Evening star., 1947-01-26
Threat Of Civil War
Seen in Communist
Move in Hungary
BY the As.oeiotsd Press

BUDAPEST, Jan. ga source
close to President Zoltan Tidy with
in the dominant Smallholders Party
said today civil war might result
in Hungary If the Communists sue
ceeded in attempts to dispense with
the lawfully elected Slnallholder
majority in Parliament"
A group within the Stockholders
Party itself devised a measure
which would have called for a self
purge such as demanded by the
Communists, but their move COL
lapsed last night after so per cent
of the party's deputies agreed to
resign if the measure was enacted
into law. The Smallholder leader
ship, the informant said, was set
for a desperate stand" next week
against any further attempts to cut
their parliamentary representation.
BY linking the Stockholders with
an alleged plot To re-establish the
regime of former regent Admiral
Nicholas Horthy, the Communists
had hoped to purge enough Small
holder members to permit setting up
a Communist and Social Democrat
majority in the Assembly, the in
formant said. The Smallholders in
November, 1945, elections won 81
per cent of the Parliament ma ajority
and now head the coalition govern
ment.
"Minor Plot" Admitted.
II the Communists were success
full in this, the informant said, "the
peasants will be called upon to cease
deliveries of food to Budapest" and
this probably would result in civil
war.
"The peasants are disgusted with
the defensive attitude taken by
their leaders," he said.
The Stockholders admit that
some minor plot" might exist, he
said, but added it was not important
enough to warrant the present
Communist Mysteries and blanket
charges against everybody who in
the past refused to agree with
everything they said"
"It could not have been SO dam
gerous, since both Minister OF the
Interior Rajk and Rakosi have said
the plotters did not have chance"
he added. Both Interior Minister
Laszlo Rajk and Deputy Premier
Matas Rakosi are Communists.
The informant said the Small
holders would try next week to de
fine the real conspirators and have
done with Communist generaliza-
tions"
Few Charges Placed.
Few specific charges have been
placed against any one person ac-
cused as a plotter. Gen. Lajos Dali
noki Veress was singled out as the
supreme commander of an under
ground army which the Communists
said was to have oyerthrown the
government through armed upris-
ing" on the day the peace treaty
was signed or the day the Russian
occupation forces left the country.
However, nobody has defined Veress'
duties less generally, numbered his
army or listed any of his equipment,
exception for six Grated airplanes.
High government officials who are
members of the Smallholders Party
have admitted that there was ci-
william group formed as a resistance
movement during the German occu-
patton, but disclaimed knowledge OF
any plot by military men.
One of these officials said men and
women who belonged to the war
time resistance movement have con-
tinue to meet socially and perhaps
might have Criticized the Com
munists and the Russians - who
hasn't?"
An American officer who during
the war studied the Hungarian un-
derground and was prepared tol
parachute to join it, said he knew
about the Grated airplanes and
added he supposed that since the
end of the war everybody else knew
about them too.