Communism And The Soviet Union

Stalin’s unquestionable dominance over the Bolshevik party and their actions highlights the impact of Stalinism

In conclusion, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 resulted in the death of more than 2,500 Hungarians. Many of the attitudes and occurrences at the time, such as Khrushchev’s brutality and the general unrest under the Soviet Union’s control of countries and their freedom were large factors in the revolt. The West makes no attempts of intervention; Hungary was already under the power of

Although the Soviets imposed a Stalin type of regime in Hungary during the beginning of the Soviet occupation, things continued to get worse after the failed election of the communist party in Hungary (Rainer, 2010). For example Vyachslev Molatav, a diplomat for the Soviet Union, commanded Matyas Rakosi, the leader of the Communist Party in Hungary, to use tougher actions against the Hungarian citizens in order to make a more pronounced class struggle (Wettig, 2008). The electoral loss of the Communist Party in the 1945 Hungarian elections illustrated the reality that the Central European Communists parties were weak; thus the Soviet Union felt that it was necessary to apply harsh measures onto the Hungarian people in order to ensure the survival of a communist government (Naimark, 1995). Although the Soviets believed that these measures would enforce communism as a way of life over the Hungarian population, this ended up driving the Hungarians to revolt in

For five days, the Hungarians experienced independence from the Soviet Union and established a democratic regime. However, on November 4, 1956, the Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest to strike down the revolution. Janos Kadar appeared in the tank and proclaimed that the revolution was over and Hungary was to remain loyal to the Soviets (A.R 14). The Soviets reasserted their control and ended any nationalist hopes for the Hungarians.

In July of 1956 Matyas Rakosi resigned as the General Secretary of the Party. Under his rule, Matyas was responsible for approximately 2,000 Hungarian deaths, and nearly 100,000 imprisoned by the state’s security/ secret police, the AVO. Better known he was responsible for the arrest, torture, trying and imprisonment of Cardinal Mindszenty. His policies of collectivization, used on the Soviets failed leaving the country in economic ruin and widespread famine. The following October the USSR gave in to reformist demands in Poland, which further spurred hopes for concessions in the nation’s capital, Budapest.

During November of 1988 and January of 1989 the parliament of Hungary started making huge reforms and adopted a democracy packaged which gave trade union pluralism, freedom of association, assembly, and the press, also a new electoral law, and a revision of the constitution. In the beginning of 1989 Imre Pozsgay convinced the people that Hungary’s 1956 rebellion was an uprising in popular belief and not a foreign-instigated attempt at counterrevolution. From March 15 onwards huge demonstrations helped persuade the regime in Hungary to start negotiating with non-Communist political force. From this moment on Hungary was in revolution to dethrone Communist rule. Starting 22 of April Round Table talks started and stayed afloat till the Round Table agreement was signed on September 18. The talks involved numerous different political parties which included the Communists and the newly emerging independent political forces. These talks in the Round Table helped a number of Hungary political leaders emerge. May 2, 1989 pin pointed the first time the Iron Curtain started to be dethroned. On this day Hungary began destroying the 150 mile long border fence with

In 1956, Nikita delivered a speech to the Twentieth Party Congress, in which he denounced the repressive practices of Joseph Stalin. This speech resulted in a call for reform in many of the Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe. In Hungary, the people called for the removal Mátyás Ráákosi, known to the people as the “little Stalin. Rákosi’s methods were so brutal that at one point in his political career he was summoned to Moscow and told to tone down his methods. As student lead riots for reform broke out and spread around the country, Rákosi was forced to resign. He was replaced Imre Nagy, who sought to satisfy the public by promising free elections in the country, almost guaranteeing the fall of Communism in Hungary. In response

Nicolae Ceausescu was a Romanian activist, military leader, and president during the 71 years of his life. He was raised by peasant parents so he saw firsthand the depredations that the people on the lower rungs of society had been forced to accept throughout the many years of the monarchy that ruled the country. He went to work in a factory when he was just 11 years old, and he almost immediately began following the communist philosophies and reactionary politics. After World War II when Soviet Russia was beginning to dominate the region, he, like many of his contemporaries, made sure that they were members of the ruling class that was forming (Kaplan 81). He believed the communist ideology, and he was positioned, because of his associations, to become a prominent member of the new party. When the communists came to power, he was first a Minister of Defense, and then the head of the defense forces. When it came time to select a leader after the death of Ceausescu's good friend and mentor Georghe Georghiu-Dej who had been the country's leader, Ceausescu was selected as a compromise between the many different factions that wanted to rule the country (Kaplan 102).

The unrest of the Hungarian revolution of 1956 was one of the first significant threats to the power of the soviet-union. It was also a defining factor and major event of the cold war (Nyyssonen 48). Years of unstable communist rule at the hands of Josef Stalin and other soviet leaders led to, economic problems, and political excess which ultimately caused the relatively spontaneous revolution (Bekes). The revolution itself stemmed from student demonstrations which among other things, aimed to take down the Hungarian government along with its deep rooted and oppressive soviet policies. The demonstrators demanded free speech, relinquishment of personal liberties and above all else, a government that did not reflect the ideals of a communist

In the late eighties, Hungary made progressive steps to position themselves for entry into the European Union. Hungary was the first country to breach the forty-year “Iron Curtain” surrounding the Eastern European countries. The “Iron Curtain” was the political,

In July of 1956 many Polish steelworks began to show their anger with the Soviet government by revolting in the streets causing many riots to break out. Due to the actions taken by the Polish, many Hungarians now wanted to revolt against the Soviet government as well. On October 23, 1956 many people had gathered in Budapest in order to celebrate a Hungarian hero and by the end of this evening there were more then 200,000 “revolutionaries” surrounded the Communist Party’s headquarters but soon ran into the secret Hungarian police who began to fire upon them. This was the official start of the Hungarian Revolution and shortly following this the Hungarian Army began to help fight alongside the citizens responsible for the uprisings. Imre Nagy was leading Hungary during this time and soon announced to the Soviets on November 1st that Hungary did not want to be a part of the Warsaw Pact anymore and now desperately wanted help from the United Nations in order to help Hungary become free from the Soviet Union’s rule.

“The Hungarian nation is not a simple sum of individuals, but a community that needs to be organized, strengthened and developed, and in this sense, the new state that we are building is an illiberal state, a non-liberal state.” Orban’s bold statements are slowly becoming a reality, alarming the Western countries and most of Europe. After a history of communist influence and authoritarian rule, Hungary’s democratic consolidation in the late 20th century had been considered a huge success. They had a strong government and stable economy, and was one of the forerunners for the European Union. The expectation was that joining the European Union would consolidate liberal democracy in Hungary. However, shortly after Hungary became a part of the

The Hungarian Revolution was a mutiny that was widespread. The revolt was against the government of the Hungarian Peoples republic. This rebellion had lasted 28 days, from the 23rd of October to the 10th of November in 1956. In which the uprising was defeated by Soviet troops, as well as tanks, there had been thousands of deaths and injured. Even though many had been killed, wounded, and forced out of their own homes, this revolt influenced the cold war with new beginnings, as well as bring hope. As for, this uprising was different from many revolts for the reason is that Imre Nagy, the leader if the Hungarians, wanted to take Hungary out of the Warsaw Pact; instead of subduing the uprising with soviet troops. For this is not the only

programme that successfully improved the standard of living. With aspects of capitalist economics, his policy came to be known as "Goulash Communism" (Institute). The nickname aptly described the Hungarian government at the time: a mixed stew of various ideologies and policies that did not have a clear direction. Kádár's Goulash Communism was the country's first step away from a communist society. Another economic crisis appeared in the 1980s with rising foreign debts and product prices. Although he promised recovery in the near future (Brown), scepticism and opposition grew. On 15 March 1988, a massive demonstration against the government took place in Budapest, leading to more protests the same year. June the same year, the fences along the

Post World War II, Hungary represented most factors of the post-war destruction in Europe. Soon after, the U.S.S.R. liberated many countries, including this one. Much of Europe, once occupied by Nazi Germany, became dominated by Communist Russia and those who fought back were crushed under the iron rule of Joseph Stalin. In February 1943 he assisted budding communist, Matyas Rakosi, in turning Hungary into a Socialist Republic. After Stalin passed away, Eastern European countries made strong efforts to break the tyrannical power of the Soviet Union. In July of 1953, Imre Nagy was chosen to be the Chairman of the Council of Ministers.