This policy had two aspects. There were internal obstacles to sweep away and external dangers to face. Today there was no force in the Soviet Union capable of preventing the further development of socialism and its gradual transition to communism. Vigilance against attacks from outside required the rejection of the Marxist theory of the withering of the state, based on the hypothesis of international socialism, and the adoption of the Stalinist theory of building a strong state, equipped with a powerful army and its own military science capable of winning the war and achieving the military and diplomatic consolidation of victory. (The Times, February 1,