An Assessment of the Principle of Socialism in One Country from the Perspective of the International System

Abstract

When Stalin stepped to head the Soviet Union the idea of socialism in one country which he propounded established both a theoretical ground for the state’s applications in the next term and also determined the fate of socialism. The Bolshevik revolution which was the first socialist revolution to take place had developed in the light of very significant discussions and taken form with the different ideas of many philosophers. The socialist ideas which emerged as a rebellion against the current international system and the international economic system which is perhaps the most important part of this system were released from being confined in minds, articles and speeches and finally found a habitat for themselves when they were put into practice with the revolution in Russia. When a theory or ideology is put into practice it is accompanied with various issues which must be settled. When a theory is put into practice, the understanding and approach of the implementers to the theory become as important as the theory itself. Furthermore, the characteristics of the application area of the theory, its form of application and the international system where the application will be included also required a very good assessment. While the problems of the Bolshevik Revolution incurring from the implementation of the socialist ideology on the Russian community and on the communities that were occupied later were attempted to be resolved in line with a theory-practice relationship the understanding of socialism in one country declared by Stalin immediately in the aftermath of Lenin in 1924 generated different problems of a various nature in addition to the current ones. This change has been studied from many angles to date and various views on the causes and effects have been presented. However, limiting the socialist ideology which emerged to counter the international system and as an alternative to this system with a perspective which encompasses the world with the understanding of socialism in one country can be best explained in terms of its relationship with this system. From this viewpoint our study differs from previous ones because it examines the idea of socialism in one country and its application in terms of the structure and functioning of the international system. The problematic of the study consists of the understanding of how the transition from ‘continuous revolution’ or ‘socialism in the whole world’ into socialism in one country is affected by the international system.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n2s2p155