Translated "Avante!" article by Angelo Alves, Member of the Political Committee and of the International Department

It has been 98 years since the October Socialist Revolution, the biggest revolutionary event of the 20th century. Two years away from celebrating the 100th anniversary of this amazing occasion, it is time to stress the impressive impact that the Socialist Revolution had on the Russian people, on the people of what would become the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, on the socialist countries of Eastern Europe and on the workers and people of the world. With the October Revolution, the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin became real, in a revolutionary breakthrough, in a concrete event, in amazing progress. There is however, more to it. The October Revolution has led to an incredible development of Marxism, as Lenin’s works prove. Lenin himself stresses “"Without a revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement".

However, the October Revolution has gone further than this. It spread all over the world bearing witness of the example and the conquests of the Socialist Revolution. Within a very short period of time the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary theory reached several continents, inspiring revolutionaries to undertake the historical task of bringing to life communist parties in dozens of countries. This was also how our Party came to be in 1921. The importance of the Socialist Revolution goes well beyond its impulse and example in the creation of the International Communist Movement. It introduced a new historical era; it was the beginning of a process starting from scratch. To celebrate October is therefore to remember the workers and peasants – The USSR – it is to remember the first Decree on Peace, the transition from a semi-feudal country into an economic power where its people experienced economic, social, political and cultural developments unheard of in the History of Humanity. It is to remember, quoting comrade Álvaro Cunhal, that the USSR became “the motherland of workers in capitalist countries”, for the tireless support, both political and material, given to these countries´ struggle for social and labour rights, for freedom and democracy and against colonialism. It’s to remember the decisive contribution of the army and the soviet people for the defeat of the neo-fascism.

The legacy of the October Revolution is enormous. Through the commitment of building a socialist society and State, the brave and genius Russian revolutionaries had to face new difficulties in a situation with no precedents. The revolutionary theory was created in a close dialectical relationship with a concrete revolutionary experience. It is therefore a must to highlight the role of the “main player” of the Socialist Revolution – the people – praising simultaneously the contribution of its vanguard and its leaders, like Lenin, who was crucial in the theoretical development of Marxism, in the identification of the Age of Imperialism, in theorizing democracy and the role of the State in the transition from capitalism to communism and defining a new type of Party, a crucial element for the success of the October Revolution.

Ninety-eight years later, despite mistakes, defeats and deviations of the first attempts to build socialism, the World is showing the timeliness and relevance of the communist ideal, and increasingly more, the everlasting need to end the exploitation of the workers and the people, creating, by means of different steps and methods, the alternative to capitalism – Socialism and Communism. We celebrate the anniversary of the October Revolution at a very special time for Portugal, a moment that proves how the class struggle is still alive and strong and how the role of the Communist Party is pivotal for progress in the battle for the interests of the workers, the people and the country. Ninety-eight years later, we can proudly say that the PCP, connected to the people, reinforcing its organization, establishing itself as Party in the vanguard to be trusted by the workers and the people, honours its historical responsibility, step by step to continue fighting for a “land with no lords”.