Closing Speech Revision Suggestions and Telegram to Zhu De
(January 25, 1954)
For immediate delivery to Comrade Zhu De:
Your telegram of January 24 and the closing speech have been received. Comrades Luo Ruiqing and Chen Boda have suggested adding a few sentences in the sections concerning the relationship between the Party and the army and the study of the Soviet Union. I have reviewed it and consider it acceptable. Please discuss and finalize it with Comrade Peng Dehuai[1] and others.
The sentences Comrades Luo Ruiqing and Chen Boda suggested adding to Comrade Zhu De’s closing speech are as follows:


Regarding the issue of the relationship between the Party and the army, the original draft of the closing speech states: “The most important key to the unity of the entire Party is the unity among the senior cadres of the Party and the armed forces. Therefore, the senior cadres of the Party and the armed forces must have a high degree of self-awareness regarding Party unity and fully recognize the gravity of their responsibilities.” Chen Boda suggests adding a passage after this: “It must be made clear to the entire army: Our armed forces were built and developed under the leadership of the Party, and under the leadership of the Party, they defeated the enemy. Without the Party’s leadership, there would be no revolutionary armed forces of ours. Our Military Commission carries out its work under the leadership of the Party Central Committee. The senior cadres of our armed forces must always remember Comrade

Mao Zedong’s directive: ‘Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party.’ That is to say, our armed forces and all cadres within them must loyally submit to the Party’s leadership and unite closely under the leadership of the Party Central Committee.”

Regarding the issue of studying the Soviet Union, the original draft of the closing speech states: “We must earnestly study the advanced military science and technology of the Soviet Union, study the advanced combat experience of the Soviet army, study the modern command art of the Soviet army, study the highly unified organization and discipline of the Soviet army, and study the lofty spirit of patriotism and internationalism of the Soviet army.” Luo Ruiqing suggests adding a passage after this: “An attitude of refusing to study the Soviet Union is completely wrong and must be opposed. However, to talk loftily about studying the Soviet Union while divorcing oneself from the actual conditions of our army is also an incorrect study attitude, and as a result, it will certainly not be studied well.”


The revised sections are hereby issued as follows.
Mao Zedong
January 25
[1] Dehuai, i.e., Peng Dehuai, then Vice Chairman of the People’s Revolutionary Military Commission.