The Sino-Soviet Split was a period of worsening diplomatic relations between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the People's Republic of China that arose from the Khrushchevite revisionist clique's takeover and subsequent decisions and legislation. The USSR deviated from the correct Marxist-Leninist line of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union which was implemented under Lenin and Stalin's terms as general secretary.[citation needed]
Background
In 1961, at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev claimed that the party and the broader Soviet state, had become representative of not the proletariat, but "the whole people"[1]. In Khrushchev's view, the Soviet Union had reached such an advanced stage of socialism that class struggle was no longer the primary purpose of the state. Instead, it was a purely administrative apparatus used for workers' self-management of the economy. This theory was considered by Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China to be a fundamental revisionist betrayal of Marxism-Leninism, tantamount to calling for the overthrow of the proletarian state and the restoration of capitalism. Mao published a 1964 pamphlet titled On Khrushchov’s Phony Communism and Its Historical Lessons for the World, in which he harshly criticized Khrushchev and the CPSU for these stances, calling them the "revisionist Khrushchov clique".[2]
Mao emphasized the fact that class struggle continues under socialism, including both internal and external bourgeois subversion and attempts at capitalist restoration, by quoting Lenin.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ “Thus, now class relations in our country have entered a new stage. "Proletarian democracy" is becoming "socialist democracy of the whole people".”
Nikita Khrushchev (1963). Communism -- Peace and Happiness for the Peoples (Collected Speeches of Nikita Khrushchev from January-December 1961): 'Report of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to the 22nd Congress of the C.P.S.U., October 17, 1961' (p. 112). [MIA] - ↑ “The Programme put forward by the revisionist Khrushchev clique at the 22nd Congress of the CPSU is a programme of phony communism, a revisionist programme, against proletarian revolution and for the abolition of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the proletarian party.
The revisionist Khrushchev clique abolishes the dictatorship of the proletariat behind the camouflage of the "state of the whole people", changes the proletarian character of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union behind the camouflage of the "party of the entire people", and paves the way for the restoration of capitalism.”
Mao Zedong (1964). On Khrushchov’s Phony Communism and Its Historical Lessons for the World). [MIA] - ↑ “For a very long historical period after the proletariat takes power, class struggle continues as an objective law independent of man’s will, differing only in form from what it was before the taking of power.
After the October Revolution, Lenin pointed out a number of times that:
a) The overthrown exploiters always try in a thousand and one ways to recover the "paradise" they have been deprived of.
b) New elements of capitalism are constantly and spontaneously generated in the petty-bourgeois atmosphere.
c) Political degenerates and new bourgeois elements may emerge in the ranks of the working class and among government functionaries as a result of bourgeois influence and the pervasive, corrupting influence of the petty bourgeoisie.
d) The external conditions for the continuance of class struggle within a socialist society are encirclement by international capitalism, the imperialists’ threat of armed intervention and their subversive activities to accomplish peaceful disintegration.
Life has confirmed these conclusions of Lenin’s.
In socialist society, the overthrown bourgeoisie and other reactionary classes remain strong for quite a long time, and indeed in certain respects are quite powerful. They have a thousand and one links with the international bourgeoisie. They are not reconciled to their defeat and stubbornly continue to engage in trials of strength with the proletariat. They conduct open and hidden struggles against the proletariat in every field.”
Mao Zedong (1964). On Khrushchov’s Phony Communism and Its Historical Lessons for the World). [MIA]