‘

Units of the socialist countries which

Cises. The presence of Soviet military
Contingents was presented by anti-
Socialist and Right-wing forces as the
Qccupation of Czechoslovak territory.
Does this suggest respect for allied
_ Commitments under the Warsaw
_ Treaty? No. This rather indicates a
Wish to interfere with the practical
~ functioning of the military machin-
_ @ry of the Warsaw Treaty Organiza-
tion. A party which reckons with
adopted allied commitments cannot be-
have in this fashion. Only a party
"which ignores these commitments can
Conduct itself so. The Warsaw Treaty

"=~Mmembers could not but draw the ap-
is, | Propriate conclusions from this.

| Recently there has been an obvious
upsurge of anti-Soviet propaganda and
| anti-Soviet pronouncements in. Czecho-
| Slovakia. One may recall the provo-
| Cative May 2 Staro Miasto assemblage
"> where some speakers made anti-Soviet
' Statements. One may recall the ‘insult-

ing utterances of Prochazka, Hanzelka
and .several: other people like them.
One may recall the many pronounce-
__ ™Ments:made through mass media whose
~ authors did their best to besmirch the
amicable Soviet-Czechoslovak _ rela-
tions. In recent years it has-been a
rare. thing to have even heard from
Czechoslovakia. The enemies pounced
On every pretext, whether the Sejna
affair, the speculation around the cir
cumstances attending the death of Jan
Masaryk or the exercises of the War-
Saw Treaty armies, to add fuel to the
_ fire of anti-Soviet moves. There were

‘Cases of anti-Soviet leaflets circulated
-in cities and towns, and affronts were
' ~ put on the Soviet flag. Naturally such
acts could not lead to an improvement
in our relations.

’ In whose interests was it to sow the
Seeds of animosity towards the USSR?
Only in the interests of those who seek
to expunge from the memories of the
Czechoslovak people -the struggle we
had -waged together against Hitlerism,
Of those who.do not cherish the social-
ist gains of, the Czech and Slovak peo-
_Bles, of those who wish to abolish the
Bains of world socialism. As has al-
Ways been the case, anti-Sovietism
- Joins: hands with anti-communism, the
two complementing one another.

The leaders of the Czechoslovak So-
Cialist Republic have made many state-
ments about the unshakable Czechoslo-
_ Wak-Soviet friendship. At the May
Plenary Meeting of the Central Com-
Mittee of. the Communist Party of
4 Czechoslovakia, voices. were raised in
_ Sincere alarm over the state of our re-
lations. No effective measures were
taken, however, against the bourgeois
nationalistic wave, against anti-Soviet
Activities in Czechoslovakia. One can,
Of course be eloquent about friend-
“Ship, solidarity and loyalty to allied

n- é 3 : ;

1d Obligations;. important though is not

of What is said, but what is meant, what

of oncrete actions are taken following
Neclarations.

a: There is not the shadow of a doubt

ts. Sa at masterminds of the anti-Soviet
ampaign will fail to obliterate the

1d :

of Axiom that Czechoslovakia can pre-
= Serve its independence and sovereignty
s. _ Only as a socialist state, as a member
iq... WF _the socialist community.
re In Striving to undermine Czechoslo-
Ly akia’s relations with the USSR and

na he other socialist countries, the reac-
_ fionary forces were prepared to lead
e. _— the Czechoslovak people into a state
_ Of bondage under the yoke of im-

kK. erialism.

reo

Of. vil

es

n = Of late there have appeared in Cze-
t. 9s choslovakia and begun to operate ener-
NS Betically counter-revolutionary anti-
ty ocialist organizations with a definite
~ social basis relying on foreign sup-
w _ Bort which more and more frankly laid

* Slaims to power. There has in effect
le ome into existence in the country a
ts political opposition aimed to effect a
_ fapitalist restoration there.
Ww ee Throughout the past 20 years there
) _ have existed in Czechoslovakia non-
_ Communist Parties which were part of
“the National Front. Their ‘ leaders
socialist construc-

had been moved in for the staff exer-_

ntfibiited By their activity?

Tons ERS

to enlisting non-communist forces in

In the past seven months, however, the
policies of these parties have funda-
mentally changed. The leadership of
the People’s and Socialist Parties have
radically altered their policy and,
though they still covered up their ac-
tions with slogans of cooperation with
the Communist Party within the frame-
work of the National Front, have in
effect gone towards the establishment
of a legal opposition. In their provi-
sional program documents the leaders
of these two non-Communist Parties
have laid claims to equal representa-
tion with the Communist Party in the
exercise of power. This took place in
spring. By July no one made any at-
temt to hide the fact that the real aim
was to oust the Communist Party from
power and set up a new non-commu-
nist national leadership.

The role that the Czechoslovak So-
cial Democratic Party played in the
past is more or less a matter of com-
mon knowledge. By cleaving working
class ranks, the Right-wing leadership
of this Party vigorously supported re-
action in its struggle against Commu-
nists and served as a reliable buttress
of the bourgeois regime.

In 1948 when the honest revolution-
ary elements of the Social Democratic
‘Party: joined forces with the Commu-
nists, this Party ceased to exist. This
year, however, though the National
Front and Central Committee of the
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
_had decided to ban the Social Demo-
cratic Party, the process of reviving
the Party was actually started.

Widely circulated in Prague on June
12 was a document bearing the title:
“Position of the City Preparatory Com-
mittee of the Czechoslovak Social De-
mocratic Party with Respect to the
Present Political Situation.” This docu-
ment stated that after a 20-year break
the Social Democratic Party was re-
turning to the political scene and
claimed that the Party had never ceas-
ed to exist either juridically or as “an
expression of a definite concrete poli-
tical concept.” The June 1948 merger
with the Communist Party of Czecho-
slovakia was proclaimed “‘invalid.’)

On June 21 the Preparatory Commit-
tee of the Czechoslovak Social Demo-
cratic Party led a meeting in Prague
in which Social Democrats from some
of the regions of Bohemia and Moravia
were represented. After that meeting
regional and district committees and
hundreds of. local organizations of the
Social Democratic Party were formed.
The Party began to act, moreover,
against the Communist Party of Cze:
choslovakia.

In the past seven months numerous
diverse groups and organizations of an
anti-socialist hue have appeared in
Czechoslovakia. These organizations
claimed to act as centres of opposition
and made less and less attempt to
hide the fact that their aim was to
abolish the socialist system.

A frankly counter-revolutionary or-
ganization was the “Club-231’ cur-
rently headed by such men as the old

_ fascist Brodsky, the former bourgeois
General Palecek, imperialist secret ser-
vice agents. Rambausek and Czech who
earlier received sentences for espion-
age, and others, all hard-bitten vicious
enemies of socialism.

Another patently anti-socialist or-
ganization which was exceptionally ac-
tive and sought to attract to its mem-
bership intellectuals, factory work-
ers and servicemen was the “Club of
Non-Party Activists,” whose ideolo-
gical leader was Ivan Svitak, an ex-
pelled member of the Communist
Party of Czechoslovakia. He worked
out the strategy and tactics of this or-
ganization and in a wordy statement
published in the magazine Reporter
painted a full picture of the stage-by-
stage ouster of the Communists from
power and of the advent to power of
anti-Communists through an emergen-
cy parliamentary Election.

The “Club-231” and “Club of Non-
Party Activists” were far from being
the only organizations with an anti-
' socialist tendency, and they did active
work.

2 The. anti-socialist

Chechibstovakia Mainta

at
es

the country for constructive pursuits. .

saa

est contacts with centres of ‘counter-
revolutionary emigrants, bourgeois par-
ties and quarters abroad.

The leaders of the Czechoslovak So-
cialist Republic declared that legal ac-
tion would be taken against the oppo-
sition organizations. But no _ such
action was taken.

The gravity of the situation prevail-
ing in the country and the need for
urgent action to cut short the activities
of hostile forces were particularly
clearly demonstrated by the publica-
tion and extensive popularization of
that frankly counter-revolutionary plat-
form, the “Two Thousand Words” ap-
peal. This document which is directly
aimed against the Communist Party of
Czechoslovakia contains an _ outright
call for struggle against the constitu-
tional authority. It was extensively
drawn upon to unite all with a grudge
against the socialist system, to whom
the document presented a program for
action. One cannot fail to note that the
authors of this anti-socialist platform
threatened to use armed force to up-
hold their positions. The outright ac-
tion of these elements in the form of
the “Two Thousand Words” appeal
provided every reason for taking deci-
sive measures against them with the
backing of the party and working-class
fodces. But no action followed that
could be considered a rebuff ‘to the
counter-revolutionary forces.

This opened the way for other simi-
lar actions, and they were not long in
coming. Developments in the last few
weeks and days show that reaction
and anti-socialist organizations have
intensified subversive activities against
the Communist Party and the people’s
power. Persecution of honest Commu-
nists devoted to socialism has become
still more open and unbridled.

Under the slogan of “removing con-
servatives from bodies of state power,”

demands were more and more vigor-

ously made for early elections to the
National Assembly. Representatives of
Right-wing organizations strove to en-
sure the defeat of the Communist Party
at these elections. In other words, this
meant an outright attempt to stage a
counter-revolutionary coup.

Though counter-revolution sought to
achieve a quiet takeover without an
armed conflict, it anticipated other
possibilities. It is a known fact that
secret arms caches have been dis-
covered; this shows that the forces of
reaction did not rule out an armed con-
flict with the supporters of socialism.
An association of officers of the erst-
while Benes army known as the “asso-
ciation of servicemen abroad” was
formed. On the other side of Czechoslo-
vakia’s borders, in close proximity to
them, large groups of counter-revolu-
tionaries moved up and joined forces
some of which were armed and infil-
trated Czechoslovakia. At a Prague
University social gathering Svitak
bluntly announced that for the sake of
establishing the principle of democra-
tization and attaining “absolute free-
dom” it was possible that the country
might choose to fight a civil war.

VIE

As a result of the activities of Right-
wing anti-socialist and counter-revo-
lutionary forces in Czechoslovakia, the
tangible threat loomed of a counter-

“revolutionary coup and the loss of the

gains of socialism. This was precisely
the main cause of anxiety which the
CPSU and other fraternal parries have
shown over the political developments
taking place in Czechoslovakia.

It is well known that the Central
Committees of the Bulgarian Commu-
nist Party, the Hungarian Socialist
Workers’ Party, the Socialist Unity
Party of Germany, the Polish United
Workers’ Party, and the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union did all they
could as friends to help the Commu-
nist Party and peoples of Czechoslo-
vakia to overcome the dangerous crisis
and by political means to inflict a de-
feat upon the forces of mounting coun-
ter-revolution. é

Following the May meetings in Mos-
cow of the representatives of the
CPSU and the Communist Party of
Czechoslovakia; the CPSU Central-
Cottinittted GeGeamdly proposes fnew!

wit oni £2

even flirting with theeforcesvof coun:

bilateral meeting with the Czechoslo-
vak Communist Party leadership in
order to discuss the current situation.
But each time the leaders of the Cen-
tral Committee of the Cemmunist
Party of Czechoslovakia dodged the
issue by citing various reasons.

Loyal to the principles of interna-
tionalism and moved by the solidarity
with fraternal Czechoslovakia and res-
ponsibility for the destiny of socialism
On our continent, the leaders of a num-
ber of fraternal Warsaw Treaty mem- .
ber-states decided to get together with
the leaders of the Czechoslovak Social-
ist Republic in order to have a com-
radely discussion of the current situa-
tion, to sketch a way out of the situ-
ation and to offer assistance. Unfortu-
nately, the leaders of the Central Com-
mittee of the Communist Party of
Czechoslovakia rejected this proposal
and did not wish to meet in Warsaw.
The situation was such, however, that
the fraternal parties were fully justi-
fied, politically and morally, in holding
such a meeting.

The Warsaw Meeting demonstrated
the full unity of the five Communist
and Workers’ Parties, their unshakable
cohesion and resolve to rebuff the ma-
chinations of counter-revolutionary
forces.

An analysis of the counter-revolu-
tionary anti-socialist activities that
took place in Czechoslovakia conclu-
sively demonstrates that they were not
at all spontaneous but well organized.
They distinctly revealed the times of
action, the directions and the targets
of the attacks by anti-socialist forces,
the definite sequence of their actions
and the coordination of the activities
of all forces, that is the Right-wing re-
visionist forces inside the Communist
Party of Czechoslovakia, the anti-
socialist forces, the frankly counter-
revolutionary forces inside the country
and the external forces supporting
them.

All this goes to show that the events
were masterminded by organized
counter-revolutionary forces with
broad connections inside the country,
which directed the activities of anti-
socialist forces in the mass media and
maintained links with various clubs
and other parties. The counter-revolu- -
tionary forces struck also at the key
organs of state defense. The people
who carried out counter-revolutionary
aims had connnections with foreign
secret services and imperialist quarters
abroad. True, some of the organizers
of the counter-revolutionary forces en-
deavored till recently to kecp, in the
shadow. The Right-wing forces had
their own men in the steering bodies
of the Communist Party of Czechoslo-
vakia and were well informed of their
actions. This increased the danger of
the events taking place and called for
decisive action by the entire Party
against counter-revolution, and above
all for vigorous action: by the Presi-
dium of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
and its every member as well as the
members of the government of the
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. Mean-
while, some members of the Presidium
of the Central Committee of the Com-
munist Party of Czechoslovakia and
government members often came out
to oppose the line which the Presidium
of the Central Committee of the Com-
munist Party of Czechoslovakia had
charted on matters of principle. Thus
F. Krigel, a member of the Presidium
of the Central Committee of the Com-
munist Party of Czechoslovakia, far
from rebuffing anti-socialist elements,
in effect voiced solidarity with those
who committed outright counter-revo-
lutionary actions, for example, in his
TV interview with the authors of the
“Two Thousand Words” appeal.

The CPSU and other fraternal par-
ties of the socialist countries repeated-
ly called the attention of the Czecho-

_ Slovak Communist Party leadership to

this. Our own experience and the ex-
perience of political struggle accumu-
lated by the other fraternal parties and
socialist countries teach us that one
cannot turn one’s back and shut one’s
eyes to the danger of counter-revolu-
tion. A conciliatoty approach, the de-
liberate -belittling of the danger and

= VA GRE OL si

; SEPTE