{Editor’s Note: In June 2006, Beijing released an eight-episode TV documentary series: Preparing For Danger In Times Of Safety – Historic Lessons Learned from the Demise of Soviet Communism. It was a research project conducted by the government think tank, the Chinese Academy of Social Science. Afterwards, the Chinese Communist Party instructed party members across the nation to watch the series and launch serious discussions. The script of the prelude of the documentary quotes Hu Jintao’s words, “There are multiple factors that contributed to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, a very important one being Khrushchev throwing away Stalin’s knife and Gorbachev’s open betrayal of Marxism-Leninism.” The full text of the narratives has been translated. What follows is the introduction.}
INTRODUCTION
In the early 1990s, the world was shocked by a major historic event: The Soviet Union, a super power with a territory of 24 million square kilometers across Europe and Asia, suddenly disintegrated. The event took place in the absence of any foreign intrusion or natural disaster.
Astonished, the world’s political parties, international organizations, academic institutions, and some individuals, are pondering the unprecedented mystery of the “disintegration of the Soviet Union” in an attempt to learn from a historic legacy hard to come by.
Arnold Joseph Toynbee, a famous British historian, once said, “The knowledge learned from the pain of the decline of civilizations can be the most effective instrument for progress.” {1}
The party’s third generation leadership under Comrade Jiang Zemin and the new Central Committee of the party led by Secretary General Comrade Hu Jintao have attached great importance to studying the cause of the “disintegration of the Soviet Union.” There is no doubt that a serious study and correct understanding of this major issue is of great significance to further strengthen the development of the advanced nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the continuous advancement of the grand cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Various explanations have been given as to the cause of the “disintegration of the Soviet Union.” They include the “failure of economic development,” a “lack of flexibility in the Stalinist model,” “ethnic conflicts,” “the prolonged arms race,” the “betrayal of Gorbachev,” and “external factors.” We have seen that different people can reach different even opposite conclusions. However, what is the most fundamental cause? Comrade Mao Zedong once told us, “If there are multiple conflicts within any process, there must exist one major conflict that plays the leading and decisive role.” {2} In his famous 1992 talks in the South, Comrade Deng Xiaoping clearly pointed out, “If problems are to occur, they are bound to occur inside the CCP.” {3} In December 1991, Comrade Jiang Zemin pointed out that the transformation of the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries is not due to the failure of Scientific Socialism but to the abandonment of the Socialist path. In December 2000, Comrade Hu Jintao also pointed out that there are multiple factors contributing to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, a very important one being Khrushchev’s throwing away Stalin’s knife and Gorbachev’s open betrayal of Marxism-Leninism. This video aims to analyze the emergence, development, and evolution of the problems inside the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from eight aspects:
1. The Historic Path of the Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
2. Basic Theories and Guiding Principles of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
3. The Ideological Work of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
4. The Working Style of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
5. The Privileged Classes of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
6. The Organizational Course of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
7, The Leadership Group of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
8, The Communist Party of the Soviet Union’s Response to the Western World’s Strategy of Westernization and Dissolution
The Party Development Research Association produced this video jointly with the project of the Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union under the Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS), China Fangzheng Press under the CCP’s Central Committee for Discipline Inspection, the Jilin Publishing Group, and the Television Arts Center of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Academy of Arts. In 2000, CASS launched a research project, the Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which was later listed as a National Social Science Foundation project. The narration is a result of the project’s research at an early phase. During the compilation, some wording was modified. The final version was completed on October 6, 2006.
Endnotes:
{1} Treasure-house of Western Thoughts, Jilin People’s Publishing House, 1998 edition, page 1166.
{2} Anthology of Mao Zedong, Volume I, People’s Publishing House, 1991 edition, page 322.
{3} Anthology of Deng Xiaoping, Volume III, page 380.