the USSR but also in the whole world.

The revolutionary, liberation character of wars in defence of the socialist motherland is expressed also in the fact that their victorious outcome weakens the positions of international imperialism, and in certain conditions also results in the defeat of reactionary regimes in the aggressor countries, promotes the victory in those countries of the 155forces of democracy and socialism, and the falling away of new countries from the world capitalist system. This is a regularity of armed clashes between socialist and imperialist states.

This regularity will apply in full measure in a future world war, should the imperialists unleash it. Socialism will win this war, even though the peoples of the socialist countries, the working masses of the world and the MarxistLeninist Parties, heading their liberation struggle, are not in the least interested in bringing about the downfall of capitalism and the victory of socialism by means of war.

The revolutionary character of the war in defence of the socialist motherland has given rise to the revolutionary methods by which such wars are waged. Engels was the first to tackle and to resolve in principle the problem of the use of the revolutionary method in wars conducted by the victorious proletariat. He described it in his article “ Possibilities and Prospects of the War of the Holy Alliance Against France in 1852”. However, this method could be elaborated only in practice, that is, in the course of wars in defence of the socialist motherland. It has been worked out by the Communist Party and the Soviet people in the grim battles against imperialism.

The revolutionary method in the conduct of war is characterised by the decisive political and military aims of the socialist state in the war, by its firm line aimed at the complete rout of the enemy, by the extremely energetic actions of the armed forces, by the offensive spirit and the selflessness and mass heroism of the soldiers; it demands a total mobilisation of all the forces in the country, in the rear and at the front, the monolithic unity of the army and the people, and leadership of the war by the Communist Party.

This method has stood the acid test of the two wars in defence of the socialist motherland and is being developed and improved in modern conditions.

Wars in Defence of the Socialist Motherland Are People’s Wars

The most important feature of wars in defence of the socialist motherland is that they are genuinely people’s wars in all respects: as regards their aims and historical sign;ficance, the attitude of the masses towards them, and the methods by which they are fought.

Owing to the just aims and tasks of such a war, which fully correspond to the working people’s interests, the masses take an active part in it, support and implement the policy of the Marxist-Leninist Party and the government and rally even more closely round them. The force of cohesion, Lenin said, grows in the measure that the danger to the socialist gains of the working people and the country’s freedom increases; the difficulties of the liberation war strengthen the resolve of the masses to rout the enemy. The unity of the people, Party and government of the socialist state during the war is a concrete expression of the sociopolitical and moral unity of society, of the invincible friendship of the socialist nations.

Only in a socialist state do all the people, all classes and social groups participate in the war, deeply understand its aims and tasks, the need to give all their powers and, if necessary, their lives for the freedom of the motherland. The unprecedented energy and high level of consciousness of the masses, their heroism and self-sacrifice in the armed defence of their motherland are conditioned by the nature of the socialist system, by the law of the growth, in depth and scale, of the conscious participation of the masses in historic transformations. The increase in the number and activity of the working masses, who are consciously strengthening the country’s defensive capacity and fighting patriotic wars, is an important regularity of the armed defence of the socialist motherland.

Thus, the Soviet people’s war against the foreign interventionists and whiteguard counter-revolutionaries was at first fought mainly by the workers and most conscious poor peasants, later, however, as they grew convinced of the just character of the war on the side of the Soviet Republic and of the anti-popular aims of the whiteguards and interventionists, broad layers of poor and middle peasants joined in the struggle. “We succeeded in rousing unprecedented numbers of people to display an intelligent attitude towards the war, and to support it actively,” Lenin said. “Never before, under any political regime, has there been even one-tenth of the sympathy with a war and an understanding of it as that unanimously displayed by our Party and non-Party workers and non-Party peasants (and the mass of the peasants are non-Party) under Soviet power. 157That is the main reason for our having ultimately defeated a powerful enemy." [157•1

As a result of the sweeping socio-economic transformations, the abolition of the exploiter classes and the gi’owth of the political awareness of the masses in the course of socialist construction, ever broader layers of working people begin to participate actively in strengthening the defence potential of the country, and become willing staunchly to defend their fatherland. With the triumph of socialism all people become firm and conscious defenders of the socialist country. This was clearly demonstrated in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union.

When the nazis treacherously attacked the Soviet Union in 1941 they expected that the first strikes of their troops and the serious setbacks of the Soviet Army would produce conflicts and clashes within the Soviet Union, that the worker-peasant alliance and the friendship of the peoples building socialism would break up. They hoped in vain. The people led by the Communist Party showed a unity and cohesion unprecedented in history. They performed heroic exploits at the front and in the rear, and the fame of their heroism spread far and wide.

The victory of the Soviet people in that war confirmed that there is no force in the world able to stop the progressive development of socialist society.

The just liberation war of the Vietnamese people against the US aggressors and their accomplices is also a true people’s war.

Thus, the active and conscious participation of the entire nation in a patriotic war against imperialist aggression is one of the decisive causes of the victorious outcome of that war.

Internationalist Character of Wars in Defence of the Socialist Motherland

Wars in defence of the socialist motherland combine the national and international aims and tasks of the proletariat’s liberation struggle. In defending the vital interests of the working class and of all the working people and the national interests of the given country, the socialist state at the same time discharges its liberation mission and its 158internationalist duty towards the working class and all the working people in the capitalist and colonial countries. This found a particularly clear expression in the wars of the Soviet state. By defending the gains of socialism in their own country, the Soviet people and their armed forces at the same time helped to liberate other peoples from imperialist oppression.

The victory of a socialist state in war inspires the working people of the capitalist countries in the struggle against the endeavours of the imperialist bourgeoisie to smash the revolutionary working class movement, to abolish all the democratic gains of the working people, and to establish a terroristic dictatorship of finance capital. Lenin said that the workers of all countries pinned their hope on Soviet Russia and drew strength from her victories over the imperialists. Therefore, by displaying mass heroism in defence of the socialist motherland, the peoples of the USSR perform an important international mission, helping the working class and all the working people in their liberation struggle. “ Today, in fighting for a socialist system in Russia, we are fighting for socialism all over the world," [158•1 Lenin wrote.

The Soviet Union has always given moral and political support to the oppressed peoples in their struggle for liberation. But this was not the only support they received. By routing the armed forces of the imperialists in 1918–1920 and the nazi armies in the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Union rendered important military support to the oppressed peoples of several countries in their struggle against foreign oppressors.

At the request of her revolutionary government the Mongolian Republic received direct military aid in the armed struggle against the whiteguard bands of generals Ungern and Semyonov (1921), and against the Japanese militarists, who invaded Mongolia in the summer of 1939 in the region of Lake Buir Nur and the Khalkhin-Gol river.

During the Second World War too the USSR fulfilled its liberation mission with honour; it played the decisive role in delivering the European peoples from foreign oppression and nazi tyranny and helped the Korean and Chinese peoples expel the Japanese invaders. The victory of the 159Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War enabled the Asian and African peoples to expand the struggle against colonialism, for the liberation of their countries.

The peoples of Central and Southeast Europe and of some Asian countries whom the Soviet Union helped to deliver from foreign invaders were able to take up the building of a new socialist life.

In the final stage of the Great Patriotic War and in the post-war years, the Soviet Union prevented armed intervention by the imperialists in the People’s Democracies.

In their turn the international proletariat, the working people in the capitalist and colonial countries give fraternal assistance to a socialist state in its just war. This is explained, first, by the community of vital interests of the proletariat, the exploited and oppressed masses of the whole world and the peoples in the socialist countries in the struggle against imperialism; second, by the great interest all working people show in preserving and consolidating the socialist countries, their bulwark in the struggle for the establishment of socialism in their own countries and their reliable shield against military attacks by world imperialist reaction; third, by the international, liberation aims and the historic significance of wars in defence of the socialist motherland.

As early as September 1917 Lenin predicted that if the power in Russia passed into the hands of the Soviets and if Russia’s imperialist opponents and “allies” refused to make peace, the war would transform into a just, liberation war and “under such conditions it would, as far as we are concerned, be a war in league with the oppressed classes of all countries, a war in league with the oppressed peoples of the whole world, not in word, but in deed". [159•1

The working class and the people of the capitalist and colonial countries support and assist their brothers in the most varied forms and by diverse means: by political actions demanding that an end be put to the aggression against the socialist countries; by sabotaging military production and preventing the delivery of war materials to the aggressors; by armed guerilla struggle against the invaders or by fighting in the ranks of the armies of the socialist 160countries; by giving diverse moral and political support to the peoples of the socialist countries, etc.

During the Civil War and the foreign military intervention the workers of all countries advanced the slogan “Hands Off Soviet Russia!”, set up action committees (in Britain), organised strikes and demonstrations in protest against the intervention, and refused to load arms and materiels for the interventionists and wlliteguards. They exerted enormous pressure on the ruling circles of their countries and this became one of the reasons for the end to the intervention.

The international proletariat gave the Soviet state not only moral and political but also direct military assistance. The Red Army incorporated international brigades and regiments formed of workers and peasants, and nationals of many European and Asian countries.

The mutual support of the peoples of the Soviet Union and the working masses of the capitalist countries assumed a particularly sweeping scale in the war against the fascist aggressors. The USSR fought the Great Patriotic War against the fascist aggressors in alliance with the international proletariat and the freedom-loving peoples.

Despite all the plots hatched by the reactionaries, including those in the ruling circles, the workers, peasants, progressive intellectuals, and soldiers of the capitalist countries in the anti-Hitler coalition actively helped the Soviet Union, which fulfilled with honour its allied commitments, and its liberating mission to free the people enslaved by the nazi invaders.

The armed military units which the Polish, Czechoslovak and Rumanian patriots set up in the Soviet Union with the fraternal assistance of the Soviet state and people fought side by side with the Soviet Armed Forces for the liberation of Soviet territory and their countries from the invaders. The peoples of China, Korea, Indochina and other Asian countries fought shoulder to shoulder with the Soviet people in the liberation war against the Japanese imperialists and their puppets.

After the nazi attack of the Soviet Union the people in the European countries enslaved by the German and Italian invaders developed, under the leadership of the Communist Parties, a sweeping resistance movement and 161guerilla war against the enemy. This struggle assumed a particularly wide scale in Bulgaria, Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy and other countries. The guerilla detachments in the occupied countries contributed greatly to the common cause of routing the fascist coalition.

The imperialists admit that they are afraid of a people’s guerilla movement in a future war. That is why the general staffs of the imperialist powers and the leaders of the military blocs are actively preparing for anti-guerilla warfare.

The steady increase in the number of working people in the capitalist and colonial countries, who actively support and assist the peoples of the socialist countries in the war against imperialist aggressors, is an important regularity promoting the armed defence of the socialist countries.

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Notes

[153•1] V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 30, p. 224.

[157•1] V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 498.

[158•1] V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 28, p. 82.

[159•1] V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 26, p. 63.