USSR’S FOREIGN POLICY UNDER BREZHNEV

The Brezhnev administration set itself three priority tasks in the sphere of foreign policy: firstly, to preclude the danger of the dissolution of the socialist camp and render it ever more closely-knit in political, military and economic aspect; secondly, it was necessary to normalize relations between the East and the West, conducting a policy of ‘peaceful co-existence’; and, thirdly, Brezhnev’s leadership intended to extend support to so called ‘progressive’ movements and regimes all over the world.

It was no easy matter to achieve these tasks, since Brezhnev and his team had to act in a very difficult international situation.

As historian, pedagogue of Moscow State University Alexei Kirilov noted, that “the very beginning of the Brezhnev period coincided with heightened military activity in Vietnam. In 1965 the USA introduced its troops there with the purpose of toppling the pro-soviet government, which threatened to gain control over the entire country by means of a revolution of national liberation. Vietnam had been a French colony before that. 

Officially, the Soviet Union didn’t participate in that war, however this country supplied the Vietnamese with anti-aircraft complexes and aviation units.

The USA withdrew their troops only in 1973, after they had become convinced they couldn’t break down the Vietnamese resistance.”

Generally, as concerns the policy of the Brezhnev administration in countries of the third world, former intelligence officer, Lieutenant-General, Doctor of History Nikolai Leonov doesn’t consider it to have been very successful. In his book “The Hard Years” wrote about it: “The Soviet Union was drawn into all major upheavals in the ‘third world’ at the time quite spontaneously and exclusively against it’s will.”

In Africa a number of countries proclaimed themselves adherents of a socialist way of development, and thus became a buttress of Soviet policy on that continent. These were first of all Angola, Mozambique and Ethiopia. In Asia these were Vietnam and North Korea. In America – Cuba and Chile (before the toppling of Salvatore Aliende there).

Reputable Russian historian Oleg Platonov noted that the Soviet Union’s relationship with these countries required large financial spending and arms shipments, without any guarantee of serious strategic partnership on the part of their political regimes. However, the historian believes that the signing in the early 1970’s of a Treaty on Peace, Friendship and Cooperation with India was a certain success of Soviet foreign policy.

“The preparation and eventual signing of the Treaty were conducted in total secrecy. As a result of the Treaty the Soviet Union was guaranteed the support of a leading country of the Non-Aligned movement, while India could expect diplomatic support and shipments of arms for its war with Pakistan, which adhered to a pro-western policy. In the brief war between India and Pakistan the latter suffered a crushing defeat. Its eastern part acquired independence and became the state of Bangladesh. For the USSR this signified an easing of the western pressure at its southern borders. The strengthening of India’s position improved its balance of forces with China.”

In 1967 with the support and even incitement of the USA Israel launched on an aggression against the USSR’s allies: Egypt and Syria.

Using American weaponry and instructors, Israel seized Egyptian Sinai, the Syrian Golan Heights, as well as Palestinian territories – the West Bank of the river Jordan and the Gaza Strip. The capture of these territories was accompanied by mass killings of the peaceful Arab population. In response to these war crimes, perpetrated by Israel, the USSR severed all diplomatic ties with it.

In response the western special services and mass media means unleashed a rabid anti-Russia campaign, accusing the Soviet Union of anti-Semitism and even a desire to occupy Israel. 

Historian Oleg Platonov writes:

“A book came out in the USA, the authors of which were intimidating the Jews, spreading falsehoods about the USSR’s imminent attack. Referring to the Prophet Ezekiel, the authors of the book offered different versions of the Russians’ attack on Palestine.

With the active support of the USSR the 30th session of the UN General Assembly on November 1975 adopted a resolution, which qualified Zionism as a form of racism and racial discrimination, something that exacerbated anti-Russia sentiments on the part of Israel and the USA.

In 1977 the USSR and USA signed a joint declaration on the need to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict, where a certain role was delegated to the Soviet side. However, under pressure from Israel, the Carter administration violated this agreement. It transpired that besides Moscow, Washington was also conducting negotiations with Cairo and Tel-Aviv, pursuing American-Israeli interests.”

As is known, the underhand negotiations wound up in September 1978 with the signing of the Camp David accords on peace in the Middle East between Jimmy Carter, Menahem Begin and Anwar Sadat. However, since other involved sides were conspicuously absent from the negotiations, the Accord was in fact worthless. Peace in the Middle East wasn’t achieved. 

Nonetheless, according to Oleg Platonov, “The USA and Israel achieved the main thing they had set out to do: to cripple the USSR’s influence in the region – something that even Anwar Sadat’s death couldn’t alter. He was shot to death by an incensed Arab patriot for betrayal of many-year old friendly ties between Egypt and the USSR.

Having lost influence over Egypt, the Soviet Union, despite noticeably weakened political positions in the Middle East, nonetheless, didn’t wrap up its presence there entirely. It continued to reap the fruits of its military-political cooperation with Syria, Libya, Iraq, the two Yemeni states. 

However, almost all Middle East countries that military-political cooperation continued with, could no longer be referred to as countries of ‘socialist orientation’. The Soviet Union supported them in order to counter balance the American interests in the region, since the confrontation between the two super-powers continued unabated.

But let’s get back to the end of the 1960’s, when in continuation of the Cold War, western special services, and particularly American, actively meddled in the life of Warsaw Pact countries. They sought to weaken the role of the Communist Parties there, instigated anti-Russian sentiments, attempted to induce the leadership of these countries to adopt liberal reforms.

In the words of historian Oleg Platonov, “instigation of anti-Russian sentiments among the population of Eastern Europe (first and foremost in Slav countries) was one of the principal weapons of the West in the Cold War with Russia. From year to year special detachments of the western intelligence used specially devised methodology to disseminate anti-Russian literature, spread falsehoods and slander via radio stations or their agents. The Russian people, who at their own expense extended huge material aid to countries of Eastern Europe, were branded nothing short of colonizers and oppressors.”

The Russian soldiers and officers were showered with slander, portrayed as robbers, plunderers, rapists, and such. Clandestine radio addressed all girls and young women with the summons to compromise Russian servicemen, located in countries of Eastern Europe, as rapists. In some areas soldiers who served solitary duty were ambushed by carloads of naked women, who rushed to embrace them. Foreign correspondents, concealed in the bushes, would photograph these ‘scenes of assault and rape’.

In one Czech population center a Russian soldier saved a 5-year-old girl who’d fallen off a bridge into the river. Around half a hundred residents, including the parents of the girl, were witnesses of the incident. They heartily thanked the Russian soldier, admiring his act. However, provocateurs, trained by western special services, played this off as a murder: they released a photo flyer featuring the village street and a huge floral wreath on the causeway, with the inscription: “A 5-year-old girl died here at the hands of a Soviet soldier-occupant. There must be Vengeance!”

According to historian Oleg Platonov, the anti-Russian underground, organized on the territory of the East European countries by special services of western states (first of all the CIA and west-German intelligence) was soundly financed.

“As a first target for this western liberalization they chose Czechoslovakia, where the most powerful underground was established. Besides above-mentioned sponsors, it was intensively initiated by the Centre for Czechoslovak emigration, situated in Paris. Members of this Centre were in a majority from among the Freemasons and the International Zionist organization “Joint”. The underground united a vast number of cosmopolite-minded culture personalities and even prominent communist functionaries.

In 1968, with this underground as its base, the CIA launched an intensive operation to create an armed opposition in Czechoslovakia, which would bring to power pro-western forces and tear Czechoslovakia away from its union with the USSR. The CIA nurtured high hopes of success. This success was also needed to detract attention of the world public away from the war in Vietnam, where the USA was bogged down.

In a brief time the organizers of the anti-Soviet operation in Czechoslovakia had built up a number of subversive organizations along the lines of “Club-23”, “Club of non-Party activists”, etc.

With aid from the western special services, scores of radio stations and underground printing houses were set up, to spawn slanderous anti-Russian flyers, similar to the ones we told you about earlier on.

Along secret channels of west-German intelligence a great deal of weapons and ammo was smuggled into the country. Under the slogan of ‘democratization’ there began armed provocations and explosions. Arriving in Czechoslovakia as ‘advisers from the USA government, were numerous CIA staff officers and State Department officials, among them notorious anti-Russian ‘expert’ Zbignew Brzezinski.

Western special services organized and armed groups from among local criminals. These units attacked Russian soldiers, killing covertly, firing in the back, from ‘round the corner, rigging bombs in cars and barracks. The activity of these outlaws was well-financed from various so-called ‘democratic funds’, headed by American experts the likes of Zbignew Brzezinski.

However, the actions of the Soviet Government upset all the hopes of the western plotters. In just a matter of 24 hours forces of five Warsaw Pact countries in organized manner entered Czechoslovakia and seized all strategic points. They completely cut off routes leading to western Germany, which had been chosen as the launch pad for the western aggression. Detachments of the Czechoslovak army didn’t offer the Warsaw Pact troops any resistance. The leaders of the riots were isolated, all unrest was soon quelled.”

Having suffered a crushing defeat, initiators of the provocation came down on the Soviet Union with falsehoods about a violation of Czechoslovakia’s sovereignty. Western mass media means began to disseminate CIA-contrived information about the so-called Brezhnev doctrine, allegedly conceived by the Soviet leadership with regard to the East European countries, with the aim of limiting their sovereignty. This was done to sow discord among the USSR and Warsaw Pact countries.

Rhetoric of the Cold War era was quickly taken up and espoused by the liberal press of today’s Russia. Our liberals refer to the events in Czechoslovakia as ‘one of the most despicable pages in the history of Soviet-Czech relations”. At the same time they never mention the true reasons why the USSR and other Warsaw Pact states introduced troops into Czechoslovakia, or if they do – distort them out of all proportion.

Today, decades later, we can honestly say that western special services were, indeed, successful with their mission. Thanks to their efforts, the Warsaw Pact is no more. However, has the world become a safer place to live in?.. It is doubtful that anyone in their rightful mind will say “Yes”.

One of the main pages of the ‘Cold War’ of 1960’s – 1970’s was the deterioration of relations between the USSR and China, masterminded by the American special services.

Historian Oleg Platonov writes: “Skillfully manipulating truly existing contradictions between the two countries, American intelligence managed to drive a wedge between these two potentially strategic allies.

China was consistently threatened with an alleged nuclear threat emanating from the USSR. While the Soviet leadership was persuaded that there was a potential danger of China attacking the Soviet Union, and offers were made to join forces with the USA to jointly repel the ‘Chinese threat’.

Later on Henry Kissinger liked to recall how successfully he’d played the ‘Chinese trump card’ at the time, offering the Soviet Union American help against China, while offering China the same against the USSR.

Most importantly, this was clearly understood by the Soviet leadership. One of Leonid Brezhnev’s aides Georgy Arbatov wrote that the USA was trying to ‘use the existing array of problems in Russo-Chinese relations so as to, by normalizing ties with the Chinese republic, weaken the Soviet bargaining positions, prior to embarking on a serious dialog with the USSR.”