The Eighth Tribe, 1981 (8. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1981-11-01 / 11. szám
Page 6 THE EIGHTH TRIBE November, 1981 At the Crossroads of History: The Lessons of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 by Robert Coddington UNITED NATIONS: — The Iasi days of October, 1956, were the “starry days" of Hungary: on October 23rd, a spontaneous uprising of tudents and workers against foreign domination widened into a victorious national revolution. But a few days later, the Soviet Union, while agreeing to negotiations, promising the withdrawal of its occupation forces, treacherously concentrated overwhelming armored forces on the border and in the early hours of November 4, 1956, invaded Hungary and crushed the Hungarians. In the perspective of 25 years, the world can draw lessons from the victory and defeat of the Hungarian patriots. Hungary, in 1956, marked the crossroads of history. While an intellectual ferment swept through the country, the entire nation hated the cruel Moscovite clique which, supported by a Soviet-controlled secret police apparatus and a massive Soviet occupation force, terrorized the Hungarian people. The secret police terror took the lives not only of thousands of Hungarian patriots, democrats, nationalists, and religious people (Joseph Mindszenty, the Cardinal Primate also was barbarously tortured), but also of fellow communists, who were put on show trials for alleged crimes against the regime. But for over 1,000 years, Hungary defended its independence and did not resign ■itself to a colonial status. The people, without any preparation or armaments, in a few days of battle destroyed and captured Soviet tanks and defeated the occupying forces. This was the first Soviet military defeat after World War II. That's why the Soviet occupation troops, which actually are garrisoned in Poland, have not yet intervened against the Solidarity free trade unions: Moscow knows that the occupation forces would be defeated. The Hungarian Revolution proved that the Armies of the Soviet dominated East-European countries would turn against the Soviet occupants in a decisive moment. The -Hungarian Army refused to kill Hungarians, and joined the freedom fighters. Furthermore, Hungary proved the bankruptcy of the Soviet communist system: 14 and 15 year old schoolboys ^nd girls, educated in that system and the workers in whose name the Sovietcontrolled regime ruled, fought the Soviet occupants the most bitterly. On November 4th, when Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest, the armed resistance lasted longest at the Csepel iron and steel workers, the largest concentration of metallurgists in Hungary. These workers destroyed the giant Stalin statue in Budapest, a symbol of Soviet rule and terror. The intensity of the armed resistance shocked ttye Soviet leadership. The Kremlin dispatched two of its most skilled negotiators, party theoretician Mikhail Suslov and Politburo member Anastas Mikoyan, to seek an end to the disturbances through negotiations, if possible. Throughout the Revolution the Soviet tactic turned out to be deception: while promising withdrawal from the entire country, the Soviets brought in fresh reinforcements to ready their forces for a full-scale offensive against the patriots. The then Soviet Ambassador to Hungary, Yuri Andropov, who is now in charge of the dreaded KGB apparatus, and one of the top leaders of the Kremlin, personally assured the Hungarian side that no new troops were arriving at the very same time that thousands of tanks and other military equipment were pouring into the country from the Soviet Union. The deception continued also at the political level. In late October, the Revolutionary Government informed the Soviets of its intention to renegotiate Hungary's membership in the Warsaw Pact. In an authoritative statement on October 30th, Moscow's "Pravda” declared that the Kremlin was ready to review the question of the Soviet troops stationed in Hungary and enter into negotiations with the Hungarians to that effect. As it turned out later, all this was done in order to gain time to complete the military buildup and end the popular uprising by brute force. Not only did the world abandon Hungary to its bitter destiny, but opportunist politicians used the crisis to try to obtain their own objectives: a British-French-Israeli invading forcp attacked Suez, diverting attention from Hungary „ In view of this new crisis and convinced that the Western forces were unprepared and not willing to raise a finger to help Hungary, the Politburo decided upon a massive invasion. In the days of victory, the Revolutionary Government declared the neutrality of Hungary, friendship with the Soviet Union and asked for the protection of the United Nations. But the international body, created primarily to maintain peace in the world, provided to be absolutely impotent. The crushing of the revolution and the new terror-wave after, pushed the Hungarian people into despair and lethargy. The hopelessness led the people towards biological destruction: for years, Hungary had the lowest birth rate in world statistics and the highest rate of suicides. In the quarter of a century that followed the revolution, due to the ingenuity and endurance of its people, Hungary demonstrated a remarkable ability to recover from its wounds. On the whole, a quarter of century after the revolution, Hungary remains strictly controlled by the Soviet Union and dependent on the occupying power economically, politically and militarily. The Soviets are still garrisoning over 70,000 troops on Hungarian soil, controlling all strategic districts, and the Hungarian people have to pay the occupation forces. While in the last 25 years almost 100 countries were liberated from colonial status, to the shame of the world, Hungary continues to be a Soviet colony in the heart of Europe. — Chicago and Vicinity
