This May marked the 160th anniversary of the conclusion of a peace treaty between Russia and Turkey, according to which part of the lands of the former Moldavian principality between the Prut and Dniester rivers was ceded to Russia. The annexation of Bessarabia to Russia was not an act of annexation, as bourgeois historians and publicists in the service of the imperialists imagine. It was an event that crowned the centuries-old aspirations of the Moldovan people, their primordial desire to get rid of the centuries-old Turkish yoke and unite with great Russia. The victory of the Russian troops in the war against Turkey was of great importance in the historical destinies of all the Balkan peoples. It hastened the decline of this feudal empire and hastened the time of their liberation from the heavy Turkish yoke.

Fighting for their liberation, the population of Bessarabia tried in every possible way to get rid of it by becoming a Russian citizen. On this basis, the Moldovan people have developed eternal ties with the Russian and Ukrainian peoples. The desire to become part of Russia was based on the deep desire of Moldovans to join the all-Russian market, developing industrial production, science and culture, advanced socio - political thought and the revolutionary struggle of the Russian working class. All this had huge progressive consequences for the fate of the Moldovan people throughout its subsequent development.

The annexation of Bessarabia to Russia, the process of formation of the Moldovan nation and statehood have repeatedly attracted the attention of historians and politicians. Even today, the apologists of imperialism, in their hatred of the USSR and communist ideology, often turn to the history of Soviet Moldavia, distort it, and slander the Leninist national policy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. All this calls for an urgent need to once again turn to the real events of those times, to give them a correct, Marxist-Leninist coverage based on reliable facts of historical reality.

* * *

Until 1812, for three centuries, the population of Bessarabia experienced the ruinous oppression of the Ottoman feudal lords and their vassals-the Crimean Tatars, no less cruel predatory Greek-Phanariot administration, countless wars that brought devastation and death. The national memory, which captures the torments and sufferings of Moldovans, is reflected in historical sources, chronicles, proverbs, sayings and folk legends.

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The Moldovan people, represented by their best representatives, have repeatedly appealed to Russia for its release and acceptance as a citizen. Only officially, up to ten such requests were made. In 1656, for the first time, the Russian-Moldavian treaty was concluded, which provided for the transition of Moldavia to Russia.1 But events turned out so that this treaty, like a number of subsequent ones, was not destined to be implemented as the people wanted. The aspirations of the leading thinkers of the region and the will of the masses to emancipate themselves were realized only at the beginning of the last century, as a result of the victorious Russo-Turkish war of 1806-1812. In this war, as in all previous ones, thousands of Moldavian volunteers fought on the side of the Russian armies, who contributed to the victory over the enemy forces.

The Russo-Turkish wars of the 17th and early 19th centuries were also liberating for the Balkan peoples enslaved by Sultan's Turkey. The objectively progressive nature of these wars does not change from the fact that both the tsarist government and the Sultan's government set aggressive goals in these wars. Regardless of the desire of the ruling circles, the victories won by Russian troops shook the foundations of the Ottoman Empire, weakened and undermined its dominance in the Balkans. And this, in turn, favored the national liberation struggle of the peoples. That is why they pinned their hopes on Russia, which they rightly saw as the only possible deliverer from the hated Turkish yoke.

As the founders of Marxism rightly pointed out, the Balkan peoples "look to St. Petersburg in anticipation of the Messiah who will free them from all evils..."2. The hopes of the Balkan peoples have been fully realized. In a speech on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Bulgaria on March 3, 1948, prominent figure of the international and Bulgarian labor movement V. Kolarov noted: "Bulgaria received its freedom not from the Constantinople conferences and protocols, not thanks to the tears of European humanists, but from the victorious Russian army... Therefore, the gratitude of the Bulgarian people to the brotherly people who shed the blood of 200,000 of their sons for our liberation will be boundless and eternal. " 3

The victories of Russian weapons with the participation of the masses of the people, who fought side by side with their Russian brothers, brought them deliverance from the centuries-old foreign yoke, created prerequisites for the formation of sovereign national states and the revival of original folk crafts, an increase in agricultural production, and the development of national creativity and culture. This progress was actively promoted by Russia, which compared to Turkey was much higher in socio-economic terms, as capitalism developed in it, the working class grew, and the class struggle expanded. According to Karl Marx, Turkey was then "at the lowest and most barbaric stage of feudalism." 4

By 1812, the Moldavian vassal state already had a long history. The border drawn in 1812 divided Moldova into two parts, each of which later went its own separate way. Bessarabia developed as part of Russia and 100 years later, by the time of the Great October Socialist Revolution, it was so far removed from the other part of Moldova that it was impossible to draw any parallel in the levels of their social development, except for the similarity of languages and some folk original rituals and traditions.-

1 "History of the Moldavian SSR". Vol. I, Chisinau. 1965, p. 248.

2 K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch. Vol. 9, p. 9.

3 "Bulgaria is a native sister". Chisinau. 1967, pp. 68-69.

4 K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch. Vol. 9, p. 6.

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traffic jams. One of the most important indicators of significant changes in the region after 1812 was population growth. In the past, the Dniester-Prut interfluve, which was devastated by the invaders, with a population of only 240,000, 5 became one of the most densely populated regions of Russia in a short time. By 1913, the population of Bessarabia had increased more than 10-fold.6 And it is especially important that not only the rural population has increased, but also the urban population. V. I. Lenin, according to the country's first population census of 1897, ranked Chisinau among the largest cities in Russia by the number of inhabitants.7

With the inclusion of Bessarabia in the all-Russian market, with the development of capitalism in its economy, there were profound positive changes. The extent to which economic progress was made is shown by data showing that in the first fifty years after the region's annexation to Russia, the area of arable land increased from 2.5% of the total area to 19% .8 The local industry began to develop rapidly. With the growth of urban industry and handicrafts in the villages, with the construction of railways, a strong working class was born. On the basis of the development of capitalism in Bessarabia, a stable community of the Moldavian people was formed, and by the beginning of the XX century the Moldavian bourgeois nation was formed in the system of the multinational Russian Empire.

Of great importance for the region was the dissemination of socio - political ideas of the advanced strata of Russian society. Here a circle of Decembrists was created, which included M. F. Orlov, V. F. Raevsky, K. A. Okhotnikov, A. G. Nepenin and others. The influence of advanced ideas on the oppressed masses significantly expanded with the stay of Alexander Pushkin in Moldova. Later, the development of the social and political life of Moldova was greatly influenced by the ideas of the Russian revolutionary democrats V. G. Belinsky, A. I. Herzen, N. G. Chernyshevsky, N. A. Dobrolyubov, and T. G. Shevchenko. All the positive developments in the economic and cultural life of Moldavia, which took place under the influence of Russia and its advanced forces, were carried out in spite of the oppressive nature of the colonial policy of tsarism. The main and decisive factor in the historical assessment of the progressive consequences of the unification of Bessarabia with Russia is the involvement of the working masses of the region in the revolutionary struggle of the Russian people, which led to their complete social, national and political emancipation. In Bessarabia, there were noble revolutionaries, and an important role was played by revolutionary narodniks, among whom were Moldovans. Under the influence of those who intensified at the beginning of the XX century. Among the workers and peasants of the central industrial regions of the country, the struggle of the working people for their social and national liberation intensified. This instilled in them a sense of class solidarity, strengthened their faith in victory over the common enemy. The revolutionary movement of the masses of the region was led from the beginning of the XX century by Marxist organizations that followed the path indicated by V. I. Lenin. Iskra newspaper played a huge role in raising the class consciousness of the Moldovan workers and educating them in the spirit of proletarian internationalism. For the first time in Russia, it was published in an underground printing house established in Kishinev in April 1901, where individual works of V. I. Lenin and his associates were also printed.9

5 "History of the Moldavian SSR". Vol. I, p. 375.

6 "The Soviet Union". Geographical description in 22 volumes. Moldavia, Moscow, 1970, p. 72.

7 See V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 3, p. 561.

8 A. L. Odud. Moldavian SSR. Moscow, 1955, p. 52.

9 " The first underground printing house of the Leninist newspaper Iskra in Russia. Collection of documents, materials, and memoirs. Chisinau. 1970.

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The solidarity of Moldovan workers with the proletariat of other nationalities in Russia was especially evident during the revolutionary events of 1905-1907 and 1917. After the February Revolution of 1917, the workers and peasants of Moldavia, following the example of the proletariat of Petrograd and Moscow, created Soviets of Workers', Peasants 'and Soldiers' Deputies and, under the leadership of the Bolshevik party, rose up to fight for the elimination of the bourgeois-landlord system. The revolutionary struggle of the proletarians in Moldavia was actively supported by the peasant masses, who demanded the division of the landlords ' lands. During the three months (April, May, and June) of 1917 alone, more than 150 peasant uprisings took place in the region, and in October there were already about 200 of them.10 These facts completely refute the fictions of bourgeois falsifiers that Bessarabia was a territory that stood outside Russian political life, and its population was indifferent to political events.

The workers of Moldavia enthusiastically received the news of the overthrow of the Provisional Bourgeois Government and the conquest of power by the proletariat in Petrograd, and then in other centers of the country. The Council of People's Commissars, headed by V. I. Lenin, received telegrams, letters, resolutions, and greetings addressed to the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee from the towns and villages of the region. The struggle of the working people for the establishment of Soviet power in Moldavia has significantly intensified. Losing economic and political ground, the class enemy, as in other parts of the country, tried to stop the victorious march of the revolution. He was ready for anything: terror and murder, treachery and treason. United, the Bessarabian counter-revolution created its own bourgeois organ, the Sfatul Tserii ("Regional Council"), which sought at all costs to prevent the establishment of Soviet power in the region.

Overcoming the fierce resistance of the reaction, the workers and laboring peasants of Moldavia, under the leadership of the Bolshevik Party, established the power of the Soviets throughout the region in late 1917 and early January 1918. However, the united counter-revolutionary forces, taking advantage of the difficulties of the newly formed Soviet Republic and enlisting the support of international reaction, launched a fierce struggle against the revolutionary working class and disorganized the peasant movement. Powerless to prevent the victory of the socialist revolution in the province by their own forces, the leaders of Sfatul Tsarii began to look for support abroad and found it from the Romanian boyars who were waiting for an opportunity to seize and expand their possessions in the east. In order to appease popular anger and avoid causing an armed struggle, Royal Rumania occupied Bessarabia under the plausible pretext of protecting the people from anarchy and plunder. At the same time, the king's manifesto stated that after the restoration of order and calm in the region, the troops would be withdrawn. Shameless deception of the people, occupation and plundering of Bessarabia were actively assisted by the leaders of the anti-people "Sfatul tserii".

The workers of the region, the revolutionary soldiers met the interventionists with weapons in their hands. Bloody battles took place throughout Bessarabia, which lasted almost three months (January - March 1918). Demands were made not to secede from Russia, but to go hand in hand with the revolutionary Russian people by the Brichansky, Bendery and other Soviets, the congresses of peasants of the Balti, Soroksky, Khotinsky and other districts of the region, and the revolutionary soldiers of the Moldavian troops. One of the resolutions of the Bessarabian soldiers and sailors stated:: "Bessarabia does not want any secession from Russia, does not recognize any Romanization-

10 "Essays on the History of the Communist Party of Moldova", 2nd ed., ispr. and add. Chisinau. 1968, p. 51.

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operations..."11. It was a protest against the beginning of the occupation of Bessarabia by Royal Romania and the treacherous policy of Sfatul tsarii.

The imperialist seizure of Bessarabia at the beginning of 1918 was one of the initial links in the campaign of world reaction against the first workers 'and peasants' state in the world. Bessarabia was joined to bourgeois-landlord Rumania by deception and brute force. The anti-Soviet nature of the policy of the leading imperialist powers (in the Bessarabian question in the subsequent period) was determined by the desire to infringe on the legitimate interests of the Country of Soviets and to maintain tension in its relations with its closest neighbors.

The breakdown of traditional ties with the Russian state that had developed over the past century, the policy of curtailing industry and ruining the peasantry led to the degradation of the entire economic life of the occupied territory. The restoration of the power of the exploiters, the deprivation of workers 'rights and freedoms won during the socialist revolution, the policy of brutal national and social oppression, and the infamous "Bessarabian system" of bloody terror reinforced the people's hatred of the enslavers. The anger and indignation of the masses resulted in powerful revolutionary actions. Their main goal was the restoration of Soviet power in the region and its reunification with the socialist Homeland.

The forms of struggle were diverse: workers ' strikes, peasant demonstrations, political demonstrations, and armed uprisings. In January - February 1919, the Khotyn uprising broke out. It covered a large area in the north of Bessarabia. Tens of thousands of workers - Moldovans, Russians, Ukrainians and representatives of other nationalities-took part in it. The revolutionary explosion in Bender in May 1919, the strikes of the Kishinev proletariat in 1920, the partisan actions of 1921, and the May Day demonstrations of the workers of Kishinev, Balti and Bender in 1924 also testified to the irreconcilability of the masses against the enslavers. The revolutionary events of September 1924 in the south of Bessarabia - the Tatarbunar uprising-gained worldwide fame. Taking up arms and proclaiming the creation of the Moldavian Soviet Republic, thousands of insurgents courageously defended it in bloody battles against overwhelming punitive forces. The revolutionary struggle of the masses did not cease during the years of the world economic crisis (1929-1933) and in the subsequent period.

During the 22 years of occupation, the Romanian administration looked at unconquered Bessarabia as a temporary territory, and therefore not only nothing was created on it, but, on the contrary, everything was exported and destroyed. This was the land of the greatest unemployment, acute discontent, and the broadest scale of the revolutionary movement. Staying under the rule of the Romanian kings was unnatural for the Moldovan people, as it had never been part of Romania in the past, and for more than a hundred years it developed within the Russian state under the influence of the all-Russian economy, culture and progressive socio-political thought. By the time of the occupation in 1918, a fairly high national consciousness of the people was formed here, and revolutionary traditions were formed. The Moldovans of Bessarabia, together with Russians, Ukrainians and workers of other nationalities, went through the school of three revolutions, they learned the fruits of the overthrow of tsarism, the liquidation of the bourgeois-landlord system, and lived, although not for long, in conditions of real freedom under the Soviet regime. The Romanian boyars understood that it was impossible to count on the success of the colonialist policy towards Bessarabia, and therefore they pumped money out of it

11 "The struggle for Soviet power in Moldavia". Collection of documents. Chisinau. 1957, p. 244.

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all the juices until 1940, when she regained her freedom. The collapse of the occupation policy was recognized even by the "theorists" of great-power Romanian nationalism.12

In the struggle initiated by V. I. Lenin for a just solution of the Bessarabian question, the Soviet Government was guided by the principle of the right of nations to self-determination. It has always shared and supported the desire of the workers of Bessarabia to reunite with their mother Motherland, and has consistently and persistently sought a peaceful solution to this conflict. As is known, under the agreement of March 5-9, 1918, the Romanian government pledged to withdraw its troops from Bessarabia within two months, 13 but did not fulfill this obligation. Soviet diplomacy systematically insisted on granting the people of Bessarabia the right to decide their own fate by plebiscite. Of course, the Romanian oppressors could not do this, because they knew very well the true aspirations of the people of the region, inspired by the support of the Soviet Motherland.

The struggle of the workers of the region for reunification with the Motherland of October and the efforts of the Soviet Government aimed at a just solution of the Bessarabian question enjoyed broad international support. From the first acts of intervention, the Romanian vanguard forces expressed their solidarity with the Moldovan workers. The Romanian revolutionary detachments, formed in early 1918, took part in repelling the attack of the royal interventionists on Bessarabia.14 They became one of the first international formations of the Red Army. The Moldovan people will forever retain their gratitude to the Romanian Communists for having, as true internationalists, resolutely supported the struggle of the working masses of Bessarabia for reunification with the Soviet Homeland. This just and principled policy of the Communist Party of Romania (CPR) was clearly expressed in the resolutions of its third, fourth and Fifth congresses, in other party documents, as well as in concrete revolutionary battles in support of the aspirations of the Moldovan people. In the decisions of the Fourth Congress of the Romanian Communist Party (1928), it was written: "The Romanian bourgeoisie, in order to justify the seizure of Bessarabia, tries to prove that the Moldovans, who make up the relative majority of the population of Bessarabia, are Romanians, while the Moldovan population considers itself and is in fact an independent nationality, with its own culture and fights together with other nationalities of Bessarabia against their national and class oppressor-the Romanian bourgeoisie... Our party is obliged by all means to support the struggle of the workers of Bessarabia for reunification with the MASSR (Soviet Moldavia)."15

The workers of Moldova recall with appreciation the support of the proletarians and the progressive public of other foreign countries for their struggle for reunification with the Soviet Homeland. Mass demonstrations of solidarity with the struggling Bessarabia took place in those years in France and Germany, Czechoslovakia and Austria, the United States and Belgium, the Scandinavian and many other countries. Every act of violence and arbitrariness in the occupied territory provoked protests of broad masses of workers, peasants, progressive intellectuals, and all honest people of the world. Resolute voices in defense of the Bessarabian workers were heard at the Comintern congresses, ECCI plenums, anti-war, anti-fascist-

12 Cit. by: S. K. Brysyakin, M. K. Sytnik. The triumph of historical justice. Chisinau. 1969, p. 59.

13 "Documents of foreign policy of the USSR", Vol. I. M. 1944, pp. 210-211.

14 " The struggle of the workers of Bessarabia for their liberation and reunification with the Soviet Motherland (1918-1940)", Chisinau. 1970, p. 60.

15 "Documente din istoria Partidului Comunist din Romania". Vol. II. Bucuresti. 1953, pp. 593 - 594.

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and other international forums. G. Dimitrov and V. Kolarov, M. Kashen and Zh. Duclos, W. Foster and E. G. Flin, B. Kuhn and Ho Chi Minh, B. Stefanov and B. Schmeral, K. Gottwald and G. Valetsky, and many other prominent figures of the international communist movement, leaders of revolutionary trade unions, and prominent communist publicists 16. A passionate advocate of international solidarity with the workers of Bessarabia was the prominent French writer A. Barbusse, one of the organizers of the world movement against white terror, fascism and war. The Moldovan people have learned from their own historical experience the essence and real significance of the principle of proletarian internationalism. Broad and active international solidarity with the workers of Bessarabia in the 20s and 30s proved to be very effective and fruitful. It strengthened the spirit of the revolutionary fighters and at the same time helped to expose and bind the reaction, thwart many of its plans, and ease the fate of those who were subjected to repression. This is a convincing and clear example of the fact that the international brotherhood of workers, of all working people, is not only a powerful source of revolutionary inspiration and optimism, but also has enormous real political power.

* * *

V. I. Lenin and the Communist Party gave a great example of solving the national question in the conditions of the victorious socialist revolution and building a new society within the framework of a multinational state. "We demand freedom of self - determination, that is, independence, that is, freedom of separation of the oppressed nations, not because we dream of economic fragmentation or of the ideal of small states," wrote V. I. Lenin, " but, on the contrary, because we want large states and the rapprochement, even fusion, of nations, but on a truly universal basis. a democratic, truly internationalist base"17. Following Lenin's instructions, the Soviet republics organized the Soviet Union in December 1922. This world-historical event played a huge role in the life of the Moldovan people.

The efforts made by the Soviet Government in the early 1920s to get Royal Rumania to withdraw its occupation forces and administration from Bessarabia and resolve the issue of Bessarabia in accordance with the will of the Bessarabian workers by holding a plebiscite 18 did not yield positive results. At the same time, the question of self-determination of the Moldavian people within the USSR was put forward by life itself, it followed from the national policy of the Communist Party and was decided by the will of the people on the left bank of the Dniester in areas with a predominance of the Moldavian population in the form of an autonomous republic within the Ukrainian SSR. The Moldavian ASSR, formed in October 1924, was, as the legendary hero of the civil War, the outstanding son of the Moldavian people, G. I. Kotovsky, said, what the entire working people of Moldavia so passionately desired, not only on this side, but also on the other side of the Dniester.19 The formation of the MASSR fully corresponded to the aspirations of the Moldovan people and stemmed from the entire course of the historical development of Moldova and Lenin's national policy. It opened up a wide scope for the development of the creative forces of the economy and culture of the republic.

16 " International support for the struggle of the workers of Bessarabia for reunification with the Soviet Motherland (1918-1940)". Collection of documents and materials. Chisinau. 1971.

17 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 27, p. 68.

18 "Documents of Foreign Policy of the USSR", vol. 7, Moscow, 1963, p. 166.

19 "G. I. Kotovsky". Collection. Chisinau. 1957, p. 494.

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In the Moldavian ASSR, industrialization unfolded, a socialist reorganization of agriculture was carried out, and the cultural revolution was successfully carried out. In all branches of the national economy of the republic, as in the whole Soviet country, socialist relations of production have been established, and the socialist system has triumphed. The volume of industrial production of the MASSR in 1939 increased 33-fold compared to 1913.20.

Comparing the trends in the development of economy, culture, and solving social problems in the Moldavian ASSR and occupied Bessarabia, it is impossible not to notice a huge difference between them. If in the MASSR by 1940 there was a major leap in industry and agriculture, the culture and well-being of the people grew beyond recognition, then in Bessarabia for 22 years not only did not there was a shift for the better, but, on the contrary, its economy did not survive even at the pre-revolutionary level. The number of workers decreased from year to year, hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave their native land and emigrate to other countries. Even according to official, clearly underestimated data of Romanian statistics, 59 thousand out of 95 thousand newborns died annually in the Bessarabian village.21

A turning point in the history of the Moldovan people was the reunification of Bessarabia with the Soviet Homeland in June 1940. The aspirations of Moldovans, Russians, Ukrainians, Gagauzians, Bulgarians and workers of other nationalities who lived on the right bank of the Dniester came true - they returned to the fraternal family of the peoples of the USSR. As a result of reunification, the Moldavian ASSR was transformed into the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic on August 2, 1940. Soviet Moldavia, as an equal among equals, voluntarily joined the USSR. With the formation of the Moldavian SSR, the process of forming the Moldavian Soviet statehood was completed. This historic event became a powerful factor in consolidating the Moldovan socialist nation.

The history of the Moldavian SSR, including the issues of its state-building, is being falsified by foreign Sovietologists and anti-communists. In their malicious, anti-Soviet fabrications, there is also such an "argument" that the Moldavian SSR allegedly does not have national sovereignty. Even the fact that the Moldovan Republic has the rights to self-determination, independence, independence, and equality is ignored.22

The sovereignty of the Moldavian SSR is organically combined with the sovereignty of the USSR, which is one of the main features of the socialist federation. In the fraternal family of the peoples of our country, the Moldavian SSR, like all Soviet republics, received real guarantees of its freedom and independence, security in the face of any encroachments of imperialist invaders.

The consistent implementation of the Leninist national policy of the CPSU allowed the Moldovan people to solve the fundamental problems of their historical existence-the liberation of the occupied part of their native land and the long-awaited reunification, the protection of the republic from the fascist invaders during the Great Patriotic War, the creation of their own socialist national statehood, the rapid elimination of the age-old backwardness of the region, the true flourishing of its economy and culture. All this is eloquent evidence of the vitality and historical rightness of the CPSU's revolutionary proletarian national policy, its profoundly humanistic and genuinely democratic character.

20 "History of the Moldavian SSR". Vol. II. Kishinev. 1968, p. 196.

21 Pravda, 14. V. 1946.

22 See S. Ya. Aftenyuk. Lenin's national policy of the Communist Party and the formation of the Soviet statehood of the Moldovan people. Chisinau. 1971, p. 38.

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The great success in the economic and social development of Moldova as a part of the USSR is one of the most striking examples of a truly Leninist solution of the national question, the formation of a stable and viable interethnic community in our country. Life has confirmed the correctness of Lenin's assertion that under socialism the working masses themselves will not agree anywhere to seclusion for political, economic and cultural reasons.23

Today, the Moldavian SSR is characterized by a high level of development of productive forces, a dynamic economy, a highly qualified working class and collective farm peasantry, a sufficient number of specialists in the national economy and scientific personnel, relies on advanced technology, technology and rational forms of organization of social production. The main driving force behind the development of Moldova's productive forces is the large-scale machine industry and powerful energy sector, which provide the bulk of the national economy's output. In 1971, industry accounted for 56.7% of the total social product of the Moldavian SSR. Industrial output in the republic increased 28 - fold in 1940-1971, while agricultural output increased almost 3 - fold.24

The rapid pace of economic development of the formerly backward national republics, along with progressive changes in the structure of their economy, is one of the regularities of the development of the socialist economy, the main factors of convergence and equalization of the levels of economic development of the union republics. In the course of this process, they, relying on the economic base of the whole country and the advantages of the all-Union division of labor, effectively using their own natural, material and labor resources, are approaching the same level of providing material goods and services per capita, an equal standard of living.

The versatility of the sectoral structure is a characteristic feature of the economic complex of the Moldavian SSR. Such important branches of the national economy as mechanical engineering and metalworking, instrument making, electric power, construction materials industry, light industry and others have been practically re-created here. Progressive changes in the structure of the republic's industry at the present stage are manifested primarily in the accelerated development of instrument engineering and the production of automation tools,as well as energy. Moldova's traditional industries based on the processing of agricultural raw materials, such as the food industry, as well as light and other industries that produce consumer goods, are also developing successfully. For example, the gross production of the food industry in 1971 increased 12-fold compared to 1940.25

Industrial relations between the food industry and agriculture have been further developed in recent years and have led to the formation of agricultural and industrial associations and complexes that combine the production of raw materials, their industrial processing and sale. For example, in such a large industry as the production of canned food from fruit and vegetable raw materials, 8 agricultural and industrial complexes operate in the republic, which are part of the republican production association Moldplodoovoshprom, which produces more than 1 billion rubles a year. cans of various canned food 26. In another, no less large branch of the economy - in viticulture and wine-

23 See V. I. Lenin, PSS. Vol. 30, p. 37.

24 Statistical data of the current archive of the Central Administrative Unit of the Moldavian SSR for 1971 (hereinafter referred to as the Current Archive of the Central Administrative Unit of the MSSR) are used here.

25 Current archive of the CSU of the MSSR.

26 Ibid.

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125 state farms-factories, united in 13 territorial agricultural and industrial associations, headed by the republican production association "Moldvinprom", are successfully operating in the republic. The annual volume of grape processing in it reaches 800 - 850 thousand tons. t, which makes it possible to produce more than 62.3 million decaliters of wine material27. Industrial cooperation in the tobacco and sugar industries, as well as in the production of essential oils, has reached a high level. Currently, there are more than 200 agricultural and industrial enterprises, complexes and associations operating in the republic.28

The creation of new industries, the emergence of effective forms of management based on the fusion of industrial and agricultural production enriched the structure of the economic complex of Moldova, and contributed to deep social transformations in the region. In the republic, the social structure of the population has changed, the number of the working class has increased, and a wide network of technical, educational, and research institutions has appeared.

The growth of the productive forces of the Moldavian SSR, as a part of our country's economy, is ensured by increasingly intensive inter-district relations along the lines of the all-Union territorial division of labor and broad cooperation. Metal, oil, coal, gas, chemical raw materials, cotton, wood, etc.come to Moldova from the fraternal republics. The working class and technical intelligentsia of the republic produce various products in modern factories and supply them to all parts of our Homeland and more than 50 countries of the world29. Industrial products created by the hands of the hardworking Moldovan people were highly appreciated at international fairs and exhibitions in Leipzig, Marseille, Plovdiv, Montreal and other places. After getting acquainted with the Moldovan exhibits that were presented at the Leipzig Fair in the fall of 1971, visitors from Sweden wrote in the book of reviews: "We knew earlier that you have a beautiful sunny region, an abundance of fruits and grapes. But the fact that you have such machines, we learned only here, at the fair " 30. Particular interest was shown in precision engineering, analog computers, casting machines, microwire resistances, as well as leather goods, carpet products, wine and canning products.

Representatives of fraternal countries - the GDR, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Mongolia, as well as specialists from capitalist states-come to the republic to study the experience of socialist management, the development of science and culture, and the practice of solving social problems. And all of them see firsthand the enormous successes and transformations that have taken place in the Moldavian land during the historically short period of socialist construction. In June 1970, the XIX meeting of the Permanent Commission of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance for the Coordination of Scientific and Technical Research was held in Chisinau. Its participants highly appreciated the industrial development of the republic. Thus, K. Mateika (Czechoslovak SSR) wrote: "I used to know Moldova as a purely agricultural region and never thought that industry was developed here on such a large scale. Great progress has been made in the field of mechanical engineering and instrument engineering. At the same time, the development of the food industry on a huge, literally amazing scale convincingly shows how much specialization gives"31. Similar reviews are not isolated.

27 Ibid.

28 Ibid.

29 "The Communist of Moldavia", 1971, N 6, p. 13.

30 "The Communist of Moldavia", 1972, No. 1, p. 37.

31 "Soviet Moldavia", 9. VI. 1970.

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Moldovan agriculture, developing on a modern material and technical base, has become a high-performance branch of the national economy. The country has achieved full mechanization of processes related to the production of cereals, corn, sugar beet and sunflower. More and more productive machines are used in vegetable, fruit and viticulture. In terms of number, machine operators of collective and state farms in Moldova account for 9.4% of those working in agriculture, and they perform more than 65% of the total volume of agricultural work32. The level of centralized electricity supply to collective and state farms has now been brought up to 99.7%. Many farms use 2 million kWh or more of electricity per year for their production needs.33 Large-scale highly mechanized production in agriculture makes it possible to effectively concentrate and specialize in this industry, and combine agriculture with industry.

The economy of the Moldavian SSR is currently developing at the level of a modern technical and organizational structure and high labor efficiency. The national economic complex of the republic covers about 600 large industrial enterprises, 700 collective farms and state farms, 165 state farms-factories, more than 100 inter-collective enterprises, hundreds of factories in the construction industry, transport and communications, a wide network of enterprises and organizations in the non-industrial sphere 34.

Everything that has been achieved in the Moldavian SSR is ensured by the labor and intelligence of the working people of the republic itself, as well as of all the nations and nationalities of our multinational country.

As is well known, under socialism, the growth of material production is subordinated to an increase in the standard of living of the working people. Only during the eighth five - year plan (1966-1970), the real incomes of the population of the republic increased by 31%, and payments and benefits received by the population from public consumption funds-by 75% .35 Retail turnover of state and cooperative trade per capita grew by 69%over the five-year period36. Sales of non-food items per capita are currently growing twice as fast as those of food products. There have been qualitative changes in the very structure of national consumption. In the group of food products, the consumption of the most valuable food products increased. A great social benefit for the Moldovan people is the wide scope of housing construction, which gives tens of thousands of workers the opportunity to improve their living conditions. In Chisinau, with a population of 400 thousand people, more than 300 thousand square meters of living space are put into operation every year, and in the whole country up to 1.5 million square meters.37 In rural areas, collective farmers and rural intelligentsia build 15-20 thousand houses per year. houses38, streets and roads are being improved, and communications are being expanded.

Moldova, which has 1,676 localities, has 2,175 schools, 45 specialized secondary schools and 8 universities.39 In most schools, classes are held in one shift. There are almost 100 hospital beds per 10,000 inhabitants. About 8 thousand doctors provide workers with free medical care 40. The republic is covered by a dense network of mass libraries, clubs, cultural centers, and open schools-

32 Current archive of the CSU of the MSSR.

33 Ibid.

34 Ibid.

35 "XIII Congress of the Communist Party of Moldova". Chisinau. 1971, p. 240.

36 Ibid.

37 Current archive of the CSU of the MSSR.

38 Ibid.

39 Ibid.

40 Ibid.

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any professional theater or philharmonic group can be accepted.

The Soviet national educational system, the creation of cadres of the national intelligentsia, the introduction to the cultural achievements of all Soviet peoples, to the world values of culture - this is the path of formation and development of every national socialist culture of the peoples of the USSR, including the Moldavian one. According to the 1897 census, the number of literates in Bessarabia was 22.2%, while the number of women was 12.7% .41 Public education was also at a low level during the years of occupation.

By the beginning of the 50s, illiteracy was eliminated in the republic. The transition to universal secondary education is currently underway. Data from the 1970 census indicate that the literacy rate of the republic's population was 99.5%42. Thousands of Moldovan boys and girls study at universities in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, and many other cities of the Union republics, where the same conditions are created for every boy and girl of any nationality, regardless of where they were born and live, to enter and study at universities, technical schools and other educational institutions. Such equality creates unlimited opportunities for everyone to receive education and cultural growth, and to increase the army of specialists in the national economy. Only from 1959 to 1970, the number of people with higher and secondary education in the Moldavian SSR almost doubled 43. If in 1959 there were 280 people with higher, secondary and incomplete secondary education for every thousand employed in the national economy, then in 1970 their number increased to 508 people.44 The republic has an Academy of Sciences and dozens of scientific institutions. They employ about 6 thousand scientists, including more than 2 thousand doctors and candidates of sciences 45.

One of the brightest manifestations of the cultural revolution is the successful development of literature, art, film, television, radio, print, book publishing, and folk art. The annual circulation of books, magazines and other periodicals reaches 47 million copies in the republic, compared to 1.5 million copies in 194046. In pre-revolutionary Moldavia, in fact, there was no professional theater. Now the republic has an opera and ballet theater, 5 drama theaters, a theater for young and children's audiences, a puppet theater, the state Philharmonic, and amateur art is widely developed.

The rise of the economy and the material well-being of the people contributes to the increase in the population of the republic. Despite the enormous loss of life during the Great Patriotic War, the population of the Moldavian SSR increased from 2.4 million in 1939 to 3.7 million in 1971.47 The claims of bourgeois scribblers that the Moldovan population is being assimilated, resettled in the eastern regions of the country, and that Moldavia is being deliberately settled by representatives of other peoples are absurd fiction. According to the population census conducted in 1970, 2698 thousand Moldovans live in the USSR. Of these, 2304 thousand people are residents of the Moldavian SSR, 266 thousand live on the territory of Ukraine and 128 thousand live on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. - in all other Soviet republics. This settlement has developed historically. Moldovans now living in other parts of the Soviet Union have settled down-

41 "National economy of the Moldavian SSR in 1970". Chisinau. 1971, p. 10.

42 Ibid.

43 Ibid.

44 Ibid., p. 11.

45 Message from the CSU of the MSSR. "Soviet Moldavia", 28. I. 1972.

46 Current archive of the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the MSSR for Press.

47 Message from the CSU of the MSSR. "Soviet Moldavia", 28. I. 1972.

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They were there for a long time, mainly during the period when they left for Russia in search of salvation from the unbearable oppression of the Turks, just as the Bulgarians, Serbs, and Montenegrins did in their time. Similarly, at various times, especially during the period of the Stolypin reaction, Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians went to the outskirts of Russia, including Bessarabia. Poles, Czechs, Germans, Slovaks, Gagauzians, Bulgarians, and Jews settled here in the past. However, demographically, the republic is now dominated by the Moldovan population - according to the results of the 1970 census. it is 64.6%. 95% of Moldovans consider Moldovan to be their first language 48. It is worth noting that, according to 1927 data, Moldovans in the territory of Bessarabia accounted for only 47% of the population.

Thanks to Lenin's national policy, the Moldovan people were preserved as a nation. And if it had not linked its fate with the Soviet state, it would inevitably have disappeared as a nation, would not have had statehood, would have lost everything that constitutes its national peculiarity and identity. Therefore, it is no accident that the Moldovan people consider it their greatest happiness that they live and work as part of the USSR, a powerful socialist power. With her and only with her is his present and future connected. This determines the position of the republic in the world. Moldova, which was previously little known in other countries, now adequately represents our country at international congresses, exhibitions, festivals, competitions, and supplies equipment and machines to dozens of countries that are not inferior in technical level to the best world models.

The experience of the development of the Moldavian SSR, as well as of every union republic, shows that the objective regularity of socialism in the field of national relations is the flourishing and rapprochement of nations. Both of these processes are interrelated and interdependent. Their economic basis is the socialist mode of production, socialist social relations, and their political premise is the Soviet national statehood of peoples, socialist democracy. With the creation of the material and technical base of communism, during which the exchange of material and spiritual wealth between nations becomes more intense, the process of rapprochement of all Soviet people increases. "This rapprochement," L. I. Brezhnev said at the XXIV Congress of the CPSU, " takes place in conditions of careful consideration of the national peculiarities of the development of socialist national cultures. Constant consideration of both the common interests of our entire Union and the interests of each of the constituent republics is the essence of the party's policy in this matter. " 49

The practice of nation-building in the USSR, the success of Moldova in the field of economy and culture are irrefutable proof of the grandiose achievements that could only be achieved in such a short historical period under the conditions of socialism, fraternal cooperation and the unification of peoples in a single socialist state. The small Moldavian people, thanks to their entry into the powerful multinational Soviet state, form together with other peoples a new interethnic community - the Soviet people, which is a harmonious combination of national and international. The Moldovan people see the international unity of the peoples of the USSR as a guarantee of their future.

The vanguard of the working people of the republic is the Communist Party of Moldova - one of the CPSU combat units. From small social-democratic circles and groups at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. she's you-

48 " Number, location, age structure, level of education, national composition, languages and sources of livelihood of the population of the USSR. According to the data of the All-Union Population Census of 1970". Moscow, 1971, pp. 26, 31.

49 "XXIV Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union", Moscow, 1971, p. 101.

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it grew into a 115-thousandth army of like-minded people 50. Dozens of nationalities and nationalities of the Soviet Union are represented in its ranks. 60% of communists are workers and collective farmers 51.

Majestic are the successes achieved by the republic under the leadership of the glorious Leninist Party. But even more ambitious prospects open up for the Moldovan people in the future. In 1971-1975, industrial production in the Moldavian SSR will increase by 62% (on average in the USSR-by 47%) 52. The results of the first year of the ninth five-year plan clearly show that the republic has laid a solid foundation in order to continue to steadily implement the program of socio - economic development developed by the XXIV Congress of the CPSU. The plan for 1971 for the Moldavian SSR provided for the growth of industrial output by 10%. in fact, it was 14%. The total volume of gross agricultural production reached about 1.9 billion rubles, which is 13% higher than the average annual level of the eighth five-year plan.53

The Soviet experience of creating a multinational socialist state, building a developed socialist society through the joint efforts of all our peoples, and solving the most complex national problem has received worldwide recognition and provides invaluable assistance to the fighters for social and national liberation all over the world. Our country, which for the first time in history has solved the age-old national question, is increasingly confidently paving the way for all of humanity to its bright future-communism. In its progressive development, communist principles are increasingly coming to the fore, which determine the face of the future community of free socialist peoples.

The Moldovan people are proud that they contribute to the cause of communist construction, that their national socialist State is an integral part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The working people of Moldova are proud to belong to the multi-ethnic Soviet people, who demonstrate to humanity the great advantages of socialism and have a huge impact on world progress. In this light, the events of 160 years ago take on a very definite meaning. The annexation of Bessarabia to Russia was a turning point in the fate of the Moldovan people. If it had not been for this event, he would not have experienced the revolutionary pathos of freedom in October 1917, he would not have experienced the unique patriotism in creating a new society, he would not have reached such a high level of economic and cultural development, he would not have been at such a high stage of ascent to the heights of communism, he would not have to the mighty family of fraternal peoples under the leadership of Lenin's party.

50 "XIII Congress of the Communist Party of Moldova". Chisinau. 1971, p. 204.

51 Ibid.

52 "Soviet Moldavia", 9. XII. 1971.

53 Message from the CSU of the MSSR. "Soviet Moldavia", 28. I. 1972.

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