Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1990. január-június (44. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1990-02-15 / 7. szám
Thursday, Feb. 15. 1990. AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZÓ 11. AltlBtKAII HUnCARIAIIS ON THE VERGE OF A NEW ERA TRAVEL ■elations and cooperation developed with the Western nations as well, including all the major powers and other important countries. The same was true of relations with the developing countries, though perhaps Hungary took too much upon itself in relation to its size and capabilities. Also, among the darker aspects of Hungary's foreign oolicy activities mention must be made 3f its participation in the invasion of Czechoslovakia in the summer of 1968. At the same time, Hungarian foreign policy and diplomacy attained impressive achievements in the area of high level visits, and Hungarian and other leaders, heads of state and government, foreign ministers, general secretaries of the UN and other leading politicians visited each other. In the field of international relations, Hungary evidenced certain strivings for independence as well, and by giving more attention to national interests than before, achieved more than ever both with respect to the other socialist and to the capitalist countries. In fact, in 1984, during the period of strained East-West relations, of all the socialist countries, Hungary alone kept up high level relations with the leading and non-leading nations of the West. JUDGING HUNGARY'S LEADERSHIP The West judged Hungary, Hungary's leadership and János Kádár personally, in relation to the above. A small press archive could be assembled of the many Western articles which spoke appreciatively of the Kádár regime, several in fact, believed that Kádár would be elected to head the nation even in free elections. A number of leading Western politicians who had visited Budapest or who were visited by Kadar, also made positive statements. ONE-PARTY SYSTEM Among the internal contradictions of the state of affairs in Hungary was the fact that the process of democratization was kept within strict limits, the one-party system was untouchable, and those social, cultural and other organizations which would not accept the rule of the governing party did not win official recognition. Though there was no overt censorship, self-censorship and certain organs insured the status quo. Those who did not respect it properly found themselves facing so-called "administrative measures". This was equally true of the press, radio, television, book publishing, and various areas of cultural, scientific and intellectual life as well. No wonder that "samizdat" (underground) publication, both of articles and books, soon appeared on the scene, even if its influence lagged way behind that of similar publications in Poland, for example. Of course this did not mean that the country's cultural life came to a halt; many DUtstanding creations appeared, and the Hungarian film industry was even able to produce an Oscar-winning feature film. Two-way tourism underwent spectacular changes. Foreigners could obtain visas without any difficulty; upon Hungary's initiative, obligatory visas were done away with between Hungary and Austria, as well as a number of other countries; and Hungarians could travel in masses to the West nor were there serious difficulties in obtaining permission to emigrate. On the other hand, certain groups whose activities "were not in the interest of the Hungarian People's Republic", were barred from the right to travel and were stripped of certain other basic freedoms. THE ECONOMY The main problems and possibly the greatest dangers for the regime lay in wait in economic life. The economic reforms of 1968, the liberalization of the planned economy and the creation of proper market conditions had hardly made any headway, while in the early 70s,leading theoreticians of economic reform were, for the most part, dismissed from the upper ranks of the party and the government. Since the economy could not grow appreciably, the government attempted to make up for poor economic management and its inability to meet growing demands by asking for foreign credits and loans. In turn, by the mid-Eighties, this led to the large scale, almost tragic indebtedness, which at present, and in the foreseeable future will make demands on the Hungarian economy and the Hungarian standard of living which verges on the bearable. THE TURNING POINT The turning point in the country's political life came in May, 1988, when the governing party held a national conference at which -though there was probably no prearranged "script" - János Kádár was relieved of his post of Secretary General of the Communist Party. Several members of the uppermost echelons suffered the same fate. Károly Grosz was chosen to head the party; he considers himself a middle-of the-roader, but along with him came others, such as Imre Pozsgay and Rezsá Nyers, who are leading representatives of the reform wing. It seemed that these changes would bring a favorable turnabout to the country's life. This, however, was not to be. To be continued Ti tli« Editor Dear Mr. Deak: Thank you for publishing one of my father's poems in the Magyar Évkönyv. I was very moved by your choice of his poem: Ibolykának. It was a lovely new year's present. My children and I also enjoyed the article you printed in December in English about my father. We all miss my parents a great deal, especially around the holidays! Your thoughtfulness made the season a happier one. Ibolya Lutheran Palumbo IL REVOLUTION- COUNTER-REVOLUTION Armed conflict was over in just a matter of days. But it took a long time for the new government to create a state of "normalcy". Since October and November of 1956, the conflict between the two lines became irreconcilable; while the powers hallmarked by János Kádár's name labeled the events taking place between October 23 and November 4, as "counter-revolutionary", against which the acceptance of Soviet military support was justified, Imre Nagy and his supporters insisted that the short period in question faced a revolution and national fight for independence. REPRISALS Today it is known that foreign powers played a major role in the aftermath, in the trial and execution of Imre Nagy, along with several other government leaders and people who had participated in the political and armed struggle. These reprisals occurred between 1957 and 1962. Of the lists that have seen the light of day in recent months, most indicate the number of those against whom retorsion was directed as somewhere between 270 and 300. But the number of those who lost their lives during the armed conflict on both sides of the barricades is much higher. In short, after 1956, Hungarian government characterized the events of 1956 as counter-revolutionary and for decades to come, those who regarded '56 as revolutionary and as an attempt at national independence were headed for trouble with the police and the courts. THE KADAR ERA Yet strange as it may seem, during the Sixties and Seventies many of the demands first voiced by Imre Nagy and his supporters were met. For a while the country's economic situation improved markedly, there was some industrial development, the socialist reorganization of agriculture was implemented efficiently and successfully, the living conditions of people in the cities also improved considerably and - though with some exaggeration - the leadership talked about a measure of common consent between the regime and society. "Anyone who is not against us is with us," was the motto. The sphere of basic freedoms was expanding, and travel to the West became possible, though a section of society was barred from it. Even certain signs of prosperity were beginning to show, while the system itself based its rule on paternalistic authority. When compared to most other East-Central European friendly countries, it is incontestable that Hungary made the best impression on visitors from the West. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS li 4 . In the years of the Kadar era, and especially beginning with the second half of the Sixties, Hungary's international relations showed marked improvement. Side by side with the Eastern countries, 4 • - Í* - , I « t 1 ? * V « • > V • - --------
