CP of Sweden
Contribution of the Communist Party of Sweden
to the ECI teleconference on the occasion of the
100th anniversary of the founding of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Dear Comrades,
The 100th anniversary of the founding of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is an important occasion for those who struggle against capitalism and for the achievement of socialism. The Communist Party of Sweden therefore wishes to thank the Communist Party of Greece for hosting this virtual conference of the Initiative of Communist and Workers’ Parties, and for providing technical support and interpretation services.
In itself the founding of the Soviet Union was a great achievement. This lead to further achievements, which in this present company surely need not be recounted. Yet the great victory against fascism during World War II, achieved at great cost by the Soviet people, must even now be mentioned and honored. An achievement even greater in the context of the Russian Empire having been one of the most backwards countries in Europe, which suffered great losses during the First World War, and then the devastation that the war of imperialist intervention, the so-called civil war, brought upon the new Soviet Russia and its people.
Through the bloodshed and misery of the First World War came about a situation in Russia which the Bolsheviks, under the leadership of Lenin, would capitalize on to bring about the October Revolution, the first successful proletarian revolution. Yet in this context we must not forget how many parties of the Second International betrayed the proletariat at the start of the First World War. In taking a chauvinist position and siding with their own countries’ capital, even voting for war credits for their respective countries to be able to wage war, these parties turned their back on the working peoples they were supposed to represent. Instead of opposing the imperialist war they became complicit with the bourgeoisie in forcing workers to slaughter their fellow workers from other countries. For the workers there was never the question of winning, but only losing, as they themselves stood nothing to gain, their lives being the stakes in monopoly capital’s great gamble.
The Bolsheviks however maintained their pro-worker, anti-imperialist stance, rather than becoming bourgeois collaborators, and therefore vehemently opposed the war. Only through that uncompromising stance could the Bolsheviks be the party that led the first successful socialist revolution, the revolution that resulted in the founding of the great Soviet Union, which we now honor a hundred years later.
When the hoped-for world revolution didn’t materialize, following the October Revolution, the Soviet Union faced the enormous challenge of being an enclave of socialism. Though the imperialist intervention after the October Revolution failed to crush the nascent workers’ state, there was never a question of the imperialist powers giving up and accepting the existence of a socialist state.
The defense of the Soviet revolution against the advanced capitalist countries called for a titanic effort of education, industrialization and collectivization of agricultural production. When the attack came it was concentrated and genocidal, led by Germany’s fascist Hitler regime with the assistance of other fascist states. The most reactionary, nakedly anti-worker states turned the focus of their imperialist ambitions towards the resources of the Soviet Union, and towards crushing the greatest threat to the whole imperialist system; the great Soviet Union guided by Marxism-Leninism.
We all know where the ambitions of the fascist imperialists lead; to the Red Banner flying over the German Reichstag in May of 1945. To this day the people of the world owe a debt of gratitude to the Soviet Union and its people for their unmatched role in defeating the fascist Third Reich, and for the sacrifices they made to that end.
As heroic, important and necessary the victory over fascism in the Second World War was, it could not, however, be the final victory over fascism. That final victory still lies ahead of us, and will only be brought about by the final victory of socialism over capitalism. As long as capitalism exists, with its inherent class contradictions, fascism will exist. Maybe not always in the foreground, but even then waiting in the wings, for when the facade of liberal democracy must be dropped, in favor of unmasked class-based violence, to once more increase the rate of exploitation of the working peoples. The bourgeoisie will use any and all means necessary to secure their profits, just as they will for securing their status as the ruling class, and the continued existence of the capitalist mode of production, which their own existence depends on.
In conclusion, any victory over fascism will be a temporary victory unless capitalism can be defeated and replaced with socialism. Furthermore, we should not forget that the conflict between the Western Allies and the Axis Powers in World War II was in its nature an imperialist conflict, with imperialist powers seeking to gain advantages or to curtail opposing powers’ gains. Capitalist states have never had any problem with fighting one fascist state, only to turn around and make alliances with others.
Thus there can be no comparison between capitalist states claiming to fight fascism as they wrestle for position in the imperialist system on the one hand, and on the other the Soviet Union crushing fascism and bringing liberation to oppressed peoples.
Comrades,
As we look back on the history of the Soviet Union we find great inspiration in its achievements. It shows that another world is not merely a dream, but a possible reality.The many lessons to be found in the building of the Soviet Union, and the counter-revolution which brought it to an end, live on in the revolutionary work of communist today and will continue to influence the struggle towards a socialist tomorrow.
Thank you