Friendship between nations

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The cruise ship Völkerfreundschaft 1972 in Rostock

Friendship between peoples is a term coined by Stalin , which in real socialist states held a high position in the ideology of the leading parties. It describes a socio-cultural target for the desired relationship between peoples and nations . Friendship between peoples can also be the end result of an understanding between peoples .

Development from thought to concept

Friendship between peoples - not yet as a concept, but as hope - was taken up anew by the representatives of the philosophical enlightenment as the call for understanding between peoples and nations. This view was represented by the theologian and folk song researcher Johann Gottfried Herder , who worked out the idea of ​​transnational understanding and encounter with his research and collection activities. He wrote in 1793:

“Obviously the disposition of nature is that like one human being, so also one generation, thus also one people learn from and with the other ... until everyone has finally learned the difficult lesson : no people is a people only chosen by God Earth; the truth must be sought by everyone, the garden for the common good must be built by everyone. "

The “garden of the common best”, which “is built by everyone”, can be described as an interpretation of friendship among peoples. This idea was updated in the age of the emergence of industrial societies by the rising labor movement of the 19th century. In 1870 the philosopher Karl Marx wrote in his inaugural address to the members of the International Workers' Association (IAA) on the problem of the Franco-German War and the like. a .:

“We are happy to take the brotherly hand offered to us by the French workers ... Mindful of the slogan of the International Workers' Association: 'Workers of all countries, unite !' we shall never forget that the workers of all countries are our friends and the despots of all countries are our enemies. […] While official France and official Germany plunge into a fratricidal struggle, the workers send each other messages of peace and friendship. "

The promotion of friendly relations between peoples has been used in appeals and declarations of social democracy , just as it is represented by Christian and pacifist groups and individuals. In the 20th century, the idea of ​​friendship between peoples permeated the thinking, speaking and writing of socialist and communist parties and groups. So it says - using the synonym for brotherhood of peoples - z. B. in a resolution of the International Socialist Congress in Stuttgart on the question of anti-militarism in 1907 :

"The Congress therefore regards it as the duty of the working class [...] to work to ensure that the youth of the working class are educated in the spirit of international brotherhood and socialism and that they are given class consciousness."

Already deeply shaken by the horrors on the battlefields of the First World War , the International Socialist Conference in Zimmerwald / Switzerland formulated in its manifesto on the fight against the continuation of the war in 1915:

"This struggle is the struggle for freedom, for the brotherhood of peoples, for socialism."

Even a liberal -thinking and socially committed US President like Franklin Delano Roosevelt , who saw the dangers of another, even more terrible world war looming, used the concept of friendship between peoples in his political philosophy. In a speech he gave in Chicago in 1937 , he warned of this looming disaster:

“However, if it is not to come to that, if we want to live in a world in which we can breathe freely, in a world of friendship, free from fear, then the peace-loving nations must work together all their strengths for justice and for Law on which peace alone can safely rest to enforce. "

Even the dictator Stalin, who was notorious for his irrational cleansing campaigns and mass deportations, promoted relations of friendship among nations in his foreign policy statements. In the report of the Central Committee to the XVIII. He named the party congress of the CPSU in 1939 as tasks of foreign policy and a .:

"The tasks of the party in the field of foreign policy consist of the following: <...> 4. To strengthen international friendships with the working people of all countries who are interested in peace and friendship between peoples."

After the suppression of the Nazi tyranny by the allied community of states , the United Nations Organization (UN) was founded. With it, an established set of rules has meanwhile been created for the principle of international cooperation and a globally recognized network of rules of conduct of the community of states that have agreed on a peaceful conflict resolution instead of the use of military force. Even if the term “friendship among peoples” is not usually used here, the cooperative orientation towards the enforcement of international law and the validity of human rights means a tendency towards a path towards the realization of the idea of ​​friendship among peoples. The goal of friendship between peoples was already codified in its 1945 Charter , when in Chapter I. Goals and Principles, Article I it says:

"The goals of the United Nations are: [...] 2. to develop friendly relations between nations based on respect for the principle of equality and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to consolidate world peace ..."

An author collective from the GDR wrote in a pedagogical dictionary :

“Similar characteristics such as the mature individual friendship also characterize friendship among peoples. It manifests itself in the common interest, the struggle of the working class for liberation from exploitation and oppression, in mutual respect and recognition of national independence and sovereignty, and includes solidarity, political, economic and cultural cooperation. [...] The friendship between peoples is deepened by the constantly increasing contacts through travel, cultural exchange, the activities of the mass media and personal acquaintances. "

Numerous non-aligned countries , especially Asia , Africa and the Middle East , refrained from being integrated into the two major military alliances during the Cold War . When they passed a declaration at their meeting in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955, it read:

"Free of mistrust and fear and with mutual trust and good will, the nations should practice tolerance and live in peace as good neighbors with one another and develop friendly cooperation ..."

The human ethos of friendship among peoples had taken root more and more where movements of anti-colonial liberation and socialist society had become politically effective, but also in the area of world religions , etc. a. In Catholicism there were periods in which the good of the peace of nations moved into the focus of international attention, as in 1963 with the proclamation of the encyclical Pacem in terris ("Peace on Earth") by the reform pope John XXIII. :

“But it requires that the supreme law, on which peace is based today, be replaced by a completely different law, which determines that true peace among peoples is not through the equality of the military apparatus, but only through mutual Trust can exist firmly and securely. "

In declarations by the communist and workers' parties of Europe at their recurring meetings, there have been commitments to strive for friendship among peoples. B. at a conference in Karlovy Vary in 1967:

"The place of the youth is the first row of the fight against war, reaction and fascism, for freedom, progress and for friendship among peoples!"

The concept of friendship between peoples has also been taken up as a term in the constitutions of real socialist states. For example, the preamble to the constitution of the GDR of April 6, 1968 states:

"Filled with the will to freely determine its fate, undeterred to continue on the path of socialism and communism, peace, democracy and friendship among peoples, the people of the German Democratic Republic have given themselves this socialist constitution."

In the GDR, the commitment to friendship among peoples was also part of the programs of the parties and mass organizations gathered in the Democratic Bloc , their statutes and statutes . The content and use of the term was fundamentally directed against nationalistic hubris , chauvinistic enemy images , racial biological theory formation, militaristic behavior and any warlike foreign policy . After the terrible course of the two world wars , and even more so after the catastrophic outcome of the second, the idea of ​​establishing friendly relations between peoples found a large number of supporters in East and West. Of course, the beginning of the “Cold War” between the great powers, including the groups of states belonging to them, significantly reduced the term's original radiance. While terms such as “free way of life” or “freedom of entrepreneurship” shaped the language of the zeitgeist in the West Atlantic horizon of thought - and this in obvious hostility to any non-capitalist way of life - the inflationary use of the term “friendship among peoples” by communist parties and apparatuses became in view of their anti-Western rhetoric, but also their behavior towards their own population, which often violates personal rights. The restrictive obstruction of the human right to free choice of residence and freedom of travel has also disavowed the overused evocation of friendship between peoples. So the hope of many people became a largely empty phrase, behind which no majority of the population can gather.

In return, the final act of the Helsinki Conference 1975 included the concept of international friendship in its texts several times in the form of its italic realization by talking about the "steady development of friendly relations": in Sections Ia, VII., VIII., IX . and X.

Materializations of the term

Peace bell of Frankfurt (Oder) warns of peace and friendship between peoples (old location)
Restaurant sign in Berlin-Schöneweide

In the GDR, numerous streets, squares and public institutions were given the name "Friendship of the Nations". Songs and pieces of music were also identified with the term. Works of art such as sculptures or building-related art objects were dedicated to this topic.

Songs on the topic of friendship among peoples (selection)

Political Organizations

International festivals

Medals and badges

Pioneer salute

In the GDR, the pioneer leader greeted the young pioneers with the cry: “For peace and friendship among peoples: Be ready!” In this greeting, the term “friendship among peoples” was later replaced by the term “socialism”.

Griefstedt, war memorial from GDR times

Social, educational and cultural institutions

  • Russian University of Friendship of Peoples
  • OFZ (Open Leisure Center) Friendship of Nations in Leipzig, Stuttgarter Allee 9
  • Leisure center of the MS Völkerfreundschaft in Berlin, Schönhauser Allee 20
  • Children's home "Friendship of Nations" Markkleeberg
  • War memorial in the village of Griefstedt
"Fountain of Friendship of Peoples" in Moscow
“Fountain of Friendship between Nations” in Erfurt, sculptures by Eberhard Heiland
“Fountain of Friendship between Nations” in Berlin, designed by the artist collective around Walter Womacka

Works of art of architecture

Cruise ship "Friendship of the Nations"

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Siegfried H. Sunnus (Ed.), Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 1994, pp. 268f.
  2. ↑ Karl Marx / Friedrich Engels : Works, Volume 17, p. 4.
  3. ↑ Documents and materials on the history of the German labor movement, Volume IV, p. 208.
  4. ^ Documents and materials on the history of the German workers' movement, Series II, Volume 1, July 1914 to October 1917. Berlin 1958, p. 226.
  5. ^ President Roosevelt: America and Germany 1936–1945. Excerpts from speeches and documents. Ed. On behalf of the United States Government, o. O. and J., p. 11.
  6. ↑ Josef Stalin: Questions of Leninism. Moscow 1946, p. 690.
  7. ^ The emergence of the UN. Compiled and introduced by Harry Wünsche . Berlin 1974, p. 198.
  8. ↑ Ed. Hans-Joachim Laabs u. a. (Ed.): Pedagogical Dictionary. People and knowledge Volkseigener Verlag Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-06-202719-3 , p. 141.
  9. ^ Handbook of Treaties 1871–1964. Treaties and other documents from the history of international relations. Edited by Helmuth Stoecker with the assistance of Adolf Rüger. Berlin 1968, p. 594.
  10. ^ Circular “Pacem in terris”. About peace among all peoples in truth, justice, love and freedom. (Reprint of the meeting , monthly German Catholics, Berlin 1963, p. 15.)
  11. ↑ For peace and security in Europe. Conference of the communist and workers' parties of Europe on questions of European security. Karlovy Vary April 24-26, 1967, Berlin 1967, p. 16.
  12. ^ Constitution of the German Democratic Republic. Staatsverlag der DDR, 8th edition 1989, ISBN 3-329-00381-2 , p. 5.
  13. ^ Final Act of the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Helsinki. In: Neues Deutschland, 2./3. August 1975, p. 5.6.
  14. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.voelle.de
  15. ↑ http://www.ms-voelkerfreundschaft.de/