Socialism in one country
Socialism in one country is a theory which emerged before and during the October Revolution in Russia which was developed by Vladimir Lenin and formalized by Joseph Stalin as part of the ideology of Marxism–Leninism. The theory posits that it is possible to develop the socialist mode of production after a proletarian revolution without it having to be exported to other countries simultaneously, even in backwards, agrarian countries.[1]
The construction of socialism in one country is only a step towards the complete victory of socialism across the globe and elimination of the possibility of capitalist restoration, intervention by imperialist states, and counter-revolution. Socialist states must build defenses against internal reaction and external intervention and develop internationalist ties with the proletariat of other countries in order for the capitalist encirclement to be overcome and socialism to be secured.[2]
Socialism in one country is a point of division between Marxist–Leninists and Trotskyists, who instead argue for the theory of permanent revolution and deny the possibility of socialist construction in one country without the victory of revolution in other capitalist countries.[3]
References
- ↑ Vladimir Lenin (1915). On the Slogan for a United States of Europe. Available on the Marxists Internet Archive.
"A United States of the World (not of Europe alone) is the state form of the unification and freedom of nations which we associate with socialism—about the total disappearance of the state, including the democratic. As a separate slogan, however, the slogan of a United States of the World would hardly be a correct one, first, because it merges with socialism; second, because it may be wrongly interpreted to mean that the victory of socialism in a single country is impossible, and it may also create misconceptions as to the relations of such a country to the others."
"Uneven economic and political development is an absolute law of capitalism. Hence, the victory of socialism is possible first in several or even in one capitalist country alone. After expropriating the capitalists and organizing their own socialist production, the victorious proletariat of that country will arise against the rest of the world—the capitalist world—attracting to its cause the oppressed classes of other countries, stirring uprisings in those countries against the capitalists, and in case of need using even armed force against the exploiting classes and their states. The political form of a society wherein the proletariat is victorious in overthrowing the bourgeoisie will be a democratic republic, which will more and more concentrate the forces of the proletariat of a given nation or nations, in the struggle against states that have not yet gone over to socialism. The abolition of classes is impossible without a dictatorship of the oppressed class, of the proletariat. A free union of nations in socialism is impossible without a more or less prolonged and stubborn struggle of the socialist republics against the backward states." - ↑ Joseph Stalin (1938). On the Final Victory of Socialism in the U.S.S.R.. Available on the Marxists Internet Archive.
- ↑ "Socialism in One Country: Revisiting the old debate" (October 19, 2017). OtherAspect.
