Hungary: The disastrous consequences of capitalism Recent opinion polls show that a majority of Hungarians find life so miserable that they would like to live somewhere else. Many consider that life was much better before 1989 when people enjoyed full employment and an advanced welfare system. Capitalism has destroyed all that. However, as our correspondent points outs, what existed before was not genuine socialism, but a Stalinist regime that people rose up against. What is required is state ownership and planning, but under the democratic control of the workers themselves.
The red mud catastrophe of Hungary: natural or man-made disaster? Overnight the world has woken up to intimate knowledge of the process of extracting aluminium from bauxite and its by-product the red mud, which devastated several villages, including Kolontár and Devecser, in the SouthWest of Hungary on Monday, 4th October 2010, bringing with it a long term threat of environmental pollution in several countries.
Hungary: TransElektro Ganz-Röck Zrt versus its workforce Hungary is not normally a place with a lot of strike action, not nowadays at least. However, one firm down in the Southern sandy parts of the country is facing a courageous fight by its workforce.
Hungary’s growing strike wave As the realities of capitalist crisis are biting deeper into the Hungarian economy, more and sections of the working class are beginning to mobilise and take strike action.
Hungary: Today they are demonstrating, but in January there could be a major strike Hungary is beginning to feel the effects of the general crisis affecting worldwide capitalism. On Saturday a demonstration of 10,000 public sector workers could be the first step towards a major strike in January.
50th Anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution Hungary is preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1956 uprising. The Stalinists in the past presented that movement as reactionary. Today's regime is trying to usurp the banner of 1956, falsifying completely what really happened. It is our duty to explain what really happened. The heroes of 1956 were trying to build a democratic workers' state and genuine socialism.
Council elections in Hungary As could be expected, the Socialist Party (MSZP) and their coalition partners the Free Democrats (FDSZ) lost heavily in the recent council elections in Hungary. The problem is the people know what they are voting against but have no real alternative to vote for.Both main political blocs offer the same austerity programme. A genuine Left alternative is required.
Hungary on the brink Last week’s rioting in Hungary drew the attentions of the world’s mass media. Some even tried to compare it to that glorious moment in the history of the Hungarian working class in 1956, when attempts were made to move towards genuine workers’ democracy. But all that is false. Today’s rioting has a reactionary content, the result of a terrible austerity programme, but with no genuine Left alternative being presented to the masses.
Hungarian revolution 1956 23rd October sees the anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. That movement of the Hungarian masses signified the culmination of the growing discontent evident in Eastern Europe at the time.
Hungarian revolution 1956, forty years on 23rd October 1996 sees the 40th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. That movement of the Hungarian masses signified the culmination of the growing discontent evident in Eastern Europe at the time.
Hungarian Elections: No rosy picture The elections held in Hungary in April this year have given a slim majority to a social democrat-liberal coalition, ousting the incumbent centre-right government of Viktor Orbán who was forecast to win another term in office. Our correspondent in Hungary looks at the real situation facing workers today.
Hungary: the darker side of capitalist restoration Hungary put in a GDP growth of 6.8% in the first quarter of the year 2000 and expects a rate of growth of 5-5.5% by the end of the year. These are impressive figures, which any visitor seeing signs of a building boom, lots of new cars on the streets and a well-dressed, well-fed population would quickly confirm. Is the advent of capitalism bringing the horn of plenty to Hungary or is the picture somewhat less straight forward?
Hungary turns to former 'Communists': Hungary's move towards capitalism has produced a new political, economic and social crisis We are republishing this article on the electoral victory of the former Stalinists in Hungary in 1994, first published in Socialist Appeal issue 23, July 1994. Following the trend of much of Eastern Europe Hungary in 1994 placed back in power the leaders and parties it had rejected just five years earlier. This article explains the background to the Socialists' victory.
Hungary's Bitter Experience of Capitalism We are republishing this article on the effects of the transition to capitalism in Hungary first published in Socialist Appeal issue 20, March 1994. "Miles and miles of closed factories greeted me as I travelled into Budapest. The contrast in downtown Budapest could not have been sharper. The swish, but very expensive shops and well dressed shoppers made me feel I had risen out of the Metro into a different world. The advent of capitalism has produced a polarisation of the population in terms of appearance, mood, wealth and lifestyle. A small, but significant section of people were living very well, but the vast majority, especially those in some country areas, where...
The Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919 - The Forgotten Revolution On March 21st, 1919, the Hungarian Soviet Republic was proclaimed. On the 1st of August, 133 days later, this heroic chapter in the history of the Hungarian working class was brought to a close with the entry of the White Rumanian army into Budapest. Had the Hungarian proletariat succeeded, the isolation of the Russian Workers' Republic would have been brought to an end.
