Materials for the Draft Programme of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks with Notes by J. V. Stalin

Abstracts for the preparation of the programme of the CPSU(b)

1. The significance of the October Revolution in historical human development

The Great October Socialist Revolution of November 7 (October 25), 1917, brought about the dictatorship of the proletariat in Russia. The working class, with the support of the bulk of the peasantry, began to build the foundations of a communist society.

This revolution was the inevitable result of the development of international capitalism, where Russia was the weakest link and the focal point of all the contradictions of imperialism.

The Russian working class was the first to enter into a decisive struggle against capitalism and won a complete victory over the Russian bourgeoisie and landlords¹.

The October Revolution opened a new era in world history. It was the beginning of a radical turn in the development of mankind from the old capitalist world to the new socialist world.

2.  [For the first time]² in history the workers and peasants deprived the bourgeoisie [and landlords]³ political power, destroyed the old bourgeois state apparatus to the ground and created a new type of state –the Soviet state.

The creation of the Soviet state was a world-historic step forward in the struggle of the working class for its emancipation. The Soviet state has realized genuine freedom for the working people, a new, people’s, socialist democracy. The state of the working people was opposed to the bourgeois state, and Soviet socialist democracy was opposed to capitalist democracy.

3. The October Revolution dealt a death blow to the exploitative theories that the working class was incapable of running the state.

The thirty-year existence of the Soviet state has convincingly proved that the people themselves, without capitalists and landlords⁴ can not only successfully manage the state, build industry, manage the economy, but can also create the most durable and most powerful state that has ever existed in history.

4. The entire experience of historical development over the past decades shows that the bourgeois form of ownership⁵ of the instruments and the means of production has outlived itself, that the transformation of the means of production into public, socialist property is a historical necessity, a condition for the further progress of mankind.

The Soviet revolution destroyed the bourgeois and landlord⁶ ownership of the means of production and established the dominance of socialist property in our country, which was the decisive condition for the growth of the productive forces of Soviet society, unprecedented in its scope and pace.

For the first time in history, the economy of a vast country was organized on a scientific, planned basis. The dominance of socialist property made possible a reasonable combination of science and economy. [New patterns of social development emerged]⁷.

The victorious development of the socialist economy of the USSR led to the complete ousting of capitalist elements from all spheres of economic and social life, to the liquidation of the exploiting classes, to the abolition of the exploitation of man by man. The Soviet people are now forever freed from economic crises, unemployment, poverty and ruin⁸.

The socialist form of economy has shown its greatest advantages compared with capitalism as the highest historical stage of organization and development of production.

The Great October Socialist Revolution and the victory of socialism in the USSR confirmed that great⁹ Marxist-Leninist truth that capitalism is a transitory mode of production and that, due to the laws of historical development, it will inevitably be replaced by socialism.

5. The victory of the socialist revolution in the USSR freed the peoples of Russia from economic and spiritual enslavement by foreign capital and ensured their state and national independence. The October Revolution raised the broad masses of the country to conscious historical creativity. The people became the true creators of a new social and state system, a new socialist culture¹⁰.

6. The October Socialist Revolution completely broke the chains of national oppression in Russia and established the Soviet multinational state, built on the principles of the brotherhood of peoples. The Soviet state ensured economic and cultural flourishing for all the peoples of Russia. It raised the formerly oppressed peoples to the position of truly free and truly equal¹¹.

The October Revolution dealt a crushing blow to bourgeois racial theory by showing that the most backward peoples, drawn into the mainstream of Soviet development, are capable of advancing a truly advanced culture and a truly advanced civilization. It exposed the lie that has been spreading for centuries about the inequality of peoples, about the superiority of some races and nations¹² over others.

7. The October Revolution served as a signal and an example for the working people of the whole world in their liberation struggle, instilling in them confidence in their strength and hope for liberation from oppression and exploitation.

Among the broad masses of the people in the capitalist countries, in the colonies and dependent countries, faith in the inviolability and eternity¹³ of capitalism has been shaken. Under the influence of the October Revolution, a powerful wave of national liberation movements and a wave of revolutionary uprisings¹⁴ took place. The struggle of the working people against capitalist oppression after the October Revolution rose to a [higher]¹⁵ historical level¹⁶.

8. The October Revolution dealt a mortal blow to the social democratic reformist ideology. It proved that [only the Communist Party]¹⁷, only Bolshevism¹⁸ is a true representative of revolutionary Marxism. The October Revolution showed the working class of the whole world that social-democratic reformism is the ideological support of capitalism, a faithful defender and a servant of imperialism.

9. The leader and organizer of the masses of the people, who carried out the socialist revolution and the victorious building of socialism in the USSR, is the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the party of Lenin-Stalin.

The Bolshevik Party, armed with the theory of scientific communism, the theory of Marxism-Leninism, educated the working class and the working people in the spirit of the ideas of the socialist revolution and showed them the right path to victory.

10. The Second World War, which ended with the complete victory of the Soviet Union over German¹⁹ fascism and Japanese imperialism²⁰ proved to the whole world that only thanks to the Soviet state and the selfless struggle of the peoples of the USSR, who bore the main burden of this war on their shoulders, humanity was saved from the danger of fascist enslavement. The USSR acted as the saviour of world culture and civilization from fascist barbarism.

The Soviet state in the new, post-war conditions continues to wage a consistent struggle to the end for the complete eradication of the ideology of fascism throughout the world, for a lasting democratic peace, for the freedom and independence of peoples, tirelessly exposing the instigators and provocateurs of a new world war.

11. The Great October Socialist Revolution placed the working people of the USSR at the head of all advanced and progressive mankind.

2.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a bulwark of the culture and civilization of modern man: On the basis of victorious socialism in the USSR, a new world culture, the culture of communism, is being built.

II. The current international environment

1. The Second World War brought significant changes to the modern international situation.

As a result of the defeat of German fascism and Japanese imperialism, the two most aggressive imperialist powers, Germany and Japan, broke out of the world capitalist system. There was a serious weakening of the British Empire, which lost some of its economic and political positions and turned into a junior partner of the United States.

The centre of gravity of world reaction has shifted to the United States. The economic, financial and military strengthening of the United States is pushing the American monopoly and financial oligarchy to fight for the establishment of world domination, to abandon traditional isolationism and move to unrestrained expansionist²¹ foreign policy²². The collapsed German fascist imperialism, which was striving to win world domination, is being replaced by American imperialism with its aspirations to establish US world domination. After the failure of the German fascist racial theory, the Anglo-Saxon racial theory was brought to light as a new ideological weapon of American and British imperialism.

2. British imperialism does not have the strength and means to maintain its old positions in the capitalist world, as a result of which the British were pushed out²³ by the American imperialists from China, are being ousted from Canada, lost their position in Greece and Turkey, etc. The United States stakes on the economic mastery of foreign colonies, [on overcoming the colonial monopoly]²⁴ European powers and the mastery of foreign markets and sources of raw materials. With falsely demagogic declarations against colonial oppression, the American imperialists cover up their desire for a general redistribution of the colonial world in their favour.

3. Modern imperialist reaction does not want to and [cannot get rid of with fascism to the end]²⁵ because it needs fascism as a counterbalance to the growth of the labour and people’s democratic movement. The ruling circles of the USA and England condone the fascists everywhere. The governments of the imperialist states (Britain and the USA) are pursuing a policy of supporting reactionary elements all over the world (in China, Greece, Italy, France, Iran, Germany, Austria, etc.), a policy of suppressing the national liberation movement in the colonial countries²⁶.

4. In the post-war [US domestic policy, the process of militarization of the country was sharply defined: and the bureaucratization of the state apparatus]²⁷, strengthening the military, the transition to methods of direct violence against progressive organizations.

Extreme reactionary circles in the USA are openly pushing the country towards fascism. The passage of anti-union laws, the testing of US civil servants and the dismissal of all “disloyal”, the purge of the state apparatus of communist and democratic elements, racial discrimination, the widespread political and ideological campaign against the labour movement, trade unions, and the Communist Party testify to the serious danger of US fascism²⁸.

5. One of the manifestations of the US struggle for world domination is touching the national sovereignty of many European countries. Relying on the strength of the US dollar, using the needs and calamities of the population of many European countries after the Second World War, seeking to unite a number of European states under their auspices, reactionary circles in the United States are trying to arbitrarily interfere in their economic and political life. Reaction[ary] elements²⁹ of these countries are openly betraying the national interests of their peoples in favour of the rich and fat masters from the United States³⁰.

6. As a reflection of the growth of the forces of imperialist reaction, there is a further decline and decay of modern bourgeois culture and ideology. In the countries of the bourgeois world, primarily in the USA and England, new variations of the old racial theories are widely preached. Once again imperialist reaction is raising the weapon of zoological nationalism. The preaching of “impotence of reason”, the individualism of the “proud personality”, intellectual anarchy, philosophical idealism and mysticism has become extremely intensified in the post-war period.

7. The growth of reaction, the intensifying processes of militarization and fascisisation of the countries of the old bourgeois democracy, the reactionary course in their domestic and foreign policy aggravate class contradictions and intensify the struggle between progressive and reactionary elements in these countries. There is a process of growth of the forces of progress, democracy; ever broader masses of the people are drawn into the struggle against reaction³¹.

8. After the Second World War, an upswing in the working-class movement was clearly marked in all capitalist countries. During the period of the liberation war against fascism, the working class of the capitalist countries acted as the most consistent fighter for the defeat of fascism, as the most patriotic force in the struggle against the fascist aggressors and oppressors. Today the working class of the capitalist countries is fighting against international and national reaction, and is acting as the true bearer of the interests of the whole people and of the whole nation. The working class of the capitalist countries is increasingly uniting all democratic elements around itself³².

9. One of the regularities of the present stage of historical development is the growth of the forces of communism in all countries. During the Second World War, the Communist parties played the main organizing role in creating the resistance movement and uniting the masses in the countries under German and Japanese occupation. As a result, the communist parties have grown in numbers, strengthened politically and ideologically, won great prestige among the masses of the people, and are now a mighty force opposing internal and external reaction.

10. As a result³³, the defeat of German fascism and Japanese imperialism aggravated the crisis of the entire colonial system of the capitalist world. An upsurge of the national-colonial liberation movement is taking place, never before seen in history. Not only do the colonial peoples no longer want to live in the old way, but the ruling classes of the metropolitan countries can no longer govern the colonies in the old way³⁴. The colonial peoples oppose the attempts of imperialist reaction to find a way out of the crisis of the colonial system through reforms and concessions with their own path, the revolutionary, national liberation fight³⁵. Under the flag of granting all kinds of “autonomies”, “independence”, through partial concessions, the use of tactics of inciting ethnic and religious hatred among the colonial peoples, as well as through economic and political pressure, and if all this does not help – through direct military suppression of the national liberation movements – the imperialists are striving in every way to preserve their old colonial positions. The peoples of the colonial countries ([India], Burma, Indonesia, Indochina, etc.)³⁶ are increasingly developing a struggle for their national independence, establishing ties with democratic, progressive forces throughout the capitalist world, including in the metropolitan countries.

11. After the First World War, as a result of the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution, Russia broke the chains of imperialism, and the Soviet state and social system was established in it. After the Second World War, as a result of the unfolding people’s liberation struggle against fascist oppression, thanks to the historical role played by the Soviet Union in the defeat of German fascism, in a number of countries of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (Yugoslavia³⁷, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Czechoslovakia, Poland) a new democracy has grown and strengthened.

The peoples of these countries, having liberated themselves from Hitler’s yoke with the help of the Soviet Army, began to build new democratic orders, abandoning the old models of bourgeois-parliamentary democracy, such as British or North American. New forms of state structure arose that ensured the real involvement of workers, peasants, and labour[ing] intelligentsia in state administration. In the countries of the new democracies, a land reform has been carried out, large-scale land ownership has been abolished, large-scale industry has been nationalized, and the foundations have been laid for the planned development of the economy. A new path of economic and political development has opened up for the countries of the new democracy in the direction of socialism.

12. In the post-war period, the reactionary role of contemporary right-wing Social Democracy as the clerk and squire of imperialism is once again revealed with all clarity. Social Democracy [after the First] World War saved capitalism by its opportunistic and treacherous policy; as a result of the split of the labour movement, it paved the way for the victory of fascism in Germany, Italy, Spain and other countries. Now, after the second war, right-wing socialists are playing a no less reactionary role, being direct accomplices of the aggressive imperialist forces; they are active assistants, propagandists and conductors of the US policy of economic and political enslavement of a number of European countries, active preachers of the creation of a Western bloc of European states [directed against the Soviet Union]³⁸.

Exposing their policies and isolating them from the working class and the masses is an urgent task of all truly democratic, progressive forces.

13. Two trends have been clearly defined in the international situation – the tendency of imperialist reaction and aggression, provocation and preparation of a new war, denial of the national sovereignty of small countries, represented by reactionary imperialist circles – and another tendency, represented by the Soviet Union – the spokesman for the true interests of the peoples, consistently fighting for a lasting democratic peace, upholding the rights of peoples and the sovereignty of small states.

14. The development of the productive forces of the capitalist world, primarily in the USA, the concentration of enormous wealth in the hands of a handful of monopolists and magnates of finance capital, and the ever-growing impoverishment of the masses of the people places the capitalist system before new economic upheavals and crises. Uneven development of the capitalist countries, [disturbance of balance within the bourgeois economic system]³⁹ – fraught with the danger of new military clashes.

The more the progress of science advances, the more opportunities open up for the use of new sources of energy, new great technical discoveries, the stronger the main contradiction of capitalism, the contradiction between the social character of labour and the private capitalist form of appropriation, becomes more pronounced. The higher the level of modern technology, the more majestic the productive forces of mankind become, the more inevitably the question of the need to replace the old bourgeois system with a new socialist system is placed on the order of the day. Imperialism is unable to cope with the modern productive forces of society. [The only way to avoid new military clashes and crises is transition to socialism]⁴⁰.

III. The results of the achievements of Soviet society

1. Having won political power in Russia, the workers and peasants created the basic conditions for the fundamental socialist transformation of the country.

After the defeat of foreign intervention and internal counter-revolution, the Communist Party directed all the forces of the Soviet people to the restoration of the national economy and the socialist reorganization of the life of the country along all lines. It was necessary to start creating our own industrial base for the national economy, it was necessary to prepare and carry out the transformation of agriculture on a socialist basis, it was necessary to do a lot of work for the comprehensive development and strengthening of the socialist state, it was necessary to unfold a whole cultural revolution in the country.

2. The implementation of these tasks was associated with enormous difficulties, flowing from the age-old economic and cultural backwardness of old Russia. It was necessary to overcome the desperate resistance of the exploiting classes, to crush the Trotsky-Zinoviev-Bukharin traitors, to strengthen the country’s defence in the face of unceasing attempts by the bourgeois states to interfere in the internal affairs of the Soviet Union.

The Communist Party and the Soviet government rallied the Soviet people, directed their efforts towards a common goal, overcoming all obstacles and difficulties.

As a result of the titanic work of the Soviet people, a socialist society was built in the USSR.

3. Guided by the teachings of Lenin and Stalin, the Communist Party and the Soviet government developed a strictly scientific programme for the industrialization of the country.

Unlike the capitalist method of industrialization, the Soviet method of industrialization is based on social ownership of the means of production, on the accumulation and saving of wealth created by the labour of workers and peasants. The Soviet method of industrialization assumed a steady increase in the material well-being of the masses. The clarity of the goal and the grandeur of the prospects for socialist construction aroused the greatest labour enthusiasm of the Soviet people. The construction of socialist industry gave rise to new forms of communist construction—socialist emulation and ‘shock work’.

All this led to an unprecedented increase in production. It was a leap, with the help of which our homeland, in the shortest historical period, turned from a backward country into an advanced one, from an agrarian into an industrial one.

Soviet industry has grown into a huge force based on new, advanced modern technology with a highly developed heavy industry and an even more developed machine building.

4. Consistently and successfully solving the problem of creating a large modern mechanized industry, the Soviet state carried out Lenin’s testament to transform our country into a country economically independent of the capitalist economy.

As a result of industrialization, a powerful and solid defence base of the country was created, which made it possible to prepare for organizing a rebuff in the event of a military attack from outside.

5. The most difficult task of the socialist revolution was to introduce the many millions of Soviet peasants to socialism. In order to put an end to backwardness in the field of agriculture and transfer it to socialist lines, it was necessary to organize the transition from small peasant farming to large-scale collective farming.

6. Large-scale socialist industry made it possible to provide the most advanced technical base for the reconstruction of agriculture. For a number of years the Bolshevik Party and the Soviet government created new productive forces in the countryside and equipped agriculture with new machinery. A large army of people who mastered the new technique was trained.

As a result of all this, a profound revolutionary upheaval took place in the Soviet countryside, a leap from the old qualitative state of society to a new qualitative state, equivalent in its consequences to the revolutionary upheaval in October 1917⁴¹.

In the process of the transition of the peasantry to the collective farms, the last exploiting class, the kulaks, was liquidated.

7. The creation of the foundation of a socialist economy in industry and agriculture was accompanied by the expulsion of the bourgeoisie from the sphere of commodity circulation as well. A Soviet state and cooperative trade were created, which ensured the supply of the working people of the city and the countryside with consumer goods, and established correct economic relations between different branches of industry.

8. As a result of the victory of socialist industrialization and the collectivization of agriculture, the exploiting classes were eliminated and the exploitation of man by man was completely abolished. The class structure of Soviet society changed radically. Only the working class and the peasant class, as well as the Soviet intelligentsia, remained in the USSR. The working class and the peasantry of the USSR are new classes that have changed their social nature. The intelligentsia of the USSR also changed. The alliance of the working class, the peasantry and the Soviet intelligentsia is strong and unshakable.

9. On the basis of the great historical victories of socialism, the Soviet socialist state was consolidated and Soviet socialist democracy developed. The Soviet people have achieved unprecedented successes in all areas of economic, political and cultural life.

The Stalinist Constitution expressed and legislated the victory of socialism in our country.

The introduction of the new Constitution of the USSR meant a turn in the entire political life of the country.

10. The building of socialism in the USSR meant the modification of the old ones and the emergence [of new laws of social development]. Instead of the antagonistic contradiction that has existed for centuries between the productive forces and production relations, which expresses the antagonism of the exploiting and the exploited classes, in the USSR there is a complete correspondence between the productive forces and production relations.

Instead of the anarchy of capitalist production, which gives rise to economic crises and unemployment, the USSR has a planned economy that ensures the rational use of all social and natural opportunities for the all-round development of the productive forces.

The Soviet economy is developing on the basis of high rates of expanded socialist reproduction of industry and agriculture.

The high rates of development of the socialist economy ensure the continuous growth of the material and cultural well-being of the Soviet people.

In the USSR, the socialist principle has been fully established and dominates: from each according to his ability, to each according to his work.

The development of production is based on such a combination of the personal and social interests of Soviet citizens that ensures the development of the social economy and creates a solid foundation for the ever-increasing satisfaction of the personal needs of citizens.

11. The flourishing of the socialist system created new driving forces in Soviet society, which did not exist and could not have existed before socialism. These new driving forces are: the moral and political unity of the Soviet people, the friendship of peoples, Soviet patriotism. Socialism created not only new social conditions, but also a new, socialist man. In the USSR, the people and communism merged into a single and indestructible force.

12. The Soviet social and political system has strengthened to such an extent and has become such a vital need of the Soviet people that the entire people, as one person, rose up to fight against the fascist invasion and defended their gains in an unprecedentedly difficult war against Nazi Germany. The heroism and courage shown by the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War were a vivid expression of the fact that the Soviet system is a truly people’s system, close to every Soviet citizen.

13. In the process of socialist construction, the Leninist-Stalinist national policy won a complete victory. The former national inequality of the peoples of old Russia was completely destroyed and the Leninist-Stalinist idea of a state based on the fraternal community and unity of all the nations and peoples of the USSR was put into practice. The selfless participation of all the peoples of the Soviet socialist republics in the Great Patriotic War further consolidated the indestructible friendship and brotherhood of the multinational Soviet people.

A new, socialist patriotism arose and developed in Soviet society, the essence of which lies in the combination of the national traditions of the peoples of the USSR with the common interests of the working masses.

14. The creative and constructive nature of Soviet society found its expression in the construction of a new socialist culture⁴².

In terms of [its ideological content], Soviet culture is permeated from beginning to end with the spirit of the great communist doctrine, the ideas of Marxism-Leninism. Although national in its form, Soviet culture is socialist in its content⁴³. It is a new type of world culture, it is not conciliatory [while not oppressive], with no [demeaning] of human dignity and reason, [with no cultivation of animal instincts in man]⁴⁴.

In its deep ideological spirit, in its popular character, in its noble purpose of serving the interests of the working masses fighting for communist life, it rises immeasurably above bourgeois culture.

15. The greatest achievement of the Soviet revolution is the solution of the problem of cadres of state and economic leaders. During the 30 years of Soviet power, major statesmen emerged from among the people, who proved their ability to successfully lead the great socialist state. The Soviet people have created their own cadre of scientists, writers, artists, military leaders, engineers, technicians – the builders of the new society. A new, Soviet intelligentsia has been created, closely connected with the people, ready in its mass to serve it faithfully⁴⁵.

16. The Soviet revolution created its powerful armed forces, whose historic victories in the civil war of 1917-1920 and especially in the Great Patriotic War proved the invincibility of the Soviet socialist system. The victory over the powerful military machine of fascist Germany was a vivid demonstration of the superiority of the Soviet military [ideology] and [military art over military strategy] and the tactics of the enemies of the Soviet state. The Soviet army managed to fulfill its historical liberation mission in the war against the German⁴⁶ imperialists and deserved the universal love and recognition of all the freedom-loving peoples of the world.

17. A particularly prominent role in the family of Soviet peoples has been and is played by the great Russian people, who were the first to raise the banner of the socialist revolution, collaborating throughout the entire period of building socialism, the peoples of the USSR and with their selfless and disinterested help to the previously oppressed nations won the respect and love of all the peoples of the Soviet Union. The Russian people rightfully occupy a leading position in the Soviet community of nations. The great advanced culture created by the Russian people and its highest achievement, Leninism, are the most important source of development of the culture of all other peoples of the USSR⁴⁷.

18. During the thirty years of the October Socialist Revolution, the Soviet people have achieved world-historic successes. The Soviet Union is rightfully at the forefront of all modern progressive humanity.

The Soviet people achieved all their victories and achievements under the leadership of the Communist Party. The Party inspired the people to great historical daring and exploits. Its policy is the lifeblood of the Soviet system.

The Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Lenin-Stalin Party, is the vanguard of the working class, the vanguard of the Soviet people. It is the leading and organizing force of the Soviet state.

The outlook of the Communist Party became the outlook of the Soviet people. This is the great irresistible strength of Soviet society, the guarantee of the further victories of the Soviet people on the path to building a [complete] communist society in the USSR.

IV. The main tasks of the transition of Soviet society from socialism to communism

1. Having achieved the victory of the lower phase of communism, socialism, the CPSU(b) sets as its task the completion of the building of socialist society and the gradual transition from socialism to communism, building a complete communist society in our country.

The gradual transition from socialism to communism will be carried out through a series of stages as the national economy develops, labour productivity grows, the communist consciousness of the masses grows, and as the might of the Soviet state further strengthens.

Communism is the highest stage in the development of the new system, in which not only social ownership of the instruments and means of production dominates and there is no exploitation of man by man, but also all remnants of old class distinctions are finally erased, the remnants of capitalism in the economy and people’s consciousness are overcome, the opposition between the city and village, the difference between people of mental and people of physical labour, and all citizens are workers of a single communist society⁴⁸.

Under communism, such a high productivity of people’s labour and such a powerful development of the productive forces of society are achieved that they ensure an abundance of all consumer goods and make it possible to put into practice the communist principle: “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.”

2. Under communism, a higher type [of social organization of labour] is realized, based on the free and conscious discipline of the members of communist society.

Labour ceases to be only a means of life and becomes a habit and a vital need of people.

Until labour becomes a matter of habit for every person and until all people begin to work voluntarily according to their abilities, the strictest [recording and control over the measure of labor and the measure of consumption is the first duty of society and the state].

3. On the basis of the planned development of the productive forces and the rational disposal of material resources, communism creates every opportunity for the unprecedented, progressive raising of the well-being of the masses and ensuring the full satisfaction of all the rapidly growing needs of society.

The implementation of the communist principle [of distribution according to needs] leads to the final destruction of any kind of economic [inequality] between people⁴⁹.

Communism does not eliminate personal ownership of personal consumption items, household items.

4. Communism means an unprecedented flourishing of science and technology, flourishing and abundance of the material and spiritual culture of society. In communist society, for the first time, people become the real masters of the forces of nature.

All the necessary conditions are being created for the all-round, harmonious development of the personality, for the development of all the abilities and talents inherent in a person. All the wonders of technology, all the achievements of culture, all the fruits of the thousand-year development of civilization go to all the working people, members of communist society. The human mind and genius create for the benefit of the masses. The time is coming for a joyful and happy life for all the people.

5. The USSR has everything possible and necessary to build a complete communist society. Having fulfilled the testament of V.I. Lenin, having translated into reality under the leadership of J.V. Stalin about a [possibility]⁵⁰ of the victories of socialism in the USSR, the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and the Soviet government set themselves the immediate practical task of completing the building of a socialist society and organizing a gradual transition from the lower phase of the new system to its higher phase.

6. After the destruction of classes in general and any remnants of the old class differences, as people get used to the voluntary [observance of the elementary conditions of human society] and [the need for any kind of violence against people] disappears, the state ceases to be necessary and dies.

The withering away of the state is a long process and can begin in the second phase of communism only if the capitalist encirclement is eliminated and the danger of military attacks from outside is eliminated. As long as the communist society, which has won in one country, coexists with the world of capitalism and the danger of a violent invasion of its external enemies with the aim of restoring capitalism has not been removed, the most important task of the communist party and the whole people is the all-round strengthening of the Soviet state, all its organs and, first of all, its permanent military force.

The implementation of communism in our country requires the following basic transformations:

A. In the field of general political and state building

1. In the transition from socialism to communism, it is necessary to further develop Soviet democracy, to continue and expand in every possible way measures that contribute to the maximum intensification of the political activity of the masses, to strengthen the control of the masses in relation to the organs of the Soviet state, and to strengthen the responsibility of the organs of Soviet power to the people.

2. In order to further strengthen the Soviet state, along with strengthening the centralized management of state affairs and the economy, the maximum development of the initiative of all grass-roots state, economic and public organizations is required, the actual involvement in their work of the entire population of each district, city, village and countryside.

3. By attaching decisive importance to criticism and self-criticism as one of the driving forces of the Soviet socialist society⁵¹ it is necessary to ensure that the activities of Party, Soviet, economic and public organizations are organized in such a way that criticism and self-criticism become the main method of work, that the broad masses of the people fully criticize the activities of all organizations, both local and central, as well as individuals, regardless of their position and social position.

4. On the basis of the complete moral and political unity of Soviet society that has been achieved, in the future it will become possible (expedient) to compete during elections to the Soviets of Working People’s Deputies (from top to bottom) of several candidates nominated by the bloc of communists and non-party people in order to choose from among them the most worthy and most capable.

5. In order to further involve the broad masses of the people in the active work of Soviet, economic and public organizations, in order to intensify the fight against theft of socialist property and the negligent attitude of individual workers to the task assigned to them, to combat the elements of bureaucracy in the organs of the state apparatus – to turn the State Control into an organization, which would rely in its work on a broad active of the workers, peasants, and intelligentsia, drawing the masses of the people into systematic participation in the work of audits, control and verification.

6. As the construction of a socialist society is completed and the transition to communism is gradual, more and more direct state functions will be transferred to voluntary public organizations on the basis of the growth of the culture of the masses and the growth of their communist consciousness.

7. For the further development of Soviet people’s democracy, it is necessary to consider:

a) a gradual transition to the organization of a nationwide vote on the most important issues of state life, both of a general political and economic order, and on issues of everyday life, housing and cultural construction;

b) a broad development of legislative initiative from below by granting public organizations the right to submit proposals to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Supreme Soviets of the union republics on the issuance of new laws;

c) the right of citizens and public organizations to directly submit requests to the Supreme Soviets on the most important issues of international and domestic politics.

8. The transition to communism requires the further strengthening of the Soviet multinational state in every possible way, the expansion of the functions and rights of the union republics and, at the same time, the strengthening of the centralized management of all-union affairs; further strengthening the fraternal ties and cooperation of all the peoples of the USSR; raising the economy and culture of the national republics and regions to the level of the most advanced regions of the USSR, thereby finally achieving the complete elimination of the former economic, technical and cultural backwardness of the national outlying districts.

9. In order to prepare the conditions for the future merger of national cultures into one common, both in form and content, communist culture, it is necessary to do everything possible to ensure that all national cultures under the conditions of the Soviet system fully and completely reveal all their internal possibilities and creative powers.

10. In order to more and more familiarize all the peoples of the USSR with advanced socialist culture, it is necessary to encourage the study of Russian culture and the Russian language by all the peoples of the USSR in every possible way. At the same time, the systematic study and development of the achievements of the culture of all the peoples of the USSR should be considered the most important task of each republic⁵².

11. In order to maintain the defence capability of the socialist homeland at the proper level, a permanent army built on the basis of universal military service is needed. Military service in the Soviet Army is an honourable duty of citizens of the USSR. Defence of the fatherland is the sacred duty of every citizen of the USSR. Along with the Soviet Army, it is necessary to develop the widest and most widespread training of the population in modern military art, ensuring the proper level of teaching of relevant subjects in higher and secondary schools, expanding in every possible way the activity in this direction of all kinds of amateur military and sports organizations that help train personnel for the Soviet Army. It is the duty of honour and the duty of every citizen of the USSR to be constantly ready, in case of need, to join the ranks of the Soviet Army and defend the gains of communism with arms in hand.

12. The all-round strengthening of the might of the Soviet Army is the most important task of the Soviet state and all the working people of the USSR. In the construction of the Soviet Army, it must be ensured that its technical equipment and fighting qualities will far exceed the technical equipment and fighting qualities of the armies of any bourgeois state and any possible association of them directed against communism.

13. The Red Army is built on the basis of unity of command, strict military discipline, the authority of the command and political staff, with the widest development of public organizations in it.

14. The building of a complete communist society presupposes the conscientious and conscious observance of the rules of communist coexistence by all citizens of Soviet society.

15. As long as Soviet society is in a capitalist environment, as long as hostile and malicious acts of individuals or groups directed against the communist system or against individual members of communist society take place in state life, the Soviet state must resort to measures to suppress criminal acts, to measures of severe punishment of persons causing harm to society or its individual members.

16. The Soviet judicial and punitive bodies are charged with protecting state and public property as the sacred and inviolable foundation of the Soviet system, as a source of wealth and power for the motherland, as a source of a prosperous and cultural life for all working people, and also to protect the personal property of citizens; monitor the strict observance of state laws by all living on the territory of the USSR.

17. Along with harsh punishments against the enemies of communism and their accomplices, the Soviet court on an ever-larger scale should apply conditional punishment, public censure, the replacement of imprisonment with compulsory labour, a system of educational measures in relation to persons who commit crimes not from anti-state and anti-people motives, but from lingering backwardness and insufficient communist consciousness.

18. In defending the further development of the court in the direction of its greatest democratization, we must strive to ensure that the broad masses of the people are more and more involved in the exercise of judicial duties.

19. Along with state judicial bodies, it is necessary to develop courts of honour elected in state and public central institutions, at enterprises, on collective farms, in institutions that should help educate citizens in the spirit of Soviet patriotism, influence members of society who allow anti-patriotic and anti-state offences that violate the rules of the communist community and communist labour discipline.

20. As a school of communism, trade unions have educated many thousands of leaders in all areas of the national economy and state administration. In the transition from socialism to communism, the role of the trade unions as a school of communism becomes even more significant.

21. The tasks facing the trade unions are:

a) education of communist labour discipline among workers and employees. The trade unions are fighting against all types of violations of labour discipline and negligent attitudes towards work, they are striving for an all-round increase in labour productivity and, on this basis, an increase in real wages and an increase in the material standard of living of the working people, they organize and encourage the initiative of the masses to develop all forms of communist emulation;

b) the trade unions, together with state and economic bodies, organize an extensive network of courses, schools, institutes and technical schools, covering all workers and employees;

c) further expansion of the state functions performed by the trade unions for cultural and community services for workers;

d) in order to train workers and employees in the management of the economy, public and state affairs, the trade unions take a direct part in the development of economic plans, technical and other measures to increase labour productivity and organize the economy, widely practice the promotion of trade union members to responsible economic, public and state posts, providing all possible assistance in mastering the work entrusted to them.

22. The basis of all the work of the trade unions must be a broadly developed socialist democracy, the resolute expulsion of all elements of bureaucracy and a formal attitude to business is necessary.

23. As communism consolidates, the trade unions will increasingly turn into amateur cultural and other associations of working people, which will become one of the forms of communist management of public affairs.

C⁵³. In the field of economy

1. The decisive economic task of the USSR for the transition to communism is the task of catching up and overtaking economically the most developed capitalist countries of the world, including the USA⁵⁴.

Ensuring this basic task primarily depends on the further development of heavy industry and, above all, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, chemistry, fuel, and the energy base, without which the rapid development of the entire national economy is impossible.

2. The further development of socialist industry and technology will lead to the completion of the great technical revolution, to the creation of the mighty technology of communism, to the saving of an enormous mass of human labour and to the abundance of material goods of communist society.

3. The main way to solve these problems is the electrification of the entire country according to a single plan. Communism is, according to Lenin, Soviet power plus the electrification of the whole country.

4. For the implementation of the electrification of the entire country, it is necessary:

a) to expand the construction of large power plants using local energy resources and primarily hydropower and local fuels;

b) the use for the purposes of electrification, as well as for the development of the chemical industry of underground coal gasification;

c) the unification of all large power plants by a single network of high-voltage transmissions, covering, according to the general plan, the whole country with branches in each region;

d) the use of electrical energy for the gradual transfer of the national economy of the country, including agriculture, to a new technical base, directly or indirectly connected with the matter of electrification;

e) lighting with electricity of every house in the Soviet Union, both in the city and in the countryside; the introduction of all kinds of electrical household appliances, contributing to the final liberation of millions of women from hard domestic work.

The electrification of the entire country, while ensuring an unprecedented centralization of the management of the national economy, at the same time opens up the possibility of dispersing and correctly distributing industry, bringing it closer to sources of raw materials and areas of consumption.

It makes it possible in medium and small enterprises to ensure the use of a number of advantages of large-scale production and the achievements of technology, and at the same time makes it possible to achieve the highest labour productivity.

5. It is necessary to develop in every possible way the work of mechanizing production processes in all sectors of the national economy, especially auxiliary and the most labour-intensive and difficult work, and, thus, to achieve the elimination of difficult and unproductive physical labour.

6. It is necessary to carry out a broad and systematic development of the automation of production on an electrical basis, which opens up completely unlimited possibilities for increasing labour productivity and leads to a sharp change in the nature of labour, raising it to a higher level, eliminating unskilled labour. Automation is one of the main points in the development of the new technology of communism and one of the important technical levers for eliminating the opposition between physical and intellectual labour.

The most important task in creating the technical basis of communism is the widest development of all types of the latest technology and new types of energy sources, atomic energy, radar, photocells, jet technology, and so on.

It is necessary to ensure the development of invention and rationalization on the widest scale, to involve in this work the broad masses of engineers and technicians, foremen and workers.

One of the central tasks, on the solution of which the further growth of the productive forces of Soviet society depends, is the comprehensive development of geological exploration and the use of the inexhaustible riches of the bowels of our country.

7. Modern chemistry is one of the main factors in the development of the productive forces of the national economy, a source of new means of material culture, and also a powerful means of national defence. The CPSU (b) sets the task of developing the chemical industry in every possible way, especially the production of new synthetic materials, obtaining from the simplest materials numerous complex substances that serve the most diverse needs of industry and defence.

8. Mechanical engineering retains its leading role in the further technical development of the country. It must fully ensure the technical progress of all branches of the national economy through the production of the most advanced, constantly improving types of machines, apparatuses, instruments and other equipment necessary for mechanization, automation and chemicalization production processes.

9. The mass production of motor vehicles must be of particular importance in order to ensure the free and unhindered use of motor vehicles by every citizen.

10. In order to ensure the level of production of consumer goods necessary for the transition to communism, the CPSU (b) sets the task of ever-accelerating development of the light and food industries. All these branches of production must provide high quality products that satisfy the diverse needs of communist society.

11. The USSR, as a great railway power, should take first place in the world in terms of length and density, freight turnover and technical equipment of railways.

12. It is necessary: a) to complete the technical reconstruction of railway transport based on the introduction of diesel locomotives and steam locomotives with steam condensation, the development of highspeed railway communication and a number of other technical improvements⁵⁵; b) to expand the construction of major new railway lines, especially those serving the east and north of the country.

13. It is necessary to significantly increase the role of water transport in servicing the national economy of the USSR, to raise the technical level of sea and river navigation, and to expand the further construction of large artificial waterways and canals. To expand in every possible way the use of the country’s richest river systems for goods and passenger traffic.

14. There is a need for the broadest development of air transport on a scale that will make it possible to cover the entire country with a network of regular air lines, to constantly improve aircraft and the equipment of air routes.

15. Road construction must be developed on such a scale as to envelop the entire country with a dense network of improved motor roads.

16. Comprehensive development and improvement of all types of communications, especially radio communications. It is necessary to provide every apartment, both in the city and the countryside, with a radio receiver. Much attention should be paid to improving and spreading television technology.

17. The following tasks are in the field of agriculture:

a) further strengthening in every possible way the artel form of collective-farm production as the most appropriate for the given stage of development of socialism and as the only correct path to higher forms of organization of agricultural production;

b) further growth of the technical equipment of agriculture and the comprehensive mechanization of all agricultural production processes. Along with the development and improvement of existing agricultural machinery based on a tractor and a combine, it is necessary to increasingly introduce electrification into all agricultural production processes;

c) the use of all the achievements of agricultural science and technology, the dissemination of grassland crop rotation, selection and cultivation of new varieties, irrigation of arid regions of the Volga region, the Centre and other regions of the country, melioration and drainage of marshy soils for the purpose of elimination of agricultural dependency on natural disasters and ensuring a steady increase in productivity;

d) to achieve high productivity of agricultural labour, such a significant increase in the yield of agricultural crops, the development of grass cultivation and the productivity of animal husbandry, which would ensure the full abundance of agricultural products.

18. It is necessary to develop on a large scale work on the improvement and cultural and everyday services of small towns and villages: the reconstruction of dwellings, the construction of water pipes, the construction of schools, children’s institutions, clubs, cinemas, canteens, laundries and the development of motor transport. All these measures should make the cultural and living conditions in the countryside in no way different from those in the cities, and thus, from this side, to prepare for the elimination of the difference between city and countryside.

19. The transition to the agricultural commune, as the highest form of the collective-farm movement, will take place as the existing agricultural artel is further strengthened and the productivity of agricultural labour grows, when the fields and farms of the artel will have an abundance of grain, livestock, poultry, vegetables and all other kinds of products, when mechanical laundries, modern kitchens, canteens, bakeries, etc., will become widespread in the countryside. The process of developing an artel into a commune must proceed gradually, as all collective farmers become convinced of the need for such a transformation. The commune, in turn, will create new opportunities for higher productivity and cultural life.

20. At the highest stage of communism, as the abundance of products grows, there will be a transition to the principle of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”

The entire material and technical apparatus of Soviet trade (warehouses, shops, etc.), greatly strengthened and multiplied many times over, will become the basis for the future organization of communist distribution.

21. Until the principle of communist distribution is fully realized, the all-round development of Soviet trade, both in the city and in the countryside, is essential; establishing cultural customer service; expansion of the construction of commercial establishments, shops, warehouses, shops, taking into account the latest achievements in technology and sanitation; the creation of an ideally organized Soviet trade that fully satisfies the most diverse needs of the population of town and country.

22. The CPSU(b) sets as its task such an increase in the quantity of consumer products produced and such a constant reduction in prices, with a corresponding increase in real wages, that a situation will gradually be created in which every citizen of the USSR will be able to actually purchase all types of products according to his needs.

Thus, the transition to communist distribution must be seen as a gradual process taking place on the basis of an increasing abundance of consumer goods and the policy of constant price reduction pursued by the Soviet state, on the basis of a steady increase in the productivity of social labour.

23. In order to further strengthen the economic power of the USSR, it is necessary to pursue a policy of strengthening the monetary system of the USSR, striving for the establishment of the Soviet currency as the most durable and stable currency in the world, surpassing dollars and pounds in this respect.

D⁵⁶. In the field of culture and education

1. In the field of urban construction, the following programme must be adhered to:

a) to limit the further growth of the largest cities of the Soviet Union by stopping the construction of new industrial enterprises in these cities;

b) to carry out the reconstruction of cities according to scientifically developed plans. The planning of streets and squares, the placement of dwellings, industrial buildings and transport, planting of greenery and watering, the architectural design of cities must meet the high standards of improvement;

c) the creation of cultural and living conditions that meet the requirements of communism, implies the provision of all houses in cities with electricity, heating, water supply, sewerage, gas and all the achievements of advanced municipal technology;

d) reconstruction and expansion of urban transport in order to fully meet the needs of the population for fast and convenient movement.

2. The task of the transition to communism requires a radical solution of the housing problem. It is necessary to develop new housing construction on a large scale in order to provide each worker with a completely comfortable separate room and each family a separate apartment.

3. Further tasks in the field of public education are:

a) strengthening and developing the Soviet school as a conductor of the ideological, organizational and educational influence of the Communist Party on all sections of the working people in order to build a complete communist society and abolish the distinction between intellectual and physical labour;

b) covering all children with free education;

c) implementation of the principles of the political school, preparing comprehensively developed members of communist society;

d) the introduction of compulsory secondary general and polytechnic education for the entire younger generation up to 18 years of age;

e) supplying all students of lower and secondary schools with food, clothing, footwear and teaching aids at the expense of the state;

f) further development of a network of higher education institutions that can cover all citizens who wish to receive higher education;

g) development of a network of industrial technical and agronomic education, ensuring the cultural and technical upsurge of the working class and peasantry. For these purposes, it is necessary to organize polytechnic institutes for workers who do not have a higher education, to ensure wide access to the classrooms of a higher school for everyone who wants to listen to the corresponding courses of lectures.

4. Expand a network of cinemas, theatres, clubs, museums, palaces of culture and recreation, stadiums, providing for the comprehensively growing cultural demands of the entire people.

5. One of the decisive conditions for the broad coverage of the communist education of the entire people and the rapid growth of communist culture is the printed word.

It is necessary to achieve in the coming years such a development of the paper industry and printing technology that would ensure full satisfaction of the needs for all types of printing (newspapers, books, magazines) of all citizens of the Soviet Union.

6. It is necessary to develop a wide network of research institutions in all fields of knowledge, to achieve in the near future the solution of the problem of surpassing the achievements of science outside our country.

7. The whole set of state measures for public education, cultural and educational work, the activities of all kinds of public educational and cultural organizations, the work of general education and special schools and courses have as their main goal – to solve the problem of raising the cultural and technical level of workers to the level of engineering and technical workers.

8. In the field of public health protection, it is necessary:

a) to further implement extensive sanitary measures protecting the health of the people (improvement of all populated areas, purification of water, air, etc.);

b) sanatorium-resort care for all those who need it; further development of a wide network of rest houses, sanatoriums;

c) provision of qualified medical assistance to the entire population;

d) complete destruction of the conditions that give rise to contagious diseases;

e) complete destruction of social diseases (venereal, tuberculosis, alcoholism).

9. It is required:

a) to provide all citizens with at least one month’s annual paid leave or vacation at the expense of the state;

b) to achieve the elimination of accidents in production, the elimination of occupational diseases and the complete improvement of working conditions in hazardous industries;

c) full provision of everything necessary for disabled members of society (old people, war veterans, labour handicaps).

* * *

These, in brief, are the main measures in the field of state building, economics and culture, which are to ensure the completion of the building of a socialist society and the gradual transition from socialism to communism.

RGASPI. F. 558. Op. 11. D. 123. LL 4-43. Typescript

A. Zhdanov, July 29, 1947, all the materials of the working groups, submission to the Commission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, sent for consideration to J. V. Stalin, L. P. Beria, G. M. Malenkov, N. A. Voznesensky. The largest number of Stalin’s notes contains a project compiled by M. B. Mitin and P. F. Yudin. On the cover of the theses of the programme of L. A. Leontiev and O. V. Kuusinen, Stalin’s note: This isn’t it.

Stalinskoe ekonomicheskoe nasledstvo: plany i diskussii 19471953gg. Dokumenty i materialy, Compiled by V.V. Zhuravlev and L.N. Lazareva, Rosspen, Moscow, 2017, pp. 118-138.

Translated from the Russian by Polina Brik.

Endnotes:

¹ On the left margin in red pencil: P; the words “and landlords” are bracketed in red pencil

² Underlined in red pencil. Opposite, on the left margin, a note in red pencil: First? And the French rev?

³ The words “and landlords” are underlined and bracketed in red pencil

⁴ The words “and landlords” are in brackets in red pencil

⁵ The words “bourgeois form” are crossed out, inscribed at the top: private

⁶ The words “and landlord” are in brackets in red pencil

⁷ On the left margin, in red pencil, a note: What’s this? Underlined and bracketed in red pencil

⁸ After the word “poverty” above the line, inscribed in red pencil: people; after “ruin”: peasantry

⁹ Crossed out in pencil

¹⁰ On the left margin, in red pencil, a note: More about the people

¹¹ On the left margin, opposite paragraph 6, a vertical line in red pencil

¹² After “and nations” with a red pencil, a dot, from it an arrow to the top field to the mark: “eternal”

¹³ Crossed out in pencil

¹⁴ Crossed out in pencil

¹⁵ Underlined in red pencil

¹⁶ On the left margin, in red pencil, a note: P.

¹⁷ Marked in pencil on the left margin: P.

¹⁸ Crossed out in red pencil

¹⁹ Crossed out in red pencil, above the line is written: and Japanese

²⁰ Crossed out in red pencil

²¹ Crossed out in red pencil, arrow to the top field, there is a note in red pencil: predatory

²² In the upper field there is an arrow in red pencil, there is a note: and liberalism

²³ Crossed out with blue pencil

²⁴ Marked in pencil on the left margin: P.

²⁵ “to the end” is crossed out in blue pencil, in the left margin there is a pencil mark: This isn’t it/rethink.

²⁶ On the left margin in blue pencil mark: In South America

²⁷ Underlined in red pencil, “militarization”, “bureaucratization of the state apparatus” circled. On the left margin with a red pencil two crosses

²⁸ On the left margin in blue pencil opposite the paragraph mark: This isn’t it.

²⁹ Above the line in blue pencil inserted: bourgeoisie

³⁰ In the left margin, opposite the first sentence of paragraph 5, a note in blue pencil: About world government, continued on the top field in red pencil: The theory of “cosmopolitanism” and the United States of Europe with a single government. Further in blue pencil: world government

³¹ On the left margin, two vertical short lines are made with a pencil

³² On the left margin, two vertical lines are made with a blue pencil

³³ Above the line in blue pencil is written: military

³⁴ On the left margin, a vertical line in pencil, followed by a mark: P.

³⁵ On the left margin, a short vertical line in pencil, followed by a mark: P.

³⁶ On the left margin in pencil mark: P.

³⁷ Crossed out in pencil, opposite on the left margin of the note : P.

³⁸ On the left margin, in blue pencil, from the beginning of paragraph 12 to the last underline, two vertical lines. Opposite the last underline on the field with a pencil mark: P.

³⁹ On the left margin in pencil mark: P. This is not it. The underlined is in brackets

⁴⁰ On the left margin, the underlined sentence is highlighted with two vertical and two horizontal lines in pencil

⁴¹ On the left margin in pencil mark: P.

⁴² On the left margin in pencil opposite paragraph 14 mark: About socialist nations

⁴³ On the left margin, in pencil opposite the sentence, two short vertical lines

⁴⁴ On the left margin, in pencil opposite the sentence, two short vertical lines. On the top margin in pencil above “...demeaning of human dignity”, note: About morality

⁴⁵ On the left margin in pencil opposite paragraph 15 is a vertical line, followed by a note in pencil in the margin: This isn’t it.

⁴⁶ Above the line, written in pencil: and Japanese

⁴⁷ Point 17 is marked with a vertical line in the upper field in pencil, followed by a note in pencil in the field: This isn’t it.

⁴⁸ On the left margin in pencil opposite the paragraph mark: Subjective attitudes of victory

⁴⁹ On the left margin in pencil opposite the paragraph mark: This isn’t it.

⁵⁰ On the left margin in pencil opposite the underlined in the text mark: It’s not enough

⁵¹ It is crossed out; a note is inscribed above the line in pencil: democracy

⁵² On the left margin, in pencil opposite paragraph 10, a note: This isn’t it.

⁵³ “C” crossed out in pencil, with red pencil inscribed: ”B”

⁵⁴ On the right margin, in pencil opposite the paragraph, a vertical line, followed by a pencil mark: This isn’t it.

⁵⁵ On point 12 is marked with a vertical line in the left field with a pencil, on the line and to the left there is a note: railway electrification

⁵⁶ “D” crossed out in pencil, “B” written in pencil to the left; in the heading, “and” is crossed out in red pencil, after the word “enlightenment” is added in red pencil: and public health