Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T04:13:34.114Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Czechoslovakia's Penetration of Africa, 1955–1962

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2011

Curt F. Beck
Curt F. Beck
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
Get access

Extract

The water is safe to drink in Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt, thanks to a water filter station established by Czechoslovak engineers. A shoe factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is being built by Czech technicians. Across the frontier, in Somalia, Czechs are building a technical institute to teach some young Somalis the techniques necessary to staff modern factories. Across the continent in Conakry, Guinea, airport inscriptions are in Czech as well as in French and English to accommodate the many Czechs arriving on the direct Prague-to-Conakry airline. In the smaller villages of Ghana special trucks are delivering Czech beer to the local inhabitants. In Mali journalists are being trained by Czechs in the establishment of their own press agency. And in Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, there are numerous Africans among the more than 2,000 students from Africa, Asia, and Latin America enrolled at Czech state expense in institutions of higher learning. To say that Africa has assumed a role of real importance for the Czechs is an understatement.

Type
Research Article
Information
World Politics , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , April 1963 , pp. 403 - 416
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1963

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 This article is based on information contained in the leading Czech newspaper, Rudé Právo, 1955–1962; the ideological journal for party functionaries, Nová Mysl; communiqués of the Czechoslovak Press Bureau (Ĉeskoslovenský Tiskový Kanceláf, hereinafter cited as ĈTK); Ĉeskoslovenský Zpravodaj [News from Czechoslovakia], published in New York by the Free Europe Committee; Czechoslovak Foreign Trade, published in Prague by the Czechoslovak Chamber of Commerce; and the following African newspapers: Ethiopian Herald (Addis Ababa), Daily Graphic (Accra), La Vigie Marocaine (Casablanca), and Egyptian Gazette (Cairo). The author would like to make acknowledgment also to the excellent summaries, “Eastern Europe Overseas,” appearing monthly from December 1960 to October 1961 in East Europe, and the following survey articles in the same journal: “Red Sky over Africa,” IX (October 1960), 32–40; “Prague, Cairo and Damascus,” VII (April 1958), 12–13; “Communist Traders Look Abroad,” VIII (December 1959), 19–23; “Africa,” X (August 1961), 8–12; and “The Courting of Guinea,” IX (May 1960), 14–15. See also Lamberg, Robert F., “Prager Akrivitäten im Entwicklungsraum 1960/61,” Aussenpolitik, XIII (January 1962), 40–49.Google Scholar

2 It is important to bear in mind the significant part played by Poland and Bulgaria, as well as the remaining satellites, in the Soviet Union's policy toward Africa. Czechoslovakia, however, has played the leading role. Thus, next to the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia maintains the largest number of Communist embassies and consulates in Africa. At the end of 1962 she had—or had agreed to have—diplomatic and, in most cases, commercial relations with the following independent African countries: Algeria, Congo (Léopoldville), Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Somali Republic, South Africa, Sudan, Tanganyika, Togo, Tunisia, and Uganda. Such extensive relations far surpass those that the other Eastern European satellites have been able to establish with African countries. (McKay, Vernon, Africa in World Politics, New York 1963, 228Google Scholar; and Ost-Probleme, XIV [August 1962], 490.) If Czechoslovakia's role is to be placed in proper perspective, detailed studies of the roles of the other satellites must be made—a task beyond the scope of this article. The following articles cover the activities of some of the other satellites: “Rumänien und die afro-asiatischen Länder,” Wissen-schaftlicher Dienst Südosteuropa, XI (April-May 1962), 47–51; “Bulgarien und die afroasiatischen Lander,” ibid., XI (June-July 1962), 74–77; “Ungarn und die afro-asiatischen Länder,” ibid., XI (August 1962), 93–97.

3 As translated from the Czech in a quotation used by Jaroslav Ŝedivý, “CSSR a hospodársky málo vyvinuté zemê” [The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the underdeveloped countries], Nová Mysl, No. 7 (July 1961), 798. This statement can there fore be considered as the guideline for the Czechoslovak Communist government. For the text of the full statement, see New York Times, December 7, 1960, 14–17.

4 In answer to questions posed by UPI London correspondent, George Pipal, ĈTK, April io, 1961. Antonín Novotný, First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, said in an address to die 12th Congress of that party on December 4, 1962: “The wars of national liberation from the chains of colonialism have dealt a heavy blow to the world capitalist order. Upon achieving independence these nations have ranged themselves in most cases on the side of those who are anti-imperialist and anti-war. Thus the last few years saw an unprecedented growth in the ranks of those nations that actively join in the resolution of international questions and that often take up a position conforming to that of the socialist countries…We have good and friendly relations with those countries that have freed themselves from colonialism…We stand on their side and today, just as in the past, we are seeking to help them in ac cord with our abilities.” (Rudé Právo, supplement, December 5, 1962.) Compare also slogan No. 22 in the May 1, 1960, celebration (ibid., April 4, 1960), and frequent commentaries in ibid..—e.g., July 5, 1960.

5 ĈTK, January 11, 1961.

6 Mádr, Milan, “Severoatlantický pakt a Afrika” [NATO and Africa], Rudé Právo October 21, 1962.Google Scholar

7 There are many excellent accounts of the Soviet Union's policy toward Africa, its origins, various phases, and recent manifestations. The Mizan Newsletter, published by the Central Asian Research Centre, London, in association with the Oxford Soviet Affairs Study Group, reviews current Russian research on, and activities in, Africa; especially useful is the February 1962 supplement, “Soviet Economic Relations with Middle East and African Countries.” Yakobson's, Sergius “Russia and Africa” in Russian Foreign Policy, ed. by Lederer, Ivo J. (New Haven 1962)Google Scholar, gives an excellent concise survey of Russian involvement in Africa from before the Revolution to the present. A survey of more recent Soviet activities is contained in McKay, chaps. 11–13. See also Morrison, David L., “Communism in Africa: Moscow's First Steps,” Problems of Communism, x (November-December 1961), 8–15Google Scholar; “Soviet Views on Africa,”Soviet Survey (London), No. 28 (April-June 1959), 37–45; Schatten, Fritz, “Nationalismus and Kom-munismus in Afrika,” Ost-Probleme, XIV (August 1962), 482–87.Google Scholar

8 For some examples of Czech military and other aid under this agreement, see “Prague, Cairo and Damascus,” East Europe (April 1958).

9 ĈTK, July I, 1961. Czechoslovakia's foreign trade with the UAR (including Syria) in 1955–1960 was as follows:

During 1957–1960 the UAR was one of Czechoslovakia's three or four most important trade partners in the following Czech export items: diesel engines, electric motors, trucks, autobuses, cut wood, porcelain, and ceramics; and in the following import items: phosphates, cotton, barley, and rice. (Statistická Roĉenka Ĉeskoslovenské Socialistické Republic 1961 [Statistical yearbook of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic 1961], Prague 1961, 377–86.)

10 ĈTK, January 2, 1961. See also H. Králova, “Prospects of Development of Czechoslovak Trade Relations with Cambodia, Indonesia, UAR,” Czechoslovak Foreign Trade, I (July 1961), 18.

11 Rudé Právo, November 19, 1962.

12 Ibid., June 2, 1961. African students also demonstrated against French atomic bomb explosions in the Sahara desert in Prague on February 15, 1960, and transmitted their protest to the French Embassy (ibid., February 16, 1960). On February 15, 1961, on the occasion of Patrice Lumumba's murder, they adopted a resolution to be transmitted to the United Nations that requested Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld's removal (Radio Prague, February 15, 1961).

13 Out of 1, 807 foreign university students studying in Czechoslovakia in 1961, 815 were African; 285 of these were already studying in the universities, and another 530 were taking a preparatory one-year course in the Czech language. Since 1959, 160 Africans have received technical training in Czechoslovakia. In 1961, 50 were enrolled from Guinea, Mali, Tunisia, Congo, and Sierra Leone. (Smena, Bratislava, June 23 and 29, 1961.) On November 18, 1962, it was announced mat 380 new foreign students were matriculated at the University of the 17th of November, and that 86 foreign countries were represented at Czech technical schools and universities. (Rudé Právo, October 2 and November 18, 1962. See also Veĉernt Praha, September 21, 1962.) The Kenya Weekly News of May II, 1956, refers to an international students’ conference on the problems of colonialism held in Prague on April 13–19, 1956, and attended by Africans from Tunisia, Sudan, French Equatorial Africa, West Africa, Senegal, Egypt, Madagascar, and the Portuguese colonies.

14 The government of Guinea announced on January 25, 1962, that it had recalled its students from Czechoslovakia. This action has since apparently been rescinded. On January 16, 1962, the Neue Züricher Zeitung reported the case of six Somali students who had left Czechoslovakia, apparently because they resented the political indoctrination to which they were exposed. The prorector of the University of the 17th of November, V. Ŝtepánek, wrote an interesting statement (Rudé Právo, October 2, 1962) in which he referred to discontent on the part of foreign students, attributing such discontent to students who had come to Czechoslovakia with bad intentions.

15 Ibid., October 2, 1962.

16 “Prague, Cairo and Damascus,” East Europe (April 1958).

17 There were rumors in 1956 that Sudan was considering the purchase of Czechoslovak arms. This was officially denied later on. (Manchester Guardian, March 24, 1956, and Times [London], April 24 and July 30, 1956.) See also Africa Digest, No. 3 (May 1956), 39. and No. 4 (July 1956), 70.

18 Rudé Právo, October 2, 1962.

19 Kubánek, Stanislav, “Prospects of Development of Economic Relations Between Czechoslovakia and Morocco,” Czechoslovak Foreign Trade, I (February 1961), 17–18.Google Scholar

20 An AP dispatch from Algeria, dated July 8, 1962, reported mat Ben Bella's forces were equipped with Czechoslovak arms. A delegation of the General Union of Workers of Algeria, led by General Secretary Abdel Kader Maach, visited Czechoslovakia in March 1961 and discussed “forms of further cooperation between trade unions of the two countries” (ĈTK, March 21, 1961).

21 ĈTK, February 21, 1962.

22 Rudé Právo, November 4, 1962.

23 Ibid., May 19, 1960.

24 Czechoslovak Foreign Trade, I (March 1961), 17–18.

25 Following a Czech journalist's stay of ten days in Ethiopia in 1960, many items favorable to Communist Czechoslovakia appeared in the Ethiopian Herald (e.g., March 22 and 25, April 21 and 27, May 4, 9, 16, and June I, II, 22).

26 Speech by Minister of Public Education, Ali Garad Jama, upon his return from a tour of foreign countries, February 14, 1961.

27 Rudé Právo, October 23, 1962.

28 Zemêdêlské Noviny, April 11, 1959.

29 Rudé Právo, May 19, 1960.

30 Madhu Panikkar, K., Revolution in Africa (Bombay 1961), 7–8, 177–78Google Scholar; “The Courting of Guinea,” East Europe (May 1960).

31 ĈTK, February 21, 1961.

32 “Conflict in the Congo,” American Universities Field Staff Reports, Central and Southern Africa Scries, VIII, No. 4 (October 1960), 2. Following the revelation of a plot in December 1961 against Sékou Touré that implicated the Soviet Embassy, as well as those of other East European countries, relations between Guinea and Czechoslovakia cooled off somewhat. Guinea has tried to restore friendlier relations with Western countries, including France. It appears, however, that Czechoslovakia will continue to play a vital role in Guinean affairs, albeit a more circumspect one.

33 ĈTK, March 30, 1961.

34 Rudé Právo, October 28, 1962.

35 Jonáŝ, Josef, “Czechoslovak Socialist Republic: An Exporter of Complete Industrial Plants,” Czechoslovaks Foreign Trade, I (October 1961), 3.Google Scholar

36 An interesting example of Czechoslovakia's offensive in the cultural field is the New Orient (produced in English), a journal devoted to the modern and ancient cultures of Asia and Africa that is published in Prague by the Czechoslovak Society for Eastern Studies. It is obviously intended to impress the intellectual elite of the independent countries of Africa with the extent of Czechoslovakia's interest in African culture.