page_title: János Kádár
section_title: The Kádár era
hierarchical_section_title: János Kádár / The Kádár era
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Berlin, Tagung Warschauer Pakt, Gruppenfoto ADN-ZB / Mittelstädt / 29.5.87 / Berlin: Tagung Zum Abschluß stellten sich die Leiter der Delegationen zur turnusmäßigen Tagung des Politischen Beratenden Ausschusses der Teilnehmerstaaten des Warschauer Vertrages den Fotografen. v.l.n.r.: Gustáv Husak (CSSR), Todor Shiwkow (VRB), Erich Honecker (DDR), Michail Gorbatschow (UdSSR), Nicolae Ceausescu (SRR), Wojciech Jaruzelski (VRP) und János Kádár (UVR). Abgebildete Personen, von links: Husak, Gustav Dr.: Präsident, 1. Sekretär des Zentralkomitees (ZK) der KP, CSSR Shiwkow, Todor: Vorsitzender des Staatsrates, Generalsekretär des ZK der KP, Bulgarien (GND 118637134) Honecker, Erich: Staatsratsvorsitzender, Generalsekretär des ZK der SED, DDR (GND 118553399) Gorbatschow, Michail: Präsident, Vorsitzender des Obersten Sowjets, Friedensnobelpreisträger, Sowjetunion Ceausescu, Nicolae: Präsident, Staatsratsvorsitzender, Generalsekretär des ZK der KP, Rumänien Jaruzelski, Wojciech: Staatspräsident, General, Polen Kádár, János: Vorsitzender des Zentralkomitees (ZK) der KP, Ungarn (GND 118559044)
context_page_description: János Kádár was a Hungarian communist leader and the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, presiding over the country from 1956 until his retirement in 1988. His 32-year term as General Secretary covered most of the period the People's Republic of Hungary existed. Due to Kádár's age, declining health and declining political mastery, he retired as General Secretary of the party in 1988 and a younger generation consisting mostly of reformers took over.
  Kádár was born in Fiume to a poor family. He never met his father, who left his mother when he was young. After living in the countryside for some years, Kádár and his mother moved to Budapest. After quitting school, Kádár joined the Communist Party of Hungary's youth organisation, KIMSZ. Kádár would go on to become a prominent figure in the pre-World War II communist party, even becoming First Secretary. As leader, he dissolved the party and reorganised it as the Peace Party. This new party failed to win any popular support for the communist cause and he would later be accused of dissolving the Hungarian communist party.
context_section_description: Kádár assumed power in a critical situation. The country was under Soviet military administration for several months. The fallen leaders of the Communist Party took refuge in the Soviet Union and were planning to regain power in Hungary. The Chinese, East German, and Czechoslovak leaders demanded severe reprisals against the perpetrators of the "counter-revolution". Despite the distrust surrounding the new leadership and the economic difficulties, Kádár was able to normalize the situation in a remarkably short time. This was due to the realization that, under the circumstances, it was impossible to break away from the Communist bloc. The Hungarian people realized that the promises of the West to help the Hungarian revolution were unfounded and that the logic of the Cold War determined the outcome. Hungary remained part of the Soviet sphere of influence with the tacit agreement of the West. Though influenced strongly by the Soviet Union, Kádár enacted a policy slightly contrary to that of Moscow, for example, allowing considerably large private plots for farmers of collective farms.
  In notable contrast to Rákosi, who repeatedly declared "he who is not with us is against us" in his rally speeches, Kádár declared that "he who is not against us is with us." He gradually lifted Rákosi's more draconian measures against free speech and movement, and also eased some restrictions on cultural activities.  He even tolerated samizdat publications to a far greater extent than his counterparts. Hungarians had much more freedom than their Eastern Bloc counterparts to go about their daily lives. 
  His regime was far more humane than other Communist regimes, especially so when compared to the first seven years of undisguised Communist rule in Hungary. However, it was not a liberal regime in any sense. The Communists maintained absolute control over the government and also encouraged citizens to join party organizations. The National Assembly, like its counterparts in other Communist countries, did little more than approve decisions already made by the MSZMP and its Politburo. Voters were presented with a single list from the Patriotic People's Front, which was dominated by the MSZMP. All prospective candidates had to accept the Front's program in order to stand; indeed, Kádár and his advisers used the Front to weed out candidates they deemed unacceptable. The secret police, while operating with somewhat more restraint than their counterparts in other Eastern Bloc countries, were nonetheless a feared tool of government control. The Hungarian media remained under censorship that was considered fairly onerous by Western standards, but far less stringent than was the case in other Communist countries.
  As a result of the relatively high standard of living, and more relaxed travel restrictions than that of other Eastern Bloc countries, Hungary was generally considered one of the better countries in which to live in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. The dramatic fall in living standards after the fall of Communism led to some nostalgia about the Kádár era. However, the relatively high living standards had their price in the form of a considerable amount of state debt left behind by the Kádár régime. As mentioned above, the regime's cultural and social policies were still somewhat authoritarian; their impact on contemporary Hungarian culture is still a matter of considerable debate.
  During Kádár's rule, international tourism increased dramatically, with many tourists from Canada, the US, and Western Europe bringing much needed money into Hungary. Hungary built strong relations with developing countries and many foreign students arrived. The "Holy Crown" (referred to in the media as the "Hungarian Crown", so as to prevent it carrying a political symbolism of the Horthy régime or an allusion to Christianity) and regalia of Hungarian kings was returned to Budapest by the United States in 1978.
  Kádár was known for his simple and modest lifestyle and avoided the self-indulgence persona of other Communist leaders. He also had a strong aversion to and
caption: Leaders of the Eastern Bloc from left to right: Husák of Czechoslovakia, Zhivkov of Bulgaria, Honecker of East Germany, Gorbachev of the USSR, Ceaușescu of Romania, Jaruzelski of Poland and Kádár of Hungary (May 1987, East Berlin, East Germany)
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