The Georgia problem in the Soviet Union is intensifying, but compared with other countries east of the Iron Curtain, the riot in the distant Georgia is only the tip of the iceberg. Since the 1970s, due to the influence of the oil crisis and other events, the economies of countries around the world have begun to have serious problems, whether in capitalist countries in Western Europe or in socialist countries in Eastern Europe. Due to the economic downturn, countries have experienced high unemployment rates. Many countries have to rely on foreign debt for a living, especially in some small countries in Europe, because of poor resources and high economic dependence on foreign countries. Against the backdrop of a long-term downturn in the world economy, the fiscal situation of these governments has reached the brink of collapse.

At the forefront of the Cold War, Hungary's financial situation was particularly bad. Although socialist countries would not experience unemployment, Hungary was particularly dependent on foreign trade because of the lack of a complete industrial system. Many things need to be imported from overseas. However, the unchanging wages and the actual prices of commodities in the market have been seriously diverged. The people could not buy what they wanted with their wages, so the rationing system during World War II reappeared in people's lives.

If people's lives have been moving in a good direction, then everyone will not complain about the government. But the key is that people's hard work feels that life is getting harder and harder. This has caused the masses to question the government's ability to govern.

As the actual leader of Hungary, Kadar, the first secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, saw this situation in his eyes and was anxious. Since the October 1956 incident (Khrushchev sent troops to suppress the Hungarian opposition, causing bloody conflicts, and 200,000 Hungarian refugees fled to Austria), Kadar has led Hungary for more than 30 years. During these 30 years, Kadar tried every means to bridge the Hungarian society torn apart by the October incident. He worked hard to adjust Hungary's economic policies, hoping that Hungary could become a prosperous and powerful socialist country. However, the deteriorating external economic environment has made Kadar's efforts vain. Now in Hungary, many people say that Kadar is old and cannot keep up with the times.

If it weren't for economic problems, most of the people in Hungary liked Kadar. Kadar was almost the simplest and most approachable among the leaders of Eastern European countries. The people were used to calling him Uncle Kadar. During the thirty years of rule over Hungary, Kadar did not build a luxurious official residence for himself. He lived in a bungalow surrounded by iron fences. Most Hungarians lived in such a house. His house had nothing but books, neither guards nor secretary, and no personal service except a gardener and gatekeeper. If Kadar had not lived a simple life and had a decent style, how could a guy who relied on the Soviet army to help the coup as general secretary to rule the country for more than 30 years?

However, the era of Kadar is about to come to an end. Just a few months ago, the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party held a special meeting secretly, and bypassed Kadar, elected a new Central Committee and the Central Supervision Council. Eight of the thirteen members of the former Politburo were all lost, including the respected Kadar. Kadar only received a false post as a chairman of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party as a comfort, Kadar's era ended in a sudden and unexpected way.

Although Kadal was unwilling to accept the decision of the party, he still accepted it calmly. However, the new leadership team followed that began to investigate the October incident in Hungary that Kadal relied on when he came to power. Reassess the historical significance of the Hungarians who died in October practice. Kadal felt very angry and wronged about this. He believed that this was the betrayal of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party of Hungary. At the same time, he felt deeply saddened that he was not understood by the world. As a small person, he felt very sad.

In the country, Hungary is definitely not an opponent of the Soviet Union. Kadal has a very deep understanding of this. So at the most tight moment in Hungary, the Soviet Union brazenly sent troops to Hungary to cause bloody conflicts. Kadal chose to cooperate with the Soviets to give up resistance. His cooperation made Khrushchev feel very satisfied. So in the end the Soviet Union did not leave a large number of troops in Hungary. On this issue, Kadal and Polish leader Yaruselsky had similar situations and same political views.

It’s nothing to be wronged in personal grievances. The key is that Kadar does not want the new Polish leadership team to anger the Soviet Union on the October incident. However, it was beyond Kadar’s expectations. The Soviet Union did not raise any protests or dissatisfaction with the October incident in Hungary in a few years. This made Kadar feel very incredible.

With the matchmaking of Kadar, the new Hungarian leadership team began to discuss foreign debt repayment with their neighbor Austria. For Hungary, the huge foreign debt made Hungary’s originally small fiscal revenue even worse, but the economic situation could not make debt defaults even if it was not improved, because if this were the case, many sovereign countries would not lend money to Hungary. So even if the belt was tightened, the Hungarian government would pay the foreign debt back.

Fortunately, the Austrian government is not anxious about Hungary's debt. They actually hope that Hungary can open its borders, allow Austrian goods to enter the Hungarian market, and at the same time sell them to other countries of the Warsaw Pact. Therefore, when the two countries negotiate on debt, Austrian representatives kept leading the negotiations on the issue of opening the border.

There are more than 200,000 refugees who fled Hungary due to the October incident in Austria. These refugees have brought a serious fiscal deficit to Austria. Austria hopes that Hungary can take these refugees back and promises that if the Hungarian government can forgive these people's crimes, it can appropriately reduce Hungary's foreign debt owed to Austria.

After some discussion, Hungary finally agreed to the agreement, and they were willing to open access ports on the border between Hungary and Austria to bring back the Hungarians who fled their homes. Austria also generously reduced most of the Hungarian foreign debts in their hands. This was a gratifying thing for both countries. Hungary originally wanted to hear the Soviet Union's attitude in this regard. Gorbachev agreed to the Hungarian government to solve the matter on its own. This greatly relieved the senior leaders of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party. But they didn't know that the actions of these two countries had finally made a gap in the Iron Curtain for decades.
Chapter completed!