October 25th marks the fifty-fifth anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the first successful socialist revolution that ushered in a new epoch in the history of mankind!
The Russian peoples of all nationalities led by their working class Party, under the guidance of V. I. Lenin, opened up the first salvo against the bourgeoisie in the era when world capitalism was developing into imperialism. It was a significant victory without precedent, that has offered profound lessons for all revolutionary and oppressed peoples, and for all sections of the American working class in particular. We have seen that the working class, given the leadership of a correct Communist Party, can seize and hold power from the bourgeoisie and establish the Dictatorship of the Proletariat!
The most fundamental questions now facing the U.S. working class and its allies that the emerging Marxist-Leninist forces are beginning to deal with, were being resolved through the fierce class battles of the October Revolution. It was under the leadership and guidance of the Bolshevik Party that all the various nationalities of Russia were united as one mighty force against Russian imperialism. And its was Lenin who, during this period, scientifically summed up the experience of the oppressed peoples of Russia and the world and advanced the Marxist-Leninist truth that the national question had “become a component part of the general proletarian socialist revolution.”
The practice of the Russian Revolution and the writings of Lenin and Stalin on the question of the oppression of women have served as a guide for all future revolutionaries to deal with this complex question. The emancipation of women in Russia was solved during the course of the practical and theoretical development of the October revolution. It would be well for us in the U.S. to take lessons from these guidelines and recognize the liberation of women as an inseparable part of the class struggle.
The October Revolution demonstrated, in the course of the struggle that the problems and tasks of the bourgeois-democratic revolution can only by finally resolved through a socialist revolution. Thus, for the U.S. revolution, it means that all of the problems and tasks raised by the American bourgeois-democratic revolution of 1775-1783 (“We hold these truths to be self-evident—That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain rights; that among these life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” etc., and the “four freedoms”) and the Civil War (the emancipation of the slaves) can never be realized by the U.S. working class until it has overthrown the bourgeoisie and established its own class rule.
The October Revolution has shown us that only the leadership of the working class, organized in a Revolutionary Communist Party, whose vanguard role has been demonstrated as indispensable for victory of the people’s revolution, can unite various class forces against the bourgeoisie. Consequently, in the concrete conditions of the U.S. revolution, large sections of the petty-bourgeoisie (more commonly called the “middle class”) college students and farmers are in contradiction with the U.S. ruling class and are an ally of the working class. And it is of profound significance that it was in the organization of the factories, shops, and large cities of Russia that the basic organization of the revolution took shape and gave leadership.
These are some of the most important lessons that we have learned from the October Revolution!
After the seizure of power by the Russian working class, led by the Communist Party, the USSR became the leader, defender, and indispensable rear area for the national democratic and proletarian struggles of the oppressed peoples of the world. It was the Soviet Union, led by Stalin, that bore the brunt of Hitler’s fascist attacks on June 22, 1941, and fought on valiantly to stem the tide of fascism. It was not until U.S. imperialism saw that socialism and the first socialist state would not bow in defeat, and under pressure from the U.S. working class, that it finally joined the war against Hitlerite Germany.
What the international bourgeoisie led by the U.S. could not accomplish on the battlefield they accomplished through ideological penetration. The Party of Lenin and Stalin, the Party of the Soviet working class, the Party of the international proletariat was overthrown by the renegade Khruschev, and capitalism was restored. That capitalism has been quickly transformed into an imperialism of a new type—Social Imperialism (socialism in name but imperialist in deeds).
With the overthrowing of socialism in the USSR the green light was given for the seizure of power and leadership by revisionist elements in many Communist Parties of the world. This was a defeat for the international working class and the national liberation struggles. The most outstanding exceptions to this defeat were People’s China and People’s Albania, led by Mao Tsetung and Enver Hoxha, who picked up the banner of Marxism-Leninism and have been gloriously carrying it forward.
The Communist forces and the U.S. working class also suffered a temporary defeat. The American “Communist” Party, led by Earl Browder, was one of the first and foremost exponents of revisionist ideology as far back as World War II. So the .seizure of power by the renegade Khruschev and his clique was wildly applauded by these servants of U.S. imperialism and traitors to the U.S. working class. The American “C”.P. has long been and is today the primary weapon that the U.S. ruling class has to use within the ranks of the general working class movement and the Black Liberation section in particular. Lenin, as far back as 1908, in his article Marxism and Revisionism clearly exposed those who in the name of Marxism were revising it and destroying it. It would be to all of our advantage to read this and study the history of the American “C.” P. in light of present conditions and analyze their practice. They are the “crime partners” of Soviet Social Imperialism!
But we see developing many new forces who reject revisionism and recognize Soviet Social Imperialism as the enemy of the oppressed peoples of the world. These new emerging forces are more and more turning to the working class for leadership and see the need for a genuine Marxist-Leninist Party in the U.S. These forces are presently engaged in an all-sided ideological debate and struggle on how to form the Party and, in the main, they are engaged in the practical struggles of the masses. These are all good things and it is as it should be!
The Soviet working class with a long history of heroic struggle, is again gearing itself and preparing for battle against this new type of imperialism that is suppressing it. As surely as they overthrew the old Czar they will overthrow these new Czars and re-establish socialism in the USSR. This is as inevitable as the rising of the sun!
The working classes of the US and USSR have many problems, struggles and tasks in common. While our ruling classes are stealing our labor power and robbing us of the fruits of our labor they are at the same time fighting one another for control of the world. They are robbing us by spending enormous amounts of our money and resources to build huge arsenals of weapons of mass destruction. Billions of dollars and rubles are being spent on one “outer-space” venture after another. We are living in the most highly industrialized and technologically advanced countries of the world that are bent on ruling the world. We have much to teach and learn from each other. There should be no question in our minds that if U.S. Imperialism and Soviet Social Imperialism go to war we will not raise one finger against each other but use that situation to make war on our own ruling classes and overthrow them!