I. G. MAIRER. The CPSU Experience Benefits the Entire International Communist ana Labour Movement
The Twenty-Second CPSU Congress, the article says, was an epochal event for the entire international Communist movement. It summed up the major successes gained by the Soviet people in the process of full-scale communist construction, discussed and approved the new CPSU Programme which has justifiably come to be called "the Communist Manifesto of our era." Imbued with the creative spirit of Leninism, the new CPSU Programme enriches the ideological treasure-store of the Communist movement, organically combines theory with practice and serves as a brilliant example of providing scientific solutions to concrete problems of the development of human society. The article points out that the new CPSU Programme gives a comprehensive analysis of the basic processes of social progress in conditions of the present epoch, demonstrates the historical inevitability of mankind's transition from capitalism to socialism and contains a concrete, scientifically substantiated plan for the building of a communist society. It demonstrates anew the vast theoretical and practical activity carried on by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which is unswervingly guided by V.I. Lenin's principle that the revolutionary theory is not a dogma, that it is steadfastly developing in close connection with the practice of the revolutionary movement and must serve practice, illumining the road to communism.
For nearly six decades the Party of the great Lenin has been marching in the van of the international working-class movement and has served as a model in the creative development of Marxist theory, as a shining example of unswerving fidelity to the cause of the revolution, as an inexhaustible source of instructive lessons for the Communist Parties of other countries.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union has rendered an inestimable service to the international working class by creatively developing the brilliant theses of Karl Marx and V.I. Lenin on two phases of communism and elaborating the concrete path of transition from socialism to communism. A comprehensive analysis of this path is of exceptional significance not only for the Soviet Union but for the whole of mankind, since this path will in the near future be followed by the other socialist countries and subsequently by the peoples of the whole world.
The Rumanian Workers' Party, the author writes, has always drawn and continues to draw on the vast experience accumulated by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the building of socialism and communism. This experience enables it to draw valuable conclusions allowing us more confidently to solve the complex problems arising in the process of building a new social system. The author further shows how in the course of the revolutionary struggle the Rumanian Workers' Party mapped out a clear programme for the building of the new society founded on the principles of Marxism-Leninism. Having briefly surveyed the struggle carried on by the Rumanian Communists since 1921, when the Communist Party was founded in Rumania, and up to the armed uprising of August 23, 1944, which culminated in the overthrow of the Antonescu government, the author goes on to characterize the stages of the people's revolution in Rumania.
The first stage, the article points out, was marked by its agrarian, anti-feudal and anti-imperialist character. In the process of completing the tasks of the bourgeois-democratic revolution the hegemony of the working class and its firm alliance with the labouring peasantry ensured the consolidation of the democratic form of government. On December 30, 1947, the monarchy was overthrown and the working class in alliance with the toiling peasantry fully took over political power; the people's democratic state essentially became a state ruled by the dictatorship of the proletariat. This signified the end of the first stage of the popular revolution and the initial process of transition to the tasks of the socialist revolution.
Then the article characterizes the principal trends of the Rumanian people's struggle under the leadership of the Workers' Party for establishing the economic basis of socialism. The Third Congress of the Rumanian Workers' Party (1960) emphasized in its decisions that Rumania had entered a new stage-the stage of completing socialist construction. The
article examines the tasks formulated by the Third Congress of the Rumanian Workers' Party for the new stage of Rumania's socialist development.
The author makes a point of stressing that the specific, concrete forms of transition to socialism in each individual country, the specific historical and national features are manifested in the general laws and underlying principles of the socialist revolution and socialist construction common to all countries. The vast international significance of the Soviet Communist Party's experience lies precisely in the fact, I.G. Maurer writes, that the example of the Soviet Union-the first country that has built a socialist society and has launched on full-scale communist construction-enables the entire international working-class movement to gain a clear understanding of the most essential, common and indispensable conditions required for the building of socialism and communism in any country.
In conclusion the author stresses the immense importance of the new CPSU Programme for the further powerful spread of the ideas of scientific communism among the peoples of the world.
Q. N. GOLIKOV. Soviet Historical Science on the Upgrade
Drawing on his analysis of extensive Soviet historical literature, the author sums up the results of research into the history of socialist and communist construction in the U.S.S.R.
In the opening part of the article the author, proceeding from the decisions of the Twenty-Second CPSU Congress, stresses the importance of studying the history of Soviet society and shows the close links connecting historical science with life, with the practice of communist construction, as well as its role in educating the Soviet people.
The article dwells on the significance of the new Party Programme and the materials of the Twenty-Second CPSU Congress for elaborating the problems of contemporary history.
The author shows the beneficent influence exerted by the Twentieth CPSU Congress on the development of all branches of history, notably the history of Soviet society, emphasizing the role played by this Congress in exposing the Stalin personality cult. The article highlights the new features characteristic of the development of the history of Soviet society in the period between the Twentieth and Twenty-Second CPSU Congresses: general extension of the scope of research work, heightening its theoretical-scientific level, elaboration of the most important and pressing themes, the creation of generalized works, more extensive publication of monographs and widening the scope of source research.
Then G. N. Golikov examines the elaboration of individual problems. Research in the history of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the author writes, has been proceeding with particular intensity in recent years. Some 7,000 works have been produced in connection with the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution. At the same time the author points out that much effort is still required in the field of creating a fundamental many-volume work devoted to the history of the October Revolution as well as in the field of monographic research in diverse aspects of the Party's activity during this period, in the history of the working-class struggle, the history of the Soviets, the establishment and consolidation of the proletarian state, the deep-going social-economic, political and cultural changes wrought by the Revolution. Publication of the five-volume edition of the "History of the Civil War in the U.S.S.R." is regarded by the author as a major event in the study of the Soviet people's struggle against foreign intervention and the Whiteguard counter-revolutionary forces. The total number of publications devoted to this period of Soviet history comes to nearly 500. The author points to the remarkable progress made by our researchers in studying the history of the Great Patriotic War. Research into this period has produced hundreds of scientific works and some 2,000 theses which earned their authors scientific degrees. But the most significant result of creative scientific efforts in this field is the publication of the first three volumes of the "History of the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War, 1941 - 1945," and intensive work on the subsequent volumes.
The article reviews the results of research in the history of socialist and communist construction-the history of Soviet industrialization and of the working class, the history of our factories and mills, of the socialist transformations in the countryside, the history of the cultural revolution, national and state development and the solution of the national problem in the U.S.S.R. G.N. Golikov also examines the progress of research work in the history of the Soviet Union's foreign policy, emphasizing that upwards of 800 works devoted to this theme, including a number of summarized and generalized publications, have been put out since 1953. The article points out that considerable progress has been made in recent years in the development of source research devoted to the history of Soviet society. Nearly 400 documentary collections embracing every aspect of the history of the socialist state have been published since 1956. The author also describes the important work done by Soviet historians in analyzing and exposing bourgeois reactionary literature which falsifies the history of Soviet society.
Ill conclusion (he author formulates the tasks confronting Soviet historians in connection with the new Party Programme and the decisions adopted by the Twenty-Second CPSL' Congress.
N. A. FOKIN. The Basic Problems Examined in the Second Volume of "The History of the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War"
The article briefly reviews the main problems reflected in the recently published second volume of the six-volume "History of the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War, 1941 - 1945." The volume is devoted to the most difficult period of the Great Patriotic War (June 22, 1941-November 18, 1942), when the Soviet people exerted every effort to repel nazi Germany's treacherous attack and was gradually creating the conditions for a radical change in the progress of war.
The volume opens with an analysis of the unfavourable situation in which the Soviet Union had to start military operations at the battle fronts and reveals the causes of the temporary setbacks suffered by the Red Army in the initial period of the war (the suddenness of the nazi attack, the superiority in armaments and combat strength enjoyed by the Hitler hordes in the first months of the war, the error committed by J. V. Stalin and. the top leaders of the U.S.S.R. People's Commissariat of Defence in underestimating the real threat of war, etc.).
Much space is given by the author to an analysis of the Communist Party and Soviet government's programme of mobilizing the country's forces to repel the enemy and outlining ways and means of achieving a speedy victory. This problem is comprehensively examined in the second volume of "The History of the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War." Among other things, the volume describes the measures taken by the Communist Party to strengthen the Soviet Union's Armed Forces by reinforcing Party leadership in the Army, as well as to stimulate the development of the partisan movement in the Soviet areas temporarily occupied by the enemy. Attaching great importance to the process of reconverting the Soviet national economy along military lines and to the Soviet government's foreign policy, the author shows how these problems are reflected in the second volume.
The author's attention is focussed on an analysis of hostilities at the Soviet-German front from the summer of 1941 to the autumn of 1942. The article examines the most important aspects of this question dealt with in the volume. The author briefly reviews the progress and outcome of the summer-autumn campaign in 1941 and of the winter campaign of 1941 - 42, when the fascist army (primarily in the Battle of Moscow) suffered its first major defeat in World War II. As is stressed in the volume, only the delay in the opening of a second front in Europe enabled the nazi command to overcome the consequences of this defeat, fill up the heavy losses, retain its superiority in armaments and launch another offensive on the southern flank of the Soviet-German front during the summer campaign of 1942. The volume shows the progress of the defensive battles fought at Stalingrad in the autumn of 1942.
The author further reviews the military and political results of the initial period of the Great Patriotic War, when the Red Army proved strong enough not only to withstand the powerful onslaught of the nazi bloc's armed forces but also to crash their attacking might. The second volume of "The History of the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War" brings out the distinguishing features of the Soviet defensive and offensive strategy characteristic of this stage of the war. The article cites the main conclusions drawn by the authors of the second volume on the basis of studying the progress of hostilities in 1941 - 42.
The author makes a point of stressing that the second volume of "The History of the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War" vividly illustrates the titanic organizational work carried out by the Communist Party on the battle fronts and in the rear. The Party's effective leadership made it possible to cope with the gigantic task of shifting the productive forces from the Western parts of the country to the Eastern areas and establishing, in the shortest possible period, of a well-organized military economy capable of providing the Red Army with everything necessary for a victorious struggle. The article cites the basic statistical data from the second volume showing the overwhelming superiority attained by Soviet industry over nazi Germany in the production of armaments and war materiel already in 1942.
The concluding part of the article describes the Soviet Union's efforts to organize an anti-Hitler coalition. This problem is comprehensively examined in the second volume of "The History of the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War," which shows the fundamentally different attitude of the U.S.S.R. and the American and British governments towards the fulfilment of their Allied obligations. The volume also shows the influence exerted by the Soviet people's struggle and the early victories of the Red Army on the development of ihe Resistance Movement in the European countries occupied by nazi Germany. In conclusion the author shows how the problem of the decisive significance of the Soviet-German front in World War II has been solved in the new edition.
M. S. VOLIN. The Bolshevik Party's First Programme and Its International Significance
The article illustrates the role of the Bolshevik Party's first programme adopted by the Second Congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party in 1903, in the struggle of Marxism against revisionism at the beginning of the 20th century. An outstanding role in the drafting of this programme, which generalized the international revolutionary-experience, belongs to V. I. Lenin.
The first part of the article dwells on the maximum programme which consistently developed the Marxist teaching of the world-liberation mission of the proletariat as the most consistent revolutionary class in human history. At that period the Russian Marxist Party was the only one in the world to formulate in its programme with the utmost clarity the idea of the socialist revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat, to advance the aim of winning over the non-proletarian sections of the toiling masses to the side of the working class. This programme was directed against opportunism. The article shows the gradual penetration of opportunism into the ideology of West-European Socialist parties, which found its reflection in their programmes. Drawing on his concrete analysis of these programmes, the author proves that they failed to conform to the requirements of the new historical epoch, when the task of mobilizing the proletariat for the revolutionary struggle for power was of paramount significance. These programmes contained no mention of proletarian dictatorship and completely by-passed the question of the working-class allies in the socialist revolution. Quite different was the R.S.D.L.P. programme, in which all problems of Marxist policy were solved in the spirit of a revolutionary struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat. That explains the vast international significance of the revolutionary Marxist programme adopted at the Second Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. It undermined the foundations of the obsolete concepts and views prevailing in the Second International.
The second part of the article is devoted to the minimum programme of the R.S.D.L.P. and its significance for the development of the Marxist theory and policy. The author compares the Bolsheviks' programme with those adopted by the parties of the Second International. The Bolsheviks fought under the republican banner whereas the West-European Socialists displayed an unpardonable indifference to the struggle for a republic. The Bolsheviks put forward the most democratic platform for the solution of the national question whereas the European Socialists completely by-passed in their programmes the right of every nation to self-determination. In their agrarian programmes the parties of the Second International abandoned the class positions of the proletariat and adapted themselves to private ownership instincts of the wealthy sections of the rural community, while the agrarian programme of the R.S.D.L.P. armed the peasants with the revolutionary slogans of struggle against the survivals of medievalism and the yoke of capital. His careful analysis of the minimum programmes leads the author to the following conclusions. The programmes of immediate demands put forward by the parties of the Second International were distinguished for their opportunism. The Western Social-Democrats were unable to link the struggle for democracy with the fight for socialism. They did not come out as the forward-looking representatives of the people and did not advance in their programmes any major historical tasks connected with the development of their countries. In the R.S.D.L.P. programme, on the other hand, democratic demands were subordinated to the aims of the revolutionary struggle for socialism. The working class of Russia won the respect and recognition of the entire people as the foremost champion of democracy. The Bolsheviks put forward the most revolutionary and consistently democratic minimum programme in the entire international working-class movement.
The third part of the article shows that the R.S.D.L.P. programme contained a lucid and scientifically substantiated answer to the fundamental problem of the working-class movement-the role of the Marxist Party in the struggle for the revolutionary transformation of society. The author reveals how Lenin elaborated his teaching of a new-type party in the struggle against the enemies of Marxism. In the "Manifesto of the Communist party"-the first programmatic document of scientific communism-Marx and Engels expressed the idea that the party is the vanguard detachment and leader of the working class. In the programmes adopted by the parties of the Second International this fundamental Marxist thesis was consigned to oblivion. These programmes did not formulate with sufficient clarity the idea of the party's leading role in the struggle of the masses For a better world. History proved that this was not accidental. The Bolshevik Party's programme further developed Marx's and Engels's views on the party. The programme's definition of the role of a Marxist party as the political leader of the proletariat, which directs every aspect of its struggle and wins over all the toiling and exploited masses to its side, was of inestimable value to the international working-class movement.
In conclusion the author writes that the first programme of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union appeared at the very dawn of a new era - the era of imperialism. History put the task of liberating the whole of mankind on the shoulders of the working class as the most progressive social force and the chief bearer of social progress. But this task could not be accomplished under the leadership of the old Social-Democratic parties which reconciled themselves to opportunism and completely ignored in their programmes the most burning problems of the epoch. The working class needed a party of the new type, armed with a new, revolutionary programme. A party of this kind was born in Russia,
whose working class was moved to the forefront of struggle for the freedom of the whole of mankind by the entire march of history. This was the Bolshevik Party founded by Lenin. At its Second Congress it adopted a programme of struggle for mankind's fundamental aims, which united all revolutionary forces in the battle for socialism. This programme graphically showed how proletarian internationalists should perform their duties to their people and to the entire international working-class movement. This programme became a sharp weapon in the struggle against revisionism and dogmatism. It taught people to think and act in a revolutionary manner and trained staunch fighters for the freedom and happiness of the popular masses. Today the Communist Party of the Soviet Union-the party of the revolutionary transformers of society, which grew and matured on the granite foundation of this programme under Lenin's leadership-has adopted its third programme, a programme for the building of communist society.
V. E. POLETAYEV. The Postwar Changes in the Numerical Strength and Composition of Moscow's Workers
The article points out that Moscow's industry provides a graphic example of the important changes that have taken place in the numerical strength and composition of the Soviet working class in the period following the Great Patriotic War. Fully conforming to the law of extended reproduction of the labour force in socialist society, these changes are accompanied by a steady increase in the number of workers directly employed in material production and are attended by the uninterrupted growth of workers' skill and cultural level and by the planned character of extended reproduction of the labour force.
The author notes that during the war years the Soviet working class underwent great changes. The mobilization of large contingents of workers into the army in 1943 reduced the numerical strength of the total labour force by 38 per cent compared with 1940. At the same time there was a steady influx of young people, women and elderly persons in industrial production. However, even in 1945 the aggregate number of industrial and office workers employed in Soviet enterprises amounted to 86.4 per cent of the 1940 level. Much the same situation obtained in Moscow-the Soviet Union's major industrial centre, where the total numerical strength of the labour force decreased by 1,300,000 in 1942, amounting to 60 per cent of the 1940 level. And although in the subsequent war years the number of workers and office employees in the Soviet capital was growing steadily, reaching 1,700,000 by September 1945, it nevertheless did not exceed 77.1 per cent of the prewar figure.
After the war the number of workers in Moscow began to grow rapidly and already in 1950 amounted to 103.3 per cent of the 1940 level. However, this swift increase in the number of industrial workers was accompanied by the growing withdrawal from industry of large numbers of people drawn into the process of production by the wartime situation. These had to be replaced by the old labour force coming back from the army, as well as by new contingents of workers recruited from the labour reserves or constituting freely hired manpower. All this tended to improve the composition of workers and raise the productivity of their labour in industry.
The growth in the numerical strength of Moscow's working class became particularly rapid in the period 1947 - 1950, when the number of industrial and office workers employed in the factories and mills of the Soviet capital increased by 29.5 per cent compared with 1946. In the subsequent period the rate of this growth declined to a certain extent owing to the fact that increased output was basically achieved by the improvement and perfection of production processes at industrial establishments. This went hand in hand with the process of marked improvement in the structure of the working class with regard to the age composition, working record and the cultural, technical and general-education level. The article contains extensive material illustrating the growing skill of workers and the rise in their cultural and technical level. The author draws attention to the fact that the Soviet Union has an extensive network of evening and correspondence courses, educational establishments and schools for young workers. Moscow's major industrial enterprises, such as the Likhachov Automobile Plant, the Hammer and Sickle Metallurgical Plant, the Dynamo, Kalibr, Krasny Proletary and other engineering works, have become veritable university centres. The number of the Moscow enterprises where the overwhelming majority of industrial and office workers have a secondary education is growing steadily. For example, in 1954 more than 70 per cent of the workers employed at the Likhachov Automobile Plant were graduates of secondary general-education or technical schools. The high general-education level of industrial and office workers makes for a rapid growth of their professional skill, enables them to master complex and highly efficient machines and mechanisms and contributes to the appearance of new professions or changing the character of existing ones. The high cultural and technical level of the working class has served as a basis for the extensive development of the movement of production innovators in the postwar years, particularly for the spread of the Communist Labour movement.
The important qualitative changes in the composition of the working class in the postwar period, the author writes in conclusion, have largely contributed to the successes
scored by the working class of .Moscow and of the Soviet Union as a whole in the sustained effort to rehabilitate and further develop the national economy and have infused it with fresh strength and determination to solve the majestic tasks of building a communist society in the U.S.S.R.
M. T. BELYAVSKY. M. V. Lomonosov and Russian History
The activity of M.V. Lomonosov, the 250th anniversary of whose birth is observed this year, signified a whole epoch in the history of Russian culture, science, literature and education. All aspects of his many-sided, truly encyclopedic activity were organically interconnected and constituted a single whole. The article examines Lomonosov's historical works which hold a prominent place in his creative activity. For a long time these works were incorrectly interpreted and did not receive the attention they deserved. A close study of archive and other documents shows that Lomonosov began his research into Russian history on his own initiative way back in the late 1740's and that a number of his pronouncements on historical problems led him to a sharp collision with the leadership of the Academy of Sciences and the court circles.
An exceptionally important place in Lomonosov's works on Russian history belongs to his trenchant criticism of the Norman theory. Investigating the origin of Eastern Slavs and the rise and development of their statehood, Lomonosov, contrary to the Normanists, laid his emphasis on the processes of internal development. In doing so he did not deny the significance of external factors but only showed their subordinate role. Lomonosov established that the Normanists' fundamental theses were based on a tendentious selection and use of historical sources. Stressing the necessity of drawing on Russian chronicles and other documents, Lomonosov at the same time demanded a critical attitude to historical sources, their verification and comparative analysis.
In his polemics with the Normanists on cardinal problems of history, the author writes, Lomonosov adopted a correct stand and was the first to put forward a number of important theses which were fully corroborated in the process of analyzing new archeological and other materials. Among these are his theories concerning the territory occupied by Eastern Slavs in ancient times, the part played by Slavs in bringing about the downfall on the Roman Empire, the level of economic and cultural development of Eastern Slavs, the place held by the Ancient Russian State among other European countries, etc. Lomonosov made an attempt to focuss the historian's attention on the history of the people.
The article further says that Lomonosov's views on historical events in Russia in the 12th - 18th centuries and his appraisal of the most prominent statesmen of that period are contained in his literary and publicistic works, in the themes he suggested for historical paintings, in his comments on Voltaire's "History of Russia Under Peter the Great." Lomonosov devoted particular attention to events and leaders associated with the Russian people's struggle for their independence, with the efforts to eliminate the dismemberment of Russia and unite all Russian territories into a single national state. In full conformity with the views prevailing at that period and the widespread theory of "enlightened absolutism." Lomonosov identified the process of formation of a single national Russian state with the process of establishing autocracy in Russia.
Particular attention in Lomonosov's works, the author points out, is attached to the activity of Peter I, who vastly contributed to the consolidation of Russia's economic and military might, to the promotion of national culture and education, to the elimination of the country's economic arid cultural backwardness. In analyzing the activity of Peter I and his predecessors, Lomonosov singled out and accentuated only one progressive aspect expressive of rational Interests. This tactic was largely determined, among other things, by the fact that Lomonosov was strongly influenced by his peasant's faith in a "good tsar" and by the theory of enlightened absolutism - a theory distinguished for its objectively anti-feudal spirit. Characteristic of Lomonosov, in the author's opinion, was an enlight-ener's conception of this theory. There is no mention of the rights and privileges of the nobility in his works, but they contain a number of sharp statements directed against the nobility and the court aristocracy. Lomonosov insistently demanded strict observance of the principle of equality in education, being strongly opposed to any privileges for the propertied classes. A number of Lomonosov's works, especially those devoted to the Russian people's heroic past and military victories, are permeated with passionate appeals for peace.
In the concluding part of his article the author writes that Lomonosov's historical works laid the beginning for a democratic trend in Russian historiography, which focussed attention on historical destinies of the people. This trend was given further development in the works of Radishchev, the Decembrists, revolutionary democrats and the finest representatives of Russian historical science. All this defines the role and significance in Russian historiography of the brilliant scientist, thinker, citizen and poet who rose from the midst of the Russian people 250 vears ago.
S. P. TOLSTOV. Certain Problems of World History in the Light of Contemporary Historical Ethnography
S. P. Tolsiov's article sums up the results of research work carried out by Soviet ethnographers in the field of re-creating in general outline the picture of the historical development of primitive human society.
In the first part of the article the author subjects to criticism-diverse artificial constructions predominant in bourgeois ethnography, such as "cultural circles," "cultures" or "cultural models," etc., and shows the methodological helplessness of bourgeois researchers in their futile and still continuing attempts to "refute" the conclusions drawn by Friedrich Engels in his famous work "The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State." The author cites numerous examples to illustrate how bourgeois scientists ignore the principle of absolute chronology, arbitrarily carrying over the 19th- and 20th-century data on the life of backward peoples into the remote past. It is precisely with the help of such data that bourgeois researchers have tried and are still trying to "prove" the immutability of the elements of private property and the monogamic family in its patriarchal form.
The author further shows the principal stages in the development of mankind on the basis of his interpretive generalization of the work done by Soviet researchers.
The first stage of human society embraces a period of several hundred millenniums, from the earliest fossil forms of Hominidae to the modern type of man (map I). The archeological and other materials pertaining to this epoch, which is known as the period of the primitive human herd, are still woefully inadequate. The next stage-from the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic to the Mesolithic and early Neolithic-comprises a vast historical epoch embracing several dozen millenniums. This epoch is characterized by a semi-nomad animal-hunting economy, well-developed art of making flint and bone tools and implements, the matriarchal-clan organization and specific forms of primitive religion. A relatively narrow settlement area of primitive men during that epoch (see map II) explains the comparatively insignificant differentiation of the types of culture. In the Neolithic era embracing only a few millenniums humanity made immense progress in the development of material culture: the invention of bow and arrow made a veritable revolution in the art of primitive hunting, pottery-making radically changed man's diet and the appearance of agriculture profoundly revolutionized the entire economy of primitive society. The discovery of metals at the close of that epoch paved the way for transition to the primitive "industrial revolution." During this historical period the entire humanity was still in the stage dominated by the primitive commune in its matriarchal-clan form (map III).
The period of transition to the metal age for the first time demonstrated considerable differences in the rate of progressive historical development of diverse economic zones (map IV). Over 5,000 years ago the first state formations connected with the appearance of ancient antagonistic societies in the early slaveowning form began to take shape in the zone of intensive agriculture. But the overwhelming majority of nations continued to live under the primitive economic and social system during that epoch (IV-II millenniums B.C.). Particular emphasis in this connection is laid by the author on the areas of the New World. Summing up the results of research carried out by Soviet ethnographers, the author points out that the long-protracted process of developing these areas was responsible for the lag in economic development characteristic of America, Australia and Oceania.
The subsequent stage in the history of humanity is characterized by the author as a period of the highest development of the slaveowning system and the beginning of its decline in connection with the birth of the new, feudal system in its womb (map V).
The author further paints a vivid and complex picture of the life of humanity at the dawn of the Christian era (map VI). The attempts to explain the existing multiformity in the social and cultural development levels of various modern nations by the racial criterion, by eternally existing "models of culture" allegedly inherent in different nations or by diverse theories on the "relative value of culture" do not hold water when confronted with facts. The author notes that these distinctions can only be explained by the different conditions attending the development of one or another nation.
S. L. TIKHVINSKY. Sun Yat-sen's Foreign Policy in American Historiography
In the opening part of the article the author shows the principal stages in the development of the foreign-policy views oi Sun Yat-sen (1866 - 1925), the great Chinese revolutionary democrat and passionate fighter for the Chinese people's national independence, freedom and happiness. From the very beginning of his revolutionary activity Sun Yat-sen was an ardent champion of the struggle waged by the oppressed peoples of Asia for their national liberation. However, he was unable to rife independently to a correct understanding of the predatory nature of imperialism and the need of waging a resolute struggle against it. The mighty upsurge of the national-liberation struggle of the Chinese
people and other Eastern nations after the Great October Socialist Revolution and the revolutionary activity of the Kwangchow government headed by Sun Yat-sen exerted an exceptionally strong influence on him. In the last years of his life he repeatedly came out with passionate statements denouncing the shameful colonialist system and urged the oppressed peoples of all lands to unite with Soviet Russia and carry on a joint struggle against imperialism.
After a brief survey of Soviet historical works devoted to Sun Yat-sen the author proceeds to the second part of his article, in which he critically examines a number of books on Sun Yat-sen written by American authors. In the development of American historiography on Sun Yat-sen, including his foreign policy and foreign-policy "views, S.L. Tikhvinsky singles out three major periods:
1. The period of American historians' initial interest in Sun Yat-sen, connected with the revolution of 1911, the first world war and Sun Yat-sen's activity as the head of the South China revolutionary government. The few books which appeared during that period clearly testify to the underestimation of Sun Yat-sen in the U.S.A. and are indicative of the failure to understand his policy.
2. The books published in the second period (1930's and 1940's), when the Kuomintang openly betrayed Sun Yat-sen's behests and adopted the path of serving the interests of internal, feudal-comprador, and external, imperialist reaction, are marked by American authors' unconcealed attempts to depict Sun Yat-sen as a staunch supporter of the U.S.A. and other imperialist powers and as a confirmed opponent of the Soviet Union. In this respect the viewpoints of a number of American bourgeois historians directly coincide with the pronouncements made by representatives of such reactionary forces as, for instance, the Kuomintang and Vatican "theoreticians." However, even in those years one could hear sober voices among American historians, exposing the distortions of Sun Yat-sen's teaching by the reactionary Kuomintang clique.
3. The third period dates back to 1949 when, following the triumph of the Chinese revolution and the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, the polarization in the ranks of American historians became more pronounced. Side by side with unceasing attempts to depict Sun Yat-sen as a faithful friend of the West and a victim of "Communist intrigues," there began to appear in recent years more or less objective researches recognizing the underlying anti-imperialist trend of Sun Yat-sen's activity. At the present time the American researchers are continuing their discussion concerning the appraisal of Sun Yat-sen's activity, criticizing the mistakes and blunders committed in different periods by U.S. foreign policy in relation to China and Sun Yat-sen. The works comprehensively examined by S.L. Tikhvinsky in his article do not exhaust the long list of publications devoted to Sun Yat-sen, but merely represent, in his opinion, the most typical works by American historians bearing direct relation to the question of studying Sun Yat-sen's foreign-policy views and his practical activity in the sphere of foreign policy. The works by American historians, which are subjected to a critical analysis in the present article, enable the reader to form a clear idea of the basic trends of the ideological struggle that has been going on for a long time around the question of appraising the activity of the great Chinese revolutionary democrat Sun Yat-sen. Sun Yat-sen was the first bourgeois political leader in the Eastern countries who openly accepted the proposal of the Communist Party of his country to mobilize all the healthy forces of the nation for the struggle against imperialism. Therein lies his great historical service. The united national anti-imperialist front founded in 1924 on the initiative of the Communist Party of China with the active participation and assistance of Sun Yat-sen played a prominent part in stimulating a new powerful upsurge of the Chinese people's national-liberation struggle.
Many of Sun Yat-sen's foreign-policy statements and documents retain all their import and urgency in our days. Among these are his numerous statements on Sino-Soviet friendship, on closer unity of the oppressed nations of the world and their cooperation with the Soviet Union in the struggle against the imperialist system of colonial oppression, etc.
All-round and objective study of Sun Yat-sen's foreign policy and foreign-policy views and the exposure of bourgeois historians' wrong and hostile theories in this field are of great scientific and political significance in our days. No matter how the defenders of the disgraceful imperialist colonial system rage and fume, no matter what they write about Sun Yat-sen, he has forever gone down in history as a loyal son of the Chinese people, as an ardent patriot and passionate champion of the freedom and independence of his country, as a great and sincere friend of the Soviet Union, as a staunch ally of the Asian, African and Latin-American peoples oppressed by imperialism.
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