CS June 2022 | Page 10

Allied forces won , but except for the US imperialist , all other imperialist forces became very weak and also faced the wrath of the national movements in their colonies . Moreover , with the successful revolution in China and the East European countries , a strong socialist camp emerged . Under such a situation , imperialist forces had only two choices . Either to continue to suppress the national movements and strive to maintain their colonies , which is most convenient for finance capital , or to transfer power , before being forced to , by arrangement into the hands of such people , who would serve the interests of finance capital . Thus , instead of direct rule , indirect rule of imperialism would continue . The imperialists preferred the latter because the former could lead to their overthrow , lock stock , and barrel .
This change of policy of Imperialism did not change the character of Imperialism . It was the same colonial policy in a new form , instead of running the states directly , indirect method of ruling through their own trained agents , and in some cases , puppets were employed . This colonial policy in a new form is called neo-colonial policy ; this method of rule is the neo-colonial method of rule . This was clearly explained by the Communist Party of China , during the Great Debate in the article ‘ Apologists of neo-colonialism ’. It said — ‘ The facts are clear . After World War II , the imperialists have certainly not given up colonialism , but have merely adopted a new form , neo-colonialism ( emphasis ours ). An important characteristic of such neo-colonialism is that the imperialists have been forced to change their old style of direct colonial rule in some areas and to adopt a new style of colonial rule and exploitation by relying on the agents they have selected and trained .’
It is clear that the content of the colonial policy of Imperialism did not change , the change was in form . The content did not change because , even under the indirect rule , the imperialists strive for total subjugation , such 10 subjugation as ‘ involves loss of political independence of subjected states ’.” ( Quoted from a write-up titled – ‘ Colony - Neo-Colony - Semi-Colony ’, by Comrade Aloke Mukherjee ).
So , from the overall description , as given above , it is clear that there is a lot of difference in the form and content of the neo-colonial policy of imperialism . Because , even during the period of direct colonial rule , there were some countries , which were made to suffocate for having been enmeshed in the net of finance capital , although , these countries were not direct colonies . That means , colony or neo-colony , whatever it may be , the main policy of Imperialism is exploitation ( internal content ) and all kinds of its democratic theories are nothing but the show up of its humanitarian face ( external form ). This policy of changing its form and keeping the content as it is has been named by the imperialists as ‘ decolonization ’.
Now let us further look into some other quotations of Com . Lenin in this context —
“ Typical of this epoch is not only the two main groups of countries : those owning colonies and colonies , but also the diverse forms of dependent countries which , officially and politically are independent , but in fact , are enmeshed in the net of financial and diplomatic dependence . We have already referred to one form of dependence — the semi-colony .” (‘ Imperialism , the Highest Stage of Capitalism ’, page - 101 ).
“ The ‘ semi-colonial ’ states provide an example of the transitional forms which are to be found in all spheres of nature and society .” ( Ibid , page - 97 ).
“ In this connection , the semicolonial countries provide a typical example of the middle stage ’.” ( Ibid , page -97 ).
What is meant by this ‘ transitional form ’ and ‘ middle stage ’? This means they have not faced ‘ loss of political independence ’, but their political independence is tending towards loss of independence . They are in the middle stage ’ because they are neither totally independent nor totally subjugated . The transitional form also means that , even within that tendency towards loss of independence , there might be varying degrees of dependence at different states and also at different times . Moreover , in these states , different imperialist powers contend among themselves to bring them to total subjugation . This has been clearly stated by Lenin — “ It is natural that the struggle for those semi-dependent countries should have become particularly bitter in the epoch of finance capital , where the rest of the world has already been divided up .” ( Ibid , page- 97 ).
Actually , in semi-colonies , several imperialist powers contend with one another to first bring it under one ’ s unitary hegemony than to colony . We have seen such contention in our own India between US-led Western Powers and Soviet Social Imperialists . During the late 1960s and first half of the 1070s , the Soviet Social Imperialists almost turned India under its unitary hegemony . The contention rose to a peak when an internal emergency was declared and Soviet Social Imperialists welcomed it . In such countries , the bureaucratic big bourgeoisie is compradors . They cannot and do not have the strength to break out of the clutches of the finance capital , not because they do not want to have it , but because they do not have the capital to compete with imperialist finance capital , rather have to depend upon it for their survival and growth . This finance capital may come as Foreign Direct Investments or Foreign Institutional Investments or loans to the big bourgeoisie advanced by foreign banks like Deutsche Bank , Morgan , Credit Suisse , Standard Chartered , Goldman Sachs , etc . Because semi-colonial states are of transitional forms , their dependence is also varying from state to state . ( The last two paragraphs are quoted from Com . Aloke Mukherjee ’ s write-up - Colony , Neo-Colony , and Semi- Colony ).
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