The validity and Current Relevance of the October Revolution of 1917 for the 21st century
Brussels, 4-6 May 2007
www.icsbrussels.org , ics[at]icsbrussels.org
The October Revolution and its relations with Arab Countries
By ALmunzer MAAROUF
Syrian Communist Party
Dear comrades,
I'd like to thank the Workers Party of Belgium for this annual invitation. I'd also like to convey you the regards of the Central Committee of the Syrian Communist Party and its Secretary General, comrade Wissal Baghdash, and their wishes of everlasting success to this international seminar .
Comrades,
It's not difficult at all to review the achievements of the Great Socialist October Revolution during the 73 years which marked the reign of socialism in the Soviet Union. Proving the importance of the October Revolution and its influence at the national and international level doesn't need a lot of arguments. This revolution put humanity on a new track and presented to the world a different concept of the relationship between peoples far from oppression and exploitation. It also delivered a death blow to capitalism and colonialism in the period during which the supreme powers were making deals to share the world after World War I.
Called as the age of transformation towards socialism, the 20th century should also be named the age of liberation from colonialism in its different forms: military, economical, and political. The Socialist Soviet State was a real, direct and indirect, supporter of those peoples of the world who rose and fought for their freedom and independence. When the first government of workers and peasants was formed, it rose as a great power supporting the enslaved peoples in the world. It is very hard to mention an event or phenomenon that didn't get influenced by the October Revolution which was really a turning point in the contemporary history.
Dear comrades,
The work of Lenin " State and Revolution" was the first Marxist book to be translated into Arabic in 1923. This book helped in spreading Lenin's opinions of the European wars, participated in forming the consciousness of a lot of people in the Arab world and became a resource of socialist ideology. However, the real communication with scientific socialism started when Khaled Baghdash translated "The Communist Manifesto" into Arabic for the first time in 1933. This translation came in an active period of the development of the objective and subjective factors in the relationship between the pioneers of the Arab socialist thinking and the ideas of the October Revolution.
The October Revolution inspired the leaders of the Arab national struggle to the conviction that the colonialist forces could be defeated and the aspirations of our peoples could be achieved. Clearly influenced by those ideas, the liberation struggle was tightly connected to the humanistic and social struggle to establish justice and equality. Moreover, progressive ruling regimes with socialist orientation came into existence in many countries after getting their independence. About this, Khaled Baghdash, the historic leader of the Syrian communists, said, "Influenced by the principles of October Revolution the Arab East has become one of the world's most important regions of the national liberation movement. The struggle of peoples for both national liberation and social improvement has started to merge more and more".
The victorious socialist revolution acquired the understanding of the peoples in the Arab World and won the sympathy of large public sections especially after publishing the first historic documents of the Soviet State which issued the historic call to "all Muslims and proletariat in Russia and the East" which called the Muslims of the East to resist the invaders, revolt against colonialism and demand self-determination. Another important development was the issuing of the Peace Decree on November 28th, 1917 which included declaring equality between big and small countries, condemning colonialism and oppression on national basis, respecting the sovereignty of all countries and stopping the interference in their interior affairs, and freedom of belief…. .
Hence, the principles of the October Revolution stroke their roots in the consciousness of the Arab citizens as a supporter of the peoples who suffer from hegemony especially after publishing the secret agreements concluded in the reign of the Czar including Sykes-Picot agreement which laid down dividing the Arab world and sharing it by France and Great Britain after getting rid of the Ottoman occupation which had lasted for about four centuries. The Soviet State refused the systems of guardianship and mandate ratified by the League of Nations and described by Lenin as "… allotting spoliation and plunder and giving a small minority of the inhabitants of the earth the right to exploit the overwhelming majority of the peoples…"
The first relations between the Soviet Union and the Arab World appeared very shortly after the victory of the October Revolution. The Soviet Republic, despite its hard conditions and the siege of Occidental imperialism, helped the patriots and proletariat in Egypt during the Revolution of 1919 against English colonialism. Moreover, there was correspondence between the leader of 1919 Revolution, Sa'ad Zaghlul, and the leader of October Revolution, Lenin, and also between Lenin and Ibraheem Hanano, one of the leaders of the Syrian Revolution against the French colonialism in the early twenties of last century.
After the victory of the October Revolution, which became a revolutionary idol, and the establishment of the Soviet Republic as a strong state, new horizons were open before the peoples of our region. Hence, the Arab communist parties began to appear as national and objective necessity. These parties strongly participated in the political activity and national liberation struggle. Consequently, the Palestinian Communist Party was formed in 1920, the Egyptian Communist Party in 1921, the Syrian and Lebanese Communist Party in 1924, the Iraqi Communist Party in 1934. Later, communist parties were formed in the other Arab countries.
The seventh conference of the Comintern in 1935 had a vital and crucial role in correcting the intellectual and political practice of the Arab communist parties at that time.
Despite the ideological war launched by Zionism and the reactionary forces against the Soviet Union and the socialist ideology, the ideas of Scientific Socialism stroke their roots in the minds of vast sections of the Arab peoples because of the real and truthful supportive attitudes of the Soviet Union towards our peoples without taking into consideration the nature of the existing regimes.
In spite of the fact that the imperialistic countries, which sought to keep the Arab countries under their control, had hindered establishing official relationships between the young Soviet State and the Arab countries, the Soviet Union had its first diplomatic relationship with an Arab country in 1926, it was with Saudi Arabia.
In 1928, the Sana'a Treaty was signed with Yemen. It was the first equivalent treaty for an Arab side. The new relationships helped the peoples of Saudi Arabia and Yemen enhance their sovereignty and allowed the two countries to appear as equivalent members of the international community.
The steadfastness of the Red Army and its victories over Nazism in World War II enhanced the good reputation of the Soviet Union at the international level and swept away the obstacles which had hindered its efforts to establish relationships with the Arab countries. Accordingly, it had diplomatic relations with Egypt in 1943, and in 1944 with Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. The relationships with the rest Arab countries came successively after their independence. The Soviet Union neither sought benefits nor aimed at getting capitulations or political control. It didn't also ask for erecting military bases. This policy corresponded to what Lenin said, "we have and we will always stand by the tightest convergence and fusing of the mindful workers in the developed countries with the workers, peasants and slaves in all oppressed countries…". This fact was stressed by an Egyptian historian who said," for the first time in the history of humanity we have a state that doesn't want to colonize, occupy or exploit any one; this state - the Soviet Union – stands by the libration forces in the world."
The natural alliance between the Arab national liberation movement and the Soviet Union was one of the most important factors which contributed to the success the Arab peoples achieved in their struggle for independence and against the conspiracies plotted by the local reactionary forces and international imperialism. This alliance also helped these peoples in their striving to reach real development and take the track of economical and social progress which limited the influence of capitalism and feudalism on the economical and, consequently, political decision. Therefore, the exterior policy of these countries was marked as patriotic, anti-imperialistic, positively neutral and supportive to peace and security in the whole world.
As for the different forms of help presented by the Soviet Union to the countries of the Arab World, it is very difficult to talk in detail because what the October State gave to the peoples of the world, including ours, was great in volume and importance. I'll only give some examples which reflect the depth of the relations and the importance of the aid.
The Soviet Union was the first to support the Egyptian Republic announced after the overthrowing of the monarchy in Egypt in 1952. When the Occidental countries refused to arm the Egyptian army, the Soviets provided arms for that army through the famous weapon deal of 1955. During the triple aggression of France, Britain, and Israel on Egypt shortly after the nationalization of the Suez Canal, the Soviet Union played the most important role in stopping the aggression and forcing the aggressive troops to withdraw from the Egyptian lands after giving the famous severe warning and threatening that the Soviet Union would "use force to crush the aggressors and make peace prevail in the Middle East…"
As for the political battle for the independence of Syria which came as a result of the national liberation battles the Syrians fought against the French occupation, the Soviet Union used the right of veto for the first time to support Syria and Lebanon in their struggle to gain their independence without being obliged to sign any of the treaties and agreements France and Britain tried to impose on Syria in order to subordinate it and keep it revolving in the Occidental orbit. In addition to political help, the weapon deal between Syria and Czechoslovakia in 1957 came to enhance the strength of the Syrian army against the continuous Sioniste aggression and threats.
The real Soviet friendship and support were clearly manifested during the difficult and critical circumstances which shook our region. During the Sioniste assault on the Arab countries in June 1967, the Soviet Union worked for ceasefire and demanded the withdrawal of the troops to the truce line and, together with the other socialist countries, broke off diplomatic relations with Israel. It was made up for the weapons and the Egyptian and Syrian armies were modernized and provided with modern Soviet weapons and equipment which made both armies enter the first equivalent war between the Arabs and Zionists in 1973 and achieve great victories in that war.
Till its breakdown, the Soviet Union never stopped supporting the Palestinian people and their just cause. It helped Palestinian Liberation Organization ( PLO ) politically and sought to realize the demand of the Palestinian people for establishing their independent state. Lenin and the Bolsheviks had stood against the Zionist project in Palestine since the very beginning. They exposed the imperialistic and reactionary essence of the alliance between Britain and Zionism. This was expressed in the resolution of the Comintern on July 28th, 1920 which stated, "the project sacrifices the laboring Arab inhabitants of Palestine…". The Soviet Union was the first to raise the issue of putting an end to the British Mandate and establishing a democratic independent state in Palestine.
The Soviet Union also supported the republican system in Iraq which overthrew the royal regime which was involved in suspicious treaties with the West. It also presented military, cultural, and economical support to the Socialist Party which was ruling the Democratic Republic of Yemen and advocated the socialist heading of the government there. The Soviets stood by the liberation Omani revolution against the British colonialism and were the first to support the revolution of 1965 which was carried out by the Omani people and had features of scientific-socialism.
In the field of economy and development, the huge aid given by the Soviet Union to a lot of Arab countries largely contributed to the development of the productive forces and to the building of infrastructure to strengthen the economical and political abilities which helped in raising the standard of their peoples' life and culture. The economical relations between the Soviet Union and those countries were set on the basis of cooperation, equivalence, and mutual benefit. Moreover, those relations were established without subjecting the Arab governments to any squeezing conditions which facilitated the process of the economical and social transformations which were of benefit to a large section of the Arab public. The collaboration of the Arab countries with the Soviet Union led to the building of hundreds of vital and important economical facilities.
Thus, the Aswan Dam was erected in Egypt after the Occidental countries retracted their financing of the project. The same was the case in Syria where the great dam of Al-Furat was erected to water millions of hectares and generate electric power. With the help of the Soviet Union a real heavy industry began to exist in Egypt and other Arab countries.
In the field of science and culture, the Soviet Union spared no effort to develop its scientific and cultural relations with the Arab World. Its universities and institutes welcomed the Arab students who would get degrees in different fields of knowledge and get back home to participate in the social and scientific boom in their countries. The Soviet cultural centers in the Arab countries had an important role in spreading the Soviet culture and arts and conveying the Arab culture and civilization to the Soviet people. It is important to mention here that the Soviet literature issued in Arabic language was easy to obtain due to its very low price.
Dear comrades,
In 1987, Khaled Bekdash, said, "Imagine the world without the Soviet Union! Thereupon, imperialists, headed by American imperialism, wouldn't refrain from committing the most hideous and repulsive crimes against all peoples of the world. They wouldn't be satisfied with plundering and oppression; they would resort to extermination in the full sense of the word." If it was previously hard to imagine the world without the Soviet Union, it is very difficult today to view the world after its absence: American imperialism has violated the sovereignty of countries and launched many wars to subjugate those who resist it.
The dark picture of the world which suffers today from the continuous threatening of imperialism confirms the fact that the October Revolution is an urgent need not only for us, communists, but also for all peoples of the world. Moreover, it is the only hope for humanity to regain the radiance of more than 70 years and the hope for peaceful life in a world dominated only by peace and equivalent relations between its peoples.
The ideas and results of the October Revolution will always motivate the contemporary human development. Staying loyal to this revolution whose echo can still be heard in the whole world makes it our must, as communists and patriots, to work seriously for unifying the international communist movement in order to consolidate struggle and unify the world's anti-imperialist front putting in mind that the circumstances the world is going through now are harsher and harder than they used to be before the October Revolution and the that atrocity of imperialism has become graver. However, the peoples of the world can still defeat their class enemies, who are the enemies of humanity, by means of their struggle and international human sense.
Our mutual duty today is to mobilize the public for the struggle against the dangers of imperialism and war which threaten the free and peaceful development of all countries and peoples. Furthermore, we have to learn from the previous experience and do away with the mistakes made during the journey of the first socialist state in the world.
Thanks for listening
ALmunzer MAAROUF
Candidate member of the political bureau
of the Syrian Communist Party