This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Commission of Historians of the USSR and Czechoslovakia. It was created on a parity basis by the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (CSAN). Members of the commission from the Soviet side are representatives of the institutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR, the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR, the IML under the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Higher Party School under the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, the GAU under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, and the Moscow State University. The chairman of the Soviet part of the commission is Academician P. N. Pospelov, and his first deputy is the author of these lines. The Czechoslovak part of the commission (Chairman - Vice-President of the CSAN acad. J. Polik) includes representatives of the CSAN institutes and the Slovak Academy of Sciences( SAN), the IML of the Central Committee of the CPR and the IML of the Central Committee of the CP of Slovakia, the Higher Political School of the Central Committee of the CPR, four universities, and archival institutions of the country. In addition to historians, the commission's members are economists, ethnographers, and archaeologists. The qualified and versatile composition of the commission, as well as the involvement of prominent Soviet and Czechoslovak scientists in conferences and symposiums organized by it, make it possible to discuss historical problems at a high scientific and theoretical level.
At the first organizational meeting in May 1967 in Prague, the "Regulation on the Commission of Historians of the USSR and Czechoslovakia" was adopted, which defines the main tasks and main content of the commission's work, namely: to promote coordination of the activities of Soviet and Czechoslovak historians, to develop and discuss the most important theoretical and methodological problems of historical science, to propose topics for discussion at joint conferences Soviet-Czechoslovak symposia, conferences and other scientific meetings on historical issues, to facilitate coordination of the work of Soviet and Czechoslovak historians in connection with international meetings, congresses, etc., to facilitate the exchange of scientific information on the scientific conferences held and on the most important results of research work. The Commission can also express its views and recommendations on the desirability of publishing joint publications of documents, express its wishes for translating and publishing Soviet and Czechoslovak literature and sources, make proposals on a plan for scientific cooperation between the USSR Academy of Sciences and the CHSANR on historical issues, etc.
At its first meeting, the commission discussed other issues, including the publication of a multi-volume joint publication of documents on the history of Soviet-Czechoslovak relations, which is currently being implemented. Two volumes have already been published, covering the period from November 1917 to June 1934. Members of the commission took part in a symposium dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.
In 1968, the work of the commission was complicated by events related to the subversive actions of anti-socialist forces in Czechoslovakia. At the regular meeting of the commission held in Moscow in May 1968, when discussing the problem of the formation of the Czechoslovak bourgeois Republic, some members of the Czechoslovak delegation showed a tendency to blur the class character of this state, to exaggerate the role of G. T. Masaryk and E. Benes in its creation, and to belittle the influence of the Great October Socialist Revolution on the development of the revolutionary-
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of crucial importance in the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. This anti-historical point of view received a well-founded critical assessment in the speeches of academicians P. N. Pospelov, I. I. Mints, E. M. Zhukov and other Soviet historians who took part in the meeting of the commission.
In September 1972, at a meeting of the commission held in Smolenitsy, near Bratislava, the problem of "World War II and Soviet - Czechoslovak relations during the war years"was discussed. The main reports "Some actual problems of the history of the Second World War" and "Czechoslovakia and the Second World War" were made by corresponding members. Academy of Sciences of the USSR P. A. Zhilin and the Director of the Czechoslovak-Soviet Institute of Emergency Medicine V. V. I stole it. A number of reports were devoted to Soviet-Czechoslovak relations during the war. The views of bourgeois historians who are biased in their coverage of the causes, course, and results of World War II were criticized. The participants of the meeting also listened to a number of reports and speeches on topical issues of the development of Czechoslovak and Soviet historiography. These reports also identified problems that the Commission of Historians of the USSR and Czechoslovak SSR1 can help solve . After the meeting, members of the Soviet delegation visited a number of scientific institutions and educational institutions in Bratislava, where they got acquainted with their activities, made reports and reports on the scientific work of their institutes. The participants of the meeting also got acquainted with the results of archaeological excavations in Mikulcitsy near Brno, visited the memorial sites of the anti-fascist Slovak National Uprising of 1944. A press conference was held to discuss topical issues in the history of World War II and its development in the Soviet Union. Czechoslovak historians suggested holding annual meetings in the form of commission meetings, symposia, etc. This proposal was accepted.
Implementing this decision, the commission held a symposium in Prague in October 1973 to discuss the problem of "Soviet-Czechoslovak relations in 1917-1970 as a factor of international politics". The symposium examined the most significant problems of Soviet-Czechoslovak relations over more than 50 years of their development in the general context of the history of international relations. It should be noted that this approach to the study of bilateral relations made it possible to make broad theoretical generalizations. The main reports dealt with various aspects of Soviet-Czechoslovak relations. The substantial report "The Great October Socialist Revolution and the Formation of the Czechoslovak Republic", made by a member of the commission, the late Academician O. Rzhiga, director of the Institute of Czechoslovak and General History of the CSAN, traced various lines of influence of the October Revolution on the development of the workers ' and national liberation movement in Central and South - Eastern Europe, including in the Czech lands The article analyzes the policy of Great Britain and the United States in relation to Austria-Hungary. The October Revolution was of fundamental importance for a radical change in the balance of power in the camp of the belligerent great Powers. It also became the main and decisive factor in strengthening the spontaneous revolutionary struggle of the masses, while the opportunism of the social-democrats of Austria-Hungary, as well as other countries, led to the inevitable ideological disarmament of the working class, which helped strengthen the position of the national bourgeoisie in the national liberation movement. It was the powerful wave of spontaneous liberation movement stimulated by the October Revolution that led to the destruction of the Habsburg Monarchy, despite the plans of the main imperialist powers that tried to preserve it.
Other reports and co-reports examined the most significant aspects of the development of Soviet-Czechoslovak relations between the two World Wars, analyzed the role of the popular masses of Czechoslovakia in establishing normal relations with the Soviet Union, and the fraternal cooperation of the communist parties of the two countries in the fight against fascism and war. Special attention was paid to Soviet-Czechoslovak relations in the war and post-war years and to the role of Soviet-Czechoslovak relations in solving international problems of the war and post-war period, in particular, the issues of post-war settlement, ensuring lasting peace and security of European peoples, the development of relations between the two countries.-
1 For more information about these reports, see Voprosy Istorii, 1973, No. 2.
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of the Commonwealth of socialist countries and the solution of other important international problems 2 .
They also discussed the issues of teaching Czechoslovak history in Soviet higher educational institutions (based on the materials of the RSFSR) and teaching the history of the USSR in Czechoslovak universities. In these reports and during the discussion, many comments and suggestions were made, which were then transmitted to the relevant ministries of the USSR and Czechoslovakia.
At the fifth meeting of the commission, held in Kiev on June 25-29, 1974, the problems of building socialism in the USSR and Czechoslovakia were discussed as the first item on the agenda. The main report "Problems of the transition period from capitalism to socialism" was delivered by a corresponding member. Academy of Sciences of the USSR Yu. A. Polyakov. He described in detail the general laws of the transition period and showed their significance for countries embarking on the path of socialist development. Manifestations of the general laws of socialist construction in the specific conditions of each country were analyzed in the reports " The Working Class-the leading force in the construction of socialism "(the author of these lines), "Problems of ideological education of the masses during the construction of socialism" (corresponding member. Academy of Sciences of the BSSR I. M. Ignatenko), " Leninist principles of solving the national question in the Czech SSR "(Academician M. Gosiorovsky, Comenius University in Bratislava). The role of the National Front in Czechoslovakia in the construction of socialism was discussed in the joint report of M. Klimesh (IML of the Central Committee of the KCP) and M. Vartikova (IML of the Central Committee of the KPS) and the report of the corresponding member. Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR I. N. Melnikova. The issue of "Socialist transformation of the countryside" became the topic of V. V. Maryina's speech.
Considerable attention was paid to the problems of building a developed socialist society. These issues were covered by the reports "Problems of building developed socialism" (V. Kral), " Actual problems of international education in the conditions of a developed socialist society "(corresponding member. Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR A. G. Shevelev), " Problems of social policy in a developed socialist society "(Yu. E. Volkov) and a number of speeches in the debate. The meeting participants also listened to the reports of corresponding members. Academy of Sciences of the USSR Yu. V. Bromley "Modern ethno-cultural processes in the USSR" and the late member of the Commission P. M. Derevyanko on the defense of the socialist fatherland.
The meeting drew the attention of the scientific community to the most important scientific and political problems of the history of the creation of a socialist society and issues of its modern development. Speakers described the level of development of this topic achieved in Soviet and Czechoslovak historiography. At the same time, many of them drew attention to the expediency of establishing closer cooperation between Soviet and Czechoslovak scientists in studying the problems of the history of socialist society.
A special meeting of the commission was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the anti-fascist Slovak National Uprising of 1944. Along with the members of the commission, it was attended by Czechoslovak and Soviet partisans - participants of the uprising, war veterans, board members and activists of the Ukrainian branch of the Soviet-Czechoslovak Friendship Society. The main report "Historical significance of the Slovak National Uprising" was delivered by M. Kropilak (Director of the Institute of History of the SAN). Reports on Soviet aid to the uprising were presented by Soviet historians V. I. Klokov (Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR), M. I. Semiryaga. L. P. Drozhzhin, a former employee of the Ukrainian headquarters of the Partisan movement, shared his memories of sending organizing partisan groups to Slovakia during the uprising. The reports of the Czechoslovak participants in the uprising of Fr. Gale University (J. E. Purkine University in Brno) and J. Grozienczyka (Institute of the History of European Socialist Countries of the Russian Academy of Sciences).
At the final meeting of the commission, the commission's work plan for 1975-1979 was reviewed and approved. The plan was to discuss such important scientific problems as the impact of Leninism on the international labor movement, the formation and development of the commonwealth of socialist countries, and the problems of the emergence and development of the revolutionary labor movement.-
2 The proceedings of this symposium were then published in Czech. "Ceskoslovensko-sovetske vztahy jako faktor mezinarodni politiky 1917 - 1970". Praha. 1975.
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in Russia and Austria-Hungary; methodological problems of studying feudal society, problems of ethnogenesis of the Slavs, the crisis of the socio-economic system of capitalism in the period between the two world wars, and others.
The sixth session of the commission was held in Minsk in September 1975 in the form of a symposium devoted to the discussion of the problem "Formation and development of the Commonwealth of socialist countries". The symposium was organized by the section of the History of the construction of socialism of the Scientific Council of the Social Sciences Section of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences on the complex problem "World Socialist System". A characteristic feature of the meeting was the wide participation of economists, philosophers, lawyers, cultural historians, and philologists in addition to historians.
The discussion included reports and co-reports highlighting the social, historical and socio-political prerequisites for the formation of the Commonwealth of socialist countries; internal processes of socio-economic development of the COMECON member countries and their impact on the development and consolidation of the socialist commonwealth, the importance of inter-party relations for its development, the implementation of the principles of proletarian internationalism in relations between socialist states, influence of the socialist community on international relations, issues of deepening socialist economic integration and development of economic relations between the USSR and the Czechoslovak SSR; legal foundations of international socialist economic integration; the role of cultural and scientific ties and cooperation in strengthening the socialist community. The issues of coverage of the history of the socialist commonwealth in Soviet, Czechoslovak and foreign historiography were also considered.
The main report "Historical, socio-political and social prerequisites for the formation of the Commonwealth of socialist countries" was presented by V. Melikhar, Head of the Department of the Czechoslovak-Soviet Institute of CSAN, who reflected in the report the results of many years of research work carried out by a large team of authors .3 I. Grozienchik, M. V. Iskrov, and L. N. Nezhinsky also gave informative reports and co-reports. The speeches pointed out the need for a more in-depth study of the problems of party relations and the role of communist and workers ' parties in the formation and development of the commonwealth, as well as the history of foreign policy of the countries of the socialist commonwealth.
The problems of deepening the economic integration of the countries of the socialist commonwealth were covered in a detailed report by A. Balek (Institute of Economics of the Czech Academy of Sciences), in co-reports by S. Tsambel (Comenius University in Bratislava), A. Ruzicka (Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences) and M. Vartikova, as well as in the report by A. I. Sokolov and speeches by a number of employees of the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE USSR.
The report "Legal foundations of international Socialist Integration" was delivered by L. Neustupnaya (Institute of State and Law of the CHSAN). Reports on cooperation between socialist countries in the field of culture and science contributed to comprehensive coverage of the problem. The report "Cultural cooperation is an important factor in consolidating the peoples of socialist countries" was presented by I. N. Melnikova and A. V. Khlanta (Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR). The role of science in the development of cooperation between socialist countries was discussed in co-reports and speeches by K. Herman (Institute of Czechoslovak and Universal History of the Czech Academy of Sciences), M. Gosiorovsky, F. Gale, M. B. Eshich and speeches by V. P. Chugaev (Institute of Social Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR and P. S. Sohan (Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR).
The participants of the symposium noted the great political and scientific significance of the problem of the formation and development of the Commonwealth of socialist countries, the novelty in covering a number of aspects of the problem, and emphasized the expediency of organizing multilateral cooperation of scientists from socialist countries in its research. The meeting also heard information reports on the participation of Soviet and Czechoslovak historians in international congresses and conferences held between the two sessions of the commission.
The results of the Minsk meeting of the Commission of Historians of the USSR and Czechoslovakia were discussed at the meeting of the Bureau of the History Department of the Academy of Sciences
3 See "Formovani svetove socialisticne soustavy", sv. 1-2. Praha. 1975, published by the Czechoslovak - Soviet Institute of CSAN.
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USSR, which approved the work done on the symposium and supported the commission's decision to publish its proceedings 4 .
At the beginning of September 1976, the seventh meeting of the commission was held in Brno, where the main problems of the development of the labor movement in Russia and Austria-Hungary in the last quarter of the XIX - early XX century were discussed. The scientific significance of the problem was due to the fact that this period was associated with the rise of the labor movement and the beginning of the activity of political parties of the proletariat, the formation of a revolutionary trend in the labor movement-Leninism, the first people's revolution of the imperialist era - the revolution of 1905-1907 in Russia, which caused a resonance in many countries of the world, including. L. M. Minaev's report "Main trends in the development of social Democracy at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries" analyzed the tasks facing the working-class movement at that time, and revealed the reasons for the strengthening of reformism and opportunism in Western European social democracy, which ultimately led to the collapse of the Second International. At the same time, the speaker revealed the degree of influence of revolutionary trends in the working-class movement, primarily Leninism. Faltys (IML of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Hungary) in his report "The main trends in the development of the labor movement during the period of the development of capitalism in its imperialist stage" focused on the problem of Austro-Slavism, which determined the reformist orientation of the social democratic movement of Austria-Hungary on the eve of the First World War. The reformist orientation of social-democracy on the national question (its leaders ' promotion of the slogan of cultural autonomy), along with other revisionist and reformist tendencies, prevented the working class of Austria-Hungary from becoming the hegemon of the national liberation and revolutionary struggle.
In his report on the emergence of the Austrian Social Democratic Party, Fr. Jordan (Purkine University in Brno) emphasized the importance of the Czech labor movement in overcoming centrifugal tendencies and in developing a common platform on the basis of which it became possible to unite the national detachments of the working class of Austria and the Czech lands. A. F. Kostin, in his report "V. I. Lenin and the Creation of a New Type of Party (some Questions of the development of Bolshevism in the light of criticism of bourgeois falsifiers of history)", described the main stages of the development of Bolshevism before the Great October Socialist Revolution and revealed Lenin's comprehensive activities in the Soviet Union. creating a revolutionary party of the working class. The speaker revealed the inconsistency of modern bourgeois views on the development of the working-class movement in Russia at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. Speaking in the discussion, corresponding member of CHSAN Ya. Pursch (Director of the Institute of Czechoslovak and Universal History of the Czech Academy of Sciences) emphasized the need to consider the labor movement in the general context of social phenomena of this period and criticized the attempts of modern bourgeois historiography to misinterpret the industrial development of Russia at the turn of two centuries.
Interesting ideas were expressed by speakers in the debate I. M. Ignatenko, M. Gosiorovsky, Yu. A. Polyakov, corresponding members. Academy of Sciences of the USSR A. M. Samsonov, Fr. Jordan and others. Reports and speeches criticized the attempt of some modern ideologists of social democracy to link the creation of the Workers ' Party in Austria-Hungary with the activities of the Second International. In the speeches of V. Pesci (Institute of Czechoslovak and General History of the CSAN), Fr. Jordan and others, it was emphasized that the beginning of the social-democratic movement and the emergence of the party in Austria-Hungary should be attributed to the end of the 60s of the XIX century, when the Marxist trend associated with the activities of the First International prevailed in the labor movement.
In the reports of S. V. Tyutyukin and V. Ya. Laverychev On the impact of the first Russian Revolution on the international workers ' and national liberation movement, it was noted that the revolutionary struggle of the Russian proletariat in 1905 - 1907 opened up the prospect for the international working-class movement to realize a new revolution.-
4 The materials of the commission meeting were published. See "Formation and Development of the Commonwealth of Socialist Countries", Ch. I-II, Moscow, 1976.
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While showing concrete ways to replace bourgeois statehood with Soviets, it was emphasized that the Bolsheviks, under Lenin's leadership, had developed a historically determined concept of a truly people's revolution of the imperialist era in a new and difficult situation and had defended it in the struggle against the Mensheviks and Social revolutionaries. The report of O. Kodedova (Institute of Czechoslovak and Universal History of the Czech Academy of Sciences) "The first Russian Revolution and the Workers ' Movement in Cisleithania in 1905 - 1907" examined the main revolutionary events related to the impact of the revolution in Russia on the Austrian and Czech workers ' and national liberation movements. Her report was substantially supplemented by an essay by M. Pische (Comenius University in Bratislava), which examined the main manifestations of the influence of the 1905 - 1907 revolution on the labor movement in Slovakia.
I. M. Ignatenko's report "The Emergence of Leninism and its significance for the development of the working-class movement" comprehensively assessed Lenin's contribution to the development of the Marxist theory of the socialist revolution, to the struggle against opportunism and reformism, to the creation of a new type of Marxist party, and to his assistance to Marxist forces in the working-class movement in Italy, Bulgaria, Poland, and other countries. In his report entitled "The historical significance of the Emergence of Leninism for the working-class movement in the Czech Lands and Slovakia," he stressed the universal significance of Lenin's generalization of the historical experience of the struggle of the Russian working class for the implementation of the Great October Socialist Revolution and for the world revolutionary movement, including the Czech and Slovak working class. J. Koleika (Purkine University in Brno) also noted the relationship between the working-class movement of his country and the revolutionary movement of Russia.
Discussion of the problems of the development of the labor movement in Russia and Austria-Hungary in the last quarter of the 19th and early 20th centuries was an important contribution of the Commission of Historians of the USSR and Czechoslovakia to the implementation of the tasks set by the XXV Congress of the CPSU and the XV Congress of the Communist Party of Soviet and Czechoslovak scientists exchanged mutual information on the main directions of work of research institutes in the next five years. The proposal of the Czechoslovak side to hold a regular meeting of the commission in autumn 1977 in Prague on the topic "The influence of the Great October Socialist Revolution on the theory and practice of the revolutionary workers 'and liberation movement in Europe"was accepted.
These are the main outlines of the results of the Commission of Historians of the USSR and Czechoslovakia for a decade. During this time, the Commission organized a fruitful discussion by Soviet and Czechoslovak scholars on a number of issues of great theoretical and methodological importance for the development of historiography in both countries,thereby contributing to the solution of some of these problems. The publication of reports and other materials from its plenary sessions and its symposia is an indicator of the practical implementation of the results of the commission's work in science. Thus, a collection of reports and speeches at a symposium (Prague, 1973) on Soviet-Czechoslovak relations as a factor of international politics was published in Czech. Materials of the symposium held in Minsk in 1975 were published in Russian. The publication of these materials in Czechoslovakia is being prepared. A collection of materials from the last meeting of the commission in Brno has been prepared for publication. Main reports delivered at the plenary session of the Commission in Smolenitsy in September 1972. on the problems of the Second World War and Soviet-Czechoslovak relations, and the materials of the Kiev meeting of the commission (June 1974) were published in historical journals of Czechoslovakia and the USSR.
As a body of cooperation between Soviet and Czechoslovak scientists in solving important problems of historiography, the commission contributes to the joint development of topical problems of history, the creation of generalizing works on them, mutual information on the development of science in the countries of the socialist commonwealth, and helps to widely familiarize scientists of the two countries with the economic, political and cultural achievements of their peoples.
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