Henry Bogdan: From Warsaw To Sofia

--The Illusion of Democracy in Hungary

As in the other Eastern European states, the communist presence in Hungary was also initially small, with a membership of barely a few thousand in the clandestine Communist party in 1938. Hungary was unique, however, in that the Soviets allowed a limited democracy to develop briefly; as soon as it turned against them, it was brutally stifled.

The sequence of events began in the last months of the war. At the time Szalasi, the fascist Arrow Cross party leader, seized power with German support in November, 1944, the east and the south of Hungary were already occupied by the Red Army. The National Independence Front was then quickly organized at Szeged by leftist members of the opposition, including parties of the left, union leaders, and representatives of the resistance. A coalition government was formed which then appointed a provisory government on December 21, in Debrecen. It was presided over by General Miklos of Dalnok, and included well-known members of the Horthy government like Geza Teleki and General Voros, along with representatives from the Independence Front parties: the Smallholders, National Peasants, Socialists and Communists. Even though the provisory government declared war on Germany immediately after taking office, according to the terms of the armistice the country was technically placed under the control of the Allied Control Commission, headed by the Soviet military under Marshal Vorochilov. Once Hungary had been liberated, the provisory government moved to Budapest and began working quickly to protect their ruined and demoralized country.

In order to create a legal base for its actions, the new government decided to call elections as quickly as possible. Electoral laws restricted eligible parties to those of the National Front alone, while "collaborators" were excluded. Despite these limitations, the elections were relatively free. The municipal elections in Budapest were a first test. The most moderate party of the Independence Front, the Smallholders, obtained an absolute majority in the capitol. This tendency carried over into the general elections held on November 4, 1945, when the Smallholders, with 57 percent of the vote, obtained 245 seats to the Communists' 70, the Socialists' 69, the National Peasants' 23 and the Democratic party 2. The Smallholders' victory stemmed largely from their being the least leftist of the authorized parties, and thus attracted votes from the right and center-right. What the voters did not realize, however, was that this party had already been infiltrated by pro-Communists such as Istvan Dobi (who later became chief of state), Gyula Ortutay, the minister of public instruction and culture, Erno Mihalyi, Lajos Dinyes and other cabinet ministers. The Communists had also succeeded in infiltrating the National Peasant and Socialist parties.

Pressure from the president of the Allied Control Commission, Marshal Voroshilov, and the indecision of the victorious party leaders, Nagy and Tildy, brought about the formation of a coalition government which included the Communists -- despite the fact that a clear majority of the voters were against the Communists, who only garnered 17 percent of the vote. In the Tildy cabinet formed on November 15, 1945, the Communists secured the Ministry of the Interior -- which controlled the police -- with the appointment of Imre Nagy, and of council vice-president and deputy prime minister with the appointment of Matyas Rakosi, secretary general of the Communist party. A far-reaching purge was then instigated with the complicity of the majority party. People's courts passed death sentences on Szalasi and most of his ministers, as well as on diverse officials from the Horthy era such as prime ministers Imredy and Bardossy. Other public figures were imprisoned or deported to Siberia, as was Count Istvan Bethlen, who had been prime minister in the 1920s despite his unflagging opposition to the government's pro-German policies since 1933. The purge also reached into the administration and into the army, whose ranks were thinned by nearly 14,000 members between 1945 and 1948. Also affected were the police, as the gendarmerie was disbanded and a number of its members prosecuted for "'war crimes." The Smallholders did nothing to oppose these measures; they were afraid of being overrun from the left by the Communists who often used mass demonstrations as pressure tactics, and they felt that once the peace treaty was signed and the Soviet occupying forces had left, things would take care of themselves.

At the request of the Communists and the Socialists, the majority

party -- the Smallholders -- voted in favor of a government-sponsored bill creating a republic. Tildy was then elected president of the Republic, and replaced as head of the government by his friend Ferenc Nagy. The constitution accepted on February 6, 1946, provided for a single assembly to be elected by universal suffrage through a direct and secret ballot, which would then appoint and supervise members of the government. Although the Smallholders held both presidential offices -- of the Republic as well as the prime ministry -- and a majority in the assembly, their power was visibly eroding. Taking advantage of popular discontent arising from economic difficulties and galloping inflation, the leftist bloc of Communists, Socialists and National Peasants began to step up mass demonstrations against the majority party in March, 1946, accusing the Smallholders of sabotage. The most violent attacks were directed at the party's right wing under Bela Kovacs. Anxious to maintain the coalition, Ferenc Nagy pressured his colleagues to expel reputedly anti-Communist elements from the party. Infiltration of the Smallholders by procommunists began to pay off as 23 deputies were expelled. Ferenc Nagy brought in a law dictating heavy sentences for "enemies of democratic order" and replaced Minister of the Interior Imre Nagy, judged to be too moderate, with a hard-line Communist, Laszlo Rajk.

By autumn, 1946, people began to feel the effects of these measures. Anti-Communist newspapers first found their paper supplies cut off, and were soon shut down altogether while the leftist bloc escalated its attack on the Smallholders. It was the beginning of "Operation Salami," as it was called by Rakosi at a January, 1952, session of the Communist party Political Academy. At the academy session Rakosi explained how the Communists managed to take over by devouring the opposition "slice by slice, " beginning with the Smallholders. Through Rajk, the Communists gained several important posts. The AVO (Allamvedelmi Ostaly), a political police force or state security authority directed by the Communist Gabor Peter, and a political section under General Palffy-Oesterreicher in the ministry of defense were put in charge of the struggle against the "enemies of the people." In December, 1946, the political section announced that a plot implicating members of the Smallholders had been uncovered, in particular the primary Communist adversary Bela Kovacs. Even though parliament refused to annul his parliamentary immunity, Kovacs was arrested by the Soviet military police in February, 1947, and his "confession" led to further arrests. Ferenc Nagy was one of those compromised, and while on a private visit to Switzerland was requested by telephone to resign, since proof of his collusion with. the "plotters" had just been discovered. Nagy resigned on May 30, 1947 and Lajos Dinnyes came in as head of the government. Although he was also a Smallholder, he was in better graces with the Communists. As a

result of the arrests, resignations, and defections, the ranks of the Smallholders were decreased from 246 to 184 in the assembly, and thus lost their absolute majority.

After dismantling the principal non-Marxist party in the country, Laszlo Rajk announced that parliament would be revived and set the elections for August 31, 1947. The atmosphere was tense; the uncovering of "plots", weighed heavy on many minds, and the recent institution of preliminary authorization and censorship effectively muzzled the press. The electoral law of July 24, 1947, decreased the number of eligible voters by over 500,000. In addition, parties other than those of the Independence Front could present candidates only by petition. Despite the risks involved in signing such petitions, there were enough signatures to allow six opposition parties to field candidates, but this had the unfortunate effect of splitting the non-Communist vote. The electoral law stated that absent voters could cast their ballots wherever they might be. The Communists, in charge of the police and the elected local governments except in Budapest, encouraged their supporters to vote several times on the absentee voters' "blue ballots. " Despite these conditions, the Communists polled only 21.8 percent of the vote, giving them 97 deputies. The Smallholders suffered the greatest loss with only 15.2 percent of the vote--due mainly to their indecision and passivity in the face of Communist demands. The National Independence Front remained the dominant force with 60.2 percent, but the Communists were slowly taking the Front over from within. On the other side, the small opposition parties with nearly 40 percent of the vote obtained only 142 seats to the Front's 269. Though the Communists were far from holding a majority with their 97 deputies, they had two major advantages in the presence of the Red Army and the lack of cohesion among their adversaries.

After the elections, the Communists continued their attacks on the opposition and turned their attention to the "reactionary elements within the Socialist party." The discovery of a "fascist plot," allegedly including the head of the right wing of the Socialist party, Karoly Peyer, as well as the leaders of the bourgeois opposition parties, set off a new wave of arrests. At Rajk's request, Peyer's parliamentary immunity was withdrawn on November 22, 1947. The centrists of the Socialist party, Anna Kethly and Antal Ban, were in turn denounced as "reactionaries. " The leadership of the party expelled them to avoid further complications, preparing the way for a merger with the Communist party. The merger was accepted in principle at the Socialist Party Congress held from June 11 to 13, 1948, and soon after, Socialists and Communists joined under the common banner of the Hungarian Worker's party. Matyas Rakosi became its secretary general. The Iast obstacle to establishment of a popular democracy was the president of the Republic, Tildy. The discovery of a "plot" implicating his son-in-law

precipitated his resignation on July 30, 1948; his replacement was Szakasits, president of the Hungarian Workers, party. The pseudo-democratic experiment had been short-lived.

Czechoslovakia and the Communists

Like Poland, Czechoslovakia had maintained a government in exile throughout the war, headed by President Benes in London. But unlike its Polish counterpart, the Czechoslovak government deliberately chose a policy of entente with the Soviets, there being no outstanding disagreement between the two countries. The policy of entente with the Soviet Union was confirmed on December 4, 1943, with the signing of a treaty of friendship and alliance based on the principle of non-interference in the other's internal affairs. During a visit to Moscow, Benes reached a political agreement with the secretary general of the Czechoslovak Communist party, Klement Gottwald; upon liberation, they decided, a united government would be formed under the direction of the left, and free and secret elections would be held as soon as possible. The resulting government would be led by the head of the most numerous party. In signing, Gottwald was certain that the Communists would win the first election.

When Benes returned to Czechoslovakia and temporarily settled in Kosice on April 3, 1945, he appointed a Socialist, Zdenek Fierlinger, as head of the government. In his cabinet, the Communists received eight of the 25 ministries. In addition to the post of deputy prime minister given to Gottwald, the Communists obtained two key ministries: the Interior, which meant control of the police and local administrations, and Information, which meant supervision of the press and the radio. The parties of the government in exile, the different underground organizations of the resistance, and the unions immediately formed the Czech and Slovak National Front, while on the local level the Communist-dominated resistance committees took over as each territory was liberated. On April 5, Fierlinger's government published its political platform, called the Kosice Program. This document provided for the continuance of the special alliance with the Soviet Union while internally, it ordered the punishment of traitors and collaborators. In addition, the program gave Slovakia special status, initiated a wide-sweeping land reform, and nationalized all banks, mines, and industries employing more than 500 salaried workers.

These measures went into effect after the government's move to Prague at the end of May, 1945, and the formation of a provisory parliament with delegates of the National Front. As expected, the special tribunals set about judging "traitors" and "collaborators" from June, 1945, until 1948. The victims of this purge were leaders of the German and Hungarian minorities charged with treason, and members of Father Tiso's Slovak government.

Tiso's trial, which took place in Bratislava from December 3, 1946, to April 15, 1947, provoked angry protests as five of the seven tribunal judges were avowed Communists. Tiso was sentenced to death and executed on April 19, 1947, despite his immense popularity with his countrymen and appeals for clemency from the Czechoslovak episcopacy and from Joseph Lettrich, head of the majority Slovak Democratic party. His execution was deeply resented by a large portion of the Slovak population. In total, out of 20,000 trials held during the political purge, there were 365 executions. The purge also reached into the administration, the courts, and the police. With the help of the purges, and having control over the interior ministry, the Communists were able to place their own men at virtually all levels.

The awaited elections were held on May 20, 1945. Five parties were authorized to participate: the Communist party with its Czech and Slovak sections, the Social Democratic Party, the National Socialist party (closely tied to Benes), the Czech Populist party of Father Sramek with Christian Democratic tendencies, and the Democratic Slovak party. The Communist party won 38 percent of the vote; its support came more from Czech areas (40 percent) than from Slovak (30 percent). The social Democrats polled 13 percent of the vote, giving an absolute majority to the Socialist-Communist coalition. The Communist victory is quite understandable in light of the role they played in the resistance and by the activities of the Party's membership, which had grown from 80,000 in 1938 to over 500,000 by the end of 1945. This victory can also be explained by the key positions the Communists held in the city governments, and also by the noticeable decline of the Social Democratic party compared to its position before the war. Against this coalition of the left, the bourgeois parties won 49 percent of the votes for their candidates -- the National Socialists holding 18 percent, the Populists 16 percent, and the Slovak Democrats 15 percent. The crucial point to be noted in these elections is that while at least three out of five voters were not Communist, the Communists had nevertheless become the major political force in the country. In accordance with the agreement made with Benes, Gottwald formed a new government with the National Front parties on July 2, 1946. The Communists gave themselves nine ministries, including those of the interior, justice, and information; the other parties were given 13 ministries, including that of foreign affairs appointed to Jan Masaryk, son of the former president of the Republic. The post of national defense minister was given to the professedly apolitical General Ludvik Svoboda. The Communist party's victory at the polls and the efforts made by Communist supporters in the reconstruction of the country raised the party's influence and prestige. Its membership rose to 1,300,000 by 1948. The new Central Committee, whose secretary general was now Rudolf Slansky, was composed of men completely devoted to Moscow and to Gottwald. Through

the intermediary local governments, the Communists controlled over half of the town governments, primarily in Bohemia: they were less influential in Slovakia. Since 1945, the Communists had controlled the Revolutionary Unionist Movement -- the only authorized union -- directed by Antonin Zapotocky, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist party. Furthermore, they had gradually infiltrated all of the other parties, including the left wing of the Social Democratic party under Fierlinger. They even entered the Populist party with Father Plohjar, who was to play a leading role in the Priests for Peace movement. They could also count on the army, whose chief of staff, General Svoboda, was a party admirer. Svoboda had wanted to join the Party in 1945, but was dissuaded by Gottwald himself, who pointed out that by remaining "apolitical" he could be "of greater service to the party." Until 1947, the Gottwald government encountered little opposition in implementing the economic terms of the Kosice Program. But as the Communists slowly worked their way into the sectors they did not yet control, leaders of the bourgeois democratic parties began to sense the danger more than Benes himself could.

The first signs of tension within the ruling coalition appeared in July, 1947, when it was necessary to decide whether Czechoslovakia would participate in preliminary meetings on an implementation of the Marshall Plan. Designed by the United States Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, the plan provided substantial credit to European countries to assist in the reconstruction and modernization of their economies, with the condition that the funds were to be controlled by representatives of the United States. On July 4, the Czechoslovakian cabinet unanimously approved the principle of participation in these meetings, but Gottwald suggested having the decision approved by Moscow. In the meantime, the USSR had publicly rejected the Marshall Plan. Gottwald's suggestion was not made as head of an independent government, but rather as the devoted and faithful spokesman of the Soviet leadership. This was no secret in Moscow, and was directly evidenced when the non-Communist Minister of Foreign Affairs, Masaryk, was practically excluded from talks held between Gottwald and his Minister of Commerce, Loebl, with Stalin. The Soviets made it clear that acceptance of the Marshall Plan would be considered a hostile act against the USSR. On July 10, the entire Prague government, and Benes as well, stepped into line with the Soviet position to decline the American offer. The non-Communist ministers then realized that it was Moscow -- through Gottwald -- that was determining both domestic and foreign policy in Czechoslovakia. Accordingly, they initiated a policy of resistance.

The second phase of the crisis occurred almost simultaneously in Slovakia, when the secretary general of the Slovak Communist party, Gustav Husak, launched a virulent attack against the Democratic party led by

Joseph Lettrich, accusing it of having been infiltrated by former followers of Father Tiso and of promoting nationalist agitation in the country. Numerous active Democrats were arrested, and the deputy Urisny was implicated in the plot. In Prague, the non-Communist ministers denounced Husak's methods; Husak retorted on November 5 by coordinating a general strike in Slovakia demanding a purge of the Democratic party. These proceedings had begun to alarm the non-Communist opposition. The Social Democratic Party Congress in progress at Brno was aware of the growing influence of the Communists, and refused a proposal to join forces with them. This provoked Gottwald into denouncing them as "foreign-supported reactionaries" opposing the establishment of socialism in Czechoslovakia.

From that moment on, the Communist attitude hardened progressively. The unions increased their mass demonstrations and warning strikes. Meanwhile, poor harvests were causing continuing food shortages, high prices, corrupt trade practices, and accompanying worker discontent. At the end of 1947, the unions revived the popular militia that had been disbanded after the war; the official reason given was that the Republic needed defense against reactionary elements. At the same time, tension mounted with the announcement that a major plot had been uncovered at Most-na-Labe. The Communist Minister of the Interior, Vaclav Nosek, took advantage of the situation to conduct a purge of the police. As the situation evolved, non-Communists began to take alarm, particularly since general elections were set for the following May. The Communist party platform for these elections recommended extended nationalization of all firms with over 50 salaried employees, as well as intensified agrarian reform.

The bourgeois parties, counting on support from President Benes, decided to take the offensive. On February 13, 1948, the National Socialist ministers demanded the reinstatement of several high-ranking police officers dismissed by Nosek; their request was granted. Pushing for more, the non-Communist ministers decided to resign en masse, hoping that Benes would refuse their resignations and that the Gottwald cabinet would be forced to resign. On February 20, they presented their resignations, but contrary to their expectations, General Svoboda and Jan Masaryk refused to follow, and the Social Democrats judged the ministers, actions to be "inopportune." In the midst of the bourgeois parties themselves, pro-Communist elements criticized the resignations; it was too late, however, and the fate of the country was now in the hands of the president of the Republic. Aware of the danger inherent in the ministerial crisis and in the calling of free elections in which the "silent majority" could potentially side with the former ministers, the unions mobilized their forces. When it was clear that a crisis was in the making, Josef Smrkovsky, deputy commander of the popular militia, mobilized his troops. In a meeting in Prague on

February 21, Gottwald announced the discovery of an imperialist plot. On the following day, the unions called an hour-long general strike. During the night of the 22^nd, at the instigation of Gottwald and Nosek, a number of military officers and ranking civil servants judged to be unreliable were arrested, while the bourgeois party headquarters were searched. The crisis escalated. Supported and surrounded by the armed militia called up by Pavel and Smrkovsky, thousands of demonstrators descended upon Prague, brought in by special trains from the working class suburbs and provincial villages. The first demonstration took place on the 23^rd, accompanied by a general strike. Tensions peaked on the 25^th, when 300,000 militant Communists assembled on Wenceslas Square demanding that Gottwald be kept on as head of state. Benes was unable to secure the support of the Social Democrats and, abandoning his associates, gave in to the crowd's demands. On the evening of the 25^th, he agreed to replace the ministers who had resigned. Out of 20 ministers in the new Gottwald cabinet, 12 were Communist. Along with Masaryk and General Svoboda -- who retained their portfolios -- the non-Communists were represented by three Social Demo- crats from the party's left wing, one dissident Populist and two maverick Slovak Democrats. The Prague coup had succeeded with Benes' reluctant cooperation. The mob, armed and mobilized by the Communist party, had imposed its will. Several days later, during the night of March 9, Jan Masaryk died. Although the official verdict was suicide, a rumor persisted that he was thrown out of his office window.

Parliament set to work on the constitution which was still pending. They accepted the new constitution on May 9, 1948, before adjourning. In the general election held on May 30, the single list of candidates sponsored by the National Front polled 6,430,000 votes out of 8,000,000 registered voters: over 1,500,000 voters abstained or submitted a blank ballot. President Benes, in poor health for some time, resigned on June 7, never having given his official confirmation to the new constitution. He died soon thereafter, on September 3, 1948. Immediately after his resignation, the assembly unanimously selected Klement Gottwald as the new president of the Czechoslovak Republic. Czechoslovakia had become a popular democracy.

The Birth of the German Democratic Republic

Germany under Soviet occupation vas another special case; with the fall of the Reich on May 8, 1945, and in accordance with Allied decisions, the German state had ceased to exist as a political entity. It was governed by authorities of the occupying military forces, each in their respective zones. The Soviet occupying forces deftly exploited a number of factors: these included the absence of prisoners of war (not liberated until 1947), the oppressive presence of the Soviet army, the disorientation of the civilian

population in a country devastated by battles and bombing, and finally, the demoralization caused by defeat. The National Socialist (Nazi) regime had eliminated political parties so effectively since 1933 that the Soviets had ample room to operate. During the war, the Soviets had promoted a Committee for Free Germany in Moscow, presided over by Walter Ulbricht. Ulbricht was a Communist who ran a newspaper titled Freies Deutschland, through which he forwarded his opinions of how Germany should evolve for the future. By May 1, 1945, German Communists who had fled to Moscow were already returning to Berlin and reorganizing the party. Once the war was over, the Soviet military government set up a provisory local government made up of members of the parties disbanded in 1933, though preference was given to the Communists. In the summer of 1945, the Soviets agreed to permit the reformation -- or creation -- of a number of political parties. Apart from the Communist party of Ulbricht and Wilhelm Pieck, the reorganized parties included the Social Democratic party under Otto Grotewohl and Frederic Ebert, the son of the former president of the Reich, the Christian Democratic party under Otto Nuschke, and the Liberal party with Johannes Dieckmann. These parties decided on July 14, 1945, to form the United Front of the Antifascist and Democratic parties, in order to fight the vestiges of Hitlerism, imperialism and militarism, and also to reconstruct the country along democratic lines. The Communists and the Social Democrats immediately opened negotiations leading to a common convention held in April, 1946, in Berlin. At the convention, they formed the Socialist Unity Party of Germany -- the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, or SED. The SED boasted 1,300,000 members and became the first political group in the zone of Soviet occupation.

Even before the SED was formed, the Laender, or new administrative districts, were in place. The local provisory government had initiated profound governmental restructuring, agrarian reform, and nationalizations. These changes were ratified by popular referendum. In October of 1946, the first provincial and municipal elections were held. The SED won 48 percent of the vote, and the Liberals and the Christian Democrats 24 percent each. A little later, two new political parties appeared: the Democratic Peasant party and the National Democratic party. Gradually, the Soviets returned the responsibility of local government to the Germans. In March, 1948, as the result of a people s congress that brought together representatives of the political parties and new constitution. The opening of the Cold War and the resulting deterioration in relations between the Western powers and the Soviet Union affected the eastern segment of Germany profoundly. After the U.S. and Britain set up a German Economic Council in the Western occupied zoned of Berlin in June of 1948 -- instigating a monetary reform -- the Soviets decided to retaliate by creating a 25-member economic commission, and

later decided to seal off Western access to Berlin by land. These crises accelerated the establishment of a communist East German state. On May 30, 1949, a new meeting of the people's congress approved the constitution drafted by the people's council. The provisory congress then adopted the name of the "People's Chamber," and on October 7, 1949, appointed Otto Grotewohl as head of the provisory government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) -- just as the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) was being organized in Bonn. Through its political orientation and its leaders, the GDR would soon become a full-fledged member of socialist Europe.

Thus, with the exception of the GDR where the transformation came later, all of the Eastern European countries had become popular democracies by 1948. The Communist parties became the dominant political force in each of these countries, with a marked determination to pattern their country's political, economic and social life on the Soviet model. The Soviet bloc had come into being.

Henry Bogdan: From Warsaw To Sofia