1956 1.10: I Did Nagy See That Coming

When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

Zack Twamley

19th Century, 20th Century, International Relations, Politics, Thirty Years' War, Korean War, 18th Century, First World War, Phd, 17th Century, European History, History, War

4.8 • 773 Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2024

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

1956 Episode 1.10 continues where we left off last time, and looks a bit more at the person of Matyas Rakosi.

Rakosi was the Stalinist dictator of Hungary from the late 1940s, and he set about establishing a Hungarian Stalinist regime, complete with all the trappings Stalin enjoyed. For every purge, every policy and ever character assassination that the man of steel engaged in, Rakosi felt compelled to demonstrate his loyalty by going still further. He would terrorise the people of Hungary into a burning, resentful, petrified silence, but his hold on power was only as strong as the secret police.

Imre Nagy, a passionate communist and eager reformer of all things Stalinism, was guaranteed to butt heads with a man like Rakosi, and in this episode we examine why this was the case. What were Nagy’s guiding principles, why was he such a committed communist, and what did he bring to the table that a man like Rakosi did not? Nagy was as complex as Rakosi was cruel, but this doesn’t mean we can’t give our best shot at analysing this fascinating individual who became, almost in spite of himself, a hero and then a martyr of the Hungarian people.

This episode is a pivotal instalment as we examine the background to what was to come in Hungary, and how a quiescent vassal became the centre of anti-Soviet sentiment within only a few stormy months. All of this began, of course, in the eventful year of 1956.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and history friends,
0:07.0	Hello and welcome history friends, Patrons All to 1956, episode 1.10.
0:27.6	Last time we introduced Hungary, the scene for one of the most significant revolts of the Cold War.
0:33.6	But before we get there, we have a few things to bring to you first.
0:36.6	I am really enjoying our time here and giving the story the detail it deserves.
0:41.8	So in line with this trend, today we're going to look at a little bit of a story about how Hungary endured the new system they were under
0:49.0	after we explained last time how this system was set up.
0:52.7	Under the terrifying and terrified leadership of Matyash Rakushi,
0:57.0	the People's Hungary was set to emulate all other Soviet satellites,
1:01.4	with some disastrous consequences for the lives, freedoms and incomes of the people that lived there.
1:07.1	That being said, let's get into it, as I take you to the glorious workers' utopia of the People's Democratic Republic of Hungary.
1:21.3	For most Hungarians, the working day began the same way.
1:26.2	The collective reading of the darkly ironic official state organ, a free people, was followed
1:31.8	by the party official giving you the party line of the day.
1:35.9	Such activities took place half an hour before the working day began and any absences were
1:41.0	noted.
1:42.1	Most people simply read and played along, as Hungary's neighbours would
1:46.4	do for the next two generations. All this was conducted beneath the portrait of our wise leader
1:52.5	Matyash Rakoshi, whose sickly false smiling face only moved halfway across his thick, squat, head. It was by party decree that Rakoshi had acquired
2:05.2	the adjective wise. His personality cult had plainly grown unchecked and all Hungarians were
2:11.6	expected to play along in their semi-worship of this vain, sadistic and frankly unwise little man.
2:23.0	What was so clearly unwise about Rakushy's position was the very nature of the contract
	...

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