Today we are holding a grand meeting to celebrate Comrade Stalin’s sixtieth birthday. “It has been rare since ancient times for a man to live to seventy”; sixty years of age is indeed a rare milestone in this world. But why do we single out Stalin for celebration? Moreover, such celebrations are taking place not only in Yan’an, but throughout the country and even across the globe—anyone who knows it is his birthday, anyone who understands his character, and anyone who is oppressed will join in the festivities. The reason is that Comrade Stalin is the savior of all the oppressed.

Who would oppose or seek to prevent this celebration? Only those who themselves are not oppressed but merely oppress others—in the first instance, the imperialists.

Comrades, here we have a foreigner, thousands upon thousands of miles away; and yet people everywhere are celebrating his birthday. This is truly a first in history!

This is because he leads the great Soviet Union; because he leads the great Communist International; because he leads the worldwide liberation movement, which has come to China’s aid in its struggle against Japan.

The world today is divided into two opposing fronts. On one side stand the imperialists—the front of oppression. On the other side stands socialism—the front of resistance to oppression. Some may fancy themselves as standing in the middle, but since their adversary is imperialism, they cannot help but regard socialism as their friend and must align themselves with the revolutionary camp of those fighting against oppression. In China, certain diehards try to have it both ways: they profess to be nonaligned while simultaneously opposing the Communists on the one hand and resisting Japan on the other. Yet they will ultimately fail. Unless they repent, they will inevitably drift toward counterrevolution. Both the revolutionary and the counterrevolutionary camps require leadership, a commander-in-chief. Who commands the counterrevolutionary camp? Imperialism—Chamberlain. Who commands the revolutionary camp? Socialism—Stalin. Comrade Stalin is the leader of the world revolution. This is an immensely important development: among all humankind there has emerged such a figure as Stalin. It is a momentous event. With him at the helm, matters can be set aright. You know that Marx is dead, and Lenin is dead too. If there were no Stalin, who would issue the orders? Fortunately, we now have the Soviet Union, the Communist Party, and Stalin himself; under these conditions, the affairs of the world can be managed more effectively. What, then, does a revolutionary commander do? He ensures that everyone has food to eat, clothes to wear, a roof over their head, and access to education. To achieve this, he must lead hundreds of millions of people in struggle against the oppressors and guide them to final victory. That is precisely what Stalin is doing.

If that is so, ought not all the oppressed to celebrate him? I believe they should—they certainly ought to. We should hail him and also learn from him.

There are two aspects to what we can learn from him: the theoretical and the practical.

Marxist doctrine comprises countless principles, yet at bottom it boils down to a single truth: “Rebellion is justified.” For millennia it was held that oppression and exploitation were justifiable, whereas rebellion was unjustified. Since the advent of Marxism, however, this old order has been overturned—a monumental achievement. This principle was forged through the proletariat’s own struggles, and Marx drew the definitive conclusion. Guided by this principle, people rose up in resistance, engaged in struggle, and advanced along the socialist path. What, then, was Stalin’s contribution? He developed and applied this principle; he further elaborated on Marxism-Leninism, crafting for the oppressed peoples of the entire world a clear, concrete, and vivid exposition of the theory underlying the establishment of a revolutionary front, the overthrow of imperialism and capitalism, and the building of a socialist society.

As for the practical dimension, it consists in putting theory into practice. Neither Marx, nor Engels, nor Lenin succeeded in fully realizing the task of constructing socialism. Stalin accomplished this feat—an unprecedented undertaking. Before the completion of the Soviet Union’s first two Five-Year Plans, the bourgeois press incessantly proclaimed that the Soviet experiment was doomed, that socialism was untenable. But what is the situation today? Chamberlain has been silenced. So too have China’s recalcitrant elements. They, too, now acknowledge the Soviet Union’s success.

In addition to providing ideological guidance for our War of Resistance, Stalin also extended material assistance to us. Thanks to the successes of his policies, he supplied us with large quantities of aircraft, artillery pieces, pilots, military advisers for various war zones, and loans. Which other country in the world has ever rendered us such aid? Which other class, party, or individual-led nation has ever done so? None other than the Soviet Union, the proletariat, the Communist Party, and Stalin himself.

Now, some claim to be our friends, yet they are nothing more than modern-day counterparts of Li Linfu of the Tang dynasty. Li Linfu was a consummate hypocrite—sweet of tongue but treacherous at heart. All imperialists are like him. Chamberlain is today’s Li Linfu. Among the many extraterritorial privileges enjoyed by foreign powers in China—such as the right to station troops, judicial jurisdiction, and consular jurisdiction—has any imperialist power ever abolished even one? Only one has: the Soviet Union.

In the past, Marxism-Leninism served primarily as a theoretical guide for the world revolution. Now, thanks to Stalin, it has acquired the additional capacity to provide material support as well. This is Stalin’s great contribution.

Having celebrated Stalin’s birthday, we should next disseminate this message nationwide, making it abundantly clear to every one of our four hundred and fifty million compatriots that only the socialist Soviet Union—and only Stalin—can truly be China’s true friend.

Mao Zedong

(Originally published in People’s Daily, December 20, 1949)

This speech was first published in Renmin ribao, December 20, 1949. We have translated it
from Mao Zedong ji, Vol. 7, pp. 137-40, where it is reproduced from this source.