461

p May 26, 1971

p Dear Czechoslovak friends,

p Comrades,

p A fraternal Party’s congress is always a big and in many ways instructive event for the Communists. But the 14th Congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia indisputably plays an especially important role both in the life of your Party and country and in the life of our entire socialist community and the world communist movement.

p This Congress consummates a momentous and crucial stage in the history of socialist Czechoslovakia. It may rightly be called a congress of victory over the enemies of socialism in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, a congress of socialism’s triumph. (Stormy, prolonged applause.} Rallying round itself millions of working people, your Party has come to its fourteenth congress bearing aloft the militant banner of Marxism-Leninism, the banner of socialist internationalism. (Applause.}

p Your Congress falls on a date that is dear to us all—the fiftieth anniversary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, that tried and tested militant Marxist-Leninist vanguard of the working class and all the working people of Czechia and Slovakia. These years have been marked by the selfless heroic struggle of the Communists, the best sons and daughters of their people, for the country’s freedom and happiness, for socialism. The glorious road of struggle that you have traversed is one your Party and all the patriots of your country can rightly be proud of. (Prolonged applause}

p On behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist 462 Party of the Soviet Union, on behalf of the millions of Soviet Communists, we heartily congratulate you, dear comrade delegates, and all the Communists of Czechoslovakia you represent on this memorable occasion. (Stormy, prolonged applause.) From the bottom of our hearts we wish you further great success in the struggle for the all-round prosperity of your socialist state, for the further improvement of its peoples’ life, for the common cause of all Communists—the great cause of peace, freedom and socialism! (Applause.)

p We representatives of the CPSU are grateful to the Central Committee of the CPC for the invitation, and are happy to take part in the work of your Congress. Soviet Communists have a profound respect for their Czechoslovak brothers and comrades. The presence of the Party delegations at each other’s congresses is a manifestation of the indestructible friendship binding our Parties and peoples. (Prolonged applause.)

p There are many pages in the history of the Czechoslovak and Soviet Communists’ brotherhood-in-arms linked with Lenin’s name. Lenin maintained active contacts with progressive public figures in Czechia and Slovakia long before the Great October Revolution. He hailed the birth of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Lenin’s comradely advice and his meetings with Bohumir Smeral, Antonin Zapotocky, Karel Kreibich and other Czechoslovak Communists played a historic role in the establishment of the CPC, the militant vanguard of the Czechoslovak working class.

p The Communists of our country and Soviet people revere the memory of the founders of your Party. Like you, we cherish the name of Comrade Klement Gottwald, the outstanding leader of the Czechoslovak and world communist movement who had done so much to expand and strengthen friendship between the Soviet and Czechoslovak peoples. (Stormy, prolonged applause.)

p The history of your Party is above all the history of the heroism of the Communists who led the working people in the struggle for the genuine freedom and independence of their country. It was the Communist Party which in the grim Munich days had not only wrathfully stigmatised this disgraceful deal but shown the only way Czechoslovakia’s independence could be saved—through a resolute rebuff to 463 the fascist invader and the acceptance of the assistance offered by the Soviet Union.

p The Soviet people highly appreciate the Czechoslovak patriots’ contribution to the victory over fascism. We remember the valour of the intrepid members of the underground movement, the combat career of the Czechoslovak Corps under the command of General Ludvik Svoboda (stormy, prolonged applause), the selflessness of the participants in the Slovak national uprising, its leaders—Karel Smidke, Gustav Husak, Jan Sverma and other comrades (stormy, prolonged applause), we remember the courage of insurgent Prague to whose assistance Soviet Army units came after effecting a swift thrust. We know that the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was the real guiding spirit and organiser of the Czechs’ and Slovaks’ struggle against the German occupation forces. (Applause.)

p The revolutionary February of 1948 saw a historic feat performed by the Czechoslovak working class. Led by their Communist Party, the working people of Czechoslovakia took power into their hands and firmly and irrevocably set the country upon the socialist path of development. The socialist revolution swept away the last obstacles to the country’s unimpeded development. An end was put once and for all to capitalist exploitation, economic crises and unemployment.

p Revolutionary February paved for Czechoslovakia the way to socialism—the way to a rapid growth of the productive forces, the way to a steady rise in the standard of living, to the consolidation of genuinely equal and fraternal relations between the Czechs and the Slovaks and other nationalities of your country. It brought culture and science within the reach of the broad working masses.

p The Communists are well aware that the building of a new society is a complex creative process that requires the revolutionary demolition of the entire old social system, a process inevitably entailing a struggle with the class enemy. On an unbeaten track mistakes and setbacks are possible. But the main result of the half-century work done by the CPC is the big and unquestionable successes in socialist construction achieved by the Party together with the masses and in the interest of the masses. (Applause.)

p The Czechoslovak people may well be proud of the remarkable achievements which distinguish the socialist era of their history. The country did not and could not know 464 in the past such dynamism, such sweeping socio-economic transformations.

p It was socialism which brought in its wake genuine democracy, secured for the working people the decisive role in society, gave them confidence in the morrow, and created the conditions for the all-round development of the human personality. It is the socialist system which makes it possible in our day to use such a great force as modern scientific and technological progress most effectively and in the interests of the entire nation.

p The working people of Czechoslovakia have already come to know from their own experience the advantages of the new social system. And there is no doubt that these advantages will manifest themselves more and more deeply and fully as socialist construction continues to advance.

p It is in the family of fraternal socialist nations that Czechoslovakia first acquired genuine security, a genuine guarantee of her independence and the inviolability of her frontiers. (Prolonged applause.) Your country with its substantial industrial potential has contributed to the consolidation of the economic power of world socialism. The international prestige of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic as an active force that consistently stands for peace and the freedom of the peoples and opposes the imperialist policy of oppression and aggression has grown considerably. Freedom fighters on all continents appreciate the important role played by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in the world revolutionary process.

p There are of course some who do not like the new, genuinely popular system in your country. The establishment of socialism in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic does not suit their book. In Czechoslovakia herself there were forces belonging to the past which sought, with the active support of international reaction, to cancel out the gains of the revolutionary February, deprive the Communist Party of its leading role in society, undermine the very foundations of socialism in your country, and reverse the course of history. Lenin’s warning that until the historic epoch of transition from capitalism to communism "is over, the exploiters inevitably cherish the hope of restoration, and this hope turns into attempts at restoration"  [464•1  has again been proved 465 correct. The counter-revolutionaries wanted to isolate Czechoslovakia from the fraternal countries, to sever her from the socialist community and put her at the mercy of imperialism.

p But it is now clear to all that your Party emerged victorious from the severe test. Its best forces, its hard core, came through with flying colours. (Stormy applause.) They barred the way to the turbid wave of anti-socialist hysteria and bourgeois nationalism let loose by the combined forces of internal and external counter-revolution, waged a resolute and successful struggle for the restoration of the Party’s leading role in society, and prevented the disruption of Czechoslovakia’s fraternal alliance with the socialist countries. (Stormy, prolonged applause.)

p As Comrade Husak has quite rightly pointed out here, credit for that is due to the thousands and thousands of Czechoslovak Communists who, at that difficult moment, proved themselves to be principled, strong-willed and staunch defenders of all that generations of revolutionaries of your country, the heroes of battles against fascism, the ardent participants in the February revolution and the builders of socialist Czechoslovakia had fought for. (Prolonged applause.)

p At the Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee of the CPC in April 1969 the Czechoslovak Communists irrevocably said “No” to the Right-wing revisionists, “No” to the accomplices of the enemies of socialism. This marked the decisive turn towards the restoration of the Party’s Marxist-Leninist character. The new CPC leadership elected at the plenary meeting led the healthy forces in the Party and society in the struggle for the consolidation of the socialist system and the elimination of the consequences of the counter- revolutionaries’ sortie.

p The Soviet Communists fully agree with the appraisal of the developments in 1968-69 given in the document known as "Lessons Drawn from the Crisis Development" and in the CPC Central Committee’s report to this Congress. These documents, containing a profound Marxist-Leninist analysis of an important stage in the life of your Party and country, are of no little international significance too.

p Upholding the gains of socialism, Czechoslovak Communists fought and are fighting both for the national interests of their people and for the international interests of the entire communist liberation movement, for the interests of 466 peace and social progress. (Applause.} That is why the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and its leaders—- Comrades Gustav Husak, Ludvik Svoboda and other staunch champions of the socialist cause—enjoy such prestige in the world communist movement. (Prolonged applause.} In a difficult situation they showed themselves to be genuine patriots and convinced internationalists for whom the happiness and prosperity of their socialist country were inseparable from the interests of world socialism. (Applause}

p Comrades,

p The report of the Central Committee of the CPC and the speeches of the Congress delegates give us an impressive picture of the Czechoslovak Communists’ broad activity in the struggle to strengthen the socialist system. This is what your whole Party and your whole country live for today. Working for the all-round prosperity of the socialist economy through the application of the achievements of scientific and technological progress and perfecting the methods of socialist management, your Party is laying a solid foundation for the all-round improvement of the working people’s material and spiritual living conditions, for the further development of the entire system of socialist social relations.

p The inspiring prospects which the Congress is opening up before the Czechoslovak people have become possible, comrades, chiefly because you have won the battle for the Party, have succeeded in uniting it on the basis of the principles of Marxism-Leninism and socialist internationalism. (Prolonged applause.} These prospects have become possible, comrades, because you have routed the accomplices of the bourgeoisie, the Right-wing revisionists, who sought to deprive the Party of the invincible weapon of Leninism and who, on the pretext of “improving” and “renovating” socialism, wanted to destroy it and steer the country towards the restoration of the capitalist set-up. At the same time your Party has shown in deed that it possesses that sense of the new essential for revolutionaries of the Leninist type, that it rejects dogmatism and routinism, and that it will not allow the simple repetition of cut-and-dried formulas to be substituted for a creative approach to phenomena. (Prolonged applause.}

p Your present achievements, comrades, and your confidence in the future are rooted in the fact that the Party has charted the right path which accords with the vital interests of the 467 millions-strong working masses in city and countryside. This is brought home to them every day. And they prove their devotion to the Communist Party, their trust in its policy in a most convincing manner—by their deeds, by their creative labours. This is precisely the reason why the country’s economy, badly undermined and actually brought to the verge of crisis by the revisionist “improvers” of socialism, has been quickly restored and is steadily progressing.

p Dear comrades,

p We have already said that the lessons your Party has drawn from the sharp encounter with the class enemy are important not only for the further development of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic but for the other socialist countries, for other Communist Parties.

p Your experience is yet another reminder that in building the new society it is the sacred duty of the Communists of the socialist countries strictly to adhere to Lenin’s behests, to the revolutionary essence of his great teachings, resolutely to rebuff any attempts at distorting and falsifying Leninism, any manifestations of opportunism. (Prolonged applause.} This experience warns again and again how dangerous complacency is, how necessary it is to be constantly on the alert against any forms of hostile activity on the part of the enemies of socialism. It teaches to understand the need to wage a persevering struggle against the subversive actions of international imperialism. It shows how important it is to strengthen the leading role of the Communist Party and its ties with the broad working masses, constantly to improve the style and methods of Party work in educating the masses, and consistently to develop socialist democracy.

p Events have proved convincingly once again that the power of socialist internationalism, the fraternal unity of the socialist states, their indestructible solidarity and mutual support were, are and will always be the greatest of treasures for the Communists of the socialist countries, their reliable and mighty weapon in the struggle with class enemies. (Stormy, prolonged applause.}

p Steeled in class battles, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia is confidently leading the working people to new achievements in socialist construction. The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic stands today in the eyes of the world as a strong link in the grand alliance of nations which are building a new life, and no one will ever succeed in severing 468 Czechoslovakia from the socialist camp, in undermining our fraternity and friendship. (Stormy, prolonged applause. All rise. Delegates scan "Long live CPSU!" and "Friendship!”)

p Comrades,

p The active cooperation of the socialist states within the framework of the Warsaw Treaty Organisation, the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance and bilateral relations, their joint comradely discussions of the problems that arise, elaboration and implementation of a basically integrated foreign policy line, and close coordination of practical actions—all this augments the might of socialism and its influence on world developments.

p The Indo-Chinese peoples who are fighting against imperialist aggression, the patriots of the Arab countries, and the other peoples of Asia, Africa, Latin America and, of course, the European continent, know from their own experience and the destinies of their own countries what a great positive influence is exercised by the teamwork of the socialist states in defence of peace, freedom and social progress. (Prolonged applause.)

p As regards Europe, one must say that the consistent policy followed by the countries of the socialist community has already yielded tangible results for the consolidation of peace and the promotion of mutually advantageous peaceful cooperation among the states of our continent. People who do not close their eyes to the facts, who objectively appraise the realities of our day cannot but see that the most reliable bulwark of European peace in our day is the socialist community. (Applause.) Our joint struggle for a truly lasting peace in Europe is meeting with growing understanding on the part of both the public at large and of many European governments.

p We take a realistic view of things. We see the attempts that are being made to sabotage the efforts to promote European security and know who is behind them.

p A whole concept, according to which European problems can be settled only in toto, by a package-deal, has been invented to torpedo the constructive initiatives of the socialist states. Thus, attempts are made to obstruct the ratification of the treaties concluded by the Federal Republic of Germany with the Soviet Union and the Polish People’s Republic, defer the convocation of an all-European conference, and prevent the settlement of other problems, including such an 469 important one as Bonn’s recognition that the Munich diktat was invalid from the very start—with all the consequences ensuing therefrom.

p But one cannot endlessly use the interests of international peace and security as a bargaining point. European cooperation should not be made the object of a political deal. We should like to believe that the statesmen of the European countries will find in themselves the resolve and realism to draw practical conclusions from the tragic lessons of the past. We believe in the nations’ strong urge towards peace and real security. We sincerely hope that the favourable conditions that now exist will be used and that a solid foundation will be laid for the peaceful cooperation of all European states. (Applause.)

p The all-round cooperation of the socialist countries is a reliable guarantee of the improvement of the international situation and the creation of favourable conditions for carrying out our grandiose plans for the construction of socialism and communism. Allow me, comrades, to declare from the rostrum of your Congress that the CPSU will continue to chart its course towards the still greater consolidation and expansion of this cooperation. (Stormy, prolonged applause.) This policy was clearly reaffirmed by the 24th Congress of our Party, and we shall do all we can to promote the steady growth of the unity and might of the world socialist system, this greatest achievement of the revolutionary forces of mankind. (Stormy applause.)

p It is a pleasure to realise that in this great cause, too, we are acting hand in hand with you, comrades. (Applause.) Our cooperation in the political, economic and ideological spheres is growing steadily closer and more fruitful. The Soviet-Czechoslovak Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance signed in the historic Prague Hrad a year ago envisages, as you know, closer relations between the peoples of our two countries and the further expansion of their all-round cooperation, including their economic ties, and we are sure that this will be a major contribution to the common cause of economic integration among the socialist countries. This treaty binds us to take the necessary measures to safeguard the socialist gains of our peoples, the security and independence of our two countries. (Applause.) This treaty serves the lofty aim of expanding and developing the eternal indestructible friendship of the Soviet Union and 470 the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. (Stormy, prolonged applause. All rise. The auditorium resounds with cries of "Long live the Soviet Union!" and "Hurrah!”)

p Allow me, dear friends, to express our profound gratitude to Comrade Gustav Husak (applause) and the other comrades who spoke here, to you all, for the high appraisal of our Party’s activities and the internationalist character of its policy, for the high appraisal of the decisions of our 24th Congress. The appreciation of friends is both heartening and binding. Allow me to assure you that the Soviet Communists, true to Lenin’s behests, will always be worthy of the trust of their friends in the joint struggle for socialism and communism. (Stormy, prolonged applause. All rise. Delegates scan "Friendship!" and "Hurrah!”)

p Concluding, I should like again to wish your Congress complete success in its work. We are convinced that it will pave the way to socialism’s further victories in Czechoslovakia and help strengthen still more the friendship of our countries and consolidate the entire socialist community. (Stormy, prolonged applause.)

p Long live the militant alliance of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia! (Stormy, prolonged applause.)

p May the friendship between the Soviet and Czechoslovak peoples grow broader and stronger year by year! (Stormy, prolonged applause, cries of "Friendship!”)

p Long live the unity and solidarity of the socialist countries, the world communist movement, all anti-imperialist forces! (Stormy, prolonged applause.)

p Long live peace and communism! (Stormy, prolonged applause. The audience scans "Long live peace!”)

The delegates and guests of the Congress rise to applaud the speech of the head of the CPSU delegation. The hall resounds to endless cheers.