Patriotism Is Not Narrow National-Statism
By Sheshui Nongfu. Red Song Society Net (Hongge Hui), April 19, 2025. Translated by Vero Publishing.
The Marxist view of the state and the bourgeois view of the state are fundamentally opposed. The precondition for understanding patriotism is first to distinguish between these two views of the state, lest we fall into the trap of narrow national-statism.
Comment by Liu Jiming: This article takes a lofty vantage point and argues fully and forcefully. Its analysis of the inner connection between national-statism and fascism, and of the relationship among the state, the nation and the people, is thought-provoking.
Patriotism was once a glorious word. But amid the clamor of national-statism,[1] patriotism has now become almost a synonym for narrow national-statism. This cannot fail to put us on guard and call for debate.
Since patriotism means loving one's country, we must first be clear about what the state is. In the feudal era, people equated the state with the imperial court, and the court was ruled by the emperor and his family. Hence the phrase "loyalty to the sovereign and love of the country": whether someone was patriotic depended on whether he supported the emperor's rule. People held this view, of course, because of the limitations of historical development, and it is not to be blamed.
The birth of Marxism gave us a theoretical guide to understanding the nature of the state profoundly, and the most classic expression of it is Lenin's definition. Lenin held that the state is an instrument by which one class rules another, and the product of the irreconcilability of class antagonisms. This definition shows profoundly that the essence of the state lies in its class character: the state is a class state, and the product of irreconcilable class antagonisms. Lenin's thesis is the Marxist view of the state in the standard sense, and it clearly differs from the view of the state of the feudal era.
The bourgeois revolutions that began in Europe established the concept of the modern nation-state, which regards the state as an independent and sovereign political entity made up of "compatriots" who share a common history, culture, language and territory. This view of the state stresses only the state's independence and sovereignty, and treats it internally as a homogeneous whole without distinctions, thereby obliterating its class character. This is precisely the origin of the national-statist view of the state.
When we criticized Khrushchev's revisionism in the Soviet Union, one of the points was that Khrushchev advocated the "state of the whole people" and the "party of the whole people." The revisionist view of the state was thus in fact also a national-statist view of the state, that is, a bourgeois view of the state.
From this it is clear that the Marxist view of the state and the bourgeois view of the state are fundamentally opposed. The precondition for understanding patriotism is first to distinguish between these two views of the state, lest we fall into the trap of narrow national-statism.
The teachers of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism were always very cautious on the question of patriotism. Patriotism is rarely mentioned in the writings of Marx and Engels. The First and Second Internationals they founded embodied, above all, the internationalist spirit of "Workers of all countries, unite!"
Lenin also gave a classic definition of patriotism: "Patriotism is one of the most deeply ingrained sentiments, consolidated by the existence of separate fatherlands for hundreds and thousands of years."[2] In Lenin's view, the political and economic environment of "separate" existence gave rise to the petty-bourgeois mode of production, and from it Russia's traditional patriotism took shape. The limitations of the petty bourgeoisie determined the narrowness of the patriotism it produced. Lenin held that although traditional patriotism had for a time played a role in uniting the nation's strength to resist foreign aggression, as the times developed its limitations gradually came to obstruct the proletarian revolutionary movement and became a great obstacle to the development of the revolution, and it had to be replaced by proletarian patriotism.
Chairman Mao's patriotism was closely bound up with socialism. He declared that "socialism is the only way out for China," and he also said, "I love only a progressive China, not a backward China." Chairman Mao's patriotism was also closely bound up with proletarian internationalism. His slogan "Resist US aggression and aid Korea, protect our homes and defend our country" was a model of the perfect combination of patriotism and internationalism. On the Tiananmen rostrum hang two slogans, one reading "Long live the People's Republic of China" and the other "Long live the great unity of the peoples of the world," which likewise embody the combination of patriotism and internationalism.
A patriotism that rejects the Marxist view of the state, obliterates the class character of the state and cuts away the internationalist spirit can only become a synonym for national-statism. And historical experience shows that unchecked national-statism inevitably leads to narrow nationalism, chauvinism and even fascism. Germany and Japan in the Second World War, for example, went from nationalism to fascism and militarism. Renegades from Marxism also often use patriotism in word, and nationalism in deed, to capitulate to their own bourgeoisie and to imperialism. These are the various kinds of revisionism: the Second International, for example, or the great-power chauvinism of the former Soviet Union, and today the Great Russianism represented by Putin in Russia.
Moreover, the course of history has proved that when the rivalry among imperialist and hegemonic powers grows ever fiercer, or when internal class contradictions become irreconcilable, the ruling classes of these countries practice nationalism under the banner of patriotism. They suppress working people at home and wage wars for hegemony abroad, diverting social contradictions and making the proletariat and working people cannon fodder in imperialist wars for hegemony. So it was in the First World War, so it was in the Second, so it is in the Russia-Ukraine war, and so it will be in future imperialist wars.
As noted above, the teachers of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism always upheld proletarian patriotism and were on guard against nationalism passing itself off under the name of patriotism. In the history of the international communist movement, Marxism and nationalism have always been locked in fierce struggle. Lenin's struggle with the Second International is a classic case. From the nationalist point of view, the Second International was without doubt the most patriotic, while Lenin was without doubt the greatest traitor to Russia, a wrecker of the stability of the Russian nation and state, a criminal against the country and the nation.[3] Or take the Communist Party under Chairman Mao. In the War of Resistance against Japan it upheld independence and opposed "everything through the united front," that is, complete submission to the Kuomintang's orders.[4] From the Kuomintang's nationalist standpoint of the time, would the Communist Party not have been what today's "little pinks" call traitors, "guides for the enemy" and "wall-pushers"?[5]
There was a slogan in the past: "Countries want independence, nations want liberation, peoples want revolution."[6] Whether national independence or national liberation, the point of arrival is that the people want revolution: to overthrow the system of exploitation and oppression and build a socialist country in which all are equal and the people are masters of the country. The slogan sets out the dialectical relationship among the state, the nation and the people.
As Lenin pointed out, nationalism has a dual character. For weak and small nations, nationalism is a weapon of national independence and liberation and has progressive significance. For relatively powerful nations, nationalism is a synonym for chauvinism, hegemonism and even fascism.
Nationalism in China has evolved over a century. Because China, a poor and weak nation, suffered aggression and humiliation by imperialism in modern times, it was historically inevitable that Marxism should combine with national-statism. The united front of the War of Resistance against Japan, for example, was cooperation with the Kuomintang regime on the basis of national-statism. Throughout the anti-imperialist, anti-feudal new-democratic revolution, therefore, Marxism could and had to form a temporary alliance with national-statism, first to accomplish the tasks of national independence and national liberation and then to carry out the socialist revolution and establish the socialist system. But once socialist New China was founded and socialism and communism became the mainstream consciousness, national-statism was bound to decline.
National-statism rose again after China adopted reform and opening up. At the start of reform, Western neoliberalism was taken as the teacher and the country's doors were opened to the Western capitalist countries, which necessarily required a break with the socialist ideals of the Mao era. In the social atmosphere of that time, the Westernizing faction rose powerfully for a while, and inverted nationalism[7] was in vogue. But after decades of development, as the ills of reform and opening up grew ever more evident, reflection on reform also produced a critique of inverted nationalism. The "New Left" that emerged in these circumstances itself carried a strong nationalist tendency. As China's strength grew and its contradictions with the United States sharpened, the Westernizers within the system were suppressed and restrained, and the "New Left," once outlaws like the heroes of Liangshan,[8] were welcomed into the hall. Their inherent nationalist core fitted perfectly with the core ideas of official nationalism, and at once a grand chorus of national-statism took shape. This is why national-statism today clamors in government and society alike, and has become the single dominant current of thought.
From this we can see that over a century of evolution in China, nationalism has gone step by step from being an ally of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism to being its opposite. This is both a necessity of social development and a severe test for Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. Today's true Marxists can win their future only by making a thorough break with national-statism and waging resolute struggle against it, as Lenin and Chairman Mao did; otherwise they can easily become appendages of revisionism. On this point, the debate between the nationalist left and the Maoist left has already made things clear.[9]
Recently, Article 34 of the draft revision of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law provoked a strong public reaction and debate.[10] One netizen put it this way: "However loudly nationalism roars, it will not make those 'compatriot' bosses and bureaucrats show mercy and change the actual condition of working people. That being so, let these 'national elites' enjoy the pleasures of nationalism by themselves, and leave their 'compatriots' alone." The proposal of this article reflects not only the national-statist essence it contains but also a new direction and a new height in the development of national-statist thinking. In fact it marks a new stage of nationalism: no longer merely promoted by mainstream ideology, it is now to control the public through legal provisions, by coercive means. This further confirms our analysis and judgment. Nationalism and statism have indeed become means by which the state exercises all-round control over the public, from behavior to spirit. National-statism, as the core official idea of today, has in fact come to occupy the ruling position in the state ideology. As Teacher Liu Jiming has pointed out: "As believers in Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, we must have a clear-headed understanding of this new reality."
Finally, let us listen once more to Lenin's teaching: "Whether to affirm or to criticize patriotism depends on which class is master of the existing state, and whether the present state accords with the fundamental interests of the proletariat."[11] Amid the din of patriotic propaganda, Lenin's words are nothing less than a dose of clear-headedness, teaching us how to understand patriotism correctly and avoid sliding unawares into the trap of narrow national-statism.
Translator's Notes
1. "National-statism" (民族—国家主义). The author's compound term joins nationalism (民族主义) and statism (国家主义). It is rendered throughout as "national-statism," and the related view of the state as "the national-statist view of the state."
2. Lenin on patriotism. From "The Valuable Admissions of Pitirim Sorokin" (November 1918).
3. Lenin and the Second International. In 1914 most parties of the Second International voted war credits for their own governments. Lenin called for "turning the imperialist war into a civil war" and the defeat of one's own government, and was denounced in Russia as a German agent.
4. "Everything through the united front" (一切经过统一战线). A slogan associated with Wang Ming during the War of Resistance, which Mao rejected as subordinating the Communist Party to the Kuomintang.
5. "Little pinks," "guides for the enemy" and "wall-pushers." "Little pinks" (小粉红) are young online nationalists. "Guides for the enemy" (带路党) and "wall-pushers" (推墙派) are online insults for those accused of welcoming foreign intervention or seeking to topple the regime.
6. "Countries want independence, nations want liberation, peoples want revolution." A slogan of the early 1970s, described in Zhou Enlai's report to the Tenth Party Congress (1973) as an irresistible historical trend.
7. "Inverted nationalism" (逆向民族主义). A term for self-deprecation of one's own nation combined with idealization of the West.
8. "Heroes of Liangshan." The outlaw heroes of the classic novel Water Margin, who in the end accepted an amnesty and entered imperial service.
9. The debate between the nationalist left and the Maoist left (民左争论). A dispute among Chinese leftists between those who support the state's nationalist line and Maoists who reject it as revisionist.
10. Article 34 of the draft Public Security Administration Punishments Law. The 2023 draft proposed penalties for wearing clothing or making remarks that "harm the spirit of the Chinese nation or hurt the feelings of the Chinese nation." The provision drew wide criticism and was revised.
11. The closing quotation from Lenin. I have not been able to locate this passage in Lenin's works; it may be a paraphrase rather than a direct quotation.