Speech at the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
(November 6, 1957)

Source: RMRB (Nov. 7, 1957), 1-2. Other Chinese Texts: XHBYK, 121 (Dec. 10,
1957), 20-22; Zai Sulian yanlun, pp. 3-10; Buyi, pp. 150-155; URI (1976), pp.
407-413; XHBYK, 144 (Nov. 25, 1958), 1-8 (excerpts). Available English Translations: NCNA, Daily News Release (Nov. 7, 1957), 1-5; K. Fan (1972), pp.
211-219; URI (1976), pp. 415-422; CCSD, pp. 147-148 (excerpts).

See text Nov. 2, 1957, source note.
Dear Comrades:

On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the great October Socialist
Revolution, I and all the comrades in the Chinese delegation, representing the
National People’s Congress and the State Council of the People’s Republic of
China and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and on the
behalf of the entire Chinese people and all members of the Communist Party,
respectfully extend warm fraternal congratulations to the great Soviet people, the
Soviet government, and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and respectfully


extend warm fraternal congratulations to all the comrades and friends present.

As [our] revolutionary teacher Lenin repeatedly pointed out, this great revolution carried out by the Soviet people forty years ago launched a new era in the
history of the entire world.

There have been all kinds of revolutions in history. But none of the revolutions
of the past can be compared with the October Socialist Revolution.

The establishment of a society in which there is no exploitation of people by
[other] people has been the dream of the world’s laboring people and of progressive
humanity for hundreds and thousands of years. The October Revolution changed
this dream into reality for the very first time in one-sixth of the earth’s territory.
This revolution proves that, without the landlords and the bourgeoisie, the people
are completely capable of building, in a planned way, a new life of freedom and
well-being. At the same time, it also proves that once there is no more imperialist
oppression, it will be completely possible for the world’s peoples to live together
peacefully.

The Soviet people have traveled a difficult road in the past forty years. The
imperialists have attempted by every possible means to wipe out the world’s first
socialist republic. For a time, the enemies of the Soviet Union appeared to be
stronger than the Soviet Union, and twice they launched armed attacks on the Soviet
Union.! But the heroic Soviet people, led by the glorious Communist Party of the
Soviet Union, thoroughly smashed the attacks of these aggressors.

The invincibility of the Soviet Union is due to the fact that the Soviet Union is
a country that has replaced the capitalist system with a socialist system, a country
that has replaced the dictatorship of the exploiting classes with the dictatorship of
the proletariat, a country that is developing its social forces of production at a speed
unattainable by the capitalist countries, and a country that genuinely practices
proletarian internationalism, opposes national oppression, and aids [the cause of]
the liberation of oppressed peoples. Such a country has the enthusiastic support of
all of its own people as well as the enthusiastic support of all the peoples of the
world. The degree to which these two kinds of support [have manifested themselves] is unprecedented in the history of any country [in the world].

The face of the Soviet Union has changed completely in [the past] forty years.
Before the revolution, the economic and technological strength of Russia was
relatively backward. Now the Soviet Union has become a top-ranking powerful
industrial country in the world. The Soviet people’s standard of living has been
rising continuously. Education, science, and culture in the Soviet Union are
developing on a far more extensive scale than in the capitalist countries. The Soviet
Union has built the world’s first atomic-powered electric plant, manufactured the
world’s first batch of passenger jet planes and the world’s first batch of intercontinental ballistic missiles, and also launched the world’s first and second artificial
satellites. The whole world acknowledges that the success of the Soviet Union in
twice launching artificial satellites has opened up a new epoch in humanity’s conquest
of nature. All of these are not only a matter of pride for the Soviet people, but also a
matter of pride for the proletariat of the whole world, and [moreover,] for the whole of
humanity as well. Only a few reactionaries are unhappy about these things.


a


The creative application of Marxist-Leninist theory by the Communist Party of
the Soviet Union in resolving its tasks in practice has ensured that the Soviet people
will achieve continuing success in their work of construction. The program to
struggle for the Communist construction of the Soviet Union put forward by the
Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is an example.3
The wise measures taken by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union in such matters as overcoming the cult of the individual, developing
agriculture, reorganizing the management of industry and construction, expanding
the authority of the federated republics and local organizations, opposing the
anti-Party clique,* consolidating Party unity, and improving Party and political
work in the Soviet army and navy will without any doubt promote the further
consolidation and further development of all endeavors undertaken by the Soviet
Union.

In the successes achieved by the Soviet people, the people of the various
countries in the world see their own future ever more clearly with each passing day.
Fundamentally speaking, the path of the Soviet Union, the path of the October
Revolution, is the bright, common path of development for all of humanity. The
broad masses of the people in the countries of the world warmly celebrate the
fortieth anniversary of the October Revolution because the history of these forty
years has convinced them that the proletariat is bound to defeat the bourgeoisie,
that socialism is bound to defeat capitalism, that the oppressed peoples will
certainly be able to defeat imperialism. Naturally, difficulties and twists and turns
still face the people, but Lenin said it well thirty-six years ago: “The important thing
is that the ice has been broken; the route is open, the way has been shown.”>

The people’s revolution led by the Communist Party of China has always been
a component of the world proletarian socialist revolution begun by the October
Revolution. The Chinese Revolution has its own national characteristics, and it is
absolutely necessary to take these characteristics into consideration. However,
whether in our revolutionary enterprises or in the cause of socialist construction,
we have made full use of the rich experiences of the Communist Party and the
people of the Soviet Union. The Chinese people feel fortunate because, even though
there are still many difficulties facing them, the experience of the October Revolution and socialist construction in the Soviet Union has enabled us to make fewer
mistakes and avoid many [others] and to carry out our own undertakings comparatively smoothly.

The situation is very clear: Since the October Revolution, if the proletarian
revolutionaries in any country overlooked or did not conscientiously study the
experience of the Russian Revolution, did not conscientiously study the experience
of the dictatorship of the proletariat or of socialist construction in the Soviet Union,
and moreover, did not apply these experiences analytically and creatively in
accordance with the concrete conditions of their own country, they would not be
able to master Leninism, which represents Marxism developed to a new stage, and
would not be able to solve the problems of revolution and construction in their own
country correctly.© In such cases, they would either fall into the error of dogmatism
or the error of revisionism.’ We must oppose both of these erroneous tendencies at


762 {/ MAO ZEDONG

the same time, but at present opposing the tendency toward revisionism is, in
particular, the [more] urgent task.®

It is equally clear that since the October Revolution, if the government of any
country refuses to be on friendly terms with the Soviet Union it can only harm the
real interests of its own people.

In the world today, there is a chain of countries in Europe and Asia, encompassing a population of more than 900 million, that have already taken the road of the
October Revolution and have been victorious, and have formed a powerful socialist
world system. Capitalism lost its superiority long ago, and socialism has long
become an invincible force.

The socialist system will eventually replace the capitalist system; this is an
objective law independent of human will. No matter how the reactionaries try to
block the advance of the wheel of history, sooner or later revolution will occur, and
it is bound to be victorious. “Lifting a rock only to drop it on one’s own feet” is a
common Chinese saying to describe the action of some blockheads.? The reactionaries of the various countries are precisely such a bunch of blockheads. Their
persecutions of the revolutionary people will only end up arousing the people to
broader and fiercer revolution. Didn’t the various persecutions of the revolutionary
people by the tsar and by Chiang Kai-shek have precisely this effect of promoting
the great Russian Revolution and the great Chinese Revolution?

Besides staking their own future on the oppression of the people in their own
countries and the peoples of [their] colonies and semicolonies, the imperialists still
count on war. But what can they expect out of war? In the past half-century we
have already gone through two world wars. After the First World War, the great
October Socialist Revolution took place in Russia. After the Second World War,
more revolutions occurred in Eastern Europe and the East. If the stout-hearted
fellows of imperialism are determined to start a third world war, they will achieve
no other result than hastening the destruction of the capitalist system throughout
the world.

The governments and peoples of the various socialist countries are the builders
of a new, peaceful life. We have absolutely no need of war, and we resolutely
oppose a new world war. The Soviet Union, China, and the other socialist countries
have consistently worked hard for the relaxation of tense international situations.
The proposals repeatedly put forth by the Soviet Union on the question of disarmament, on the question of prohibiting the manufacture, use, and testing of
weapons of mass destruction,!° represent the common stand of all the socialist
countries and at the same time conform to the interests of the people of all countries
in the world. We firmly stand for the peaceful competition between socialist
countries and capitalist countries and for the resolution of internal affairs in each
country by the people of that country according to their own will and wishes.!! We
firmly maintain that all countries should practice the well-known five principles
[of peaceful coexistence,!2 that is,] mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial
integrity, mutual nonageression, mutual noninterference in internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.

U.S. imperialism obstinately wants to interfere with the internal affairs of other

tL Ege
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countries, including the internal affairs of the socialist countries. For example, in
China, it interferes with the liberation of Taiwan, and in Hungary, it engineered the
counterrevolutionary rioting.!> It is particularly blatant in its interference with the
internal affairs of the countries in the intermediate zone between the United States
and the socialist camp.!4 The United States at this moment is still planning to invade
independent Syria through Turkey or Israel and is still conspiring to subvert the
anticolonialist government of Egypt.!5 This maniacal policy of aggression pursued
by the United States not only has created the crisis in the Middle East but also has
created a new crisis of world war. All the people in the world who love peace and
freedom stand on the side of Syria, opposing the American and Turkish aggressors,
just as they stood on Egypt’s side and opposed the British, French, and Israeli
aggressors in October of last year. The government of the Soviet Union has already
issued a serious warning to the United States and Turkey, demanding that they
immediately cancel their plans for aggression. The Chinese government and the
Chinese people resolutely support Syria’s struggle to defend [itself] and resolutely
support the just position of the Soviet Union.

The jackals of imperialism should remember: The era in which they could
manipulate the fate of humanity as they wished, when they could carve up Asian
and African countries as they liked, is gone for good.

In the past, U.S. imperialism put all its strength [into the attempt to] wreck the
cause of the liberation of the Chinese people, and it still continues to do so. But in
the end, they had no way to stop 600 million Chinese people from courageously
taking the socialist road. In the short span of eight years, China has already achieved
successes in the various fields of construction which it had not been able to achieve
for the past hundred years. In China there is a small handful of bourgeois Rightists
who attempt to oppose [taking] the socialist road, oppose the Communist Party's
position of leadership in national life, and oppose the close alliance that China has
established with the Soviet Union and with the various socialist countries. These
maniacal and vain efforts of theirs have already been thoroughly defeated under
the counterattack of the people of the entire country.

To rapidly develop China’s socialist cause on an even more consolidated
foundation, the Chinese people, under the leadership of the Communist Party, are
in the midst of carrying out a vigorous rectification campaign. This is to launch, in
the cities and countryside, a big nationwide debate [relating to] such issues as the
two roads, socialism and capitalism;!6 the fundamental system and major policies
of the state; the work style of Party and government personnel; and the lives and
welfare of the people. This [is conducted] in a guided and free manner employing
the methods of presenting facts and reasoned discussion and, by such means, to
resolve correctly the various contradictions and problems that actually exist among
the people!” and that now need to be resolved. This is a campaign for the socialist
self-education and self-transformation of the people. This campaign has already
achieved great victories. Wherever it has been carried out, the people’s socialist
consciousness has rapidly risen, erroneous thinking has been rapidly clarified,
shortcomings in work have been rapidly overcome, unity among the people has
been rapidly strengthened, and labor discipline and productivity have increased


rapidly. We are in the midst of carrying out this people’s self-education campaign,
stage by stage and group by group, among 600 million people and, in a few more
months, we will most likely be able to achieve victory [in this campaign] on a
nationwide scale.!8 From now on we plan to initiate a rectification campaign every
year or every two years!?— the duration of these campaigns can be greatly reduced,
and they can serve as a primary method of resolving the various social contradictions in our country during the entire transitional period.2° There is a basic point of
departure in implementing this method, that is, one must firmly believe that the
great majority of the masses will stand on our side, and that they are reasonable.
This point has already been verified by all our experience in the campaign.

In accordance with the Leninist principles of forging close ties with the masses,
recognizing the creative spirit of the masses, and conducting criticism and self-criticism, we have arrived at a method of rectification through many years of revolutionary practice; the current socialist self-education campaign once again testifies
to the correctness of this method.

The socialist construction of China has received the fraternal assistance of the
Soviet Union in many areas. On the occasion of the celebration of the fortieth
anniversary of the October Socialist Revolution, please let us express our heartfelt
gratitude to the Communist Party, the government, and the people of the Soviet
Union, who have given such friendly help to China.

In the period. right after its founding, the People’s Republic of China concluded
a Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union.2!
This is a great alliance between two great socialist countries. We share a common
fate and a common source of life with the Soviet Union and the entire socialist
camp. We feel that strengthening the unity of the various socialist countries headed
by the Soviet Union is the sacred international duty of all socialist countries.

The imperialists headed by the United States are using all possible means of
sowing discord in an attempt to destroy the friendship and unity of the socialist
countries. However, reality can only bring disappointment to the imperialists. The
socialist camp headed by the Soviet Union has become more and more united. Since
the beginning of history it had never been possible for relations between countries
to have such an identity of interests, such mutual respect and confidence, such
mutual assistance and encouragement as {has been the case] among the socialist
countries. This is because the socialist countries are of a completely new type, they
are countries in which the exploiting classes have been overthrown and the laboring
people hold power. In the relationships between these countries, the principle of
combining internationalism with patriotism has been put into practice. We are
tightly bound together by common interests and common ideals. Marx, in his
inaugural address to the International Workingmen’s Association, said “past experience has shown how disregard of that bond of brotherhood which ought to exist
between the workingmen of different countries and incite them to stand firmly by
each other in all their struggles for emancipation will be chastised by the common
discomfiture of their incoherent efforts.”22 This instruction of Marx’s, more than
ninety years ago, will never be out-of-date for us.

Dear comrades! The very fact that representatives of the working classes and


OCTOBER -~- DECEMBER 1957 / 765

the broad masses of the people from various countries of the world are participating
today in this gala occasion of the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the
October Revolution held by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union in itself
demonstrates the great unity of the forces of the people of the world, and symbolizes
the flourishing of the international socialist movement. Let us continue our efforts
to strengthen the unity of the various socialist countries and the unity of the laboring
people and oppressed peoples of the world, so that we may welcome new and
greater victories [with open arms]!

Long live the great October Socialist Revolution!

Long live the solidarity and friendship of the socialist countries headed by the
Soviet Union! Long live the great banner of Marxist-Leninist internationalism!

Proletarians and peace-loving people of the world unite!

Notes

1. This appears to be referring to the allied intervention in the civil war in the Soviet
Union in 1917-1921. Immediately after the signing of the separate peace treaty of Brest-
Litovsk between Russia and Germany in March 1918, the allied powers resolved that they
must have Russia keep the war going on the eastern front and therefore could not countenance
a separate Russia-Central Powers peace, which was in violation of Russia’s obligations to
the allied powers via the Pact of London (September 1914). The allied intervention began
with the Japanese landing in Vladivostok on April 4, 1918. It soon began to take the form
of rather active, if sometimes indirect, assistance given to the anti-Bolshevik offensive
launched by the Czechoslovakian legions in May 1917, and the establishment of the Socialist
Revolutionary Party’s government at Samara in June 1917. The allied intervention was
publicly launched in June 1918. Fora more detailed history of this subject, see John Bradley
(1968).

2. See text Oct. 9, 1957(2), note 43.

3. See text Feb. 9, 1956, source note.

4, This refers to the attempt made by Malenkov, Kaganovich, and Shepilov in June 1957
to oust Khrushchev from his position as First Secretary of the CPSU. This failed and resulted
in a purging of these people, and in addition, Pervukhin and Saburov, from the Central
Committee of the CPSU. See text July 20, 1957, note 25.

5. See V. I. Lenin, “Fourth Anniversary of the October Revolution,” Selected Works,
IH, p. 584.

6. See text Dec. 8, 1956, note 27; see also text Jan. 27, 1957(1), note 34.

7. See text July 8, 1957(2), note 50, and text May 15, 1957, source note.

8. This formulation resembles a passage in the declaration made by the Twelve-Nation
Congress (see note 11). In paragraph 7 of section 3 of that declaration (see RMSC [1958],
p. 288) are the statements: “At the same time that it opposes dogmatism, the Communist
Party believes that under current conditions, the primary danger is in revisionism, or
Right-deviationist opportunism. It is an expression of a bourgeois ideology; it paralyzes the
working class’s revolutionary will, and it asks for the preservation or restoration of capitalism. However, dogmatism and sectarianism can also become the primary danger for this
party or that party in individual stages of development. It is up to each Communist Party to
make the judgment for itself as to which danger is the primary danger at any given period.”
Given the fact that Mao had spoken of the danger of revisionism as far back as April and
May (see text May 15, 1957, source note), and given that Mao had used the term “Right-deviationist opportunism” as a synonym for revisionism as far back as March (see text Mar.
10, 1957, note 7), one might be led to speculate that Mao had something to do with inserting
this paragraph into the declaration.


9. See text April 25, 1956, note 39.

10. See text April 21, 1957, note 22.

11. The slogan of “peaceful competition” emerged as a platform adopted by the Congress
of Communist Parties and Workers’ Parties being held at the time‘of this speech, which Mao
was attending (see text Nov. 2, 1957, source note). In section I, paragraph 2 of the declaration
of the Twelve-Nation Congress, the statement was made: “In our own age, the development
of the world is determined by the course and the results of a competition between two
opposing social systems.” (See RMSC [1958], pp. 286-290, for a Chinese translation of this
declaration.) The communiqué of the Sixty-four Nation Congress was even more explicit.
An addendum of the communiqué was the “Peace Declaration,” in which the second-to-last
paragraph reads: “Let countries with differing social systems launch, from now on, a
competition between themselves in the areas of developing the sciences and technologies of
peace. Let them prove their own superiority not on the battlefield, but in the competition to
gain progress and to enhance the standards of living of their people.” (See RMSC [1958],
pp. 290-292, for a Chinese translation of this declaration. The aforementioned declaration
was also carried in RMRB [Nov. 22, 1957], whereas this one was carried in RMRB [Nov.
23, 1957].) These declarations reflected a major concern of the congresses held in Moscow
at this time, which was to offer a challenge to what was perceived as a dangerously escalating
arms race instigated by the imperialists, and the warlike aggressive intervention of the United
States and its allies in the Middle East, and to the threat of another worldwide military
conflagration. It was in that sense, and to that extent, that Mao and the CPC leadership of
the time felt that this platform of peace could and must be supported. Subsequently, however,
the term “‘peaceful competition” became, in the CPC’s viewpoint, the epitome of the Soviet
Union’s Khrushchevian revisionism. In subsequent years, the CPC, and especially Mao
himself, would see the idea of peaceful competition as one that advocated that class struggle
and revolutionary struggle against imperialism, colonialism, and capitalism would no longer
be necessary. All the socialist countries, such as the Soviet Union and the PRC, would have
to do would be to prove “peacefully” (i.e., without revolutionary means) the superiority of
socialism by means of surpassing the advanced Western capitalist societies in terms of
production and standards of living. This also had domestic implications in that in each
country the class struggle to eliminate capitalism would no longer be necessary and could
be suspended in favor of a competition simply to develop the forces of production. This
became an issue of bourgeois revisionism against which Mao struggled and criticized. See
also text Oct. 7, 1957, note 16, and text Oct. 9, 1957(1), note 64.

12. See text Jan. 28, 1955(2), vol. 1, note 1.

13. See text Nov. 15, 1956, note 27.

14. See text Jan. 27, 1957(1), note 17.

15. See text Sept. 19, 1957, note 3, and text Sept. 15, 1956(2), note 6.

16. See text Oct. 9, 1957(1), source note.

17. See text Feb. 27, 1957, note 3.

18. By early October, the decision had been made to carry the campaign (which by this
time was actually a combination of the CPC rectification campaign and the anti-Rightist
campaign, in the name of a rectification campaign of the entire people [quanmin zhengfeng
yundong]) up to May 1, 1958. See texts Oct. 9, 1957(1) and (2).

19. In July, the proposal was to have a rectification campaign every three or five years
(see text July 8, 1957, paragraph 8), but by October, a new proposal was made to have some
sort of rectification every year; see texts Oct. 9, 1957(1) and Oct. 13, 1957, text surrounding
note 97.

20. See text July 1957, note 17.

21. See text Jan. 2, 1950, vol. I, note 1.

22. The founding assembly of the International Workingmen’s Association, often
known as the First International, was held in St. Martin’s Hall, London, on September 28,
1864. For Marx’s inaugural address in its entirety, see D. McLellan, ed. (1977), pp.
531-537; for the passage cited here, pp. 536-537.