In the terminology of
communist state
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comi ...
s and
Marxism–Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and various c ...
, the general line of the party or simply the general line is the directives of the governing bodies of a
party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...
(usually a
communist party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
) which define the party's politics. The term (Russian: Генеральная линия партии ''general'naya liniya partii'') was in common use by the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (since its early days under other names) and also adopted by many other communist parties around the world. The notion is rooted in the major principle of
democratic centralism, which requires unconditional obedience to collective decisions.
Soviet Union
The term has acquired a significant notoriety in the context of
Soviet political repressions, where deviations from the general line have led to severe punishment. The introduction to a collection of documents from the
Stalinist era
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...
[ says that general line statements produced by the Stalinist leadership were written with great care and exact phrasing in prescribed terminology and with established slogans.][
The goal was to provide a means of political and social control. Once the Central Committee formulated a statement about the party line on a particular issue, it was republished in major newspapers, such as '']Pravda
''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...
.'' Disagreements with the party line were treated as a political crime: anti-Soviet agitation.
See also
* Mass line
The mass line is the political, organizational and leadership method developed by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Chinese Communist Revolution. It refers to formulating policy based on theory, implementing it based pe ...
* Party line (politics)
References
{{Marxist & Communist phraseology
Communist terminology