h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Hungarian Uprising, 1956 - A1148339
Author: weberquetzal - U231111

Criticism is welcome! Any ideas?

Hi there, wq.

I enjoyed the entry. Lot's of interesting history happening here.

I noticed that you made mention of 'COMINFORM', but I did not notice anywhere that this was explained.
Was the capitalization for emphasis?
Is it an acronym?
Is it a translation of a Russian word or phrase?
Will it be a link to another entry?

Inquiring minds want to know

Sorry !

COMINFORM is the acronym for the Communist Information Bureau.

I've added some notes into the entry to explain it!



wq

And, thank you for the update.

Excellent, it's surprising how quickly peoples memories of the Eastern block fade. There was an East German uprising in 1953 you will find a link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2997736.stm
but it was not on the same scale. This deserves to be in the EG.

You're right. There does seem to be lack of Cold War entries generally. And finding links on the Hungarian Revolution is a nightmare!(unless you speak Hungarian or feel like buying the books!)

Just to say this is really good. I said a bit more in the Writing Workshop thread - don't think you're subscribed to that one?

Pin

Great entry. I might have to print it out and give it to my younger sister, as it'll be really useful when she's revising for her mock history GCSE in a couple of months

Comments:

"However, it was unacceptable to have a Communist minority so the USSR forced the Hungarians to put communists in key positions." Do you happen to know how the USSR exerted its influence on Hungary to replace key political figures with communists? Not essential at all, but it might be interesting to tell the reader whether they used the threat of military force, economic sanctions or whatever to achieve there aims.

"The Hungarians took these as signs that the USA supported their actions and would come to their aid when needed. However, the Americans were only offering moral support and made no mention of either military or political intervention." Perhaps a quick footnote about the Truman Doctrine, in which the US promised to prevent the spread of Communism. The Hungarians must have mistakenly thought that the Doctrine meant that they had US support, when really they hadn't as communism had not technically spread (ie. it was already present in Hungary before the uprising).

A really excellent entry though, that's both interesting to read and a good academic source.

Excellent

Pinniped- Sorry, that was an oversight that I unsubscribed from the thread! It's been one of those days!
That link you suggested on the other page is great .
I explored around that site and I can't believe why I haven't found that resource before! If only I'd seen it sooner.
As it is they had an excellent interactive map of Budapest at the time of the uprising which I've added.

Rocket Man- Glad to be of help for your sister's GCSEs. If she wants to ask a question that'd be fine as it was my IGCSE depth study so I've had it hammered into me pretty well!

The Soviet Union always had such a tight grip on the satellite states that everything was restrictive. I don't actually know exactly how they did that but I think it was a series of pressure points e.g. Comintern, Cominform. But I think that would be useful to add so I'll follow that up and find out more!

I'll look into the Truman Doctrine but I'm not sure whether that's what the Hungarians were thinking of at the time. I think the fact that major US figures encouraged them would have been seen as a sign of support. As a member of the UN Hungary would also have expected major powers to come to their aid. But that's not to say they were a little naive about it! (but that's only my opinion!)

Actually now that I've written that I think I'll put that in too!

Very useful observations! Thanks!

wq

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDhungarianU.htm offers some insight into my point about how the USSR managed to create a communist government. It says that "The Soviet commander in Hungary, Marshal Voroshilov, refused to allow the Smallholders Party to form a government. Instead Voroshilov established a coalition government with the communists holding some of the key posts."

and also:

"The Hungarian Communist Party became the largest single party in the elections in 1947 and served in the coalition People's Independence Front government. The communists gradually gained control of the government and by 1948 the Social Democratic Party ceased to exist as an independent organization. Its leader, Bela Kovacs was arrested and sent to Siberia. Other opposition leaders such as Anna Kethly, Frenc Nagy and Istvan Szabo were imprisoned or sent into exile"

OK I've made lots of changes and added a whole section on how the USSR came to have control of Hungary and why they were all-powerful.

I think that a mention of Marshall Aid and the Trumann Doctrine was necessary but I couldn't work it into the main text so most of it is in footnote 2.

Any ideas on how I could fix that?
Does the entry need more subheaders as I'm not sure whether that'd break it up a bit and make it easier to read? If so where?

wq

The entry looks great now, and I don't think it needs anymore subheaders as the current subheaders lay-out the entry nicely.

Footnote 2: I'm fairly sure it's spelt the 'Truman Doctrine' not 'Trumann Doctrine' as the policy is named after Harry Truman, the anti-communist US president.

I think the bit about the Truman Doctrine is fine as a footnote, but it would be possible to add the bit about Marshall aid into the main text by adding it on to the sentence:

"The satellite states were forbidden from trading with the West and were not allowed to accept the USA's Marshall Aid, which was introduced in June 1947 and gave financial insentives to countries to remain non-Communist. The provision of monetary aid allowed nations threatened by Communism to buy food and medical supplies, strengthening the country and preventing popular dissent. Instead, they were forced..."

Maybe keep the sentence "The only Eastern European country to accept Marshall Aid was Yugoslavia which remained Communist anyway" as a footnote, as I have I little feeling that it might slow down the pace of the main text if you included it with the above paragraph.

Just an idea, do what you like as it's your entry...

Thanks for the suggestion .

I think I will probably keep footnote 2 because it does seem to get a bit pedantic if I put it in the main text. I added a teensy bit about how Marshall Aid would have benefitted Hungary though.

Oops a typo! Thanks for the Truman.

wq

Good entry

Thank you!

Are there any more things that need to be explained in more depth? I'm thinking along the lines that I might be taking some of the events for granted when I shouldn't be.

I've got lots of time at the mo to make alterations before term starts again and I go back to the work grind!

wq

If you ask then a couple of points.
A slight typo "noone" should be 'no one'. Also I don't think the word quashed as regards the Nazi defeat is suitable, defeated or similar would be better. As a final thought, how about how communism ended in Hungary. I think Hungary began the Eastern disintergration, a couple of sentences to that effect towards the end might add a little something to an already very creditable piece of work

Hi,

I read the whole thing and found it very good. I have been to Hungary three times and speak a smattering of the language. I learned a lot from the entry. I hadn't studied the history in any depth before, but as far as I can tell, it's accurate.

I noticed a few little errors.

I agree with the comment about the use of quashed. Also, as it stands it is not quite correct.

"once the Nazis had be quashed"

Also...

"This made this beholden to the USSR."
Would "This made them/Hungary beholden to the USSR." be better?

The following is a little long, and the word Russian occurs three times.

"Travel and trade with the West was banned, the Soviets forced Russian into the satellite states by making children learn Russian in school and changing the street names to Russian."

How about...
"Travel and trade with the West was banned. The Soviets forced their language onto the satellite states by making children learn Russian in school and changing the street names to Russian."

And here...
"However, education and health were free..."

health care?

The paragraph in which that occurred had some positive and negative things to say about the occupation. But although there's a mixture, it ends "In general these conditions left the ordinary people angry and resentful towards the Soviets".

"Rakosi radically changed the Hungary’s system of education" - should be either "the Hungarian" or "Hungary's".

I think fazed should be phased.

"This cause the Polish workers" - should be "This caused the Polish workers"

Awu

Thanks third man and Awu for your comments!

They were really, really helpful! I know it takes a while to read through the whole thing, so much appreciated!
I think that it reads a lot easier with the suggested changes.

wq