Hungarian Review, 1958 (4. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1958-01-01 / 1. szám

The editors of THE “HUNGARIAN REVIEW” WiÁ Уаи Cl -Happy. How У&(Vi ONE YEAR T he Hungarian Revolutionary Workers’ and Peasants’ Government, founded on No­vember 3, has been in office for just a year. A year ago Budapest streets were loud with gunfire, houses were burning, shops were being looted and counter-revolutionary bandits were killing decent, progressive-mind­ed people, both Communists and non-com­munists. The forces of the counter-revolution were almost certain of their victory. They had already formed their reactionary parties, Mind­­szenty’s threatening speech had already been delivered over the radio, and it looked as if it were only a matter of a few more days before the sanguinary fascist terror — of which the capital and a few provincial communities had already had a foretaste — was to become the law of the land. A great deal was at stake: the workers’ regime, or the most savage dictatorship. And this was only one aspect of the question. Had the fascist dictatorship been realized, this country would have become the hotbed of a third world war. The counter-revolution felt itself in power for a short time only, but this was long enough to begin incitement against the neighbouring peoples and to poison relations with the surrounding countries by voicing chauvinistic catch-phrases. The hor­rible spectre of a third world war was looming very close indeed. A year ago we were in a dead-end street, both with regard to internal policy and foreign policy. Therefore it is in no sense an exaggera­tion to say that the action of the handful of men who formed the Workers’ and Peasants’ Go­vernment was truly history-making. Never before had a government taken in hand the helm of the country under conditions so difficult. Today it is clear to everybody that the Revolutionary Workers’ and Peasants’ Govern­ment sized up the situation judiciously and that its actions have served the interests of the country and the people all the time. It is a fact that at the beginning some of the measures taken by the government were not exactly popular, but later — as the fog lifted from the brains — more and more people came to realize that the government was pursuing the worker and peasant policy to which its very name has committed it. The measures which followed pointed to a, strong hand and the ability to make decisions. The first and foremost step was to liquidate the armed counter-revolutionary gangs. In order to do this the government requested aid from the Soviet Union and this aid was given without delay. Once again we had good reason to be grateful to the first socialist state of the world. The second major task was to set into 1

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