Contribution of CP in Denmark [En]

Esteemed comrades.

First, of course, a warm thank you to the Communist Party of the Russian Federation for organizing this year’s international meeting of the Communist world movement. And a special thank you for combining this year’s meeting with the celebration of the 100 years anniversary of the October Revolution.

The great Russian October Revolution has, as we all know, played a very big role for Russia and the neighbouring countries entering into the Soviet Union, but for countries far away from Russia as well. And the role of the revolution is definitely not outplayed yet even though a hundred years have passed.

To very briefly sum up the role of the revolution:

The revolution was the starting signal of the introduction of socialism in Russia and the neighbouring countries. The construction of socialism meant a huge step forward for the working class, for the peasants and for the ordinary people in general. Illiteracy was abolished and superstition replaced by science on a very high level.

Unemployment vanished. Production grew at an enormous speed. The people were through the soviets directly involved in the management of the country, of factories and other enterprises and so on. The Soviet Union was able to defeat the German fascists’ attempt to capture the country.

But it was not only in the Soviet Union that socialism showed its strength and worldwide significance. It was to a large extent also in what is somewhat misleading called the third world. The Soviet Union thus was very active in the international class struggle as it was played out in the struggle for the decolonization of Africa, for the liberation of Vietnam from the French and American yoke, for the building of the socialist Cuba etc.

But also in the so called western world, including in little Denmark, the October Revolution and the building of socialism in the Soviet Union had an invaluable significance.

In Denmark the communist party was founded in 1919 and became a member of the Communist International. This happened strongly inspired by the events in Russia. Even though we were at that time and still are a small party, we have definitely played a decisive role in Denmark, not at least during the German occupation from 1940 to 1945 when the communist were the leading force in the resistance movement and later on in the struggle against Danish membership of NATO and later of the EU.

But it was not only the communists who were strengthened by the many good examples of enormous progress in the Soviet Union. Exactly because the working class could see that in the east a new society was created which did well without capitalists and capitalism, many workers got to believe in their own strength which came to play a big role in union struggles in Denmark and in many other countries.

And that is exactly how the October Revolution seriously proved its worldwide significance.

Because in spite of errors and shortcomings during the building of socialism the October Revolution – the world’s first socialist revolution – demonstrated that a world without capitalism is not only possible but is necessary in order to stop wars all around, to build up countries directing at serving the working class and the people, to abolish famine and need and the exploitation of the poor by the rich. Capitalism and imperialism are, in Lenin’s clear words, dying, and it is our task to accelerate this death of an outlived form of government as much as possible.

So what are the tasks facing us?

There are, of course, differences between the countries, but there are clear common features.

It is about fighting for peace, against imperialist armament and wars. Here, alas, we see that the bourgeois government has just launched a proposal for reinforcement of the Danish army, especially pointing towards Russia, and this proposal seems to gain a big majority vote in the parliament – also from the social democratic parties. Military armament is not only seen in Denmark, but in a lot of other countries among others inspired by the madman in the White House in the USA. But we, the communists, do not forget that it was just after the October Revolution that Russia stopped the country’s participation in the world war, because without peace it would be a lot more difficult to build the socialist society.

In many places it is all about national sovereignty. The October Revolution among other things showed the way through the recognition of Finland as an independent state and the development of the other countries in the Soviet Union. In today’s Denmark one of the big tasks of our party is the struggle against Denmark’s membership of the EU. We want and fight for a complete exit from this big capital project in Europe.

The inspiration from the October Revolution and the time after showed that it was not just a utopian idea that enterprises and entire countries could be lead without the power and influence of the capitalists. That was a visible reality until the counterrevolution temporarily conquered in the Soviet Union and in the former socialist countries in Eastern Europe.

The struggle against anti communism becomes still more significant in this era. We see communist parties and communist symbols banned all around. Those in power try through mass media, through education of children and young adults etc. to equate communism and Nazism, even though they are absolutely incompatible bodies. It is a very important task for the communists to fight the dark forces who will, at any costs, preserve capitalism no matter the anti democratic methods used.

But, naturally, we should not stop believing – as many others regrettably have – that a better society, a socialist society is not just a dream, but something that can and shall become a reality. That the building of socialism in the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries could not take place without mistakes on the way is, of course, regrettable, but on the other hand very understandable, as, to a large extent, it was quite new ways of development that had to be invented and executed. And the mistakes made during the building of socialism are quite small compared to the “mistakes” and accidents created by capitalism and imperialism!

So there is all good reason for us to celebrate the 100 year’s anniversary of the October Revolution.

Capitalism is the problem – socialism is the solution.