RE: [Marxism] Hungary 1956 (Nagy and withdrawal from Warsaw Pact)

["Len Walsingham" <lha.walsingham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Below are extracts from CNN interactive I got from a Google search. I
don?t think there is really any doubt about the chronology. Basically
Nagy announced the end of the one-party system; withdrawal from the
Warsaw Treaty and Hungary's neutrality on October 30-1 November. Soviet
troops entered Budapest (again) on 4 November. This does not do justice
to the complex comings and goings of the situation but the short answer
is YES -- withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact and neutrality came before the
Soviet troops.

The first quote is from an article 'Imre Nagy, the Hesistant
Revolutionary' by Johanna Granville, which perhaps is the sort of thing
you were after. I find her argument a bit of a stretch, to say the
least. But the situation was very confused (from a number of points of
view) and changing by the hour. Much more could be said about Imre Nagy
and his role. But what is the use of getting into all this now? You
would end up spending a great deal of effort to prove what to the
satisfaction of whom? And for what purpose?

I have quite of bit of material on this subject/era myself but feel that
my time is better spent addressing the problems in front of us rather
than those behind us. So, I shall not be making any further
interventions on this one.

Two monks came across a distressed woman crying by a river. She wanted
to cross but did not want to wet her silk dress. So one monk carried her
across on his back. The other one chided him for this, all the way to
the lamasery. "Why are you still going on about that woman?" replied the
other, "I left her back at the river bank."

Len

===========================================================
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/CWIHP/BULLETINS/b5a4.htm

Imre Nagy, Hesitant Revolutionary by Johanna Granville 

Perhaps as a credit to Soviet propaganda, many people, some scholars 
included, mistakenly believe it was Nagy?s bold declaration that he
would 
withdraw Hungary from the Warsaw Pact that caused the Soviet Union to 
intervene for the second time, on 4 November 1956.  But Imre Nagy was
too 
hesitant to make such a bold move without warrant.  Clearly, Nagy only 
broke ranks with the USSR in this way after it was obvious that
additional 
Soviet troops were entering Hungary, not just departing.
==========================================================

http://econc10.bu.edu/economic_systems/NatIdentity/EE/Hungary/1956.htm
On November 1, Nagy announced Hungary's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact
and asked the United Nations to defend Hungary's neutrality. The Soviets
could not allow this to happen. The next day Soviet tanks re-entered
Hungary and two days later attacked Budapest. Nagy and his colleagues
fled to the Yugoslav embassy where they were given political asylum. By
the end of November, Nagy and his colleagues were seized by Soviet
troops and deported to Rumania. Seven months later a official communiqué
announced the sentencing and execution of the leaders of the revolution
including Nagy.
===========================================================
www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/nagy/

Nagy advocated a reformist "New Course" that included relaxing the pace
of industrialization, allowing peasants to leave collective farms and
relaxing police terror. However, when politics in Moscow shifted in 1955
and Malenkov fell out of favor, Nagy fell out of favor, too. He was
forced to resign his post and was kicked out of the Communist Party. 

The reappointment of Rakosi, a Stalinist, and Khrushchev's "secret
speech" to the 20th Communist Party Congress contributed to disquiet in
Hungary. To stave off widespread popular discontent, another Hungarian
communist, Erno Gero, was appointed first secretary. But events in
Poland, as well as domestic events in Hungary, including the reburial of
victims of the Hungarian Stalinist purges, led to widespread unrest. By
October 23, student demonstrations in downtown Budapest and the
unauthorized shooting of demonstrators led to chaos. An emergency
meeting of the party Central Committee on the night of October 23
appointed Nagy prime minister, a position he held for little more than
10 days. 

During his brief tenure as prime minister during the Hungarian
Revolution, Nagy attempted to bring events under control, working within
the bounds set by the Soviets while reforming Hungarian politics. He
offered amnesty to the demonstrators, abolished the one-party system and
thought that he had negotiated the withdrawal of Soviet troops from
Hungary. However, when he realized that he had been deceived by the
Soviets, he withdrew Hungary from the Warsaw Pact and declared Hungarian
neutrality. The Soviets invaded Budapest on November 4, 1956. Nagy went
to the Yugoslav Embassy, where he had been offered protection. Under
promise of safe passage, he left the embassy, but the Yugoslav bus was
seized by the Soviet military. Five days later, Nagy and his group were
flown to Romania. Although Soviet leaders hoped to persuade him to
endorse the new government of Janos Kadar, he refused. Nagy was held
prisoner for approximately two years. After a secret trial, Nagy was
executed on June 16, 1958, at age 62. 

========================================================================
> These recent postings prompts me to re-ask a question I 
> posted here a while ago:
> 
> Did Imre Nägy threat to pull out of the Soviet East Bloc 
> prior to the invasion?
> 
> sources differ on this key point
> 
> Irving's "Uprising!" book is atrociously written; real "boy's 
> own" stuff
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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