Long live the victory of Maoism-Lin Biaoism!

"Long live the victory of the dictatorship of the proletariat" is a small book published in the People's Republic of China in 1971, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Paris Commune. No author is given, rather the book is said to be written by the editorial departments of People's Daily, PLA Daily and Red Flag. In 1971, the Cultural Revolution (at least sensu latto) was still official policy, Lin Biao was still Mao Zedong's second-in-command, and China's foreign policy sounded very radical, with calls to smash U.S. imperialism and Soviet revisionism, launch protracted people's wars, etc.

Indeed, the book "Long live the victory" is only nominally about the Paris Commune. To a large extent, it's an exposition and defence of the radical or pseudo-radical line "upheld" by Mao and Lin at the time. Thus, the need for armed struggle and armed revolution are said to be one of the main lessons of the Paris Commune. Another is to always base revolutionary policy on the broad masses. Still another is the creation of a genuine Marxist-Leninist party. Subjects such as protracted people's war, united fronts, revisionism, two line struggle and the need for a cultural revolution are covered. The United State and the USSR are seen as equally dangerous.

Together with Lin Biao's "Long live the victory in the people's war", this book could be seen as an expression of Lin Biao's radical version of Maoism, at the time still backed by the Chairman himself. It could therefore have a certain interest for students of Maoist ideology (the few who remain!) or modern Chinese history.