SOVIET UNION EASTERN EUROPE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00865A001900050001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 14, 2006
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 2, 1975
• Content Type: NOTES

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Confidential
o
r
Soviet Union
Eastern Europe
State Department review completed
Confidential
Octobeer72, 1975
No. 0764/75
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This publication is prepared for regional specialists in the Washington com-
munity by the USSR - Eastern Europe Division, Office of Current Intel-
ligence, with occasional contributions from other offices within the
Directorate of Intelligence. Comments and queries are welcome. They should
be directed to the authors of the individual articles.
October 2, 1975
Moscow's Commentary on China's
National Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Soviets Chastise Western Allies
on Berlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Pravda Says Soviet Philosophers Lag
Behind Today's Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
East-West Germany Reach Tentative
Agreement in Transit Talks . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Moscow's Commentary on China's National Day
Moscow's treatment of Chinese National Day has
followed the pattern of recent years. The Soviet
government, but not the party, sent standard felicita-
tions to the Chinese, and the same Soviet officials
turned up at the Chinese reception in Moscow as at-
tended last year. Pravda and Izvestia carried press
commentaries strongly criticizing the Chinese and
Mao, but also expressed the usual sentiments that
one day relations between the two countries will
get better.
The national day coverage fails to convey any
new sense of direction or imperative to Moscow's
polemical campaign against China that began in a
long article in the mid-August issue of the party's
theoretical journal Kommunist. The article is
essentially a rehash of this year's Soviet criticism
of Maoist domestic and foreign policies.
Subsequent Soviet commentary on the Water Margin
issue has betrayed Moscow's interest in what it re-
gards as evidence of politicking. and perhaps even
pro-Soviet sentiment in China. The head of the
Chinese desk in the Institute of Oriental Studies
recently went so far as to publicly, and explicitly,
assert that there seem to be pro-Soviet forces in
China who are arguing for a change in China's for-
eign policy.
October 2, 1975
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Soviets Chastise Western Allies on Berlin
The Soviets took an unusual swipe at the three
Western signatories of the Berlin agreement in a
Pravda article on October 1. They charged that the
Western powers had failed to reply to a Soviet pro-
test and had displayed an unseemly readiness to "run
to the aid" of West German and West Berlin officials
who engage in activities that violate the Berlin
agreement.
Pravda was taking exception to a meeting of
West German state interior ministers that was held
in West Berlin on September 19. The Soviets argued
that the meeting was in "direct contradiction" to
the part of the Berlin agreement stating West Berlin
is not a constituent part of West Germany. The So-
viets have routinely criticized West German actions
in West Berlin, but usually they exempt the three
Western powers from their protests.
The Soviets may have made an exception this
time because the three Western powers responded to
their official protest only through an oral state-
ment by a French political adviser. The Soviets
may be concerned that this procedure will become
the standard way for the West to respond to Soviet
complaints rather than the previous prolonged diplo-
matic interchange.
The publication of the Soviet article was prob-
ably delayed until West German opposition leader
Helmut Kohl had left Moscow. The Soviets would not
want to further antagonize Kohl, who had already
reacted strongly to a Pravda commentary criticizing
West German Christian Social Union leader Franz
Josef Strauss. The Soviets nevertheless wanted to
make it clear to the West Germans that there had
been no change in their attitude toward Berlin issues.
October 2, 1975
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Pravda Says Soviet Philosophers
Lag Behind Today's Tasks
A Pravda editorial article on September 19
criticizes the state of affairs in Soviet philosophy
and particularly the work of the Institute of
Philosophy. Summarizing the "substantial short-
comings" of the philosophers, Pravda cites the poor
work being done both on cardinal problems of dia-
lectical'and historical materialism and on questions
arising from contemporary social developments. Its
statement that the "Central Committee has specified
the main direction of the Institute of Philosophy's
activity" suggests that a party resolution may have
been issued on the subject.
In its instructions and criticisms, the article
seems to seek a balance between the positions of
liberals and conservatives in the fields of ideology
and social science. These two factions have for
years been fighting a seesaw battle, with the con-
servatives generally coming out ahead in the end.
Against this background, the Pravda declaration is
a plus for progressives.
On the Liberal Side
Pravda accepts the fact that socially oriented
disciplines have "become relatively more independ-
ent" of the study of historical materialism and
that, indeed, "the sphere of concrete sociological
research has 'split off'." The importance of these
disciplines is recognized in the call for more
creative research, especially on real problems of
social development. Conservatives are the main
target of the article's condemnation of people who
claim a monopoly of wisdom, manifest "cliquishness,"
and engage in "groundlessly scathing" criticism,
which freezes thought and is useful only for incom-
petents.
October 2, 1975
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Pravda reaffirms the role of dialectical mate-
rialism as the theoretical and methodological founda-
tion of philosophy and all sciences. It suggests
that "a certain outflow of specialists to the more
concrete sectors of sociological knowledge" has
unjustifiably weakened work on general problems of
historical materialism. "Ideological and method-
ological spinelessness and the erosion of principles"
are, of course, condemned.
The main purpose of the article, however, is
not to expound on the dangers of specialists stray-
ing from ideological principles. Rather, it is to
place responsibility on the developers of dialectical
and historical materialism to incorporate the newer
disciplines in the universal system of knowledge
and thus to legitimize them and make them usable.
According to Pravda, "the party directs Soviet
philosophers to prepare conceptual works develop-
ing historical materialism as both a general so-
ciological theory and social philosophical knowledge."
Three organizational tasks are set for phi-
losophers: 1) To increase the proportion of funda-
mental research, which uncovers new patterns and
trends and generalizes theoretical and factual ma-
terial accumulated by science. (Among other things,
this requires preliminary experimental research,
the advance of promising ideas, and analysis of
world literature.) 2) To pool the efforts of
scientists with different specialties. 3) To im-
prove research linked with the practice of admin-
istering society, that is, the "study of the real
forms and trends of social development and the
forecasting of the consequences of a particular
measure."
October 2, 1975
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The article in Pravda clearly springs from the
party's perception of sterility in the ideological
sphere and of the need to utilize modern advances
in social sciences in the governing of a more mature
society. The issuance of such a programmatic state-
ment, after years of vacillation, may have been
triggered by the approaching party congress next
February. Need for modernization in the social
sciences has undoubtedly been brought home by the
present effort to formulate economic and social
development plans for 1976-80 and 1976-90.
On the other hand, the party does not have in
mind a revolution in the social sciences, and the
Pravda article does not appear definitive enough to
still the battle between conservatives and progres-
sives. The statement does suggest that the latter's
influence and opportunities will expand somewhat
and that some new steps will be tried, such as the
recent opening of a management school for under-
graduates in Moscow. Pravda's comment on the ne-
cessity of correctly selecting leaders and staffs
for the outlined tasks suggests some personnel
changes are in store, but the turnover may be no
greater than that which has accompanied the disputes
and infighting in the field in recent years.
The fact that no Soviets attended a conference
of Warsaw Pact ideologists and philosophers at
Wisla, Poland, September 23-29, has been cited as
evidence of the unsettling effect of the Pravda
article on Soviet philosophers. This may or may
not be true. We have yet to receive reports on the
personal reactions of social scientists in Moscow.
October 2, 1975
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East-West Germany Reach Tentative
Agreement in Transit Talks
The US embassy in East Berlin reports that Bonn
and East Berlin reached a tentative agreement on
Berlin transit route negotiations during their re-
cent bilateral talks. The Federal Republic will in-
crease its annual lump-sum payment for transit route
usage, while East Germany has reportedly agreed to
improve rail and road connections to and from Berlin.
The annual transit payment includes visa fees, road-
use taxes, and vehicle taxes that the West Germans
pay East Germany for overland travel to Berlin.
Guenter Gaus, the West German representative
in East Berlin, is currently negotiating details
of a tentative agreement on the payment issue reached
by special representatives of the two Germanies at
Helsinki. Both sides had reportedly agreed that
the annual lump sum payment was to be increased to
400 million marks. The present annual payment of
234.9 million marks was established in December
1971.
Partial information on the results of these
negotiations has already been made public. Hamburg
radio of September 30th also carried a brief state-
ment by Gaus announcing that East Germany had in-
dicated, for the first time, that it would pay part
of the costs for expansion of transit roads to and
from Berlin. He also said that estimates for
various planned traffic improvements and the pro-
portions of these costs had been discussed.
A possible snag in the negotiations may arise
over the Teltow Canal. West Berlin officials are
to meet in East Berlin next week to begin negotia-
tions and to "conclude necessary agreements." An
East German Foreign Office official recently stated
October 2, 1975
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that East Germany could not accept the Federal Re-
public as a negotiating partner on the canal issue.
During his meeting on September 30, Gaus was expected
to inform the East Germans that Bonn was the primary
negotiator for the canal and that West Berlin would
handle only "technical aspects." The chances are
that while the West Berlin Senat may open the talks,
the Federal Republic will enter the picture after a
compromise with the East Germans is reached.
October 2, 1975
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Confidential
Confidential
Approved For Release 2006/03/17 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO01900050001-7