ONCE AGAIN, THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE MANIPULATES THE MIDDLE-EAST TO DEFLECT ATTENTION FROM EASTERN EUROPE.

Once again, playing on their hatred toward Israel, the Russian empire manipulated a Middle East crisis by mobilizing Muslim support, thus deflecting attention from Eastern Europe. It happened in 1956, while crushing the Hungarian revolution and now in 2023 Ukraine. 

In both cases, the Soviet Union and now the Russian Empire with no provocation, ruthlessly attacked a foreign nation and used the same tactic, by creating a crisis in the Middle East to deflect attention from their unlawful and brutally aggressive invasion in Hungary in 1956 and now in Ukraine.

Although there are obvious differences in their motivations, the similarities between the two scenarios are overwhelmingly obvious. In both cases, Russia, or in 1956 the Soviet Union, faced a loss of a large portion of their territories. Desperate to gain them back their international standing as a major power, once again they used their influence to upset the world order. 

In 1956, the Hungarian Revolution had been pre-empted by three seemingly unrelated important international agreements.

On May, 15, 1955–the voluntary withdrawal of the Red Army from Austrian territory had been signed. This agreement removed the legal rights for the Red Army’s presence both in Hungary and Rumania as well. 

On May 14, 1955 - just one day before signing the agreement about the Austrian neutrality, the Warsaw Pact had been formed. This pact - formally, the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation, and Mutual Assistance, - gave the right to the Soviet Union to legalize the status of his military troops stationed within the eight communist states of Central and Eastern Europe in existence during the Cold War. 

On August 1955–the Soviet Union signed an arms agreement with Egypt, to be delivered through Czechoslovakia, indicating their drastic change of heart about the Middle -East politics. Until that time, the Soviet Union had backed Israel - by delivering arms also through Czechoslovakia. 

All three events are closely related and influenced international relations.

When West Germany became a member of NATO, and on May 9, 1955, the western world allowed the re-armament of Bundeswehr, the Soviet answer a few days later, was the formation of the Warsaw Pact. 

The Soviet politicians’ and soldiers’ fear about the possibility of German revenge was instinctive. The thawing has stopped, to be replaced by the theory of “the preventive action”, that implied the possibility of a preventive war against West-Germany or against the whole of western-Europe. An idea that the Soviet leadership had entertained as one of the bases of its military politics. 

Although the Soviet political and military leadership were afraid but were getting ready for a “preventive war”, by using the well-known slogan from WWII, that “the one with the oil is the winner”. 

In 1956 the events in the countries occupied by the Soviet army as well in the Middle East, closely controlled by the leadership of the Soviet Union, it was only in Soviet interest and opportunity to provoke with precise timing the coordinated incidents of the Suez Canal and the so-called bloody counter-revolution in Hungary. Then, using the existence of the Warsaw pact, they managed to brutally crush, thus flaunting their superior military power to the rest of the world. 

The Soviet Union was aware of Western-Europe weakest point, that it had no direct source of oil. Thus, in the event of a Soviet attack on Western-Europe they could only last till they run out of their accumulated oil reserve. 

But if they convinced Nasser to became a Soviet ally, and offer Egypt the possibility of nationalization of the Suez Canal, thus provoking a hateful war between Egypt and France and England, would guarantee that in case a Soviet invasion Egypt would finally open access to the Soviet Navy from the Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean Sea. A fulfilment of a hopeless dream of any Russian Navy officer in the last 300 years. And once they reached either the Turkish or Algerian shores, they could destroy any oil carriers heading toward Marseille. 

In Soviet estimations, in this case within one- or two-months the Western Europe could be defeated, the British Islands easily blockaded, and be left with the hope that their oil reserves would be enough to prevent an invasion. 

And even though the Soviets were aware that the United States had both the military might and enough oil supplies, but they could only deliver them to Europe by carriers that could be destroyed.

In the summer and fall of 1956, the Soviet leadership considered sabotaging the functioning of the Suez Canal a priority, thus, according to Soviet logic, programing the fall of Western-Europe. So, Suez became the first priority, everything else, even if it happened with the sphere of Soviet territory could be deemed as secondary. Especially since the agreement in Yalta pretty much guaranteed the agreed upon territories within Eastern and Central Europe, that so far in case of Finland and Austria was kept. 

Mind you Khrushchev was also aware that the USA, in the fall of 1956 without the backings of long-range missiles, and in the midst of a presidential election, that happened to be scheduled on the 6th of November that year, had no power to intervene. So, within the Yalta territories, including Poland and Hungary, Khrushchev had a free hand, and the USA, lacking opportunity and political will had no intention to interfere. 

Although the Yalta Agreement had managed to freeze the borders, and the powers pretty much guaranteed by mutual agreement that they would not interfere within that range, - it could not be guaranteed that the people within that sphere would not dissent. Between 1953 and 1956, several satellite countries within the Soviet sphere had rebelled. It began in East Berlin in 1953; however, the Soviet tanks quickly dispersed the protesting crowd.  

In 1956 the dissents had widened. The twenties Congress of the Soviet Communist Party, despite the official news blackout, Khrushchev’s speech about the atrocities during Stalin had been leaked and started a major meltdown. It mostly manifested in Poland and Hungary.

The average person’s knowledge of the Polish situation in Hungary was limited to the fact that the Hungarian Uprising on October 23^rd began with a sympathy march for Poland.  

Since many people mix up Poznan with the October happenings in Poland, enticing the sympathy march in Hungary, it is important to clarify: Poznan was only the prelude. On June 28, the Polish workers, students and clerks demonstrated, then armed, they stormed the buildings of the Polish Security forces as well, the objects of the Communist party. Afraid of a general uprising in Poland, the rebellion, - in one day and with considerable loss of life - was put down by the army. 

But the desalinization of the Polish leadership could not be stopped. They reorganized the armed forces and placed reformers in the leadership of the newly formed army and security forces. On October 19^th, during a meeting, the reformers of the central committee of the United Polish Workers Party won against the Stalinists. 

To encounter that, the pro-Soviet Stalinist leaders ordered some armed forces against the capital. However, those soldiers showed great reluctance to carry out the orders, especially when they learnt that the forces under the commands of the reformists were ready to defend themselves and shoot back. 

When Khrushchev arrived to put pressure on the Polish leadership, according to the eyewitnesses, the airplane unexpectedly arriving carrying almost the whole Soviet leadership, was re not allowed to land for over an hour, forced to circle around the airport. And once they landed, Khrushchev’s body guards were surrounded by Polish armed security forces, loyal to Gomulka

Moscow relented, especially after learning that the workers from all the larger cities were ready and willing to protect their new reformist leadership. Freshly released from prison, a victim of the Stalinist purges, Wladyslaw Gomulka became the new secretary of the Polish Communist Party on October 21^st. And the mobilized Soviet Armed forces received an order on October 23^rd to withdraw and return to their army barracks. 

So, what was the real reason that the Soviet leaders backed up within two days, even after they were humiliated in Warsaw? Not only did they swallow the insult, but even later on, never removed Gomulka and his group from power either. Had they wanted revenge, they had access to more than enough military personal stationed in East-Germany, White Russia and within the Polish borders. Not only they remained in their barracks, but as it became known later, it was Zhukov’s personal order for the troupes not to interfere in Poland. 

So, what was the real reason for the Soviet leadership that despite the open rebellion in Poland, October 19-21 was too early for an armed intervention? And why did they wait in Hungary until November 4^th? 

The official historians in the Kadar regime kept insisting that the “counter-revolution was a series of events maneuvered by members of the Western Secret Service”.  

The Western World vehemently denied the accusations, claiming that except for a few overzealous subcontractors, like the Radio Free Europe, they could not have been involved since they had no prior knowledge of any of the events. And they pointed out that besides the Rajk funeral on October 6^th, there were no prior indications of any military or any other massive organizations of any rebellions. And even that one was a peaceful event.

It is still a highly debated argument raging about the timing of the readiness of the Soviet army detachments about the Hungarian events. So, when did the leaders of the armed forces decided to intervene?

The United Nations special committee dealing with the 1956 Hungarian Uprising interviewed several eyewitnesses. According to them, between October 12 and 23, several movements of Soviet Army Troupes were observed by the Hungarian borders. And on October 23^rd Serov, a general of the Soviet army, member of the central committee of the Bolshevik party, president of the state security committee attached to the council of the ministers of the USSR, or otherwise known as the boss of the KGB, took part as an advisor in a meeting of the Ministers in Budapest trying to deal with the student demonstrators. Serov didn’t hesitate to share his forceful opinion how the students - the so-called peaceful demonstrations, enticed by the fascists and imperialist - should be stopped, if necessary, by brutal force. 

It is becoming clear that Moscow began a movement, not only by the military but by the very efficient secret service as well. And it is pretty certain that they placed quite a few individuals armed with the proper equipment, capable of mingling in the crowd and in important key locations and time   capable of provoking bloody incidents. 

These events in 1956 in the countries occupied by the Soviet army as well in the Middle East were closely controlled by the leadership of the Soviet Union, as it was only in Soviet interest and opportunity to provoke with precise timing the coordinated incidents of the Suez Canal and the so-called bloody counter-revolution in Hungary. Then, using the existence of the Warsaw pact, they brutally crushed, thus flaunting their superior military power to the rest of the world. 

Their first step was to prompt Nasser, the Egyptian leader, to nationalize the Suez Canal. In order for them to achieve that, in the summer of 1955, the Soviet bloc, through Czechoslovakia, supplied Egypt with hundreds of tanks, artilleries, MIG military planes, and thousands of handguns, as well Czechoslovak and Soviet advisors, many of them actively taking part during the actions, as pilots. They relied on getting their hands directly on the oil-faucet and to have direct access to the Mediterranean Sea for the Soviet Navy’s, and submarines. Thus, their “south wing” safely covered, they believed that without adequate fuel the Western defences would collapse within 2 or 3 weeks. 

The Soviet Intelligence had information about the planned interventions in Suez by England and France in reaction to Nasser’s provocation. They also knew what London and Paris had not yet been aware of, that those two countries could be easily blackmailed by a threat of nuclear attack, that the USA had yet to be able to react to; at least not for the next few months. So, it was in Moscow’s interest to let England and French to start the war, and give the impression that the Soviet Union was forced to react. 

The Soviet strategies finalized: wait for the English and French attack at Suez, and when they finally managed to undermine themselves in the eyes of the Arabians and the rest of the world, chase them out from the Zone of Suez.  Two-three months later when they would have run out of oil and their morals had been shaken because of the unexpected loss – could have been the perfect timing for the Soviet tanks to roll towards the Atlantic Ocean, just before the readiness of the accepted American intercontinental rockets. But it was most important to win the Suez War without a single Soviet soldier stepping on Egypt’s soil in order to avoid the hatred of the Arab world that their presence there could have created. It was preferable to avoid a long, drawn-out war in the desert against the guerillas.   

So how could they achieve this? By keeping quiet about Suez. Because if England and France, ready to attack, would guess that Khrushchev had any connections to Suez, they might cancel the attack and thus ruin a perfectly prepared trap. 

However, it was the perfect timing for showing to their rebelling satellites, reacting to Khrushchev’s famous speech about destalinization in the 20^th Party congress:  who is in control? It was a perfect opportunity to get rid of all the compromised followers of Stalin, along with other untrustworthy elements, and install fresh and reliable echelons.  

The question remained, where should they begin the cleansings? East Germany was out of the question, as the planned attack would begin there. Czechoslovakia wasn’t right either, as they would be the most western point towards the West Germans. Rumania and Bulgaria somehow had no inclination to rebel, which given the fact that they formed the “south rear-guard” from the Greek-Turkish second front.

So, it was either Poland or Hungary. Poland was the riskier one, as it was planned to be the Western front’s main artery for delivering supply. Hungary for a few days, at least, would be safer. By then the Soviets made peace with Tito, and furthermore they had direct connections to the sea through Rumania. Hungary was chosen because of its location, since their border with the neutral Austria and its well protected high mountains of the Swiss was not the best way to launch an attack towards the West. Italy as a target could be more easily accessible from the Yugoslav- Rumanian border, and they could rely on Tito’s cooperation since he had already some disputes with the Italians over of a few bordering cities or territories. So, Hungary had been chosen for this power demonstration in order to bring the world’s attention while England and France are quietly preparing the attack on Suez. 

It is important to pay attention to the coinciding dates: 

In the early morning of October 22nd, David Ben Gurion, the prime minister of Israel, arrives in Paris, intending to sign a three-way agreement with England and France, before he joined the war, whose outcome was unpredictable. We can safely say that the exact timing of the attack had been set during this meeting in Paris. Neither Paris nor London expected a forceful American reaction; none of them informed Washington about their plans, as they hoped that their Great Ally would eventually accept the ready-made situation. 

They were more worried about Moscow’s reaction, even though they ruled out the possibility that the Soviet Union would come to the aid with its military might to defend Egypt. This danger was averted on October 23^rd, when they learnt that Moscow, barely dodging the embarrassing Polish situation, is forced to deal with another crisis in Budapest. 

By the morning of October 23^rd Moscow–thanks to Kim Philby, Macleod, Burgess, the British spy group–were already informed about the date set for the Suez attack.

So, they needed the Budapest crisis; the attack on the radio station and the telephone centre, the presence of the Soviet tanks, and some shootings, in order to convince the brits and France that it was not only safe for them to launch the attack but to bring the date of it a few days closer. 

So, all the events in Budapest were staged to convince the British and France that Moscow is so deeply in trouble in Budapest that they have difficulty to extricate themselves from. All the while, it was Moscow who hoped to get England and France involved in a trap, by provoking the nationalization of the Suez Canal and excluding Israel from its use, - without an escape route. 

Israel attacked on October 29^th. Until that day, Ljashchenko’s special unit and Malinyn, deputy Chief of Staff played the waiting game in Budapest. The British and France gave an ultimatum on October 30^th to Nasser. That was the date of the attack on the headquarter of the Communist Party at Köztársaság Square. Successfully duping the West at the Suez, the Soviet Union could now turn their full attention, making up the explanation why it was necessary to come to the aids of the Hungarians as it was set out in the Warsaw Pact 

On October 31st, the British and French airplanes bombed Egypt, the very same day that the series of document photos landed on the desks of the western journalist about the Köztársaság Square massacres. As if the British and France had directed these events to cover-up their actions in Suez. When in reality it was directed for them by Moscow. Finally, the planned attack on Egypt had been determent to be on the 4^th of November. That was the reason the Soviets sent out the order the very same day against the Hungarians, that could not be stopped any more, but it turned out to be in their favour, as the world paid more attention to it, than noticing how the Brits and the French are about to walk into the Suez trap. 

Because of the situation in Hungary, Moscow’s threatening reaction was dated on November 5^th, a fact that the military leadership in Israel considered to be rather fortunate, since they believed that had Great Britain and France received the Soviet’s warning before October 29^th, the Sinai campaign wouldn’t have happened. Although this came in handy for Israel as they had a chance to prove their military advantage on land over the Egyptian army, but it proved disastrous for the British and France. Because the Soviet memorandum, signed by Khrushchev, entailed: 

If you believe that using your air force and navy you can destroy a country smaller than your own, we just want to remind you of the existence of a larger country than your own. And this country owns the kind of weaponry that launched from its territory, could destroy your own metropolises. Please take this in consideration when making your decision. 

The reaction to this memorandum was devastating, and the threatened British and French withdrew its forces. That was the moment that they ceased to be first class world powers and became only second class in the world power. The Soviet plan succeeded, and they observed as the Brits and French, with crumbled morals and beaten, withdrew from the Suez Canal. All they had to do was to fix the date of the Soviet attack against the dispirited British and French army. 

Luckily, the planned attack by the Soviet Union didn’t materialize, even though that by the summer and winter of 1956 the Soviet Union managed to reach total hegemony in the world power. But the leaders in Kremlin wanted to share the power and the spoils amongst them more that complete the final victory over Western–Europe. The inner fight between “Stalin’s” old comrades”, mostly the military leaders and the reformers, headed by Khrushchev, lasted till the fall of 1957, and by then the United States also had access to intercontinental long-range missiles. And from that point on, the attack on Western-Europe could have resulted with serious consequence for the Soviet Union. Thus, the “historical moment” had disappeared forever. The Soviet Empire began to slide down and although just like Rome or Byzantine, managed to reach a few spectacular victories, but those only covered up their slow agonising decline. 

It is evident that in 1956, the Soviet Union had three main objectives: 

1. A preventive Soviet military action against Western-Europe,

2. Suez was supposed to be a prelude to the attack,

3. And the Hungarian affair, that gave an opportunity for the Soviets to use the Warsaw Pact as motive to come to the aid to another satellite county with his sphere, an action that demonstrated its military hegemony to the western world as well to all their Socialist satellite countries,   

In other words, the Soviet Union provoked the Hungarian Uprising, first in order to con the British and French into starting the war over the Suez Canal, (to make them ineffectual for the planned Western-European attack by the Soviets), and then to discipline its Satellites. We can safely claim that besides the inner fights within the Kremlin, it was Israel’s heroic action and victory that saved Western-Europe. 

Knowing all this, how can we re-evaluate the Hungarian Uprising, especially those individuals fighting and risking their lives during the events? Should their enthusiasm and sacrifice for an independent Hungary be diminished only because they became victims of a forced and provoked manipulation?   

Of course not. One must respond using arms against any armed provocation. The Hungarian Uprising was not just a “simple” rebellion, but it a spontaneous insurrection, a defensive war against a foreign invader. True enough this war against such an overwhelming might could only end in defeat. But it gave many thousands of Hungarians to escape to the West, thus saving not only their lives but secure a better future for themselves.  And this lost battle the Soviet Union also demonstrated their ruthless hunger for power that resulted in the loss of faith for many communist sympathizers living in the West. 

This manipulation also proves the immorality and cynicism of the Soviet leaders and the Kadar regime that held thousands of people responsible for the crushed counter-revolution, taking them to trial for actions that they had been not responsible for, but not even dreamed of doing. None of the perpetrators, provocateurs, had been ever named and held accountable. 

Although almost seventy years after the events, the situation and their connection become cleaner, but none of it should diminish the valiant actions of individuals who had risked and many times sacrificed their lives, against an overwhelming military power.

Judith Kopacsi Gelberger

October 31, 2014  

Sourses 

The secret history of the Hungarian History by Dr. Szatmári Jenő István: (A Magyar történelem titkos története) 

Secret reports between October 23rd and November 4th of 1956 – (Selections from the archives of Budapest, Mowcow based British and USA embassy’s) Titkos jelentések 1956. okt. 23.-nov. 4. (A budapesti és moszkvai brit és USA-nagykövetségek korabeli dokumentumainak válogatása.) Kiadta: Hírlapkiadó Vállalat, Budapest.

1956 UN special UN special committee report on the 1956 Hungarian uprising, based on testimonies of personal witnesses. https://libcom.org/history/united-nations-report-hungarian-uprising-1956

1956. Az Egyesült Nemzetek Szervezete különbizottságának jelentése. (Korabeli szemtanúk vallomásai alapján.) Hunnia Kiadó, Budapest, 1989.

Gosztonyi Péter: Föltámadott a tenger... 1956. (A magyar október története, a Svájcban élő történész adatai alapján.) Népszava Kiadó, Budapest.

Gosztonyi Péter: A magyar Golgota. (Az 1956 utáni megtorlások krónikája és egyéb fontos részlet-tanulmányok.) Százszorszép Kiadó, Budapest, 1993.

Encyclopedia of the Cold War, Publisher :Taylor & Francis US 2006

ISBN: 0415975158, 9780415975155

The Suez War of 1956, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Suez_War.html