Peng Zhen, Pidato di Akademi Ilmu Sosial Aliarcham, Indonesia (HUT ke-45 PKI)

Title: Peng Zhen (1965) - Speech at the Aliarcham Academy of Social Sciences in Indonesia, 25 May 1965 Source: Marxists Internet Archive, https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/peng-zhen/1965/05/speech-aliarcham-academy/index.htm (Foreign Languages Press, Peking 1965) Date retrieved: 2026-10-17 Speech at the Aliarcham Academy of Social Sciences in Indonesia Introduction Publisher's Note This is the full text of a speech made by Peng Chen on May 25, 1965 during his visit to the Aliarcham Academy of Social Sciences in Indonesia. Peng Chen, member of the Political Bureau and of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, was the leader of the Delegation of the Chinese Communist Party at the celebration of the 45th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Indonesia. Dear and Respected Comrade Aidit, Dear Comrade Lukman, Dear Comrade Hutapea, Dear Comrade Sugijono, Dear Mrs. Sukimah Aliarcham, Comrades, Today I am very much honoured and pleased to be here to talk to you at the request of the leading comrades of the Communist Party of Indonesia. The Indonesian people is a great and heroic people. The Indonesian Communist Party is a great and staunch Marxist-Leninist party. The Communist Party of Indonesia and the Indonesian people have made very important contributions to the struggle against imperialism and modern revisionism. The Communist Party of China and the Chinese people are proud to have such staunch comrades-in-arms. Now I would like to discuss with you the question of combating imperialism and modern revisionism. Next: The Principal Contradiction in the Contemporary World Table of Contents Speech at the Aliarcham Academy of Social Sciences in Indonesia The Principal Contradiction in the Contemporary World Ours is the era of proletarian revolutions and revolutions of national liberation, the era in which socialism is advancing towards worldwide victory and imperialism is heading for its doom. Since World War II, the revolutionary struggle of the people of the world has entered a new stage. The rapid growth of the people’s revolutionary forces and the rapid decline of the counter-revolutionary forces are general trends in the postwar world situation. After World War I, there was only one socialist state in the world. But today, socialism has won victory in a number of countries, which form the socialist camp. The socialist countries which uphold Marxism-Leninism constitute a powerful bulwark for the acceleration of the world revolution. After World War I, only tsarist Russia and its colonies were liberated, while imperialism continued to maintain its colonial system in wide areas of the world. But today, the oppressed nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America have set ablaze the raging fire of anti-imperialist struggle. The long night of centuries of colonial rule is coming to an end, and the colonial system of imperialism is in the process of rapid collapse. After World War I, the capitalist system enjoyed a short period of relative stability. Since World War II there has been no such relative stability. The forces of imperialism have been greatly weakened. U.S. imperialism, the main prop of the imperialist system, is also in a state of general decline. The general crisis of capitalism has greatly deepened. The international balance of class forces is very favourable to the socialist countries and the revolutionary people of the world and very unfavourable to imperialism and all the reactionaries. The international balance between the forces of revolution and of counter-revolution has changed, but not one of the basic contradictions of the contemporary world-the contradiction between the socialist camp and the imperialist camp, the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie in the capitalist countries, the contradiction between the oppressed nations and imperialism, and the contradictions among the imperialist countries and among the monopoly capitalist groups-has disappeared. These basic contradictions are all objective realities and they are becoming increasingly acute. Since World War II, U.S. imperialism has stepped into the shoes of German, Italian and Japanese fascism and become the chief enemy of the people of the world. Throughout the postwar period, repeated and intense struggles have been going on between the people of the world on the one side and U.S. imperialism and its lackeys on the other. The vast areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America are the main battlefields of these struggles. Taking the world situation as a whole, the contradiction between the oppressed nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America and the imperialists headed by the United States is the most prominent and most acute of all the basic- contradictions and is the principal contradiction in the contemporary world. Since World War II, tremendous revolutionary storms have risen in the vast areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The victory of the Chinese revolution, the victory of the Korean and Vietnamese revolutions, of the Korean people’s war against U.S. aggression, of the Cuban revolution, of the Algerian war of national liberation and of the anti-imperialist revolutionary struggle of the Indonesian people as well as the successive great victories of the national-liberation struggles of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America have all dealt heavy blows at the imperialists headed by the United States and greatly changed the face of these vast areas. Today, the national-democratic revolutionary movement is continuing to surge forward in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In Indo-China, the Congo (Leopoldville), the Dominican Republic and other vast areas in Asia, Africa and Latin America, fierce hand-to-hand struggles, including armed struggles, are going on between the oppressed nations and imperialism The strategic rear areas of the imperialists have become the front lines of fiery struggles. Asia, Africa and Latin America are the lifeline on which imperialism depends for the maintenance of its rule, and they are the areas where imperialist rule is most vulnerable. A revolutionary situation exists in these vast areas today. The national-democratic revolutionary movement in these areas is the most important force directly hitting imperialism. This is an objective fact. It can neither be invented nor gainsaid. The people of Asia, Africa and Latin America will always be thankful for the influence and impact of the advanced proletariat of the West, for the inspiration and assistance of the Great October Socialist Revolution and for the enlightenment and guidance of the founders of Marxism-Leninism. The historical development of different countries is uneven, and so is the development of their revolutionary movements. While the proletariat in Western Europe and North America is experiencing a new awakening, for various reasons the situation there is not yet ripe for revolution; on the other hand, the people of Asia, Africa and Latin America are holding high the torch of revolution and marching forward. As Lenin pointed out, the centre of the growing European working-class movement switched from Britain to France, which was comparatively backward economically, then from France to Germany, which was likewise comparatively backward economically, and then from Germany to Russia, which was again comparatively backward economically. The comparative economic backwardness of Asia, Africa and Latin America today does not prevent the people in these regions from becoming new shock brigades of the world revolution, and in fact they have already done so. The national-democratic revolution in Asia, Africa and Latin America is an important component part of the contemporary proletarian world revolution. It has shaken the imperialists’ strategic rear areas, weakened their rule in their own countries, and promoted and supported the revolution of the proletariat and other working people within these countries. The anti-imperialist revolutionary struggle of the oppressed nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America has hit at and weakened the imperialist forces of aggression and war. This revolutionary struggle gives support both to the struggles of the proletariat of the countries in Western Europe, North America and Oceania which has not yet won victory and to those of the already victorious states of the dictatorship of the proletariat. As Comrade Aidit has said, On a world scale, Asia, Africa and Latin America are the village of the world, while Europe and North America are the town of the world. If the world revolution is to be victorious, there is no other way than for the world proletariat to give prominence to the revolutions in Asia, Africa and Latin America, that is to say, the revolutions in the village of the world.1 The development and resolution of the contradiction between the oppressed nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America and the imperialists headed by the United States have a vital bearing not only on the future of the people of these areas but also on the future of the people of the whole world. This is not a regional question but a question of an overall character in the contemporary world. Its development and resolution are of key importance in promoting the development and resolution of the other basic contradictions. Asia, Africa and Latin America are the areas in which the various contradictions of the contemporary world are focused. Fierce struggles are going on in these areas between the oppressed nations and peoples on the one hand and imperialism and its lackeys on the other. The contradictions between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie on an international scale, between the socialist countries and the imperialist countries and between the Marxist-Leninists and the modern revisionists all find acute expression in these areas. And so do the contradictions among the imperialist countries. The inexorable facts since World War II and what is now taking place all go to show that the contradiction between the oppressed nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America and the imperialists headed by the United States is the principal contradiction in the contemporary world. It is essential for Marxist-Leninists to single out this principal contradiction from among the intricate contradictions of the contemporary world and grasp it firmly. Only by so doing can one correctly discern and determine the principal enemy and the principal target of attack in the world today, decide which forces to rely on and which to unite with, and formulate the correct strategy and tactics Both the socialist countries which persevere in the Marxist-Leninist line and the proletariat of Western Europe, North America and Oceania who unswervingly follow a revolutionary path regard it as their most important internationalist duty to give resolute support to the oppressed nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America in their revolutionary struggle against imperialism. The attitude one takes on this question constitutes the most important criterion for distinguishing between Marxist-Leninists and modern revisionists, between revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries and between real revolutionaries and sham revolutionaries. The Khrushchov revisionists strenuously deny the great international significance of the anti-imperialist revolutionary struggle of the people in Asia, Africa and Latin America. They assert that Asia, Africa and Latin America “are not the focus of contradictions”, “are not and cannot be the centre of contemporary contradictions” and cannot possibly be the storm centres of world revolution in our age. They accuse anyone who asserts the contrary of “substituting geographical principle for a class analysis of the revolutionary forces” and denounce him as a “nationalist”, a “racist”, or an adherent of the “colour” and “geographical” principles. In the opinion of the Khrushchov revisionists, it is only Europe and North America that can be the centres of the world, whose inner “centres” are the two major powers, the United States and the Soviet Union. Taking over the racial superiority complex of the European and American bourgeoisie and the imperialists, the Khrushchov revisionists shout in tune with the imperialists about “coloured people opposing white people”, as soon as they see the people of Asia, Africa and Latin America rising against the imperialists headed by the United States. There is not an iota of Marxism-Leninism in this view, which is a betrayal of the socialist countries and the revolutionary cause of the proletariat in the West. It is the propagators of this view who are actually putting themselves in the same boat as the nationalists, racists, or adherents of the “colour” and “geographical” principles. The Khrushchov revisionists accuse us of belittling the role of the working-class movement in the developed capitalist countries and setting the national-liberation movement against the international working-class movement. In fact, it is they themselves who set the national-liberation movement against the international working-class movement. They have completely abandoned the Leninist theory concerning the national-liberation movement. Since the October Revolution, the national liberation movement has ceased to belong to the category of the bourgeois world revolution, but belongs to that of the proletarian world revolution, of which it forms a part. Lenin said, ... the socialist revolution will not be solely, or chiefly, a struggle of the revolutionary proletarians in each country against their bourgeoisie-no, it will be a struggle of all the imperialism-oppressed colonies and countries, of all dependent countries against international imperialism.2 He also said that the proletariat in the imperialist countries “will not be victorious without the aid of the toiling masses of all the oppressed colonial peoples, and primarily of the Eastern peoples".3 The Khrushchov revisionists’ purpose in spreading their views is simply to disintegrate and suppress the revolutionary movement in Asia, Africa and Latin America, to oppose and hinder the extension of firm support by socialist countries and the international proletariat to the revolutionary movement in these areas and to serve imperialism, and especially U.S. imperialism, in promoting neo-colonialism. 1. D. N. Aidit, Set Afire the “Banteng” Spirit! Ever Forward, No Retreat! Eng. ed., Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 1964, p. 87. 2. V. I. Lenin, “Address to the Second All Russian Congress of Communist Organizations of the Peoples of the East”, On the International Working-Class and Communist Movement, Eng. ed., Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, p. 335. 3. Ibid., p. 338. Next: U.S. Imperialism Can Definitely Be Defeated Table of Contents Speech at the Aliarcham Academy of Social Sciences in Indonesia U.S. Imperialism Can Definitely Be Defeated U.S. imperialism is the most ferocious enemy confronting the people of the world. Since the war, it has made use of its economic strength, which was inflated during the war, to build up an unprecedented and colossal war machine, brandishing its nuclear weapons and carrying out frantic aggression everywhere in its attempt to dominate the whole world. How one regards and assesses the strength of U.S. imperialism, whether or not one has confidence in winning the struggle against U.S. imperialism and whether or not one dares to wage resolute struggle against it are major questions in the revolutionary struggle of the people of the world. U.S. imperialism is strong in appearance but weak in essence. Postwar developments have proved that neither its dollars nor its armed forces can prevent the final victory of the people’s revolution of the world. Similarly, the nuclear weapons in the hands of U.S. imperialism cannot possibly save it from its doom or prevent the progress of human history. Let us leave aside what happened in the past and take a look at events which are attracting worldwide attention today! In Viet Nam, U.S. imperialism is being badly battered by the 14 million south Vietnamese people, despite the fact that this huge monster has been engaged in its aggression for more than ten years, in the course of which it has expended thousands of millions of U.S. dollars, sent in tens of thousands of troops and employed new weapons of all kinds except nuclear weapons. In the face of the organized armed people, the U.S. aggressors find themselves besieged and attacked from all sides, so that they take the very rustle of a leaf and the very shadow of a tree for an enemy. As the American press has put it, “The war in south Viet Nam is largely a war against an unseen enemy. The enemy is everywhere and nowhere at the same time.” U.S. imperialism is doomed to defeat in Viet Nam. Like a buffalo rushing into a fiery maze, it will certainly be burnt to death. In the Congo (Leopoldville), U.S. imperialism has not been able to strangle the national liberation struggle, whether by armed intervention in the name of the United Nations or by direct armed intervention. The grass cannot be burnt out by a prairie fire but grows again with the spring breeze. The people of the Congo (Leopoldville) have regrouped their forces and, arms in hand, renewed their victorious struggle. In the Dominican Republic, an island country with a population of 3 million at the very gate of the United States, the people’s armed uprising has thrown U.S. imperialism into confusion. It has dispatched more than 30,000 invading troops to engage in suppression. This fully shows that U.S. imperialism is in a grave predicament. The path U.S. imperialism is taking now is the same path Hitler took in his day. Its aggressive ambition far surpasses Hitler’s, but it is weaker than Hitler, the disparity between strength and ambition being greater. Today it finds itself in an ever worsening strategic position. Like a mad dog dashing everywhere, U.S. imperialism is frantically pursuing its policies of aggression and war, committing aggression everywhere and riding roughshod over the world, thereby arousing the people’s universal resistance and its allies’ opposition and completely isolating itself. U.S. imperialism has over-reached itself. It has deployed its armed forces in every continent and ocean of the world; it has committed aggression and tried to suppress the people’s revolution everywhere. With its shortage of troops, its far-flung battle fronts, its remote rear and the dispersion of its forces, it is keeping up its strength in one place at the expense of others, and is unable to attend to everything at once Its position is becoming very passive and strategically it is already receiving blows on all sides. In the meantime, with new changes in the balance of forces among the imperialist countries, the dominant position of U.S. imperialism in the capitalist world has become precarious. The imperialist camp is disintegrating. As the last and largest bulwark of imperialism, U.S. imperialism is trying to save the incurably sick imperialist system, but in vain-the result can only be like drinking poison to quench one’s thirst. It is trying to dam the world current of the people’s revolution, only to make it more tempestuous. Everywhere it is creating its own gravediggers in increasing numbers to dig its grave for it. The people of the world can definitely defeat this ferocious enemy provided that they clearly recognize U.S. imperialism as their chief enemy, unite with all the forces that can be united, and form the broadest possible united front against U.S. imperialism and its lackeys. The Khrushchov revisionists are spreading pessimistic and defeatist views everywhere in order to intimidate the people of the world and sabotage their revolutionary struggle against U.S. imperialism and its lackeys. In contrast to the Marxist-Leninists, the Khrushchov revisionists have no faith at all in the strength of the people and in victory in the struggle against U.S. imperialism. They are exponents of the theory that weapons, and in particular nuclear weapons, decide everything. They play up and exaggerate the horrors of war, asserting that with the emergence of nuclear weapons it is no longer possible to wage anti-imperialist struggles or to make revolution. They dare not touch U.S. imperialism themselves and, what is more, they forbid others to struggle against it. They have no confidence in victory themselves, and try to shake and sap the confidence and will to fight of other people. They do not want revolution themselves and forbid others to make revolution. They capitulate themselves, and want to drag others along with them in their capitulation, or force others to capitulate. Whether or not one dares to fight and dares to win victory when confronted by powerful and vicious class enemies internally or externally has always been the dividing line between Marxist-Leninists and opportunists, between revolutionaries and capitulationists. The outcome of the struggle is invariably victory for the Marxist-Leninists, the revolutionaries and the people, and the consignment of the opportunists and the capitulationists to the garbage heap of history along with the collapse of the class enemy. History shows that the newborn revolutionary forces are invariably weak to begin with, but that they always keep on growing, developing from small and weak to large and strong forces, and eventually defeat the seemingly strong forces of counter-revolution. To begin with, the newborn revolutionary forces have no arms at all or are only poorly equipped, but they always defeat the forces of counter-revolution which are well-equipped and armed to the teeth. In the final analysis, it is men and not things, the masses of the people and not weapons, that are the basic factor deciding victory or defeat. In Lenin’s famous words, “Do you want a revolution? Then you must be strong”4 Why? The revolutionaries represent the new emerging forces of society and believe in and rely on the strength of the people, which is invincible, and that is why they should be strong and will inevitably be strong. The reactionaries cannot but be weak, and inevitably so, because they divorce themselves from the people and are opposed by the people. They will fail in the end however strong they are outwardly for a time. After World War II, Comrade Mao Tse-tung advanced the celebrated thesis that imperialism and all reactionaries are paper tigers. Basing himself on the objective laws governing social development, he had faith in the inevitable triumph of the new emerging social forces over the decadent social forces and of the people’s forces over the antipopular forces. Comrade Mao Tse-tung made a profound analysis of the changes in the postwar international balance of class forces and pointed out: “The strength of the world anti-imperialist camp has surpassed that of the imperialist camp. It is we, not the enemy, who are in the superior position.” 5 He added, “All views that overestimate the strength of the enemy and underestimate the strength of the people are wrong.” 6 The development of the world situation has since testified to the correctness of Comrade Mao Tse-tung’s thesis. The people’s revolutionary struggle is surging forward and winning constant victories, while imperialism is being battered everywhere and nearing its doom. The Marxist-Leninists and all revolutionaries are fighting together with the masses of the people with full confidence, dealing hard blows at imperialism and propelling it to its grave. All pessimism is utterly groundless. Whoever spreads pessimistic and defeatist views will be punished by history. 4. V. I. Lenin, “Ho Falsehood! Our Strength Lies in Stating the Truth!”, Collected Works, Eng. ed., FLPH, Moscow, 1962, Vol. IX, p. 299. 5. Mao Tse-tung, “The Present Situation and Our Tasks”, Selected Works, Eng. ed., FLP, Peking, 1961, Vol. IV, p. 172. 6. Ibid., p. 173. Next: Modern Revisionism is the New Social Prop of Imperialism Table of Contents Speech at the Aliarcham Academy of Social Sciences in Indonesia Modern Revisionism is the New Social Prop of Imperialism The great Lenin taught us that “a struggle against imperialism that is not closely linked up with the struggle against opportunism is an idle phrase, or a fraud".7 In endeavouring to bolster up the tottering edifice of imperialism, in addition to the direct use of violence, the monopoly capitalists of the imperialist countries invariably rely upon the labour aristocracy as a social prop and life-saver to sap the revolutionary will of the proletariat, to fool and divide the revolutionary people and to resist the proletarian revolutionary storm. Before World War II, monopoly capital, with its superprofits exacted from the people of the colonies and semi-colonies, pursued a policy of bribery and corruption with regard to the working class in its own country, nurturing the labour aristocracy and making social democracy its social prop. Since World War II, with the deepening of the general crisis of capitalism, monopoly capital needs such a social prop more than ever in order to maintain its rule. It is aware that it is not enough merely to use the Right-wing social-democratic parties as its tool for undermining the working-class movement. While continuing its policy of bribery and corruption with regard to the working class in the capitalist countries, fostering new labour aristocracy and causing the Communist Parties of some capitalist countries to degenerate into new bourgeois labour parties and new social-democratic parties, it is practicing the policy of "peaceful evolution" towards the socialist countries and is causing the leadership of the Communist Parties in some socialist countries to degenerate into its flunkeys and agents. In the postwar years, U.S. imperialism has spent thousands of millions of dollars in fostering the Tito clique, the “bellwether” that betrays socialism and the proletariat. But the Tito clique can play only a limited role. Therefore U.S. imperialism has looked around for something new and employed the counterrevolutionary dual tactics of threats and blandishments, using the stick and the carrot. Khrushchov revisionism is the product of this U.S. imperialist policy. Khrushchov first put forward his counterrevolutionary revisionist line at the 20th Congress of the CPSU. It was systematized and officially embodied in the Programme of the CPSU, which was adopted at the 22nd Congress of the CPSU with Khrushchov’s hallmark. The Khrushchov revisionists have made a wholesale revision of the fundamental theories of Marxism-Leninism and emasculated its revolutionary soul. They have replaced dialectical materialism by subjective idealism, revolutionary dialectics by the philistine theory of evolution, and they have become faithful followers of bourgeois pragmatism. They have substituted the theories of class conciliation, class collaboration and class capitulation for the teachings of class struggle, proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat. They spread the view that the nature of imperialism has changed, and they try to cover up the contradictions inherent in the imperialist system, openly proclaiming that the Leninist thesis on imperialism is outmoded. The Khrushchov revisionists serve the counter-revolutionary global strategy of U.S. imperialism by advancing the general line of “peaceful coexistence”, “peaceful competition” and “peaceful transition” and practicing policies of appeasement towards imperialism, which are in effect capitulationism. In advancing the fallacies of “the state of the whole people" and “the Party of the entire people”, they have abandoned the dictatorship of the proletariat and changed the character of the Communist Party as the vanguard of the proletariat. They have replaced proletarian internationalism with great-power chauvinism and national egoism, and worked to split the socialist camp and the international communist movement and undermine the great unity of the revolutionary people of the world. Khrushchov revisionism is disintegrating the socialist camp, splitting the international communist movement, sabotaging the national-liberation movement and the people’s revolutionary movement in all countries, lulling the vigilance of the people of the world and playing the role of a special detachment of the U.S. imperialists and all reactionaries; it is doing all these things which the U.S. imperialists, all reactionaries and the old-line revisionist renegades are not in the position to do. By all this, the Khrushchov revisionists have set themselves against the masses of the people who comprise more than 90 per cent of the world’s population, and cannot but arouse the resolute opposition of all genuine Marxist-Leninists and all revolutionary people. Khrushchov revisionism is doomed to failure, and in fact has rapidly been discredited. Khrushchov, the founder of Khrushchov revisionism, has already been driven off the stage of world history. This is a major event. It marks a victory for the Marxist-Leninist line and a failure for Khrushchov revisionism. It testifies to the necessity and correctness of the struggle waged by the Chinese Communist Party, the Indonesian Communist Party and the other Marxist-Leninist parties and Marxist-Leninists against Khrushchov revisionism. All Marxist-Leninists and revolutionary people understand that the rise and growth of Khrushchov revisionism is by no means a matter involving a few individuals, or an accidental phenomenon. It has deep social and historical roots. As the 1957 Declaration has pointed out, “The existence of bourgeois influence is an internal source of revisionism, while surrender to imperialist pressure is its external source. ” Khrushchov revisionism is the creation of the capitalist forces in the Soviet Union. With Khrushchov’s coming to power, a bourgeois privileged stratum gradually came into being in the Soviet Union as a result of his erroneous policies. This stratum has completely divorced itself from the Soviet people and thoroughly betrayed the cause of proletarian world revolution. It is the main social base of Khrushchov revisionism. Khrushchov and his like are the political representatives of this bourgeois privileged stratum whose interests all their lines and policies seek to serve. They have usurped the leadership of the CPSU and the Soviet state. Catering to the needs of imperialism, they have led the CPSU founded by Lenin on to the dangerous road of degeneration and have led the first socialist country, the Soviet Union, on to the dangerous road of capitalist restoration. This in itself is the greatest betrayal of the Soviet people and the revolutionary people of the world. The facts are crystal clear. What Lenin said about the old-line revisionists applies equally to Khrushchov and his like: “... objectively, they are a political detachment of the bourgeoisie,... transmitters of its influence, its agents in the labour movement.” 8 Is it conceivable that opposing imperialism alone without opposing revisionism is enough? Lenin repeatedly taught us that “it is useless talking about the struggle against imperialism, about Marxism, or about the socialist labour movement”,9 unless a determined and ruthless struggle all along the line is conducted against the bourgeois labour parties. There can be no doubt that Lenin’s teaching remains the guide to action for Marxist-Leninists. For the victory of the struggle against imperialism, for the liberation of all oppressed people and nations and for the realization of a new world without imperialism, without capitalism and without the exploitation of man by man, we must resolutely go on thoroughly exposing the true features of Khrushchov revisionism and carry the struggle against it through to the end. 7. V. I. Lenin, “The War Program of the Proletarian Revolution”, Selected Works, Eng. ed., FLPH, Moscow, 1952, Vol. I, Part 2, p. 577. 8. V. I. Lenin, “The Collapse of the Second International”, Collected Works, Eng. ed., International Publishers, New York, 1930 Vol. XVIII, p. 310. 9. V. I. Lenin, “Imperialism and the Split in the Socialist Movement”, Collected Works Eng. ed., International Publishers, New York 1942, Vol. XIX, pp. 349-50. Next: Marxist-Leninists Must Be Good at Grasping the Essence Behind the Appearance Table of Contents Speech at the Aliarcham Academy of Social Sciences in Indonesia Marxist-Leninists Must Be Good at Grasping the Essence Behind the Appearance More than six months have elapsed since the new leaders of the CPSU came to power. We had hoped that they would correct their mistakes and return to the path of Marxism-Leninism, or at least prove a little better than Khrushchov. But all their actions have turned out contrary to our hopes. Khrushchov’s successors understood that Khrushchov had become too unpopular and that if they were to put on exactly the same appearance as Khrushchov, they would: be unable to explain why they should have taken his place. That is why they have to redecorate themselves as best they may and try by all means to appear different from Khrushchov. They have made “revolutionary” gestures, used a lot of “anti-imperialist” phrases, and uttered a great many fine words about “unity". They have also carried out a number of minor manoeuvres and played some political sleight of hand. They think that in so doing they will be able to delude people by their false appearance and prevent them from grasping their essence. What are the things that express their essence? They are still stubbornly clinging to the whole of Khrushchov’s revisionist line as laid down at the 20th and 22nd Congresses of the CPSU and embodied in the Programme of the CPSU and opposing the revolutionary struggles of the people of all countries. They are still stubbornly clinging to the line of “Soviet-U.S. co-operation for the domination of the world", declaring that there are “sufficiently broad areas for cooperation” between the Soviet Union and the United States, and moreover they are quickening their pace in pursuit of “cm operation” with U.S. imperialism. They are still stubbornly clinging to the divisive line. They openly and faithfully carried out Khrushchov’s orders by convening the schismatic Moscow meeting last March. So long as they cling to these fundamental lines, all their gestures of “revolution", “opposition to imperialism” and “unity” are mere subterfuge and camouflage and can in no way change the essence of the matter. If they had really changed Khrushchov’s revisionist line, why should they continue to collaborate with U.S. imperialism as international gendarmes suppressing the oppressed people and nations? Why should have they retabled at the United Nations the proposal which Khrushchov put forward last July for the organization of a U.N. armed force? Why should have they joined the United States in voting in the U.N. Security Council for a resolution calling for “ceasefire” and “national reconciliation” in the Congo (Leopoldville) and supported U.S. imperialism in its attempt to put down the patriotic armed struggle of the Congolese people? If they had really changed Khrushchov’s revisionist line, why should they continue to pursue Khrushchov’s policy of selling out the German Democratic Republic? When the West German militarists shamelessly convened their Bundestag in West Berlin and thus made a wild provocation against the German Democratic Republic and the whole socialist camp, why did they lack the courage to take any action to rebuff it? Why have they pigeonholed the proposals for a speedy German peace treaty and the settlement of the West Berlin problem, without so much as daring to mention them again? If they had really changed Khrushchov’s revisionist line, why should they brutally suppress the anti-U.S. demonstrations by students of Viet Nam and other Asian and African countries studying in the Soviet Union? Again, why did they and the U.S. imperialists install hot lines and cold lines, exchange information, hold secret talks and give each other open support? Why did they set their minds on abetting the U.S. imperialist plot of “peace negotiations", and try to subordinate the Viet Nam question to their general line of “peaceful coexistence” and “Soviet-U.S. co-operation for the settlement of world problems” and to extinguish the Vietnamese people’s revolutionary struggle? From a host of facts we cannot but draw the conclusion that Khrushchov’s successors are still carrying out Khrushchov revisionism, the only difference being that in their tactics they are more crafty than Khrushchov. Khrushchov was rather naive. In order to curry favour with the chieftains of the U.S. gangsters, he was often too outspoken because he could not refrain from airing what was on his mind. His successors have drawn the lesson. They know that their stuff cannot stand scrutiny and can be refuted at any time by Marxist-Leninists and all revolutionary people. That is why they must disguise themselves. At the same time, they know that they are in a much weaker position than Khrushchov. They think that acting stealthily may be better for them. They resort to flat denials and brazenly say: I am not what I am, a horse is not a horse, a horse-driver is not a horse-driver, and a revisionist is not a revisionist, as if there were no difference at all between revisionism and Marxism-Leninism. Precisely because the Khrushchov revisionists are putting on more subtle camouflage and are more deceptive, it is all the more incumbent on the Marxist-Leninists to expose the essence behind their false appearance and the deeds of betrayal concealed by their fine words. Otherwise, to allow them to deceive people would bring more serious harm to the revolutionary cause of the people of the world. As Lenin said about Kautsky’s tricks, “We would cease to be Marxists, we would cease to be Socialists generally, if we... refrained from exposing their real political significance.” 10 In the past, all kinds of opportunists and revisionists invariably used dual tactics to deceive the revolutionary people, and they invariably put on some false appearance to conceal the essence of their betrayal of the revolution. Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin always firmly grasped the essence of the opportunists and revisionists by penetrating the complicated appearance and clearing away the fog they spread, and thoroughly exposed the true features of these renegades to the revolutionary people. It was through such struggles that the opportunist and revisionist factions were defeated one after another, the revolutionary theories of Marxism-Leninism constantly developed and great victories constantly won for the cause of the proletarian revolution. Today, the Marxist-Leninists not only have the lessons of dealing with Bakunin, with Bernstein and Kautsky, with Trotsky and with Tito, but, what is more important, they have the experience of dealing with Khrushchov. Thus we can more easily see through the various disguises of the Khrushchov revisionists, more easily grasp the essence behind the appearance. Marxism-Leninism is a mirror to show up monsters. Facts are also such mirrors. However numerous the metamorphoses of the Khrushchov revisionists, they will eventually reveal their true features as monsters. 10. V. I. Lenin, “Bourgeois Pacifism and Socialist Pacifism", Collected Works, Eng. ed., International Publishers, New York, 1942, Vol. XIX, p. 410. Next: On What Basis Can We Achieve Real Unity Against the Enemy? Table of Contents Speech at the Aliarcham Academy of Social Sciences in Indonesia On What Basis Can We Achieve Real Unity Against the Enemy? Recently, the Khrushchov revisionists have been particularly vociferous in calling for “unity against the enemy” and for “united action”. What do they really mean by the “unity against the enemy” and the “united action” which they are talking about? Do they really want to unite with us against the enemy? No! Not at all! The so-called unity the Khrushchov revisionists want is not based on Marxism-Leninism, on the revolutionary principles of the 1957 Declaration and the 1960 Statement, but on the revisionist general line laid down at the 20th and 22nd Congresses and embodied in the Programme of the CPSU, the general line of “peaceful coexistence”, the general line of “Soviet-U.S. co-operation for the domination of the world”. Following this line can only mean unity with the U.S. imperialists, with the reactionaries and the modern revisionists, and cannot possibly mean unity with the Marxist-Leninists or unity with the people who constitute over 90 per cent of the world’s population. These people who are shouting “unity” have long since degenerated into the greatest splitters of modern times. Ever since the 20th Congress of the CPSU, they have kept on splitting away from Marxism-Leninism, from Stalin, from the Soviet people, from revolution and from all the Marxist-Leninist parties. Today, they are still pursuing Khrushchov’s policy of “four alignments with and four alignments against”, that is, alignment with imperialism against socialism, alignment with the United States against China and the other revolutionary countries, alignment with the reactionaries everywhere against the national-liberation movements and the people’s revolutions, and alignment with the Tito clique and renegades of all descriptions against all the fraternal Marxist-Leninist parties and all revolutionaries fighting imperialism. The Khrushchov revisionists are now more active than anyone else in crying for the “unity” of the international communist movement, the aim being to stop the Marxist-Leninists from making a further exposure of their revisionist essence and their dirty tricks and to attack those who oppose their revisionism and splittism. They are putting up a show of crying for “unity” while they themselves are disrupting unity and of shouting, “Down with splittism!” while they themselves are creating a split. Without an elementary class analysis, the slogan “unity against the enemy” is meaningless. We must make clear whom they want “unity” with and which enemy they want to deal with. Since 1959, we have repeatedly advised the Khrushchov revisionists not to regard enemies as friends and vice versa. They categorically refused to listen. After the fall of Khrushchov, we advised them to discard his legacy and to put right their perverse attitude towards enemies and friends. They again refused to listen. They declared to our delegation’s face that there was not a shade of difference between them and Khrushchov in their attitude towards enemies and friends. They still refuse to treat U.S. imperialism as the main enemy, but insist on treating it as the main friend. They are still “uniting with” U.S. imperialism against the people of the world. Under these circumstances, how is it possible to speak of unity with the Marxist-Leninists and the revolutionary people against the enemy? Recently, the Khrushchov revisionists have also cried for the necessity of “united action” on the part of the socialist countries. Again, we must make clear what this “united action” is for. Is it “united action” to fit in with the U.S. imperialist plot of “peace negotiations”, to betray the interests of the Vietnamese people and put down their revolution? Is it “united action” to surrender to U.S. imperialism and oppose the national-liberation movement and the people’s revolutionary struggle in every country? Or is it “united action” to implement the revisionist general line of “Soviet-U.S. co-operation for the settlement of world problems”? Truth to tell, such “united action” can only be sought with U.S. imperialism and its lackeys, with the Indian reactionaries and with the Tito clique. To seek such “united action” with Marxist-Leninists is to knock at the wrong door. Lenin ridiculed such people as follows: “In the market-place it often happens that the vendor who shouts loudest and calls God to witness is the one with the shoddiest goods for sale.” 11 We must expose the very shoddy goods they are peddling to the light of the sun. Some have asked: Haven’t you Marxist-Leninists established very good united-front relations with many non-Marxist-Leninists and non-Communists? Why can’t you enter into united action with the modern revisionists? But this does not depend on our wishes. From the point of view of our wishes, the best thing would be for them to abandon revisionism, or at least refrain from siding with U.S. imperialism, the common enemy of the people of the world. Indeed we were actuated by this wish when we repeatedly advised and criticized them, hoping that they might turn from their erroneous ways. Unfortunately, they have turned a deaf ear to all this. What can one do if they are happy in their own degeneration? They have insisted on staying outside, the united front of the people of the world against U.S. imperialism and conducting an ardent flirtation with it so that they are like a pair of lovebirds that even clubbing cannot separate. In these circumstances, of course it is impossible for them to really join the Marxist-Leninists and the people of the world in any “united action". In this sense, they really cannot be compared with the anti-imperialist and revolutionary representatives of the national bourgeoisie in Asia, Africa and Latin America, nor even with the anti-imperialist and patriotic representatives of royal families and the nobility. As Stalin said in The Foundations of Leninism, some so-called socialists were reactionary while certain kings and some merchants, who fought for national independence, were objectively revolutionary. This is the fact and the truth. In attacking the Marxist-Leninists, the Khrushchov revisionists have said that refusal to take “united action” with them constitutes “encouragement” to imperialist adventures and renders “invaluable service to the aggressors". This label can never be pinned on us, but it well fits the Khrushchov revisionists. It is not we, but they with their revisionist and capitulationist line, who have encouraged the U.S. aggressor and served U.S. imperialism. Who voted in the U.N. Security Council for U.S. armed aggression in the Congo (Leopoldville)? Who bowed and surrendered before Kennedy’s blackmail in the Caribbean crisis? Who plotted the swindle of the U.S. British-Soviet partial nuclear test ban treaty to consolidate the position of the United States as a nuclear overlord? Who has been planning to organize a permanent U.N. armed force in collusion with U.S. imperialism in order to suppress the national-liberation movement? Is it not the fallen Khrushchov and his successors who have done all these things which encourage the U.S. aggressor and serve U.S. imperialism? Aren’t these things the products of the revisionist line of “Soviet-U.S. co-operation for the domination of the world"? Aren’t such things being repeated today on the question of Viet Nam? In contrast to the Khrushchov revisionist line, the line pursued by the Chinese Communist Party, the Indonesian Communist Party and the other Marxist-Leninist parties is a thoroughly revolutionary line, which persists in opposing imperialism, resolutely supports the revolutionary struggles of the oppressed people and nations and defends world peace. Practice has proved that this is the only correct line. Only by following this line is it possible to puncture the arrogance of the U.S. imperialist aggressor, thwart its plans for aggression and war, and thereby both promote the people’s revolution of all countries and win world peace. The Chinese Communist Party, the Indonesian Communist Party and other Marxist-Leninist parties have always stood for unity against the enemy. To Marxist-Leninists unity against the enemy means unity of the workers of all lands and unity of the workers and the oppressed people and nations of the world against imperialism and reaction. At present, it means unity of the international proletariat and the revolutionary people of all countries, and unity with all the forces that can be united, in joint action against U.S. imperialism and its lackeys. What we mean by unity against the enemy is a slogan which draws a clear-cut line of demarcation between enemies and friends; it is a revolutionary slogan. The unity of the international communist movement can be achieved only on the basis of adherence to Marxism-Leninism and opposition to modern revisionism. The unity between the international proletariat and the oppressed nations can be achieved only on the basis of firm opposition to imperialism, particularly to U.S. imperialism, and firm support for the revolution of the oppressed nations. The unity between the international proletariat and the oppressed people can be achieved only on the basis of firm opposition to imperialism and reaction and firm support for the revolution of the people of all countries. It is for revolution that we unite. Unity with revolutionaries is out of the question if one opposes revolution. Making revolution and opposing imperialism is the demand of the broad masses of the people who comprise more than 90 per cent of the world’s population and is the irresistible trend of history. Whoever goes against this aspiration of the people and this trend will inevitably be discarded by history. The great Soviet people is a people endowed with the glorious tradition of the October Revolution. The great Communist Party of the Soviet Union is a Party with a long history of revolutionary struggle. In their betrayal of Marxism-Leninism and of the cause of the proletarian revolution, the Khrushchov revisionists are violating the fundamental interests of the broad masses of the Soviet people and the Soviet Communists. To fight against Khrushchov revisionism is the demand of the Soviet people and the broad masses of the members and cadres of the CPSU as well as of all the Communists and the revolutionary people of the world. The Chinese Communists and the Chinese people are firmly convinced that the Parties and peoples of China and the Soviet Union will ultimately disperse the dark clouds spread by Khrushchov revisionism, closely unite on the basis of Marxism-Leninism, and combine their efforts to oppose U.S. imperialism and its lackeys and to promote the revolutionary cause. We still place some hope in the leadership of the CPSU, and will welcome the day when they admit and rectify their mistakes, discard Khrushchov revisionism and return to the path of Marxism-Leninism. But it seems that this day is still far off. We Marxist-Leninists must carry the struggle against Khrushchov revisionism through to the end and must not in the least slacken our efforts. 11. V. I. Lenin, “Workers’ Unity and Intellectualist ‘Trends’”, Collected Works, Eng. ed., Progress Publishers, Moscow, l964, Vol. XX, p. 296. Next: Be Promoters of Revolution at All Times Table of Contents Speech at the Aliarcham Academy of Social Sciences in Indonesia Be Promoters of Revolution at All Times At no time and in no circumstances must Marxist-Leninists forget the world historical mission of the proletariat as the creator of socialist society. At the present stage, the historical task of the parties of the proletariat in all countries is to unite the revolutionary people of the whole world, unite all the forces that can be united, combat the imperialists and reactionaries, win world peace, national liberation, people’s democracy and socialism, and strive for the gradual achievement of complete victory in the proletarian world revolution and for a new world without imperialism, without capitalism and without the exploitation of man by man. The revolutionary struggle of the proletariat and people of each country goes through different stages and has its own characteristics, but none can be independent of the general laws governing the development of world history. It is of great importance for a proletarian party leading the revolutionary struggle and formulating the revolutionary line and policies of its own country to adhere to the principle of integrating the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete revolutionary practice of its own country. Only when the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism is skillfully integrated with the concrete revolutionary practice of one’s own country, can one make Marxism-Leninism take root, blossom and yield fruit in the country, and lead the revolution to victory. At all times and in all circumstances Marxist-Leninists are the promoters of revolution. Marxist-Leninist parties should adhere to the revolutionary line, support and assist each other, and perform their proletarian internationalist duty in the present international class struggle and in the great struggle of all the oppressed people and nations for liberation. Communist Parties of the socialist countries should uphold the dictatorship of the proletariat, consolidate and expand the positions of socialism, and carry the socialist revolution through to the end in the political, economic, ideological and cultural fields. Never for a moment must we forget the existence of classes and class struggle, or forget the struggle between the socialist and the capitalist roads. Only thus can we prevent the restoration of capitalism and create the conditions for the transition to communism. At all times and in all circumstances Marxist-Leninists are revolutionary optimists. Marx and Engels, who were only two individuals, declared to the whole world in a resounding voice: The doom of the bourgeoisie and the victory of the proletariat are both inevitable! In our times, Marxist-Leninists have all the greater confidence to declare to the whole world: The extinction of imperialism is inevitable, so is the victory of socialism and communism! The future of the international communist movement is bright, so is the future of the proletarian world revolution. The emergence of Khrushchov revisionism is a mere interlude in the course of historical development. However vociferous they may be for a time, they are merely singing the elegy for the imperialists and themselves. On this tiny globe A few flies dash themselves against the wall, Humming without cease, Sometimes shrilling, Sometimes moaning. Time will reject this handful of wretches. History has witnessed so many renegades from the revolution and so many notorious opportunists and revisionists who were repudiated by the masses of the people. The fate of the modern revisionists will be no better than that of their predecessors. Earth-shaking changes have taken place in the world in the century or more since the emergence of Marxism. These changes are greater than those of past centuries, of past thousands of years or even tens of thousands of years. This is the greatest century in human history. It can be fully anticipated that the next hundred years will witness still greater revolutionary changes in the world. Marxism has developed rapidly in the last hundred years. In the same way, it can be fully anticipated that Marxism will develop still more rapidly in the next hundred years. Consequently, still more arduous struggles and still greater victories lie ahead of contemporary Marxist-Leninists and all other revolutionaries. While entrusting contemporary Marxist-Leninists and all other revolutionaries with arduous missions, history has at the same time created a wide stage of action for them. On this stage of history all real revolutionary heroes can perform many a revolutionary drama, full of sound and colour, power and grandeur, provided that they truly grasp the invincible weapon of Marxism-Leninism, truly rely on the broad masses of the people, and are courageous and skilful in waging struggles Innumerable revolutionary forerunners have opened up the road, set the example and accumulated experience for us. The contemporary Marxist-Leninists and all other revolutionaries can, and should, make more contributions than their predecessors To find men truly great and noblehearted We must look here in the present. Let us hold aloft the revolutionary banner of Marxism-Leninism and boldly advance in the fight against imperialism, reaction and modern revisionism, for world peace, national liberation, people’s democracy and socialism, for the gradual achievement of complete victory in the proletarian world revolution and for the building of a new world without imperialism, without capitalism and without the exploitation of man by man! Table of Contents