Proletarian Revolution

The proletariat leads the working masses through the communist party, unites other progressive social classes, overthrows the rule of the bourgeoisie, establishes the dictatorship of the proletariat, abolishes the capitalist private property in the means of production to establish public property in the means of production, gradually eliminates the bourgeoisie and all the exploiting classes, and ultimately realizes communism and liberates all mankind. Human emancipation and the realization of the ideal society of true freedom and equality have always been the eternal ideal and pursuit of mankind. However, before Marx, the path of human emancipation was tinged with utopianism. Faced with the reality of the cruel rule of capitalism and the fate of the exploited proletariat, the founders of Marxism realized that only proletarian revolution is the real bridge towards the emancipation of the proletariat and even the emancipation of all mankind. The emancipation of the working class can be the work only of the working class itself. It is self-evident that the working class cannot leave its emancipation either to the capitalists and big landowners, its opponents and exploiters, or to the petty-bourgeois and small peasants. The emancipation of the working class and the working people depends on themselves. The theory of proletarian revolution is an important content in the ideological system of Marxism.

The proletarian revolution is bound up with large-scale industry, is a historical necessity, a product of the development of the productive forces of society to a certain degree, and also a product of the intensification of the fundamental contradictions of society, social and economic crises within the capitalist society to a certain degree. The revolution is inevitable, not only because the ruling class cannot be overthrown in any other way, but also because only in a revolution can the class overthrowing the ruling class will be able to achieve ridding itself of all the muck of ages, thus become mentally fully fitted to the society anew. The direct purpose and inevitable result of the proletarian revolution is to conquer the political power through violent revolution and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Violent revolution is the fundamental tactic of the proletarian revolution. Marx and Engels pointed out in The Communist Manifesto: “If the proletariat during its contest with the bourgeoisie is compelled, by the force of circumstances, to organize itself as a class, if, by means of a revolution, it makes itself the ruling class, and, as such, sweeps away by force the old conditions of production, then it will, along with these conditions, have swept away the conditions for the existence of class antagonisms and of classes generally, and will thereby have abolished its own supremacy as a class.” The proletariat must organize itself as a class, must make itself, by means of a revolution, the ruling class, and as such, sweep away, by violent means, class antagonisms, class oppression and even classes generally, and ultimately realize communism and the complete emancipation of mankind.

The proletarian revolution is fundamentally different from the bourgeois revolution. Firstly, the proletarian revolution is the inevitable result of the crisis of capitalist society, and at the same time, it is also the fundamental demand of the working masses. The proletarian revolution can and must make the broad masses of workers forge a solid alliance with the proletariat. All previous historical movements were movements of minorities, or in the interest of minorities. The proletarian movement is the self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority. Nay more, there has to be the leadership of a mature proletarian party. Only a truly mature Marxist revolutionary party can fully mobilize the proletariat and the broad masses of the people, actively throw itself into revolutionary current, and strive for the victory of the revolution. Secondly, while emphasizing that violent revolution is the fundamental tactic of proletarian revolution, the tactic of “peaceful revolution” is also emphasized. The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Meanwhile, the proletariat too needs democratic forms for the conquest of political power but they are for it, like all political forms, mere means. “Violent revolution” and “peaceful revolution” are two aspects of the revolutionary tactics of the proletariat. They are interdependent, mutually reinforcing and penetrating, and jointly further the development of the proletarian revolution. The former provides the guarantee of strength for the latter, while the latter accumulates the necessary force for the former. However, historical experience has fully proved that only when the proletariat completely smashes the outdated reactionary state machinery by force can it establish the dictatorship of the proletariat. Thirdly, the immediate goal and task of the proletarian revolution is the conquest of political power; the old state machinery must be smashed, the rule of all exploiting classes must be overthrown and the political rule of the proletariat must be established, i.e., the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

After the conquest of political power by the proletariat, the task of the proletarian socialist revolution is to fortify and strengthen the dictatorship of the proletariat, abolish private property in the means of production, abolish exploitation, establish and develop socialist property, liberate and develop the productive forces of society, and gradually build a high-level socialist material, political, spiritual, social and ecological civilization. On the basis of a high-level development of productive forces, class antagonisms and class distinctions will be completely abolished, and communism and the emancipation of mankind will be ultimately realized. In Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, Engels pointed out that the proletariat seizes the public power, and by means of this transforms the socialized means of production, slipping from the hands of the bourgeoisie, into public property. By this act, the proletariat frees the means of production from the character of capital they have thus far borne and gives their socialized character complete freedom to work itself out. Socialized production upon a predetermined plan becomes henceforth possible. The development of production makes the existence of different classes of society thenceforth an anachronism. In proportion as anarchy in social production vanishes, the political authority of the State dies out. Man, at last the master of his own form of social organization, becomes at the same time the lord over Nature, his own master—free. To accomplish this act of universal emancipation is the historical mission of the modern proletariat. The proletarian revolution is not a general movement that can achieve its ultimate purpose with just one revolutionary act, but a historical process from establishing and fortifying the dictatorship of the proletariat to the final withering-away of the state and the complete emancipation of mankind. Therefore, the proletarian socialist revolution is the broadest, deepest and most radical revolution in human history.

At present, in the capitalist world and among the nations, there are still diverse complex and intense contradictions, and the Marxist theory of proletarian revolution is essentially not outdated. The theory of proletarian revolution should be constantly developed and innovated in accordance with the changes of concrete social and historical conditions in order to maintain its vitality and for the ideal communist society of mankind to really arrive.