On the eve of World War II, the offensive of imperialist reaction and fascism intensified in Hungary. The ruling groups of capitalists and landowners, with the assistance of Hitler's Germany, followed the path of revision of the Trianon Treaty of 1920 (according to the" Vienna Arbitration " of November 2, 1938, the southern regions of Slovakia were transferred to Hungary). The Hungarian ruling classes also claimed Transcarpathian Ukraine. They hoped that the prospect of subsequent annexations of the territory of neighboring states would strengthen the chauvinism that had been implanted for a long time and expand the base of the fascist regime. In February 1939, Hungary joined the "Anti-Comintern Pact". A month later, Hungarian troops captured Transcarpathian Ukraine. The growing dependence of Hungary's policy on the predatory plans of the Nazis and the anti-Soviet course pursued by the ruling groups led to its accession to the Berlin Pact in 1940. The activities of the reactionary clique of Regent Horthy gave free rein to the extreme right-wing parties, whose existence reflected the essence of the bourgeois-landlord system established by counter-revolutionary means. "Party of Hungarian Renewal" B. Imredi-A. Yaroshsha, the Nilashists ("Crossed Arrows") - followers of F. Salasha and other extreme rightists, having political organizations and the press (all three government newspapers were edited by like-minded Imredi), sought close cooperation with Hitler's Germany and the establishment of total fascism. The "Conservatives" - a liberal opposition bloc, which in early 1939 was headed by Horthy's trusted adviser I. Bethlen, focused on England in foreign policy, and in domestic policy they preferred fascism, but "their own, Hungarian". They supported the government's course of imperialist seizures, actively participated in arming the Hungarian and Hitlerite armies, but did not want to compromise themselves by openly allied with the Nazis, because they were associated with British capital. Supporters of the pro-Hitler orientation turned out to be stronger. As early as May 1938, the British minister in Budapest reported to the Foreign Office: "Hungary is lost to us."1
The Government increased political and police pressure on the labor movement. The number of people arrested and jailed for their progressive views was growing. The publication of print media whose activities affected "the interests of waging war or other important interests of the state"was prohibited2 . In January 1939, the authorities closed 430 newspapers and magazines: most of them trade unions, a number of party, youth and other periodicals of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). In May 1939, the activities of trade unions were placed under the control of government representatives. The central focus of propaganda was the revision of borders. Nationalist and anti-Soviet sentiments were whipped up, and libels rained down on the workers ' movement and the Communist Party of Hungary (CPV). Active indoctrination of the population, in which the school and the church took part, was combined with legislative measures aimed at limiting the opportunities for economic and political struggle of the working people. On September 1, 1939, a state of emergency was introduced in the country, and the security system was tightened.-

1 Magyar - brit titkos targyalasok 1943-ban. Budapest. 1978, 20. old.

2 Magyarorszagi rendeletek tara, 1939. II. k. Budapest. 1940, 1270 - 1271. old.

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The Ministry of Police Supervision and Internment introduced compulsory labor service for persons from 14 to 70 years of age .3
Only the CPV consistently fought against the imperialist, adventurist policies of the ruling circles. In a leaflet issued in February 1940, the Communist Party declared:: "We raise our voice" when "the rulers of Hungary are preparing to drag the country into war" 4 . The leaflet emphasized that Hungary could avoid participation in the war if it pursued a policy independent of the imperialist powers, and that peace for it could be preserved not with the help of the Axis powers, the British and French imperialists, but only if Hungary's foreign policy was guided by the Soviet Union. The CPV was then small in number and weakened organizationally. The party cells that had been disbanded in January 1936 for reorganization were still being restored. In September 1939, the political center of the CPV was established under the leadership of Fr. Erysipelas 5 . This contributed to the activation of the activities of Communists working in the SDP, trade unions, youth organizations and new Communist party groups. In the SDP, the left wing, which sought to cooperate with the Communists, was growing stronger. The CPV put a lot of effort into creating a Democratic Front to fight against Hungary's involvement in the war. The main force of this front was to be the organized working class, which most strongly opposed nationalist propaganda. According to a police report dated October 26, 1939, the construction workers of Dendesh expressed the opinion that events would have developed differently if in 1919 the city of Dendesh had been destroyed. Soviet Hungary and Soviet Russia were neighboring states, and that when the USSR and Hungary become them, "the dawn will come, the sun will rise." 6 At party and trade union meetings, workers denounced the compromising policies of the right-wing Social Democrats and their attacks on the CPV and the USSR. One of the leaders of the SDP K. The workers forced Peyer to leave the All-Hungarian meeting of representatives of the metalworkers ' trade union held on November 7, 1939. The police report noted that " when the social-democratic leaders oppose the Soviet Union, they are always met with a protest from almost all party members, without exception."7 . One of the manifestations of the workers ' friendly feelings towards the USSR was a mass visit organized by Communists and left-wing Social Democrats to the Soviet pavilion at the Budapest International Fair in May 1941, which was displayed on the basis of the 1940 trade agreement between the USSR and Hungary. The Soviet pavilion was visited by hundreds of thousands of residents of the country. There are thousands of entries in the review books, both individual and collective, including the following (on behalf of a group of miners):: "It is as if we have visited the land of labor, freedom and joy. We are proud of you, your existence is a help to us. Long live the Russian proletariat " 8 .

The Cabinet of P. Teleki (1939-1941) refused good-neighborly relations with the USSR, although the Soviet government made a number of proposals on this issue, handed Hungary its national relics - the banners of the liberation struggle of 1848-1849. The Magyar Nemzet newspaper, which reflected the views of the conservative-liberal bourgeoisie and the anti-Nazi intelligentsia, wrote on March 25, 1941:"Before delusions lead to tragedy, it is necessary to convince all sections of the nation that it is impossible to deviate from the path that these banners have taken." The newspaper's statement was all the more noticeable because a delegation of Italian fascists was invited to the solemn ceremony of meeting the banners. 9
3 A magyar forradalmi munkasmozgalom tortenete. Budapest. 1979. 345. old.

4 Istoriya hungarskogo revolyutsionnogo rabochego dvizheniya [History of the Hungarian Revolutionary Labor Movement], vol. 2, Moscow, 1973, pp. 240-241.

5 Pinter I. Rozsa Ferenc. Budapest. 1983, 95. old.

6 Dokumentumok a magyar parttortenet tanulmanyozasahoz. V. k. Budapest. 1955, 7. old.

7 History of the Hungarian Revolutionary Labor Movement, p. 239.

8 Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Trade of the USSR, All-Union Chamber of Commerce and Industry, op. 11688, d. 133, l. 17.

9 Esti Kurir, 25.III.1941.

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The Government misled the masses into believing that territorial conquest was possible without war, even though it was dragging the country into war. The ruling groups managed to convince a significant part of the population that the bourgeois - democratic revolution of 1918, the socialist revolution of 1919, the Trianon Peace Treaty of 1920 were the causes of acute social conflicts, and that the bourgeois state and its alliance with fascist Germany were in the "national" interests. The second "Vienna Arbitration" of August 30, 1940 made it easier to conduct false official propaganda. In addition, the growth rate of industrial production in 1938-1941, due to the placement of capital investments in the occupied territories and the arms race, exceeded the figures for the previous 20 years. 10 The terror and increased employment of workers had a certain impact on the nature of the workers ' strike movement in the first stage of World War II, so that it was mainly economic in nature .11 The partial revision of the Treaty of Trianon, carried out by the Chortists, stirred up a wave of chauvinism. Finally, on June 27, 1941, the ruling circles plunged Hungary, which had become a satellite of Germany, into a criminal war against the USSR.

The anti-fascist camp in the country was weak and divided at that time. The Executive Committee of the Comintern, which has repeatedly considered issues related to the situation in Hungary and the tasks of the CPV, noted as early as June 1939 that Hitler's Germany and fascist Italy were using Hungary as a means to encroach on the independence of the peoples of South-Eastern Europe and that Hungary had already paid the loss of independence of its foreign policy for the occupation of Transcarpathia and part of Slovakia. The Comintern emphasized that the struggle for national independence is the vital task of the Hungarian people .12 The main base of the anti-fascist movement was the legal organizations of the working class. Its allies could be some legal opposition bourgeois parties, which included a significant part of the peasantry, intelligentsia and small urban bourgeoisie. But these parties were heavily influenced by the government.

After the mass repressions of the authorities in 1940, the CPV was faced with the task of re-strengthening its ranks. Z. Schoenhertz, who led the organization of the anti - fascist independence movement on behalf of the CPV Central Committee, later noted in the illegal body of the party - "Szabad Nep": "We need an ideologically prepared, unified and centralized party with an extensive network of organizations. Such a hardened party will be able to lead the broad masses of its class, involve other strata of the people in the struggle for everyday demands, and become an active factor in political life. " 13 In the spring and summer of 1941, a network of territorial and industrial party organizations of the CPV was established. Budapest and other party committees have started working 14 . In order to create national unity in the fight against fascism and the war, the CPV did not rule out an agreement with the leadership of the SDP, which was dominated by the right, who tried to preserve the party's legality and did not agree to an alliance with the Communists.

Among the primary tasks of the CPV was to expose the essence of fascism, the preparations of the ruling groups for participation in the anti-Soviet war. The bourgeois and petty-bourgeois strata, the backward workers and peasants, hoping for the existence of a parliament, the SDP and its printed organ, harbored illusions about the nature of German-Hungarian relations. It was necessary to rouse the broad masses from their state of passivity and show that by exploiting the revisionist aspirations of the hortist circles, Germany had turned Hungary into an instrument for carrying out its plans in South-Eastern Europe, and the war with the USSR entails disgrace and deprivation for the people. The CPV leadership explained the party's strategy in party cells.

10 Pinter I. A magyar kommunistak szerepe a fegyveres ellenallas elokesziteseben es megszervezeseben. In: Fegyverrel a hazaert. Budapest. 1980, 18. old.

11 Istoriya Hungarii [History of Hungary], Vol. 3, Moscow, 1972, p. 348.

12 A magyar nepfront tortenete. Dokumentumok 1935 - 1976. I. k. Budapest. 1977, 223 - 224. old.

13 Szabad Nep, 1.II.1942.

14 Pinter I. A KMP az 1936 - 1944-es evekben. In: Legyozhetetlen ero. A magyar kommunista mozgalom szervezeti fejlodesenek 50 eve. Budapest. 1968, 127. old.

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The anti-Soviet campaign and the policy of groveling of the right-wing SDP leaders before the government were exposed. The activities of communists have helped more than one SDP organization overcome the gloom and confusion caused by the occupation of Austria, the Munich Agreement and the "Vienna Arbitration Agreements", the confusion generated by nationalist propaganda, and somewhat activate anti-fascist forces .15
The theoretical and political work carried out by the CPV in the late 1930s and early 1940s allowed the party to start organizing an anti-Hitler movement. On April 2, 1941, the CPV adopted a program to create a Popular Front as the main instrument of the struggle for an independent and democratic Hungary .16 The very day after Hungary declared war on the USSR, the CPV Central Committee issued an appeal stating that ending the anti-Soviet war was in the national interest and an international duty of the Hungarian proletariat. The objectives of the anti-fascist struggle were reflected in the slogan " For an independent, free, democratic Hungary!". This slogan guided the party throughout the war. The program adopted by the Central Committee of the CPV on September 1, 1941, was aimed at creating an anti-Hitler movement of broad social forces, including legal and illegal organizations of the working class, political organizations of the peasant and bourgeois masses, and even groups of leading figures of the government party who opposed Hungary's entry into the war on the side of Nazi Germany. The program provided for the struggle to end the anti-Soviet war, recall Hungarian soldiers to their homeland, and implement the urgent demands of the working people .17
The CPV relied primarily on its own resources to resolve these issues. At the same time, the Communists sought to mobilize the ideological apparatus of the legal organizations of the working class, as well as the liberal bourgeoisie and the anti-Hitler intelligentsia, and fought for the creation of a Democratic bloc.

In the spring of 1941, the CPV Propaganda Committee headed by A. Maud was established. His task was to popularize the party's program in Nepszava and in the anti-Hitler bourgeois press (no communist newspapers were published in 1936-1941). F. Rozha tried to create a legal Independence Committee as an initial step, but in June 1941 it was not possible to do so18 . The Communist program was then the only alternative in the country to war on the side of Nazi Germany. Even bourgeois liberal circles recognized that the anti-Hitler independence movement was the only way out of the national crisis. Through their print media, they took part in the political discussion initiated by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Poland in Nepszava, which was edited by A. Sakasic in 1940. A Communist group worked in the editorial office of this central press organ of the SDP. The discussion was joined by Szabad Szo, which brought together "people's writers" 19 and representatives of the National Peasant Party (NCP), a party of the rural poor created by the "narodniks" and Communists on June 29, 1939. On October 13, 1940, the editor-in-chief of this newspaper was E. Baichi-Zilinsky, the leader of the left wing of the Party of Small Rural Owners (PMSH). Szabad Szo demanded radical land reform, and representatives of the Narodniks published articles in support of the struggle for Hungary's national independence.

Prior to Hungary's entry into the war against the USSR, discussions were also held on the issues of the anti-fascist movement. The Communists called for taking into account the lessons of the past, saying that national interests should be identified "with the interests of the majority of the nation, the broadest masses of workers and peasants" who want to live

15 History of the Hungarian Revolutionary Labor Movement, p. 226.

16 A magyar nepfront tortenete, 179. old.

17 Ibid.

18 Pinter I. Rozsa Ferenc, 129 - 131. old.

19 "Narodni Pisateli" ("Narodniks") - a group of writers and sociologists, mostly of peasant origin, who showed in their works the poverty of the countryside and the disenfranchisement of the Hungarian peasantry. Most of them supported the platform of "peasant socialism."

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in the world, to have bread and freedom; that it is necessary "to bring out of immobility the broad strata of the peasant poor" 20 . The program proposed by the Communists then became the basis for summing up the results of the political discussion. On September 28, 1941, Magyar Nemzet stated that the efforts of all sectors of society interested in creating national unity for the fight against fascism and war should be aimed at achieving political rights and freedoms, the independence of the country and the implementation of land reform, and the elements that participated in the discussion should immediately create a new political front.

The program of the Communists gradually turned into a platform of the anti-Hitler movement jointly developed by various political forces. However, a significant part of the bourgeoisie reduced their participation in this struggle to mere appearances in the legal press. The Communists, on the other hand, sought effective measures, including anti-fascist demonstrations. On October 6, 1941, communists and social - democratic youth took part in the first anti-Fascist gathering; on October 31 and later, almost all groups of the anti-Hitler camp 21 participated in such demonstrations . Anti-fascist demonstrations also took place during cultural events. At the same time, the Central Committee of the CPV turned to one of the left-wing leaders of the SDP. To Sakasic with a proposal to create an anti-fascist workers ' front. Links were established between the left wing of the SDP and CPV 22 . The Communist Party also expanded its cooperation with the NCP and sought contacts with the left wing of the PMSH. The CPV set as one of its tasks to wrest from the hands of the reactionaries the Peasant Union created by the PMSH in the autumn of 1941, to organize a section of agricultural workers in it and to direct it to the anti-fascist struggle. The success of the Communists and left Social Democrats was the publication in Nepszava on December 25, 1941 of articles in support of the anti-fascist movement. This speech of the newspaper found a response throughout the country.

However, the activity of communists in the legal press, the organization of workers ' letters by the CPV in support of Nepszava, which was attacked by the press of the government party and Nilashists, and the publication of leaflets could not solve the tasks of propaganda of the struggle for independence. The Communist Party needed to have its own newspaper. This issue was the main one at the meeting of the Central Committee of the CPV in January 1942. The organization of the illegal newspaper was entrusted to F. Roger. Its first issue was published on February 1, 1942. Szabad Nep was distributed only in party organizations, since its circulation reached only 120 copies; to protect the party cadres from failure, a conspiracy system was organized. The leading article No. 1," A free people in a Free Country", written by Z. Schoenhertz, 23 called for a struggle against capitulation to the Nazi Reich, against fascist reaction, and for an independent, free and democratic Hungary. The next article noted that the ruling groups interested in an alliance with the Nazis are making efforts to meet the demands of the Hitlerites, who were defeated near Moscow, at the expense of the Hungarian workers. Emphasizing that there were no disputed issues between the peoples of Hungary and the USSR, the Communists called for the unification of national forces interested in ending the war.

The newspaper sharply criticized the anti-people activities of the government of L. Bardossha (1941-1942), which was responsible for declaring a criminal war on the USSR, showed the disastrous consequences of such a policy for the country and contrasted it with the program developed by the Communist Party of Hungary, which would free Hungary from Hitler's yoke .24 The Party also demanded that the working class wrest from the hands of the bourgeoisie the power to control the fate of the nation. The Communists reminded us that the peasantry is an ally of the workers in the struggle against fascism and the war, and that it is necessary that it should leave passivity and become an active helper of the proletarians. It was also emphasized that the struggle for national unity against fascism

20 Szabad Szo, 15.VI.1941; Nepszava, 17.VIII.1941.

21 Szabad Szo, 9.XI.1941.

22 History of Hungary, p. 371.

23 The authors of this and other articles in the central press of the CPV were identified on the basis of a study of documents by employees of the Institute of Party History under the Central Committee of the CPSU.

24 Szabad Nep, 1.II.1942.

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and war does not mean class peace 25 . The Central Committee of the CPV set as one of its tasks the expansion of the party's ranks, ensuring greater independence in the work of party committees and organizations, and educating Communists in the spirit of struggle against the class enemy. "It is necessary to prepare all party members for a fierce attack by the class enemy, the use of the police, gendarmerie and army, against the proletarian, democratic or anti-war movement. We must give party members such a strong ideological and moral weapon that will help them not to break down under torture, " the newspaper noted. She pointed out what methods should be applied in daily activities: in factories and factories, in cities and villages, to fight for higher wages, better supply of the population, providing for the families of those drafted into the army, paying pensions to the families of the dead and benefits to the families of the wounded; to combine these demands with the demands of the broad strata of the peasantry and bourgeoisie; to hold anti-war demonstrations by putting constant pressure on the government 27 .

The collapse of the Nazis near Moscow caused confusion in the ranks of the Hungarian reaction, which groveled before the Nazi Reich. A significant part of the ruling classes was also concerned about the fact that the country was at war with the Western powers, and especially about the prospect of being held accountable for participating in the war against the Soviet Union. In March 1942, Bardoshi's cabinet fell. It was replaced by the government of M. Kallai (1942-1944). There were conditions for the formation of a legal Committee of historical memorials, which, along with the Communists, included representatives of the SDP, PMSH, NCP, trade unions, youth, cultural and other organizations. It was supposed to turn this Committee into the governing body of the anti-fascist movement. "Szabad Nep" March 1, 1942 in the articles "March", "Legacy of 1848", " We are carrying the banner of March!" She recalled the traditions of the anti-Habsburg struggle of 1848 for the development of the national liberation movement and believed that in 1942 the task of "liberating Hungary from feudal remnants" and fighting "for an independent, free, democratic Hungary"was still being set. With the help of this Committee, the Communists, who were assisted by groups of the All-Hungarian Youth Committee, managed to hold March 15, 1942. anti-fascist demonstration at the monument to Sh. Petefi in Budapest. It was attended by thousands of people under the slogans "Down with the war!", "For a free, independent, democratic Hungary!"28 . At the same time, the organizers of the demonstration faced enormous difficulties. The Government still led the bulk of the people. It was clear that the anti-fascist camp was still weak and divided.

Having made a realistic assessment of the situation, the Communists called for "moving further along the path of mass mobilization", for daily struggle in enterprises, and for the creation of workers ' committees. In the latest issue of its illegal press, the CPV Central Committee pointed out the tendency of the leaders of the opposition bourgeois parties, as well as the right-wing SDP, to collude with the reaction: "In Parliament, Tildi, Rashshai and Mateffi compete with Imredi in approving government policies, in proving the loyalty and fruitfulness of their opposition"29 . The newspaper considered the connection of the struggle for democracy with the struggle for socialism and identified such transformations that would ensure the development of the democratic revolution into a socialist one. At the beginning of this path, the newspaper emphasized, "a solid government will be created with the participation of the people, all strata of the nation, whose program will be a break with the Germans, an end to the war, and the implementation of democratic development. Any other way puts the country at Hitler's service! " 30 . The Communists said that groups that usurped power and represented a tiny minority of Hungarians were endangering the entire nation. The task of the anti-fascist movement should not be to remove the next government, but to destroy the domination of the Horthy clique. The expansion of the anti-fascist independence movement was associated with the strengthening of

25 Ibid.

26 Ibid.

27 Ibid.

28 History of the Hungarian Revolutionary Labor Movement, p. 278.

29 Szabad Nep. 1.IV.1942.

30 Ibid.

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party ranks: "To create new strong primary organizations, serious strongholds in factories"31 . The report of the Deputy Head of the Budapest Police Department to the Minister of the Interior dated May 25, 1942, stated that in February and April the Communists issued three leaflets, each with a circulation of 10,000 copies .32
Preparation of No. 4 "Szabad Nep "(May 1, 1942) coincided in time with: the dispatch to the Don of the 2nd Hungarian Army, which numbered more than 200 thousand people .33 In this regard, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Russia appealed to organize mass anti-war demonstrations. However, the members of the conspiracy group failed to deliver the number to its destination. The Kallai government launched an active offensive against the anti-fascist movement. Workers who were considered unreliable were sent by the tens of thousands to the front in special companies that cleared minefields and dug trenches. Right-wing forces incited the government to destroy the anti-fascists. At a parliamentary session on March 19, 1942, Imredi declared that "half-colored meetings, demonstrations, and even more so demonstrations" were incompatible with the spirit of the "new Europe"; Nilashist deputies accused the government of "ineffectiveness" of the measures taken .34 The CPV was particularly fiercely persecuted. The crackdown lasted 70 days. About 600 Communists and sympathizers were arrested in and around Budapest, and the underground printing house of the CPV 35 Central Committee was confiscated . Trade union activists and left-wing social Democrats were also sent to penal companies. So many prominent communists and anti-fascists died. On June 1, 1942, after 10 years of underground work, the secretary of the CPV Central Committee, Ferenc Rozha, was captured. On June 12, 1942, he was tortured to death. The secretary of the Central Committee of the CPV, Zoltan Schoenherz, was in the dungeons. Together with 15 other comrades, he was court-martialed. Schoenherz was sentenced to death and hanged on October 9, 1942.

The CPV suffered losses at that time, which could not be replaced until the end of the war. The bourgeois-liberal opposition, which had been sympathetic to the Hungarian Resistance movement while it was making some progress, retreated. The Committee of Historical Memorials was destroyed. At the next congress of the SDP, the rightists passed a resolution condemning the participation of leftists in the anti-fascist movement 36, and together with the rightists in the PMSH, they supported the cabinet of Kallai and Regent Horthy, and accepted the repression of Resistance members. Until the end of 1942, the anti-fascist movement in Hungary was experiencing a severe crisis .37
However, the Communist Party survived. Even before the trial of the Communists, signs appeared on the streets: "Separate peace!", " Return our soldiers to their homeland!", made with homemade templates and cliches. The underground printing house was restored. In October, with a circulation of 30 thousand copies, 38 communists issued a leaflet with a message about the tragic death of their leaders. It again rang out the slogans: "Not a single soldier to Hitler!", " Return the army to their homeland!","Immediately separate peace!"39 . In November 1942, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union sent a letter to the leaders of the PMSH and the leaders of bourgeois anti-Hitler groups, in which it called for abandoning wait-and-see tactics and fighting more effectively for secession from the Triple Alliance and the restoration of Hungarian sovereignty .40 The CPV has focused its efforts on rebuilding its ranks and reviving the Resistance movement. Organizations were formed in Budapest, as well as in Northern Transylvania and Transcarpathia. J. Kadar was instructed to establish contact with the Communist Party of Yugoslavia; P. Tonhauser-with the Communists of Slovakia.

31 Ibid.

32 Megfiqyeles alatt... Dokumentumok a horthysta titkosrendorseg mukodesebol (1920 - 1944). Budapest. 1977, 336. old.

33 History of the Hungarian Revolutionary Labor Movement, p. 280.

34 Karsai E. A budai vartol a Gyepuig. 1941 - 1945. Budapest. 1965, 145. old.

35 A magyar nepfront tortenete, 328. old.

36 History of Hungary, p. 381.

37 Pinter I. Magyar antifasizmus es ellenallas. Budapest. 1975. 104. old.

38 Kallai Gy. A magyar ftiggetlensegi mozgalom 1936 - 1945. Budapest. 1978, 225. old.

39 A magyar nepfront tortenete, 332. old.

40 A Magyar Front. Budapest. 1984, 74 - 88. old.

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Meanwhile, the Red Army dealt a series of crushing blows to the German - Fascist invaders and their allies. 41 The Red Army's victories created conditions for the anti-fascist forces to deploy a resistance movement. The authorities did not manage to hide the defeat of the Hungarian troops at Voronezh from the population, but they tried to prevent anti-war demonstrations by the workers. On March 2, 1943, a decree was issued that read:: "From the standpoint of waging war... it is essential that the Government be informed in a timely manner about the labor movement, the activities of workers ' organizations, and plans for strikes or production cuts."42 . Under these circumstances, the Communist Party sought to resume joint actions with legal organizations, taking into account changes in the internal and external situation. In March 1943, the Communists issued a leaflet demanding the conclusion of peace, the resignation of the Kallai government, responsible for the deaths of many Hungarians near Voronezh in January 1943, who fought "for someone else's, fascist cause": "We ourselves must break our chains. We must follow the example of the courageous and heroic struggle for the freedom of the Soviet, Serbian, French and other peoples. " 43 The authors of the leaflet called on the anti-Hitler forces to take part in propaganda for the immediate conclusion of a separate peace, as well as to reproduce and distribute the leaflets.

The defeat of the Nazis on the Kursk Bulge caused confusion in the ruling circles of Hungary. Kallai then pursued a policy of "swing": balancing between Hitler's Germany and the Western powers in the interests of preserving the annexed territories and the bourgeois-landlord system. At the same time, the government intensified its ideological war against the USSR. An integral part of it was a discussion inspired by the authorities on the pages of newspapers about the "independence of the country". For the bourgeois part of the anti-Hitler forces, the desire to avoid revolution became dominant and only with this goal in mind did they take any steps to get out of the Hitler war. This meant the exclusion of Communists from the anti-fascist camp. His right wing was even hopeful .to achieve national unity based on the Horthy-Kallai policy.

The position of the CPV was radically different. The party considered the anti-Hitler struggle to be a priority task, planning to solve the problems of the country's general democratic development in the course of it. "The fighters for independence must boldly and without hesitation expose the tricks of reaction aimed at creating divisions among the united national forces of the struggle for independence," 44 the Communists declared. In April 1943, the CCP issued a general program of "parties fighting for independence". It proposed: an immediate separate peace and restoration of the country's independence; new parliamentary elections so that the fate of the country would be decided by the people; ensuring democratic freedoms; full equality of citizens of all nationalities; and land reform .45 The CVP "does not demand that participants in the independence movement abandon their principles and program, but rather that they work together to implement what our programs have in common, what we all consider to be a top priority" .46 In the same document, the CPV also published its 12-point program, which was popularized through the publication of leaflets and oral campaigning.

On May 9, 1943, within the framework of the Peasant Union, a legal section of agricultural workers was formed, which, under the leadership of I. Dobi, took an independent political position, more progressive in comparison with the line of the PMSH. The section has chosen the newspaper "Szabad Szo"as its official publication. The Communists began to use the newspaper's regular readers 'conferences to involve the SDP and the Peasants' Union, through their local representatives who were under the influence of the Communist Party, in active anti-fascist activities. This did not escape the attention of the secret police agents, who reported that-

41 Pravda, 26. I. 1943.

42 Parttorteneti intezet archivuma (PIA), 651. f., 5/25 o. e., 11. 1.

43 A magyar nepfront tortenete, 345 - 346. old.

44 Ibid., 350. old.

45 Ibid., 349. old.

46 Ibid., 350. old.

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They wrote that "the section, under the guise of a pseudonymous name, groups socialist agrarian proletarians" and that the leadership and members of the Peasants ' Union receive communist leaflets .47 One of them, "Peace, freedom!", intended for peasants and published in a circulation of 5 thousand copies. in September 1943, it was compiled by L. Feher 48 . Gradually, the desire of the Hungarian workers for peace grew and their struggle for their interests expanded; on September 2, 1943, up to 5 thousand Chepel workers stopped their machines, demanding higher wages and protesting against the continuation of the war. On September 9, 2 thousand workers of the Dioshder Metallurgical Combine held a political demonstration under the slogan of immediate withdrawal from the war49 . Farmers increasingly refused to accept forced deliveries of agricultural products. Sabotage actions were carried out. Their organizing center was the Miners ' Committee created by the Communists. Arson attacks on military warehouses have become more frequent. Small partisan groups began to operate.

In September 1943, the reaction dealt the Resistance movement another blow: hundreds of 50 Communists were arrested in Budapest and Kosice. They were tried by the Extraordinary General Staff Tribunal in Szekesfehervar. Those who remained at large did not have the opportunity to unite the anti-war protests of workers and the activities of various anti-Hitler groups into a single, anti-fascist and anti-government movement. The authorities, using the "swing" policy, managed to temporarily stabilize the regime. It was clear that the internal progressive forces in that situation were not enough to change the country's political course. Only a new Red Army offensive and the defeat of the Wehrmacht on the Soviet-German front could create real conditions for such changes. In those weeks, the Communists still sought to create a democratic anti-fascist bloc. In January 1944. they sent a memorandum to representatives of various anti-Hitler forces, in which they sharply criticized the leaders of opposition parties for trying to "direct the policy of the democratic camp from the path of fighting against reaction to the path of collusion with it."51 The communists demanded that the democratic forces break with the reaction and abandon the propaganda of its slogans: "It is necessary to strengthen the propaganda of the program of the Democratic Front, to make it known to the general national public. It is necessary to coordinate the activities of the democratic press, the means of agitation and propaganda, and to manage them in a single way. " 52

Meanwhile, the right was moving along a path aimed at isolating the left. This was evidenced by the proclamation of the SDP - PMSH bloc. The CPV, supporting this bloc, called on the workers and peasants to become a real force that would force it to create a truly militant anti-fascist front. However, the chairman of the PMSH, Z. Tildi, stated that their party intends to "oppose any attempt to disrupt the order, against the spirit of incitement and revolution." 53 The right-wing leader of the SDP K. expressed similar views. Payer. Under these conditions, A. Sakashich went to negotiate with the secretary of the Central Committee of the CPV Ya. Kadarom. But an agreement could not be reached, because the Communists insisted on holding actions based on the fighting methods of the underground. Negotiations were resumed only in the spring of 1944.

As the invaders were driven out of the territory of the USSR, the far-right opposition, which sought to prevent Soviet troops from entering its territory, became more active in Hungary, demanding full unity with Germany, and the Bethlen group, which relied on the help of Britain and the United States. The goals of the SDP - PMSH bloc and the Kallai Government were similar to those of the Conservatives. Berlin, informed of the situation in Hungary, decided to occupy it. On February 28, 1944, Hitler ordered the completion of work on the Margareta I plan. Governing circles

47 Megfigyeles alatt, 389. old.

48 Feher L. Igy tortenet. Budapest. 1979, 289 - 291. old.

49 History of the Hungarian Revolutionary Labor Movement, p. 297.

50 From June 1943 to September 1944, the Communist Party was called the Peace Party, then it was renamed the Hungarian Communist Party.

51 A magyar nepfront tortenete, 417. old.

52 Ibid., 418. old.

53 History of the Hungarian Revolutionary Labor Movement, p. 298.

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The Hungarians knew about the impending occupation, but they did not take steps either to prevent it or to get out of the anti-Soviet war. The regime of big capitalists and big landlords "is preparing to crown its deeds," the Communists declared in the Beke es Szabadsag newspaper, the first issue of which was published on March 1, 1944. "We want to encourage action! - it was noted in it. - We want to remind everyone of their tasks and responsibilities, which were brought forward by the betrayal of reaction and the barbaric yoke of Hitler. We point out to the nation the only suitable way to avert a catastrophe: peace with the Soviet Union! Fight against Hitlerism and its Hungarian mercenaries! The struggle for peace, for bread, for land, for freedom." The publication of a communist newspaper roused the punitive apparatus of the fascist state to its feet. On March 13, 1944, a decree on the confiscation of the newspaper, with its sample attached, was sent to the police departments, the gendarmerie, the press department of the Prosecutor's Office, the Ministers of Internal Affairs and Trade (the latter was responsible for the post offices), to the capital's railway stations, etc. 54 He edited Beke es Szabadsag and organized the work of two party printing houses by E. Shagvari, who had been in an illegal position since 1942. On July 27, 1944, he was killed in a shootout with gendarmes trying to capture him.

The Communist Party correctly assessed the consequences of the treacherous policies of the ruling groups. On March 19, Hungary was occupied by German troops. On the same day, the repressive authorities began mass extermination of Communists and internment of other progressive individuals. About 3 thousand anti-fascists were arrested, left-wing legal parties and their press were banned. The Communists, explaining in their leaflets that these were the most critical days in the country's history, called for "creating combat groups", rallying everywhere "two, three, ten", fighting the fascists, "destroying them with fire and sword" 55 and managed to reach an agreement with the leaders of the SDP and PMSH who went underground to create a single body anti-fascist struggle. Later, other political organizations joined this union. In May 1944, the Hungarian Front was established. In early June, he published the Manifesto of the Democratic Parties to the Hungarian Nation: "The expulsion of the German conquerors and their collaborators, peace with the allied Powers, and the foundation of a democratic, free Hungary." 56
The leaders of the PMSH, who could not imagine such a way out of the war and did not want to remove Horthy, wanted to negotiate with those close to them in the police, army and state apparatus in order to put pressure on Horthy in order to achieve a break with Germany. The left wing of the SDP did not abandon the armed struggle, but did not actually participate in it, protecting its network of illegal organizations "for the future". The Communists considered it necessary to prepare a national uprising. In the summer of 1944 they sent their best propagandists to the army. Propaganda materials were published for the soldiers in thousands of copies, and work was intensified to attract bourgeois and petty-bourgeois strata to the anti-fascist struggle. The gendarmes then recognized that Communist agitation " by virtue of its systematic character in the fifth year of the war has an unquestionable influence not only on the poor working masses, but also on the peasantry."57 . Underground Communist printing houses published newspapers of the Hungarian Front ("Magyar Front", "Szabadsag", "Szabad Szo"), and acts of sabotage were widespread. In August 1944, the Communists decided to start real actions in the army58, seeking to transform the Hungarian Front into an organization capable of leading an armed uprising. Partisan detachments were formed in different parts of the country. In the fall, there were more than ten of them.

On September 23, advanced Red Army units crossed the Hungarian border at Battoni and began liberating the country. German troops and their Hungarian collaborators created new defensive lines, trying in vain to stop the advance of the Red Army. From September 23, 1944, to April 4, 1945, for its military service.-

54 PIA, 614, f., 1/1944 - 3473, 3. 1.

55 A magyar nepfront tortenete, 427. old.

56 A Magyar Front, 193. old.

57 Megfigyeles alatt, 426. old.

58 Feher L. Op. cit., 364. old.

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140,000 Soviet soldiers gave their lives to the bode of the Hungarian people 59 . In the autumn of 1944, the inevitable collapse of Hitlerism became apparent. The Hungarian government saw the only possibility of saving the bourgeois-landlord regime in the rapid advance of Anglo-American troops through Trieste and Ljubljana to Hungary. At this time, the CPSU was aggressively fighting to force the ruling circles to break with Hitler's ally instead of playing behind the scenes with the Western powers .60 The immediate overthrow of the Hortist clique was now on the agenda. The CPSU put forward "two interrelated and inseparable tasks: the struggle for an independent Hungary by expelling the German imperialist occupiers! The struggle for the creation of a democratic Hungary by overthrowing Hungarian reaction! " 61 .

A Military Committee of the CPSU was established to communicate with various underground paramilitary groups and arm workers, and the publication of Szabad Nep was resumed. The Miners 'Committee published the newspaper "Harcolo Banyasz", which was published under the slogan"Death to the German occupiers!". Communists who returned illegally from emigration and lived in the USSR joined the activities of anti-fascist patriots. The partisan detachments that they were part of launched their activities in Transcarpathian Ukraine (detachment im. Rakoczy), Southern Slovakia (squad named after him. Petefi) and near Shalgotaryan (Sh. Nogradi)62 . They also conducted anti-fascist propaganda. Squad named after them. Petefi published more than 30 thousand copies of 63 leaflets . The author of one of them, "Hungarian officers and soldiers! Until when will you fight for the vile interests of Hitler and his band of robbers?", was Z. Grubich, heroically killed in November 1944 64 . The appeals of the radio station Kossuth, which worked for Hungary, also contributed to the development of the anti-fascist movement. Now the left wing of the SDP, as well as the more far-sighted part of the petty bourgeoisie, were ready to agree to an agreement with the CPSU, and the National Peasant Party was accepted into the Hungarian Front, and then the Executive Committee of the Hungarian Front was created under the leadership of A. Sakashich. On October 10, the Communists signed an agreement with the SDP on joint actions. At the same time, it was not possible to reach an agreement on the anti-fascist mobilization of workers who were members of trade unions65 . The Communist Party assessed the agreement with the Social Democrats as follows: "In the dark weeks of the country's demise, there is still hope. The source of our hopes is now not only the Red Army-liberator, but also the internal movement for freedom under the leadership of the workers." The CPSU emphasized: "However, this is only passive and unorganized resistance. National resistance must be raised to an active armed struggle for liberation; this is the most important task of the party, the working class and the Hungarian people today. " 66
The invaders also went on the offensive. Horthy's inconsistent attempts to get out of the war ended in failure. The Nazis carried out preparations for the Nilashist putsch without hindrance. On October 15, 1944, F. was called to power. Salashi, whom Hitler considered a "responsible person" 67 . The Nilashist terror unfolded. "We must fight!" the Communists declared in an Open Letter to the people on October 28, 1944. Analyzing the events of October 15, the Central Committee of the CPSU emphasized that they were determined not only by the superior strength of the Nazi troops, the actions of the Nilashists and Chortists, but also by the passivity of the Hungarian Front, which failed to prepare the masses for a national uprising; now it is necessary to finally raise the working class and attract the army to its side .68 In this spirit, the Military Committee of the CPSU intensified its work. Illegal groups also took part in arming the workers

59 Military Encyclopedia, Moscow, 1984, p. 122.

60 Szabad Nep, 1944, 2. szam.

61 A Magyar Front, 220., old.

62 Istoriya vtoroi mirovoi voyny 1939-1945 [History of the Second World War 1939-1945], vol. 9, Moscow, 1978, p. 188.

63 Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the USSR. B-4/1997.

64 Museum of the Slovak National Uprising (Banska Bystrica), 73/70.

65 Kallai Gy. Op. cit., 338. old.

66 Szabad Nep, 1944, 4. szam.

67 Karsai E. Op. cit., 546. old.

68 A Magyar Front, 268 - 269. old.

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SDP and trade union activists. A significant role was played by the Communist Youth Union, which was re-established on October 28, 1944, which coordinated the anti-fascist activities of youth groups, created combat detachments and militia to protect enterprises. The Communist Youth Union organized the publication of newspapers of the Hungarian Students 'Freedom Front, as well as its own press, which proclaimed the" national liberation struggle against the Nazi murderers " .69
Joining the Hungarian Front of various anti-Hitler groups, which had previously counted only on Horthy, allowed the creation of a broader political organization on November 9, 1944-the Liberation Committee of the Hungarian National Uprising (headed by E. Baichi-Zhilinsky), which set out to start a people's liberation uprising. 70 A proclamation to the people on November 10, 1944, stated that "the Liberation Committee is organizing a national uprising and has taken over the legal representation of the nation." 71 The military headquarters of the Liberation Committee, headed by General J. Kishsh, developed a plan for the uprising. But it was not possible to implement it, because on November 22, the Gestapo liquidated the Liberation Committee and then executed its leaders. In the future, the internal armed struggle against fascism was conducted only by the CPSU. The bombing of the monument to the former fascist Prime Minister D. Gembes, the bombing of a nilashist rally in the Budapest City Theater are just some of the actions of Budapest partisan groups. On November 29, 1944, the head of the political investigation department of the police wrote in a report: "Employees of my department are investigating 12 explosions and acts of sabotage on the railway"72. " Active national resistance to the Germans,"the Communists acknowledged in December 1944," does not have a great past and has not reached the degree that the political situation requires. " 73 As before, the Resistance Movement could not have succeeded without decisive attacks by the Red Army on the German fascists and Nilashists at the front. The transition to the side of the Red Army of the commander of the 1st Hungarian Army B. Miklos with 10 thousand soldiers and officers did not solve anything yet.

By December 1944, the Red Army had already liberated most of Hungary. There, under the leadership of the Communists, based on the program of the Hungarian National Independence Front, formed on December 2 in Szeged, democratic governing bodies were created. There was a fierce struggle to eliminate the fascist 188-thousandth group surrounded in Budapest. The battle for Budapest, which the Nazis and their Hungarian mercenaries turned into a fortress, lasted from December 27, 1944 to February 13, 194574 . One of the documentary evidence of those days - the diary of the Guards Captain A. S. Pavlov, commander of the 1st rifle battalion of the 183rd Guards Red Banner Szeged Rifle Regiment, conveys the atmosphere of fierce struggle and vividly characterizes the heroism of the Soviet soldiers-liberators. Here is the entry for February 4, 1945: "10.30. Fierce battle, continuous roar of artillery. The commander of the 2nd Rifle company, Lieutenant General Samoilov, and the commander of the rifle platoon, Lieutenant General Sakaev, were killed. " 75 And there are thousands of such testimonies. By order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR of August 18, 1960, Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Captain D. Y. Teplyakov was permanently enlisted in the 124th Guards Tank Regiment: during the Battle for Budapest, he held his positions for 18 days, repelling numerous tank attacks .76 Even decades later, the Hungarian land drenched in the blood of Soviet soldiers recalls the brutal battles. In 1976, during earthworks in the Kaposhvar area, the remains of a private, gunner M. I. Sok, were discovered.-

69 Szabad Ifjumunkas, 12.XI.1944.

70 A magyar nepfront tortenete, 466. old.

71 Ibid., 467. old.

72 Liberation of Hungary. Sat. doc. 1944-1945. Budapest, 1975, p. 48 (in Russian).

73 Szabad Nep, 1944, 4. szam.

74 Ivanov S. P. To the 40th anniversary of the Budapest operation. - Military Historical Journal, 1984, N 11, p. 16-18.

75 Central Museum of the Revolution of the USSR, 40027/85.

76 Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the USSR, 4/29792.

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his Order of the Patriotic War II degree and the medal "For Bravery" were returned to his homeland 77 . 79 formations and units of the Red Army received the name "Budapest".

Next to them, the Hungarian volunteer Buda Regiment led by Lieutenant Colonel O. Varyhazi 78 fought against the Nazis . The first order of Major General I. T. Merertsev, the Soviet military commandant of the liberated Budapest, read:: "Provide all possible assistance in ensuring the normal operation of schools, hospitals, outpatient clinics and other cultural and communal institutions and enterprises" 79 .

Armed groups of Hungarian patriots provided all possible assistance to the Red Army. In total, about 2.5 thousand people participated in the partisan movement on the territory of Hungary, including up to 650 people in Budapest and its environs. From the USSR, 12 partisan groups were sent to Hungary, six of which later grew into independent detachments; the number of people who fought in them exceeded 1 thousand people. Let us also mention that up to 7,000 Hungarian anti-fascists fought in other 80 countries. As for the victims of the reaction, between 1940 and 1944, up to the Nazi occupation of Hungary, 3,500 communists were arrested .81 A total of 220,000 Hungarians died in Nazi concentration camps. But even during the difficult wartime, genuine patriots-internationalists kept the certificates of the Society of Friends of the Soviet Union. May 4, 1945 it was recreated 82 .

On December 21, 1944, the Provisional National Assembly began its work in Debrecen, which was liberated by the Red Army. The Provisional National Government created by him on December 22 expressed "the determination of the Hungarian people to declare war on Germany... and together with the government of the Soviet Union to participate in the struggle for the destruction of Hitlerism " 83 . On January 20, 1945, an armistice was concluded between the USSR and Hungary .84 April 4, 1945 Hungary was completely liberated from the Nazi troops. The powerful attacks of the Red Army on Hitler's troops and their satellites provided an opportunity to revive the country to a new life.

77 Ibid., 6/12394, 6/12395.

78 Countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe in the Second World War, Moscow, 1972.

79 Central Museum of the Revolution of the USSR, 42166/3.

80 Pinter I. Magyar antifasizmus, 445 - 446. old.

81 Pinter I. A magyar kommunistak szerepe, 21. old.

82 Museum of the Hungarian Labor Movement (Budapest), 83. 239. I.

83 Istoriya vneshnoi politiki SSSR [History of Foreign Policy of the USSR].

84 Liberation of Hungary, p. 84.

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