Post by barrywoodling on Sept 7, 2005 10:15:14 GMT
The Hungarian Revolution 1956.
The crushing of the Hungarian revolution in 1956 by Russian tanks was a seminal moment in the history of soviet communism. the reformist Imre Nagy was removed from power and replaced by the hard liner Janos Kadar a leader much more to the Russians liking. The brutal suppression of the Hungarian workers uprising revealed yet again the barbaric nature of Soviet totalitarianism. Thousands of intellectuals and radicals decamped from the British Communist Party which signalled the beginning of the end for the party. MIklos Molnar a communist journalist who left Budapest in 1956 has written an authoritative account of the Workers revolution including the formation of workers councils during the revolution which should prove of interest to anarchists, anarcho-syndicalists and libertarian communists alike.
The Workers Councils in Hungary in 1956.
The workers of the United Lamp factories elected their council on October 24, 1956. The large industrial centres formed theirs on 25th October. These centres include Miskolc, Stalinvaros, Debrecen, and Gyor. Within 48 hours all the factories in Hungary had their elected councils. Central councils representing workers of a whole town were formed in Miskolc, Gyor, Magyarovar and certain parts of Budapest. Kadar and Nagy had agreed to factory councils as organs of autogestion but not organs of self government. The new councils followed the Soviet models of 1905 and 1917. They were political organs and even organs of social power. They organised political strikes which became general in nature.
The Workers Councils and the Councils of intellectuals and students as well as the national committees of the large provincial towns intended to keep power at the local level. In Gyor the town committee became the department committee and the national committee of the Transdanube region included all the workers councils. In Miskolc the Central Workers council became the departmental committee and the representative of all the local revolutionary groups.
The Workers Councils demanded national independence. The councils were the revolution in the provinces and effective power was in their hands. The councils directed a political offensive against the Communist Party and the State. One hundred delegations of Workers Councils presented their demands to Nagy and Kadar. There were delegations from Miskolc, Gyor , the aluminium factories of Inota, Pecs and Szolnok. On October 28, 1956 the Workers Council of the department of of Borsod (Miskolc) drew up a 7 point programme of national demands which included the formation of a new government, free elections, and the withdrawal of Soviet forces. The Council programmes of 4th November were a mixture of democratic and socialist anti-bureaucratic demands. They reflected the resistance of the Workers Councils to the reintroduction of Soviet monolithic power in the shape of Kadars Party.
The Parliament of Workers Councils met on October 31 with representatives of 24 large factories. "The delegates of the factories represented at he meeting have decided in the interests of socialist democracy...The factory belongs to the workers". The MIskolc Council demanded "The creation of a free, sovereign, independent, democratic, socialist Hungary".
The Gyor council stated "We have no wish to return to the former capitalist system".
To be continued.
Barry Woodling
Northern Anarchist Network
The crushing of the Hungarian revolution in 1956 by Russian tanks was a seminal moment in the history of soviet communism. the reformist Imre Nagy was removed from power and replaced by the hard liner Janos Kadar a leader much more to the Russians liking. The brutal suppression of the Hungarian workers uprising revealed yet again the barbaric nature of Soviet totalitarianism. Thousands of intellectuals and radicals decamped from the British Communist Party which signalled the beginning of the end for the party. MIklos Molnar a communist journalist who left Budapest in 1956 has written an authoritative account of the Workers revolution including the formation of workers councils during the revolution which should prove of interest to anarchists, anarcho-syndicalists and libertarian communists alike.
The Workers Councils in Hungary in 1956.
The workers of the United Lamp factories elected their council on October 24, 1956. The large industrial centres formed theirs on 25th October. These centres include Miskolc, Stalinvaros, Debrecen, and Gyor. Within 48 hours all the factories in Hungary had their elected councils. Central councils representing workers of a whole town were formed in Miskolc, Gyor, Magyarovar and certain parts of Budapest. Kadar and Nagy had agreed to factory councils as organs of autogestion but not organs of self government. The new councils followed the Soviet models of 1905 and 1917. They were political organs and even organs of social power. They organised political strikes which became general in nature.
The Workers Councils and the Councils of intellectuals and students as well as the national committees of the large provincial towns intended to keep power at the local level. In Gyor the town committee became the department committee and the national committee of the Transdanube region included all the workers councils. In Miskolc the Central Workers council became the departmental committee and the representative of all the local revolutionary groups.
The Workers Councils demanded national independence. The councils were the revolution in the provinces and effective power was in their hands. The councils directed a political offensive against the Communist Party and the State. One hundred delegations of Workers Councils presented their demands to Nagy and Kadar. There were delegations from Miskolc, Gyor , the aluminium factories of Inota, Pecs and Szolnok. On October 28, 1956 the Workers Council of the department of of Borsod (Miskolc) drew up a 7 point programme of national demands which included the formation of a new government, free elections, and the withdrawal of Soviet forces. The Council programmes of 4th November were a mixture of democratic and socialist anti-bureaucratic demands. They reflected the resistance of the Workers Councils to the reintroduction of Soviet monolithic power in the shape of Kadars Party.
The Parliament of Workers Councils met on October 31 with representatives of 24 large factories. "The delegates of the factories represented at he meeting have decided in the interests of socialist democracy...The factory belongs to the workers". The MIskolc Council demanded "The creation of a free, sovereign, independent, democratic, socialist Hungary".
The Gyor council stated "We have no wish to return to the former capitalist system".
To be continued.
Barry Woodling
Northern Anarchist Network
