General line of the party
In the terminology of communist states and Marxism–Leninism, the general line of the party or simply the general line is the directives of the governing bodies of a party (usually a communist party) which define the party's politics. The term (Russian: Генеральная линия партии general'naya liniya partii) was in common use by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (since its early days under other names) and also adopted by many other communist parties around the world. The notion is rooted in the major principle of democratic centralism, which requires unconditional obedience to collective decisions.
Soviet Union
The term has acquired a significant notoriety in the context of Soviet political repressions, where deviations from the general line have led to severe punishment. The introduction to a collection of documents from the Stalinist era[1] says that general line statements produced by the Stalinist leadership were written with great care and exact phrasing in prescribed terminology and with established slogans.[1]
The goal was to provide a means of political and social control. Once the Central Committee formulated a statement about the party line on a particular issue, it was republished in major newspapers, such as Pravda. Disagreements with the party line were treated as a political crime: anti-Soviet agitation.[1]
See also
- Mass line
- Party line (politics)
References
- ^ a b c Getty, J. Arch; Naumov, Oleg V., eds. (1999). "Introduction". The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932–1939. pp. 1–22. ISBN 0-300-09403-5.
- v
- t
- e
(Marxist)
- Barracks communism
- Base and superstructure
- Bourgeoisie
- Bourgeois democracy
- Bourgeois nationalism
- Bourgeois revolution
- Bourgeois socialism
- Capitalist mode of production
- Class struggle
- Commodification
- Dialectics
- Dictatorship of the proletariat
- Historical materialism
- Imperialism
- Liquidationism
- Lumpenproletariat
- Means of labor
- Metabolic rift
- Petite bourgeoisie
- Primitive accumulation of capital
- Proletarian internationalism
- Proletarian revolution
- Pure communism
- Revisionism
- Revolutionary spontaneity
- Revolutionary wave
- Scientific socialism
- Socialist mode of production
- Super-imperialism
- Theoretician
- Two-stage theory
- Wage slavery
- Workers of the world, unite!
- Workers' council
- Workers' control
- World communism
- World revolution
(Marxian)
- Critique of political economy
- Accumulation of capital
- Capital
- Capitalist mode of production
- Crisis of capitalism
- Commanding heights of the economy
- Commodity
- Commodity production
- Dominant ideology
- Exchange value
- Free association
- Law of value
- Materialism
- Means of production
- Mode of production
- Productive forces
- Production for use
- Relations of production
- Ruling class
- Simple commodity production
- Socialist mode of production
- Socially necessary labour time
- Socialization
- Social murder
- Subject of labor
- Surplus value
- Use value
- Value
- Worker cooperative
- Anti-revisionism
- Cadre
- Central Committee
- Democratic centralism
- Dual power
- Enemy of the people
- Foco
- General line of the party
- National liberation
- New class
- People's democratic state
- Politburo
- Political rehabilitation
- Popular front
- Real socialism
- Revisionism
- Revolutionary terror
- Self-criticism
- Socialist accumulation
- Socialism in one country
- Social fascism
- Social imperialism
- Soviet democracy
- Democracy in Marxism
- United front
- Vanguardism
- Antagonistic contradiction
- Anti-revisionism
- Capitalist roader
- Continuous revolution theory
- The East wind prevails over the West wind
- Four Olds
- Marxism–Leninism–Maoism
- Mass line
- New Democracy
- Whole-process people's democracy
- One Divides Into Two
- People's war
- Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun
- Revisionism
- Revolutionary base area
- Revolution is not a dinner party
- Social imperialism
- Struggle session