With the implementation of the Soviet model in Eastern Europe, the Communist system was built up within a few years, but an extremely rapid pace ofinvestment in heavy industry, especially in armaments and agricultural collectivization campaigns, soon exhausted the economies of these countries.
Omens of a potential crisis appeared as early as 1952, so an intervention by the Soviet Union in order to consolidate the economic situation and maintain political stability would have been necessary even if it had not been for the crisis that Stalin’s death produced. By late 1952 or early 1953, bleak assessments of the deteriorating economic situation and the growing dissatisfaction of the population of East Central Europe had reached Moscow via the network of Soviet advisers that existed at every level of the local administrations. In Hungary, during the summer of 1952, there were the first cases of mass resistance to the system of compulsory agricultural deliveries then in effect. Strikes, refusals to meet quotas, and even acts of violence occurred.453
By the spring of 1953, the Communist regimes of East Central Europe had fallen into a state of persistent economic and political crisis. In the months following Stalin’s death, a series of events took place in the region that exposed the dubious stability of the governments established on the Soviet pattern. The most striking feature of the revolts was that the demonstrations generally started with predominantly economic grievances, but that then the slogans quickly assumed an openly political and anti-Communist character, including calls for the resignation of the government and the holding of free elections.
On May 3,1953, workers in tobacco factories near Plovdiv and Khaskovo in the southern part of Bulgaria, the country seen as most loyal to the Soviet Union, went on strike and organized a demonstration against inflated productivity demands. On-the-spot negotiations led by a top-ranking Communist official soon put an end to the unrest, but the organizers were severely punished nevertheless.454 Shortly afterwards, in Czechoslovakia, a revolt took place that revealed the existence not only of popular dissatisfaction with the economic situation, but also of doubts as to the legitimacy of the Communist regime itself. In April-May 1953, strikes and protests took place in more than a dozen cities on news of an imminent monetary reform that might severely endanger the public’s savings. Then, on June 1, a genuine anti-Communist uprising broke out in Plzen where workers and citizens seized the city hall and took local power in their own hands. They demanded that the
Government step down, that Communist rule cease, and that free elections be held. Internal security and the armed forces cracked down on the revolt very severely; thousands of participants were arrested and sentenced to lengthy imprisonment.455
Less than two weeks later, social unrest exploded in East Germany as well. Moscow was keenly aware that the economic situation was on the verge of crisis. East Germany’s mounting social unrest was vividly demonstrated by the burgeoning refugee crisis during the spring of 1953.456 Having fruitlessly urged the Socialist Unity Party to enact reforms in April and May, the Soviets summoned East German leaders to Moscow for consultations on June 2-4, where they instructed them to introduce a New Course of more liberal and flexible political direction and to terminate immediately the forced program of "Socialist Construction" that had originally been launched on Stalin’s order in the summer of 1952.457 The new political line was announced in an unexpected government communique on June 11. The new approach reduced production in heavy industry and correspondingly boosted the output ofconsumer goods, but it also reduced restrictions on foreign travel, suspended the collectivization of agriculture, and ended constraints on religious practices. The Soviets intended all these concessions to alleviate social discontent and, additionally, to foster a better climate for future negotiations with the West on the potential reunification of Germany.
Despite all these precautions, the Berlin uprising in June 1953 erupted because GDR leaders were reluctant to follow instructions from Moscow and also because their significant concessions were announced without any preparatory propaganda. People saw it all as a sign of the regime’s weakness. When it turned out that the leadership - contrary to expectations - was unwilling to revoke the almost 10 percent increase in labor quotas introduced at the end of May, workers in the construction industry went on strike. The revolt soon spread to the entire country, and there is reason to believe that it would have led to a rapid collapse of the Communist system if not for the presence and intervention of Soviet troops.
The demonstrations began as protests over economic conditions, but very soon evolved into an anti-Communist uprising that demanded the resignation
Of the government, the creation of non-Communist parties, and free elections. Protestors opposed the formation of an East German army and called for a general strike. News of the events in Berlin quickly spread to the whole country, particularly through newscasts by Western radio stations. According to some estimates, about half a million people took part in often rather violent incidents in 560 cities of the GDR.458 The revolt, which endangered Communist rule and might well have resulted in its total collapse, was emphatically quelled by the tanks of the Soviet army.
Soviet leaders were well aware of the economic situation in Eastern Europe since the spring of 1953, and they understood the meaning of events in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany. What might have been especially worrying for them was how the demonstrations had started out as demands of an economic nature, but had evolved in a matter of hours into widespread protests calling for the elimination of the Communist system by the industrial working class, a segment of the population that should have been the ideological base of the regime.
In order to avoid such developments and maintain political stability, Moscow believed that radical changes needed to be introduced in the East Central European countries. The model for these changes was the New Course imposed on the GDR by the Soviets, the implementation of which was made obligatory first for the Hungarian and then for the Albanian leaders at a Moscow briefing in June 1953. Similar consultations with Czechoslovak, Romanian, and Bulgarian leaders were also scheduled in Moscow, but were canceled amidst the uncertain situation following Beriia’s arrest at the end of June.459 Instead, the leaders of these countries received their respective directives on how to introduce the new political line through conventional channels. Accordingly, from July to September the New Course was also announced in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Romania. The reform package generally featured the following policies: the lightening of repressive measures against the people, a reduction in mass terror and violence, a qualified amnesty for political prisoners (starting with imprisoned Communists), a general "restoration of socialist lawfulness," significant cuts in heavy industrial output, drastic reductions in the hitherto-prioritized defense industry, significant output increases in light industry - especially in the production of consumer goods that could provide the supplies necessary to raise living
Standards - and, lastly, the termination of forced collectivization in agriculture or, at least, a decrease in the pace of establishing cooperative farms.
Thus, at least some elements of the New Course appeared in one form or another in each country. Local political conditions had a significant influence on the process; the formerly Stalinist leaders were willing to apply the new policy in a selective fashion, with most of their decisions subordinated to the goal of retaining political power at any cost.
In most cases the Soviets delegated implementation of the new policy to the very same local leaders who had until recently been in competition with each other for the title of Stalin’s best student. Fundamental changes in the leadership personnel occurred only in Hungary, where the Soviets ordered Matyas Rakosi to relinquish the office of prime minister to Imre Nagy, who had previously been criticized as a nationalist deviationist. Moscow’s expectation of a successful implementation of the new policy by the old cadres can largely be attributed to the fact that these leaders had always eagerly executed every order without hesitation. They had been willing to allow their economies to be exploited by the Kremlin to help expedite the overall rearmament of the Eastern bloc and to hasten reconstruction within the Soviet Union. Consequently, when the time came to introduce relief measures, the Soviets hoped that Stalin’s minions in Eastern Europe would be just as eager to implement policies aimed at improving the general conditions oftheir people. In several cases, Moscow’s reasoning proved to be flawed: some of these local leaders actually preferred to preserve the Stalinist mechanisms of power.
Nevertheless, the Soviets did try to reduce the concentration of power that was so strongly reminiscent of the Stalinist era. The main way to achieve this goal was to promote the Soviet practice of collective leadership in each country. The Soviets made it a habit to deal with a group of senior partners in each of the satellite states rather than the official leader of each country alone. On the basis of the new Soviet model, the position of prime minister, and the role ofthe state administration more generally, was reevaluated. Since the Soviets believed that removing the head of a ruling Communist Party was too risky, no such attempt was made until the summer of 1956. However, in the spirit of collective leadership, there were changes in the top echelon of almost every country in the course of 1953-54. Whereas previously the offices of party leader and prime minister had typically been filled by the same person, they were now usually separated.
During 1953-54, the most notable developments took place in Hungary. Following Moscow’s directives, the Central Committee of the Hungarian Workers’ Party passed a secret resolution in June 1953 that severely criticized
The former leadership for its Stalinist policies and called for several important changes of personnel.460 Subsequently, the newly appointed prime minister, Nagy, announced an ambitious reform program with main points that were roughly in accordance with the original Soviet concept of the New Course. The implementation of the plan began in the fall of 1953 and, although no structural changes were introduced in the system, these reforms significantly ameliorated living conditions and raised public support for the regime. However, a struggle for power soon unfolded between Nagy and the Stalinist Rakosi. With the fall of Soviet premier Georgii Malenkov, the Soviet leadership eventually took the side of the latter. In April 1955, Nagy was relieved of his responsibilities.
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