Britain and the Revolutions in Eastern Europe, 1989

Documents on British Policy Overseas, Series III, Volume XII

Richard Smith, Richard Smith

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780429878589
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Eastern European History
• Index: History

This volume documents the UK Government's response to the unfolding social and political changes in Eastern Europe during 1989.

The year 1989 saw momentous change in Europe. It was the year in which Communist rule in Eastern Europe finally ended: with mass demonstrations, an end to one-Party rule, free elections and the opening of borders. In Poland, the independent trade union Solidarity went from being an illegal organisation to running the country. Vaclav Havel went from being a jailed dissident to President of Czechoslovakia. In October 1989, the German Democratic Republic marked the 40th anniversary of the Socialist state, only to see that state collapse a month later following the opening of the Berlin Wall. In December, the Romanian leader Nicolae Ceau?escu saw his near quarter century rule brought to an end in a matter of days. This volume charts the events of an historic year in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary, Poland and Romania, and looks at British policy towards the Baltic States. It contains reporting from British embassies on the rapidly changing political scene, and documents attempts by the British Government to develop policy against the backdrop of unfolding revolution.

This book will be of interest to students of British politics, Eastern European politics, and International Relations.

Britain and the Revolutions in Eastern Europe, 1989

No. 1
Letter from Mr Appleyard (Budapest) to Mr Long (Berne) 9 January 1989¹

Confidential and Personal (FCO 28/9224, ENH 014/1)

Dear Christopher,

Hungarian Visitor: Pozsgay

1. Many thanks for your very interesting letter of 6 December about Pozsgay’s visit to Berne and your discussions with Janos Hajdu.² Peter Harborne has commented on the general political picture, in his letter of 3 January to Christopher Hulse, which is being copied to you.³ You very kindly asked whether I had any views on your letter, or messages for Hajdu.

2. We are at an interesting point in the evolution of the Hungarian internal situation, as Peter Harborne’s letter points out. I also enclose a copy of my annual review,² in case you have any time to read it. Since the May Party Conference, and particularly since the autumn, we have seen a breathless pace of political change, though regrettably much less real action on the economy. The political landscape has been substantially transformed over this short period. As you will see from the despatch, we now have a wide spectrum of large and small political groups operating independently from the Party, putting forward their own programmes and, in some cases, organising their own demonstrations and political meetings. The official newspapers are becoming much bolder, while non-Party newspapers are also appearing, some belonging to the new political organisations and others as freelance commercial operations. All of this creates the political and intellectual background to the situation described by Pozsgay.

3. Pozsgay’s position in this shifting terrain is inevitably a point of considerable interest here. He has not basically changed his advocacy of radical reform but his speeches now tend to have less impact than before. Although they are less guarded than what he said in Berne, and he is still saying pretty much the same thing as of old, the debate has moved so much further in his direction that by comparison he no longer appears as outspoken as in the past. To a degree, this is a measure of the success which the reformers have had. At the same time, the new political groups are taking the debate even further, including in some instances advocacy of renegotiating Hungary’s membership of the Warsaw Pact. So far the Party has not taken any action against the more radical groups. Yet the political scene is still dominated at present by the backlash within the Party against the reform process. As a result, Grosz is having to trim his words to take account of hardline resistance. The debate which is continuing within the Party on the vast amount of new constitutional legislation under preparation, designed to create a State based on the rule of law, reflects the countervailing pressures from the reformers and the traditionalists. So we may get a clearer view of the balance of forces when we see the texts of the new laws.

4. My annual review argued that the future of the present reform process is shrouded in uncertainty and risk. The Hungarians are heading into uncharted territory. Although the Politburo is agreed upon the basic outlines of the present course, there is still a detectable measure of difference on the pace and scope of the changes, as indeed most of the participants have said to me at one time or another. Outside the Politburo, the Party is much more deeply divided both on the pace and the destination of the reforms. Meanwhile 1989 looks set to be a difficult year for the economy, and for living standards, as we have seen by today’s very sharp price increases. More fundamentally, perhaps, the present policy of allowing embryonic political parties to operate, while insisting on pluralism in a one-party system, contains many ambiguities and contradictions. Great moderation will be required by the Party and by the other groups to keep the exercise on the rails until, and after, 1990 when the Party Congress will formally discuss whether Hungary should have a multi-party system and what form this should take. Moreover, the Hungarians have taken political reform so far that, in the eyes of many other East European Governments, they have already strayed beyond the bounds of their definition of a socialist system. Whether the Party will hold to the present course, and indeed hold together, depends very much on the relationship between the three top leaders, Grosz, Pozsgay and Berecz. Grosz appears to lean closer to Berecz (representing the more traditionalist end of the reform spectrum) or to Pozsgay depending on the tactical situation. At the moment, Grosz has shifted closer to the Berecz standpoint but Pozsgay remains the most popular national political figure.

5. From a Western standpoint, Hungary is still the East European country which has moved most quickly in the direction of peaceful evolution towards a more open and democratic system. Their travel regulations are now in line with Western standards. The press, Party and non-Party, is remarkably wide-ranging. But, as the annual review argued, there are many imponderables over the future, not least the extent to which in the end the Party will be prepared to accept a genuine degree of power-sharing. The bold experiment could indeed go badly wrong, especially if the Party gets cold feet about the logical consequences of the present process.

6. I imagine that Hajdu must be watching the situation from afar with great interest and some frustration. He was always a useful and open contact when he was here, though somewhat prone to over-dramatise the situation. Please pass on my warmest personal good wishes and ask him to get in touch when next he comes back to Budapest. It is also very good to know that you retain such a warm and close interest in this amazing country. One of the many ways in which this place has changed is the access now available to senior figures. There must be few East European countries where it is possible to invite Politburo members regularly for private lunches/dinners, and to play tennis every fortnight with the Prime Minister. So at least we can now report on people we know reasonably well rather than, as in my Moscow days, simply names from a newspaper. It makes life a lot more interesting. But it is no more easy for us to make dogmatic predictions about the future than for Grosz and the others, since they freely admit themselves that they are pretty well flying by the seat of their pants.

Yours ever,
LEN

¹ Copied to Mr Hulse, EED, FCO.

² Not printed.

³ In this letter entitled ‘Goulash Communism to Paprika Pluralism’, Mr Harborne noted that leading Hungarians were ‘embarking upon a voyage of discovery into uncharted territory for Eastern Europe. They don’t have the answers; nor do we. That’s what makes it all so interesting, even exciting, possibly even risky. But then, uncharted territory usually is.’

No. 2
Mr Appleyard (Budapest) to Sir G. Howe, 12 January 1989, 3.40 p.m.¹

Tel. No. 19 Confidential, Priority (FCO 28/9224, ENH 014/1)

Hungary: New laws on association and assembly

Summary

1. Parliament approves new laws on association and assembly guaranteeing the right to form alternative political parties, groups and trade unions and to hold political demonstrations. We will have to see how the laws are implemented in practice. But the outcome appears to be an important first step in the process of basic constitutional reform.

Detail

2. On 11 January Parliament approved the laws on association and assembly which will govern the formation of political groups and public demonstrations.

3. The law on association for the first time guarantees the right to form independent political parties, groups and trade unions. An attempt to remove this clause during the debate was overwhelmingly rejected. Justice Minister Kulcsar stated that a political group could only be banned for specific illegal activity, and not on the strength of its statements or programme. A new political group had only to register with the local council. Formal permission was not required, and if the local authorities objected to the formation of the group they had to justify their views in the courts. The law still contains some ambiguities on groups calling themselves alternative political parties. These are now legalised, but their operations will be governed by a new law on political parties. The Government has now committed itself to present a draft text of this law to Parliament by 1 August this year.

4. The law on assembly confirms that demonstrations are now a basic civil right. They must be notified to the police, who have the right to limit the time and place, but this decision can be challenged in the courts.

5. When I saw Pozsgay (Politburo member and state minister) privately last night, he was elated at having piloted the texts through the Politburo. He confirmed that the present laws had been simplified and strengthened in a liberal direction compared with the first drafts. He was also encouraged that the Party had now agreed to accelerate the draft of the new law on parties which would be in place well before the next parliamentary elections.

Comment

6. This was an important first battle in Grosz’s reform programme. The new laws will remove a great deal of the uncertainty surrounding the legal position of the new groups and trade unions. Their present scale and scope of activities have now been legitimised, and under the law it will be up to the authorities to justify any attempt to close them down. Obviously we shall have to see how the laws are implemented in practice, and in particular what attitude the courts will take to any challenge. There are further difficult battles ahead, notably over the draft laws on the press, elections and political parties, but the new laws appear to be an important first step in the direction of basic constitutional reform.

¹ Repeated for Information Routine to East European posts, UKDEL NATO, UKDEL CSCE, Bonn, Washington and Paris.

No. 3
Letter from Mr Mehmet (Bucharest) to Mr Kershaw, 12 January 1989¹

Restricted (FCO 28/9404, ENR 014/1)

Dear Roger,

Elena Ceauşescu's Birthday

1. ‘A vibrant homage to an exemplary life dedicated to the progress and prosperity of the country’.

‘From the heart of the nation, a special and vibrant homage to an exemplary life, of patriotic pride for the cause of socialism and for the revolutionary multilateral progress of the fatherland.’

Question: What is the difference between the two Scinteia² headlines above?

Answer: Five years.

The first featured on the front page of the paper on 8 January 1984 and the other on 8 January 1989. Both gave way to detailed descriptions of how Elena Ceauşescu’s birthday was marked the previous day.

2. In looking through the last few years’ papers I have found the format for marking the birthday pretty consistent. A steady build up to the big day with particularly expansive coverage on 7 and 8 January. Each year the eulogies have perhaps been a little more mawkish than the year before while Elena’s achievements have become more and more exaggerated, with ludicrous claims for her role in the development of Romania and the RCP. And of course we must not forget her well-known contributions to science and world development. Brucan, who is not among her biggest fans, but who has known the Ceauşescus since the underground days of the Party, has often said that her education was limited to 4 years at primary school. He also told me the other day that when Elena first started to describe herself as a scientist in the mid 1960s, those most surprised were her children.

3. But I digress. The main differences between this year’s celebrations and previous ones were firstly the award to Elena of the Hero of the Romanian Socialist Republic medal. Secondly, the customary emetic letter from the PEC was read out by Emil Bobu and not Constantin Dascalescu, the Prime Minister who has usually been honoured with the task of drooling through the missive. Dascalescu did not feature in any of the photographs either. One rumour is that he has been ill (a diabetic coma, according to one rumour) which could be true. We shall see. One other point which caught my eye was a photograph on the inside page of Scinteia and Romania Libera³: where there has usually been a group photograph. This year’s showed Elena delivering her speech of thanks to senior members of the PEC, two rows on either side of her, one headed by Manea Manescu and the other, by none other than Ceauşescu. She had centre stage while Nicolae looked on well away from her. Although there have often been photographs of her alone, it is the first time Nicolae has been sidelined in this way. (I attach a copy.⁴)

Comment

4. Whilst we have known for a long time that Elena is a powerful lady in Romania, we have not learned anything new about the prominent, and now almost predominant, part she plays in Romania’s affairs. But whether by accident, or design, this year’s celebrations helped confirm the impression we have had for some time that she is being groomed to take over from Ceauşescu (see HMA’s review of 1988 in today’s bag). What a pity I shall almost certainly miss the change over.

5. By the way, Elena was officially 70 this year. There was no acknowledgement of this milestone in the homage and eulogies. You will recall the importance accorded to Ceauşescu’s own 70th birthday last January. Brucan says she is older but then he would, wouldn’t he? Could she be playing down her age to better suit her to the succession? On the other hand she did acknowledge this year her 50 years of involvement with the Party here, so she cannot be too sensitive about her age.

Yours ever,
ALP

¹ Copied to Mr Banks, FCO Research Department.

² The Spark—the main newspaper of the Romanian Communist Party.

³ Free Romania—the s...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Series Title
• Half Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Abbreviations for printed sources
• Abbreviated designations
• List of persons
• Document summaries
• Britain and the Revolutions in Eastern Europe, 1989
• Index