America Is Both Terrifying and Not Terrifying [I]
(April 29, 1955)

Our view of America can be said to be that it is terrifying, yet also not terrifying. America has a few atomic bombs in its hands. If we say we are not afraid of it, then why do we engage in the peace movement? But in fact it is also not terrifying. At present, America has established military bases across the vast intermediate zone, from Tokyo to London, pinning down over one million of its three million troops on these bases, unable to move at all. This does not look like a posture for fighting a war. America pursues a policy of strength, but if a war really breaks out, the intermediate zone will be finished first. However, among the people of this vast intermediate zone, the two continents of Asia and Africa alone have 1.4 billion people, and there are also the people of Europe—all are our allies in opposing American aggression. Therefore, we have a great deal of work to do both domestically and internationally, and America will ultimately be isolated. In other countries, those who support America’s war policy will also become increasingly isolated. Such people may exist in every country; I think there are people like Chiang Kai-shek in Britain as well.

The question at present is: peace or war? If war breaks out, the capitalist system will meet its end somewhat sooner; if it does not break out, it can live a few more years.

We call U.S. imperialism a paper tiger, and it still clamors and does not believe it. It can be said that if war breaks out, in the initial stages and in its forms of manifestation, it might be an iron tiger, but later on it will become a paper tiger. Because U.S. imperialism does not enjoy popular support and the people oppose it, it can only contain the substance of a paper tiger within the form of an iron tiger. Hitler was the same, but the paper-tiger element in U.S. imperialism is even greater. The American military is everywhere unwelcome. America has three million troops, yet one and a half million are stationed around the world. In this way it has pinned down its own forces and is unable to fight a war. It seems that America now wants to seize some places, but it may not necessarily start a war. If only we have fifty years of peace, we can carry out ten five-year plans. At the same time, during these fifty years, the people in the countries under American control will find it intolerable and will rise up to throw off American control. But if U.S. imperialism really wants to fight, we are not afraid either. We do not want to fight, but if it comes to fight, then we will sweep it a few times. In Asia, Africa, and Europe, we are confident of sweeping it. If war breaks out, the three continents will all speak with one voice. Because we have strength, we are not afraid of imperialism.

We must strive to prevent the outbreak of war. If war cannot be prevented by any chance, we are prepared to fight for a few years and sweep the war off the lands of the three continents. The First World War lasted only four years, the Second World War lasted five or six years; let us prepare for the Third World War to last ten years.

Since the beginning of human history, there have been only two world wars. The first produced the Soviet Union, and the second produced people’s democratic countries with a population of 800 million. After the Second World War, two new types of countries also emerged: the first type is China and the people’s democratic countries; the second type is independent and semi-independent countries such as India, Burma, and Indonesia. Therefore, without waiting for the facts to emerge, we can draw this conclusion: if a third world war occurs, the capitalist world will be finished. If there are madmen who want to start a war, it is nothing remarkable—what will perish is imperialism.

April 29, 1955. Mao Zedong meeting with Harry Pollitt, Chairman of the Communist Party of Great Britain.