CZECHOSLOVKIA-SOVIET FRIENDSHIP TREATY:

CZECHOSLOVKIA-SOVIET FRIENDSHIP TREATY: An historically important set of four World War II date Ds.S. by both Zdenek Fierlinger (1891-1976) Czechoslovak diplomat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia 1945-46 and Vyacheslav Molotov (1890-1986) Russian politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs 1939-49 & 1953-56, being the Treaty on Friendship, Mutual Aid and Post-War Cooperation between the Czechoslovak Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the first of the typescript documents being in Czech, four pages, folio, Moscow, 12th December 1943, issued as a supplement to the Treaty of Mutual Assistance signed between the two countries in Prague on 16th May 1935, and the agreement made on the joint progress in the war against Germany that was signed in London on 18th July 1941, agreeing to post-war cooperation to maintain peace and prevent a new attack by Germany, and ensuring permanent friendship between the two countries, the treaty comprising six articles in which the Czechoslovak Republic and USSR agree to provide each other with military assistance in the 'current war against Germany and all those states that are associated with him in offensive actions in Europe', undertaking that they will not 'enter into any negotiations with Hitler's government or any other government in Germany for the duration of the present war', further agreeing 'on close and friendly cooperation after the restoration of peace, and that they will act in accordance with the intentions of mutual respect for their independence and sovereignty, as well as non-interference in the internal affairs of another state....[and]..... that they will develop economic relations on the widest possible scale and provide each other with all kinds of economic assistance after the war' and also undertaking not to enter into any alliance or participate in any coalition directed against each other, and concluding by agreeing that the treaty shall come into force immediately and remain in place for a period of twenty years. Signed by both Fierlinger and Molotov at the conclusion above two official wax seals tied by a red cord. The second typescript document being an identical version in Cyrillic, also four pages, folio, Moscow, 12th December 1943, and again signed at the conclusion by both Fierlinger and Molotov above their official wax seals. The third typescript document represents an addendum to the treaty, one page, folio, Moscow, 12th December 1943, in Czech and states, in part, 'When concluding the Treaty of Friendship.....between the Czechoslovak Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the contracting parties agreed that in the event of any third country wishing to accede to this Treaty, bordering the Czechoslovak Republic or the USSR and resisting the object of German agression in this war, the latter will be given the opportunity, by mutual agreement......to sign this Treaty, which will thus acquire the status of a trpartite treaty'. Signed by both Fierlinger and Molotov at the conclusion. The fourth document is an identical version of the addendum in Cyrillic, also one page, folio, Moscow, 12th December 1943 and again signed by Fierlinger and Molotov at the conclusion. The four documents are tied together with red cord and housed within the original folder with plain maroon coloured boards. Some minor scuffing and age wear, a few very light water stains to the upper borders of most pages and the final document with a small area of paper loss to the upper right corner, not affecting the text or signatures. About VG