János Kádár: Encyclopedia II - János Kádár - Role in the Hungarian Revolution

János Kádár - Role in the Hungarian Revolution

Nagy began a process of liberalisation, removing state controls over the press, releasing many political prisoners, and expressing wishes to withdraw Hungary from the Warsaw Pact. Kádár was strongly opposed to these policies and began to bitterly dislike Nagy.

Kádár was a central figure in the important events after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution which saw Nagy's downfall. Following the Soviet invasion of Hungary and Nagy's ouster, on November 8, at 5:05 in the morning, Kádár announced via the Red Army's radio system the formation of a "Revolutionary Worker-Peasant Government" consisting entirely of Communists. Kadar became prime minister and leader of the Communist Party, which was renamed the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party.

He announced a "Fifteen Point Programme" for this new government:

1. To secure Hungary's national independence and sovereignty
2. To protect the people's democratic and socialist system from all attacks
3. To end fratricidal fighting and to restore order
4. To establish close fraternal relations with other socialist countries on the basis of complete equality and non-interference
5. To cooperate peacefully with all nations irrespective of form of government
6. To quickly and substantially raise the standard of living for all in Hungary
7. Modification of the Five Year Plan, to allow for this increase in the standard of living
8. Elimination of bureaucracy and the broadening of democracy, in the workers' interest
9. On the basis of the broadened democracy, management by the workers must be implemented in factories and enterprises
10. To develop agricultural production, abolish compulsory deliveries and grant assistance to individual farmers
11. To guarantee democratic elections in the already existing administrative bodies and Revolutionary Councils
12. Support for artisans and retail trade
13. Development of Hungarian culture in the spirit of Hungary's progressive traditions
14. The Hungarian Revolutionary Worker-Peasant Government, acting in the interest of our people, requested the Red Army to help our nation smash the sinister forces of reaction and restore order and calm in Hungary
15. To negotiate with the forces of the Warsaw Pact on the withdrawal of troops from Hungary following the end of the crisis

Kádár also added that "anyone not against us is with us", and that "ordinary people could go about their business without fear of molestation or even much surveillance and could speak, read, and even write with reasonable freedom".

Generally speaking, all but the 14th point was in line with the wishes of the Hungarian people. There had been almost universal support for the uprising, and the 14th point proved what the people of Hungary feared about Kádár: that he was merely a mouthpiece for the Soviet Union.

The 15th point was withdrawn after pressure from the Warsaw Pact that a 200,000 strong Soviet detachment be garrisoned in Hungary. This development allowed Kádár to divert huge defence funds to welfare and let the Hungarian armed forces deteriorate. As a long-standing consequence, Hungary today is barely able to meet its NATO membership obligations.

Nagy, along with Georg Lukács, Géza Losonczy and László Rajk's widow, Julia, fled to the Yugoslavian embassy. Kádár promised them safe passage out of the country, but failed to keep this promise and had them kidnapped after they left the embassy on November 23, 1956.

On June 17, 1958, Kádár's government announced that several of Nagy's reformers had been convicted of treason and attempting to overthrow the "democratic state order", and that Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter and Miklós Gimes had been executed for these crimes. Geza Losonczy and Attila Szigethy both died in suspicious circumstances soon afterwards.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Role in the Hungarian Revolution", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki