Revolutionary patriotism, also known as socialist patriotism is an ideology and a form of patriotism promoted by Marxist–Leninist movements.Robert A. Jones. The Soviet concept of "limited sovereignty" from Lenin to Gorbachev: the Brezhnev Doctrine. MacMillan, 1990. Pp. 133. This idea promotes dedication to the people of the homeland and popular sovereignty, a commitment to the revolutionary transformation of society, the cause of communism and also respect for sovereignty of other nations.|Stephen White. Russia's new politics: the management of a postcommunist society. Fourth edition. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004. p. 182. Marxist–Leninists claim that socialist patriotism is not connected with right-wing nationalism developed by the bourgeois.Stephen White. Understanding Russian Politics. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Pp. 220. Socialist patriotism is commonly advocated directly alongside proletarian internationalism, with communist parties regarding the two concepts as compatible with each other.William B. Simons, Stephen White. The Party statutes of the Communist world. BRILL, 1984. Advocacy of socialist patriotism alongside proletarian internationalism shown on Pp. 180 (Czechoslovakia), Pp. 123 (Cuba), Pp. 192 (German Democratic Republic). The concept has been attributed by Soviet writers to Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.

Lenin separated patriotism into what he defined as proletarian, socialist patriotism from bourgeois nationalism.The Current digest of the Soviet press, Volume 39, Issues 1-26. American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, 1987. p. 7. 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.Christopher Read. Lenin: a revolutionary life. Digital Printing Edition. Oxon, England, UK; New York, New York, USA: Routledge, 2006. Pp. 115. Lenin believed that nations subjected to imperial rule had the right to seek national liberation from imperial rule.Terry Eagleton. Why Marx Was Right. Yale University Press, 2011. p. 217.

Countries' variants Soviet Union

Initially, the Soviet Russia and early Soviet Union adopted the idea of proletarian internationalism instead of nationalism on which patriotism is based. However, after the inability of socialist revolutions to abolish capitalism and national boundaries, Joseph Stalin promoted socialist patriotism following the theory of "socialism in one country".

Socialist patriotism would supposedly serve both national interest and international socialist interest.Sabrina P. Ramet. Religion and Nationalism in Soviet and East European Politics. Duke University Press, 1989, p. 294. While promoting socialist patriotism for the Soviet Union as a whole, Stalin repressed nationalist sentiments in fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.Gi-Wook Shin. Ethnic Nationalism in Korea: Genealogy, Politics, and Legacy. Stanford, California, USA: Stanford University Press, 2006, p. 82. However Soviet patriotism had Russian nationalist overtones in practice.

China

The Chinese Communist Party and the government of China advocate socialist patriotism.Jan-Ingvar Löfstedt. Chinese Educational Policy: Changes and Contradictions, 1949-79. Almqvist & Wiksell International. 1980. p. 25. The Chinese Communist Party describes the policy of socialist patriotism as the following: "Socialist patriotism has three levels. At the first level, individuals should subordinate their personal interests to the interests of the state. At the second level, individuals should subordinate their personal destiny to the destiny of our socialist system. At the third level, individuals should subordinate their personal future to the future of our communist cause." The PRC portrays the government as the embodiment of the will of the Chinese people.

Mao Zedong spoke of a Chinese nation, but specified that the Chinese are a civic-based nation of multiple ethnic groups, and explicitly condemned Han ethnocentrism, which Mao called Han chauvinism and claimed had become widespread in China.Li, Gucheng (1995). A Glossary of Political Terms of The People's Republic of China. Chinese University Press. pp. 38–39. The constitution of China states that China is a multi-ethnic society and that the state is opposed to national chauvinism and specifies Han chauvinism in particular.

East Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany officially had socialist patriotism within its party statutes.William B. Simons, Stephen White. The Party Statutes of the Communist World. BRILL, 1984, p. 192. The SED expanded on this by emphasizing a "socialist national consciousness" involving a "love for the GDR and pride in the achievements of socialism."Paul Cooke. East German Distinctiveness in a Unified Germany. Birmingham, England UK: University of Birmingham, 2002, p. 18. However the GDR said that socialist patriotism was compatible with proletarian internationalism and stated that it should not be confused with nationalism that it associated with chauvinism and xenophobia.

Ethiopia

The Derg and the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia under Mengistu Haile Mariam advocated socialist patriotism.Edmond Joseph Keller. Revolutionary Ethiopia: From Empire to People's Republic. Indiana University Press, 1988, p. 212.Edward Kissi. Revolution and Genocide in Ethiopia and Cambodia. Lanham, Maryland, USA; Oxford, England, UK: Lexington Books, 2006, p. 58. The Derg declared that "socialist patriotism" meant "true love for one's motherland...[and]...free[dom] from all forms of chauvinism and racialism".

North Korea Kim Il Sung promoted socialist patriotism while he condemned nationalism in considered that it destroyed fraternal relations between people because of its exclusivism.Dae-Sook Suh. Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader. New York, New York, USA: West Sussex, England, UK: Columbia University Press, 1988, p. 309. 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.

Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam and the government of Vietnam advocate "socialist patriotism" of the Vietnamese people.Mark Moyar. Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965. New York, New York, USA: Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 437. Vietnamese Communist leader Ho Chi Minh emphasized the role of socialist patriotism to Vietnamese communism, and emphasized the importance of patriotism, saying: "In the beginning it was patriotism and not communism which impelled me to believe in Lenin and the Third International."William Warbey. Ho Chi Minh and the Struggle for an Independent Vietnam. Merlin Press, 1972.

After the collapse of the Indochinese Communist Party in 1941, the Vietnamese Communist movement since the 1940s fused the policies of proletarian internationalism and Vietnamese patriotism together.Kim Khánh Huỳnh. Vietnamese Communism, 1925-1945. Ithaca, New York, USA: Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 58. Vietnamese Communist Party leader Ho Chi Minh was responsible for the incorporation of Vietnamese patriotism into the Party, he had been born into a family with strong anticolonial political views towards French rule in Vietnam. The incorporation of Vietnamese patriotism into the Communist Party's policy fit in with the longstanding Vietnamese struggle against French colonial rule.Kim Khánh Huỳnh. Vietnamese Communism, 1925-1945. Ithaca, New York, USA: Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 59. Although Ho opposed French colonial rule in Vietnam, he harboured no dislike of France as a whole, stating that French colonial rule was "cruel and inhumane" but that the French people at home were good people. He had studied in France as a youth where he became an adherent to Marxism–Leninism, and he personally admired the French Revolutionary motto of "liberty, equality, fraternity". He witnessed the Treaty of Versailles that applied the principles of Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points that advocated national self-determination, resulting in the end of imperial rule over many peoples in Europe.Kim Khánh Huỳnh. Vietnamese Communism, 1925-1945. Ithaca, New York, USA: Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 60. He was inspired by the Wilsonian concept of national self-determination.

Yugoslavia

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia endorsed socialist patriotism,Teresa Rakowska-Harmstone. Communism in Eastern Europe. Indiana University Press, 1984. Manchester, England, UK: Manchester University Press ND, 1984, p. 267. promoting the concept of "brotherhood and unity", where the Yugoslav nations would overcome their cultural and linguistic differences through promoting fraternal relations between the nations.

Cuba There is an element of socialist patriotism combined with left-wing nationalism within the Communist Party of Cuba in Cuba.

India In India, Communist Party of India (Marxist) combines patriotism with proletarian internationalism as per its official party programme and plans to bring all patriotic and democratic forces for people's democratic revolution for establishing socialism. The party speaks of the ideals of the Marxist and socialist revolutionaries of Indian freedom movement and vows to safeguard constitutional values, democratic rights of people and secular and democratic character of Indian Republic and to establish social and economic justice along with strong views for sovereignty of India and against imperialism.

Other parties like Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation also share similar views.

These views are in sharp contrast with the Hindutva nationalism and neo-fascism of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, its affiliates and Bharatiya Janata Party.

See also Anti-imperialism National communism Social patriotism

References