#bela kun

[omfguslay]

Béla Kun circa 1903

[national-spain]

1280x926 Presos asesinados por los chekistas de Béla Kun (comunistas), Budapest, Revolución Húngara, años 1920.

[today-in-wwi]

Wrangel Departs Sevastopol

White soldiers on board one of the ships leaving the Crimea.

November 14 1920, Sevastopol--The Soviets had launched what they hoped to be their final offensive against Wrangel in late October.  Although they destroyed much of his army, enough of it was able to fall back to the narrow isthmus connecting Crimea to the mainland to mount a concerted defense.  This, however, was overcome by direct and amphibious attacks between November 7 and 11, and it became quickly apparent that Crimea would soon be lost.

Wrangel had been preparing for such a possibility since his arrival in the spring, however, and he was much better equipped than Denikin had been when evacuating the Kuban in March.  Wrangel left Sevastopol on the 14th, and simultaneous evacuations took place at at least four other Crimean ports. 146,000 White soldiers and refugees were taken across the Black Sea to Constantinople by the end of the evacuation efforts on the 16th, aided by a one-day pause by regrouping Soviets.

Those who did not or could not evacuate, however, met a grimmer end.  Béla Kun was put in charge of Soviet administration in the area.  The Cheka killed tens of thousands in the coming weeks.  In Kerch, “trips to the Kuban” were organized: prisoners were taken out into the Sea of Azov and pushed overboard to drown.

Those who evacuated were interned and then lived in exile.  Wrangel took with him the last of the Blask Sea Fleet, including the dreadnought General Alexeyev, were interned in French Tunisia until the French recognized the Soviet Union in 1924.

Sources include: Evan Mawdsley, The Russian Civil War; W. Bruce Lincoln, Red Victory.

[spartakusbund]

In the process of the concentration of capital, human labour power is increasingly displaced by machinery. This leads, on the one hand, to the most intensified accumulation of wealth for the capitalists; on the other, to increasing misery for the working class.

Bela Kun, Marxism Versus Social Democracy 

[dailytrotsky]

[grandeguerra100]

21 Marzo 1919: In Ungheria viene proclamata la Repubblica dei Consigli – o per essere più precisi, il "Consiglio rivoluzionario di governo, "Forradalmi Kormányzótanács", anche nota come la Repubblica Sovietica Ungherese. Il governo, il secondo di tipo socialista a salire al potere dopo i bolscevichi in Russia, è guidato dal comunista Bela Kun che solo il giorno prima era ancora in prigione in seguito a violenti scontri avvenuti durante una manifestazione politica. L'ispirazione del governo è chiaramente diretta verso la Russia di Lenin con cui Bela Kun ha un contatto diretto tramite telegrafo. Il primo atto importante del nuovo regime è il proclama "A tutti!", nel quale si esplicitano in maniera chiara principi e obiettivi del nuovo governo nato in un momento critico per l'Ungheria, il cui territorio è in larga parte invaso dalle truppe degli stati vicini. Così si legge nel proclama: "Oggi il proletariato ungherese assume tutto il potere. Il crollo totale del mondo borghese e il fallimento del governo di coalizione hanno reso necessario questo passo decisivo degli operai e dei contadini d'Ungheria. La produzione capitalistica è naufragata e gli operai non vogliono più piegare la testa sotto il giogo del capitalismo e del latifondo. Solo il socialismo e il comunismo possono salvare il paese dall'anarchia e dal crollo finale. Nello stesso tempo la rivoluzione ungherese si trova anche davanti alla completa catastrofe sul piano internazionale. La conferenza della pace di Parigi ha deciso di occupare militarmente la quasi totalità del territorio ungherese, considerando le zone occupate come frontiere politiche definitive e rendendo in tal modo impossibile l'approvvigionamento di prodotti alimentari e di carbone per l'Ungheria rivoluzionaria. In questa situazione non rimane che un mezzo alla rivoluzione ungherese per sopravvivere: la dittatura del proletariato, il potere agli operai e ai contadini poveri". Nell'immagine, poster di propaganda del governo dei soviet ungherese dal titolo "Il rosso parlamento" 21 March 1919: The Republic of Councils - or to be more precise, the "Revolutionary Government Council," Forradalmi Kormányzótanács " - also known as the Hungarian Soviet Republic, is proclaimed in Hungary. The government, the second socialist state in the world to be formed, is led by the communist Bela Kun who only the day before was still in prison due to violent clashes during a political demonstration. The government's inspiration is Lenin's Russia with who Bela Kun has a direct contact by telegraph. The first important act of the new regime is the proclamation "To all!", in which are stated the principles and the objectives of the new government, born at a critical moment for Hungary, whose territory is largely invaded by troops of the neighbouring states. Here is part of the proclaim: "To all! Today the proletariat of Hungary takes all authority into its hands. The collapse of the bourgeois world and the bankruptcy of the coalition compel the workers and peasants to take this step. Capitalistic production ha collapsed. Communism alone can preserve the country from anarchy. In foreign politics we are also faced by a complete catastrophe. The Paris Conference has decided to occupy nearly the whole of Hungary by arms, and regards the line of occupation as a definitive political frontier, thus making the supply of food and coal impossible. In the dictatorship of the proletariat lies our salvation." In the image, propaganda poster titled "The red parliament".

[q3a]

[today-in-wwi]

Romanians Enter Budapest

Romanian cavalry in Budapest.

August 3 1919, Budapest--After committing their reserves, the Romanians were easily able to drive the Hungarians back to the Tisza.  On August 1, after receiving clearance to do so from the Allies, the Romanians crossed the river, and found little resistance from the Hungarians.  Béla Kun fled for Austria, where he was interned for a time before being sent to Russia.  A more moderate Social Democrat government took over, but it was too late; Romanian cavalry units entered the capital on August 3, and the Romanians would remain until November.  With tacit Romanian approval, the Social Democrats were deposed by more conservative elements, who supported a Habsburg restoration under Archduke Joseph August.  The Allies refused to allow a Habsburg on the throne (or as regent) of Hungary, however.  

The Romanians did not occupy the entirety of the country; they were content to leave portions out the southwest to Admiral Horthy's National Army.  Horthy remained a rival to the conservative government in the capital, and began a “White Terror” against Communists, Social Democrats, and Jews perceived to have supported Béla Kun.

Sources include: Glenn E. Torrey, The Romanian Battlefront in World War I.