Maoist Dissidents in the USSR in the Early 1960s and Early 1970s. Ideology and Strategies of Struggle

The appearance of Maoist dissidents in the USSR in the early 1960s and early 1970s was associated with the discontent of the general population with the socio-economic and political course of N. S. Khrushchev, and then L. I. Brezhnev. Criticism of the political course of the CPSU, primarily the decisions of the XX Congress, by the leaders of the Chinese and Albanian Communist Parties, provided a theoretical justification for protest sentiments for some oppositional citizens. From the point of view of the ideology of Marxism-Leninism prevailing in the USSR, Mao Zedong’s explanation of the social contradictions in the country looked quite logical: the ruling elite of the party nomenclature was represented by “revisionists” who rejected the ideas of V. I. Lenin and I. V. Stalin and expressed the socio-economic interests of the new ruling class, the bureaucracy. The rejection of the concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat in favor of the idea of the USSR as a “national state”, criticism of the cult of Stalin’s personality, as well as the promotion of strategies for “peaceful coexistence” of capitalist and socialist states, were perceived as elements of the “revisionist” ideology of the CPSU. In this situation, Mao Zedong was revered by Maoist dissidents as the bearer of an egalitarian communist alternative that denied the omnipotence and privileges of the Soviet nomenclature. The "cultural revolution" carried out on his initiative in the People's Republic of China was interpreted as a massive anti-bureaucratic popular movement aimed at democratizing socio-political life and destroying the privileges of officials. Analyzing the perception of Maoist ideas by their adherents in the USSR, the author speaks of “fictional Maoism” associated with both the idealization of the socio-economic and political system of the People’s Republic of China and the refraction of Maoist ideology through certain aspirations of Soviet people (in particular, the desire for de-bureaucratization and democratization of public life, the elimination of the privileges of the nomenclature, the redistribution of public benefits, and liquidation of collective farms). The article shows the approximate number of Maoist dissidents in the USSR, analyzes their ideological attitudes, social composition, tactics and strategy of struggle.