Soviet Revisionism – The Most Complete Theory of Modern Revisionism

From Albania Today, 1979, 3 

Omer Hashorva – Chief of the Department of Philosophy at the "V. I. Lenin" High Party School 

In the context of the struggle against modern revisionism, the struggle for the exposure of Soviet revisionism occupies a central place, remains an imperative duty for all Marxist-Leninists, because, as Comrade Enver Hoxha emphasizes, Soviet revisionism represents the most complete and elaborate “theory” and practice of the revisionist counterrevolution and the revision of MarxistLeninist theory in all fields and on all questions. It is the dominant ideology in the big socialimperialist country, the Soviet Union, which uses the enormous material, political, military and propaganda means which it has at its disposal, against Marxism-Leninism, socialism, the revolution and the peoples. 

These fundamental teachings of our Party throw light on the great danger of Soviet revisionism as an antiMarxist-Leninist ideology, raising the necessity of struggle against Soviet revisionism both for its ideological exposure and for the exposure of the Soviet Union as a great imperialist power. These principled stands towards Soviet revisionism also serve as a line of demarcation between the genuine Marxist-Leninists and the pseudo-Marxists, such as the Chinese revisionists. To wage the struggle against Soviet revisionism only by exposing it as a great imperialist power, from narrow nationalist and egoistic positions, and to neglect the ideological struggle against it, or to wage it from unprincipled, pragmatist positions, as the Communist party of China has always done, shows that that party has never stood in a correct Marxist-Leninist position in the struggle against Khrushchevite revisionism. 

The powerful and resolute exposure of the ideological platform of Soviet revisionism remains an important, current task, because, despite all defeats, the “theories” and views of the Soviet revisionists continue to exert their influence, to confuse the proletariat and the peoples of the world, to cause much harm to the cause of revolution and the liberation struggle of the peoples. The danger of the Soviet revisionists becomes even more threatening because they distort and falsify the basic principles of Marxism-Leninism in a very elaborate and concealed manner in all fields and directions, in philosophy, political economy and scientific socialism, ideology and politics, art and culture, science, ethics, and justice. 

The exposure of the anti-Marxist theories and views expounded at the 20th and 22nd Congresses of the CPSU constitutes one of the most important directions of the ideological fight of the Marxist-Leninists against Soviet revisionism, because the ideas of these congresses laid the basis of the ideological platform of Khrushchevite revisionism. The struggle for the denunciation of these “theories” and views is assuming ever greater importance due to the fact that the Soviet revisionists seek to present these anti-Marxist “theories” and views as a great contribution to the development of Marxism-Leninism, as the basis of a “new” Marxism-Leninism, “the Marxism of the period of the construction of communism”! Just as we have done so far. it is always necessary to expose forcefully the fact that at the 20th and 22nd Congresses in fact the Soviet revisionists codified the revisionists “theories” and views, beginning with those of Bernstein, Kautsky, Bukharin and Browder, down to those of the Yugoslav revisionists, the socialdemocrats and the various bourgeois-ideologists. 

The ideological platform of Soviet revisionism constitutes the theoretical basis of its imperialist policy, too. Without making a thorough exposure of this platform, the hegemonism of Soviet social-imperialism and its expansionism cannot be effectively opposed. Therefore in the ideological struggle against Soviet revisionism it is important to keep in view the fact that, alongside the theories of the 20th and 22nd Congresses, this revisionism, in keeping with the evolution it has undergone and its transformation into social-imperialism, has worked out and is preaching a lot of other “new” theories such as “limited sovereignty”, “socialist integration”, “easing of tension”, “preservation of equilibrium”, etc., which it uses as ideological instruments against Marxism-Leninism, as well as in order to justify its aggressive, hegemony-seeking and expansionist policy. 

As Comrade Enver Hoxha stressed in his book “Imperialism and the Revolution”, the Soviet revisionists “try to present themselves as continuators of the October Revolution, as followers of Leninism, in order to deceive the proletariat and the working masses both in the Soviet Union and in other countries. 

They talk about “developed socialism” and “transition to communism” in order to put out any discontent, revolt and revolutionary movement of the working masses in their country against the revisionist rule and to suppress them as “counter-revolutionary”, “antisocialist” acts. Outside their country they use “Leninism” as a mask to conceal their anti-Marxist, antiLeninist theories and practices, to open the way for the expansionist and hegemonic plans of socialimperialism. 

The exposure of the ideological platform of the Soviet revisionists serves at the same time to expose all the other revisionists and opportunists. Immediately after the 20th Congress, inspired and encouraged by the anti-Marxist course of this congress the Togliattist revisionists came out openly and the Yugoslav revisionists were enlivened. At that time there were also other opportunists, such as the Chinese revisionists, who, although in agreement with the anti-Marxist course of the 20th Congress of the CPSU, did not come out openly against Marxism-Leninism, but under the cloak of anti-Khrushchevism, tried to exploit the struggle against Soviet revisionism as a mask for themselves and for achieving their counterrevolutionary aims. The entire activity of the Communist Party of China after the 20th Congress of the CPSU shows that the political and ideological struggle of the Communist Party of China against the Khrushchevite revisionists was not directed at all towards the defence of Marxism-Leninism, but was carried out just for pragmatic aims, for egoistic interests. The anti-Marxist platform of the Soviet revisionists has always served and continues to serve today as a basis or support for the other trends of modem revisionism. Regardless of the phraseology, the various forms and tactics used by the revisionists and the other opportunists, which vary according to the conditions in which they act and according to their narrow nationalist interests, in essence their ideological views are transformed and adapted variants of the ideological platform of Khrushchevite revisionism. 

At the basis of the reformist, “peaceful” and “democratic” platforms for the alleged transition to socialism preached by the various revisionists, is the Khrushchevite idea of “peaceful transition” to socialism, while the Khrushchevite theories of “peaceful coexistence” and others, constitute the theoretical basis of the policy of class conciliation and collaboration, and unprincipled alliances, followed by the Italian, Spanish, French, and other revisionists, with their “own” bourgeoisie and with the international bourgeoisie. The theory of the “three worlds” of the Chinese revisionists, with its preachings about the “defence of the fatherland”, in fact, is also a variant of the Khrushchevite theories of “peaceful coexistence” and others, because this theory also preaches the alliance of the proletariat with the bourgeoisie, and of the peoples with imperialism. If the Soviet revisionists apparently criticize some of the revisionist ideas upheld by other trends, as they do in regard to the French, Spanish, and other revisionists, they do this only for the sake of preserving their masks and only from their hegemonic and imperialist positions. 

Therefore the exposure of the ideological platform of Soviet revisionism constitutes a task of prime importance for Marxist-Leninists, because without fighting it, it is impossible to fight with success the ideological platforms of the other trends of modern revisionism and their speculations on their so-called differences with the Soviet revisionists. The great danger of the Soviet revisionists lies also in the fact that it represents not only the “theory”, but also the most complete practice of the revisionist counterrevolution. The practices of the Soviet revisionists, who are in power in a large social-imperialist country, the alliances with the imperialist powers and especially with American imperialism and with all the other reactionary and obscurantist forces, their “great power” practices, etc., have always been and continue to be a model for the Chinese revisionists, who, just like the Soviet revisionists, follow the same hegemony-seeking “great power” policy, fight the revolution, socialism and the peoples, and collaborate with American imperialism and all the other reactionary and fascist forces in order to realize their counterrevolutionary and hegemonic aims. 

The question of the correct understanding of the danger posed by Soviet revisionism and of the necessity to fight and expose its anti-Marxist ideological platform, remains still today, just as it was up till now, a question of principled importance, and serves as line of demarcation which divides the genuine MarxistLeninists from the pseudo-Marxists and the opportunists of every hue. The position from which you see and assess the danger of Soviet revisionism, the motives and aims which prompt you in the struggle against it, determine the position you take, for the revolution or for the counterrevolution, for MarxismLeninism or for pseudo-Marxism-Leninism. 

The stressing of this point is of major importance for the exposure of those pseudo-Marxists, such as the Chinese revisionists, who have spoken and continue to speak even today about the “danger of Soviet revisionism”, which they have continually opposed, qualifying it as the only enemy, the number one enemy, and even pretending that they have been and continue to be “most resolute” in the struggle against “Soviet revisionism”. But in fact they have never waged the struggle against it from the positions of Marxism-Leninism, the revolution and socialism, as the Party of Labour of Albania has always done, but from the positions of opportunism and narrow bourgeois nationalism. Despite their gambling on anti-revisionist and anti-imperialist slogans, they in fact, just like Soviet social-imperialism and American imperialism, as their entire activity shows, follow an imperialist and warmongering, expansionist and hegemonic policy.

 In the present conditions of the further aggravation of the ideological struggle, when alongside Soviet revisionism and the other trends of modern revisionism, Chinese revisionism too is working actively against Marxism-Leninism and the revolution, and is as dangerous as Soviet revisionism, the ideological struggle of the Marxist-Leninists against revisionism and every sort of opportunism constitutes, more than ever, an imperative task for the achievement of the final triumph of Marxism-Leninism over every revisionism and opportunism.