The essence of the general crisis of capitalism.
From The Political Economy Text Book
Ostrovityanov K.V. Shepilov D.T. Leontiev L.A. Laptev I.D. Kuzminov I.I. Gatovsky L.M
Translated From Russian; S.M
Along with the growth of the contradictions of imperialism, the prerequisites for a general crisis of capitalism were accumulating. The extreme aggravation of the contradictions in the camp of imperialism, the clashes of the imperialist powers, resulting in world wars, the combination of the class struggle of the proletariat in the mother countries and the national liberation struggle of the peoples in the colonies - all this leads to a sharp weakening of the world capitalist system, to breaking the chain of imperialism and the revolutionary falling away of individual countries. from the capitalist system. The foundations of the doctrine of the general crisis of capitalism were developed by V. I. Lenin.
The fundamental features of the general crisis of capitalism are: the split of the world into two systems - capitalist and socialist - and the struggle between them, the crisis of the colonial system of imperialism, the aggravation of the problem of markets and the emergence in connection with this of chronic underloading of enterprises and chronic mass unemployment.
The uneven development of the capitalist countries in the epoch of imperialism in the course of time gives rise to a discrepancy between the existing division of sales markets, spheres of influence and colonies and the changed correlation of forces of the main capitalist states. On this basis, a sharp imbalance arises within the world system of capitalism, leading to a split of the capitalist world into hostile groups, to a war between them. World wars weaken the forces of imperialism and facilitate the breakthrough of the imperialist front and the falling away of individual countries from the capitalist system.
The general crisis of capitalism covers a whole historical period, which is an integral part of the era of imperialism. As has already been pointed out, the law of the uneven economic and political development of the capitalist countries in the era of imperialism predetermines the difference in timing of the maturation of the socialist revolution in different countries. Lenin pointed out that the general crisis of capitalism is not a simultaneous act, but a long period of turbulent economic and political upheavals, an intensified class struggle, a period of “the collapse of capitalism in all its scale and the birth of a socialist society” [1] . This determines the historical inevitability of the long coexistence of the two systems - socialist and capitalist.
The general crisis of capitalism began during the First World War and unfolded especially as a result of the fall of the Soviet Union from the capitalist system. This was the first stage of the general crisis of capitalism. During the Second World War, the second stage of the general crisis of capitalism unfolded, especially after the people's democracies in Europe and Asia fell away from the capitalist system.
World War I and the beginning of the general crisis of capitalism.
The First World War was the result of the aggravation of contradictions between the imperialist powers on the basis of the struggle for the redivision of the world and spheres of influence. Next to the old imperialist powers, new predators have grown up, late to the division of the world. German imperialism entered the scene. Germany, later than a number of other countries, embarked on the path of capitalist development and came to the division of markets and spheres of influence, when the world was divided among the old imperialist powers. However, by the beginning of the 20th century, Germany, having overtaken England in terms of industrial development, took second place in the world and first in Europe. Germany began to push England and France on the world markets. The change in the correlation of the economic and military forces of the main capitalist states raised the question of the redistribution of the world. In the struggle for the redivision of the world, Germany,
Germany sought to take away part of the colonies from England and France, to oust England from the Middle East and put an end to its maritime dominance, to take Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic States from Russia, to subjugate all of Central and South-Eastern Europe. In turn, England sought to put an end to German competition in the world market and fully consolidate dominance in the Middle East and the African continent. France set the task - to return the conquered by Germany in 1870 - 1871. Alsace and Lorraine and seize the Saar Basin from Germany. Tsarist Russia and other bourgeois states that participated in the war also pursued predatory goals.
The struggle of two imperialist blocs - Anglo-French and German - for the redivision of the world affected the interests of all imperialist countries and therefore led to a world war, in which Japan, the USA and a number of other countries later took part. The First World War had an imperialist character on both sides.
The war shook the capitalist world to its deepest foundations. In its scale, it left far behind all previous wars in the history of mankind.
The war was a source of enormous enrichment for the monopolies. The US capitalists have especially profited. The profits of all American monopolies in 1917 exceeded the level of profits in 1914 by three or four times. During the five years of the war (from 1914 to 1918), the American monopolies received over 35 billion dollars in profit (before taxes). The largest monopolies have increased their profits tenfold.
The population of the countries that actively participated in the war was about 800 million people. About 70 million people were drafted into the army. The war has consumed as many human lives as have died in all the wars in Europe in a thousand years. The number of those killed reached 10 million, the number of wounded and maimed exceeded 20 million. Millions of people died from hunger and epidemics. The war brought colossal damage to the national economy of the warring countries. During the entire war (1914-1918), the direct military expenditures of the belligerent powers amounted to $208 billion (in the prices of the corresponding years).
During the war, the significance of the monopolies grew, and their subordination to the state apparatus increased. The state apparatus was used by the largest monopolies to ensure maximum profits. Military "regulation" of the economy was carried out in order to enrich the largest monopolies. To this end, in a number of countries the working day was extended, strikes were banned, barracks were introduced and forced labor was introduced at enterprises. The main source of unprecedented growth in profits was government military orders at the expense of the budget. During the war, military expenditures absorbed a huge part of the national income and were covered primarily by increasing taxes on the working people. The main part of the military appropriations went to the monopolists in the form of payment for military orders, irrevocable loans and subsidies. Prices for military orders ensured huge profits for the monopolies. Lenin called military supplies legitimized embezzlement. The monopolies profited by reducing the real wages of workers through inflation, as well as by direct robbery of the occupied territories. During the war, a rationing system for food distribution was introduced in European countries, which limited the consumption of workers to starvation rations.
The war brought the poverty and suffering of the masses to the extreme, it aggravated class contradictions and provoked an upsurge in the revolutionary struggle of the working class and working peasants in the capitalist countries. At the same time, the war, which had turned from a European into a world war, drew the colonies and dependent countries into its orbit and rear of imperialism, which facilitated the union of the revolutionary movement in Europe with the national liberation movement of the peoples of the East.
The war weakened world capitalism. “The European war,” Lenin wrote then, “means the greatest historical crisis, the beginning of a new era. Like any crisis, the war exacerbated deep-seated contradictions and brought them out . It gave rise to a mighty upsurge in the anti-imperialist revolutionary movement.
The victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution and the split of the world into two systems: capitalist and socialist.
The proletarian revolution broke through the front of imperialism first of all in Russia, which turned out to be the weakest link in the chain of imperialism. Russia was the focal point of all the contradictions of imperialism. In Russia, the omnipotence of capital was intertwined with tsarist despotism, with the remnants of serfdom and colonial oppression of non-Russian peoples. Lenin called tsarism "military-feudal imperialism".
Tsarist Russia was a reserve of Western imperialism as a sphere of application for foreign capital, which held in its hands the decisive branches of industry - fuel and metallurgy, and as a pillar of Western imperialism in the East, connecting the financial capital of the West with the colonies of the East. The interests of tsarism and Western imperialism merged into a single tangle of imperialist interests.
The high concentration of Russian industry and the presence of such a revolutionary party as the Communist Party have made the working class of Russia the greatest force in the political life of the country. The Russian proletariat had such a serious ally as the peasant poor, who constituted the vast majority of the peasant population. Under these conditions, the bourgeois-democratic revolution in Russia was bound to grow into a socialist revolution, take on an international character and shake the very foundations of world imperialism.
The international significance of the Great October Socialist Revolution lies in the fact that, firstly, it broke through the front of imperialism, overthrew the imperialist bourgeoisie in one of the largest capitalist countries, and for the first time in history placed the proletariat in power; secondly, it not only undermined imperialism in the mother countries, but also struck at the rear of imperialism, undermining its rule in the colonies and dependent countries; thirdly, by weakening the power of imperialism in the mother countries and undermining its dominance in the colonies, it thereby called into question the very existence of world imperialism as a whole.
The Great October Socialist Revolution meant a radical turn in the world history of mankind; it ushered in a new era—the era of proletarian revolutions in the imperialist countries and the national liberation movement in the colonies. The October Revolution wrested one-sixth of the land from the power of capital of the working people, which meant the split of the world into two systems: capitalist and socialist. The split of the world into two systems was the most striking expression of the general crisis of capitalism. As a result of the split of the world into two systems, a fundamentally new contradiction of world-historical significance arose - the contradiction between dying capitalism and growing socialism. The struggle between the two systems - capitalism and socialism - has acquired decisive importance in the modern era.
Describing the general crisis of capitalism, J. V. Stalin said: “This means, first of all, that the imperialist war and its consequences have intensified the decay of capitalism and undermined its balance, that we now live in an era of wars and revolutions, that capitalism is no longer the only and the entire embracing system of the world economy, that along with the capitalist economic system there is a socialist system which is growing, which is prospering, which opposes the capitalist system and which, by the very fact of its existence, demonstrates the rottenness of capitalism, shakes its foundations” [3] .
The first years after the war 1914-1918 were a period of acute disruption in the economy of the capitalist countries, a period of fierce struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.
As a result of the shock of world capitalism and under the direct influence of the Great October Socialist Revolution, a number of revolutions and revolutionary uprisings took place both on the European continent and in colonial and semi-colonial countries. This powerful revolutionary movement, the sympathy and support given to Soviet Russia by the working masses of the whole world, predetermined the collapse of all attempts by world imperialism to strangle the world's first socialist republic. In 1920 - 1921 the main capitalist countries were gripped by a deep economic crisis.
Having emerged from the post-war economic chaos, the capitalist world entered a period of relative stabilization in 1924. The revolutionary upsurge gave way to a temporary ebb of revolution in a number of European countries. It was a temporary, partial stabilization of capitalism, achieved through increased exploitation of the working people. Under the flag of capitalist "rationalization" a brutal intensification of labor was carried out. Capitalist stabilization inevitably led to an aggravation of contradictions between workers and capitalists, between imperialism and the colonial peoples, and between the imperialists of different countries. The world economic crisis that began in 1929 put an end to capitalist stabilization.
At the same time, the national economy of the USSR developed steadily along an ascending line, without crises or catastrophes. The Soviet Union was then the only country that did not know the crises and other contradictions of capitalism. The industry of the Soviet Union went up all the time at a pace unprecedented in history. In 1938, the industrial output of the USSR was 908.8% compared with the output of 1913, while the industrial output of the USA was only 120%, England - 113.3, France - 93.2%. A comparison of the economic development of the USSR and the capitalist countries clearly reveals the decisive advantages of the socialist economic system and the doom of the capitalist system.
The experience of the USSR has shown that the working people can successfully manage the country, build and manage the economy without the bourgeoisie and against the bourgeoisie. Every year of peaceful competition between socialism and capitalism undermines and weakens capitalism and strengthens socialism.
The emergence of the world's first socialist state introduced a new moment in the development of the revolutionary struggle of the working people. The USSR is a powerful center of attraction around which the united front of the peoples' revolutionary and national liberation struggle against imperialism is rallying. International imperialism seeks to stifle or at least weaken the socialist state. The camp of imperialism is trying to resolve its internal difficulties and contradictions by fomenting war against the USSR. In the struggle against the intrigues of imperialism, the Soviet Union relies on its economic and military might, on the support of the international proletariat.
Historical experience has shown that in the struggle between the two systems, the socialist economic system is assured of victory over capitalism on the basis of peaceful competition. The Soviet state in its foreign policy proceeds from the possibility of the peaceful coexistence of the two systems—capitalism and socialism—and firmly adheres to the policy of peace among peoples.
The crisis of the colonial system of imperialism.
An integral part of the general crisis of capitalism is the crisis of the colonial system of imperialism. Having arisen during the First World War, this crisis is expanding and deepening. The crisis of the colonial system of imperialism consists in a sharp aggravation of the contradictions between the imperialist powers, on the one hand, and the colonies and dependent countries, on the other, in the development of the national liberation struggle of the oppressed peoples of these countries, headed by the industrial proletariat.
During the period of the general crisis of capitalism, the role of the colonies as a source of maximum profits for the monopolies increases. The intensification of the struggle between the imperialists for markets and spheres of influence, the aggravation of internal difficulties and contradictions in the capitalist countries, lead to increased pressure on the colonies by the imperialists and to an increase in the exploitation of the peoples of the colonial and dependent countries.
The First World War, during which the export of industrial goods from the metropolises sharply decreased, gave a significant impetus to the industrial development of the colonies. In the period between the two wars, as a result of the intensified export of capital to backward countries, capitalism continued to develop in the colonies. In this regard, the proletariat grew in the colonial countries.
The total number of industrial enterprises in India grew from 2,874 in 1914 to 10,466 in 1939. In connection with this, the number of factory workers increased. The number of workers in the Indian manufacturing industry in 1914 was 951 thousand people, and in 1939 - 1,751.1 thousand people. The total number of workers in India, including miners, railway and water transport workers, and plantation workers, in 1939 was about 5 million people. In China (without Manchuria), the number of industrial enterprises (with at least 30 workers) grew from 200 in 1910 to 2,500 in 1937, and the number of workers employed in them increased from 150,000 people in 1910 to 2,750,000. man in 1937 Taking into account the more industrially developed Manchuria, the number of workers in industry and transport (not counting small enterprises) in China on the eve of the Second World War was about 4 million people. The industrial proletariat has grown considerably in Indonesia, Malaya, African and other colonies.
During the period of the general crisis of capitalism, the exploitation of the working class of the colonies intensifies. The commission, which examined the situation of Indian workers in 1929-1931, found that the family of an ordinary worker has an income per family member that is only about half the cost of maintaining a prisoner in Bombay prisons. The bulk of the workers fall into enslaving debt dependence on usurers. Forced labor became widespread in the colonies, especially in the mining industry and agriculture (on plantations).
The growth of the working class in the colonial countries and the intensification of the national liberation struggle of the peoples of these countries radically undermine the positions of imperialism and signify a new stage in the development of the national liberation movement in the colonies. Lenin taught that after the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution, which broke through the front of world imperialism, a new era of colonial revolutions opened. If earlier the national liberation struggle ended with the establishment of the power of the bourgeoisie and thereby cleared the way for the freer development of capitalism, now, in the era of the general crisis of capitalism, the national-colonial revolutions, carried out under the leadership of the proletariat, lead to the establishment of people's power, ensuring the development of the country according to way to socialism, bypassing the capitalist stage of development.
As has been pointed out, despite some development of industry, imperialism hinders the economic development of the colonies. As before, heavy industry is not being developed in these countries, and they remain agricultural and raw material appendages to the metropolises. Imperialism preserves the remnants of feudal relations that exist in the colonies, using them to intensify the exploitation of the oppressed peoples. Moreover, the well-known development of capitalist relations in the countryside, which destroys natural forms of economy, only intensifies the degree of exploitation and pauperisation of the peasantry. The struggle against the survivals of feudalism is the basis of the bourgeois-democratic revolution in the colonial countries. The bourgeois-democratic revolution in the colonies is directed not only against feudal oppression, but at the same time against imperialism. It is impossible to abolish feudal survivals in the colonies without the revolutionary overthrow of imperialist oppression. The colonial revolution is the union of two streams of revolutionary movement—the movement against feudal survivals and the movement against imperialism. In this regard, the largest force in the colonial revolutions is the peasantry, which constitutes the bulk of the population of the colonies.
The working class becomes the hegemon (leader) of the revolution in the colonies, being a consistent fighter against imperialism, able to rally the many millions of peasants and carry the revolution to the end. The alliance of the working class and the peasantry under the leadership of the working class is the decisive condition for the success of the national liberation struggle of the oppressed peoples of the colonial countries.
A certain section of the local bourgeoisie, the so-called comprador bourgeoisie, which acts as an intermediary between foreign capital and the local market, is a direct agent of foreign imperialism. As for the national bourgeoisie in the colonies, whose interests are infringed upon by foreign capital, at a certain stage of the revolution they can support the struggle against imperialism. However, the national bourgeoisie in the colonies is weak and inconsistent in the struggle against imperialism.
The Great October Socialist Revolution unleashed a whole series of powerful national liberation movements in China, Indonesia, India and other countries. It opened a new era - the era of colonial revolutions, in which the leadership belongs to the proletariat.
Exacerbation of the problem of markets, chronic underutilization of enterprises and chronic mass unemployment.
An integral feature of the general crisis of capitalism is the progressive aggravation of the problem of markets and the resulting chronic underutilization of enterprises and chronic mass unemployment.
The aggravation of the problem of markets during the period of the general crisis of capitalism is caused primarily by the dropping out of individual countries from the world system of imperialism. Russia's falling away from the capitalist system, with its huge sales markets and sources of raw materials, could not but affect the economic situation of the capitalist world. The action of the basic economic law of modern capitalism is inevitably accompanied by the growing impoverishment of the working people, whose standard of living is kept by the capitalists at an extreme minimum, which leads to an aggravation of the problem of markets. The aggravation of the problem of markets is also caused by the development in the colonies and dependent countries of their own capitalism, which successfully competes in the markets with the old capitalist countries.
As a result, instead of a growing market, as it was before, the period between the two world wars created a relative stability of markets with the growth of the production possibilities of capitalism. This could not but aggravate all capitalist contradictions to the extreme. “This contradiction between the growth of productive possibilities and the relative stability of markets underlies the fact that the problem of markets is now the main problem of capitalism. The aggravation of the problem of sales markets in general, the aggravation of the problem of foreign markets in particular, the aggravation of the problem of markets for the export of capital in particular - such is the present state of capitalism.
This, in fact, explains why underloading of plants and factories is becoming a common phenomenon” [4] . Previously, mass underloading of factories and factories took place only during economic crises. The period of the general crisis of capitalism is characterized by a chronic underutilization of enterprises.
So, during the period of the rise of 1925 - 1929. The production capacity of the manufacturing industry in the United States was used only by 80%. In 1930 - 1934 the utilization of the production capacity of the manufacturing industry has decreased to 60%. At the same time, it must be taken into account that the US bourgeois statistics, when calculating the production capacity of the manufacturing industry, did not take into account long-term inactive enterprises and accepted as a condition the work of enterprises in one shift.
In close connection with the chronic underutilization of enterprises is chronic mass unemployment. Before the First World War, the reserve army of labor grew during the years of crises, and during periods of upsurge it was reduced to a relatively small size. During the period of the general crisis of capitalism, unemployment acquires enormous proportions and remains at a high level even in years of recovery and expansion. The reserve army of labor has become a permanent army of millions of unemployed.
At the moment of the highest rise in industry between the two world wars - in 1929 - the number of completely unemployed in the USA was about 2 million people, and in subsequent years, until the Second World War, it did not fall below 8 million people. In England, the number of completely unemployed among the insured did not drop from 1922 to 1938 below 1.2 million people a year. Millions of workers made their living by casual work, suffered from partial unemployment.
Chronic mass unemployment sharply worsens the position of the working class. Long-term unemployment is becoming the main form of unemployment. The presence of chronic mass unemployment makes it possible for the capitalists to enormously increase the intensity of labor in enterprises, to throw out workers already exhausted by excessive work and to recruit new, stronger and healthier ones. In this regard, the "working age" of the worker and the duration of his work at the enterprise are greatly reduced. Increasing uncertainty of employed workers in the future. Capitalists use chronic mass unemployment to drastically reduce the wages of employed workers. The income of a working family is also declining due to a decrease in the number of working family members.
In the USA, according to bourgeois statistics, the rise in unemployment from 1920 to 1933 was accompanied by a fall in the average annual wages of workers employed in industry, construction, and railroad transport, from $1,483 in 1920 to $915 in 1933, i.e. by 38.3%. Unemployed family members are forced to support their existence at the expense of the meager wages of working family members. If the entire wage fund is attributed not only to the employed, but to all workers, both employed and unemployed, then it turns out that earnings per worker (including the unemployed) have decreased due to the increase in unemployment from $1,332 to 1920 to $497 in 1933, i.e. by 62.7%.
Chronic mass unemployment has a serious impact on the position of the peasantry. First, it narrows the domestic market and reduces the demand of the urban population for agricultural products. This leads to deepening agrarian crises. Secondly, it worsens the situation on the labor market and makes it difficult to involve in industrial production the peasants who are ruined and flee to the cities in search of work. As a result, agrarian overpopulation and the pauperization of the peasantry increase. Chronic mass unemployment, like chronic underutilization of enterprises, is evidence of the progressive decay of capitalism, its inability to use the productive forces of society.
The intensified exploitation of the working class and the sharp decline in its standard of living during the period of the general crisis of capitalism lead to a further aggravation of the contradictions between labor and capital.
Deepening crises of overproduction and changes in the capitalist cycle.
The narrowing of sales markets and the development of mass chronic unemployment, which occur simultaneously with the growth of production possibilities, extremely sharpen the contradictions of capitalism and lead to a deepening crisis of overproduction, to significant changes in the capitalist cycle.
These changes boil down to the following: the duration of the cycle is shortened, as a result of which crises become more frequent; the depth and severity of crises is growing, which finds expression in the intensification of the decline in production, in the growth of unemployment, etc.; the way out of the crisis becomes more difficult, in connection with which the duration of the crisis phase increases, the phase of depression lengthens, and the rise becomes less and less stable and less and less long.
Prior to World War I, economic crises usually occurred every 10 to 12 years, and only occasionally after 8 years. In the period between the two world wars - from 1920 to 1938, that is, in 18 years, there were three economic crises: in 1920 - 1921, in 1929 - 1933, in 1937 - 1938.
The depth of the decline in production increases from crisis to crisis. US manufacturing output fell during the crisis of 1907-1908. (from the highest point before the crisis to the lowest point of the crisis) by 16.4%, during the crisis of 1920-1921. - by 23, and during the crisis of 1929 - 1933. - by 47.1%.
The economic crisis of 1929 - 1933 was the deepest crisis of overproduction. This was the influence of the general crisis of capitalism. “The current crisis,” said E. Telman, “has the character of a cyclical crisis within the framework of the general crisis of the capitalist system in the era of monopoly capitalism. Here we must understand the dialectical interplay between the general crisis and the periodic crisis.
On the one hand, the periodic crisis takes on sharp, unprecedented forms, since it proceeds on the basis of the general crisis of capitalism and is determined by the conditions of monopoly capitalism. On the other hand, the destruction caused by the periodic crisis again deepens and accelerates the general crisis of the capitalist system” [5] .
The economic crisis of 1929 - 1933 embraced all countries of the capitalist world without exception. As a result, it was impossible for some countries to maneuver at the expense of others. With the greatest force, the crisis hit the largest country of modern capitalism - the United States of America. The industrial crisis in the main capitalist countries intertwined with the agricultural crisis in the agrarian countries, which led to a deepening of the economic crisis as a whole. Crisis of 1929 - 1933 turned out to be the deepest and most acute of all economic crises in the history of capitalism. Industrial production throughout the capitalist world fell by 36%, and in some countries even more. The turnover of world trade has fallen to one third. The finances of the capitalist countries have fallen into complete disorder.
In conditions of chronic mass unemployment, economic crises lead to a huge increase in the number of unemployed.
The percentage of completely unemployed at the time of the greatest decline in production, according to official data, was 32% in the USA in 1932, and 22% in England. In Germany, the percentage of completely unemployed among trade union members in 1932 reached 43.8% and partially unemployed - 22.6%. In absolute figures, the number of completely unemployed in 1932 was: in the USA, according to official figures, 13.2 million people, in Germany, 5.5 million people, and in England, 2.8 million people. In the entire capitalist world in 1933 there were 30 million completely unemployed people. The number of semi-unemployed reached enormous proportions. Thus, in the USA the number of semi-unemployed in February 1932 amounted to 11 million people.
The chronic underutilization of factories and factories and the extreme impoverishment of the masses make it difficult to get out of the crisis. The chronic underutilization of enterprises limits the scope for renewal and expansion of fixed capital and hinders the transition from depression to revival and recovery. In the same direction, chronic mass unemployment and a policy of high monopoly prices act, limiting the expansion of the sale of consumer goods. As a result, the crisis phase is lengthening. If earlier crises were eliminated in one or two years, then the crisis of 1929-1933. lasted over four years.
The revival and upsurge that followed the crisis of 1920-1921 were very uneven and more than once interrupted by partial crises. In the USA, partial crises of overproduction took place in 1924 and 1927. In England and Germany, a significant drop in production occurred in 1926. After the crisis of 1929-1933. not an ordinary depression, but a special kind of depression, which did not lead to a new upsurge and flourishing of industry, although it did not return it to the point of greatest decline. After a depression of a special kind, there was a certain revival, which, however, did not lead to a flourishing on a new, higher basis. By the middle of 1937, world capitalist industry had risen to only 95-96% of the 1929 level, after which a new economic crisis began, which arose in the United States and then spread to England, France and a number of other countries.
The volume of industrial output in 1938 compared with the level of 1929 decreased in the USA to 72%, in France - to 70%. The total volume of industrial production in the capitalist world in 1938 was 10.3% lower than in 1937.
Crisis of 1937 - 1938 different from the crisis of 1929-1933. first of all, by the fact that it did not arise after a phase of industrial prosperity, as was the case in 1929, but after a special kind of depression and a certain revival. Further, this crisis began at a time when Japan unleashed a war in China, and Germany and Italy transferred their economy to the rails of a war economy, when all the other capitalist countries began to reorganize themselves on a war footing. This meant that capitalism had far fewer resources for a normal exit from this crisis than during the crisis of 1929-1933.
Under the conditions of the general crisis of capitalism, agrarian crises are becoming more frequent and deepening. Following the agrarian crisis in the first half of the 1920s, a new deep agrarian crisis began in 1928, which lasted until the Second World War. The relative overproduction of agricultural products caused a sharp drop in prices, which worsened the position of the peasantry.
In the United States, in 1921, the price index received by farmers fell to 58.5% of the 1920 level, and in 1932 to 43.6% of the 1928 level. In connection with this, the level of agricultural production and peasant incomes fell. U.S. crop production declined in 1934 to 67.9% of the 1928 level and to 70.6% of the 1920 level.
The ruin and pauperization of the main masses of the peasantry cause the growth of revolutionary sentiments among them and push the peasantry onto the path of struggle against capitalism under the leadership of the working class.
Under the conditions of the general crisis of capitalism, the course of capitalist reproduction and the capitalist cycle are greatly influenced by the arms race and world wars used by the monopolies to ensure maximum profits. At first, military-inflationary factors may lead to a temporary revival of the market situation. Preparations for war can slow down the entry of a capitalist country into an economic crisis. But wars and the militarization of the economy cannot save the capitalist economy from crises. Moreover, they are the most important factor deepening and exacerbating economic crises. World wars lead to a huge destruction of the productive forces and social wealth: factories and factories, stocks of material values, human lives. Wars, increasing the impoverishment of the working people,
Similarly, the arms race and preparations for war, while temporarily postponing the onset of the crisis, create the conditions for the onset of the crisis in an even more acute form. The militarization of the economy means expanding the production of weapons and equipment for the army by narrowing the production of means of production and consumer goods, an exorbitant increase in taxes and an increase in high prices, which inevitably leads to a sharp reduction in consumption by the population and prepares for the onset of a new economic crisis.
The intensification of decay during the period of the general crisis of capitalism is reflected in the general decrease in the rate of production. The average annual growth rates of industrial production in the capitalist world were: for the period from 1890 to 1913 - 3.7%, for the period from 1913 to 1929 - 2.4%, and for the period from 1929 to 1938, production did not increase, but decreased.
In the period of the general crisis of capitalism, the monopoly bourgeoisie, striving to delay the collapse of the capitalist system and maintain its dominance, wages a furious attack on the standard of living of the working people and imposes police methods of administration. In all the main capitalist countries the development of state-monopoly capitalism is intensifying.
No longer able to rule by the old methods of parliamentarism and bourgeois democracy, the bourgeoisie in a number of countries—Italy, Germany, Japan, and some others—established fascist regimes. Fascism is an open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary and aggressive groups of finance capital. Fascism aims inside the country to smash the organizations of the working class and suppress all progressive forces, and outside it to prepare and launch an aggressive war for world domination. Fascism achieves these aims by methods of terror and social demagogy.
Thus, the global economic crisis of 1929-1933. and the crisis of 1937-1938. led to a particularly sharp aggravation of contradictions both within the capitalist countries and between them. The imperialist states sought a way out of these contradictions by preparing for a war for a new redivision of the world.
SUMMARY
1. The general crisis of capitalism is an all-round crisis of the world capitalist system as a whole. It covers both economics and politics. It is based on the ever-increasing disintegration of the world economic system of capitalism, on the one hand, and the growing economic power of the countries that have fallen away from capitalism, on the other.
2. The general crisis of capitalism covers a whole historical period, the content of which is the collapse of capitalism and the victory of socialism on a world scale. The general crisis of capitalism began during the First World War, and especially as a result of the fall of the Soviet Union from the capitalist system.
3. The Great October Socialist Revolution meant a radical turn in the world history of mankind from the old, capitalist, to the new, socialist, world. The split of the world into two systems - the system of capitalism and the system of socialism - and the struggle between them is the main sign of the general crisis of capitalism. With the split of the world into two systems, two lines of economic development were determined: while the capitalist system is becoming more and more entangled in insoluble contradictions, the socialist system is developing steadily along an ascending line, without crises and catastrophes.
4. An integral part of the general crisis of capitalism is the crisis of the colonial system of imperialism. This crisis consists in the development of the national liberation struggle, which is shaking the foundations of imperialism in the colonies. The working class stands at the head of the national liberation struggle of the oppressed peoples. The Great October Socialist Revolution unleashed the revolutionary activity of the oppressed peoples and ushered in the era of colonial revolutions led by the proletariat.
5. Under the conditions of the general crisis of capitalism, as a result of the falling away from the imperialist system of individual countries, the intensification of the impoverishment of the working people, and also as a result of the development of capitalism in the colonies, the problem of the market is aggravated. A characteristic feature of the general crisis of capitalism is chronic underutilization of enterprises and chronic mass unemployment. Under the influence of the aggravation of the problem of the market, the chronic underload of enterprises and chronic mass unemployment, economic crises are deepening and significant changes are taking place in the capitalist cycle.
[1] V. I. Lenin, Report on the revision of the program and the change of the name of the party at the VII Congress of the RCP (b), Works, vol. 27, p. 106.
[2] V. I. Lenin, Dead Chauvinism and Living Socialism, Works, vol. 21, p. 81.
[3] J. V. Stalin, Political Report of the Central Committee to the 16th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Works, vol. 12, p. 246.
[4] I. V. Stalin, Political report of the Central Committee to the XV Congress of the CPSU (b), Works, vol. 10, p. 275.
[5] E. Thalmann, Tasks of the People's Revolution in Germany. Report at the plenum of the Central Committee of the KKE on January 15, 1931, 1931, pp. 27-28.
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