CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 102, 27 October 1945, Page 6

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

HER NATIONAL DAY

FIRST AS A FREE COUNTRY

(BY "BOHEMICUS"). Tomorrow Czechoslovakia will celebrate her first-National Day as a free country after, six years of occupation. She was the last European country to regain her freedom with the advent of YE Day. While we were already celebrating the downfall of Nazism, desperate German divisions made their last stand against the Czech partisans. With the final surrender of the Germans, President Benes's Government was immediately faced with urgent questions of reconstruction. The suddenness of the change from war to peace proved to be of considerable advantage. It enabled the Government to harness the still fresh popular enthusiasm for the task of rebuilding, before the unavoidable fatigue caused by the long period of occupation set in.

Much has been written about the pre-war Czechoslovakia, the democratic stronghold ■, in Central Europe. Her history of liberalism is the background against which her bloodless revolution is rapidly. developing, involving the very conception of the Czechoslovak State. Pre-war Czechoslovakia was built on the pattern of the Western democracies, which admirably fitted the highly developed political consciousness of her people, the standard of her democratic institutions was comparable to that of the Western European countries. Yet as a Slav people the Czechoslovaks have always been linked, emotionally and geographically, with the Slav nations of Eastern , Europe and in particular with Russia. But this strong bond of kinship was never allowed to gain practical expression while Russia was ruled by a Tsarist regime. In reorganising these factors, it. was President Masaryk who built the first Republic on a Western orientation. A STRONG ALLIANCE. It would be futile to deny that the achievements of the Soviet Union ,both before and during the war, the great part she played in the liberation of Czechoslovakia, and, on the other hand, the weakness of -France, previously Czechoslovakia's major ally, and the Munich dictate, caused Dr. Benes to seek the future of his country in a strong alliance with Russia, [n this he has the undivided support of his people. This is not the work of Communist agitators, but the will of the people. All political parties, have friendship With ■ Russia written into their platforms as one of the main policy issues. The Communists are not by any means the predominating party, and though they have increased their strength considerably during the war years, ;hey have secured only one-third-of ;he electorate. In this respect the political set-up closely resembles the situation in France, as revealed by the recent general election. Freedom is the most cherished possession of the Czech people. Millions nave- fallen in the quest for freedom from German oppression during the iast centuries. It is to safeguard this liberty that Czechoslovakia has allied herself with the Soviet Union. For the Czech people this is not a question of political doctrine but one of sheer survival. We read many reports in which the Russians are alleged to have imposed pro-Russian regimes in some countries within their sphere of influence. There is, however, no evidence to suggest any interference in Czechoslovakian affairs. They know well that no Government they might sponsor could assure them of such genuine friendship as the present one, which enjoys the confidence of the people, can bestow. True, there are difficulties to overcome in Slovakia, the eastern province, which is still going through her political adolescence, but British correspondents visiting Czechoslovakia report the vigorous revival of Czech democratic institutions. ■ •■• ECONOMIC READUSTMENTS. Czechoslovakia is now in the midst of an economic readjustment. The re-conversion from production for Germany's total war to supplying the bare necessities for a people impoverished by a ruthless enemy to the verge of destitution is a task requiring careful State planning. The task facing the Government is beset with difficulties. News reaching New Zealand reveals an acute shortage of almost all necessities ranging from cooking fats to clothing. These shortages are endured wearily but cheerfully in the hope of early improvements. There is a' prodigious craving for culture and study, of which the Czech people have been systematically starved by the Germans. There is an acute housing shortage, accentuated by the return of thousands of displaced persons from concentration camps and slave labour. One of the most difficult problems is the Sudeten Germans. Although enjoying full rights as Czechoslovak citizens in the first Republic, an overwhelming majority of them actively supported Hitlerism during the Munich crisis and thus were the direct cause of Czechoslovakia's dismemberment. During the occupation Sudeten Nazis are reported to have excelled the Germans from the Reich by sheer brutality. The reaction by the Czechs is not unexpected. They are determined to rid themselves of the enemy within at all costs.. The popular pressure for eviction forces the hand of the Government beyond its original intentions. There can be no- doubt that all but some 500,000 will have to leave the country, and it may be expected, provided the Government will show its willingness to act in accordance with the popular demand, that the evictions will be carried out in an orderly fashion. UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY. Czechoslovakia has the unique opportunity to build a imodel Socialist democracy, radical in Ithe solution of her economic problems, while at the same time upholding the fundamental rights of the individual. If she succeeds, she will combine the ideals of social justice emerging from the Soviet Union with the best traditions of freedom cherished by the Democratic West. She will thus become the true link between East and West, for which she is geographically so eminently suited. All present indications lead to the conclusion that both the Czechoslovak people and its leaders are conscious of the gre)at responsibility resting on their shoulders and that they are building their new State in alliance with the Soviet Union and close friendship with the Western democracies.