On the Two Possibilities Regarding World War
(1969)

On the question of world war, there are no more than two possibilities: one is that war gives rise to revolution, and the other is that revolution prevents war.

In his report to the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China on April 1, 1969, Lin Biao quoted this passage in boldface type after the words “Chairman Mao recently pointed out.” Lin Biao’s report was adopted at the congress on April 14 and published in Renmin Ribao on April 28.

On November 28, 1968, Mao Zedong remarked during a meeting with E. F. Hill, Chairman of the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist): “I ask you to consider: is it war, or is it revolution, in the world? Will war break out and then give rise to revolution, or can revolution prevent war? In short, the present state of affairs, in which there is neither war nor revolution, cannot continue for very long.”