50 YEARS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION, 1903-1953

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-03362A001700140004-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 21
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 2, 1999
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: July 1, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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TAB
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Kom.*atnist,~ Moscow, 10, July 1953
Also; Pravda, July 26, pp-. 3-4;
Also, Lt tia, pp? 2-3'*."
50 YEPP$ OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION, 1903-1953
The 50tbc anniversary of the opening of the Second Congress of the
Russian Social-1Pemocratic Labor Party (R.S.D.L.P.) on July 30, 1903., is
a landmc27_i in the life of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in the
life of the peoples of our'land. and in the history of the entire inter-
national revolutionary movement. At this Congress the foundations were
laid for the militant revolutionary Marxist party of the working class,
a party of a new type, fundamentally different, from the reformist parties
of the Second International. "Bolshevism has existed as.a trend in-polit-
ical thought and. as a political , party since.1903," wrote V. I. Lenin.
The truly titanic struggle waged by the great Lenin for the establish-
ment of a: 'revolutionary proletarian party in Russia was crowned with success
at the Second Congress. .For many years, from tze opening of the 90's of
the past century, V. I. Lenin, speaking as a true follower of the doctrine
of Marx. and Engels and creatively developing'Marxism in. new historical
conditions, conducted a merciless struggle against the open and covert
enemies of Marxism, aggainstc11 kinds of manifestations of, opportunism in
the workers' movement and for: the-organization and solidarity of the forces
of the proletariat under the banner of revolutionary Marxisii.
The Bolshevist party, created and forged by the genius of the revolu-
tion, Lenin, led our people to the triumph of the great October socialist
revolution of 1917, organized the dictatorship of the proletariat, 'stirred
the many-riillioned masses of the working people of our motherland to con-
scious historical creation,. ensured the establishment of a socialist socie-
ty and is confidently leading the Soviet people forward to communism. The
name of Lenin, the great founder and wise leader of the Communist Party, is
indissolubly 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 has becoie'the banner of the work-
ing people of the entire world in the struggle for the cause of peace, democ-
racy and socialism and for a shining future for the peoples.
By its self--sacrificing struggle for the cause of the workers and
peasants, for socialism, and by its tireless work for the revolutionary
transformation of society, the Conuaunist Party of the Soviet Union has
earned the boundless love and trust of the entire Soviet people. The-
working people of the U.S.S.R..have becoue ' convinced by many years of
histori3z7, experience that of all the political parties which have existed
in our country only the Communist Party is a genuine party of the people,
expressing the fundamental interests of the working people.
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Punk
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union has traversed a glorious half-
century path of struggle, of severe tests and world-historic triumphs.
Tenp&ed in battles under the leadership of the genius Lenin, under the
pupil and continuer of Lenin's cause, the great Stalin, and under their
cor.xades-in-arms, our Communist, Party is now; the leading, directing and
guiding force in the Soviet society which is building communism.
The entire history of the Communist Party demonstrates, the triumph
of t;ie ;;-peat, all-conquering doctrine of Marais; -Leninism. The rich
historical experience of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is an
inip ring example to the Communist and Workers' Parties of all countries
in their consistent struggle for revolutions:-y change in society.
1. The Historic Significance of the Second congress of the R.S.D.L.P.
lq The Marxist party in Russia was esteblished at a turning point
in the international workers' movement,-when, capitalism had entered its
highest and last, imperialist phase of develcpment and had begun to turn
into o. parasitic, decaying and dying capitalism, when the proletarian
revolution had become an immediate, practical question. Russia at that
period was a.point of convergence of all the contradictions of imperialism.
The interests of Russian Tsarism, and Western imperialism were tightly
intertwilried, V. I. Lenin wrote on the eve of the Second Party Congress:
"History has presented us with an immediate task, the most revolutionar
&041L the immediate tasks of the proletariat of any country wha oever.
Accoraplishmaen of this task, destruction of the mightiest bulwark?of not
only European but also (can we say now) Asiatic reaction, would make the
Russian proletariat the vanguard of the international revolutionary pro-
letariat,." This determined the nature, specific character and interna-
tional significance of the great popular revolution which was welling up
in Russia.
The sources of the Marxist movement in Rt sia go back to the 80's
of the past century, when the "Emancipation of, Labor" Marxist group,
headed by Piekhanov, was established in 1883. But' the "Encipation of
Libor" group "only theoretically founded Social-Democracy amad,only made.
the first step toward a workers' movement." The seed of the revolutionary
proletarian party in Russia was Lenin's Petersburg "League of Struggle for
the Emancipation of the Working Class" (1895), which was aimed at a broad
combination of Marxism with the workers' movem+ nt.
The First Congress of the R.S,D.L.P., held in March, 1898, proclaimed
the establishment of a Marxist party in- Russia,w But after the First Con-
gress the Marxist movement in. Russ!, rerained ism the stage of individual,
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heterogeneous Social-Democratic circles . and. groups, not linked by the unity
of a militant Marxist prograr:i.and centralized organization. A considerable
part of the Social Democratic circles were, moreover; corroded by the rust
of "economism" (opportunism which:reJected political struggle by, the work-
ing class and .the leading role of that class).
A most important political question was decided in the period of the
Second Party Congress: which path the young Russian workers' movement would
take--whether, inspired by. the socialist ideology, it would take the path
of bold, consistent revolutionary struggle against Tsarism and. capitalism,
of struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat--the path to which Lenin,
the "Iskra-ites," the Bolshevists surraoned.it--or would slip into the path
of subordination to bourgeois ideology, ref on isr, adaptation to Tsarisn
and capitalism, the path onto which the Mensheviks and their predecessors,
the "economists," sought to deflect the workers' movement. The victory of
the ideological principles of Lenin and Lenin's Iskra at the Second Party
Congress was of the utmost i,riportance to the development of our party and
the revolution, to the. entire international revolutionary movement.
2.' The decade preceding the Second Party Congress is marked in the
history of the workers' movement. of Russia by Lenin's uncompromising strug-
gle against liberal populism (Narodnichestvo) and "legal Marxism," against
primitive methods and preoccupation with study circles (kustarnichestvo
i kruzhkoyshchina), against the opportunism of the "economists," who opposed
the establishment of a revolutionary party of the proletariat and introduction
of socialist consciousness into the spontaneous workers' movement.
The all Russian Marxist. political newspaper Iskra, organized by Lenin,
played a decisive role in the struggle. for a Marxist party,. in the routing
of the "economists," in uniting the heterogeneous Social Democratic circles
and in preparing the Second R.S.D.L.P.,Congress., By Lenin's design, the
newspaper became the center. for uniting the Party forces, for assembling
and training Party cadres, for rallying them into an all Russian, militant,
centralized proletarian party with a clear Marxist program, revolutionary
tactics, united will and iron discipline. This Leninist plan for establish-
ment of the Party was based on the pressing tasks of the revolutionary
struggle and masterfully generalized the. organizational experience of the
Marxists, The triumph of this plan laid the foundation for the-rallying of
a militant, steeled Communist Party which became a model for the interna-
tional revolutionary workerst movement.
The tasks of the growing workers' movement of Russia insistently
required creative development of. the Marxist theory and deep-rooted combina-
tion of the workers' movement with socialism., Lenin, the great continuer of
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Marx' cause, worked out the ideological foundations of the Marxist party
and raised high the significance of revolutionary theory. Lenin proved
that only a party guided by advanced theory clan perform the role of van-
guard and genuine leader of the working people, and he stressed with full
force the importance of coribin4ng the workers3' mass movement with scientific
socialism.
3, The historic significance of the Second R.S.D.L.P. Congress is
that is. created in Russia a genuinely Marxist party along the ideological
and organizational lines advanced and worked out by Lenin's Iskra. The
Congress adopted, for the first time in the history of the international
workers' movement since the death of Marx and Engels,, a revolutionary pro-
gram in which the struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat was
presented as the basic task.
At. the Congress Lenin and his fellow-th n]kers, the consistent lskra-
ites, waged an uncompromising struggle against the opportunist elements
who tried, to prevent the Congress from including a most important thesis
of Marxism--the thesis of the dictatorship of the proletariat--in the
Party Program. Lenin fought with utmost determination and firmness for
the thesis of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The inclusion by the
Congress in the Party Program of a point on the dictatorship of the pro-
letariat was. a historic triumph for Lenin's adherents.
While advancing the task of fighting for the victory of the dictator-
ship of the proletariat, Lenin emphasized the tremendous importance of
the revolutionary struggle of the peasantry as the ally of the working
class and he secured inclusion in the Party Program of revolutionary-
democratic demands on the peasant question.
Lenin decisively rebuffed the Bundists and Polish Social-Democrats
who objected to ineludinl'7the Party Program a1point on the right of nations
to self-determination, and he championed the principles of proletarian
internationalism.,
The great ideas of revolutionary struggle which Lenin upheld from the
first days of his political activity triumphea at the Second Congress.
Criticising as unacceptable the draft program drawn up by Piekhanov, a
draft which omitted the thesis of the dictatorship of the proletariat,
Lenin emphasized that the party of the Russian proletariat must have a
program "of a party of practical struggle" and. not an academic textbook.
Hence, pointed out Lenin, the Party "must set forth in its program in no
snbiguous fashion its endictuent of Russian e .pitalisr.. and its declara-
tion of war upon Russian capitalism." The Cannunist Party took this path,
the Leninist path.
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The revolutionary program, of the party of the working class, adopted
by the Second R.S,D.L,P, Congress, set forth both the imaediate tasks of
the proletariat at the stage of the bourgeois democratic revolution (the
mini .:alp:.~ program) and its fun&mentaJ.. tasks, aimed at the triumph of the
soc`_alist revolution (the maximum prograri). This progran was a militant
guiding document of our party right up to the Eighth Party Congress (1.919).
4. A fierce struggle developed at the Second Congress around the
organizational principles on which the Party was to be constructed. Lenin
and hisfellow-thinkers championed the. basic Marxist thesis of the role of
the Party as the advanced, conscious, organized detachment of the working
class, armed with revolutionary theory, with knowledge of the laws of de-
velopment of society and the class struggle, with experience in the revolu-
tionary movement. Only such a highly conscious and organized, united and
centralized party, possessing a single will, is capable of leading the
working class to victory and successfully directing its struggle to win
power.
The Monsheviks, however, were opposed to the struggle for the dictator-
ship of the proletariat, and hence they did not want a fighting party of -
social revolution. Only a reformist, organizational undefined, coLmpromis-
ing organization of the type of the opportunist parties of the Second Inter-
national suited the Mensheviks.. Opportunism in program (rejection of the
dictatorship of the proletariat) gave rise to organizational opportunism
(rejection of a centralized, disciplined, militant, revolutionary party of
the proletariat)..
To preserve unity in the Party, Lenin taught, it must have iron pro-
letarian discipline and firm rules of Party life, regulated by the Statutes
and equally binding upon all Party members, leaders as well as rank and
file. Tremendous- importance attaches to the thesis advanced by Lenin at
the Second Congress that the title of Party member is a lofty one, that
each Party member is responsible for the Party and the Party for eac_ ziem-
ber. It is the Party's task, pointed out Lenin, to "guard the firmness,
self-restraint and purity of our party. We must trive to raise the title
of Party member and the significance of Party membership higher, higher,
higher
The firm rules of Party life and principles of leadership which Lenin
devised provided for strictest observance of the principles of democratic
centralism, thorough development of the activeness of rank-and-file Party
xmermbers, and collective discussion of major problems of Party life. Normal
functioning of the Party organizations and of the entire Party as a whole,
Lenin taught,. is possible only if there is strict observance of the prin-
ciple of collective leadership, guaranteeing the Party against elements of
chance and one-sidedness in the decisions adopted. The Party is a living,
creative, constantly developing organism.
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V. S. Lenin worked out, for the first time in the.hist6r?'of
Marxism, the doctrine of the Party as a guiding orgiization of the
proletariat, as the. basic weapon in its Fa_n_" without which. it is
impossible to gain the dictatorship' of the proletariat and to build
socialism and comunism.
Lenin's struggle with the opportunist elements at the Congress
over questions of program and organization created the great divide
between the revolutionary part of the R.S.D.L.P.--the Bolsheviks--and
the opportunist part--the Menshoviks
The victory of Lenin's 'plan of genius for establishing a revo-
lutionary Marxist party, a party of social revolution and dictatorship
of the proletariat, showed that in Lenin'the Russian and international
proletariat have a great theoretician of Marxism, carrying on the cause
and doctrine of Marx and Engels, an outstanding strategist of the
revolution who foresaw the perspectives of development of the workers'
movement, a mountain eagle who knew no fear in battle.
5. Lenin's uncompromising struggle at the Second Congress and in
the subsequent period against the opportunists, his defense of the
ideological aria organizational principles of Bolshevism, possessed
great international significance. Lenin's merciless exposure of the
Mensheviks' ideological and organizationalastand]$ which was hostile to'
Marxism, was a mighty blow against the revisionists, against those who
had retreated from Marxism, against all international opportunism, and
.possessed tremendous importance for the development of the revolutionary
movement in all countries. The Second R.S.D.L.P. Congress 'was a turning
point in the international workers' movement.
:IT. The Communist Party in the ' Struggle for' the Dictatorship of the Pro
e ariat.
6. The entire course of historical events from the Second R.S.D.L.P.
Congress to the triunph of the great.October socialist revolution has
graphically demonstrated that the Communist :Party has been the only guiding
revolution force in the country. The history of the three revolutions in
Russia has shown that in a brief span (1903-1917) our party accomplished
tremendous pb'litical work which has no equal'in the world in wealth of
experience, profundity of development of Marxist theory and creative applic-
ation of it in the course of the revolution; it has-derabnstrated the great
strength and vitality of the strategy and tactics of- the. Communist Party,
the night and invincibility of Marxist-Leninist theory.
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The Bolshevist political group which. was formed at the Second Con-
gress, with Lenin at its head, while formally remaining part of the
united R,S,D,L,P. until 1912, followed'a consistent revolutionary line
which met the fundamental interests of the proletariat, the peasantry
and all the peoples of Russia. The Bolsheviks waged an uncompromising
battle, of principle against all the varieties of opportunism in the
Russian and international workers' movement.
7. It was Lenin's great achievement that in the period of develop-
ment of the first Russian bourgeois democratic revolution his genius laid
the foundation for the Party's Bolshevist tactics, the tactics of the
working class, and worked out the political (tactical) principles of
the Communist Party. He developed the idea of the hegemony of the pro-
letariat in the bourgeois democratic revolution and showed that in the
historical situation which had grown up at that time the-alliance of
working class and peasantry, with the proletariat in the leading role,
was vital to the victory of the revolution. Lenin gave the Russian Marx-
ists a clear perspective of the bourgeois democratic revolution growing
into .a socialist revolution. He enriched Marxism with the new theory
of proletarian revolution and laid the foundations of the revolutionary
tactics of the Communist Party with which the proletariat, in alliance
with the poorest peasants, overthrew the rule of the bourgeoisie in our
country in October, 1917, and established genuine rule of the people--the
rule of the Soviets of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies, the rule of the
Soviets.
The struggle between,. the two lines within the R,S.D.L.P.--the revo-
lutionary Bolshevist line and the opportunist Menshevist line--which
developed around ideological and organizational questions in the period
of the Party's founding acquired particular acuteness in the years of the
first Russian revolution (1905-1907), when questions of tactics come to
the fore, The Bolsheviks adhered to the policy of developing the popularrevolu3
and its victory, of liberating the working people from the oppression of
Tsarisra and the landowners and of turning the bourgeois democratic revo-
lution into a socialist revolution. The Mensheviss, on the contrary,
defended the hegemony of the liberal bourgeoisie in the revolution and
pursued a course of calling off the revolution. They descended into the
morass of compromise and turned into agents of the bourgeoisie in the.
workers' movement,
..8. After the defeat of the first Russian revolution, the Bolsheviks
were not frightened by the growing difficulties. In the dark years of
the Stolypin reaction, amid the orgy of Tsarist repressions and of the
Black Hundreds' terror, the party of Bolsheviks strengthened its ranks
and made skillful use of both legal and illegal opportunities for increasing
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its ties with the masses. While the Bolsheviks were holding a course
toward preparation Of a new revolution, the Nfensheviks were retreating farther
and farther from revolution, were running matters so as to liquidate the
illegal revolutionary party of the . proletariat,' and had become-open liqui-
dators. Apart of the Bolsheviks broke with Marxist principles and tried
to prod the Party onto the path of becoming a sect" isolated from the
masses; in particular, they demanded recall of the workers' Deputies frogs:'
the State Dwaa. Lenin exposed this part of the Party, the "Otzovists"
("the recall faction"), as they were then called, as "liquidators inside
out."
In the difficult conditions of the reaction only the Bolsheviks,, the
Leninists, remained faithful to Marxism, faithful to the principles. set
forth in the Party Progrezi, and repulsed all the attacks of enemies who
tried to disarm the proletariat of Russia, to crush its party and to undermine
and overturn the theoretical principles of revolutionary Marxism. To Lenin
belongs the great merit of having defended and developed the theoretical.
principles. of the Party--dialectical and historical materialism, which are
the theoretical foundation of comaunisu--in this time of difficulties for
the Party. Marxist-Leninist ideological tempering and correct understand-
ing of the perspectives of the revolution helped the basic core of the
Party, rallied around Lenin, to defend the Party and preserve its basic
cadres.
9. The Sixth All-Russian Party Conferencb, held in Prague in 1912,
drove the Menshevist liquidators out of the R.S.D.L.P. and thereby set
the basis for finally constituting the Bolsheviks an independent ;,arty.
The purging of opportunists and?Menshevist liquidators frori the. proletarian
party was of decisive i,:Tortance to the further -development of the Party,
to strengthening the unity of its ranks"and to success in achieving the
dictatorship of the proletariat.
..Complete success crowned the untiring struggle, waged by Lenin and
by the Bolsheviks united around the Leninist leading core, to establish
a party of the new type.
10. The new and eighty revolutionary tide which was setting in
(1912-1914) showed vividly that the workers we:re preparing for a new
revolution and that it was the Cor=unist Party, tried and tempered in
the class struggle, which was leading them into new battles.
An :Lliportant role in strengthening the Peaty ranks and enlarging the
Party's ties with the masses, in training the new generation of revolution-
ary workers,. in fighting the liquidators, Trotakyites, Otzovists and other
opportunists, was played by Pravda the legal daily newspaper of our party,
founded in the spring of 1912.on the initiative-of the Petersburg workers.
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ll. In the difficult years of the imperialist war (191+-1918) the
.party of the Bolsheviks proved able'to cope with the tasks of the revolu-
tionary proletarian party, faithful to the cause of socialism and pro-
letar:tan -internationalisr_i. The parties of the Second International
betrayed the cause of socialism and descended into the positions of social
chauvinism.
Undeviatingly guided by the Marxist-Leninist theory on the questions
of war, peace and revolution, the, Bolsheviks waged a consistent struggle
to turn the imperialist war into a civil war, to overthrow the rule of
the imperialists in Russia and to win support in all countries for the
struggle against the imperialist war.
V. 1 .,Lenin's classic-work "Ir.perialisr_i, the Highest Stage of Capital-
ism,..n was a great contribution to the treasury of creative Marxism. In
this work Lenin provided, for the first time in Marxist literature, a
comprehensive and profound analysis of imperialism and its basic contra-
dictions and laws, and showed that imperialism is the highest and at the
sane time the last stage in the development of capitalism, that "imper-
ialism is the eve of the social revolution of the proletariat."
Lenin scientifically proved that. capitalism, which, right from the
end of the 19th century, had been in the period of its rise, had in the
epoch of imperialism turned into a dying capitalism, bearing unheard-of
misfortunes and sufferings to mankii1d. Lenin fearlessly disclosed the
incurable sores of conterr,..)orary monopoly capitalism, which were revealing
themselves with great force by the time of the first world war. While
at the time of the Second R.S.D.L.P, Congress, Lenin in the Party. Program
had handed down a sever indictment of Russian capitalism, during the first
world war Lenin presented, with the greatest scientific exactitude and
revolutionary ardor, an indictment of world imperialism, which was pushing
mankind into the chasm of new wars of bloodshed and new economic catastro-
phes.
In his famous work "The Threatening Catastrophe and How to Combat It)'
written on the eve of October, 1917, Lenin warned;,
"The war has created such a tremendous crisis, has so strained the
material and moral resources of the people and has inflicted, such blows
upon the present organization of society that mankind is faced with the
choice of perishing or entrusting its destinies to the most revolutionary
class for the Most swift and radical change to a higher system of produc-
tion."
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It was Lenin's historic service that in analyzing capitalism by the
law of the uneven economic and political policies of capitalisti--a law
he discovered--he made a great scientific discovery: he formulated and
provided scientific grounding for the inspire. conclusion that it was
possible to break the chain of imperialism's world front at its weakest
link, that socialism could triumph first in a few or even one individual
capitalist country. This was a new, complete theory of socialist revo-
lution. It enriched and advanced Marxisci; it opened up a revolutionary
perspective for the proletarians of individual countries, unleashing
initiative in the assault upon their own natinal.boiirgeoisie and streng...
t 3z their faith in the victory of the proletarian revolution.
For the first time in the world, the wolkers of Russia, headed by
the party of Communists, made successful use of the weakening of world
capitalism in the course of the world war of :1911+-1916, overthrew Tsar-
ism and ensured, first, the victory of the bourgeois democratic revolu-
tion; the second Russian revolution was triumphant, Smashing the resistance
of the compromise parties--the Mensheviks and Social-Revolutionaries--the
Bolsheviks set their course toward turning the bourgeois democratic revo-
lution into a socialist revolution.
.12. In the period from February to October, 1917, the Communist
Party in our country accomplished the very difficult task of winning
the majority in the working class, in the Sov;fets of Workers' and
Soldiers' Deputies, which had been established in the course of the
revolution -the task of attracting to the side of the socialist revo-
lution the millions of working people and strengthening the alliance of
the working class with the working peasantry' to attain victory and over-
throw the imperialists' rule.
In the famous April Theses Lenin made a sew discovery which enriched
Marxist theory: he eerie to the conclusion that the best form of the dicta-
torship of the proletariat is not a parliamentary democratic republic, as
had previously been assumed among Marxists, but a republic of Soviets.
This inspired discovery was of the greatest iiaportance in assuring .the.
victory of the socialist revolution in October, 1917, in (bringing about)
the victory of Soviet rule in our country.
In the course of the struggle for the overthrow of the rule of the
bourgeoisie and astablishnent of the dictitorahip of the proletariat in
our country the party of the Communists alone led the saes of the
working people, smashing all the attempts of the contetiptible capitulators --
the Trotskyites, Zinovievites and other strikebreakers of the revolution--
to turn the Party from. the Leninist path. The fate of cad it ism. in Russia
was settled by the fact that the Party united into a single mighty revolu-
tionary flood the general democratic struggle for peace, the peasant-
demo-cratic movement to wipe out the landed estates, giving the la-downers' soil
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to the peasants, the national liberation.. twvement.. of the peoples of -our,
country and the socialist movement of the proletariat to overthrow the
bourgeoisie and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat. As for
the petty bourgeois compromise parties, all of them (Mensheviks, SRs,
anarchists) exposed themselves in the course of the revolution as anti-
popular parties seeking to preserve and strengthen the capitalist system.
The victory of the great October socialist revolution was a triumph
of Lenin's theory of the proletarian revolution. In overthrowing the
rule of capitalists and landowners, overthrowing the imperialists' rule
in Russia and establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat, our
party carried out the prograri adopted by the Second Congress of the
R.S.D.L.P.
By conducting a triumphant socialist revolution, the Communist Party
saved our country from national catastrophe, freed it from the status of
a semicolonial land dependent on world ir)erialismj, and led the Soviet
people out onto the broad path of socialist changes unprecedented in
the history of man.
To organize the victory of such a revolution as the great October
socialist revolution it was necessary to have a party armed with advanced
revolutionary theory and possessing the greatest courage and heroism, a
party prepared to.make any sacrifices for the people and the motherland,
a party having the deepest ties with the broad masses of the working
people. The mighty party of the Communists, created and molded by the
great Lenin, has been just such a party.
III. The Communist Party in the Struggle to Build Socialism.
13. The great October socialist revolution opened a new era in the
history of man: the era of capitalism's downfall and the triuwuph of
socialism and communism. The victory of the Soviet revolution in Russia
marked a fundamental turning point in man's fate, in world history--the
turning from the old, capitalist world to the new,' socialist world.
The October revolution inflicted a mortal wound upon _cappitalism,
shook and weakened the foundations of imperialism, and lightened the
international proletariat's struggle against capital. From a national
force, our Communist Party turned into an international one, into the
"shock brigade" of the world revolutionary and workers' movement.
. With the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the
Communist Party, as the ruling party, faced the tasks of building and
defending the world's first socialist state of workers and peasants.
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14. When the heroic work of the.-Party and the working class on re-
storing the economy was approaching an end, the, question of the perspec-
tives of our country's development arose in full force.
In the period of the Second Party Congress the Bolsheviks had fought
the Mensheviks for the triumph of the revolutionary life in the workers'
moverient; now the question arose of the fate of socialism in the U.S.S.R.
The enemies of the Party and of the people--the Trotskyites, Bukharinists
and bourgeois nationalists, constituting a Menshevist camp-following--took
a capitulation stand. They tried to turn the Party and the country from
the Leninist path onto the path of wiping out the achievements of the
proletarian revolution, the path of restoring capitalism. The Corriunist
Party, under the leadership of the Central CoLrnuittee, headed by J. V. Stalin,
the great continuer of V. I. Lenin's work, routed the traitors and capitu-
lators, defended Leninism and took the firm course of building socialism
in our country. In doing so, the Communist Party proceeded from the objec-
tive laws of society's economic development, the ripened requirements of
development of society's material life, and the interests of the people.
The Party based itself on Lenin's thesis that our country has enough of
everything necessary for building a completely socialist society.
15.. In the prewar five-year plans the Soviet people successfully
carried out the plan drawn up by the Party for socialist industrialization
of the country and collectivization of agriculture. As a result of the
accomplishment of this program, our motherland made a giant stride for-
ward and turned from a backward, agrarian country into a mighty industrial
and collective farming socialist power.
Exploiting classes were completely wiped out in our country and exploita-
tion of man by man was eliminated forever. The Soviet people, led by the
Cornaunist Party, was first in history to build the new social system, social-
ism. The victory of socialism eliminated unemployment, brought the people
a radical improvement in their material well-being., created the conditions
necessary for a prosperous and cultured life for the working people. A
genuine cultural revolution was accomplished in the country. Guided by the
Lenin-Stalin national policy, the Communist Party liberated the peoples of
Russia from age-old social and national oppression, overcame the economic
and cultural backwardness of formerly oppressed peoples, united all the
nations of our motherland in a single fraternal family, created the mighty
multinational socialist state--the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. On
the basis of the triurrph of socialism there developed and grew strong such
powerful motive forces of Soviet society as moral-political unity,. friend-
ship of the peoples of the U.S.S'.R.., and Soviet patriotism,
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The world-historic achievements of the Soviet people are confirmed
in the U.S.S.R. Constitution, the Constitution of triumphant socialism
in a developed socialist democracy. The 18th Congress of the Communist
Party (1939) laid down a program for further advance by Soviet society along
the road of completing the construction of socialist society and making a
gradual transition from socialism to communism. The establishment of
socialism in the U.SIS,R. is the result of carrying out Lenin's behests,
the ' result of the great work of organizing and guiding on the part of
the Cor.z i.nist Party and its wise leadership,,the result of the heroic
:labor. s of the workers, peasants, intelligenta3ia, unanimously supporting
the policy of the Party.
Our, party triumphed and is triumphing through faithfulness to Lenin
ism, It- teaches our cadres .and. all Connunisi s to master revolutionary
theory persistently, to apply consistently the. rules of Party life worked
out by Lenin, the Bolshevist principles of Party leadership. In his speech
of April 22/1911, Jo V. Stalin said of Lenin's greatness and, 'of the impor-
tance of Lenin's behests:
"It~was he,.Lenin, who taught us to work as befits Bolsheviks, knowing
no fear and halted by no difficulties."
16. The great patriotic war of the Soviet Union (the war against
NNer Germany.--Trans.) was a most, serious ta,st of the strength and
viab'.ili,ty of our social and state syste:.i. Dearing the war the-Party acted
as the inspirer and organizer of the struggl3 of the entire people against
the fascist invaders. By its organizing work, the Party directed all the
efforts of Soviet people and subordinated all the powers and resources of
the country toward the common goal of routing the enemy. The Party mobil-
ized the working class, the peasantry and. the intelligentsia to overcome
difficulties self-sacrificingly; it organized a powerful labor effort, placed
the national economy in the service of the front and turned the country
into a single battle carry. During the war years thy'Communist Party became,
even more, than. before, one with the people, ,,nd established even closer ties
with the broad masses of the working people. In the days of the war's
great tests the Party; overcoming the hardest difficulties and barriers to
victory,.derionstrated once again that it is a united, militant organiza-
tion which. knows no vacillations. and discord within its ranks.
In routing, the fascist aggressors,, the Soviet peoples and the brave
Soviet Army, pled by the glorious Communist Party, defended the freedom
and independence of their motherland and saved the peoples of Europe and
Asia from the menace. of fascist enslavement. As a consequence of the-vic-
tory of socialism over fascism in the second world war, the forces of
socialism and democracy grew and gained strength and the positions held
by imperialism and reaction were weakened. Many countries of Europe and
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--Asia seceded from the system of capitalise and established regimes of
people's democracy. The triumph of the people's revolution in China
and the formation of the, Chinese People's Repub] e were a major' victory
for the cause of socialism and democracy.- The positions of the Soviet
Union were. strengthened irneasurably and the Soviet Union's prestige
and influence on all international development grew greatly.
17. The Soviet people had to-exert-tremendous efforts in the post-
war years to heal the deep wounds of the war and to eliminate its conse-
quences. Inspired and organized by the Communist Party, the working,
people of our country restored the economy in an unprecedentodly short.
span of time and advanced all branches of Soviet economy, technology and
culture,,
The 19th Congress of the Cor unist Party of the Soviet Union summed.
up the-impressive results of the Soviet people's struggle and victories
and outlined a program of further progress for our country. The Congress
was new and vivid evidence of the Party's inviolable monolithic nature
and solidarity, the very close unity of Party and people, and the Party's
unswerving determination to bring the peoples of our country to the vic-
tory of communism.
In carrying out-the historic-decisions of the 19th Party Congress,
the Party saw to a fresh upswing in all branches of economy and culture.
The tremendous successes of the socialist economy and. the flourishing
of culture in the U.S.S.R, were made possible by the firm alliance of
the working class and the collective farm peasantry, by the growing
friendship of peoples of our country and by the steady Growth of the
moral-political unity of the Soviet people. All this is the result of
consistent application of the policy evolved by the Communist Party,
relying on the creative activeness of the masses and enjoying the sup-
port of all of Soviet society.
The Soviet Union, filled with invincible night and creative forces,
is successfully advancing along the path of building a communist society..
IV. The Communist Party: Organizing and Inspiring Force of Soviet Society
as I Builds Communism. - .
18. The Communist Party is successfully filling the role of leader
and organizer of the masses of the people because it constitutes a mili-
tant union of like-minded Communists, united by unity of views, unity of
action and discipline. The entire work of the Communist Party is imbued
with deep faith in the people, in the revolutionary energies of the work-
ing people. Our party is based on the fact that the workers and peasants,
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who create all the goods and benefits. of life,. are the genuine makers of
history,: that "only he wins and holds power who believes in the people,
who ii:rserses himself in the source font of living creativity of.the, ;people"
(Lenin), The strength of the Party,?lies in its indivisible ties with the
people. The strength of the people lies:in their solidarity around, the,
Party.
The whole history of our party is Marxisr,-Leninisri.in action. Guided
by Marxist-Leninist theory, by knowledge of objective economic laws, the
Communist Party devised a scientifically and practically tested policy re-
flectiinC the requirements for development of society's material life and the
fundW,ental interests of the people, and' came forth as the inspirer and,
organizer of the masses' revolutionary energies and revolutionary..creative-
ness. Generalizing the wealth of experience in building socialism in the
U.S.S.R. and the experience of the modern international. liberation movement,
J. V' Stalin creatively developed the Marxist-Leninist doctrine in applica-
tion to new historical conditions and enrichod`revolutionary theory with
new theses on zany questions.
19 The CoCziunist Party is now solving most important tasks of build-
ing communism, of further strengthening the multinational socialist state
and of steadily improving the material and cultural level of all Soviet
people'.
We have everything necessary for building a coral lete communist socie-
ty.' Our country's natural resources. are inexhaustible. We have a mighty
socialist industry and thoroughly developed heavy industry, keystone of
the socialist economy. U.S.S.R. light-and food industry is c :gable of
meeting the growing deriands of the working people of town and countryside.-
Our state farms and collective farms, equipped with modern, advanced
machinery, have the possibility of rapidly raising the yields of all crops
and the meat and dairy yields of communal livestock.
However, some urgent economic problems ape still not solved, there
are still: lagging enterprises and even some lagging branches of industry,
and some collective farms and entire agricultural districts are in a
neglected state. 'It is the duty of Party, Soviet, trade union and Qcnist
Lea~'ue of Lcuth organizations to mobilize and organize the creative forces
of the Soviet people for the struggle to imprcve the national economy, 'to
utilize existing industrial andiagricultural reserves and possibilities for
successful performance of the tasks set by the 19th Party Congress.
20. The Communist Party is untiringly concerned with .meeting the
growing material and cultural requirements. of the working people. Concern
for the welfare of Soviet man and for,the flourishing of the.whole Soviet
people is a law of our party.
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The achievements,ettained in development of the socialist economy have
led to major improvement in the material and cultural.. level of the Soviet
people. This finds reflection in constant growth of the national incom,
systematic lowering of prices of mass consul tion goods and the rising real
wages of workers and employees and income of peasants. Year by year the
Soviet state is increasing'the allocations for housing construction, public
health services and public education. But all this does not mean that one
can rest on the achievements. Therefore the Party is exerting more and
more efforts to develop the construction of housing, schools and hospitals
and to 5,mprove'the organization of all this.
The Party's constant concern for the development of science, litera-
ture and the arts has ensured the flourishing of Soviet culture, national
in form and socialist in content. The CoLmuunist Party holds that it will
continue to be one of its primary duties to see to constant increase in
the material. well-being and cultural level of the working people of our
country.
21. In the sphere of'foreign policy the Party's chief concern is to
ensure the peaceful labor of the Soviet people, to preserve peace and to
prevent a new war. The Coriiunist Party's stand is that the peace policy
is the only correct policy, reflecting the vital interests of the Soviet
people and of all other peace-loving peoples.
Our party bases its whole foreign policy on Lenin's injunction on
the possibility of prolonged co-existence and peaceful competition of
the two systems, the socialist and the capitalist. After the rout of the
interventionists' chief forces,.Lenin pointed out: "We have won for
ourselves conditions under which we can exist alongside the capitalist
powers, which are now obliged to enter into trade relations with use
We have not merely a breathing space, we have a new stage in which we have
essentially iron our international existence within the network of capital-
ist states."
Even at that time Lenin spoke of the economic interest of many bour-
geois countries in trade with Soviet Russia: "The bourgeois countries
have to trade with Russia: they know that without some form of economic
mutual relations the collapse will go farther, (just) as it has proceeded
up to now; despite all their most splendid victories, despite all the end-
less boasting with which they fill the newspapers and news dispatches of
the whole world, their econor_;v is still sagging****
Communist Party of the Soviet Union has been and is guided unde-
viatingly by these theses of Lenin.
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We stand. for, prolonged co-existence, and peaceful competition of the
Uto systems .because we are firmly convinced of the advantages of the. so-
c:iali,st . economic system, the socialist structure, because we have firm
con+' d?rlce in our .internal forces .and in the steadily growing forces of
the entire camp of?peace, democracy and socialism.
At the sazie time, one cannot ignore the fact that in the car. of
inperiali.si:l, corroded by contradictions, instability is mounting in the
economy as well as in the policy of=the ruling circles, reaching (the
point of) fear of peace, fear of peaceful competition of the two systems
and loss of confidence in the further stability of the capitalist system.
Witness some of the statements of prominent European and American econom-
ists, who admit the rapid and steady growth of the economy of the socialist.
and democratic camp acid at the Sane tine them sharpening of contradictions,
the deepening of economic difficulties, in the capitalist caYsp. These
circumstances cause sharp aetivization of the reactionary imperialist
forces, intensification of all kinds of provo,2ations, adventures and acts
of sabotage by the imperialists against the socialist and democratic camp.
All this makes still more necessary the utmost concern for seeing to due
defense of our Soviet motherland.
.At the same tine, the, Party regards as its sacred duty the further,
strengthening of the mighty cal-r13 of peace, deijoeracy and socialism, further
strengthening of the friendship and solidarity of the Soviet.people with
the great Chinese people, with the working people of all the eople's
democracies.
22. Our party is the only party in'thc,country. It holds the
undivided guiding role in Soviet society. The leadership of the Cc nuni.st
Party is the decisive condition for the stability and firmness. of the Soviet
system and for all the achievements of- our people. At the same time, it
should-be remembered that the monopoly position of our party, particularly
in the conditions of capitalist encirclement, demands high revolutionary,
vigilance against the intrigues of the class enemy.
As-Lenin repeatedly warned, careerists o: various kinds attach them-
selves-to the ruling party. It cannot be forgotten, likewise, that.
enemies .of the people, bourgeois degenerates, agents of international
imperialism, skillfully disguising themselves as Cc uunists, have tried
and will try to penetrate the Party ranks for subversive enemy activity.
Hence further increase in the revolutionary vigilance of the Coiaunists
and of all the working people is an important task of the Party organiza-
tions' political-education work.
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23. .The entire half-century history of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union has shown the great importance of the principles of Party
leadership and the rules of Party life worked out by Lenin. The Party
teaches (us) to apply these lays of Party construction undeviatingly, to
obser\re strictly, the supreme principle of Party leadership--collective
leadership--and the requirements of the Party Statutes. It is necessary
to eradicate from the Party's propaganda mark incorrect, un-Marxist treat-
ment of the question of the role of the individual personality in history,
a treatment taking the form of propaganda, alien to the spirit of Marxism-
Leninism, of the idealistic theory of the cult of the individual leader.
The cult of the individual leader contradicts the principle of collective
leadership, leads to belittling the role of the Party and of its guiding
center and to reducing the creative activeness of the Party masses and of
the Soviet people, and has nothing in common with Marxist-Leninist inter-
pretation of the great importance of the leading role played by guiding
bodies and the persons in cori and. The Party bases itself on the fail that
only the collective experience and collective wisdom of the Central Corauit-
tee, resting q_ the scientific foundation of Marxist--Leninist theory and
the broad initie,tivt o _ the command j erzonael ensures correct leadership
of the Party and country, firm, unity and solidarity of the Party ranks and
success in building communism in our country.
'A powerful means of developing inner Party democracy and improving
collective leadership in the struggle against shortcomings and unhealthy
phenomena is self-criticism and, particularly, criticism from below. By
boldly: developing criticism and self-criticism, the Party develops.the
creative activeness of the.Communists and all working people, directs
their efforts toward overcoming existing shortcomings and difficulties,
and secures a general advance on all sectors of communist construction.
24. A subject of the Party's particular concern is the Marxist-
Leninist training of the Communists. Constant growth in the ideological
level of Party members and candidates for membership is a decisive condi-
tion for enhancing their vanguard role in all spheres of life, for develop-
ing the activeness of the Party masses.
In our party's propaganda work it is necessary now more than ever to
eliminate a pedantic, dogmatic approach to study of Marxist-Leninist theory.
Proceeding from the fact that the Marxist-Leninist theory is not a dogma
but a guide to action, the Party demands that the Communists understand
the creative nature of Marxism-Leninism, that they learn not isolated
formulations and quotations, but the genuine essence of the all-conquering,
world-transforming revolutionary theory of Marx Engels-Lenin-Stalin, The
entire history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union teaches us (the
importance of) this.
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To ignore these propositions, to be neg~ xetful -of. M uc iet-L.e linirt
theory inevitably leads :.to a narrow, purely business approach, : to losing
the long view, in work,:: ,, Inability to relate current practical tasks to
the f'ur riental polw.tioal tas.'cs of the Party, in its struggle for the
tr. ilxl rph of cc.:ziunis i, unavoidably leads bookworms and narrowly practical
pE:rsois.` of this kind ;to- fail in their practical work. also.
2 In the circumstances of the gradual ,transition from socialism
to corn:iuiisi:~, corrxozjist education. of the workixg people acquires tre men-
dous uroit.ancer. It must not be forgotten that the traces of capitalism
in people Z s minds have been far from outlived in our society, We are like-
wise, kot. insured against. the penetration anion? us' of alien views, ideas
and attitude's '..from the capitalist 'encirclement and from people infected
by bourgeois survivals, including survivals of nationalism. The Comnunist
Party, sets itself the task of-considerably :Li ]:,roving the entire work of
political education, aiong the M7'1.sses, of training the Coru:iunists and the
whole ppeople in faith in the invincibility of .the great cause of co;:ziun-
isu, in, unbounded devotion to the Party and the socialist motherland
The.Party regards-as its sacred duty the training of the working
people: in Soviet patriotisi.i. and in inviolable friendship .of peoples of
the U.S.S.R., in proletarian internationalism and the establishment of
fraternal ties with the working people of all .Lands. It is necessary to.
wage determined battle against 1ianifestations .;>f bourgeois nationalism,
against depraved bourgeois ideology.
26. In the sphere of douestic policy the Party considers it one of
the most important tasks to ' continue to ' r iifIe;at untiring concern for
max1iiauL:i satisfaction of the constantly growing requirerients of, Soviet
people, On theffoundation of the growth of th4 national economy, the
living standard of the toilers of socialist sac lety, will rise steadily..
and their iaterisl and cultural demands will be met. more and. more bounti-
fully an, variegatedly.
In the sphere of-foreign policy the Party will continue consistently
to pursue the policy of preserving and strengthening peace, the policy of
cooperation with all countries and development of business relations-with
'them on :the principles of observance of mutual interests. Only stable,
prolonged-:peace. wrong peoples creates the necessary conditions for further
uninterrupted development of the socialist ecorior y, for providing a happy
and abundant life for the working people of our country.
2 (.. Our Soviet state, the granite foundations of. which were laid, by`
the great Lenin, is a mighty weapon *in the struggle- to establish cor.iunisu.
,The Coruunist:. Party sets itself the task of `further strengthening the nu.ti-
national Soviet state, strenthening the alliance of working class and pea-
santry, strengthening friendship of peoples., ani thoroughly intensifying
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active defense of our riotherland against the aggressive acts of its enemies.
To strengthen the Soviet state is the patriotic duty and at the sane title
the sacred internationalist obligation of the working people of our country.
In close unity with the people, our party is confidently advancing to
new victories. The recent July plenary session of the Central Committee
of the Corinunist Party of the Soviet Union demonstrated with new force the
indestructible unity of our Communist Party, its militant preparedness to
carry out the tasks facing it in domestic and foreign policy.
Under the banner of Leninism, under the leadership of the Comunist
Party--forward to the triumph of cor.rnrnnisil!
--Propaganda and Agitation Department of the C.C0, C.P.S.U.
--Marx-Engels-Lenin-Stalin Institute Under the C.C., C.P.S.U.
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