Hungary from the Nazis to the Soviets: The Establishment of the Communist Regime in Hungary, 1944-1948
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Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 943.9052
EAN: 9780521857666
ISBN: 052185766X
Label: Cambridge University Press
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 322
Publication Date: 2006-05-22
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Studio: Cambridge University Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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Hungary was the last ally of Nazi Germany, and as such suffered dreadful destruction in the course of the fighting during the last year of the war. Although the war discredited the political and social elite and gave opportunity for a new beginning. early optimism in democratic circles quickly dissipated. The communists, who had negligible indigenous support, with the help of the Soviet Army, in a short time managed to destroy any organized opposition to their taking power. Based on archival and other primary sources, this concise book describes the methods of communist conquest of power in one country in Eastern Europe to make the origin of the Cold War more understandable.
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Summary: On the Road from Fascism to Communism
Comment: I read this book both as a person who lived through the times described and as an academic observer of kindred subjects for the past five decades. The country discussed in this volume is Hungary, the years are 1944-48 during which the country was taken through its fate and fortunes from the fascist dictatorship of the Arrow Cross to full-blown communism under the sponsorship of the U.S.S.R. Though its focus is on one country, the message of the narrative far exceeds the narrow geographical and chronological boundaries of the subject. The text is illuminating not only as a study of a small country, but also as history that sheds more light on the beginnings of the cold war and on Soviet strategies of establishing one-party governments in the eastern half of Europe.
For years academic discussions on this subject pivoted around two questions. One, did the USSR have an expansionist design for these countries early on, and two, would more circumspect or courageous attitude on the part of Hungarian politicians of the transitional period have prevented the eventual outcome of full-blown communism? Kenez's answers to these questions are straightforward: Soviet strategies were contingent on world political events, and two, once the decision was made, no amount of clever maneuvering could have prevented the imposition of communist government. The proof for conclusions unfolds through a book that cleverly blends analytic and chronological elements. While the Soviets are mulling over the implications of the advance of their armies deep into Central Europe, unforeseen developments in local and international politics shape their tactical and strategic decisions. Within this context, separate chapters discuss the rise of the communist controlled security police, a troubled project of building democracy, the Soviet domination of the International Control Commission, foci of local resistance with special emphasis on the Catholic Church, the dilemmas of a Jewish community facing another dictatorship after emerging from a regime of systematic destruction, and the first show trial that turned out to be a major instrument in liquidating the weak structures of the emerging democratic state.
Kenez's fusing these analytic and chronological elements produces a text that flows freely and elegantly. It is based on a careful synthesis of a rather large Hungarian monographic literature with the author's detective work in the archives. Kenez is a native of Hungary who, as a professional, has become a foremost historian of the Soviet Union ("from beginning to the end" as the subtitle of one of his many books brightly states). As a child he was eyewitness to many of the events described in this volume caught up in the destructive urges of two dictatorships and in the vagaries of the transition process. Given these facts, he is strikingly dispassionate in writing about the subject. Very much recommended.
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