Hungarian Conservative

Cardinal Mindszenty played an important role in the 1956 revolution. He assumed his post as archbishop immediately after his release from captivity, appealed for international aid for Hungary, initiated the process of cleaning the church from Communist infiltration, while also being active in the political life of the country. Firmly holding onto his conservative view of himself as the most important dignitary of Hungary, he tried to set the direction of the course of events. Contrary to the recent myth-busting efforts, this direction was not reactionary or outdated.

On 4 November 1956, the fate of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was sealed as Soviet troops entered the country to crush the uprising.

When the Soviet intervention against the Hungarian Revolution was placed on the agenda of the UN Security Council, the Soviets immediately vetoed it: their argument was that it was no more than a ‘reactionary uprising’ supported by the US. The French, meanwhile, were of the view that not only the UN Charter had been contravened in Hungary, but also the Paris Peace Treaties, and even the Warsaw Pact that served the legal foundation for the invasion. On the other hand, the United Kingdom questioned whether the use of Soviet military forces stationed in Hungary under a valid treaty and at the behest of the Hungarian government could even be called an intervention at all.

‘The speed and eagerness with which Hungarian clubs sought to return to their old identities, with all the loyalties and connections they represented, demonstrated the power of these emotional and social meanings. And it was just as clearly a mark of the utter failure of the Party to co-opt and utilise the power of football for its own purposes. The Party abandoned the micro-management of football, paralleling its wider realisation after 1956 that, while its authority was still non- negotiable, it could and would not protect and justify it through the politicisation of society or the ideological mobilisation of the people.’

During the 1956 Revolution, as prime minister, Imre Nagy committed the Hungarian regime to introduce a free multiparty system, leave the Warsaw Pact, and work towards the neutrality of the country.