March in celebration of the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, Moscow USSR, 1971
The 100th anniversary of the formation of the world's first worker's state, the USSR, is December 30, 2022.
Despite relentless attempts by liberals and reactionaries to slander, bury and distort the history of the Soviet Union, the incredible humanism, advances and achievements of socialism in practice over the course of its existence still inspires many millions.
Tibor Zenker, chairman of the Party of Labour of Austria (PdA), made this powerful contribution at the teleconference of the European Communist Initiative on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the USSR that was released in English on December 13.
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The founding of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on 30 December 1922 marked the greatest state-political achievement of the revolutionary working class to date. It was the result of the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917, the successful struggle of the young Russian Soviet Republic against counterrevolution and interventions, the overcoming of civil war and so-called "war communism". The USSR signified the final consolidation of Soviet power and the beginning of the planned construction of socialism in one country. Under the leadership of the Bolshevik party, the working class and the peoples of the Soviet republics succeeded in laying the political, economic, social, and ideological basis for further development.
In economic terms, this included industrialisation and electrification, collectivisation and modernisation, the establishment of socialist production relations in the city and in the countryside. The introduction of scientific centralised economic planning, oriented towards the needs of the people and the socialist construction, overcame the anarchy and crisis-proneness of capitalist conditions. Rapid technological development illustrated the superiority of socialism over capitalism. And on the basis of the new property relations, the exploitation of man by man was abolished.
Politically, the USSR gave itself the first state-wide socialist constitution in human history with the constitution of 1924. This structure formed the backbone of the democratic exercise of power by the working class, organised as the ruling class in the soviets, at the various levels of the federation and the union republics.
Like the socialist revolution, socialist construction is not possible without a communist militant party of the working class. It is the highest form of class organisation, the disciplined and powerful front line, it educates and trains the cadres needed in the political, economic, and ideological class struggle. Socialism, as the history of the USSR teaches, demands the sharp continuation of the class struggle to the liquidation of all remnants of capitalism, counter-revolutionary forces and bourgeois thought, in order to consistently repel internal and external enemies.
Marxism-Leninism is the indispensable tool of socialist revolution and socialist construction. It equips the organs of the socialist state and the communist party with the political-ideological, theoretical, and strategic bases needed for revolutionary and socialist practice. At the same time, this means that the continued struggle against revisionism and opportunism is crucial in consolidating socialist state power. The conscious application, defence and creative development of Marxism-Leninism is a vital condition of socialism.
The USSR created socialism, with socialist characteristics, not a distorted image with pretended Russian, Ukrainian or maybe Georgian characteristics. This is the reason why the previously mentioned points have universal, global significance, which the communist parties of the world could - and still can - orientate themselves by.The USSR was the fatherland and motherland of all working people and the CPSU shared its experiences in an internationalist way, which is why communist parties emerged everywhere, whose Bolshevisation was the precondition for an effective and consistent international communist movement. In the course of the 20th century, this led to successful socialist upheavals on almost all continents and the formation of a powerful community of socialist states. The USSR's support for anti-colonial liberation movements brought down the classical colonial system. Furthermore, it is the unerasable merit of the USSR, its peoples, its political leadership and, not least, the Red Army, to have defeated fascism in the Second World War and liberated most of the peoples of Europe.
Socialism in the USSR has protected its peoples not only from capitalist exploitation and oppression, but also from nationalism, racism and chauvinism used as capitalist means of domination and warmongering. The peoples of the USSR lived among themselves for decades in fraternal peace - until the counter-revolution. It sowed discord, and on a capitalist and imperialist basis there were and are wars between former union republics as well as within them. In the face of the Ukraine conflict we can clearly see: socialism means peace, capitalism means war.
Despite all its achievements and successes, the USSR has not survived. The victory of the counterrevolution a little over 30 years ago was and is a huge setback for the international communist movement. Internal failures and shortcomings were responsible for not being able to withstand external pressure. Modern revisionism and finally treachery played their part. But we defend the USSR against all anti-communist defamations and falsifications of history. There is no end to history, we are still living in the epoch of humanity's transition from capitalism to socialism. On the path of Lenin and the Bolsheviks, with the compass of Marxism-Leninism and in historical appreciation of the USSR, we are moving forward. Imperialism remains the eve of socialist revolution.
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