Theory of the three worlds

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The theory of the three worlds or Three Worlds Theory ( abbreviation :三个世界理论; traditional characters :三個世界理論; Pinyin : San gè Shijie lǐlùn ) is a foreign policy tactic on Mao Zedong back and the international relations of the People's Republic of China certain in the 1970s and 1980s.

Content and political form

As early as the late 1950s, Mao had been speculating that there were three conflicting “worlds” on the globe. He saw the superpower USA, which tried to dominate the underdeveloped and colonized regions, and in between smaller, more developed states that vied with the USA for influence in the countries to be colonized. The Soviet Union did not initially appear in these considerations. In the 1960s, the Sino-Soviet rift developed because the Communist Party of China had been pursuing a policy that was independent of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union since the 1930s and was interfering with the Soviet power politics. This development meant a rift in the communist camp of the time.

On February 22, 1974, in an interview with the President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda , Mao Zedong stated that, in his opinion, the earth is divided into three power blocks. The two states of the first world , namely the USA and the Soviet Union, tried to usurp dominance over the third world . For Mao Zedong, this third world consisted of poor, less developed countries, for example all of Asia except Japan, Africa and Latin America at that time. The second world was for Mao Zedong from developed, but less powerful states such as Europe, Canada and Japan, which have been bullied in his eyes of the countries of the first world. Mao included China in the third world. Deng Xiaoping mentioned this theory in his speech written by Qiao Guanhua to the General Assembly of the United Nations on April 10, 1974, which was also the first appearance of a politician from the People's Republic of China before the General Assembly. He put the hegemonic striving of the two superpowers in the context of a possible nuclear war and at the same time declared that the explanation of the political situation as a struggle between two camps does not represent the real complexity. However, Deng did not name the author of the theory presented. Indeed, during his lifetime Mao avoided being named as the author of this theory. It was not until 1977, a year after Mao's death, that the theory of the three worlds was declared an important contribution to Marxism-Leninism . In September 1977, the party organ Renmin Ribao underlined the importance of the three worlds theory and declared the Soviet Union to be the "cruiser, more ruthless and devious" of the two powers of the first world, and the more dangerous source of war. The Soviet Union rejected this "as an attempt to undermine détente in Europe and [..] to play the socialist states off against each other".

As a result of this theory, there was a reorientation of foreign policy in the People's Republic of China in the 1960s and 1970s. Assuming that Soviet imperialism was a greater danger to China than US imperialism, Beijing sought new allies among the China-friendly socialist states ( Albania , North Korea , with restrictions Romania and North Vietnam ), then in the Third World, then in the countries of the second world, which from Beijing's point of view opposed the hegemony of the USA and the Soviet Union, and finally a partnership with the USA was sought. The engagement in the movement of the non-aligned states is an implementation of this theory.

Since the 1980s, this theory has gradually lost its importance. First of all, the Chinese Communist Party dropped charges of revisionism against the CPSU. The Sino-Vietnamese War had shown the Soviet Union that the cost of expansion in Southeast Asia would be high; thereafter Beijing rated the risk of a Soviet attack as lower. Orientation towards the Third World and resistance to imperialism initially remained the guiding principles of Chinese foreign policy. Due to the rapid economic growth, the People's Republic has been oriented towards the industrialized countries since the beginning of the 1990s. Because of this, the three worlds theory is obsolete today. It was only relevant to Chinese foreign policy; it was not exported to any other country.

literature

Official representation

Critical comments

  • On the theses of the new opportunist current: The “theory of the three worlds” - a Marxist-Leninist theory? Supplement to “Red Morning”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 11/1977.
  • Raoul Marco, On the term “3. World". In: “Roter Morgen”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 26/1977, p. 11.
  • “Zeri i Popullit”, organ of the Central Committee of the PAA: Theory and Practice of the Revolution. Supplement to “Red Morning”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 28/1977.
  • Against the opportunistic “theory of the three worlds”: Resolution of the II. Plenum of the Central Committee of the PCP (R). In: “Roter Morgen”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 32/1977, p. 9.
  • “A Classe Operaria”, central organ of the Communist Party of Brazil: The “theory of the three worlds” must be fought decisively! In: “Roter Morgen”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 37/1977, p. 9f.
  • KP Spaniens / ML: Down with the "theory of the three worlds". In: “Roter Morgen”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 40/1977, p. 11.
  • Joint Declaration of the Communist Party of Germany / Marxist-Leninists, Communist Party of Greece (Marxist-Leninists), Communist Party of Italy (Marxist-Leninists), Portuguese Communist Party (Rebuilt), Communist Party of Spain (Marxist-Leninists). Supplement to “Red Morning”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 42/1977.
  • Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Japan (Left): The "Theory of the Three Worlds" - a false, anti-Marxist theory. In: “Roter Morgen”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 43/1977, p. 11.
  • Declaration by the Communist Party of Britain / Marxist-Leninists. In: “Roter Morgen”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 44/1977, p. 11.
  • "Proletariake Semaia": Let us rely on Marxism-Leninism. In: “Roter Morgen”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 47/1977, p. 11.
  • KP Perus: The "theory of the three worlds" is reactionary. In: “Roter Morgen”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 48/1977, p. 11.
  • CP of Workers and Peasants of Iran: Resolution on the International Situation. In: “Roter Morgen”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 50/1977, p. 11.
  • Declaration by the Communist Party of Colombia / Marxist-Leninists: “We live in the epoch of imperialism and the proletarian revolution”. In: “Roter Morgen”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 3/1978, p. 10.
  • The "International United Front" of the leadership of the CPC: A front against the revolution and socialism. In: “Roter Morgen”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 7/1978, p. 9f.
  • The “three worlds theory” as a strategic concept has the wind from the right at its back! (China aktuell, issue 2) Published by the central management of the KABD, March 1978. Published by Verlag Neuer Weg, Stuttgart.
  • KP Ceylons condemns "theory of the three worlds". In: “Roter Morgen”, central organ of the KPD / Marxist-Leninists, No. 30/1978, p. 11.
  • Joint declaration of the Communist Party of Colombia / ML, the RKP of Chile, the KPML of Ecuador and the Red Flag Party of Venezuela, adopted on September 30, 1978. With a foreword by the MLSK of the MLPÖ. (Theory and Practice of Marxism-Leninism, Issue 27) Strobl, Vienna 1979.

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Ingo Nentwig : Three worlds theory . In: Fritz Haug (ed.): Historical-critical dictionary of Marxism . tape 2 . Argument-Verlag, Hamburg 1994, ISBN 3-88619-432-9 , p. 830-834 .
  2. ↑ Ronald C. Keith: Deng Xiaoping and China's foreign policy . Routledge, London and New York 2018, ISBN 978-1-138-40018-4 , pp. 96 .
  3. ↑ Ezra F. Vogel: Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China . Harvard University Pess, 2011, ISBN 978-0-674-05544-5 , pp. 84 f .
  4. ↑ Ronald C. Keith: Deng Xiaoping and China's foreign policy . Routledge, London and New York 2018, ISBN 978-1-138-40018-4 , pp. 101 .
  5. ↑ Ronald C. Keith: Deng Xiaoping and China's foreign policy . Routledge, London and New York 2018, ISBN 978-1-138-40018-4 , pp. 104 .
  6. ↑ Erwin Wickert : China seen from the inside . Stuttgart 1984, p. 234 .