Please refer to the Syllabus instructions for Discussion Forum posts and follow instructions for length and quotation requirements. From:Hô Chi Minh's Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Rep

Furthermore, the people of this country are distant from the troubled areas of the earth and it is hard for them to comprehend the plight and consequ ent reactions of the long -suffering peoples, and the effect of those reactions on their governments in connection with our efforts to promote peace in the world. In considering the requirements for the rehabilitation of Europe, the physical loss of life, the visible destruction of cities, factories, mines and railroads was correctly estimated but it has become obvious during recent months that this visible destruction was probably less serious than the dislocation of the entire fabric of European economy. For the past 10 years conditions have been highly abnormal. The feverish preparation for war and the more feverish maintenance of the war effort engulfed all aspects of national economies. Machinery has fallen into disrepair or is entirely obsolete. Under the arbitrary and destructive Nazi rule, virtually every possible enterprise was geared into the German war machine. Long -standing commercial ties, private 4 institutions, banks, insurance companies, and shipping companies disappeared, through loss of capit al, absorption through nationalization, or by simple destruction. In many countries, confidence in the local currency has been severely shaken. The breakdown of the business structure of Europe during the war was complete. Recovery has been seriously retar ded by the fact that two years after the close of hostilities a peace settlement with Germany and Austria has not been agreed upon. But even given a more prompt solution of these difficult problems the rehabilitation of the economic structure of Europe qui te evidently will require a much longer time and greater effort than had been foreseen. There is a phase of this matter which is both interesting and serious. The farmer has always produced the foodstuffs to exchange with the city dweller for the other n ecessities of life. This division of labor is the basis of modern civilization. At the present time it is threatened with breakdown. The town and city industries are not producing adequate goods to exchange with the food producing farmer. Raw materials and fuel are in short supply. Machinery is lacking or worn out. The farmer or the peasant cannot find the goods for sale which he desires to purchase. So the sale of his farm produce for money which he cannot use seems to him an unprofitable transaction. He, therefore, has withdrawn many fields from crop cultivation and is using them for grazing. He feeds more grain to stock and finds for himself and his family an ample supply of food, however short he may be on clothing and the other ordinary gadgets of civil ization. Meanwhile people in the cities are short of food and fuel. So the governments are forced to use their foreign money and credits to procure these necessities abroad. This process exhausts funds which are urgently needed for reconstruction. Thus a v ery serious situation is rapidly developing which bodes no good for the world. The modern system of the division of labor upon which the exchange of products is based is in danger of breaking down. The truth of the matter is that Europe's requirements fo r the next three or four years of foreign food and other essential products - principally from America - are so much greater than her present ability to pay that she must have substantial additional help or face economic, social, and political deterioratio n of a very grave character. The remedy lies in breaking the vicious circle and restoring the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole. The manufacturer and the farmer throughout wide areas must be able and willing to exc hange their products for currencies the continuing value of which is not open to question. Aside from the demoralizing effect on the world at large and the possibilities of disturbances arising as a result of the desperation of the people concerned, the consequences to the economy of the United States should be apparent to all. It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political sta bility and no assured peace. Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist. Such assistance, I am convinced, must not be on a piecemeal basis as various crises develop. Any assistance that this Government may 5 render in the future should provide a cure rather than a mere pallia tive. Any government that is willing to assist in the task of recovery will find full co -operation I am sure, on the part of the United States Government. Any government which maneuvers to block the recovery of other countries cannot expect help from us. F urthermore, governments, political parties, or groups which seek to perpetuate human misery in order to profit therefrom politically or otherwise will encounter the opposition of the United States. It is already evident that, before the United States Gov ernment can proceed much further in its efforts to alleviate the situation and help start the European world on its way to recovery, there must be some agreement among the countries of Europe as to the requirements of the situation and the part those count ries themselves will take in order to give proper effect to whatever action might be undertaken by this Government. It would be neither fitting nor efficacious for this Government to undertake to draw up unilaterally a program designed to place Europe on i ts feet economically. This is the business of the Europeans. The initiative, I think, must come from Europe. The role of this country should consist of friendly aid in the drafting of a European program and of later support of such a program so far as it m ay be practical for us to do so. The program should be a joint one, agreed to by a number, if not all European nations. An essential part of any successful action on the part of the United States is an understanding on the part of the people of America o f the character of the problem and the remedies to be applied. Political passion and prejudice should have no part. With foresight, and a willingness on the part of our people to face up to the vast responsibility which history has clearly placed upon our country, the difficulties I have outlined can and will be overcome. I am sorry that on each occasion I have said something publicly in regard to our international situation, I've been forced by the necessities of the case to enter into rather technical d iscussions. But to my mind, it is of vast importance that our people reach some general understanding of what the complications really are, rather than react from a passion or a prejudice or an emotion of the moment. As I said more formally a moment ago, w e are remote from the scene of these troubles. It is virtually impossible at this distance merely by reading, or listening, or even seeing photographs or motion pictures, to grasp at all the real significance of the situation. And yet the whole world of th e future hangs on a proper judgment. It hangs, I think, to a large extent on the realization of the American people, of just what are the various dominant factors. What are the reactions of the people? What are the justifications of those reactions? What a re the sufferings? What is needed? What can best be done? What must be done? Thank you very much. 6 Nikita Khr ushchev ( 1894 -1971 ) Secret Speech to the Closed Session of the Twentieth Party Congress, February 25, 1956 Excerpts We have to consider seriously and analyze correctly [the crimes of th e Stalin era] in order that we may preclude any possibility of a repetition in any form whatever of what took place during the life of Stalin, who absolutely did not tolerate collegiality in leadership and in work, and who practiced brutal violence, not only toward everything which opposed him, but also toward that which seemed to his capricious and despotic character, contrary to his concepts. Stalin acted not through persuasion, explanation, and patient cooperation with people, but by imposing his concepts and dem anding absolute submission to his opinion. Whoever opposed this concept or tried to prove hi viewpoint, and the correctness of his position, was doomed to removal from the leading collective and to subsequent moral and physical annihilation. This was espec ially true during the period following the XVIIth Party Congress (1934).... Stalin originated the concept enemy of the people. This term automatically rendered it unnecessary that the ideological errors of a man or men engaged in a controversy be proven; t his term made possible the usage of the most cruel repression, violating all norms of revolutionary legality, against anyone who in any way disagreed with Stalin, against those who were only suspected of hostile intent, against those who had bad reputation s. This concept, enemy of the people, actually eliminated the possibility of any kind of ideological fight or the making of one's views known on this or that issue, even those of a practical character.... The only proof of guilt used, against all norms of current legal science, was the confession of the accused himself; and, as subsequent probing proved, confessions were acquired through physical pressures against the accused. This led to the glaring violations of revolutionary legality, and to the fact tha t many entirely innocent persons, who in the past had defended the Party line, became victims.... The Commission [of Inquiry] has become acquainted with a large quantity of materials in the NKVD archives…. It became apparent that many Party, Soviet and eco nomic activists who were branded in 1937 -1938 as enemies were actually never enemies, spies, wreckers, etc., but were always honest Communists; they were only so stigmatized, and often, no longer able to bear barbaric tortures, they charged themselves with all kinds of grave and unlikely crimes.... Lenin used severe methods only in the most necessary cases, when the exploiting classes were still in existence and were vigorously opposing the revolution, when the struggle for survival was decidedly assuming t he sharpest forms, even including a civil war. Stalin, on the other hand, used extreme methods and mass repression at a time when the revolution was already victorious, when the Soviet state was strengthened, when the exploiting classes were already liquid ated and Socialist relations were rooted solidly in all phases of national economy, when our Party was politically consolidated and had strengthened itself both numerically and ideologically. It is clear that here Stalin showed in a whole series of cases h is intolerance, his brutality and his abuse of power. Instead of proving his political correctness and 7 mobilizing the masses, he often chose the path of repression and physical annihilation, not only against actual enemies, but also against individuals who had not committed any crimes against the Party and the Soviet government.... Sixteen Political, Economic, and Ideological Points, Budapest, October 22, 195 6 RESOLUTION ADOPTED AT PLENARY MEET ING OF THE BUILDING INDUSTRY TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY' Students of Budapest! The following resolution was born on 22 October 1956, at the dawn of a new period in Hungarian history, in the Hall of the Building Industry Technological University as a result of th e spontaneous movement of several thousand of the Hungarian youth who love their Fatherland:(1) We demand the immediate withdrawal of all Soviet troops in accordance with the provisions of the Peace Treaty.(2) We demand the election of new leaders in the Hungarian Workers' Party on the low, medium and high levels by secret ballot from the ranks upwards. These leaders should convene the Party Congress within the shortest possible time and should elect a new central body of leaders.(3) The Government should b e reconstituted under the leadership of Comrade Imre Nagy; all criminal leaders of the Stalinist -Rdkosi era should be relieved of their posts at once.(4) We demand a public trial in the criminal case of Milidly Farkas and his accomplices. Mdty -ds Rdkosi, w ho is primarily responsible for all the crimes of the recent past and for the ruin of this country, should be brought home and brought before a People's Court of judgment.(5) We demand general elections in this country, with universal suffrage, secret ball ot and the participation of several Parties for the purpose of electing a new National Assembly. We demand that the workers should have the right to strike.(6) We demand a re -examination and re -adjustment of Hungarian -Sovi et and Hungarian -Yugoslav politica l, economic and intellectual relations on the basis of complete political and economic equality and of non~intervention in each other's internal affairs.(7) We demand the re -organization of the entire economic life of Hungary, with the assistance of specia lists. Our whole economic system based on planned economy should be re -examined with an eve to Hungarian conditions and to the vital interests of the Hungarian people.(8) Our foreign trade agreements and the real figures in respect of reparations that can never be paid should be made public. We demand frank and sincere information concerning the country's uranium deposits, their exploitation and the Russian concession. We demand that Hungary should have the right to sell the uranium ore freely at world mark et prices in exchange for hard currency.(9) We demand the complete revision of norms in industry and an urgent and radical adjustment of wages to meet the demands of workers and intellectuals. We demand that minimum living wages for workers should be fixed .(10) We demand that the delivery system should be placed on a new basis and that produce should be used rationally. We demand equal treat ment of peasants farming individually.(11) We demand the re -examination of all political and economic trials by indep endent courts and the release and rehabilitation of innocent persons. We demand the immediate repatriation of prisoners -of-war and of civilians deported to the Soviet Union, including prisoners who have been condemned beyond the frontiers of Hungary.(12) W e demand complete freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of the Press and a free Radio, as well as a new daily newspaper of large circulation for 8 the MEFESZ [League of Hungarian University and College Student Associations] organization.

We demand that the existing 'screening material' should be made public and destroyed.(13) We demand that the Stalin statue -the symbol of Stalinist tyranny and political oppression -should be removed as quickly as possible and that a memorial worthy of the freedom fighters and martyrs of 1848 -49 should be erected on its site.(14) In place of the existing coat of arms, which is foreign to the Hungarian people, we wish the re -introduction of the old Hungarian Kossuth arms. We demand for the Hungarian Army new uniforms worthy of our national traditions. We demand that 15 March should be a national holiday and a non~working day and that 6 October should be a day of national mourning and a school holiday..(15) The youth of the Technological University of Budapest unanimously expr ess their complete solidarity with the Polish and Warsaw workers and youth in conne ction with the Polish national independence movement.(16) The students of the Building Industry Technological University will organize local units of MEFESZ as quickly as pos sible, and have resolved to convene a Youth Parliament in Budapest for the 27th of this month (Saturday) at which the entire youth of this country will be represented by their delegates. The students of the Technological University and of the various other Universities will gather in the Gorkij Fasor before the Writers' Union Headquarters tomorrow, the 23rd. of this month, at 2.30 P.m., whence they will proceed to the Pálffy Tér (Bern Ter) to the Bern statue, on which they will lay wreaths in sign of their sympathy with the Polish freedom movement. The workers of the factories are invited to join in this procession. Treaty of ROM E, 19 57 Treaty establishing the European Economic Community HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, THE PR ESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC, HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE GRAND DUCHESS OF LUXEMBOURG, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE NETHERLANDS, DETERMINED to establish the foundations of an ever closer union among the European peoples, DECIDED to ensure the economic and so cial progress of their countries by common action in eliminating the barriers which divide Europe, DIRECTING their efforts to the essential purpose of constantly improving the living and working conditions of their peoples, RECOGNISING that the removal of existing obstacles calls for concerted action in order to guarantee a steady expansion, a balanced trade and fair competition, ANXIOUS to strengthen the unity of their economies and to ensure their harmonious development by reducing the differences existin g between the various regions and by mitigating the backwardness of the less favoured, DESIROUS of contributing by means of a common commercial policy to the progressive abolition of restrictions on international trade, 9 INTENDING to confirm the solidarity which binds Europe and overseas countries, and desiring to ensure the development of their prosperity, in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, RESOLVED to strengthen the safeguards of peace and liberty by establishing this c ombination of resources, and calling upon the other peoples of Europe who share their ideal to join in their efforts, HAVE DECIDED to create a European Economic Community and to this end have designated as their plenipotentiaries: HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF T HE BELGIANS: Mr. Paul -Henri SPAAK, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baron J. Ch. SNOY and D’OPPUERS, Secretary -General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Head of the Belgian delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference; THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLI C OF GERMANY: Dr. Konrad ADENAUER, Federal Chancellor, Professor Dr. Walter HALLSTEIN, State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office; THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC: Mr. Christian PINEAU, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Maurice FAURE, Under -Secretar y of State for Foreign Affairs; THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC: Mr. Antonio SEGNI, President of the Council of Ministers, Professor Gaetano MARTINO, Ministers of Foreign Affairs; HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE GRAND DUCHESS OF LUXEMBOURG: Mr. Joseph BECH, Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Lambert SCHAUS, Ambassador, Head of the Luxembourg delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference; HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE NETHERLANDS: Mr. Joseph LUNS, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. J. LINTHORST HOMAN, Head of the Netherlands delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference; WHO, having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed, as follows: PART ONE — Principles [edit ] Article 1 By the present Treaty, the HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES establish among themselves a EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY. Article 2 It shall be the aim of the Community, by establishing a Common Market and progressively approximating the economic policies of Member States, to promote throughout the Community a harmonious development of economic activities, a continuous and balanced exp ansion, an 10 increased stability, an accelerated raising of the standard of living and closer relations between its Member States. Article 3 For the purposes set out in the preceding Article, the activities of the Community shall include, under the condition s and with the timing provided for in this Treaty: (a) the elimination, as between Member States, of customs duties and of quantitative restrictions in regard to the importation and exportation of goods, as well as of all other measures with equivalent eff ect; (b) the establishment of a common customs tariff and a common commercial policy towards third countries; (c) the abolition, as between Member States, of the obstacles to the free movement of persons, services and capital; (d) the inauguration of a com mon agricultural policy; (e) the inauguration of a common transport policy; (f) the establishment of a system ensuring that competition shall not be distorted in the Common Market; (g) the application of procedures which shall make it possible to co -ordina te the economic policies of Member States and to remedy disequilibria in their balances of payments; (h) the approximation of their respective municipal law to the extent necessary for the functioning of the Common Market; (i) the creation of a European So cial Fund in order to improve the possibilities of employment for workers and to contribute to the raising of their standard of living; (j) the establishment of a European Investment Bank intended to facilitate the economic expansion of the Community throu gh the creation of new resources; and (k) the association of overseas countries and territories with the Community with a view to increasing trade and to pursuing jointly their effort towards economic and social development. Article 4 1. The achievement of the tasks entrusted to the Community shall be ensured by • an ASSEMBLY, • a COUNCIL, • a COMMISSION, and • a COURT OF JUSTICE. Each of these institutions shall act within the limits of the powers conferred upon it by this Treaty … Article 6 11 1. Member States, acting in close collaboration with the institutions of the Community, shall co - ordinate their respective economic policies to the extent that is necessary to attain the objectives of this Treaty …. Article 7 Within the field of application of this Treaty and without prejudice to the special provisions mentioned therein, any discriminati on on the grounds of nationality shall hereby be prohibited … 12 13 The National Women ’s Liberation Movem ent March in London, 1971