Historical Lesson and Realistic Significance of the Alienation of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from Masses in its Last Days
Zhang Shuhua[1] and Zhang Zhang[2]
[Abstract] Alienation from the masses was an important reason for the destruction of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). As a proletarian party that had traditionally adhered to the mass line, the CPSU later became alienated from the masses, mainly because of its mental stagnation and conservative ideology, serious formalism and bureaucracy, prevalence of privilege mentality and hedonism, and rampant extravagance. In the last days of its rule, the CPSU gradually deviated from the Marxist guidelines in guiding ideology, institutional construction, development of work practices, and building of a clean government, and improper party conduct became a serious problem. In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the CPSU, we should learn lessons from its collapse, adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, constantly strengthen our party building, and always maintain the party’s close bond with the people.
[Key Words] The Communist Party of the Soviet Union; Mass line; Party building
In 1991, the Soviet Union underwent sudden political changes. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was dissolved, which led to transfer of governments and a change in the path of social development. By rethinking the history of the rise and fall of the CPSU, we can summarize a rule that the survival of the Party depends on the backing of the people. When one uses a person as a mirror, he sees his success and missteps; when one uses the past events as a mirror, his comprehends the rise and fall of a nation. The mass line is the lifeline and the basic line of work for the Communist Party of China (CPC). General Secretary Xi Jinping said, “History has fully proved that the nation is composed of people, and people are all that matter to the nation. The survival of the Party depends on the backing of the people. By earning the people’s trust and gaining their support, the Party can overcome any challenge and prevail in all endeavors.”[3] “As the Communist Party of China has led the people in fighting to establish and develop the People’s Republic, it has really been fighting for their support.”[4] The CPC was able to lead the Chinese people to achieve great victories in the historical process from revolution, to reconstruction and to reform because it always adhered to the people-centered approach and maintained a close bond with the people. An important reason why the CPSU “built the country with 200,000 members, defended it with 2 million members, and destroyed it with 20 million members”[5] was that it turned away from the people, let formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance run wild, and eroded the party conduct, the work style of the government, and social morality. It was eventually abandoned by the people. Today, reviewing the process of its alienation from the masses is of important educational and cautionary significance.
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[1] Zhang Shuhua, director of the Institute of Political Science, CASS, and dean and researcher of the School of Government, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
[2] Zhang Chang, a doctoral candidate of the School of Government, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
[3] Xi Jinping, “Speech at a Campaign on Party History Learning and Education”, Qiushi, No. 7, 2021.
[4] Xi Jinping, Speech at a Ceremony Marking the Centenary of the CPC, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2021, p. 11.
[5] Li Ruiqin, Frontier Issues in the Study of the Collapse of the Former Soviet Union and Tremendous Change to East Europe in Recent Years, Scientific Socialism, No. 5, 2016.