FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION 1903-1953

FOREIGN LANGUAGES PUBLISHING HOUSE 

Moscow 1953 

The fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (R.S.D.L.P.) on July 30, 1903, is an outstanding date in the life of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and of the peoples of our country, and in the history of the entire international revolutionary movement. At that congress the foundation was laid of a militant, revolutionary Marxist party of the working class, a party of a new type, differing fundamentally from the reformist parties of the Second International. "As a trend of political thought and as a political party," wrote V. I. Lenin, " Bolshevism exists since 1903." 

At the Second Congress the truly titanic struggle the great Lenin had waged for the creation of a revolutionary proletarian party in Russia was crowned with success. For many years, from the beginning of the 90's of the last century, V. I Lenin, faithful follower of the teachings of Marx and Engels, creatively developing Marxism in the new historical conditions, waged a ruthless struggle against the open and concealed enemies of Marxism, against all manifestations of opportunism in the working- class movement, and for the organization and consolidation of the forces of the proletariat under the banner of revolutionary Marxism .

Created and forged by that genius of revolution, Lenin, the Bolshevik Party led our people to the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917, organized the dictatorship of the proletariat, roused the vast masses of the working people of our country for the conscious making of history, ensured the building of socialist society, and is now confidently leading the Soviet people forward to communism. The name of Lenin, the great founder and wise leader of the Communist Party, is inseparably linked with the entire history of our Party, with the rise and development of the first socialist state in the world-the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The name of Lenin became the banner of the working people all over the world in the struggle for peace, democracy and socialism, for the bright future of the nations. 

By its self- sacrificing struggle for the cause of the workers and peasants, for socialism, by its tireless activities in the revolutionary transformation of society, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union has earned the boundless love and confidence of the entire Soviet people. The working people of the U.S.S.R. have been convinced by many years of historical experience that of all the political parties that existed in our country, only the Communist Party has proved to be a genuinely people's party, which expresses the vital interests of the working people. 

During the past half -century the Communist Party of 

,the Soviet Union travelled a glorious road of heroic struggle, severe trials, and epoch-making victories. Steeled in battle under the leaders hip of the great genius Lenin, of the great Stalin , Len in's pupil and the continuer of his cause, and of their comrades-in- arms , our Communist Party is today the leading, guiding and directing force of Soviet society which is building communism. 

The entire history of the Communist Party marks the triumph of the great, all-conquering· teachings of Marx­ ism-Leninism. The immensely rich historical experience of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is an inspiring example for the Communist and Workers' Parties of all countries in their consistent struggle for the revolutionary transformation of society. 

I. THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SECOND CONGRESS OF THE R.S.D.L.P. 

I. The Marxist party in Russia was created at the turning point in the history of the international working­ class movement, when capitalism entered its highest and last phase, the imperialist phase of development, when it began to be transformed into parasitic, decaying and moribund capitalism, when the proletarian revolution be­ came a question of immediate practice. In that period Russia was the nodal point of all the contradictions of imperialism. The interests of Russian tsarism and West­ ern imperialism were very closely interwoven. On the eve of the Second Congress of the Party V. I. Lenin wrote: "H is tory has now confronted us with an immediate task which is the most revolutionary of all the immediate tasks that confront the proletariat of any country. The fulfilment of this task, the destruction of the most powerful bulwark not only of European, but also (it may 

now be said) of Asiatic reaction, would make the Russian proletariat the vanguard of the international revolutionary proletariat." That determined 1.he character, the peculiar features and the international significance of the great people's revolution that was maturing in Russia. 

The Marxist movement in Russia began in the 80's of the last century, when the Marxist "Emancipation of Labour" group, headed by Plekhanov, was formed in 1883. But the "Emancipation of Labour" group-"only laid the theoretical foundations for Social-Democracy and took the first step towards the working-class movement." The embryo of the revolutionary proletarian party in Russia was Lenin's St. Petersburg "League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class" (1895 ) , the activities of which were directed towards extensively combining Marxism with the working-class movement. 

In March 1898 the First Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. was held, at which the formation of a Marxist party in Russia was proclaimed. After the First Congress, however, the Marxist movement in Russia remain ed at the stag e of separate, scattered Social-Democratic circles and groups, not united by a single militant Marxist programme or centralized organization. Moreover, a considerable number of the Social-Democratic circles were corroded by the rust of " Economism" (opportunism, which repudiated the politic al struggle of the working class and its leading role). 

In the period of the Second Party Congress a question of immense political importance was being settled, namely: what path would the young Russian working­ class movement take-would it, inspired by the socialist ideology, boldly take the path of consistent revolutionary 

struggle against tsarism and capitalism, the struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat, the path a long which it was being urged to go by Lenin, the "Iskraists," the Bolsheviks , or would it slip on to the path of subordination to bourgeois ideology, reformism, adaptation to tsar,­ ism and capitalism, the path along which the Mensheviks and their predecessors the " Economists" tried to drag the working-class movement? The victory of the ideological principles of Lenin and of Lenin' s Iskra at the Second Party Congress was of immense importance for the development of our Party and the revolution, for the entire international revolutionary movement. 

2. The decade preceding the Second Party Congress was marked in the history of the working- class movement in Russia by the uncompromising struggle Lenin waged against liberal Narodism and "legal Marxism," against amateurish methods and the study -circle sys tem, against the opportunism of the " Economists," who op­ posed the formation of a revolutionary proletarian party and the infusion of socialist consciousness into the spontaneous working-class movement. 

A decisive role in the struggle for a Marxist party, in the defeat of the "Economists," in uniting the scattered Social-Democratic circles and in the preparation of the Second Congress of the R.S.D .L.P. was played by the all-Russian Marxist political newspaper Iskra , found­ ed by Lenin. In conformity with Lenin's plan, that news­ pa per became the centre for uniting the Party forces, for rallying and educating the Party cadres, for welding them into an all-Russian, militant , centralized proletarian party with a clear Marxist programme, revolutionary tactics , a single will and iron discipline. Lenin's plan for 

the creation of a party was based on the urgent tasks of the revolutionary struggle and in a masterly manner generalized the organizational experience of the Marxists. The victory of that plan laid the foundation of the strongly-welded, militant, steeled Communist Party, which be­ came the model for the international revolutionary working-class movement. 

The tasks of the growing working-class movement in Russia imperatively called for the creative development of Marxist theory, for a firm combination of the working­ class movement with socialism. Lenin, the great continuer of Marx's cause, worked out the ideological principles of the Marxist party and rai sed the significance of revolutionary theory. Lenin proved that only a party that is guided by the most advanced theory can play the role of vanguard fighter and of genuine leader of the working people, and he emphasized with all his conviction the importance of combining the mass working- class movement with scientific socialism. 

3. The historical significance of the Second Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. lies in that it created in Russia a genuinely Marxist party based on the ideological and organizational principles which had been advanced and elaborated by Lenin's Iskra. For the first time in the history of the international working-class movement after the death of Marx and Engels, that congress adopted a revolutionary programme, which advanced as the main task- the struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat. At the congress Lenin and his like-minded comrades, the consistent Iskraists, conducted an uncompromising struggle against the opportunist elements who tri ed to prevent the inclusion in the programme of the vital thesis 

of Marxism-the dictatorship of the proletariat. With all his indomitable resolution Lenin upheld that thesis. The inclusion in the programme of the point about the dictatorship of the proletariat by the congress was a historic victory for Lenin's adherents. 

In advancing the task of fighting for the victory of the dictatorship of the proletariat, Lenin emphasized the enormous importance of the revolutionary struggle of the peasantry as the ally of the working class, and secured the inclusion in the party programme of the revolutionary-democratic demands on the peasant question . Lenin gave a decisive rebuff to the Bundists and Polish Social-Democrats, who objected to the inclusion in the programme of the point about the right of nations to self-determination, and he upheld the principles of proletarian internationalism . 

The Second P arty Congress witnessed the triumph of t he great ideas of the revolutionary struggle which Leni n had championed from the very first days of his political activities . Criticizing as un acceptable the draft programme drawn up by Plekhanov , from which the thesis about the dictatorship of the proletariat was omitted, Lenin emphasized that the party of the Russian proletariat must have a programme for a " practically fighting party" and not an academic textbook Therefore, said Lenin, the party " in its programme must in the most unambiguous manner formulate is indictment of Russian capitalism, proclaim war on Russian capitalism." The Communist Party took that path, the Leninist path . 

The revolutionary programme of the working-class party adopted at the Second Congress of the R.S . D.L.P; reflect ed both the proletariat's immediate tasks- at the stage of the bourgeois-democratic revolution (minimum programme), and its basic tasks aiming at the victory of the socialist revolution (maximum programme). That programme was our Party's militant guiding document up to the Eighth Party Congress (1919). 

4. At the Second Congress a fierce struggle was con­ducted around the organizational principles upon which the Party was to be built. Lenin and his like-minded comrades upheld the fundamental Marxist theses concerning the role of the party as the advanced, class-conscious, organized detachment of the working class, armed with a revolutionary theory, with a knowledge of the Jaws governing the development of society and the class struggle, with the experience of the revolutionary movement. Only such a highly conscious, organized, strongly welded and centralized party, possessing a single will, was capable of leading the working class to victory and of success fully guiding its struggle for the conquest of power. 

The Mensheviks, however, were opposed to the struggle for t he dictatorship of the proletariat and, there fore, they did not need a militant party of social revolution. The Mensheviks were satisfied with a mere reformist, organizationally amorphous, compromising organization of the type of the opportunist parties of the Second Inter­national. Programmatic opportunism (repudiation of the dictator ship of the proletariat) engendered organizational opportunism (repudiation of a centralized, disciplined, militant, revolutionary party of the proletariat) . 

Lenin taught that, in order to maintain unity in the Part y, it was necessary to have iron proletarian discipline, strict norms of Party We, regulated by the Rules and obligatory for all the members of the Party, both leaders and rank and file. Of enormous importance was the thesis which Lenin advanced at the Second Congress concerning the lofty title of Party member, the thesis that every member of the Party is responsible for the Party and that the Party is responsible for every one of its members. Lenin pointed out that the Party's task was "to safeguard the firmness, fortitude and purity of our Party. We must endeavour to elevate the import of the title of Party member and his significance ever higher and higher. ... " 

The strict norms of Party life, the principles of leader ship worked out by Lenin provided for stringent observance of the demands of the Party Rules, consistent application of the principles of democratic centralism, the utmost stimulation of the activity of the rank-and-file Party members, and the collective discussion of major questions of Party life. Lenin taught that the normal activity of the Party organizations and of the Party as a whole is possible only by strict observance of the principle of collective leaders hip, which safeguards the Party against elements of fortuity and one-sidedness in decisions adopted. The Party is a living, self-acting and continuously developing organism. 

For the first time in the history of Marxism, V. I. Lenin worked out the theory of the Party as the leading organization of the proletariat, as the principal weapon in its hands, without which it is impossible to win the dictatorship of the proletariat, impossible to build socialism and communism. 

Lenin's struggle against the opportunist elements at the congress on programmatic and organizational questions drew the dividing line between the revolutionary section of the R.S.D.L.P.- the Bolsheviks, and the opportunist section- the Mensheviks. 

The victory of Lenin's masterly plan for the creation of a revolutionary Marxist party--the party of social revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat-showed that in Lenin the Russian and the international proletariat had a great Marxist theoretician, the continuer of the cause and teachings of Marx and Engels, an out­ standing strategist of revolution who clearly visualized the prospects of development of the working-class movement, a mountain eagle who knew no fear in the struggle. 

5. The uncompromising struggle Lenin waged at the Second Congress, and in the subsequent period, against the opportunists and in defense of the ideological and organizational principles of Bolshevism was of great international importance. Lenin's implacable exposure of the anti-Marxist ideological and organizational views of the Mensheviks struck a powerful blow at the revisionists, at the deserters from Marxism, and at the whole of international opportunism; it was of enormous importance for the development of the revolutionary movement in all countries. The Second Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. marked a turning point in the world working-class movement. 

II. THE COMMUNIST PARTY IN THE STRUGGLE FOR THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT 

6. The whole course of historic events from the Second Congress of the R..S.D.L.P. up to the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution strikingly confirmed 

that the Communist Party was the only leading revolutionary force in the country. The history of the three revolutions in Russia showed that within a short space of time (1903-1917) our Party performed a gigantic political task which, for wealth of experience, depth of elaboration of Marxist theory and the creative application of it in the course of the revolution, has no equal in world history; it revealed the great strength and viability of the strategy and tactics of the Communist Party, the might and invincibility of Marxist-Leninist theory. 

The political group of Bolsheviks, headed by Lenin, that was formed at the Second Congress, while formally remaining in the one party, the R.S.D.L.P., up to 1912, pursued a consistent revolutionary line answering to the fundamental interests of the proletariat, the peasantry, and of all the peoples of Russia. The Bolsheviks waged an uncompromising, principled struggle against all the varieties of opportunism in the Russian and in the international working-class movement. 

7. The great service Lenin rendered was that in the period of the first Russian bourgeois-democratic revolution he brilliantly substantiated the Party's Bolshevik tactics, the tactics of the working class; he worked out the political (tactical) principles of the Communist Party. He developed the idea of the hegemony of the proletariat in the bourgeois-democratic revolution and showed that, in the historical situation that had arisen by that time, an alliance between the working class and the peasantry, in which the proletariat must retain the le a ding role, was an essential condition for the victory of the revolution. Lenin gave the Russian Marxists a clear prospect of the bourgeois-democratic revolution growing into the socialist revolution . He enriched Marxism with a new theory of proletarian revolution and laid the foundation for the revolutionary tactics of the Communist Party with the aid of which in October 1917 the proletariat, in alliance with the poor peasants, overthrew the rule of the bourgeoisie in our country and established genuine people's rule-the rule of the Soviets of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies, Soviet rule. 

The struggle between the two lines in the R.S.D.L.P. - between the revolutionary, Bolshevik line, and the opportunist, Menshevik line-which developed on ideological and organizational questions in the period of the formation of the Party, became particularly acute in the period of the first Russian revolution (1905-1907), when questions of tactics came to the forefront. The Bolsheviks steered a course towards the expansion and the victory of the people's revolution, towards the liberation of the working people from the yoke of tsarism and landlordism, towards the development of the bourgeois-democratic revolution into a socialist revolution. The Mensheviks, on the contrary, championing the hegemony of the liberal bourgeoisie in the revolution, steered a course to­ wards the winding up of the revolution. They sank into the bog of compromise and became agents of the bourgeoisie in the working-class movement. 

8. The growing difficulties which arose after the de­ feat of the first Russian revolution did not daunt the Bolsheviks. In the dark period of the Stolypin reaction, under the conditions of rampant tsarist repression and Black­ Hundred terrorism, the Bolshevik Party cemented its ranks and skillfully utilized legal and illegal possibilities to strengthen its ties with the masses. While the Bolsheviks were steering a course towards the preparation of a new revolution, the Mensheviks, on the contrary, re­ treated more and more from the revolution, steered a course towards the liquidation of the illegal revolutionary party of the proletariat; they became open Liquidators. A certain section of the Bolsheviks deserted from Marxist principles and tried to push the Party on to a path that would have converted it into a sectarian organization isolated from the masses; in particular, they demanded the recall of the workers' deputies from the State Duma. Lenin exposed that section of the Party, the "Otzovists," as they were called then, as "Liquidators inside-out." 

Under the severe conditions of reaction, only the Bolsheviks, the Leninists, remained true to Marxism, true to the principles enunciated in the Party programme, and repulsed all the attacks of the enemies who tried to disarm the Russian proletariat, to wreck its Party, to undermine and discredit the theoretical principles of revolutionary Marxism. The great service Lenin rendered was that in that difficult period for the Party he upheld and developed the theoretical principles of the Party-dialectical and historical materialism which is the theoretical foundation of communism. The ideological steeling in Marxism-Leninism, the correct understanding of the prospects of the revolution help ed the main core of the Party rallied around Lenin to save the Party and to preserve its main cadres. 

9. In 1912, in Prague, the Sixth All-Russian Party Conference was held. That conference expelled the Mensheviks-Liquidators from the R.S.D.L.P. and thereby laid the foundation for the fin al organization of the Bolsheviks in an independent party. The purging of the proletarian party of the opportunists, of the Mensheviks-Liquidators, was of decisive importance for the further development of the Party, for the consolidation of the unity of its ranks, and for the successful conquest of the dictatorship of the proletariat. 

The tireless struggle waged by Lenin and by the Bolsheviks united around the Leninist leading core for the creation of the Party of a new type was crowned with complete victory. 

10. The new mighty revolutionary upsurge which subsequently began (1912-1914) clearly showed that the workers were preparing for a new revolution, that they were being led to new battles by the Communist Party, tried and steeled in the class struggle. 

An important part in strengthening the Party's ranks and in expanding the Party's ties with the masses, in the education of the new generation of revolutionary workers, in the struggle against the Liquidators, Trotskyites, "Otzovists" and other opportunists, was played by the Party's legal daily newspaper Pravda founded in the spring of 1912, on the initiative of the St. Petersburg workers. 

11. In the stern period of the imperialist war (1914-1918) the Bolshevik Party proved to be equal to the tasks of the revolutionary proletarian party, faithful to the cause of socialism and of proletarian internationalism. The parties of the Second International betrayed the cause of socialism and slipped int o the position of social-chauvinism. 

Unswervingly guided by the Marxist-Leninist theory on the questions of war, peace and revolution, the Bolsheviks waged a consistent struggle to transform the imperialist war into a civil war, to overthrow the rule of the imperialists in Russia, to support the fight against tfie imperialist war in all countries. 

An outstanding contribution to the treasury of creative Marxism was V. I. Lenin's classical work Imperial­ ism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. For the first time in Marxist literature Lenin, in that work, made a comprehensive and deep analysis of imperialism, of its major contradictions and laws, and showed that imperialism is the highest and at the same time the last stage in the development of capitalism, that "imperialism is the eve of the social revolution of the proletariat." 

Lenin scientifically proved that capitalism, which up to the end of the nineteenth century had been on the up­ grade, had in the epoch of imperialism become moribund capitalism, causing untold misfortune and suffering to mankind. Lenin fearlessly exposed the incurable ulcers of present-day monopoly capitalism, which became most glaringly revealed already in the period of the First World War. Whereas in the period of 1.he Second Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. Lenin, in the Party's programme, formulated a stern indictment of Russian capitalism, in the period of the First World War he, with great scientific precision and revolutionary passion, formulated an indictment of world imperialism which was pushing mankind into the abyss of new bloody wars and economic catastrophes. 

In his celebrated work The Impending Catastrophe and How to Combat It, written on the eve of October 1917, Lenin warned: 

"The war has created such an immense crisis, has so strained the material and moral forces of the people, has dealt such blows at the entire modern social organization, that humanity finds itself faced by an alternative: either it perishes, or it entrusts its fate to the most revolutionary class for the swiftest and most radical transition to a higher mode of production." 

The historic service Lenin rendered was that in analyzing imperialism, basing himself on the law he revealed of the uneven economic and political development of capitalism, he made a great scientific discovery: he formulated and substantiated the brilliant conclusion that the chain of the world front of imperialism can be broken at its weakest link, the conclusion that the victory of socialism is possible first in a few capitalist countries, or even in one separate capitalist country. That was a new and complete theory of the socialist revolution. It enriched and advanced Marxism, opened a revolutionary prospect for the proletarians in separate countries, developed their initiative in their onslaught on their nation al bourgeoisie and strengthen ed their faith in the victory of the proletarian revolution. 

The workers of Russia, headed by the Communist Party, were the first in the world to take advantage of the weakening of world capitalism in the course of the world war of 1914-1918, they overthrew tsarism and ensured, at first, the victory of the bourgeois-democratic revolution; the second Russian revolution was victorious. Breaking down the resistance of the compromising par­ ties- the Mensheviks and the Socialist-Revolutionaries the Bolsheviks steered a course towards the transition from the bourgeois-democratic revolution to the socialist revolution. 

12. In the period from February to October 1917 the Communist Party in our country fulfilled the extremely difficult task of winning the majority in the working class and in the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies which were created in the course of the revolution, the task of winning to the side of the socialist revolution millions of working people, of strengthening the alliance between the working class and the toiling peasantry for the purpose of achieving victory, of overthrowing the rule of the imperialists. 

In his celebrated April Theses Lenin made a new discovery which enriched Marxist theory-he arrived at the conclusion that the best political form of the dictatorship of the proletariat was not the parliamentary democratic republic, as had formerly been the opinion among Marxists, but a republic of Soviets. That brilliant discovery was of enormous importance for ensuring the victory of the socialist revolution in October 1917, for the triumph of Soviet rule in our country. 

In the course of the struggle to overthrow the rule of the bourgeoisie and to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat in our country, the Communist Party was the only party that guided the masses of the working people, frustrating all the attempts of the despicable capitula­tors-the Trotskyites, Zinovievites and other scabs of the revolution-to turn the Party from the Leninist path. The fate of capitalism in Russia was decided by the fact that the Party united in a single, powerful revolutionary stream the general democratic struggle for peace, the democratic peasant movement for the liquidation of landlordism and the transfer of the landlords' land to the peasants, the national-liberation movement of the peoples of our country, and the socialist movement of the proletariat for the overthrow of the bourgeoisie and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat. As for the compromising, petty-bourgeois parties, all of them (Mensheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries and Anarchist s ) exposed themselves in the course of the revolution as anti­ popular parties which were striving to preserve and strengthen the capitalist system. 

The victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution marked the triumph of the Leninist theory of proletarian revolution. By overthrowing the rule of the capitalists and the landlords, by overthrowing the rule of the imperialists in Russia and establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat, our Party carried out the programme that was adopted at the Second Congress of the R.S .D. L.P. 

By bringing about the victorious socialist revolution , the Communist Party saved our country from nation al disaster, liberated her from the position of a semi-colonial country dependent upon world imperialism, and led the Soviet people on to the broad road of socialist changes unprecedented in the history of mankind. 

To organize the victor y of a revolution like the Great October Socialist Revolution it was necessary to have a party armed with the most advanced revolutionary theory, possessing immense courage and heroism, a party ready to make any sacrifice in the interests of the people and of country, a party possessing the closest ties with the broad masses of the working people. The mighty Communist Party created and re.ared by the great Lenin was precisely such a party. 

THE COMMUNIST PARTY IN THE STRUGGLE TO BUILD SOCIALISM 

13. The Great October Socialist Revolution opened a new era in the history of mankind- the era of the col­ lapse of capitalism and of the triumph of socialism and communism. The victory of the Soviet revolution in Russia marked a fundamental turn in the destiny of man kind, in world history-from the old, capitalist world to the new, socialist world. 

The October revolution inflicted a mortal wound on capitalism, shook and weakened the foundations of imperialism and facilitated the struggle of the international proletariat against capital. Our Communist Party was transformed from a national into an international force, into the "Shock Brigade" of the world revolutionary and working-class movement. 

With the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the Communist Party, as the ruling party, was faced with the tasks of building and defending the first socialist workers' and peasants ' state in the world. 

V. I. Lenin, the leader of the Communist Party and head of the Soviet Government, worked out a scientific programme for the transformation of economically back­ward Russia into an advanced and mighty socialist power. That programme provided for the socialist industrialization of the country, for the utmost development of heavy industry, for the electrification of the whole national economy, for the execution of the co-operative plan for the reorganization of the country's agriculture on socialist lines, and for bringing about a cultural revolution. 

Surmounting enormous difficulties- economic ruin and famine-repelling the furious attacks of foreign interventionists (the so-called "crusade of fourteen states" against Soviet Russia) and the revolts organized by the internal counter-revolution , the Communist Party led the peoples of our country to complete victory over the interventionists and White guards. 

History will never forget the great heroism displayed by the workers and peasants in the period of intervention and civil war, defending t heir young Soviet Republic. Neither hunger nor ruin, neither the absence of fuel, clothing and footwear nor epidemics of typhus and other misfortunes, nor kulak revolts organized by the agents of the imperialist vultures who were dreaming of the partition of Russia and of converting her into a colony of the imperialist powers- nothing could break the indomitable determination of the working people of our country to achieve victory over the exploiting classes and to build up the new socialist life. 

In the most difficult period for the young Soviet Re­ public, in April 1919, Lenin said with the utmost confidence and foresight: 

"No one will ever conquer a people whose workers and peasants have in their majority realized, felt and seen that they are defending their own Soviet government, the government of the toilers, that they are defending a cause whose victory will ensure them and their children the opportunity to take advantage of all the blessings of culture, all the creations of man's labour." History has proved that Lenin was absolutely right. 

After saving the dictatorship of the proletariat in battles against the foreign and home counter-revolution, after smashing the foreign interventionists and the White· guards, the Party developed gigantic constructive work on the basis of the New Economic Policy and directed the inexhaustible creative forces of the people into the channel of executing Lenin's plan for the building of socialism. Under the leadership of the Communist Party, the working people of our country were the first to proceed along the unexplored paths of building socialism, laying for all mankind the road to a life of freedom and happiness. 

14. When the heroic work of the Party and of the working class in restoring the national economy was drawing to an end, the question of the prospects of our country's development arose in full force. 

Whereas in the period of the Second Party Congress the Bolsheviks fought against the Mensheviks for the victory of the revolutionary line in the working-class movement, now, under the conditions of the victorious dictatorship of the proletariat, the question arose of the future of socialism in the U.S.S.R. The enemies of the Party and the people- the Trotskyites, Bukharinites and bourgeois nationalists-the Menshevik rump, took the stand of capitulation. They tried to urn the Party and the country from the Leninist path to the path of liquidating the gains of the proletarian revolution, to the path of restoring capitalism. Under the leadership of the Central Committee headed by J. V. Stalin, the great continuer of V. I. Lenin' s ca use, the Communist Party routed the traitors and capitulators, upheld Leninism, and resolutely steered towards the building of socialism in our country. In so doing, the Communist Party based itself on the objective law s of economic development of society, on the matured requirement s of the development of 

the material life of society, on the interests of the people. The Party based itself on Lenin's thesis that our country possesses in sufficient quantity everything needed for the building of a complete socialist society. 

15. During the prewar five-year plan periods the Soviet people successfully carried out the plan drawn up by the Party for the socialist industrialization of the country and the collectivization of agriculture. As a result of the execution of that plan our country made a gigantic leap forward, and from a backward agrarian country was transformed into a mighty industrial and collective-farm socialist power. 

In our country the exploiting classes were completely eliminated and the exploitation of man by man was abolished forever. The Soviet people, led by the Communist Party, were the first in history to build a new social system - socialism. The victory of socialism abolished un· employment and brought about a fundamental improvement in the material welfare of the people and created the necessary conditions for a prosperous and cultured life for the working people. A real cultural revolution was brought about in the country. Guided by the Lenin-Stalin national policy, the Communist Party liberated the peoples of Russia from age-long social and national oppression, overcame the economic and cultural backwardness of the formerly oppressed peoples, welded all the nations of our country into a sin e frat ern al family and created a mighty multi-national socialist state- the Union of So ­ vi et Socialist Republic s. The victory of socialism released and strengthened the mighty driving forces of Soviet society, such as moral and political unity, friendship of the peoples of the U.S.S.R., and Soviet patriotism. 

The epoch-making victories of the Soviet people are fixed and sea le d in the Constitution of the U.S.S .R.­ the Constitution of victorious ·Socialism and of developed socialist democracy. The Eighteenth Congress of the Communist Party (1939) outlined the programme for the further progress of Soviet society towards the completion of the building of socialist society and the gradual transition from socialism to communism. The building of socialism in the U.S.S.R. is the result of the fulfilment of the behests of Lenin, the result of the great organizing and directing activities of the Communist Party and its wise leadership, the result of the heroic labour of the workers, peasants and intellectuals who unanimously support the Party's policy. 

Our Party was and is victorious because of it s faith ­ fullness to Leninism. It teaches our cadres, and all Communists perseveringly to master revolutionary theory, consistently to adhere to the norms of P arty life worked out by Lenin, to the Bolshevik principles of P arty leader­ship. In the speech he delivered on April 22, 1941, 

J. V. Stalin, speaking of Lenin's greatness and on the importance of Lenin's behests, said: 

" It was he, Lenin, who taught us to work as Bolsheviks should work, knowing no fear, and not being daunted by any difficulties." 

16. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union was a most serious tri al of the strength and viability of our social and political system. During that war the Party was the inspirer and organizer of the nation-wide struggle against the fascist invaders. Through its work of organization the Party directed all the efforts of the Soviet people towards the common aim and concentrated all the country's forces and resources on the task of defeating the enemy. The Party mobilized the working class, the peasantry and the intelligentsia for the purpose of self-sacrificingly surmounting difficulties; it stimulated a mighty wave of labour enthusiasm, placed the national economy at the service of the front and transformed the country into a single fighting camp. During the war the Communist Party drew closer than ever to the people and established still closer ties with the broad masses of the working people. During that period of severe trial, surmounting the gravest difficulties and obstacles on the path to victory, the Party once again showed that it is a united, militant organization with no wavering or dis­ agreement in its ranks. 

Routing the fascist aggressors, the gallant Soviet Army, the entire Soviet people, led by the glorious Communist Party, upheld the freedom and independence of our country and saved the peoples of Europe and Asia from the menace of fascist enslavement. As a result of the victory of socialism over fascism in the Second World War, the forces of socialism and democracy grew and gained strength, while the position of imperialism and reaction became weaker. A number of countries in Europe and Asia dropped out of the capitalist system and the regime of People's Democracy was establish ed in them. An immense victory for the cause of socialism and democracy was the triumph of the people's revolution in China and the formation of the Chinese People's Republic. The position of the Soviet Union was immeasurably strengthened and consolidated; the prestige of the Soviet Union and its influence on the whole of international development increased immensely. 

17. The postwar period demanded from the Soviet people tremendous efforts to heal the grave wounds inflicted by the war and to eliminate its consequences. Inspired and organized by the Communist Party, the working people of our country, in an unprecedentedly short space of time, restored the national economy and advanced all branches of Soviet economy, technology and culture. 

The Nineteenth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union summed up the magnificent results of the struggle and victories of the Soviet people and drew up the programme for the further progress of our country. That congress provided new and striking evidence of the indestructible solidarity and unity of our Party, of the close unity between the Party and the people, of the Party's indomitable determination to lead the peoples of our country to the victory of communism. 

Carrying out the historic decision of the Nineteenth Congress of the C.P.S.U., the P arty has brought about a new upswing in all branches of the national economy and culture. The enormous success es achieved by the socialist economy and the efflorescence of culture in the U.S.S .R. were possible thanks to the firm alliance between the working class and the collective-farm peasantry, to the ever-growing friendship of t he peoples of our country, to the ever-growing moral and political unity of the Soviet people. All this is the result of the consistent application of the policy elaborated by the Communist Party, a policy bas ed on the creative activity of the masses and enjoying the support of the whole of Soviet society. 

The Soviet Union, with its indestructible might and creative strength, is successfully advancing in the building of socialist society. 

III. THE COMMUNIST PARTY-THE ORGANIZING AND INSPIRING FORCE OF SOVIET SOCIETY WHICH IS BUILDING COMMUNISM

18. The Communist Party is successfully fulfilling the role of leader and organizer of the popular masses be­ cause it is a militant union of like-minded people, Communists, welded together by unity of views, unity of action, and unity of discipline. In all its activities the Communist Party is deeply permeated with faith in the people, in the revolutionary energy of the working masses. Our Party bases itself on the premise that the workers and peasants who create all the benefits of life are the actual makers of history, that "victory can be achieved and power held only by those who believe in the people, who immerse themselves in the stream of the people's living creative energy" (Lenin) . The Party is strong be­ ca use of its indissoluble connection with the people. The people are strong because they are rallied around the Party. 

The entire history of our Party is Marxism-Leninism in action. Guided by Marxist-Leninist theory, by knowledge of the objective economic laws, the Communist Par­ty worked out a scientific policy tested by practice, which reflects the requirements of the development of the material life of society, the fundamental interests of the people, and came out as the inspirer and organizer of the revolutionary energy, of the revolutionary creative effort of the masses. Generalizing the rich experience of the building of socialism in the U.S.S.R. and the experience of the present-day international liberation movement, 

J. V. Stalin creatively developed Marxist-Leninist theory in conformity with the new historical conditions, and on a number of questions he enriched revolutionary theory with new theses. 

19. At the present time the Communist Party is solving extremely important problems connected wit h the building of communism, with the further consolidation of the multi-national socialist state and with the continuous rise in the material and cultural standard of living of all the Soviet people. 

We possess all that is needed for the building of complete communist society. The natural wealth of our country is inexhaustible. We have a mighty socialist industry, a comprehensively develop ed heavy industry-the foundation of foundations of socialist economy. The light and food industries of the U.S.S.R. are capable of satisfying the growing requirements of the working people in town and country. Our state f arms and collective farms, sup­ plied with up-to -date, advanced machinery, are able quickly to increase the yield of all agricultural crops and the productivity of commonly-owned livestock. 

However, we have not yet solved a number of urgent economic problems; there are lagging enterprise s and even whole branches of industry; some collective farms and whole agricultural districts are in a neglected state. It is the duty of the Party, Soviet , trade union and Young Communist League organizations to mobilize and organize the creative forces of the Soviet people for the further upswing of the national economy, for the utilization of the reserves and possibilities la tent in industry and in agriculture success fully to carry out the tasks set by the Nineteenth Party Congress. 

20. The Communist Party takes constant care to satisfy the growing material and cultural requirement s of the working people. Concern for the welfare of the Soviet citizen, for the prosperity of the entire Soviet people, is a la w for our Party. 

The successes achieved in the development of socialist economy have resulted in a considerable rise in the material and cultural standard s of the Soviet people. This finds expression in the continuous growth of the national income, in the systematic reduction of prices of consumer goods, and in the rise in the real wages of workers and office employees and in the incomes of the peasants. Year after year the Soviet state increases assignments for housing, for public health, and for public education. All this does not mean, however, that we can rest content wit h the results achieved. Therefore, the Party is exerting further and further efforts to expand the building of dwellings, schools and hospitals, and to improve the organization of all this work. 

The Party 's constant concern for the development of science, literature and art has ensured the efflorescence of Soviet culture which is national in form and socialist in content. The Communist Party considers it its primary duty to continue steadily to improve the material welfare and to raise the cultural level of the working people of our country. 

21. In the sphere of foreign policy the Party's main concern is to safeguard the peaceful labour of the Soviet people, to maintain peace and to prevent a new war. The Communist Party holds that a policy of peace is the only correct policy conforming to the vital interests of the Soviet people and of all the other peace-loving nations. 

In its foreign policy our Party bases itself on Lenin's thesis on the possibility of the prolonged co-existence and peaceful competition between the two systems-socialist and capitalist. After the defeat of the main forces of the interventionists Lenin said: "... We have won for our­selves conditions under which we can exist side by side with the capitalist powers which are now compelled to enter into commercial relations with us.... We have not only a respite- we have a new period when we have succeeded in laying the foundations of our international existence within the network of capitalist states." 

Already at that time Lenin said that a number of bourgeois countries were economically interested in trade with Soviet Russia: "The bourgeois countries have to trade with Russia: they know that without some form of economic interrelations disintegration in them will go on as it has done up to now; in spite of all their magnificent victories, in spite of all the endless boasting with which they fill the newspapers and telegrams all over the world, their economy is falling to pieces. . . ." 

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union has been unswervingly guided by these theses of Lenin's. 

We stand for the prolonged co-existence and peaceful competition between the two systems because we are firmly convinced of the superiority of the socialist form of economy, of the socialist system, because we have firm faith in our internal strength and in the constantly growing strength of the entire camp of peace, democracy and socialism. 

Nevertheless, we cannot but reckon with the fact that in the camp of imperialism, which is corroded by contradictions, economic instability is growing as is also the instability in the politics of the ruling circles, reaching the degree of fear of peace , fear of peaceful competition between the two systems, the degree of loss of confidence in the further stability of the capitalist system. Evidence of this is provided by some of the statements mad e by prominent European and American economists who admit the rapid and steady growth of the economy in the socialist and democratic camp and the simultaneous intensification of contradictions and economic difficulties in the capitalist camp. This has caused a sharp activization of the reactionary imperialist forces, an increase in acts of provocation of various. kinds, in adventures and acts of sabotage by the imperialists against the socialist and democratic camp. All this makes it more necessary than ever to display the utmost concern for the proper defense of our Soviet Motherland. 

At the same time, the Part  considers it its sacred duty further to strengthen the mighty camp of peace, democracy and socialism, further to strengthen the friendship and solidarity of the Soviet people with the great Chinese people and with the working masses of all the People's Democracies. 

22. Our Party is the only party in the country. To it alone belongs the undivided leading role in Soviet society. Leadership by the Communist Party is the decisive condition for the firmness and unshakeability of the Soviet system and for all the successes of our people. At the same time it must be borne in mind that the monopoly position held by our Party, particularly under the conditions of the capitalist encirclement , calls for keen revolutionary vigilance in relation to the designs of the class enemy. 

As Lenin repeatedly warned us, various careerist s attach themselves to the ruling party. Nor must it be for­ gotten that the enemies of the people, the bourgeois degenerates, agents of international imperialism, skillfully disguising themselves as Communists, have tried and will in future try to penetrate into the ranks of the Pa rt y for the purpose of conducting subversive hostile activity. The further sharpening of the revolutionary vigilance of the Communist s and of all the working people is therefore a n important task of the political education work of the Party organizations . 

23. The whole course of the half-century history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union has shown the immense importance of the principles of Party leadership and norms of Party life worked out by Lenin. The Party teach es that it is imperatively necessary to carry out these laws of Party organization, strictly to adhere to the supreme principle of Party leadership, namely, collective leader ship, and to the requirements of the P arty Rules. We must eradicate from the Party's propaganda work the wrong, non-Marxist treatment of the question of the role of the individual in history, which found expression in the propaganda of the idealistic cult of the individual, which is alien to the spirit of Marxism-Leninism. The cult of the individual contradict s the principle of collective leadership, leads to minimizing the role of the Party, of its leading centre, and to the diminution of the creative activity of the Party membership and the Soviet people; it has nothing in common with the Marxist-Leninist conception of the high significance of the direct in g activities of leading organs and leading cadres. The Part y bases itself on the premise that only collective experience, the collective wisdom of the Central Commit­ tee, relying on the scientific basis of Marxist-Leninist theory and on the wide initiative of the leading cadres, ensures correct leadership of the Party and the country, the unshakeable unit y and solidarity of the Party's ranks, and the successful building of communism in our country. 

A powerful means of expanding inner-Party democracy and of. improving collective leadership in the struggle against defects and morbid phenomena is self -criticism, and particularly, criticism from below. By boldly developing criticism and self-criticism, the Party stimulates the creative activity of the Communists and of all the working people, directs their efforts towards the overcoming of existing defects and difficulties, and achieves general progress in all sectors of communist construction. 

24. The Marxist -Leninist education of Communists is an object of the Party's special care. A continuous rise of the ideological level of the members and candidate members of the Party is a decisive condition for enhancing their vanguard role in all spheres of life, for the development of the activity of the Party membership. 

In the propaganda work of our Party now more than ever before it is necessary to do away with the text-quoting, dogmatic approach to the study of Marxist-Leninist theory. Basing itself on the premise that Marxist-Leninist theory is not a dogma but a guide to action, the Party demands that Communists should understand the creative character of Marxism-Leninism, should master not formulas and quotations, but the real essence of the all­ conquering, world-changing revolutionary teachings of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin. That is precisely what the entire history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union teaches us. 

Forgetfulness of these precepts, neglect of Marxist­ Leninist theory inevitably lead to narrow-minded plod­ ding, to loss of perspective in work. Inability to link current practical affairs. with the Party's fundamental political tasks, with its struggle for the victory of communism, inevitably causes such narrow-minded plodder s to fail also in their practical work. 

25. Under the conditions of the gradual transition from socialism to communism, the communist education of the working people acquires enormous importance . It must not be forgotten that in our society the survivals of capitalism in the minds of men have not yet been eliminated by a long way. Nor are we insured against the penetration into our midst of alien views, ideas and sentiments emanating from the capitalist encirclement and from person infected with bourgeois survivals, including nationalist survivals. The Communist Party sets itself the task of considerably improving the entire work of political education among the masses, of educating the Communists and the entire people in the spirit of confidence in the invincibility of the great cause of communism, of selfless devotion to the Party and to our socialist Motherland. 

The Party deems it its sacred duty to educate the working people in the spirit of Soviet patriotism and indestructible friendship of the peoples of the U.S.S.R., in the spirit of proletarian internationalism and the establishment of fraternal ties with the working people of all countries. It is necessary resolutely to combat manifestations of bourgeois nationalism and corrupt bourgeois ideology. 

26. In the sphere of internal policy the Party con­siders it one of its most important tasks to continue to display unrelaxing concern for the maximum satisfaction of the constantly growing requirements of the Soviet people. With the growth of the national economy there will be a steady rise in the standard of living of the working people in socialist society, and their material and cultural requirements will be satisfied more and more fully and diversely. 

In the sphere of foreign policy the Party will continue consistently to pursue the policy of safeguarding and strengthening peace, the policy of co-operation with all countries and developing business connections with them on the principle of mutual respect for one another's interests. Only firm and lasting peace between the nations can create the necessary conditions for the further continuous development of socialist economy, for ensuring a life o f happiness and prosperity for the working people of our country. 

27. A mighty weapon in the struggle to build communist society is our Soviet state, the granite foundations of which were laid by the great Lenin. The Communist Party sets itself the task of further strengthening the multi-national Soviet state, the alliance between the working class and the peasantry, and the friendship of the peoples, and of enhancing to the utmost the active defense of our country against the aggressive actions of her enemies. To strengthen the Soviet state is the patriotic duty and also the sacred international obligation of the working people of our country . 

In close unity with the people, our Party is confidently marching towards new victories. The recent July Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union demonstrated with enhanced force the in­destructible unity of our Communist Party, its fighting readiness to carry out the tasks confronting it in the spheres of internal and foreign policy. 

Under the banner of Leninism, under the leadership of the Communist Party-forward to the triumph of communism! 

PROPAGANDA AND AGITATION DEPARTMENT OF THE C.C., C.P.S.U. 

MARX-ENGELS.LENIN-ST A LIN INSTITUTE OF THE C.C., C.P.S.U.