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 Hungary |  Soviet Union |
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Hungarian–Soviet relations developed in three phases. After a short period whenBéla Kun ruleda Soviet Republic,the Horthy era saw an almost complete break in relations until afterWorld War II. TheYalta Conference, however, created conditions that ensured political, economic, and cultural interventions by theSoviet Union in internalHungarian politics for the 45 years of theCold War. Hungary became a member of theWarsaw Pact in 1955; since the end ofWorld War II,Soviet troops were stationed in the country, intervening at the time of theHungarian Revolution of 1956. Starting in March 1990, the Soviet Army began leaving Hungary, with the last troops being withdrawn on June 19, 1991.
During the short reign ofMihály Károlyi, the fact that faith inWoodrow Wilson’sFourteen Points had brought Károlyi nothing meant that in February of 1919 he looked to a rapprochement with the newRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and its alliedParty of Communists in Hungary.[1] When Károlyi failed again to moderateAllied demands for large territorial cessions following theVix Note,[2] his Social Democratic Party would ally with the Party of Communists underBéla Kun,[1] who would make policies based upon communications with Russian leaderVladimir Lenin.
Kun’s regime quickly became very unpopular[3] and would be overthrown in theHungarian-Romanian War of 1919. A counterrevolutionaryWhite Terror would ensue, and the pre-war ruling clique of aristocrats, civil servants and army officers would be restored.[4]Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya would be electedRegent after the monarchy was restored — former King Charles IVwas unable to retake the throne before he died in 1922.
Having come to power in a counterrevolution against the Soviet Republic, Horthy’s rule would become firmly, even fanatically opposed to the Soviet Union. The Communist Party would be declared illegal immediately after its overthrow,[5] while it was 1934 before the USSR would again be recognised as a legitimate government, and May 1935 before diplomatic relations were established.[6] The rapproachment would be ended when Hungary reacquiredRuthenia, which Stalin had a strong interest in, with the result that diplomatic ties would be suspended in the spring of 1939.[6] In November 1940 István Csáky would be warned again, this time byAdolf Hitler, that Stalin was interested in seizing Ruthenia and possibly other areas of Hungary.[6]
At the beginning of the plans forOperation Barbarossa. Hungary was not expected to join the Wehrmacht in its struggle against Bolshevism.[7] However, soon afterwards Horthy would become entangled in an alliance withNazi Germany and Hungary would participate in the invasion.[8] However, all Hungary′s territorial demands were against Yugoslavia rather than the Soviet Union, while it has been argued that Horthy was the first Axis leader to recognise that the Soviet Union was not going to collapse under the Axis invasion.[8] For a time Stalin considered Hungary no longer involved in the war against his regime,[9] but Horthy was always under the impression theThird Reich needed more troops which he offered in the winter.[10] However, a new cabinet in 1942 was much less enthusiastic about fighting the war.[11] but Horthy was always under the impression theThird Reich needed more troops which he offered in the winter.[12]
By 1943–1944, the tide ofWorld War II had turned. TheRed Army regained the pre-warSoviet territory, and advanced westward from its borders to defeatNazi Germany and its allies, including Hungary. Officially, Soviet military operations in Hungary ended on 4 April 1945, when the last German troops were expelled, although Soviet troops (and political advisers) remained within the country. In the secretpercentages agreement signed by British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill and Soviet First SecretaryJoseph Stalin at theFourth Moscow Conference dividing Eastern Europe into British and Soviet spheres of interest, the Soviet Union was granted 80 percent of influence in Hungary.[13]
Duringthe period of Soviet occupation of Hungary in World War II (1944–45) under a system known in Hungary asmalenki robot (Russian for "little work") it is estimated that up to 600,000 Hungarians (of which up to 200,000 were civilians) were captured by the occupying Soviets and deported to labour camps in the Soviet Union – of those deported, up to 200,000 perished.[14] The first deported Hungarians started to return to Hungary in June 1946, with the last returning in the years 1953-1955,after Stalin's death. The Soviet policy of deportations for forced laborextended to other occupied nations, however no other Soviet occupied nation was hit as hard as Hungary – for comparison, it is estimated that155,000 to 218,000 Germans were deported from mainland Germany.[15][16]
TheHungarian Revolution of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against theCommunist government of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies. After announcing their willingness to negotiate the withdrawal of theSoviet Armed Forces, theSoviet Politburo changed its mind and moved to crush the revolution. On November 4, 1956, a large joint military force of theWarsaw Pact, led byMoscow, enteredBudapest to crush the armed resistance.
The Soviet intervention, codenamed "Operation Whirlwind", was launched by MarshalIvan Konev.[17] Thefive Soviet divisions stationed in Hungary before October 23 in the first intervention ("Operation Wave") were augmented to a total strength of 17 divisions.[18] The 8th Mechanized Army under command of Lieutenant GeneralHamazasp Babadzhanian and the38th Army under command of Lieutenant GeneralHadzhi-Umar Mamsurov from the nearbyCarpathian Military District were deployed to Hungary for the operation. This second intervention came after three days of deception. The Russians negotiated with the Hungarians (the so-called mixed commission headed byPál Maléter) about the withdrawal of Soviet troops on the island of Tököl, but at the same time flewJános Kádár andFerenc Münnich secretly to the Soviet Union on November 1 to establish a new pro-Soviet Hungarian government.[19]
At 3:00 a.m. on November 4, Soviet tanks penetrated Budapest along thePest side of theDanube in two thrusts—one from the south, and one from the north—thus splitting the city in half. Armored units crossed intoBuda, and at 4:25 a.m. fired the first shots at theHungarian People's Army barracks onBudaörsi road. Soon after, Soviet artillery and tank fire was heard in all districts of Budapest. Operation Whirlwind combined air strikes, artillery, and the coordinated tank-infantry action of 17 divisions. By 8:00 am organised defence of the city evaporated after the radio station was seized, and many defenders fell back to fortified positions. Hungarian civilians bore the brunt of the fighting, and it was often impossible for Soviet troops to differentiate military from civilian targets.[17] For this reason, Soviet tanks often crept along main roads firing indiscriminately into buildings. Hungarian resistance was strongest in the industrial areas of Budapest, which were heavily targeted by Soviet artillery and air strikes.[17]Soviet Army officers, largely unable to speakHungarian, began indiscriminately arresting anyone showing resistance, including sixty-eight minors, among them nine young girls, pro-Soviet Hungarian officers, and German employees of theRed Cross. According toKGB ChairmanIvan Serov's report on November 11, as many as 3,773 insurgents were arrested, and by November 13, the number grew to 4,056. Several hundreds were illegally deported by train toUzhgorod (Ungvár) inSoviet Ukraine and transported to several prisons inStryi,Drohobych,Chernivtsi, and Stanislav (Ivano-Frankivsk). After international protests by theUnited Nations, they were transported back to Hungary in December.[20] Within Hungary, thelast pocket of resistance called for ceasefire on 10 November. Over 2,500 Hungarians and 722 Soviet troops had been killed and thousands more were wounded.[21][22]
The crushing of the Hungarian Revolution strengthened Soviet control over theEastern Bloc. The Soviets hadImre Nagy replaced asPrime Minister of Hungary withJános Kádár, the leader of theHungarian Socialist Workers' Party. Nagy, with a few others, was given sanctuary in theYugoslav Embassy. In spite of a written safe conduct of free passage byJános Kádár, on 22 November 1956, Nagy was arrested by the Soviet forces as he was leaving the Yugoslav Embassy, and taken toSnagov,Romania. Subsequently, the Soviets returned him to Hungary, where he was secretly charged with organizing to overthrow the Hungarian people's democratic state and with treason. Nagy was secretly tried, found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed by hanging in June 1958.[23] According to Fedor Burlatsky, aKremlin insider,Soviet PremierNikita Khrushchev had Nagy executed, "as a lesson to all other leaders in socialist countries."[24]
In the wake of theRevolutions of 1989, the Soviet troops – theSouthern Group of Forces – started leaving Hungary. By July 1990, some 15,000 Soviet soldiers and their dependents had left, taking about 60,000 of the 560,000 tons of equipment they had stored there.[25] There were 5,750 buildings left on the 60 army camps and 10 air bases[26] maintained by theSoviet Army in Hungary. The Soviets reportedly asked for 50 billionforints (some 800 millionUS dollars at the time), as compensation for the "Soviet investment" in Hungary; the then-commander of Soviet troops in Hungary, Col. Gen.Matvey Burlakov (succeeded by Lt. Gen. Shilov), said that the troop withdrawals may be held up if the Hungarians refused to pay.[25]
The remaining 40,000 Soviet troops left Hungary, starting in March 1990, with the last leaving on June 19, 1991.[27]
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