From the EMEP, the legal wing of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey
We’re here for celebrating the 100th birthday of Enver Hoxha. He was the resolute defender of proletarian socialism, the leader of the International Communist Movement and of the anti-revisionist struggle, the great friend of the oppressed peoples and the architect of the revolution and socialist construction in Albania.
After the 22 years of his dead, we must talk about his struggle to build socialism in Albania and help to the international workers’ movement. We don’t need to compliment him, but we need to introduce him to the new generations. Because, his struggle against all types of revisionism, such as Kruschevism, Titoism and Euro Communism; his resistance to defend Marxism-Leninism; and his estimation on the imperialist strategies of the Soviet Union have great importance.
It’s obvious that, preserving the proletarian character of Marxism-Leninism; developing and practising it by analysing the concrete situation lies on the bases of this big resistance and comprehension. Comrade Enver Hoxha characterised the reason for the attacks of these counter revolutionary currents and the imperialist bourgeoisie on Marxism-Leninism, and the importance of defending it as follows: “It is not a coincidence that the imperialists, the bourgeoisie and the revisionists are directing the sharp point of their spear at our victorious doctrine Marxism-Leninism. Without Marxism-Leninism there can be no genuine socialism.” (Report to the 8th Congress of the PLA)
With this correct point of view, Comrade Enver Hoxha considers the defence of Marxism-Leninism as a corner stone of all the victories and successes of the people: “The boundless loyalty of our party to the immortal doctrine of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin, its ability to apply this doctrine in a creative manner, in conformity with the conditions of the country and the complicated international situations, its determination to defend the purity of the principles of this doctrine from the attacks and distortions of many enemies, internal and external, have been and remain the fundamental basis of all the successes and victories of our people.” (ibid.)
Against the internal and external enemies
So, who were the “attacks and distortions of internal and external enemies?” The biggest attack to the Hoxha’s struggle to construct the socialism in Albania had came from Khrushchevites. In the beginning, the Khrushchevites directed their attacks to Stalin. This was because the imperialists and revisionists were quite aware that Stalin’s name and works were inseparably tied to the establishment of socialism in the Soviet Union. Also, they knew that if this reactionary attack was successful socialism, for the establishment of which Stalin spent his whole life, would be dealt a fatal blow, be destroyed, and the desire of hundreds of millions of proletarians and labourers to establish a society without classes and exploitation would suffer a heavy blow.
Knowing this fact the Khrushchevites launched their attack and betrayal on this point. They attacked the theory and practice of socialist construction which was identified with Stalin’s name. Their successors continued these attacks. And what happened next is quite well known. No communist or sympathiser of the revolution who can assess what is happening today can deny the fact that revisionist betrayal and imperialist attack were not limited to Stalin. On the contrary, it involved a fundamental settling of accounts with and taking revenge on socialism and its history.
Later, the Euro-communists came onto the stage as the most ferocious anti-Leninists. By attacking Stalin Khrushchev wanted to destroy socialist construction and its practice. The Euro-communists, on the other hand, wanted, as Enver Hoxha stated, to destroy the theory and practice of proletarian revolution by attacking Lenin. The Titoists and Maoists attacked the fundamentals of proletarian revolution and socialist construction, and announced that “ they had entered the path of a self styled socialism”. They put aside socialist construction, the struggle for revolution against imperialism, and all the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism. They betrayed the international working class and the peoples of the world, taking refuge in bright and sharp rhetoric.
Leader of the struggle against the revisionism
Evaluating Enver Hoxha only by what he did in Albania means not to see or understand his contributions and efforts to defend and develop the scientific doctrine of the international working class, his leadership in the anti-revisionist struggle, and the moral support he gave to the peoples of the world for their national and social emancipation. It must also be emphasised that Enver Hoxha must be defended and remembered, in the first place, for the contribution he made to the great cause of the international working class, rather than what he did in his own country.
This is because Comrade Enver Hoxha’s struggle, together with the PLA under his leadership, against modern revisionism and its various currents -Khrushchevism, Titoism, Euro-communism, etc.- and Maoism, his great efforts to defend Marxism-Leninism, his resistance against the encirclement by the imperialist capitalist system, and its attempts to destroy socialism, and his analysis which revealed the strategies and current tendencies of imperialism and the super powers, have far greater importance than his successes in establishing and defending socialism in Albania. This is because what lays behind this great effort and resistance is the resolute defence of Marxism-Leninism, the protection of its proletarian nature, its development through contributions based on the analysis of the current situation, and its successful application.
All communists remember well how Bolshevism led by Lenin defended and developed Marxism on the basis of current and theoretical questions against the opportunism of the Second International which had degenerated and given up its revolutionary traditions. It should also be remembered that this defence and development of Marxism was achieved through a broad- fronted struggle including the defence of the Marxist theory of the state and the doctrine of revolution which were concealed by the opportunist leadership of Second International, of imperialism and war, of the organisation of communist parties of a new type, the condemnation of empty daydreams about bourgeois democracy and criticisms of its exaltation, defence of Marxism in socialist construction, etc. Lenin characterised the grave harm caused by the opportunism of Second International as follows: ”What is necessary today is to start digging to re-find Marxism whose purity has not been degenerated and to place it in the consciousness of broad masses.” (State and Revolution)
No serious-minded communist can deny the fact that Enver Hoxha, the leader of the PLA, carried out a similar struggle against revisionism in power and opportunism of all shades. Today, we can see better the gravity of the harm caused by Khrushchevite, Brezhnevite, Titoite, Maoist, Euro-communist, etc. currents to the cause of revolution. Thus, the great importance of Comrade Enver Hoxha’s determination in defending Marxism-Leninism can be understood better.
What happened was a many-sided struggle against all these anti-proletarian ideologies to defend the principles of Marxism-Leninism in various fields such as the state and revolution, the Leninist party, imperialism and its contradictions, socialist construction and the understanding of proletarian socialism, Stalin’s masterpiece (the construction of socialism in the USSR), philosophical materialism, and even Marxist aesthetics in arts and literature. The purity of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian socialism was maintained. Furthermore, Marxist-Leninist theory was enhanced in daily struggle.
In the fight against Titoism, Khruschevism -modern revisionism- Euro-communism and Maoism, Comrade Enver Hoxha did not only defend the fundamental theses of Marxism-Leninism such as imperialism, the state, revolution, the class struggle, socialist construction, etc. and enrich them through actual facts, but also strongly defended philosophical materialism.
He exposed the efforts of Maoism to place dialectical materialism in the service of Maoist revisionism distorting it in the same way as all the other fundamental theses of Marxism-Leninism and turning it into metaphysics in essence, and to whitewash the path taken by China.
With great self confidence we can claim that in the same way that Lenin is the leader of the period of getting rid of the opportunism of the Second International, realising the socialist revolution and making Marxism stand more firmly on its feet, and that Stalin is the leader of the period of realising socialist construction and of the struggle against Trotskyism, other deviations and imperialist encirclement, Enver Hoxha is the leader of the period of the struggle against setback and modern revisionism.
If the International Communist Movement is beginning to stand firmly on its feet again, it is doing so on the basis of a heritage and a platform which Enver Hoxha played a leading role in establishing and passing on to the next generation. It owes its very existence and its ideological platform -which is insufficient today and which needs to be renovated in such a way that it can respond to current conditions in every aspect- in great part to Enver Hoxha.
Enver Hoxha did not simply repeat the fact that there was no change in the nature of imperialism and that our era is the era of imperialism and proletarian revolutions, as was stated by Lenin at the beginning of our century, but also defended and developed this theory on the basis of current developments.
”The concentration and centralisation of production and capital, creating giant monopolies which have no technological unity, is widespread today. Enterprises and entire branches of industrial production, construction, transport, trade, services, of the infrastructure, etc., operate within these gigantic ‘conglomerate’ monopolies. They turn out everything, from children’s toys to intercontinental missiles.”
”The mergers and combinations of industrial, trading, farming and banking enterprises have led to the creation of new forms of monopolies, to the creation of big industrial-commercial or industrial-agrarian corporations, forms which are finding wide application not only in the capitalist countries of the West, but also in the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and other revisionist countries. In the past the monopoly combines carried on the transport and selling of goods with the help of other independent firms, whereas today, the monopolies control production, transport and marketing.” (ibid.)
Throughout his life and struggle, Comrade Enver Hoxha has been a sound guide for the communist parties of various countries comprising the International Communist Movement. He always encouraged and gave moral support to them not to feel hopeless in the face of hardships and temporary failures, to constantly renew themselves and take up their revolutionary tasks as struggling parties. He valued the revolutionary work carried out by Marxist-Leninist parties, even though they were small at that moment, and encouraged them to feel more courageous and to take the initiative in taking up greater tasks.
Comrade Enver Hoxha wrote the following with great self confidence and determination:
”The Marxist-Leninist parties, all revolutionaries, however few in numbers establish themselves among the people, organise the masses systematically, with great care and patience, convince them that they are a great force, that they are able to overthrow capital, to seize state power and wield it in the interest of the proletariat and the people. Such parties do not think that, being small, they cannot stand up to the coalition of the parties of the bourgeoisie and the opinion formed by them.” (Imperialism and Revolution)
This revolutionary position was the basic guide for Enver Hoxha and his party in the most difficult days. Even in 1966 he was determinedly saying the following:
”Our party believes that the present situation does not allow anyone calling themselves communist or revolutionary to wait for the attacks of revisionists, watch it and be satisfied with saluting the struggle against revisionism carried out by others. Time does not wait. Marxist-Leninists must be in the offensive not in defence. They have never been afraid of revisionist attacks and threats. Fear is a concept which is alien to them. They do not recognise this concept in their struggle against imperialism and revisionism. Those who are afraid of imperialism are the revisionists. Being afraid of revisionism would mean being more afraid of imperialism and having no belief in the power and victory of Marxism-Leninism.” (Struggle Against Modern Revisionism)
This was the position of Enver Hoxha in his whole life and struggle. As one can clearly see in these quotations, frontal attack was his position against imperialism and reactionary forces. He did not write this with an empty confidence or without taking into account the conditions and without thinking in order to encourage action. On the contrary, he showed where the real possibilities of the revolution and revolutionary work lay. It is for this reason that he greatly valued the daily practical work and every small step of the communist parties especially in the imperialist-capitalist countries, and encouraged them to go forward.
”The genuine Marxist-Leninist parties stand in the vanguard and not at the tail-end of revolutionary action. The temporarily limited possibilities of the struggle and efforts by means of which they must and do oppose the great force of capitalist reaction, do not discourage them.” (Imperialism and Revolution)
Comrade Enver Hoxha emphasised that genuine communist parties must orientate themselves towards daily practical revolutionary work, learn together with the masses in this work and struggle and that the masses will gain experience on the basis of their struggle. He also drew attention to the absolute necessity of giving importance to theoretical education. He never accepted being inadequate in theory and considered it an important reason for the degeneration of old communist parties. He specially stressed the fact that the work of studying Marxism-Leninism cannot be separated from revolutionary action.
All these criticisms made by Enver Hoxha and his defence of Marxism-Leninism throughout his life are not a simple repetition of the sum of this scientific doctrine until then. On the contrary, this defence involves efforts of renovation/development of this science on the basis of actual facts and phenomena. This is what Enver Hoxha did in a simple and modest manner and this is what makes him more valuable. The international working class and every communist will not forget Enver Hoxha. They will defend him against all attacks in a determined way and hold on to this great son of the international working class.
The Espresso Stalinist 