Revolution in the GDR and Hungary, 1953-6 (original) (raw)
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The Spark Of Revolution (1956) – The Association Of Hungarian University And College Students
The Association of Hungarian University and College Students (AHUCS, MEFESZ) founded in Szeged on 16 October 1956 was one of the most significant youth movement of the Hungarian 20th century. Several facts seem to justify this proposition. First of all there was the ruthless retaliation of power beginning around the spring of 1957 (only in Szeged nearly a hundred students became the victims of revenge: being expelled, in custody or convicted). Secondly, it was a clear sign of state paranoia that they could and/or did not dare to dissolve or suppress AHUCS, its dissolution rather happened according to a previously refined strategy. From April 1957, after infiltration and gaining overall majority within the association, the original cohesion was gradually destroyed and finally it was merged into the Young Communist League. My goal is to prove the importance of AHUCS as a student movement and an organisational attempt and to show that, in some respect, it had left its mark on the politics of youth and education, since after the restart of tertiary education in February 1957 nothing could entirely be the same as before the revolution.
This is an anonymous account of the events of the near revolution of 1956, containing interesting information from interviews with participants.
Kajos Luca Fanni - Bali Cintia - Dr. Preisz Zsolt - Szabó Rebeka: X. Jubileumi Interdiszciplináris Doktorandusz Konferencia 2021 tanulmánykötet. Pécsi Tudományegyetem Doktorandusz Önkormányzat, Pécs., 2021
The communist leadership introduced Stalinist economic policy in Hungary from 1948, which was made possible by political takeover and changes in Soviet foreign policy. From that point a not less controversial era began and partially continued, a period of “transition” from capitalism to socialism. The transition was meant originally to be a gradual transformation at least in propaganda and in official speeches, for instance regarding agriculture, while in the reality rapid economic and political Stalinization took place. The analysis focuses on economic policy and to related views and discussions in the literature. How came the Soviet New Economic Policy (NEP) suddenly to the foreground in 1953? What was the official standpoint on its application during the transition period in the people’s democracies before Stalin’s death? The topic can be elaborated from a transnational and interdisciplinary perspective. Keywords: industrialization, nationalization, collectivization, NEP, De-Stalinization
Following the Life Stories of Participants in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution 1
To date, analyses of the 1956 Revolution have devoted little attention to examining the events pertaining to this period from the aspect of social history. In this study Valuch explores the life stories of those who participated in these events from six decades ago in an attempt to introduce the most important characteristics determining various life phases from before and after the revolution. Based upon life interviews conducted during the 1990s with former 1956 participants living mainly in the city of Debrecen and its surrounding Hajdú-Bihar County, Valuch's examination outlines those experiences determining their socialization, including family background, political attitudes predating the revolution and political activity conducted during 1956. His focus will then turn to the issue of how these individuals experienced the period of retribution following the revolution as well as attempts by the Kádár regime to marginalize participants in the 1956 Revolution. What general effect did collaboration with the revolutionary movement have on life during the Kádár regime and the political attitudes held by these individuals? In the final section, factors characterizing life stories from the 1956 period will be analyzed.
Following the Life Stories of Participants in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
Hungarian Cultural Studies, 2016
To date, analyses of the 1956 Revolution have devoted little attention to examining the events pertaining to this period from the aspect of social history. In this study Valuch explores the life stories of those who participated in these events from six decades ago in an attempt to introduce the most important characteristics determining various life phases from before and after the revolution. Based upon life interviews conducted during the 1990s with former 1956 participants living mainly in the city of Debrecen and its surrounding Hajdú-Bihar County, Valuch’s examination outlines those experiences determining their socialization, including family background, political attitudes predating the revolution and political activity conducted during 1956. His focus will then turn to the issue of how these individuals experienced the period of retribution following the revolution as well as attempts by the Kádár regime to marginalize participants in the 1956 Revolution. What general effec...
2015
This dissertation investigates the effect that the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 had on the Swedish communist movement, by examining how the revolt was analysed and presented by Swedish and Soviet communist sources respectively. It constitutes the beginning of a constructivist approach to the effect of the revolt in Hungary, as representative of the post- Stalinist era, on the development of the communist movement in Sweden, drawing preliminary rather than definitive conclusion. It employs primarily newspaper articles from the communist paper Ny Dag and the Soviet news bulletin Sovjetunionen i dag, in an attempt to analyse the similarities and discrepancies of the two stories about Hungary. The paper effectively demonstrates both a remarkable similarity between the Soviet and the Swedish communist stories, but also several aspects of the analysis in which the Swedish communists display an independent mindset, regarding arguments for justifying Soviet actions as well as degree of support offered to the Soviet Union. From the results, some preliminary conclusions regarding the Swedish communist identity can be discerned. The apparent conformity of the Swedish communists suggests that the Soviet Union as a guiding force remained an important notion in the immediate aftermath of the Hungarian Revolution. The discrepancies between the two stories give the impression of a Swedish communist mindset heavily influenced by notions of national sovereignty and Swedish neutrality. It is also apparent that the Cold War has a major cultural impact, at least in Swedish communist rhetoric, as diplomatic relations and international tensions are topics used far more to justify Soviet actions than in the Soviet story. In this sense, the Hungarian Revolution becomes more about national politics and the implications it has for Sweden internationally than international proletarian solidarity. Although the communist movement in Sweden was spared any greater internal divisions in 1956, the reactions to the Hungarian Revolution displays a mindset independent from the Soviet Union, and thus has a place in the internal development from a communist party to a left-wing socialist party.