Fellélegzés és illúziók – Nagy Imre első miniszterelnökségének visszhangja Hajdú-Biharban az MDP iratainak tükrében

Abstract

Both the power struggles after Stalin’s death, and the new course of Soviet leadership in the Cold War lead to a turn in the Hungarian government, as well. The Stalinist Rákosi was succeeded by Prime Minister Imre Nagy, and his reign started off with a huge wave of reform declarations. The whole country was relieved as a result of the measures that somewhat mitigated the repression of the system and slightly raised living standards. The reforms met also in Hajdú-Bihar an almost unanimous sympathy: from the cooperative owners through the individual peasants, from the working class through the intelligentsia, every social layer in the county found the parts they liked in the government program. However, several people wanted to see more in the reforms than what they indeed meant, at some places, people saw even the complete retirement of the system behind these measures. The party apparat took the measures facilitating everyday life (the “new period”) uncomprehendingly nation-wide, thus even in Hajdú-Bihar, and therefore they moved sluggishly to realize those measures, finding them too much. When the evolution of foreign policy of the Cold War created unfavourable conditions, the Soviet government also drew back from Imre Nagy. Therefore, the reform era – that was happily welcomed and that compelled further hopes, and at some places, illusions – ended.