WORLD

Gorbachev pays tribute to Chernenko's peace role

‘USSR will step uppeace efforts’

By SPARTAK BEGLOV

APN Political Correspondent

MOSCOW — Bidding their last
farewell to Konstantin Chernen-
ko, General Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet
Union and USSR president, who
died March 10 at age 73, the
Soviet people paid tribute to his
outstanding contribution to
formulating and implementing
guidelines for the domestic and

KONSTANTIN CHERNENKO

foreign policy of the CPSU and
Soviet state.

The commitment of the CPSU
and the Soviet state to the Lenin-
ist principles of foreign policy, the
ideals of peace and cooperation
between nations, has stood: the
test of time. The continuity of this
line in international affairs is
guaranteed by the nature of the
Soviet socialist state, by the Par-
ty’s collective will expressed in
the resolutions of its 26th Con-
gress and subsequent plenary
meetings of its Central
Committee.

At the moment when a new
leadership takes over in the Party,
no one abroad need guess about
the future of Soviet foreign poli-
cy. Its priorities remain the same.

e To continue to do what is
possible and necessary to
strengthen the socialist commu-
nity, to consolidate the positions
of socialism in the world, to pre-
vent a nuclear catastrophe and
ensure lasting peace.

e To persistently work for an

‘end to the arms race, for the pre-

vention of space militarization,
bearing in mind the ultimate goal
— total abolition of nuclear

weapons everywhere and com-
plete elimination of the threat of
nuclear war.

e To advocate a constructive
dialogue and practical measures
to reduce international tensions
and create an atmosphere of trust,
cooperation and understanding
among all nations and states.

Mikhail Gorbachev, elected as
General Secretary of the CPSU
Central Committee at an extra-
ordinary plenary meeting of the
Central Committee on March 11,
summed up this policy of peace
and progress as follows: *‘We will
always reciprocate goodwill with
goodwill, and trust with trust. But
everyone should know that we
shall never do this at the expense
of this country’s interests and
those of its allies.”’

Three months ago, speaking to
the British parliament, Gor-
bachev called on world leaders to
show a high sense of respon-
sibility in their approach to the
pressing problems of our time. He
said the nuclear age is dictating a
new political thinking, and that
war is not a method of solving
disputes. There is not, and cannot
be, he said, any sound alternative
to peaceful co-existence.

The new Soviet eee was
elected on the eve of the Geneva
talks, so it was natural that his
speech on March 11 would ex-
press the Soviet stand with full
clarity. The only sensible way out
of the prevailing situation, Gor-
bachev said, is for the opposing

sides to agree to end the arms

race, primarily the nuclear arms
race, on earth, and prevent one in

space.

* * *

At press time, the Tribune’s
Moscow correspondent Jack Phil-
lips reported:

As tens of thousands of mour-
ners stood massed in Red Square,
Konstantin Chernenko was laid
to rest near the Kremlin wall. At
the ceremony were 30 heads of
state and high-level delegations
from almost every country.
Representatives from Communist
and Workers’ parties, including
William Kashtan, CPC General
Secretary, stood by as funeral
orations were given from atop the
Lenin Mausoleum.

Mikhail Gorbachev paid tribute
to his predecessor-as a dedicated
Marxist-Leninist, full of creative

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV

energy and enthusiasm, commit
ted to party principles. ‘*His name
is associated with the imple
mentation of Soviet foreign policy
and major peace proposals to halt
the arms race ... our party and
government will continue to step
up these efforts. It is our belief
that the right to live in peace and
freedom is the fundamental
human right. No finer tributé
could be paid to the work 0
Chernenko,”’ he said.

After the funeral, leaders of
fraternal party delegations and
leaders of state delegations welé
officially received at the Kremlin,
among them William Kashtan and
Canadian Prime Minister Briaf-
Mulroney.

New war must be prevented before it starts

Allied unity key to Hitler’s defeat

This year the peoples of the world will celebrate the
40th anniversary of victory over the military forces of
fascism.

World War Two came to an end in 1945. The Allied
coalition led by the USSR, USA and Great Britain ac-
cepted the unconditional surrender of Hitler Germany
on May 8, 1945 in Berlin. Militarist Japan surrendered
soon after. Nazi Germany’s imperialist dream of world
domination was cut short. The fascist nightmare im-
posed on Europe and planned for the whole world was
ended.

Victory over fascism was an historic event achieved at
great cost and with tremendous loss of lives. Within the
anti-fascist forces the Soviet Union played the main and
decisive part in achieving victory over fascism. -

That war could have been avoided. But, steeped in
anti-Sovietism arising from narrow class positions, the
ruling classes of Great Britain, France, Canada and the
USA rejected the collective security pact advocated by
the Soviet Union to block Hitler’s drive to world
domination.

Instead, they lent support to Hitler fascism’s
‘crusade against communism.”’ Rather than collective
security with the USSR they pursued a policy of appeas-
ing Hitler fascism, thereby opening the door to the
subjugation of country after country by the nazis. This
led to the Second World War.

Following the military invasion of the USSR by the
nazis, first Great Britain and then the USA joined with
the Soviet Union in the Allied coalition for the defeat of
Hitler fascism. These included other countries including
Canada that fought side by side with the Allied coalition
as well as the heroic resistance movements in the nazi-
occupied lands.

The war brought untold suffering to the peoples. But at
the end Hitler fascism suffered total defeat.

That victory was of historic significance. It saved the
world from nazi barbarism. It enabled the peoples to
regain their freedom and independence. It opened the
door to profound changes in the world. It helped bring
into being the world socialist system. It opened the door
to ending the imperialist colonial system.

Victory over fascism dealt a crushing blow to the
theory of the “‘superman’’, the theory of the “‘master
race’’, to anti-semitism. It brought an end to concentra-

8 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MARCH 20, 1985

tion camps, to gas chambers, to cremation ovens in
Europe.

Victory over fascism demonstrated the political and
moral superiority of socialism.

It also demonstrated that, despite their different social
systems, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the USA
could come together to defeat fascism which was then
the chief threat to humankind.

What Has Happened Since?

World imperialism and the forces of reaction are trying
to falsify the history of the Second World War and the
decisive role of the Soviet Union in bringing about the
military defeat of Hitler fascism. The younger generation
who have been reared on anti-Sovietism since 1945 must
be informed that it was imperialism that nurtured fascism
and was responsible by its policy of appeasing fascism,
for unleashing the Second World War.

Now, 40 years after the defeat of fascism, the chief
danger to humankind is the threat of a nuclear holocaust
due to the policies of U.S. imperialism and the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization. The most aggressive ele-
ments of imperialism under the guise of an alleged
‘*Soviet military threat’? — the same lie that Hitler fas-
cism used — have set themselves the aim of achieving
military superiority over the Soviet Union through
which to revise the outcome of the Second World War
and achieve world domination. This includes their ef-
forts at militarization of space. They are out to destroy
socialism by military force. They are out to smash the
national liberation movements. They have taken upon
themselves the right to interfere in the internal affairs of
other countries all over the world. Voices are now heard
in the Federal Republic of Germany, the USA and else-
where demanding that the Yalta and Potsdam Agree-
ments be nullified. Some are now even saying there were
no gas chambers or concentration camps in Hitler Ger-
many and Nazi occupied countries!

NATO countries have now removed all restrictions
preventing the FRG from manufacturing various types of
military weapons. This is a complete reversal of the
agreement reached at the end of the Second World War.
The U.S. has placed Pershing IIs and Cruise missiels in
FRG aimed at the heart of the Soviet Union and other
socialist countries. It is now out to militarize space. All

this is part of U.S. imperialism’s first-strike, winnable
nuclear war strategy. i

The reactionary war-making designs of U.S. im |
perialism and international reaction can and must bé
thwarted. The balance of forces in favor of peace is much
greater than it was prior to World War II. Today there is
the socialist community of nations headed by the Soviet
Union standing in the forefront of the struggle for peace: —
The international working class and the non-aligne
developing countries are playing an ever more active —
role in the struggle against imperialist aggression. The
growth and influence of the peace movement in the
developed capitalist countries has never been higher.

These forces are capable of putting a halt to the armS
race and preventing the outbreak of a nuclear war. What
is yet missing is their global unity. United they constitute
an irresistible force.

The 40th Anniversary victory celebrations should be
the occasion for bringing together a world coalition unit _
ing the peoples of the world to prevent another war and 4 —
nuclear catastrophe. The anti-Hitler coalition led to Hi
tler fascism’s defeat. A coalition of the peoples of thé
world directed to bring an end to the arms race can ope!

up new prospects for humankind and prevent a nuclear
holocaust.

Never has the danger been so great. But also never |
have the forces of peace been so powerful and able t0
impose detente and disarmament on the Reagat
Administration and NATO.

The Communist Party of Canada appeals to Canadians
of all walks of life as well as to the Government 0
Canada to‘ join in the celebration of this victory ovelll
nazism. It should be the occasion to further strengthe?
ties of cooperation between Canada, the USSR and
other socialist countries.

Don’t allow the fatal mistakes that led to World Wa!
Two to be repeated. This time a like mistake could result
in the end of civilization.

The common enemy is the arms race and a nuclear wa!
no one could win. Peaceful co-existence, detente
disarmament based on parity and equal security is thé
path to peace today.

War can and must be prevented before it starts.

This is the important lesson of the second world war.

Central Executive Committee
Community Party of Canad3