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established government started to negotiate with the Soviet
Union about the withdrawal of its military units from the
country. Instead, after its initial willingness, the Soviet
government did an about-face, seeing that the West is unwilling
to take sides in the events, let alone lending a hand to Hungary,
all they could do was to puff the matter up in the media. On
12
4th November, Soviet troops waged an undeclared war against
the country. The army, which outnumbered us to the point of
extremity, an army that had hundreds of tanks, flowed the city
from three sides. We were looking at the never-ending line of
tanks that crossed Egressy Street and realized that this conflict
could not have been won. The country was left alone and it lost
its war of independence. Many believe that everything ended on
that day, on 4 November. The later established puppet
government wanted to force this belief on people too. However,
this was not the case. In reality, armed conflicts kept on going
for several months to come, strikes occurred, but MUK
(“márciusban újrakezdjük”, cf. “we will start again in March”)
did not become a reality.
The János Kádár-led renegade government, responsible for
betraying the country, made efforts to dampen the everyday
sufferings. They had established a system during the next ten
years that worked as a social compromise for many. They made
it possible to govern the country of ten million in the presence
of a foreign military force of sixty-thousand soldiers, while
including tens of thousands of opportunists and a party
membership of eight-hundred thousand people in their sphere of
influence. But what could had been done if the leading political
forces of the world had no interest in supporting a Hungarian
government that intended to operate legally – as opposed to the
one established eventually – and asked for their help? Apathy
continued, along with the apparent curse that hit with the
disintegration of society. It was unattainable to break free of the
pact forced upon us by the dictates of the Yalta Conference. It

12 The Russians invaded Hungary with 16 divisions and 2000 tanks.

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