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fierce and complicated struggle against the enemies at home and abroad. Originally, the socialist countries took over backward economies and technology, but they were unable to con- centrate their efforts on economic construction from the first. The working class which had taken power was faced with the urgent task of effecting a thoroughgoing social change—the abolition of the old exploiting system and the establishment of a new socialist system—and of safeguarding the revolution against a counterrevolution. For instance, the Soviet Union, the first socialist country, had to wage a difficult and complicated struggle, in capitalist encirclement, to ensure the victory of the socialist system and shortly afterwards, shoul- dered a heavy burden in the second world war. In the postwar period, too, the Soviet Union had to put great efforts into defence construction to safeguard socialism against the cold war policy of the imperialists. The people of socialist coun- tries had to build socialism and defend the revolution while countering the military threat and economic blockade of the imperialists, and, at the same time, make great efforts to support the revolutionary movement in the world and the struggle of the progressive people of the world to build a new society. Considering these factors, we can say that the successes achieved by socialist countries in economic construction are tremendous, not to mention the achievements in the political, ideological and cultural fields. In a period of a little over half a century, since the first socialist country emerged, socialist countries have made greater economic, scientific and tech- nological progress than capitalist countries have done in hundreds of years. In addition they have laid solid founda- tions for progressing even more rapidly in the future. 17

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