Josip Broz Tito - Concerning the National Question and Social Patriotism

Concerning the National Question and Social Patriotism
Speech held at the Slovene Academy of Arts and Sciences (1948)

No country of people's democracy has so many nationalities as this country has. Only in Czechoslovakia do there exist two kindred nationalities, while in some of the other countries there are only minorities. Consequently in these countries of people's democracy there has been no need to settle such serious problems as we have had to settle here. With them the road to socialism is less complicated than is the case here. With them the basic factor is the class issue, with us it is both the nationalities and the class issue. The reason why we were able to settle the nationalities question so thoroughly is to be found in the fact that it had begun to be settled in a revolutionary way in the course of the Liberation War, in which all the nationalities in the country participated, in which every national group made its contribution to the general effort of liberation from the occupier according to its capabilities. Neither the Macedonians nor any other national group which until then had been oppressed obtained their national liberation by decree. They fought for their national liberation with rifle in hand. The role of the Communist Party lay in the first place in the fact that it led that struggle, which was a guarantee that after the war the national question would be settled decisively in the way the communists had conceived long before the war and during the war. The role of the Communist Party in this respect today, in the phase of building socialism, lies in making the positive national factors a stimulus to, not a brake on, the development of socialism in our country. The role of the Communist Party today lies in the necessity for keeping a sharp lookout to see that national chauvinism does not appear and develop among any of the nationalities. The Communist Party must always endeavour, and does endeavour, to ensure that all the negative phenomena of nationalism disappear and that people are educated in the spirit of internationalism.

What are the phenomena of nationalism? Here are some of them: 1) National egoism, from which many other negative traits of nationalism are derived, as for example — a desire for foreign conquest, a desire to oppress other nations, a desire to impose economic exploitation upon other nations, and so on; 2) national-chauvinism which is also a source of many other negative traits of nationalism, as for example national hatred, the disparagement of other nations, the disparagement of their history, culture, and scientific activities and scientific achievements, and so on, the glorification of developments in their own history that were negative and which from our Marxist point of view are considered negative.

And what are these negative things? Wars of conquest are negative, the subjugation and oppression of other nations is negative, economic exploitation is negative, colonial enslavement is negative, and so on. All these things are accounted negative by Marxism and condemned. All these phenomena of the past can, it is true, be explained, but from our point of view they can never be justified.

In a socialist society such phenomena must and will disappear. In the old Yugoslavia national oppression by the great-Serb capitalist clique meant strengthening the economic exploitation of the oppressed peoples. This is the inevitable fate of all who suffer from national oppression. In the new, socialist Yugoslavia the existing equality of rights for all nationalities has made it impossible for one national group to impose economic exploitation upon another. That is because hegemony of one national group over another no longer exists in this country. Any such hegemony must inevitably bring with it, to some degree or other, in one form or another, economic exploitation; and that would be contrary to the principles upon which socialism rests. Only economic, political, cultural, and universal equality of rights can make it possible for us to grow in strength in these tremendous endeavours of our community.

And now a word about internationalism and nationalism, the theme that often crops up these days in connection with attacks on our country.

Internationalism is not an abstraction. It must be founded on facts, not merely on words. Internationalism is founded on deeds; it is a matter of how the most progressive class, the working class, or the countries which are advancing towards socialism, i. e. building socialism, interpret their interests: do they consider them to be a part of the general good or as their own narrow national or state interests, — is that class or State interested in what is happening elsewhere, what is happening to the working class in other countries, what is happening to other similar States; are they pleased or not at the successes of other countries which are on the way to socialism? I said a moment ago what the basic characteristics of nationalism are; and what is internationalism — that can be seen in practice every day, and it is a question of whether the most progressive class or State, which is on the way to socialism, welcomes or assists the progressive movement or State which needs help and support. It is also important in what degree the aid or support is given. Internationalism in the real meaning of the word involves giving aid to progressive movements in the world or in other socialist countries where it is urgently needed, according to one's capacities.

The charge is continually levelled against us that we are nationalists; but not a single shred of evidence has been brought forward in support of such irresponsible assertions. What was our attitude in this respect during the Liberation War? It was obviously internationalist, because in the war we conscientiously performed, not only our national duty, but also our international duty. And what has been our attitude in this respect since the end of the war? It has obviously been internationalist, because we have assisted to the limits of our powers the countries of people's democracy which have needed our help, regardless of whether they asked for our help or not. We have never turned a deaf ear and refused to offer all possible assistance to the progressive movements in other countries which have needed our help, regardless of whether they have asked us for it or not. And right up to the present we have not moved an inch from this standpoint.

On the question of whether we are nationalists or not I can say the following: we are nationalists to the exact degree necessary to develop a healthy socialist patriotism among our people, and socialist patriotism is in its essence internationalism. Socialism does not require of us that we renounce our love for our socialist country, that we renounce our love for our own people. Socialism does not require of us that we should not make every possible effort to build up our socialist country as quickly as possible, in order that we may so create the best possible living conditions for our working people. Our creative drive in building up our country, that is the creative drive of our workers, our youth, our people's intelligentsia, and all our working peasants and citizens, who are voluntarily contributing their share to the work of construction within the People's Front, — none of these things need, or indeed can, be stigmatised as some sort of nationalist deviation. No, this is socialist patriotism, which in its essence is profoundly international, and for that reason we are proud of it.