Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1990. január-június (44. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)

1990-01-25 / 4. szám

Thursday, Feb. 1. 1990. AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZO 11. ÄmiRinh HunGARiAris ON THE VERGE OF A NEW ERA Whether looking at it from the inside or the outside, it is clearly evident that the political situation in Hungary today shows a nation on the verge of a new era. The system of political institutions which came into being in Hungary and elsewhere in East-Central Europe in the second half of the 1940s and which functioned until the second half of the 1980s, is grinding to a halt. The alteration of the instituti­onal system in politics is undergoing the most dramatic changes in the Soviet Union, Poland and Hungary, though the internal changes in these countries, too, show marked variations. In Hungary, at any rate, a plu­ralistic society is in the making, symbo­lized by a multi-party system whose func­tioning will be based on the free elections. AFTER 1945 It was a long way to go until the present changes could be implemented. Free elec­tions were held in 1945, soon after the liberation of the country. In 1947, these were repeated under slightly modified conditions. As a result of these two elec­tions. coalition governments came into being with the participation of the Hunga­rian Communist Party, the Hungarian Social Democratic Party, the Independent Small­holders' Party and the National Peasant Party as well as several opposition parties, all of whom were present in Parliament. The major tasks of the coalition governments that followed in each other's wake were to rebuild the country after the devastating war, to renew economic life, to develop a democratic spirited public life, and to begin to create and strengthen international relations. These endeavors were crowned by success; in just a few years the country was back on its feet once again, and the fruits of the good life and a free life were beginning to mature. THE COLD WAR AND STALINISM Unfortunately, developments in the inter­national situation did not favor such tenden­cies, and the cold war directly affected Hungary's international partners, those mostly newly made friends and just develop­ing fronts which united the countries in this part of the world. Nor must we forget that during those years Stalinism was still very much in effect in the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the leading strata which played a definitive part in the Hungarian Communist Party after their return from Soviet emigration also represented Stalinist policies. At their head was Mátyás Rákosi, who during the interwar years had spent 16 years in various prisons of the rightist government of the time because of his political convictions, and who projected his feelings for the past onto the present. But the basic problem was that during his rule the party took over the Stalinist methods which cast a shadow over all of Hungarian life without question, though the press said otherwise. It nevertheless became painfully obvious that the schism between the government and society was deepening. WORSENING LIVING CONDITIONS The long line of mistakes affected econo­mic life as well, one which functioned according to the Soviet model, and elaborated unrealistic five-year plans which, though they attained partial success, were on the whole ineffective in ensuring Hungary's place in the European marketplace and beyond. Living conditions, which showed an improvement until 1948 and 1949, began to decline, first gradually, then dramatical­ly, and this made people feel dissatisfied. Internationally, Hungary became relatively isolated from the rest of the world, except for those neighboring nations which had gone through a similar political and social transformation. In both domestic and foreign affairs the uncritical imitation of Stalinist methods became the norm, and this could not win public support; consequently, a significant portion of the population turned away from the government's major political policies. SHOW TRIALS The functioning of the judiciary, which served the immediate interests of the government and launched a long line of show trials, had an especially drastic - and unfavorable - effect on public opinion. These trials had already played a central role in power politics in the second half of the Forties. Insignificant matters were inflated, and others were made up without any basis in fact, and in accordance with the well edited scripts at their disposal, the trials always ended with results that seemed to support government goals, RAJK AND MINDSZENTY Of all the show trials, perhaps the best known is that of László Rajk. One of the leaders of the Communist Party, he was chosen to prove that the Soviet Union and the East-Central European, countries who were closely allied with her were following the best possible policies against Tito and Yugoslavia and the relatively independent political and ideological thinking he repre­sented. In the Rajk and other political trials of the time it is interesting to note that the defendants were all Communists, almost to the last man. But in this Stalinist period of Hungarian history, not only Communists were sentenced to imprisonment or death. There were civilian politicians and Church people too among them, such as Archbishop Mindszenty, who spent several years in prison. In those years, too, many were detained and even forcibly relocated from the cities to count­ry towns and villages; these were people who were felt to be undesirable class enemies. SUCCESSES But simultaneously with these intolerable occurences, the regime was also able to point to real successes - the improvement in the lives of the most miserable classes, and the creation of a national industry, though the latter was in no way without new problems, and later became the source of severe complications. It was during these years also that a well-functioning educational system was worked out and public health and welfare policies were implemented. However, these successes, along with others, were overshadowed by the sins and errors which by the mid- Fifties had produced an explosive situation in the country. IMRE NAGY'S FIRST GOVERNMENT As history has so often demonstrated, the explosion does not come during the time of the greatest repression, but during the ensuing times when the pressure lets up. In Hungary, this easing up came after the death of Stalin in 1953, when changes of various magnitudes were implemented in all the socialist countries. In Budapest a new government was formed with Imre Nagy at its head which tried to rectify the erroneous political and other policies of the preceding years - if they could be rectified at all. The country was given new wind in its sails and turned with sincere appreciation towards the policies of the Nagy government and a future which they referred to as the "New Phase". Unfortunately, this government existed for barely two years, because Rákosi and his men who had retained their positions in the party, took advantage of certain changes in Soviet politics and dismissed the head of government and his associates not only from their posts, but also from the party ranks. This happened prior to the 20th congress of the Soviet Communist Party, held in February 1956, when Stalin and certain aspects of his politics were criticized and rejected as irreconcilable with the building of socialist society and the international Communist movement. OCTOBER 23, 1956. The situation in Hungary, too, had clearly reached a turning point. Rákosi had to relinquish his post and leave the country. But the situation was not resolved; he was replaced by his former right hand man, Ernő Gerő, who apart from some minor changes, wanted to continue along the former lines. The conflict of interests, exploded on October 23, 1956, though due to public pressure, Imre Nagy had been reinstated as head of government by then, while János Kadar had taken Gero's place in the party leadership. At the time it seemed that the two politicians were in accord over the basic questions. Then the Communist Party took on the name of Hungarian Socialist Workers Party, and the Hungarian government decided that it was ready to adopt a multi-party system and that Hungary would leave the Warsaw Treaty and declare its neutrality, But when Soviet military intervention was on the way, the new government set up by János Kádár supported it, while Imre Nagy and those who shared the same ideo­logy asked for political asylum at the Yugo­slavian embassy. (to be continues)

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