Marx's Idea of "Leapfrogging" and the Reality of Socialist Practice

Abstract

In his later years, the focus of Marx's research shifted to the more backward countries of the East. Did the backward countries have to follow in the footsteps of the Western capitalist countries in order to embark on the road of modernisation and development? Through the study of the current situation of the Russian society, Marx put forward the idea of "crossing the Caudine forks" that the backward Eastern countries could skip the capitalist stage and enter the socialist stage of development directly, which is a theory that can be applied to all economically backward countries to shorten the process of development to socialism. Correct theories can guide the progress of practice, and Marx's idea of "crossing the Krafting Gorge" has left a practical challenge for the socialist countries in the East. For a special socialist country like China, how to make a smooth transition from an agrarian country to a socialist country, the Chinese leadership gave an answer - the primary stage of socialism. With the continuous development of the level of productive forces, China crossed the long "primitive accumulation" stage of capitalism in a peaceful and correct way' in just a few decades. As socialism with Chinese characteristics continues to grow and develop, China has demonstrated to the world in practice the superiority of the socialist system, and has shown its confidence in the system that modernisation is not the same as westernisation.