-November 7, 1917 according to our calendar, October 25 in the Julian calendar in use in Russia at the time-¹

The triumph of the October Revolution of 1917, led by Lenin and the Bolshevik Party, marked an extraordinary milestone in world history: the end of the bourgeois revolution and the beginning of the world proletarian revolution. This new era, marked by the rise of violence, expressed the bourgeoisie’s inability to lead the revolution and the proletariat’s maturity to take, lead and maintain the Power of the dictatorship of the proletariat, which also included the revolutions of oppressed nations.

Lenin developed Marxism and elevated it to a second stage, Marxism-Leninism. He did this in a hard struggle against the old revisionism. Revisionism is the revision of Marxist principles by invoking new circumstances. Lenin said that revisionism is an advance of the bourgeoisie into the ranks of the proletariat and that in order to fight imperialism, one must fight revisionism, as they are two sides of the same coin. Lenin emphasizes that revisionism aims to divide the union and political movement of the proletariat and that it leads to the split of socialism.

In this accurate and relentless struggle against revisionism, Lenin also proposes, in the context of the First World War, to turn the imperialist war into a revolutionary war, unmasking the old revisionists as social-patriots. He argues that in times of revolution, new organizations must be created, since reactionary forces strike at legal organizations and we must set up clandestine apparatuses even for mass work. He then brings about the October Revolution with the Communist Party and through insurrection.

From 1914 to 1918, the world was shaken by World War I, the “imperialist war of plunder” which, with the treacherous support of the old revisionism, pitted the working class and people of some powers against others for the benefit of a division of the world by the imperialist powers and their monopoly bourgeoisies. But as Lenin had foreseen, the war incubated revolution, and in 1917 the Bolshevik Party, through armed insurrection, overthrew the power of the tsarists of old Russia. Thus, with the October Revolution, a new stage for humanity began: the construction of socialism under the dictatorship of the proletariat led by the Communist Party, the New Era.

The experience of the Soviets of Russia was the continuation and development of the experience of the Paris Commune. The principles of the Commune, expounded more than once by K. Marx and F. Engels and enriched by Lenin with the new experience of the revolution in Russia, were realized for the first time in one-sixth of the globe. Marx pointed out quite rightly: The principles of the Commune are eternal and cannot be destroyed.

The imperialist wolves, trying to suffocate the new Soviet state, conspired with the counterrevolutionary forces of Russia at that time and carried out an armed intervention. However, the heroic Russian working class and the peoples of the various nationalities of the Soviet Union expelled these foreign bandits, crushed the counterrevolutionary uprisings in the country, and thereby consolidated the world’s first great socialist Republic.

Fulfilling the scientific predictions of Marx and Engels, the October Revolution established general norms for the emancipation of the working class: the need for a Communist Party to lead the revolution, the need for revolutionary violence to overthrow the old established order, and the need to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat to build socialism and march toward a future classless society. What Marx and Engels taught, Marxism in a word, was confirmed as an incontrovertible reality.

The October Revolution had repercussions throughout the world. Europe was shaken to its foundations and the proletariat set out to conquer power; the struggles in Germany, Italy and Hungary are examples of this, but although the masses were ripe for revolution, the communist parties indispensable for leading them were lacking, and fascism was generated.

The repercussions were not limited to Europe. The October Revolution spurred the anti-imperialist colonial movement, and the East was thrown into turmoil, with the Chinese Revolution becoming “the most widespread and profound sign of Asia’s awakening”. Our own America developed an anti-imperialist struggle, and the working class, having reached maturity, formed its own communist parties and gained political weight.

Stalin continued Lenin’s work and, in the process of building socialism in the USSR, fought against the deviations of Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev, which ended in 1937. It was a 13-year struggle, and it is false to say that he resolved matters administratively. We assume Chairman Mao’s position on Comrade Stalin’s role, which is 70% positive. After his death, Khrushchev’s revisionist coup and the restoration of capitalism in the USSR took place.

What is the issue here? The continuation of “the antagonistic struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, between the socialist road and the capitalist road, and between socialism and capitalism”.² What did Lenin say? That once the dictatorship of the proletariat was established, the class struggle would continue, both bloody and bloodless. Chairman Mao, taking into account what has already been said about classes, is going to present us with the fundamental law of socialism, the foundation of the general political line, which is why it is called the fundamental political line.

Chairman Mao Tsetung: “He points out that the law of the unity and struggle of opposites, which is a universal law of nature and human society, also governs socialist society. In socialist society, after the completion of the socialist transformation of ownership of the means of production, class contradictions continue to exist and the class struggle has not been extinguished. Throughout the entire stage of socialism, the struggle between the socialist and capitalist road develops. In order to ensure the building of socialism and prevent the restoration of capitalism, it is necessary to carry through to the end the socialist revolution on the political, economic, ideological, and cultural fronts. The final victory of socialism will not be achieved in one or two generations; the complete solution of this problem requires five or ten generations, and even a longer time.

What is the problem? The problem is that there is antagonistic class struggle, and it is not clear who will defeat whom. Historically, yes, we know that the proletariat will win, but politically, concretely, practically, it is an arduous struggle, a fierce struggle between socialism and capitalism. Chairman Mao, taking into account the experience of the USSR and the interrupted development of the democratic revolution into a socialist revolution, the development of class struggle in socialism, began to refer more and more to the temporal length of class struggle and socialism. The Chairman is becoming increasingly clear in pointing out to us that the process will be long; that is why, at the end of his life, he tells us to prepare for five hundred or a thousand years to reach communism. This means that after imperialism and reaction are swept from the face of the earth, and they are not yet swept away, the real construction will begin in a fierce struggle between socialism and capitalism. How long will this take? And then communism will come.

The revolution in Russia and in China have shown us how revolution takes place within a process of restoration and counterrestoration (a contradiction with two aspects). No class takes power in one fell swoop; instead, restoration occurs. Therefore, it must fight hard to counter-restore until the class finally establishes itself in power. The proletariat has already come the longest way on this path.

The experiences of restoration in the USSR and in China teach us important lessons, both positive and negative; they do not negate the common goal of all humanity, but rather demonstrate the long and complex process of the march toward communism.

What we need to see is how the dictatorship of the proletariat is established and advances, and these advances are undeniable: 1871, the Commune, short-lived but still the Commune, new Power, the dictatorship of the proletariat realized for the first time on Earth; 1905, the Soviets; 1917, 1949, 1966.

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China marks a milestone in the development of the dictatorship of the proletariat toward the consolidation of the proletariat in Power. What has been its concrete outcome? Revolutionary Committees, a development of how to further advance the dictatorship of the proletariat. These are steps in the development of the power of the proletariat toward the consolidation of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

The establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat cannot be said to be definitive; its establishment will last for a long historical period until the final leap to communism is made, at which point it will become extinct, as Engels so masterfully established. That term is extraordinary: it becomes extinct! This word is irreplaceable; no other can be used.

Draw lessons and see the course of how the class advances toward its consolidation, how the dictatorship of the proletariat advances toward its consolidation, how the vanguard of the proletariat advances in leading the revolution throughout the world: the law of restoration-counterrestoration and the steps taken, the advance of the class.

Against all expressions of historical pessimism! stands the steadfastness of the class, stands the incontrovertible historical course toward communism. Who is going to stop it? No one!.

BLOG³ NOTE: This celebratory note has been prepared by the MPP,⁴ based on party documentation. We are publishing it in accordance with our obligations.