Insert into the Report at the Ceremonial Session Dedicated to the 32nd Anniversary of the October Revolution (after October 13, 1949)

Source: Tom 18

Over the last thirty years, Germany twice appeared on the world stage as an aggressive force and twice unleashed the bloodiest of wars: first the First World War, then the Second World War. This occurred because at the head of German policy stood German imperialists, aggressors and expansionists. If now, with the formation of the German Democratic Republic, the people's democratic forces, which stand for lasting peace, prevail in Germany, and the aggressors-expansionists are isolated, then this will signify a fundamental turning point in the history of Europe. There is no doubt that given the peace-loving policy of the German Democratic Republic alongside the peace-loving policy of the Soviet Union, which has the sympathy and support of the peoples of Europe, the cause of peace in Europe may be considered assured.

Zhukov Yu.N. Stalin: Mysteries of Power. P. 514.

RGASPI. F. 83. Op. 1. D. 11. L. 69.

Note

Stalin's addition to the text of the report, the preparation of which had been entrusted by the Politburo to G.M. Malenkov.

The strong emphasis placed on the role of the German Democratic Republic, proclaimed several days earlier in the former Soviet zone of occupation of Germany, was prompted by the latest round of the explosive confrontation with the Western powers in Europe. The United States, Great Britain, and France, having initiated in the spring and summer of 1949 the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in their zones of responsibility, had grossly violated the Yalta and Potsdam agreements. The parliament of the GDR, in its Manifesto of October 7, 1949, declared: the goals of creating the republic were the restoration of Germany's unity "through the elimination of the West German state, the abolition of the Ruhr Statute, the abolition of the autonomy of the Saar, and through the formation of an all-German government of the German Democratic Republic; the swiftest conclusion of a just peace treaty with Germany; the withdrawal of all occupation forces from Germany."

The historical parallels drawn by Stalin characterize the position of the USSR in the situation that had developed with utmost clarity. Compelled by the aggressive policy of the Western powers to take a reciprocal step — ensuring the creation of the East German republic — the Soviet leadership did not retreat a single step from the agreements concluded at Yalta and Potsdam, from the obligations it had assumed. The accusations against it, which have now become stereotypical, of deliberately splitting postwar Germany and disrupting the "democratic processes" underway there do not correspond to reality. On the contrary, as in the case of the prewar policy of containing the aggressor, these steps of the Soviet leadership cannot but be recognized as the only principled and consistent ones.