Wpływ rewolucji październikowej na historię polityczną Azji Wschodniej i subkontynentu indyjskiego .......... 115

THE INFLUENCE OF THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION UPON THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF EAST ASIA AND THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT

The October Revolution exerted a significant influence on East and South Asian history. It provided inspiration for anticolonial struggle, while the USSR, which arose after the revolution, served as a model of political, economic and social development for many Asian countries (such as China, India, North Korea and Sri Lanka). Soviet Marxism was understood in the region mainly in nationalistic terms: as a useful tool for regained independence and liberation from the colonial yoke. The impact of the October Revolution proved to be strongest in the countries of Confucian tradition (such as China and Korea) because Confucianism manifests many similarities with Marxism. In those countries the communist parties remain in power until today though they transformed into nationalist parties: in each of those countries communism was nationalised and became the ideology of the ruling elite. In South Asian countries (India, Sri Lanka) elements of Soviet Marxism were eclectically combined with the local tradition and served as the model of postcolonial development in the economic sphere or as the national ideology that combined indigenous tradition with Marxism (such as Buddhist socialism in Sri Lanka).