Reflections On The Historical Process Of Socialism In The 20th Century

In this era of economic globalization, Socialist movement gets into the lowest point after experiencing the grave setbacks of former Soviet's disintegration and Eastern Europe's severe changes, and western individuals claim that Socialist movement came into being in the 20th century, and it also ended up in the 20th century. Standing on the threshold of the new era, looking back on the centenary development of Socialism, some people attribute the disasters in Eastern Europe to Socialism. They say that the most serious catastrophe in the 20th century was the generation of Socialism, regarding the October Revolution as the "original sin", and affirm that Communism has reached its end, alleging that Capitalism will rule over the whole world in the 21st century. Others who believe in Socialism do not approve of the viewpoints listed above, but they think that the appearance of Socialism is premature and are concerned over the future of Socialism. These circumstances and viewpoints make people lose much faith in the promise of Socialism that has not shown its superiority. Therefore having a clear recognition of the historical process of Socialism in the 20th century, and at the same time clarifying views on some problems are of great importance for the coming of its climax.Entering the new century, our leader-Mr. Jiang Zemin, aiming high, put forward four important theoretical problems that need researching and discussing in depth. They are: how to recognize the historical process of Socialist development, how to recognize the historical process of Capitalist development, how to recognize the effects on people's thought resulting from the reforming practice of the Chinese Socialism, and how to recognize the influences brought about by international environment and international political struggles. After the advancing of the "four-how-to-recognize", the theory field in our country is in full swing, and many specialists have worked on them and given answers to the problems from different aspects. Profound and unique outcomes have come out in succession.Based on the efforts above, on the reflections on the historical process of Socialism in the 20th century, and on the theory developments and concrete practice, having introduced the practice of major Socialist countries, this article discusses the experiences and lessons we should remember. And from the respect of productivity it seriously reflects on some of the important and contentious problems of Socialist movement in the 20th century to see the overall picture of the world's Socialism in the 20th century in its right perspective, thus providing some theoretical and practical references to scientifically understand and guide the development of Socialism in the 21st century.