Khrushchev Denounces “Ultra – Revolutionaries”

Press, Volume CI, Issue 30005, 14 December 1962, Page 10

Khrushchev Denounces “Ultra - Revolutionaries”

(N^.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright)

MOSCOW, December 12. The Soviet Prime Minister (Mr Khrushchev) today directly rejected Communist China’s criticisms of Russia’s military withdrawal from Cuba. In a marathon foreign policy speech he denounced “ultra-revolutionaries” who tried to push the Soviet Union into a thermo-nuclear war against the United States.

He strongly criticised the leaders of Albania, China’s ally, and “the men behind them.” These people appeared to have taken up Trotskyite positions by wanting a world war as a means to make the world Communist.

Later he referred to modern “dogmatists” such as tihe Albanian leaders “and those who encouraged them.” They did not understand, he said, that if Communism became identified with war in the minds of the people, the ideas of Communism could suffer worldwide defeat. People w>ho called imperialism a “paper tiger” (a phrase popular to China) should remember that “the paper tiger has nuclear teeth. It may still use them, and it should not be treated lightly. Compromise Possible “Therefore, in relations with the imperialist countries, compromises are possible,” he said. Mr Khrushchev spoke tor 2hr 40min to 1200 delegates

of the Russian Supreme Soviet. Other points in his speech included: A renewed proposal for United Nations troops to replace Allied troops in Berlin. An appeal to China and India to settle their border dispute without further bloodshed. Mr Khrushchev said the Soviet Union did not teH China what to do arid when to do it It trusted the Chinese to know their own business. The “ultra - revolutionaries” who tried to push the Soviet Union into a thermonuclear war against the United States should think of this. The Soviet Union would have won such a war, but hundreds of millions of people would have died. Mr Khrushchev said the purpose of the accusations of :he “so-called Marxist-Lenin-ists” was to set the United States and Russia at each other's throats. In his attack on Albanian leaders, Mr Khrushchev said their hands were “stained with the blood of the best people,” and they wanted to resurrect the Stalin cult. Observers noted that in his references to the Chinese Mr Khrushchev used the phrase “Chinese friends” and not “comrades’ ’ —which he had used when speaking of the Cu ban leaders. Toward the end of his marathon speech, Mr Khrushchev’s voice became hoarse. At the end deputies gave him a three-minute standing ovation, with the Soviet Prime Minister clapping back in traditional Russian style. President Tito of Jugoslavia, now visiting Russia for the first time since 1956, shook hands warmly with Mr Khrushchev. “Mined Cellar” Mr Khrushchev told the Supreme Soviet the world was living on top of “a mined cellar full of thermonuclear weapons” and peaceful co-existence and disarmament was the only solution. Dressed in a grey suit and reading carefully from a sheaf of papers in front of him on the nostrum, he said the “few score” Russian rockets sent to Cuba art a time When the situation had become alarming were intended only tor defence purposes. The Soviet Government had been sure they would bring the Americans “to their senses” by showing them the danger of thermonuclear war. Mr Khrushchev said that some Western leaders, notably Dr. Adenauer and his “disciple” Lord Home, thought the Cuban lesson wias that Russia should be dealt with by threats of war.

They should remember that if such crises were repeated Britain and other countries “can be hurled into a catastrophe,” he said. He could assure Dr. Adenauer that when the Soviet Government sent the small number of rockets to Cuba, it “kept, as it were, the batch we keep tor you,” he said. Now the returned rockets were added to the Soviet rockets facing Dr. Adenauer’s Germany. , Mr Khrushchev in a strong attack on the Albanian leaders, compared them with boys in the Russian mining districts of has youth who were given three kopecks to say rude words to their mothers and pedd another five kopecks afterwards. On the Chinese-Indian border conflict, Mr Khrushchev said Russia hoped tor a commonsense settlement and regretted that, blood was being shed. AM border conflicts could be settled by talks. The border situation caused the Soviet Government anxiety. People Realised The Soviet people, who had experienced the “forest-fire” of World War 11, realised what another war, especially a thermo-nuclear one, would be like, and so did not want war. Mr Khrushchev said. However, the imperialists were ringing the Soviet Union with bases and “boasting of their war plans” to attack her. The Soviet Union had the best inter-continental rockets and was prepared to answer any nuclear attack, he said. Russia wanted a peaceful solution of the German problem and West Berlin, he said. Mr Khrushchev said aggressive imperialist circles were responsible for crises that occurred from time to time. They were “seeking a way out” by stepping up the arms race and preparing war against the Soviet Union and voting nations. “Sparks” from such an “imperialist-created” hot-bed could cause a world war. Mr Khrushchev said the Soviet Army was many thousands of miles away when The Cuban revolution came about, although the enemies of the Soviet Union thought of her as an “exporter of revolutions.” “We could not but extend a helping hand” to Cuba when economic measures were taken against her. and the Soviet people helped Cuba “from the bottom of their hearts,” he Baid.

However, when Soviet help was given, this caused “a fit of rage” in United States circles. “The Soviet people have worked hard to develop the most up-to-date and powerful means of defence—atomic and hydrogen bombs and rocket weapons, including inter-continental ballistic and global missiles,” Mr Khrushchev said. “Smashing Blow” “We have developed these means—they are the best in the world—and we have enough of them to reply to a blow by our enemies with a lightning, smashing blow, which would incinerate both the bases spearheaded against us, wherever they may be, and the industries forging the weapons for the armed forces of the aggressor.” Mr Khrushchev said the motive behind the supply of Soviet arms to Cuba was to help the island restrain aggression. There had been "private raids,” “bombardments” and infiltrations of parachutists. Mr Khrushchev said he had been surprised that the “small number of missiles” had provoked such a fierce reaction from the United States. When the Cuban crisis broke out. the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact States placed all their forces in combat readiness. Soviet readiness included the placing of all its rocket forces on a war tooting, he said. If steps had not'been taken to ease the tension, “an explosion with irreparable consequences would have ensued,” Mr Khrushchev said. Russia's statement on October 28—“ when Cuban leaders reported an American invasion within two days”— that she would withdraw the rockets from Cuba if the Untied States pledged no invasion of the island, was a logical step. Satisfaction Achieved

President Kennedy gave this pledge, and the need which had prompted Russia to supply the missiles was removed. Things then went “from the hands of the generals to those of the diplomats." Botii sides made concessions, both sides achieved satisfaction. Mr Khrushchev said United States imperialist circles had been doing all in their power to overthrow the Cuban regime since the first day of its existence. Those who thought Russia had shipped missiles to Cuba tor attack on the United States were “weak in the upper storey.” After aill, the Soviet Union had its own inter-conittoentai missiles capable of hitting targets from Soviet territory, and Cuba was “of no strategic importance to Russia. The smallness of Cuba and its closeness to the United States made it strategically nonsense to place rockets there tor offensive purposes. “We are pleased with the outcome of events” in Cuba, Mr Khirusthdhev said. If neither side had given way, it would have been like two goats who met head-on on a narrow bridge. Neither would budge, and both fell into the chasm. “Some people say that the United States forced us to make concessions, but so did the United States,” Agreement On Paper Russia had carried out its side of the bargain, now it was time to put on paper the agreement reached in the exchange of messages with President Kennedy. Mr Khrushchev praised the part played by Fidel Castro in the Cuban crisis and said Russia “wholeheartedly” supported the five points he put forward as conditions for a settlement. Before referring to Lord Home, Mr Khrushchev said there were Western leaders w>ho drew the lesson from the Cuba affair that the way to deal with Russia was to make threat of war. They included Chancellor Adenauer and other West German politicians. Dr. Adenauer had been one of the firmest supporters of a “strong line’’ over Cube and was always “dreaming of revenge." There was only one choice before mankind in our time: “Peaceful co-existence or devastating war,” he said. Mr Khrushchev warned that a policy of strength against the Soviet Union could lead to war. If people in the West thought they had “a spade big enough to bury us and our missiles.” they ought not to forget that the Soviet Union had a “big spade” too. Mr Khrushchev, in a sarcastic tone, said the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Home, had spoken of the Russians acting differently after the lessons of the Cuban crisis. “Lord Home should know that the Soviet Union has always taken into consideration lessons of international policy.” Such people should remember that if such crises were repeated then Britain and other countries could be “hurled into a catastrophe.” Stumbling Block

After calling on the West to sign a disarmament treaty under intemtalonal supervision, Mr Khrushchev turned to Berlin and said the most important stunning block to

agreement was the question of what troops would be there. Russia wanted such troops to be under the Untied Nations flag, for a definite period and for definite purposes. “Those in the West who think that the Soviet Union lacks determination to settle the German problem are wrong. If the Soviet Union cannot get the Western Powers to sign a joint peace treaty, it will do irt on its own with East Germany,” he said. Mir Khrushchev said the imperialists were trying to suppress nationail liberation, movements in Yemen, the Congo, Angola “and now in Brunei:” He called for China’s admission to the United Nations and the restoration of Formosa to China.

If we spend our lives in loving, we have no leisure to complain, or to feel unhappiness.—Joseph Joubert.