Chapter 67 Build my country into a socialist modern power [1]

(September 1963, December 1964) one In our country, from the 1840s to the mid-1940s, a total of 105 years, almost all the big, medium and small imperialist countries in the world have invaded our country and beaten us, except for the last time, That is, the War of Resistance Against Japan, due to various reasons at home and abroad, ended with the surrender of Japanese imperialism, and there was no war that did not end with the defeat of our country and the signing of a treaty that forfeited power and humiliated the country.The reasons: one is that the social system is corrupt, and the other is that the economy and technology are backward.Now, our country's social system has changed, and the first reason has basically been solved; but it has not been completely solved, and class struggle still exists in society.The second reason has also begun to change somewhat, but it will take at least a few decades to completely change.If we do not strive to completely change our country's economic and technological status far behind the imperialist countries in the next few decades, it will be inevitable to be beaten.Of course, imperialism is now in an era of decline, while our country, the socialist camp, and the revolutionary struggles of the oppressed people and nations all over the world are in an era of rise, and a world war can be avoided.There are two possibilities here: war is avoidable and war is inevitable.But we should deploy our work based on the possibility of being beaten, and strive to change our country's backwardness in social economy and technology within a not too long period of time, otherwise we will make mistakes.

(September 1963) two We cannot follow the old path of technological development of all countries in the world and crawl step by step behind others.We must break the routine, adopt advanced technology as much as possible, and build our country into a socialist modern power in a not too long historical period.This is what we mean by the Great Leap Forward.Is this impossible? Is it bragging and blowing cannons? No, it is possible.It's neither bragging nor big guns.Just look at our history.Didn't we fundamentally overthrow the seemingly powerful imperialism, feudalism, and capitalism in our country? Didn't we start from a poor and empty base after 15 years of hard work? Has it reached a considerable level in all aspects? Didn’t we also explode an atomic bomb? Isn’t the title of the so-called sick man of the East that Westerners gave us in the past, now discarded? Why can the Western bourgeoisie do things? , the proletariat of the East can't do it? The great Chinese revolutionist, our ancestor Sun Yat-sen, said at the beginning of this century that China will experience a great leap forward.His foresight will surely come true within a few decades.This is an inevitable trend that cannot be stopped by any reactionary forces.

(December 13, 1964) Based on the second volume of "Selected Readings of Mao Zedong's Works" published by People's Publishing House in 1986. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] The first part of this article is a passage added by Mao Zedong when he reviewed "On the Issue of Industrial Development (First Draft)".This first draft did not form a formal document.The second part of this article is a passage added by Mao Zedong when he reviewed Zhou Enlai's draft government work report at the first meeting of the Third National People's Congress.