Lessons from the crisis

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Front page of the document, published in 1971 by the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Central Committee of KSČ

Lessons from the crisis development (Czech: Poučení z krizového vývoje ), with full name lessons from the crisis development in the party and society after the XIII. KSČ Party Conference (Czech: Poučení z krizového vývoje ve straně a společnosti po XIII. Sjezdu KSČ ), is the name of the document approved by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) at its meeting on December 11, 1970. The document contains the “politically correct” interpretation of the events of the Prague Spring and the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops, which is binding on all citizens . It is one of the most important and widespread documents from the period of the so-called normalization and served the regime until 1989 as a tool to test the loyalty of citizens.

Content and meaning

Gustáv Husák

The document deals with what, from the Communist Party's point of view, is the most serious threat to Czechoslovakia since the end of the Second World War . It postulates that the country was in a "serious crisis" from January 1968 and that the invasion of the Warsaw Pact states was an "act of international solidarity" and "fraternal aid" against the aspirations of "Western imperialist circles", the results of the Second World War to revise. According to the authors, there was a threat of “bloodshed” in Czechoslovakia and the “acute counterrevolutionary situation threatened to escalate into civil war”.

The aim is defined in the introduction as follows: “The Central Committee of the Communist Party is convinced that this document will be a lesson for the party and that it will lead to its further political-ideological and organizational standardization, to strengthen its Marxist-Leninist profile Consolidation of their leadership role and contribute to the successful socialist development of our entire society. "

The lessons from the crisis were published about a year and a half after Gustáv Husák took over the party leadership and began the policy of so-called normalization. The interpretation of the Prague Spring as a “counterrevolution” used therein emerged during the extensive “purges” of the Communist Party in 1970. The party's “healthy Marxist-Leninist core” played the key role in the “liquidation of the right-wing elements”. From this, members of the examination commissions were recruited, to which all communists had to appear in the context of an exchange of party IDs. The text was a compromise between the moderate Husák wing and the radical pro-Soviet wing of the Communist Party, represented by Vasiľ Biľak . The binding nature of the document was confirmed at the XIV Party Congress in May 1971.

Further "purges" followed in the army, the media, science academies, universities and many other institutions, whole university institutes were closed. Ethics tests were also ordered in the factories. Employees in important positions had to declare their consent to the lessons from the crisis with their signature , otherwise they risked professional disadvantages, loss of their jobs, or their children were not allowed to attend secondary school. The teachings defined the only acceptable way for all citizens to talk about the events of 1968.

The party disseminated the text of the teachings en masse. The document was published in 1970 e.g. B. as a supplement to the party newspaper Rudé právo and published in 1971 in large numbers as a brochure by the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the KSČ Central Committee (Oddělení propagandy a agitace ÚV KSČ) . At the same time, annotated editions for various social groups were printed. A booklet How to Work with the Text of the Teachings (Jak pracovat s textem Poučení) was published for use in schools , which also contained control questions for students and an explanation of the terminology. One question was B. “What intentions of the imperialists were thwarted in 1968 by the international aid of the brother states?” The pupil was not expected to deal with the subject independently, but only to reproduce the text he had learned by heart.

Most of the citizens did not identify with the statements of the teachings and only accepted the official language regulations in order to avoid reprisals from the state. The teachings deepened the inner turmoil of the "normalized society", the contradiction between personal or family experience of 1968 and the official interpretation. “This schizophrenic duality was undoubtedly one of the defining features of everyday life in normalized society”. It led to a flight into private life and a general disinterest in political events.

Text examples

“The development after January 1968 confirms that the right led a targeted attack on all basic values ​​and norms of socialism and systematically undermined the party and the entire political socialist system. This broad-based attack was facilitated by the fact that A. Dubček , who initially had confidence in both the party and the country, gradually withdrew from Marxist-Leninist positions, fell in the wake of right-wing opportunist and anti-socialist forces until he finally became their symbol. "

"The foreign policy conception of the right, which was the result of the counterrevolutionary development in the Czechoslovak Republic, not only led to a threat to the internal stability and security of the state and its sovereignty ... but also to the exposure of the western borders of the socialist camp, whose solid wall should be Czechoslovakia on the border of the socialist and capitalist system in Europe. The defense and maintenance of socialism in our country therefore not only concerned the immediate interests of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and our working people, but necessarily became a common concern of the socialist states, the fraternal parties of these countries and the entire communist movement. "

“The Central Committee of the Communist Party rejects the abstract concept of the sovereignty of the socialist state, which propaganda of the bourgeoisie is spreading in the interests of deceiving the masses , and is based on positions which also concern the question of the sovereignty of the class and the international character of the socialist state. "

“The counterrevolutionary role of the media led to a storm of chauvinistic demagogy after August 21, 1968 to prevent the Czechoslovak citizens from seeing the right dividing line in the class struggle . ... Many honest communists and honest citizens of our republic also succumbed to this atmosphere, and ... were unable to quickly discover the real truth. Many of them have committed acts that contradict their true beliefs. Gradually they became convinced ... of the correctness of the international aid of the allies, sincerely regretted their attitudes and actions at the time and expressed their dedication to the cause of socialism with honest work. "

literature

  • Oddělení propagandy a agitace ÚV KSČ (ed.): Poučení z krizového vývoje ve straně a společnosti po XIII. sjezdu KSČ. Rezoluce k aktuálním otázkam jednoty strany. Rudé právo, tiskařské závody, Praha 1971 (Czech, 48 pages, available online ). Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  • Jan Randák a kol .: Dějiny českých zemí . Euromedia Group, as, Praha 2016, ISBN 978-80-242-5503-3 , p. 364-365 (Czech, 432 pp.).
  • Poučení z krizového vývoje ve straně a společnosti po XIII. sjezdu KSČ , wording of the lessons from the crisis development on totalita.cz (Czech). Retrieved December 16, 2019.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Oddělení propagandy a agitace ÚV KSČ (ed.): Poučení z krizového vývoje ve straně a společnosti po XIII. sjezdu KSČ. Rezoluce k aktuálním otázkam jednoty strany. Rudé právo, tiskařské závody, Praha 1971, p. 30–31 (Czech, 48 pages, available online ). Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  2. ↑ Oddělení propagandy a agitace ÚV KSČ (ed.): Poučení z krizového vývoje ve straně a společnosti po XIII. sjezdu KSČ. Rezoluce k aktuálním otázkam jednoty strany. Rudé právo, tiskařské závody, Praha 1971, p. 3 (Czech, 48 pages, available online ). Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b Poučení z krizového vývoje - Historický kontext , editor: Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů (ÚSTR), 2009 (Czech). Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  4. ↑ Oddělení propagandy a agitace ÚV KSČ (ed.): Poučení z krizového vývoje ve straně a společnosti po XIII. sjezdu KSČ. Rezoluce k aktuálním otázkam jednoty strany. Rudé právo, tiskařské závody, Praha 1971, p. 22 (Czech, 48 pp., Available online ). Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  5. ↑ Oddělení propagandy a agitace ÚV KSČ (ed.): Poučení z krizového vývoje ve straně a společnosti po XIII. sjezdu KSČ. Rezoluce k aktuálním otázkam jednoty strany. Rudé právo, tiskařské závody, Praha 1971, p. 33 (Czech, 48 p., Available online ). Retrieved December 16, 2019.

See also

Web links