Gyula Keleman was born
in Hungary
in 1897. A mechanic he became
involved in politics and joined the Social Democratic Party. After
the Second World War he served as state secretary
for industry (1945-48). He was arrested in 1948 after Matyas
Rakosi gained power.
The Hungarian
Uprising began
on 23rd October by a peaceful manifestation of students in Budapest.
The students demanded an end to Soviet occupation and the implementation
of "true socialism". The following day commissioned officers
and soldiers joined the students on the streets of Budapest. Stalin's
statue was brought down and the protesters chanted "Russians
go home", "Away with Gero" and "Long Live Nagy".
On 25th October Soviet
tanks opened fire on protesters in Parliament Square. One journalist
at the scene saw 12 dead bodies and estimated that 170 had been wounded.
Shocked by these events the Central Committee of the Communist Party
forced Erno Gero to resign from office
and replaced him with Janos
Kadar.
Imre
Nagy now went
on Radio Kossuth and promised the "the far-reaching democratization
of Hungarian public life, the realisation of a Hungarian road to socialism
in accord with our own national characteristics, and the realisation
of our lofty national aim: the radical improvement of the workers'
living conditions."
On 3rd November, Nagy announced
details of his coalition government. It included Kelemen, Janos
Kadar, George
Lukacs,
Anna Kethly, Zolton
Tildy, Bela Kovacs, Geza
Lodonczy, Istvan Szabo, Joseph
Fischer, Istvan Bibo and Ferenc
Farkas. On 4th November 1956 Nikita
Khrushchev sent the Red Army into Hungary
and Nagy's government was overthrown.
Gyula Keleman died in 1973.
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