Revolutionary Forces of the World, Unite and Fight Against Imperialist Aggression!

#PUBLICATION NOTE

This edition of Revolutionary Forces of the World, Unite and Fight Against Imperialist Aggression! has been prepared and revised for digital publication by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism under the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Switzerland on the basis of the following editions:

• Revolutionary Forces of the World Unite, Fight Against Imperialist Aggression!, in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Vol. 4, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1965.
• The Revolutionary Power of the Whole World Should Unite to Oppose the Imperialist Invasion, in Mao's Road to Power, First English Edition, Vol. 10, Routledge, New York and London, 2023.

#INTRODUCTION NOTE

This is an essay written by Comrade Mao Zedong in Xibaipo, Pingshan, Hebei, China on the 17th of October, 1948 to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the Great November Socialist Revolution in Russia. It was first published in For a Lasting Peace, for a People's Democracy!, Vol. 1, No. 21 (1st of November, 1948).

#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!

#REVOLUTIONARY FORCES OF THE WORLD, UNITE AND FIGHT AGAINST IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION!

#IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 31ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE NOVEMBER REVOLUTION

#Mao Zedong

#17th of October, 1948

#★

At this time, when the awakened working class and all genuine revolutionaries of the world are jubilantly celebrating the 31st anniversary of the Great November Socialist Revolution of the Council Union, I recall a well-known article by Stalin, written in 1918 on the first anniversary of that revolution. In that article, Stalin said:

The great worldwide significance of the November Revolution chiefly consists in the fact that:

• It has widened the scope of the national question and converted it from the particular question of combating national oppression in Europe into the general question of emancipating the oppressed peoples, colonies, and semi-colonies from imperialism.
• It has opened up wide possibilities for their emancipation and the right paths toward it, has thereby greatly facilitated the cause of the emancipation of the oppressed peoples of the West and the East, and has drawn them into the common current of the victorious struggle against imperialism.
• It has thereby built a bridge between the socialist West and the enslaved East, having created a new front of revolutions against world imperialism, extending from the proletarians of the West, through the Russian revolution, to the oppressed peoples of the East.¹

History has developed in the direction pointed out by Stalin. The November Revolution has opened up wide possibilities for the emancipation of the peoples of the world and opened up the realistic paths toward it; it has created a new front of revolutions against world imperialism, extending from the proletarians of the West, through the Russian revolution, to the oppressed peoples of the East. This front of revolutions has been created and developed under the brilliant guidance of Lenin and, after Lenin's death, of Stalin.

Within the scope of this world, could it be that, in addition to this revolutionary camp, there are other revolutionary camps? Could it be that 31 years of history still have not confirmed the truth about this: all the people who are both dissatisfied with imperialism and dissatisfied with the Council Union, all those who seek to stand in between the counter-revolutionary imperialist front and the revolutionary front against imperialism and its lackeys in all countries, who seek a so-called «middle road», the completely false and bankrupt so-called «third way»?

If there is to be revolution, there must be a revolutionary political party in the style of Lenin and Stalin. Without a revolutionary political party, without a political party built on the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary theory and in the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary style, it is impossible to lead the working class and the broad masses of the people to defeat imperialism and its lackeys. In the more than 100 years since the birth of Marxism, it was only through the example of the Russian Majoritarians in leading the November Revolution, in leading socialist construction, and in defeating Fascist aggression that revolutionary political parties of a new type were formed and developed in the world. With the birth of revolutionary political parties of this type, the face of the world revolution has changed. The change has been so great that transformations utterly inconceivable to people of the older generation have come into being in the midst of fire and thunder. The Communist Party of China is a political party built and developed on the model of the Communist Party of the Council Union. With the birth of the Communist Party of China, the face of the Chinese revolution took on an altogether new aspect. Is this fact not clear enough?

The world revolutionary united front, with the Council Union at its head, defeated Fascist Germany, Italy, and Japan. This was a result of the November Revolution. If there had been no November Revolution, if there had been no Communist Party of the Council Union, no Council Union, and no anti-imperialist revolutionary united front in the West and in the East led by the Council Union, could one conceive of victory over Fascist Germany, Italy, Japan, and their lackeys? If the November Revolution opened up wide possibilities for the emancipation of the working class and the oppressed peoples of the world and opened up realistic paths toward it, then the victory of the Anti-Fascist Second World War has opened up still wider possibilities for the emancipation of the working class and the oppressed peoples of the world and has opened up still more realistic paths toward it. It will be a very great mistake to underestimate the significance of the victory of the Second World War.

Since the victory of the Second World War, US imperialism and its lackeys in various countries have taken the place of Fascist Germany, Italy, and Japan and are frantically preparing a new world war and menacing the whole world; this reflects the utter decay of the capitalist world and its fear of imminent doom. This enemy still has strength; therefore, all the revolutionary forces of each country must unite, and the revolutionary forces of all countries must likewise unite, must form an anti-imperialist united front headed by the Council Union and follow correct policies; otherwise, victory will be impossible. This enemy has a weak and fragile foundation, they are disintegrating internally, they are alienated from the people, and they are confronted with inextricable economic crises; therefore, they can be defeated. It will be a very great mistake to overestimate the enemy's strength and underestimate the strength of the revolutionary forces.

Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, tremendous victories have now been won in the great Chinese people's democratic revolution directed against the frenzied aggression of US imperialism in China and against the traitorous, dictatorial, and reactionary Nationalist government that has been slaughtering the Chinese people by civil war. During the two years from July 1946 to June 1948, the People's Liberation Army led by the Communist Party of China beat back the attacks of 4'300'000 troops of the reactionary Nationalist government and went over from the defensive to the offensive. During those two years of fighting (not including developments since July 1948), the People's Liberation Army captured and wiped out 2'640'000 Nationalist troops. China's Liberated Areas now cover 2'350'000 square kilometres, or 24,5% of the country's 9'597'000 square kilometres; they have a population of 168'000'000, or 35,3% of the country's 475'000'000; and they contain 586 cities and towns, or 29% of the 2'009 in the whole country. Because our Party has resolutely led the peasants to carry out the reform of the land system, the land problem has been thoroughly solved in areas with a population of about 100'000'000, and the land of the landlords and old-type rich peasants has been more or less equally distributed among the peasants, primarily among the poor peasants and farmworkers. The membership of the Communist Party of China has grown from 1'210'000 in 1945 to 3'000'000 today. The task of the Communist Party of China is to unite the revolutionary forces of the whole country to drive out the aggressive forces of US imperialism, overthrow the reactionary rule of the Nationalist Party of China, and establish a united, democratic people's republic. We know that there are still many difficulties ahead. But we are not afraid of them. We believe that difficulties must be and can be overcome.

The radiance of the November Revolution shines upon us. The long-suffering Chinese people must win their liberation, and they firmly believe they can. Always isolated in the past, China's revolutionary struggle no longer feels isolated since the victory of the November Revolution. We enjoy the support of the Communist Parties and the working class of the world. This point was understood by Dr. Sun Yixian, forerunner of the Chinese revolution, who established the policy of alliance with the Council Union against imperialism. On his deathbed, he wrote a letter to the Council Union as part of his Testament. It is the Jiang Jieshi bandit gang of the Nationalist Party of China that is betraying Sun Yixian's policy, standing on the side of the imperialist counter-revolutionary front, and opposing the people of their own country. But before long, people will witness the complete destruction of the whole reactionary regime of the Nationalist Party of China by the Chinese people. The Chinese people are brave, so is the Communist Party of China, and they are determined to liberate all China.