Socialist patriotism

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Socialist patriotism or social patriotism refers to a form of civic patriotism promoted by Marxist, Bolshevik, and Marxist-Leninist movements.[1] Socialist patriotism promotes people to have "boundless love for the socialist homeland, a commitment to the revolutionary transformation of society [and] the cause of communism".[2] Socialist patriotism is not connected with nationalism, as Marxists and Marxist-Leninists denounce nationalism as a bourgeois ideology developed under capitalism that sets workers against each other.[3] The concept has been attributed by Soviet writers to Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin though others claim it was first used by Rosa Luxembourg.[4]

Lenin separated patriotism into what he defined as proletarian, socialist patriotism from bourgeois nationalism.[5] Lenin promoted the right of all nations to self-determination and the right to unity of all workers within nations, however he also condemned chauvinism and claimed there were both justified and unjustified feelings of national pride.[6]

Socialist patriotism was promoted by Stalin, Stalinists claimed that socialist patriotism would serve both the socialist national interest and socialist international interest as well.[7] While promoting socialist patriotism for the Soviet Union as a whole, Stalin repressed nationalist sentiments in fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.[8]

The Socialist Unity Party of Germany officially had socialist patriotism within its party statutes.[9]

Kim Il Sung promoted socialist patriotism while he condemned nationalism in claiming that it destroyed fraternal relations between people because of its exclusivism.[10] In North Korea, socialist patriotism has been described as an ideology meant to serve its own people, be faithful to their working class, and to be loyal to their own (communist) party.[11]

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia endorsed socialist patriotism.[12]

References

  1. ^ Robert A. Jones. The Soviet concept of "limited sovereignty" from Lenin to Gorbachev: the Brezhnev Doctrine. MacMillan, 1990. Pp. 133.
  2. ^ Stephen White. Russia's new politics: the management of a postcommunist society. Fourth edition. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Pp. 182.
  3. ^ Stephen White. Understanding Russian Politics. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Pp. 220.
  4. ^ Robert A. Jones. The Soviet concept of "limited sovereignty" from Lenin to Gorbachev: the Brezhnev Doctrine. MacMillan, 1990. Pp. 133.
  5. ^ The Current digest of the Soviet press , Volume 39, Issues 1-26. American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, 1987. Pp. 7.
  6. ^ Christopher Read. Lenin: a revolutionary life. Digital Printing Edition. Oxon, England, UK; New York, New York, USA: Routledge, 2006. Pp. 115.
  7. ^ Sabrina P. Ramet. Religion and nationalism in Soviet and East European politics. Duke University Press, 1989. Pp. 294.
  8. ^ Gi-Wook Shin. Ethnic nationalism in Korea: genealogy, politics, and legacy. Stanford, California, USA: Stanford University Press, 2006. Pp. 82.
  9. ^ William B. Simons, Stephen White. The Party statutes of the Communist world. BRILL, 1984. Pp. 192.
  10. ^ Dae-Sook Suh. Kim Il Sung: the North Korean leader. New York, New York, USA: West Sussex, England, UK: Columbia University Press, 1988. Pp. 309.
  11. ^ Dae-Sook Suh. Kim Il Sung: the North Korean leader. New York, New York, USA: West Sussex, England, UK: Columbia University Press, 1988. Pp. 309.
  12. ^ Teresa Rakowska-Harmstone. Communism in Eastern Europe. Indiana University Press, 1984. Manchester, England, UK: Manchester University Press ND, 1984. Pp. 267.