“The celebration of the 30th anniversary of the reconstitution of the PCRM as a successor of the Communist Party of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic evokes tragic pages about the crimes committed by the Communist regimes. It was therefore necessary to remind of the suppression in blood of the Hungarian uprising of October 23, 1956...”
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Start and suppression of Hungarian uprising of 1956

On October 23, it has been 67 years of the start of the anti-Stalinist revolution in Hungary. The revolt by the Hungarian citizens took place in only eight months of the presentation in a closed meeting, within the 20th congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), of the report “About the personality cult and its consequences”. The report presented by the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev centered on the cult of the personality of Joseph Stalin, who committed multiple crimes that resulted in the killing of millions of people between the 1930s and the start of the 1950s.

Another factor that motivated the Hungarian citizens to protest was the non-observance by the USSR of the obligation to withdraw its military presence from Hungary. By the Paris Peace Treaty of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, the USSR undertook to maintain its armed forces on the territory of Hungary until the withdrawal of the allied occupation forces from Austria. After the allied troops were fully withdrawn from the territory of Austria by October 25, 1955, the Hungarians expected that the Soviet troops will be swiftly withdrawn from their country, as it was stated in the mentioned document.

It is normal to wonder – why were the Hungarian citizens so eager to get rid of the Soviet occupation? Because Stalinist communist dictatorship was established in their country under that occupation. In fact, it happened so also in other states of Eastern Europe, which, being freed from the Nazi occupation, were instantaneously re-conquered by the Soviets. Evidently, the re-conquering took place through the agency of simulated elections. This way, in the presence of Soviet troops on the territory of Hungary, in the first postwar elections in Hungary of November 1945, the Hungarian Communists obtained only 17% of the vote. This was an unsatisfactory result. Therefore, in slightly over a year, in February 1947, one more election was held and the Communists made progress in this, gaining already 22% of the vote. However, this was not enough to triumph. Respectively, one more election was held in over two years, in 1949, that time with the exclusion of the main opponents of the Communists, which the Hungarian Workers’ Party (HWP) could evidently win.

After Mátyás Rákosi – the best pupil of Stalin – took over the administration of the HWP, this established personal dictatorship by the Stalinist model, launching the forced industrialization and collectivization amidst the struggle against the political and religious opoonents. For the purpose, real terror was launched by the security bodies against the real and imaginary opponents. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of people were subject to repression and received different punishments – jail terms or forced labor in camps, mines and quarries. The aforementioned made the Hungarians to oppose. The day of October 23, 1956 was the starting point of the rebellion. A concise account, but with enough details about the conduct of that rebellion and the main players can be found here. For us, it matters that the revolution was suppressed by the intervention of Soviet troops that, instead of being withdrawn from Hungary, on the contrary were supplemented with new forces.

It should be noted that unlike the suppression of the Prague Spring in August 1968, the Hungarian uprising was really suppressed in blood. In only several days of the start of the special operation “Swirl”, over 2,600 people were killed and approximately 20,000 Hungarian citizens were wounded as the Soviet tanks were introduced on the streets of Budapest, provoking the riposte of the dissatisfied citizens. In approximately 40 years, something similar was witnessed - on December 31, 1994, when the Russian troops, accompanied by Russian tanks, tried to besiege the capital of Chechnya. As they say, old habits die hard.

Suggestive anniversary

Usually, we remember historic events when we celebrate their jubilee anniversaries. Evidently, a question appears – why was it necessary to remember the suppression in blood of the Hungarian uprising if there is no jubilee date? The fact that right on the eve of October 23, the Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) celebrated the 30th anniversary of its constitution as a successor of the Communist Party (CP) of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (MSSR), served as a pretext. Evidently, on the occasion of the anniversary, the PCRM invoked great accomplishments of the Communist regime, which cannot be simply overlooked. As a real defender of the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Moldova, the jubilee celebrations of the PCRM took place exclusively in the Russian language, which is something ordinary. This matters less, but the pride exhibited by the PCRM as a result of the congratulation it received from the Workers’ Party of North Korea (WPNC) generated curiosity.

It should be noted that the fellows from North Korea assured the Moldovan Communists that they attentively follow their decisive struggle “against the interference of external forces in favor of the development of the country’s independence, protection of the interests of the people of the Republic of Moldova”. They probably mean the occupation of Transnistria by Russia. From the message, we can also deduct that there is “a long-term relationship of friendship between the two parties and this relationship will be consolidated and developed based on common ideals and objectives”. The signatory of the congratulation, the Ambassador of North Korea in Moscow, found it suitable to underline that he transmitted his message on October 22, 2023, on the 112th Juche year. This remark is important as the Juche ideology is the clairvoyant revolutionary teaching that lays emphasis on the role of leader of the party as the main subject of the revolution and that justifies the blood relationship designed to ensure the transfer of power from the father to the son and then to grandchild, etc. Regrettably, the adoptive son, from political viewpoint, of the chairman of the PCRM didn’t meet his expectations. Vladimir Voronin publicly complained that he was betrayed by Igor Dodon. Therefore, the transfer of power cannot take place and gerontocratic power was established.in the PCRM.

Conclusions

The celebration of the 30th anniversary of the reconstitution of the PCRM as a successor of the Communist Party of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic evokes tragic pages about the crimes committed by the Communist regimes. It was therefore necessary to remind of the suppression in blood of the Hungarian uprising of October 23, 1956. In this connection, it is somehow curious that a political party of the Republic of Moldova is proud of maintaining relations of friendship and shares common ideals with a party that established a totalitarian regime in North Korea. It is even more curious that not only the PCRM, but also the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) forms part of the same guild, being supported, including financially, by the Korean mates. So, the PSRM and PCRM have something more in common, despite the betrayal.

However, we should not be scared about the glorification of Stalinism by the two parties. First of all, the Juche ideology seems to be inapplicable in the Republic of Moldova owing to the predisposition to betrayal. Secondly, the leaders of the PSRM are absolutely irresponsible and so incapable of delivering on their own promises. A proof of this is the recent promises that were immediately forgotten after being announced. For example, on September 4, 2023, the PSRM announced that it will ask to organize parliamentary debates on torchlight processions, which are extremely popular in North Korea. Almost seven weeks passed since then and the PSRM simply forgot to honor its promise. Let’s take another example. The leader of the PSRM, Igor Dodon, on September 20, 2023 promised that he will stage an automobile race entitled “Victory in our hearts”, including on the territory of Romania and Bulgaria, to commemorate the victory in World War II. The curiosity resided in the fact that namely on that day, in 1939, Poland was parted by Hitler’s and Stalin’s regimes. Have someone heard later about steps taken by the PSRM and its leaders to organize the promised race?