More than five years after its inception, our Organization is presented with a document which can, without exaggeration, be described as disturbing. This document, the annual report of the Secretary-General on the work of the United Nations, opens with the following sombre statement: “My fifth annual report to the General Assembly on the work of the United Nations is written at a time of serious danger to the peace of the world and to the continued existence of the Organization.”
2. What has happened? How is it possible that in the space of five years the situation has developed to the point of causing us such grave anxiety for the future of the world and of mankind? How is it that, instead of having a more firmly established peace, we are today faced with events which threaten the security of nations and with acts which constitute a breach of the peace?
3. The Polish delegation has more than once drawn the attention of the United Nations to the true reasons for the growing international tension: it is the consequence of two political tendencies in the world. The principle that it is possible for countries with different structures, namely capitalism on the one hand and socialism on the other, to co-exist, to co-operate and to compete peaceably with one another has been repeatedly proclaimed and, what is much more important, has always been faithfully respected by the Soviet Union and the countries of the people’s democracies. Despite this principle, almost immediately after the termination of the war, an offensive was launched against the socialist camp.
4. The two tendencies — one, the desire for the peaceful co-existence of different regimes, and the other, constant aggressiveness against the socialist camp and peace — found clear expression in two statements which we heard at the very beginning of the general debate.
5. The address of the Secretary of State of the United States [279th meeting] was aggressive, full of unjustified attacks and invective. Most of the conclusions contained in that speech were intended to destroy the basic principles of our Charter. How different was the calm and reasoned statement of the USSR representative [279th meeting]. Rejecting Mr. Acheson’s method of discussion, Mr. Vyshinsky once again gave evidence of the peaceful and constructive methods by which the Soviet Union proposes to approach the most complicated and dramatic international problems. Mr. Acheson’s statement was just one more result of the post-war policy of the United States. Although the Secretary of State of the United States did not refer to things by their real name, his speech was of a piece with the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan and the North Atlantic Treaty.
6. Ostensibly a means to defend the United States against imaginary aggression, the Truman Doctrine has become an instrument of interference in the domestic affairs of States and peoples in all parts of the world. The United States intends to carry out this doctrine by building more and more strategic bases throughout the world. The Truman Doctrine is used to deprive States of their sovereign rights. The naval and air forces of the United States usurp the right to intervene in the territorial waters and in the air space of other States; its land forces enter foreign territories. The encirclement and occupation of Taiwan provide an example of this.
7. Under the guise of economic assistance to the war- devastated countries, the Marshall Plan is making the countries of Western Europe politically and economically subject to the selfish interests of the United States.
8. Under the pretext of defence against an imaginary danger, and following the pattern of the Anti-Comintern Pact of shameful memory, the North Atlantic Treaty is today openly used for preparations for war.
9. Incitement to war through the now exploded myth of a monopoly of the atomic bomb was accompanied by action to destroy the bases of international co-operation. In so far as efforts to deal with the consequences of the war are concerned, this policy had led to a breakdown in the Council of Foreign Ministers and to a deadlock in the organs of inter-allied control in Germany, Austria and Japan. In this way, the establishment of normal international relations, the conclusion of peace treaties and the withdrawal of occupation forces have been made impossible. This policy pursued and still pursues the object of giving the United States a free hand to act whenever and wherever it chooses.
10. One year ago, during the fourth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Soviet Union proposed the conclusion of a five-Power pact to strengthen peace and at the same time called for condemnation of preparations for a new war. Those proposals, which were warmly supported by the Polish delegation, revealed the true intentions of all those who constantly appeal for peace in order better to camouflage their policy of preparing for war. They rejected that peace proposal on the pretext that the United Nations Charter provided an adequate guarantee of peace and that the conclusion of additional treaties and conventions would therefore be superfluous.
11. A whole year has elapsed since then. The entire period since the fourth session of the General Assembly has been devoted to arming and preparing, for a new war by the imperialist camp. We have witnessed the conclusion of new agreements concerning military bases, loans for armaments, unified commands and even the idea of a unified Western European army. We have seen that in all these cases the Charter was not an obstacle to the conclusion of agreements for the carrying out of plans which are manifestly in conflict with the spirit of the Charter. In the opinion of some people — the representative of Sweden for example — our Charter constituted an obstacle only to the conclusion of a truly pacific agreement which could have strengthened international co-operation and provided a solid basis for the further development of our Organization.
12. It is clear that, as a result of these manoeuvres, the international situation has become more serious and more confused in Asia as well as in Europe. Intervention in China having proved fruitless, Japan has become the springboard for American aggression in the Far East. Instead of witnessing the democratization of that country, we see the resurgence of Japanese militarism, the creation of a mercenary army and the liberation of war criminals.
13. In order to regain the positions which it had lost through the defeat in China, the United States proceeded to intervene by force in Korea, believing that it could easily gain control first of that country and subsequently of the other countries enumerated in President Truman’s message of 27 June 1950. It has once again become apparent that a so-called government imposed on a people against its will can remain in power only with the protection of foreign bayonets. That was the fate of Chiang Kai-shek yesterday; that is the fate of Syngman Rhee today; and that will be the fate of their fellows tomorrow.
14. An attempt is being made to submerge the heroic resistance of the Korean people in a sea of blood. American bombs are pouring down on unarmed civilian populations, on towns and villages, on schools and hospitals and on the property of the population. The campaign against the Korean people is a campaign against the freedom of peoples and is intended to terrorize those nations which are seeking to free themselves from colonial exploitation and are struggling for their independence. Any one who knows history and understands the course of events realizes how futile it is to rely on the effectiveness of such a threat. Nations which are fighting for their freedom will never surrender. No nation has ever given up its hope of freedom under the threat of bombs and bullets.
15. Simultaneously with the events in Asia, the United States has tried to carry out its plans in other parts of the world. The recent conferences of the States belonging to the Atlantic bloc, held in London and New York, were characterized by tremendously increased armaments programmes and growing interference by the United States in the internal affairs of European countries.
16. Propaganda of hatred and of war against the countries in the camp of peace is becoming ever more intense in the countries of Western Europe; civil liberties are being curtailed and fascist movements are being encouraged in France, Italy and Belgium. Obviously the Un-American Activities Committee and the FBI provide an admirable example of such action. Workers' parties fighting in the cause of peace are persecuted, militant progressives are sentenced and an atmosphere is being created in which extreme reactionary elements are encouraged to make attempts on the lives of labour leaders.
17. In 1948, at its third session, the General Assembly approved the still imperfect Universal Declaration of Human Rights. France voted in favour of it. Yet, in violation of that Declaration and in violation of the United Nations Charter, hundreds of persons who distinguished themselves in France’s struggle for freedom, heroes of the Resistance, have been and still are being deported in inhuman conditions; among those persons are Spaniards and Poles who wear French war decorations.
18. At the same time, the French authorities are protecting war criminals, traitors and former collaborators, who are kept out of the reach of justice. A few weeks ago, after refusing to extradite him to Poland, a French tribunal freed the well-known war criminal Bohun- Dobrowski, who had taken refuge in France. During the last war, this criminal was the chief of a gang which collaborated with the Gestapo and with the Wehrmacht; he murdered hundreds of Polish citizens, members of the Polish Resistance fighting against the nazis, Soviet soldiers and Jews who were hiding from the Gestapo.
19. In speaking of European problems, I should like to devote special attention to the situation in Germany, in view of Poland’s vital interest in the question. Germany has become the scene of particularly intensive political activity by the United States.
20. In 1950, we have witnessed in Western Germany the further liquidation of the decisions of Yalta and Potsdam. Remilitarization and renazification of Western Germany have been the basic elements of United States policy. It has become clear to every observer that the preparations for remilitarization are following three lines: the Western Powers are making their own preparations on German territory; they are training a German army and strengthening the existing para-military organizations; and they are building up the German armament potential and heavy industry for the war needs of the Atlantic bloc.
21. The High Commissioner in the American Zone, Mr. McCloy, himself admitted not long ago that the American army in Germany had ceased to be an army of occupation. Its purpose now is to provide the so-called “defence” of Western Germany against the imaginary danger from the East. For the purpose of this “defence”, most of the air fields of the former Luftwaffe have been retained and a whole series of new ones have been built, hundreds of acres of arable land being taken for the purpose. Bomber bases are also being built. Huge ammunition dumps are being built and underground depots left by the Wehrmacht brought back into use. There is a constantly increasing number of military training camps and of shooting ranges for the occupation forces. The military equipment of the occupation forces is being continually increased, for the same purpose. It could hardly be maintained that the 670 American tanks which were unloaded at Bremen between 6 December 1949 and 3 February 1950 are to be used for peaceful purposes.
22. The second step in these preparations is the formation of a German army. For this purpose the Western occupation authorities have for some time been using the services of war criminals, including those whose extradition was demanded by Poland. It suffices to quote the names of Generals Bach-Zelewski and Reinefahrt, who were responsible for the destruction of Warsaw. When we submitted our requests for extradition, we were told that General Reinefahrt was needed by the American authorities. It is now clear why and for what purpose these men were needed. War criminals and nazis form the core of the German mercenary army. All this is accompanied by the extension of the paramilitary organizations, in particular the German civilian labour organization. The police forces, which already total half a million men in the Western Zones, are being increased.
23. This whole policy has received the sanction of the three Ministers of Foreign Affairs who recently met in New York. The so-called Bonn Government has been illegally recognized as representing the German people. It has also been decided to place at its disposal military forces, which for the sake of appearances will wear police uniforms.
24. Representatives of some governments approved these decisions regardless of the fact that they were against the vital interests of their own countries. The remilitarization of Western Germany is being accompanied by preparations for the reconstruction of the military potential of Germany and for a complete economic remilitarization. These, too, were approved by the three-Power conference in New York. Apart from the longterm policy aimed at setting up in Germany a big German-American armaments concern to cover both the German Ruhr and French Lorraine — a plan of which Mr. Schuman boasted only today — German industry is already working on military orders. Armour plating, tank engines, fuel for jet-planes, poison gases and high explosives are being manufactured; that is how the Western Powers implement the decisions of Yalta and Potsdam.
25. An important part in this plan has been allotted to mercenary units recruited from among those who found themselves in Germany as a result of the war and the occupation and were prevented from returning to their countries of origin. War criminals, quislings and traitors to their own countries are also being recruited — persons whom the Western occupation authorities, in violation of international obligations, are refusing to extradite to the countries where they would be summoned before the courts to answer for their crimes. Mercenaries of this type have a special mission. They are being trained and used for the despicable role of spies and saboteurs. These are men who are to be used under the command of mercenary generals, in fratricidal war.
26. How different is the situation in the Eastern part of Germany! The German Democratic Republic, from the very day of its foundation, has been building, on ruins and ashes, a new, peaceful and democratic Germany which is paving the way towards co-operation between the German nation and its neighbours. This new Germany is a peace-making factor in Europe.
27. The German Democratic Republic and Poland have established good-neighbourly relations and are developing a considerable volume of trade. On the basis of the Potsdam decisions, by mutual consent and in full consideration of our common interests, we fixed definitively the already established and existing frontier with the German people. The frontier on the Oder and the Western Neisse is the inviolable frontier of peace and its final delimitation, sanctioned by the Polish-German agreement of 6 July 1950, constitutes an outstanding contribution to peace and stability in Europe.
28. The whole camp of peace, of which Poland forms a part, is carrying out a positive policy with regard to Germany.
29. What have the creators of the Atlantic bloc to offer Europe in this respect? Their programme means more soldiers, more tanks, more bombers, an increase in chauvinism, hatred and unrest in Europe.
30. What is the meaning and the aim of the establishment of such an armed force and the putting into effect of remilitarization? The reply is to be found in the authoritative statement made by Mr. Schumacher, leader of the German Social Democrats. Scarcely a month ago he cynically stated: “The war must be conducted in such a way that the fighting will take place on the Vistula and the Niemen”.
31. Thus Mr. Schumacher gave a dear reply to the question what was the aim of all these preparations. The aim is war. War against whom? Against Poland and against the Soviet Union, Where? On the soil of Poland and of the Soviet Union, for as we know the Vistula flows through the heart of Poland and the Niemen is in the Soviet Union.
32. The initiators of the new war are not particular in their choice of means. The Press and radio in their service make use of falsehoods and fables. They must believe in men’s credulity, because their falsehoods were long ago denounced by history. Their falsehoods have even been spoken of here. The representatives of Australia, the Netherlands, Chile and other countries have referred to them. They attempted to frighten the General Assembly by raising the bogey of a conspiracy. They must have forgotten that that same method had already been used by the interventionists at the time of the October Revolution. At that time, the struggle of the peoples of Russia for their freedom was called a plot against mankind. History judged otherwise; it condemned the interventionists, entitling that chapter a conspiracy against the peoples of the Soviet Union. Today, events are following the same course. The newspapers periodically publish sensational headlines embodying new fables concerning conspiracies, the “fifth column” and the alleged manoeuvres of the Soviet Union and the countries of the people’s democracies against peace. Then, when these flagrant slanders are invalidated by facts, their authors, as a matter of form, publish a belated correction modestly hidden in the least conspicuous spot. Among many examples, it should suffice to quote the notorious document “M” of 1947, the authenticity of which even a British Minister did not hesitate to guarantee. In 1948, there was the Berlin affair; in 1949, the alleged concentration of troops on the Yugoslav frontiers; in 1950, we have had the slanderous statements concerning demonstrations by German youth in Berlin, and the no less slanderous reports regarding the People’s Government of China.
33. Mr. Bevin also has spoken of this conspiracy [283rd meeting], using the word “satellite” in this very room. The word “satellite” has therefore been pronounced here by the representative of a government which, obviously acting under foreign pressure and against the interests of its own country, had ordered a curtailment of trade with the countries of Eastern Europe and with the People’s Republic of China.
34. That word has been repeated today by Mr. Schuman, who, in his speech [286th meeting] frequently used the expression “supra-national”, no doubt to hide the real dependence of his great and beautiful country on foreign States. The word he should have used was “supra-continental”.
35. No one was surprised to see Mr. Kardelj, the representative of the Tito Government, join that company to please his protectors. Mr. Kardelj tried to imitate the tone and substance of the speech made by the United States representative, Mr. Acheson. He even went considerably further. The object of his slanders and invective against the Soviet Union and the countries of the people’s democracies was obvious: it was a loan to remedy the disastrous situation into which his government has dragged Yugoslavia and its people, who certainly deserve a better fate.
36. That is how we see the present situation and the causes that have led up to it.
37. All these events have clearly left their mark on the situation in the United Nations. We are able to record certain achievements in the five years of our Organization’s existence, but we could and should have done much more. Unfortunately we have not solved the major problem of disarmament, nor that of the prohibition of the production and utilization of atomic weapons, nor so many other problems. Contrary to the principles of the Charter, the majority of Members of the United Nations has sanctioned intervention in the internal affairs of other States. In Greece, for example, such interference has been instrumental in imposing a regime of terror on the country. The Greek representative’s words on freedom and democracy sounded like a cruel mockery. They were spoken by the representative of a government which maintains in its country the most cruel concentration camp in the world and which condemns to death tens and hundreds of Greek democrats, including many leaders of the working class.
38. Another example is the refusal to take any energetic action against the Franco regime, forcibly imposed on the Spanish people with the aid of Hitler and Mussolini. But at the same time as that refusal, items were being placed on the agenda that were aimed at patent intervention in the domestic affairs of States in which popular governments, called to power by the liberated peoples of those countries, had been constituted.
39. Can the refusal to admit to the United Nations representatives of the lawful Government of China be regarded as a contribution to world peace? Does the maintenance of the fiction that the emissaries of the Kuomintang represent the Chinese people strengthen our prestige and assist us in our work? The true representatives of the Chinese nation which, under the leadership of the heroic Mao Tse-tung, has achieved its freedom after a hard struggle, must take, their place in our midst. Unfortunately from the very first day of our deliberations, the debate has shown that there are here reactionary dreamers, incorrigible die-hards who would like to arrest the wheel of history and alter the course of events.
40. Those very same people, or their predecessors in power, directed the intervention in 1918, 1919 and 1920 against the peoples of Russia liberated by the revolution. They too, had their Chang Kai-sheks; they too dispatched expeditionary forces and refused for many years to recognize the Government of the USSR. But they have learned nothing from all this. They still hope, as they did then, that they may be able to change the course of history. They forget the words of Metternich, the founder of the Holy Alliance of European absolutist reaction in the last century, the defender of the old order, who himself admitted that the march of events could not be altered, and that his only hope was to retard them.
41. A similar attempt to alter the course of history is the armed intervention in Korea, which is being carried out illegally under the banner of the United Nations. That was an obvious abuse of our Organization, since there was no valid decision of the Security Council in the matter, but only a private opinion registered by six of its members, Articles 23 and 27 of the Charter were violated and, on the basis of this private opinion, the whole machinery of the Organization was set in motion. It was proclaimed urbi et orbi that it was the United Nations which had decided to conduct an armed operation in Korea.
42. A situation has thus been created in which deadly bombing raids are being conducted under the flag of the United Nations. That will be a dark page in the record of the Organization. A considerable part of the responsibility rests on the Secretary-General, who allowed his authority to be used as an instrument of a policy which aims at subordinating this Organization to one Power. Instead of using his authority to achieve a peaceful settlement of the conflict, the Secretary-General unfortunately proved unequal to his task and failed to carry out the duties attaching to the office entrusted to him by the United Nations.
43. The report of the Secretary-General stresses the danger to peace. But does it indicate the real cause of the present state of affairs? Does it explain the real background of the present situation? Our Organization could have done more to strengthen peace. If the resolutions and decisions adopted in the course of the last five years had been respected and effectively implemented, there would be less tension today, and the Secretary-General could have presented a more positive report to the fifth session of the General Assembly. There can be no doubt that the Secretary-General failed to take adequate steps, within the limits of his competence, to ensure that the resolutions of the General Assembly aimed at strengthening peace were in fact implemented. For example, in 1947, the General Assembly adopted a resolution [110 (II)] condemning incitement to war. And yet, in the country where the United Nations has its headquarters, incitement to war and propaganda for a new war have become daily occurrences. Almost every day we hear some new threat of atomic bombardment. Only a few days ago, United States Senator Olin Johnston declared that he was tired of striped-trouser diplomacy, that war should be carried into the territory of the USSR and that there should be no hesitation in using the atomic bomb.
44. Such are the facts, and in what striking contrast with the speech of the Secretary of State of the United States!
45. Can the embargo on the export of machine tools to Eastern Europe by the United Kingdom, acting tinder United States pressure, be regarded as a sign of a policy of peace? Such a policy constitutes discrimination and is a flagrant violation of Article 55 of the Charter, which enjoins all Members of the United Nations to promote economic co-operation. It is a policy directed against the USSR, against the People’s Republic of China and the other people’s democracies, against those countries which made the greatest sacrifices during the last war, those which, through the heroic efforts of their people, are rebuilding their life out of the ruins and creating a system of social justice.
46. Those who adopt military budgets amounting to thousands of millions of dollars, those who pride themselves upon inventing ever new means of mass destruction, accuse us, who belong to the camp of peace, of preparing for war. That is an obvious lie and a slander. In Poland, the country which I have the honour to represent here, the entire colossal effort of the people is directed towards peaceful reconstruction and the development of the country’s economy.
47. While France and the United Kingdom are allotting about 10 per cent of their national income to armaments, Poland allocates to military expenditures only 3 per cent of its national income. In contrast to the budgets I have mentioned, and to that of the United States, 60 per cent of which is devoted to direct expenditure on armaments, the maintenance of armed forces takes only 8 per cent of the total budget of Poland.
48. We in Poland are working to increase the wellbeing of the masses and to put an end to the exploitation of man by man. That is our clear answer to the words of Mr. Acheson. The USSR is carrying out a colossal programme of construction and economic development. It offers disinterested assistance to other countries ravaged by the war. Since the days of the October Revolution, it has faithfully and steadfastly translated into deeds its policy of peace. The crusade which is being proclaimed against the USSR is the creation of governments that want war, and not of peoples, for the peoples want peace. They condemn aggression and war-mongering. And contrary to the tenets of the ruling circles of the Western countries, the two political systems — socialism and capitalism — can exist side by side, competing with each other in a peaceful way; they can develop economic co-operation and can, by a common effort, ensure peace. This is the very principle on which the Charter was based, the principle of ensuring peace by way of consultation, cooperation, understanding of and respect for mutual interests, accompanied by disarmament and economic co-operation.
49. In contrast to this principle, the idea of an armed peace has been propounded. It is not surprising that this idea was broached by Mr. Stikker, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, who represents a Government which has long endeavoured to impose such a peace upon the people of Indonesia.
50. We are surprised and disappointed, however, that Mr. Romulo, former President of the General Assembly, should support this principle. And yet Mr. Romulo speaks here in the name of the people of the Philippines, a people who only a short time ago enjoyed all the benefits of this type of peace in the form of military occupation of their country by the United States of America, an occupation of which they still feel the effects. This idea of an armed peace is the very negation of the principles of our Charter. It is an attempt to substitute the Diktat for international co-operation based on compromise. History knows of other attempts of the same nature, from the Pax Romana to the pax Germanica.
51. The peoples of the world have expressed their will, through the millions of signatures appended to the appeal for peace. The Stockholm Appeal is a powerful referendum on behalf of peace. It has united men of many continents and races, of different political creeds, religions and classes of society. It is strange that the Secretary-General makes no mention of this appeal in his report. Can he have failed to notice the millions of signatures appended to it by the peoples of the Soviet Union, China, France, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Poland and other nations? The United Nations Charter begins with the words: “We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war… Such are the words of that great document in which the strivings of the peoples of the world are expressed. Today those peoples are faced with the danger of a new war and are writing a new page into the Charter. In their resolve to maintain peace, they demand that the first government to use the atomic weapon should be branded as a criminal.
52. The Assembly has before it the proposal submitted by the delegation of the Soviet Union [A/1376]. In accordance with the traditional policy of peace which it has followed for thirty-three years, the USSR has asked us to vote in favour of a declaration which would avert the threat of a new war and strengthen peace and security among nations. This constructive policy is of great historical significance and affords the Assembly an opportunity to contribute to the easing of international tension and to the promotion of peaceful cooperation between nations. The proposal calls upon us to condemn propaganda in favour of a new war, to outlaw atomic weapons and to establish international control of atomic energy; it asks that the first government to use the atomic weapon or any other means of, mass destruction should be condemned as a criminal; it calls upon the permanent members of the Security Council to conclude a pact for strengthening peace and to reduce their present armed forces by one-third.
53. The Polish delegation unreservedly supports the USSR proposal because it will serve to strengthen peace.
54. At the same time, I wish to emphasize that the Polish delegation has always given due attention to the substance of proposals submitted by other delegations and has considered them on their merits, from whatever source they originated. That will apply also to any parts of the proposals submitted by the United States which may help to ease international tension and are in conformity with the Charter. We shall take them into consideration and comment on them during the debate.
55. Our delegation comes to this Assembly with a mandate from the Polish people. This mandate has been expressed by eighteen million signatures to the peace appeal. We therefore represent the decisive will of the Polish people for peace.
56. We come here asking that an end should be put to all intrigues for a new war, that peace should be strengthened and that war-mongering should be made a crime punishable by all the United Nations. The fact that we are fighting for peace is a sign of our strength. We know that wars have always been lost and will always be lost by those who seek them against the wishes of the people. Victory lies where the people fight for their freedom and their independence. In defending peace, we are also defending the right of the peoples to self-determination, the principle that people should be free. We are defending progress and fighting against oppression.
57. The ideal for which the United Nations was established was the guarantee of the rights of nations and individuals. We therefore call upon the General Assembly and upon all those to whom the cause of national freedom is dear and urge them to go to the very root of the evil, not to be moved by false slogans and not to betray the hopes of the people. War is not inevitable and we can prevent it. The mighty voice of the peoples of the whole world calls to us to protect them against the devastation and horror of a new war and demands that we should preserve the peace.