Peacecamp 2008

wolfgang fritz_israel von 1948 bis 2008 (doc, 82 KB)

...am Samstag, den 11. Oktober 2008 im Ersten Österreichischen Museum für Alltagsgeschichte in Neupölla. (Für Details klicken Sie auf die Thumbnails.)

for download: thereiberslessons (doc, 207 KB)

Countries of similar size.
Austria and Hungary are countries of nearly similar size: with an aera of ca. 93.000:84.000 km2 and 10 Million inhabitants to 8 Millions Hungary is a little bit bigger than Austria. Hungarys GDP is 20.700 $ per capita the 39 th in the world. Austria is the richer of the two countries with a GDP of 36.000 $ which means the 8th place in the international scale. Nowadays both countries are members of the European union.

The old monarchy
Whenever you are talking about these two small countries, their commom history will be mentioned. Indeed the origin of both republics is an outcome of the breaking-down of the Habsburg-monarchy, which held the name of these two countries. We know also that this monarchy gave shelter not only to these two peoples but also to a lot of other nations, like Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenians, Polish, Ruthenians, Italians and Rumanians. German speaking Austrians and Hungarians where the ruling nations. And it where those former ruling nations who had to suffer most from decay. They lost a big part of their area and millions of them came under the rule of their former subjects .
The old Monarchy has been a retarded country with small islands of industry in a sea of agriculture. Industry was concentrated mainly near Vienna and Graz in Austria and in Bohemia, now part of Czechoslavakian republic. Hungary was the granary of the empire
The old monarchy was also retarded in democracy. After the revolution of 1848 it was a kind of dictatorship by the Austrian emperor, Franz Joseph I., executed by a huge bureaucracy striving to meet the interests of Big Business and Agrarians. After the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 the Empire was divided in two parts, Hungary and the rest. So Hungary had home rule and only matters like foreign policy and currency where common.
In Big Business the Austrogermans where dominating, in agricultury the Hungarians had a great deal. The other nations and classes where disadvanteged and government was unable to develop a system of fair arrangement of interests as it is given in a working democracy.

Break-down of the monarchy.
Austria-Hungary was confederated with Germany, a young and over-ambitious nation. So this country which could not afford any war has been muggled into the German superpower-plans and payed this with its end after lost World War I.
Now all the nations that have been so long under Habsburgian rule wanted to have their own way. But this was not so easy in a region where nations did not have their coherent areas for themselves. So the new state of Czechs and Slovakians had quite a German and Hungarian population, it was the same way with the new Rumania. On the other hand German speaking Austrians had their little state only consisting of the German speaking Alpine provinces without Southern Tyrol, a part of western Hungary and the old capital Vienna. The wealthy and important German speaking regions in northern and southern Bohemia and Moravia came to the new Czechoslovakian state, although their inhabitants wanted to go with Austria. The idea of self-determination of nations as proposed by the American president Wilson, did not succeed. By the way: Self-determination of nations, for many Austrians this meant to become a part of Germany. For socialists a democratic one for middle classes an authoritarian one that gave remedy for the loose of the old position as ruling nation in Middle Europe. As we know this was not allowed in the Peace treaty of St. Germain. So Austria had to go its own way, too weak to live too strong to die, as many people thought at this time.
For the Hungarians the defeat was as bitter as fort he German Austrians. They lost a big part of their territories with lots of ethnic Hungarians living in the neighbouring new countries.

Revolution in both countries
In both countries after the armistice there broke out a proletarian revolution in which the new political power of the communists who had taken over in Russia had a big deal. In Hungary the revolutionary forces got hold on the whole country but at last revolution failed. The old ruling classes came back to government with the dictatorship of an Admiral of the old Imperial navy, named Horthy.
In Austria the moderate Social Democrats had to much influence on workers, so democracy worked till 1933 when Dollfuß formed his semi-fascist regime. During this time of democracy Austrian workers learned to identify with this new state. They achieved a number of new rights and coming true of some of their hopes in socialist Red Vienna.
For middle classes and the old ruling classes the new situation was much worse, as they had lost their social basis with the crash of economy and their positions with the crash of the old administration. So they were hoping that a new German Empire would bring them back to the old glory.

Austria and Germany
Self-determination of nations, for many Austrians this meant to become a part of Germany. For socialists a democratic one for nationalists an authoritarian one that made an end with leftist experiment and gave remedy for the loose of the old position as ruling nation in Middle Europe. As we know this was not allowed in the Peace treaty of St. Germain. So Austria had to go its own way, too weak to live too strong to die, as many people thought at this time.
But Germany, isle of hope for so many Austrians, had a strange and dangerous development. Revolution ended with a civil war and the killing of famous leaders fo the left like Liebknecht and Luxemburg. Inflation was much worse than in Austria. Radical parties like Communists and Nazi played an important role. At least the Nazi-Party of Adolf Hitler came to power with the help of other right-wing parties that could not imagine how dangerous this political movement was.
The nazis took their chance at once and radical in errecting a brutal and effective dictatorship. Their most important target was revenge for world war one and a German world empire as result. For that reason they had to defeat and colonisize the Sowjet-Union. To be able to do so they had to re-organize economy. And they had to bring all the parts of population to support this aims. This was not so difficult with army and bureaucracy for which these goals where their own once. They had also to get convinced to fight for it under Nazi leadership. Big business got opportunities enough to make big bargains so that they forgot about free enterprise. Petty bourgeoisie received lots of posts and offices which gave them the feeling to be important. Most difficult was it to win the workers whose parties and unions the nazis destroyed at first. But they gave them full employment and the feeling of being part of a „Volksgemeinschaft.“ And this also worked. Most important for the Nazi-regime was non stop-propaganda every dav, every minute.
As we know, such a strong and narrow community needs an enemy. This role had to play the jewish minority. To be against jews was an old religious prejudice, which could easily be restored, jews where also more engaged in modern times than other parts of populations. Jews were to be found under left-wing politicians, in big business and in modern art, and so the also could be made responsible for the failings of modern times. And jews where concurrents in business, science, medicin and politics. Their elimination was promising a lot of advantages. But of course real jews and their real situation had nothing to do with their beeing prepared to serve as a scapegoat for all the atavistic hartred that was in German people after all those bad times and wanted to come out of them. Tragic and absurd was so the destiny of jewish people. They where not only set out of their civil rights and their properties they where also victims of an industrial mass-murder the world has never seen before.
Finally Hitler failed because of his own prejudices. He tought that democracies where weak and the English democracy was strong enough to come over this time. He tought that „Slawen sind Sklaven“ and russians showed him that they where able not to come under his boots. And he tought that jews were rubbish and that nobody in foreign countries would care for them. In realitiy his crimes against them made him an outlaw for all countries and all times.
For Austrians the early achievments of Nazi-Germany were quite alluring. They were living in a weak bureaucratic and clerical dictatorship which they had thousand reasons to hate. So more and more Austrians wanted to be part of this German success particularly because they considered themselves to be Germans. When Hitler finally sent his army to Austria this was also an incentive for an Austrian inside Nazi revolution. And while many Germans came to rule the „schlappen Ostmärker“, Austrian Nazis went to rule and to commit Nazi crimes in other countries all over Europe.

Hungary and Germany
After the „Anschluss“ the Hungarians were afraid of facing the same fate as the Austrians. So in autumn of 1938 their foreign policy became pro-German and pro-Italian. Jews were oppresed with a harsher Second Jewish Law, which greatly restricted Jewish employment and defined Jews by race instead of religion so that baptized jews could also be persued. On the other hand Nazi-Germany helped Hungary to get some of its lost regions back from Slovakia, Rumania and Yugoslavia.
On July 1, 1941, Hungary entered World war II at the direction of the Germans, the Hungarian Karpat Group advanced far into southern Russia. During the Battle of Stalingrad, the Hungarian Second Army suffered terrible losses. In the meantime the infamous SS Colonel Adolf Eichmann went to Hungary to oversee the large-scale deportations of Jews to German death camps in occupied Poland. Between May 15 and July 9, Hungarian authorities deported 437,402 Jews.
In September of 1944, Soviet forces crossed the Hungarian border. On 15 October of 1944, Horthy announced that Hungary had signed an armistice with the Soviet Union. The Germans launched Operation Panzerfaust and, by kidnapping his son, forced Horthy to abrogate the armistice, and name the leader of the Hungarian Nazi Party, the Arrow Cross Party, Ferenc Szálasi, as Prime Minister. In cooperation with the Nazis, Szálasi restarted the deportations of Jews, particularly in Budapest. Thousands more Jews were killed by Arrow Cross members. The retreating German army demolished the rail, road, and communications systems. On December 28, 1944, an antifascist provisional government was formed in Hungary under acting Prime Minister Béla Miklós which signed an armistice in Moscow on January 20. 1945.

Cold war and iron courtain
As we know with the end of World War II there came the end of peace and friendship between the new super-powers US and SU. The cold war began there was no time left to think over the past. In Germany like in Austria everyone was welcome who was against communism whatever he has done under the Nazis.
Germany was divided in two parts, a western and an eastern one. Austria too, but it managed to keept it’s national unity. The other parts of the old monarchy became part of the Soviet or Yugoslav system. In Hungary and Czechoslovakia a stringent Stalinist structure of power was settled. Yugoslavia tried to be Socialist but between the big blocs of power.

Austria after the war
In Austria the former Chancellor Renner formed, with backing of the Red Army, an Austrian Government consisting of Socialists, Conservatives and Communists. They managed to hold an early election in which Communists where shown as insignificant.
The Austrians not only abjured the German dream. They also discovered that they never had tried to put the Austrian people to the German carriage and that they where victims of the German ambitions, like the Czechs or the Dutch.
When USA rolled out the Marshall-plan, Austria received a very important help to reestablish its economy. And so it managed to be part of the economic miracle that made Germany an economical superpower again. And so they benefitted from the Golden Age that the afterwar-economy contributed to its working classes.

Hungary after the war
The Soviet Army occupied Hungary from September 1944 until April 1945. By signing the Peace Treaty of Paris, Hungary again lost all the territories that it gained between 1938 and 1941. Neither Western Allies nor the Soviet Union supported any change in Hungary's pre-1938 borders.
In elections held in November 1945, the Independent Smallholders' Party won 57% of the vote. The Hungarian Communist Party, now under the leadership of Mátyás Rákosi and Ernő Gerő, received support from only 17% of the population. 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. On 1946-02-01, the Republic was declared, and the leader of the Smallholders, Zoltán Tildy, was named president and Ferenc Nagy prime minister. Mátyás Rákosi became deputy prime minister.
The Hungarian Workers Party (formed by a merger of the Communist Party and the Social Democratic 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, Béla Kovács was arrested and sent to Siberia.
On 18 August 1949, the Parliament passed the new constitution of Hungary modelled after the 1936 constitution of the Soviet Union. The name of the country changed to People's Republic of Hungary, "the country of the workers and peasants" where "every authority is held by the working people". Socialism was declared as the main goal of the nation. Mátyás Rákosi, the new leader of Hungary, demanded complete obedience from fellow members of the Hungarian Workers Party. His main rival for power was László Rajk, was arrested and at his trial in September 1949 he made a forced confession. Mátyás Rákosi now attempted to impose authoritarian rule on Hungary. An estimated 2,000 people were executed and over 100,000 were imprisoned. These policies were opposed by some members of the Hungarian Workers Party and around 200,000 were expelled by Rákosi from the organization.

Austrian „Staatsvertrag“
When Nikita Khrushchev came to power in the Soviet-union he tried to stop Stalinism and cold war. Lucky Austria was the example with which he showed that he was serious. So the Soviet Union renounced ist stronghold in Austria and Austria declared its eternal neutrality between the blocks. So Austria became a souverain state again.


Hungarian revolution
Rákosi had difficulty managing the economy and the people of Hungary saw living standards fall. His government became increasingly unpopular, and when Joseph Stalin died in 1953, Mátyás Rákosi was replaced as prime minister by Imre Nagy. However, he retained his position as general secretary of the Hungarian Workers Party and over the next three years the two men became involved in a bitter struggle for power.
As Hungary's new leader, Imre Nagy removed state control of the mass media and encouraged public discussion on political and economic reform. This included a promise to increase the production and distribution of consumer goods. Nagy also released anti-communists from prison and talked about holding free elections and withdrawing Hungary from the Warsaw Pact.

Mátyás Rákosi led the attacks on Nagy. On 9 March 1955, the Central Committee of the Hungarian Workers Party condemned Nagy for "rightist deviation". Hungarian newspapers joined the attacks and Nagy was accused of being responsible for the country's economic problems and on 18 April he was dismissed from his post by a unanimous vote of the National Assembly. Rákosi once again became the leader of Hungary.
Rákosi's power was undermined by a speech made by Nikita Khrushchev in February 1956. He denounced the policies of Joseph Stalin and his followers in Eastern Europe. He also claimed that the trial of László Rajk had been a "miscarriage of justice". On 18 July 1956, Rákosi was forced from power as a result of orders from the Soviet Union. However, he did manage to secure the appointment of his close friend, Ernő Gerő, as his successor.
On October 23 1956, a peaceful student demonstration in Budapest ended with severe conflicts with the police. That night, commissioned officers and soldiers joined the students on the streets of Budapest. Stalin's statue was brought down and the protesters chanted "Russians go home", "Away with Gerő" and "Long Live Nagy". The Central Committee of the Hungarian Workers Party responded to these developments by requesting Soviet military intervention and deciding that Imre Nagy should become head of a new government. Soviet tanks entered Budapest at 2 a.m. on 24 October.
On October 25 Soviet tanks opened fire on protesters in Parliament Square.On October 28, Imre Nagy and a group of his supporters, including János Kádár, Géza Losonczy, Antal Apró, Károly Kiss, Ferenc Münnich and Zoltán Szabó, managed to take control of the Hungarian Workers Party. At the same time revolutionary workers' councils and local national committees were formed all over Hungary.
Nagy's most controversial decision took place on 1 November when he announced that Hungary intended to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact as well as proclaiming Hungarian neutrality he asked the United Nations to become involved in the country's dispute with the Soviet Union.
Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, became increasingly concerned about these developments and on November 4 1956 he sent the Red Army into Hungary. Soviet tanks immediately captured Hungary's airfields, highway junctions and bridges. Fighting took place all over the country but the Hungarian forces were quickly defeated.
Once he was in power, Kádár led an attack against revolutionaries. 21,600 mavericks (democrats, liberals, reformist communists alike) were imprisoned, 13,000 interned, and 400 killed.
This bad time for Hungary was a good time for friendship between the two peoples. Lots of Hungarians fled to Austria, to live there or to emigrate to other countries and they where generously helped by the Austrians.
But in the early 1960s, Kádár announced a new policy under the motto of "He who is not against us is with us." In 1966, the Central Committee approved the "New Economic Mechanism," through which it sought to rebuild the economy, increase productivity, make Hungary more competitive in world markets, and create prosperity to ensure political stability. The time of Goulash Communism began.

Crisis of the after-war system.
In the late sixties western system faced a deep crisis. In USA students demonstrated against Vietnam war and racial discrimination. This unrest spread to Europe were especially in France and Germany severe riots took place. In the eastern community there were Czechoslovakia and Poland which had the biggest controversies. Czechoslovakia was the second country which the Soviet troups envaded to hinder them from jumping off. In Austria and Hungary it was quite quiet at that time. In Vienna Bruno Kreisky seized power in Budapest Janos Kadar ruled.
Surprisingly, after that the believe in postwar-economy got lost. New liberals wanted to finish up with social benefits and go back to the old system of free enterprise. They succeeded in election all over the world and they influenced the old socialist parties so that they developed similar ideas. In USA president Reagan began a new round in cold war. And at this time the Soviet union and her allies gave in.

Hungary’s transition to the west.
Hungary's transition to a Western-style democracy was one of the smoothest among the former Soviet bloc. By late 1988, activists within the party and bureaucracy and Budapest-based intellectuals were increasing pressure for change. Some of these became reform socialists, while others began movements which were to develop into parties. Young liberals formed the Federation of Young Democrats (Fidesz); a core from the so-called Democratic Opposition formed the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ), and the national opposition established the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF). Civic activism intensified to a level not seen since the 1956 revolution.
In 1988, Kádár was replaced as General Secretary of the Communist Party, and reform communist leader Imre Pozsgay was admitted to the Politburo. In 1989, the Parliament adopted a "democracy package," which included trade-union pluralism; freedom of association, assembly, and the press; a new electoral law; and in October 1989 a radical revision of the constitution, among others. The Soviet Union reduced its involvement by signing an agreement in April 1989 to withdraw Soviet forces by June 1991.
In October 1989, the communist party convened its last congress and re-established itself as the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP). In a historic session on October 16 - October 20, 1989, the Parliament adopted legislation providing for multiparty parliamentary elections and a direct presidential election. The legislation transformed Hungary from a People's Republic into the Republic of Hungary, guaranteed human and civil rights, and created an institutional structure that ensures separation of powers among the judicial, executive, and legislative branches of government. On the day of the 1956 Revolution, October 23, the Hungarian Republic was officially declared (by the provisional President of the Republic Mátyás Szűrös), replacing the Hungarian People's Republic. The revised constitution also championed the "values of bourgeois democracy and democratic socialism" and gave equal status to public and private property.

European Union.

In the early fifthies, France and Germany formed, together with the little countries between them, a new community of Iron and Coal. The idea behind this was to end all the danger of war coming up from separated industries. This new community became more and more important. U.K. and the southern NATO members joint it, and after the breakdown of the Warsaw-Treaty also the neutral countries entered into it.
So Austria which had done a clever deal between East and West: neutral in official terms, western in mind and economy, used the decay of the Eastern superpower 1995, to join the EU. At least the former Soviet-satellites went Commom Market.
On April 12, 2003 Hungary voted for joining the European Union, where 83% of the votes said "Yes" to EU (45% of the population voted). Since the EU already accepted Hungary as a possible member, the 4 leading political parties (MSZP, Fidesz, SZDSZ and MDF) agreed. On 2004-05-01, Hungary became a member of the EU.
The new Europe has learned a lot from the experiences of the old Danube Monarchy. The nations within the EU are strictly equally entitled, their representatives are part of the common government.

Relationships between Austria and Hungary now
In Austria and Hungary especially the man in the street doesn’t feel Brussels as their common thing, they are feeling ruled by a bureaucratic reign coming from outside. And often it looks like the regional ruling classes gave part of their power to the Brussels bureaucracy to play bad cop while the politicians elected in the member states are playing good cop. So more and more national political classes loose authority and respect for they cannot solve the problems they are facing, and they try to blame Brussels for it.
Within the countries we have the old hostility against people from abroad, the old enmity between older settled and new coming ones. Populists in Austria like in Hungary are living on this fact.
And, of course, we are facing real problems. Austrian capital is playing a mighty role in Hungary. The struggle for the Hungarian oil company is an example for problems coming out of this fact and also the spoiled water on the Austro-Hungarian border coming up from the Austrian leather-industry.
At the other hand this new Europe is a great chance to be taken. First time in history these middle European countries are in a situation that their people can built relationsships at the same level of freedom and democracy.