1. WHAT IS A NATION?
"A historically constituted,
stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory,
economic life and psychological make-up, manifested in a common culture".
-- J. V. Stalin;
(In other words:) A community
which lacks any of these characteristics is not a nation.
2. HOW DOES A NATION DEVELOP?
The development of a community
to nationhood proceeds through three fundamental stages: The first stage
is that of the tribe, based on a union of related clans. Tribalism is the
characteristic form of social organisation under primitive communism. As
the tribal community disintegrates with the development of tools and techniques,
tribes come together into federations and kingdoms; a common language,
based on one of the tribal languages, emerges. This process leads to the
development of the second stage of the development of a community, that
of the pre- nation or nationality. A pre-nation or nationality is a community
based no longer on blood relationship, but on geographical location. It
has a common language, a common territory and a common culture, but does
not possess economic cohesion in the form of a common market. A pre-nation
is the characteristic form of social organisation under slavery and feudalism.
With the development of capitalism within the framework of feudal society,
the development of pre-national characteristics is accelerated and, alongside
this, the process of establishing economic cohesion, a common market, throughout
the territory of the pre-nation. This latter process transforms the pre-nation
into a nation.
3. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE TERM
'THE RIGHT OF NATIONS TO SELF- DETERMINATION'?
The nations of the world are
divided into oppressed and oppressing nations. An oppressed nation is one
dominated, openly or in a concealed manner, by an oppressing nation for
the benefit of the ruling class of the latter; it is, therefore, not free
to determine its own destiny. When Marxist-Leninists say that they recognise
the right of an oppressed nation to self-determination, they mean that
they recognise the right of an oppressed nation to establishj its complete
independence, and recognise the struggle of an oppressed nation to establish
its independence from an oppressing nation to be a just struggle which
they support.
4. WHAT IS A COLONIAL-TYPE COUNTRY?
A country which is industrially
under-developed and is dominated economically, and perhaps also politically,
by a greater power.
5. WHAT KINDS OF COLONIAL-TYPE
COUNTRIES ARE THERE?
A colonial-type country may
be:
8. HOW MANY NATIONS ARE THERE
IN THE BRITISH ISLES?
Two, the British and Irish nations.
For geographical and ethnic reasons, the development of nations in the
British Isles took place in four distinct regions: in Ireland, Scotland,
Wales and England. But before the Scottish, Welsh and English nations could
complete their development into nations, the influence of the rising capitalist
class brought about the economic, political and cultural unification of
these pre-nations into a single British nation. By the time of the bourgeois
revolution of the 17th century, the British capitalist class had become
the leading force in the class alliance ruling Britain. Although remnants
of pre-national distinctions in language and culture still survive in parts
of Britain, it constitutes a single economic system, a single market and
a single nation with, for the most part, a single language and a single
culture. In Ireland, however, separated from Britain by a sea barrier,
the development of the Irish nation proceeded independently, without fusion
with the pre-nations developing across the Irish Sea. With the development
of capitalism, the Irish nation came into existence. The Irish nation is
an oppressed nation. The northern counties are under the direct colonial
rule of British imperialism. While the southern counties (the Irish Republic)
form a neo-colony of British imperialism. Marxist-Leninists uphold the
right of the Irish nation to unification and independence.
9. WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
'SCOTTISH NATIONALISM' AND 'WELSH NATIONALISM'?
Since
the peoples of Scotland and Wales do not constitute nations, but form part
of the British nation, both 'Scottish nationalism' and 'Welsh nationalism'
are spurious. Objectively, Scottish and Welsh 'nationalisms' serve the
interests of British imperialism, since they place the blame for the exploitation
of the working people of Scotland and Wales on an imaginary enemy, the
'English imperialists'. Scottish and Welsh 'nationalisms' serve the interests
of British imperialism by seeking to divide the working people of Scotland
and Wales from their fellow-workers in England, suggesting that (as members
of 'oppressed nations') they have a common interest with capitalists in
Scotland and Wales. Nevertheless, while recognising that the peoples of
Scotland, Wales and England form a single British nation, Marxist-Leninist
support autonomy for these territories in the form of devolution as a democratic
measure.
10. WHAT IS RACISM?
The view that people of one
degree of skin pigmentation are superior or inferior to people of another
degree. Because of the history of imperialism, the most common form of
racism is 'white racism', which holds that people with 'white' skins are
superior to those with 'black' skins. The imperialists, who form a tiny
minority of the world's population, can maintain their domination over
the working people of the world only on the basis of 'divide and rule'.
Consequently, they seek to set white against black, Christian against Muslim,
manual worker against intellectual worker, young against old, and so on.
All forms of racism, which seek to set people of one race against people
of another, serve the interests of the imperialists. Black racism, although
to some extent a reaction against white racism, complements the former.
Both white racists and black racists oppose the building of an anti-imperialist
united front embracing the working people of the imperialist countries
and those of the colonial-type countries which is essential to destroy
imperialism.
11. THE REVOLUTIONARY PROCESS IN A DEVELOPED CAPITALIST COUNTRY CONSISTS OF A SINGLE STAGE -- THAT OF SOCIALIST REVOLUTION. THE REVOLUTIONARY PROCESS IN A COLONIAL-TYPE COUNTRY CONSISTS OF TWO STAGES. WHAT ARE THEY?
16. WHAT, THEN, IS THE MARXIST-LENINIST
STRATEGY IN RELATION TO THE NATIONAL-DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION IN A COLONIAL-TYPE
COUNTRY?
To support it as an essential
preliminary stage in the revolutionary process in a colonial-type country;
to strive to build the broadest possible united front embracing all social
classes which have an objective interst in supporting the national-democratic
revolution; to strive to win leadership by the working class of this anti-imperialist
united front, and the leadersip of the working class by the Marxist-Leninist
Party: to strive to transform the national-democratic revolution uninterruptedly
into a socialist revolution.
The Trotskyist slogan in a colonial-type
country of 'Socialism Now', which seeks to skip over an essential stage
in the revolution, objectively assists the enemies of socialism.
17. WHAT ARE THE AIMS OF THE
NATIONAL CAPITALISTS IN A COLONIAL- TYPE COUNTRY IN RELATION TO THE NATIONAL-DEMOCRATIC
REVOLUTION?
To
strive to lead the national-democratic revolution and to hold
the revolutionary process at this stage so
as to establish a capitalist state in which they, the national capitalists,
hold political power and exploit the working people for themselves.
In a colonial-type
country where there is a developed working class led by a Marxist-Leninist
Party, a class struggle takes place during the development of the national-democratic
revolution between the working class and the national capitalist class
for leadership of the revolutionary process.
If the working
class is seen to be winning this leadership, the national capitalists will
inevitably desert the national-democratic revolution and go over to the
side of counter-revolution -- preferring a subordinate position as exploiters
to the complete loss in a socialist revolution of their 'right' to exploit.
18. WHAT IS MAOISM?
The character of Maoism is the
subject of much debate, and the NCMLP does not present an organisational
position on this. Some people hold that Maoism -- named after the Chinese
leader Mao Tse-tung -- is a development of Marxism-Leninism.
Others - including the CL -
hold that it is, at least in part, a revisionist deviation from Marxism-Leninism.
Still others hold that it is a brand of revisionism for colonial-type countries,
designed to hold up the revolutionary process in such countries at the
stage of national- democratic revolution. The character
of Maoism should be debated during the discussion.
19. WHAT IS PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM?
The opposite of bourgeois nationalism,
it emphasises the brotherhood and common interests of the working people
of all countries and the need for their solidarity in action and organisation.
It is exemplified in the Marxist-Leninist slogan:
2) Application of the National
Question to the colonial Question:
ii) Stalin on the Chinese revolution
see Alliance Notes on Trotsky's Attack On Stalin's Policy in China: AT:
iii) Stalin on the types of underdeveloped
countries and the application of revolutionary tactics to them: In J. V.
Stalin: "The Political Tasks Of The University Of The People's
Of The East - Speech Delivered at a Meeting of Students of the Communist
University of the Toilers of the East"; "Works," Vol. 7, pp. 135-154; Moscow,
1954;
3) Upon Maoism:
4) What Is NOT a National
Question?
i) Lenin V.I: "Draft Theses
on Colonial Question To The Second Congress of Comintern": Volume 31, pp.
144-51. Moscow 1966;
http://ml-review.ca/aml/China/NotesColonNatQues&China.htm
See the "Open Letter To Ludo
Martens" By Three Parties-organisations AT: http://ml-review.ca/aml/China/Anti-Martens-a.html
An Example - Upon the revisionist
theory of "The Black Nation in the USA";
http://ml-review.ca/aml/AllianceIssues/ALLIANCE22MarxUSA96.html
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