Lessons from the dissolution of the Soviet Union and adherence to the basic principles of the October Revolution

By Wu Enyuan, Researcher on Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)

The Bolshevik Party formulated correct political and ideological guidelines for the October Revolution and the construction of socialism. Democratic centralism ensured strict and uniform disciplines of the party and strengthened the ideological uniformity of a multi-ethnic country. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) served as the leader and the core of the army and the people's fight against fascism. The socialist system provided a solid material basis for the defeat of German fascism. However, the directives of the CPSU lost their effect slowly after the Second World War. In the mid-to late 1980s, the leaders of the CPSU advocated "openness" and "democratization." In particular, they modified the constitution and deprived the CPSU of leadership, leading to political disorder, economic collapse and the escalation of social and ethnic conflicts. As a result, the Soviet Union was dissolved. It taught us the lesson that upholding the strong leadership of the party is a guarantee for the prosperity of socialism.

Marxism, the theoretical basis and guidelines for proletarian parties to understand and transform the world, should be adjusted to practices. Lenin instructed the whole party repeatedly to apply and develop Marxism according to specific conditions when transforming the revolution from a bourgeois-democratic one to a socialist one and implementing new economic policy to solve social and economic crises. However, the leaders of the CPSU proposed ideological "diversification" and abandoned the leadership of Marxism, leading to the rise of various ideological trends such as "historical determinism," "democratic socialism," "neoliberalism," and "universal value." As a result, the party members suffered an ideological confusion, which evolved into an institutional chaos and the breakdown of organizations at all levels. It is a profound lesson drawn from the dissolution of the Soviet Union that Marxism should be upheld as the fundamental guideline.

The first socialist country in the world once boasted strong vitality. Electrification and industrialization contributed to the rise of its industrial output to the top in Europe and the second largest in the world as well as remarkable progress in socialist modernization. Meanwhile, some deep-seated problems such as an unbalanced economic structure and single mode of production made reforms of the country's rigid social systems inevitable. However, the leaders of the CPSU denied the country's systems thoroughly in the name of political reform, leading to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The issue of direction concerns the survival of a party, the future of a country and a nation, the well-being of the people and the success of world socialism. Therefore, we must unswervingly follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

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