Now that the ball is over Sir: Here we are,
exactly one quarter-century into the nuclear age, and very lucky to have survived that far, and Tibor Szamuely seems to have learned nothing (see his article on Czechoslovakia, 16 May). He writes, sadly, 1st* how it is all over for the Czechs and Slovaks, and what a pity they did not use violence. Indeed? At the best, there would have been a slight liberalisation at the cost of the kind of bloodshed seen in Hungary in 1956; more probably, there would have been the utter devastation of a Vietnam (although it seems improbable that any 'advanced' people can fight with the resilience of some of the most materially impoverished people of .Asia); quite likely, a prolonged resistance would have brought on a general war in Europe, in which NATO is committed to initiate the use of nuclear weapons.
Since such a course risks my life, the lives of my family, and, indeed, the whole future of mankind, I, for one, am grateful that the Czechs and Slovaks took a lead from Gandhi and Schweik and avoided armed resistance.
Although I can agree that independence is an important goal, life and hope are more im- portant, and, in Szamuely's own words, 'nations, unless they are physically exterminated, go on existing regardless of the vicissitudes of fate.'
If we are to survive further into :the nuclear age, we must learn from the kind of restraint and patience shown by the Czechs and Slovaks, and follow and improve on their methods of resistance—short of war—wherever this is necessary against the imperialisms of the East and of the West.
As Anthony Wedgwood Benn told the Rus- sians last week, old-style military imperialism proved too costly for the English in the long run—historically a comparatively short run— so, through the use of determined non-violent resistance, new-style economic and ideological imperialisms can be made too costly for the power centres that maintain them; then we can hope to reach a world in which the indepen- dence of all nations, even the small ones, will be recognised and respected. It will take some time, but the pattern is becoming clear; we should have the patience to allow it to evolve, rather than risk all by counselling the use of ill-considered violence.
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