p JOSEF HAVLÍN

p SECRETARY OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA

p Dear comrades, friends, the joint conference of the leading Party and government research centres on the glorious jubilee-the 60th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, gives us. Communists of Czechoslovakia, an opportunity to congratulate you on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and Gustav Husak, General Secretary of our Party and President of the Republic-

p We are convinced that this conference will contribute to the further development and creative implementation of the triumphant Marxist-Leninist doctrine.

p The international communist and working-class movement and the working people of the whole world closely followed the joint meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, which was the crowning event of the celebrations held on the 60th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. The speech of Comrade Leonid Brezhnev, the General Secretary of the CC CPSU and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which evoked such broad response in other countries, including ours, was received with immense interest and satisfaction. The ideas contained in it are an important contribution to Marxist-Leninist theory and give inspiration to the Marxist-Leninist parties 138 in their struggle for the interests of the working people. Comrade Brezhnev outlined the increasingly tangible prospect of man’s age-old hope-the building of communist society. This it is that infuses mankind with real hope and new strength in the struggle for the revolutionary transformation of the world.

p The appeal of the CC CPSU, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and the Council of Ministers of the USSR To the Peoples, Parliaments and Governments of All Countries gives fighters for peace and happiness boundless energy, increasing the strength of the movement of the peace forces and instilling confidence in a future without war, fear, and insecurity.

p Allow me to express the heartfelt gratitude of the Communists and working people of Czechoslovakia to Lenin’s Party and the Soviet people for their part in the establishment of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, for their internationalist solidarity with our people’s struggle to overthrow capitalism, for their help in liberating our country from nazi slavery, and for their assistance in building and developing socialist society in Czechoslovakia.

p The history of the class struggle in our country shows that unless the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia had assimilated and creatively used the experience of the CPSU, it could not have fulfilled its historical mission and leading role. Our Party has always seen the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as a party possessing a wealth of experience of revolutionary struggle for the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the socialist transformation of society. Klement Gottwald, outstanding leader of our Party and the international communist and working-class movement, said this repeatedly at the time of the bourgeois republic and at the beginning of the building of socialism.

p The leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia headed by Gustav Husak, General Secretary of its Central Committee and President of the Czechoslovak 139 Socialist Republic, has repeatedly stressed the exceptional significance of Soviet experience and the experience of other fraternal parties for our Party. Now, this refers to the experience of the revolutionary transformation of society tested in practice by hundreds of millions .of men and women. Here is how Comrade Husak put it at our 15th Party Congress: "We built and developed the new social system taking as the basis the ideas of scientific socialism, the general laws of the building of socialism> our own experience and the experience of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and other fraternal parties, and the creative use of the ideas of Leninism in the specific conditions of our country.”

p It should not be forgotten that by the mid-20s, when the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia launched the drive for Bolshevisation, the CPSU had behind it three revolutions. It had accumulated great practical experience and had mastered all forms of class struggle. It was the only proletarian party which, being in power, and this in exceptionally hard conditions, had for some years stood at the head of the sweeping revolutionary reforms initiated by the Great October Socialist Revolution. Our Communist Party, which gradually developed from a revolutionary political opposition party into the vanguard party of the proletariat, learned most of all from the Bolsheviks at that time, adopting their methods of struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat.

p Now, we recall again and again with gratitude the invaluable assistance which the CPSU and Lenin personally rendered our Party at the time of its foundation and when it began to grow, when its struggle developed, and when it grew into a real revolutionary vanguard of the working class and all working people.

p The path of our working class and the CP Czechoslovakia to the victorious socialist revolution, to our socialist present had certain distinctive features traceable to the previous history of our peoples. In the first place, 140 however, it was determined by the general laws that manifested themselves in the triumph of the October Revolution, in the very existence of the USSR, in its growing might, and its friendship with and assistance to our people.

p This Leninist truth is confirmed again by the documents of the recent joint meeting of the CC CPSU, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR on important problems of the international communist and working-class movement. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union tackles all problems with infinite wisdom. The universal nature of the common, intrinsic features of the socialist revolution and the building of socialism is emphasised with Leninist fidelity to principle. These features have been scientifically proved and fully confirmed by the 60 years of socialist construction in the USSR.

p The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was able to lead the working class and the mass of the people to victory over bourgeois reaction and pave the way to the building of socialism precisely because, mindful of our local conditions and characteristics and firmly united with the people, it waged a consistent revolutionary struggle to win power and smash the bourgeois state machine in full conformity with the general laws of revolution. In this sense, we have every reason to say that without the Great October Socialist Revolution the working people of Czechoslovakia led by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia would never have won their victory over bourgeois reaction in February 1948, the 30th anniversary of which we shall be marking next year.

p The history of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia shows quite clearly that any, even temporary, deviation from the Marxist-Leninist approach hampered the advance of our Party and society. It became especially obvious during the mounting crisis in the Party and society in the 60s, which came to a head in 1968. Under the slogan of alleged democratisation, right-wing opportunists in the Party, who made use of the counter-revolutionary forces 141 still remaining in our society, made an attempt not only to reject the Leninist principle of democratic centralism, but also to corrupt the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and turn it into a petty-bourgeois reformist party of a social-democratic type.

p Our experience shows that restoring the unity of the Party on Leninist principles and increasing its fighting capacity and revolutionary efficiency was indispensable in order to surmount the crisis and ensure the further successful development of our socialist society. For this reason, the well-known document, "Lessons of the Crisis Development in the Party and Society after the 13th Congress of the CPC”, has great and lasting significance.

p Comrade Husak, General Secretary of the Central Committee of our Party and President of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, said at the 15th Party Congress: "The results of the five years since the 14th Congress have shown that the Party can carry, out its historic role only if it is guided in its activities by the principles of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism, if it maintains close contact with the people, and if the Party leadership is stable, united, and active. Our advance has been possible thanks to the growth of the internal strength, unity, and efficiency of the Party, thanks to its greater leading role in society, and the enhancement of its Marxist-Leninist character.” This is one of the key lessons taught by the history of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.

p Comrades, the immense efforts of the CPSU in promoting ever more vigorous and consistent implementation of peaceful coexistence are of enormous significance for the constructive labour of our people, the further development of the socialist community and the world revolutionary process, and the peaceful existence of mankind.

p For this reason the new Soviet proposals for disarmament as crucial for preserving and strengthening peace have evoked such an extraordinary response throughout the world. The capitalist countries and their mass media will 142 not succeed in torpedoing this initiative, which conforms so completely with the vital interests and aspirations of the working people of the world. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the people of our country support these well-grounded proposals without any reservations.

p When world war is averted and lasting peace ensured, new prospects will open to all men and women of the world, which, in any event, will be linked with the growth of the forces of socialism and communism. For this reason, the October Revolution is the banner of great achievements raised high over the twentieth century by the will and hands of the masses. Comrade Leonid Brezhnev quite rightly emphasised that we are moving towards a time when socialism, in some specific historically conditioned form, will be the predominant social system on the globe, bringing peace, liberty, equality, and prosperity to all working people.

p For us Communists these festive days are an inexhaustible source of knowledge needed in our daily work and to develop theory further. For this reason we welcome this conference. We heard the speeches of Comrade Mikhail Suslov and Comrade Boris Ponomarev with keen interest, and we support them wholeheartedly. The work of our conference is directly influenced by the speech of Comrade Brezhnev at the joint meeting of the CC CPSU, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR on the 60th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. The glorious path followed by the Soviet people and their Communist Party is clear and attractive to every honest, thinking person. For this reason, the policy of the CPSU is unanimously supported by the people of our country. And that is why we shall go on learning from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Allow me, dear comrades, to express thanks for the invitation to attend this conference, and to assure you that its results shall be used in the practical work of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.