Record of a Conversation
with the Czechoslovak Government Delegation
July 9, 1947
Secret
Moscow

Present: Comrade I.V. Stalin, Comrade V.M. Molotov, Prime Minister of the Czechoslovak Republic Gottwald, Minister of Foreign Affairs Masaryk, Minister of Justice Drtina, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czechoslovak Republic Hendrich, and Ambassador of Czechoslovakia Horak.

Comrade Stalin asks Gottwald what questions they have for us.

Gottwald replies that they would like to discuss three main questions:
1. participation in the Paris conference of July 12, 1947;
2. the treaty of the Czechoslovak Republic with France;
3. the trade negotiations of the Czechoslovak delegation with the Minister of Foreign Trade of the USSR.

Comrade Stalin asks Gottwald with which question they would like to begin.

Gottwald replies that it would be better to start with the first.

Comrade Stalin says that approximately two to three days after Comrade V.M. Molotov's return from Paris, the Yugoslavs asked us how they should proceed — whether to participate in the conference of July 12 in Paris or not — and expressed their view that they intended to decline participation. Afterwards Romania and Bulgaria came to us with the same question.

We thought at first that it would be better to advise going to this conference and breaking it up from within, and then, on the basis of materials received from our ambassadors, we became convinced that under the guise of credit assistance to Europe, something like a Western bloc against the Soviet Union was being organized.

We then made a firm decision and expressed our view to everyone that we were against participation in this conference of July 12, 1947.

We were surprised that you decided to participate in this conference. For us this question is a question of the friendship of the Soviet Union with the Czechoslovak Republic. You are objectively helping — whether you want to or not, you are helping to isolate the Soviet Union.

Just look at what is happening. All the countries that have friendly relations with us are not participating in this conference, while Czechoslovakia, which is also in friendly relations with us, is participating.

This will mean, they will conclude, that the friendship of the Czechoslovak Republic with the Soviet Union is not very strong, since it was so easily drawn over to the side of the isolation of the Soviet Union, against the Soviet Union. This will be assessed as a victory against the Soviet Union.

We and our people will not understand this. You must reverse your decision, you must decline participation in this conference, and the sooner you do it the better.

Masaryk asks Comrade Stalin to take into account that the Czechoslovak government was aware of the dependence of Czechoslovak industry on the West. Representatives of industry considered it expedient to participate in the conference in order not to miss the chance to obtain credit.

At the same time a Polish delegation arrived in Prague and declared to us that they had decided to participate in the conference in Paris. As a result the decision of the Czechoslovak government to participate in the conference in Paris on July 12, 1947 was adopted unanimously by all political parties.

Masaryk continued by saying that he did not intend to remove himself from responsibility for the fact that he too had been in favor of participation in this conference, but asked that it be taken into account that neither he nor the government of the Czechoslovak Republic had wished by this decision to do anything harmful to the Soviet Union. Masaryk in conclusion asks Comrades Stalin and Molotov to ease their situation.

Comrade Molotov remarks to Masaryk that your very participation in the conference will be against the Soviet Union.

Masaryk replies that he, the government, all parties, and the entire Czechoslovak people do not wish and will not do anything against the Soviet Union.

Comrade Stalin says that we did not and do not doubt your friendship toward us, but in practice the objective outcome is the opposite.

Drtina says that on his own behalf and that of the party to which he belongs, he declares that if our decision goes against the Soviet Union, then my party does not want this and will not do it; my party will not do even that which would give grounds for interpreting our action as being against the Soviet Union. At the same time Drtina asks that it be taken into account that the Czechoslovak Republic differs from all other Slavic countries, except the USSR, in that its exports and imports depend 60% on Western countries.

Comrade Stalin remarks that Czechoslovakia has a passive trade balance with the West and Czechoslovakia has to export currency to the West.

Drtina says that he has in mind the volume of exports and imports, and that the people of the Czechoslovak Republic take the view that if we do not participate in this conference, it means we will receive no credit, and consequently we will lower the standard of living of our population, since the trade of the Czechoslovak Republic with the Soviet Union has fallen sharply in 1947. Drtina concludes by requesting help in extricating themselves from the situation that has arisen, by increasing trade with Czechoslovakia.

Comrade Stalin says that we need certain products that can be obtained in Czechoslovakia — for instance, pipes for the petroleum industry, rails for narrow-gauge railways, wagons, etc. — and we can help Czechoslovakia, that is, we can conclude a trade agreement advantageous to both sides.

Gottwald says that Czechoslovakia exports a great deal to the West in light industry and textile goods, while the Soviet Union does not yet buy these.

Comrade Stalin says: why not, we will buy them.

Gottwald asks Comrades Stalin and Molotov to record in the communique in such a way as to show what the Soviet Union gives us as a result of the Czechoslovak delegation's visit.

Masaryk and Drtina ask Comrades Stalin and Molotov to help them formulate the refusal to participate in the conference in Paris.

Comrade Stalin says that one must look at how the Bulgarians formulated their refusal, consult among yourselves, and provide the necessary formulation of the reasons for the refusal.

On the second question, the treaty with France, Comrade Stalin says that from Benes's statement it appears as though we, the Soviet Union, are against a treaty of friendship and mutual assistance between Czechoslovakia and France. This is not correct.

We want Czechoslovakia to conclude a treaty of friendship and mutual assistance with France, but we also want this treaty of yours to be no worse than the one with the Soviet Union, with Yugoslavia, with Poland. This is what we want.

On questions of immediate assistance in the event of aggression, Comrade Stalin says that Czechoslovakia needs immediate assistance, as it is a small country.

Comrade Stalin further says that it is incomprehensible to him why satellites of Germany — such as Austria, Hungary, and others — as aggressors can be worse than Germany itself. History teaches us that it is not necessarily Germany itself that becomes the aggressor; it can do this through its satellites as well. Consequently, the Soviet Union wants only one thing: that the treaty of the Czechoslovak Republic with France be no worse than those treaties which the Czechoslovak Republic has with the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Poland.

Masaryk says that when the French Ambassador Dejean called on him regarding the treaty of friendship and mutual assistance between the Czechoslovak Republic and France, Dejean told him directly that Czechoslovakia was demanding more from France than was written in the treaty between the Soviet Union and France.

Comrade Stalin confirms that indeed in the treaty between the Soviet Union and France there is no provision for immediate assistance by the parties in the event of aggression — through an oversight on our part — but we intend to correct this treaty in this part. At the same time it should be taken into account that in the treaty with England, provision is made for immediate assistance by the parties in the event of aggression.

Gottwald says that he has several more minor questions and that he will write about them to Comrade Stalin.

Comrade Stalin agrees.

In conclusion, Comrade Stalin reminds Gottwald and all members of the Czechoslovak delegation that it is necessary to decline participation in the conference in Paris today, that is, on July 10, 1947.

Masaryk says that they will discuss this question tomorrow and only by the evening will they be able to send their view to the government.

Comrade Stalin says that this must be done immediately.

The delegation thanks Comrades Stalin and Molotov for the reception and for the necessary advice, and promises to do everything as agreed.

Recorded by
Bodrov.