Há 55 anos, na Hungria... - a criação de Conselhos Operários (II)

REVOLUTIONARY AND WORKERS’ COUNCILS

I. Introduction

485. No aspect of the Hungarian uprising expressed its democratic tendencies or its reaction to previous conditions more clearly than the creation of Revolutionary Councils in villages, towns and on the county level, and of Workers’ Councils in factories. Within a few days, these bodies came into existence all over Hungary and assumed important responsibilities. Their chief purpose was to ensure for the Hungarian people real, and not merely nominal, control of local government and of factories, mines, and other industrial enterprises. There was even a suggestion that a National Revolutionary Committee might replace the National Assembly,(1) while another proposal was that a Supreme National Council could exercise the prerogative of Head of the State.(2) While nothing of the kind took place, the fact that such proposals could be put forward at all suggests the degree to which they were felt to reflect the desires of the people.

486. The first part of this chapter will deal with the Revolutionary Councils and the second part with the Workers’ Councils in factories.

487. Before the end of October, the entire Communist-controlled Party apparatus had collapsed in Hungary, leaving a vacuum in public administration. By article 30 of the Constitution of the Hungarian People’s Republic of 18 August 1949, various Councils had been established as local organs of the State administration; including County Councils, District Councils, Town Councils, Borough Councils and Town Precinct Councils. Owing to the one party system, these Councils came under the direct control of the Party and local autonomy was destroyed. As soon as the Communist Party apparatus collapsed, the Hungarian people demanded that democratic elections be held in autonomous communities and that the Communist Party functionaries, police administrators and their associates be replaced by men trusted by the people. In accordance with these demands, Revolutionary Councils were created and took over the functions of the local administration in urban as well as rural areas.

488. In addition, and mostly after 27 October, Revolutionary Councils or Committees were created within Government offices, many of which took over the actual running of Departments; and in the Army, by students and other youth groups, as well as by groups of intellectuals.

489. Just as these Revolutionary Councils appeared to be an expression of popular dissatisfaction with the local councils of the régime, so the Workers’ Councils were an attempt to establish control by the workers themselves in factories, mines and similar enterprises. Under article 6 of the Constitution of 1949, the State and public bodies were to act as “trustees for the whole people” for mines, large industrial enterprises and State-sponsored agricultural undertakings. In practice, this meant rigid Party control and, during the Rákosi régime, as was seen in chapter IX, the Hungarian economy was largely subjected to the interests of the Soviet Union.(3) The Workers’ Councils in factories seem to have been an expression of popular disapproval of this state of affairs, as well as the reaction of the workers to the Governmentcontrolled trade unions.

490. Revolutionary and Workers’ Councils sprang up all over Hungary without any central direction or co-ordinating plan, but, as the days passed, efforts were made to achieve some degree of co-ordination. These efforts were still in a tentative stage when the second Soviet intervention occurred on 4 November.

491. On 28 October the Hungarian Workers’ (Communist) Party commended the establishment of these Councils in an article in Szabad Nép, its official organ:

“News comes all the time from all parts of the country about the setting up of municipal and county Councils, Workers’ Councils, National Councils or Revolutionary Socialist Committees - many different names. All are alike, however, in being spontaneous, popular organs which came into existence through the upsurge of a new democracy in this country. We do not know who the members of the Councils are; we do know, however, that they are representatives of the workers and that they are being elected in a democratic way. There is none among them who would abuse the confidence of the people, who would misuse his power or think only of his personal position. Among them are those Communists who are respected and loved by the people. The good judgment and intelligence of the working masses are seen in the first measures taken by these popular organs.”
492. Official recognition was given to the Revolutionary Councils by Mr. Nagy “in the name of the National Government” on 30 October. He referred to them as “autonomous, democratic local organs formed during the Revolution,” and asked for “full support” from them. The setting up of factory Workers’ Councils in all plants was recommended by the Central Committee of the Hungarian Workers’ (Communist) Party in a statement issued on 26 October, and on the same day the Praesidium of the National Council of Trade Unions published a similar appeal to all workers. "

[relatório da ONU, páginas 154-155]