Taken from the online briefing book, “The 1956 Hungarian Revolution: A History in Documents”, edited by Malcolm Byrne, the specific undercover report is made by Anastas Mikoyan, a previous supporter of Stalin and a CPSU CC Presidium member, that’s reveals the content of the July 13th to 21st meetings held in Budapest1. The meetings were held with the leaders of the Hungarian Workers Party, and were used to figure out why the revolts were not being handled and where the lack of discipline was derived from in the CC apparatus. Historians would be able to gain ample knowledge from a report like this because it gives primary developed evidence, insight in to major players of the time, what factors may have triggered events to come, and also a understanding of the time and how members of CPSU were trained to act and behave.
When Mikoyan was undercover, he gained insight into the HWP and the level of corruption in the CC apparatus. At the four-hour conference, that was made up with Politburo members, candidate members, and secretaries of the CC2. After the conference he was able to get the impressions of the party members through open conversation. There was a struggle for CC members to remain loyal and fully endorse the resolutions they were voting for, and were receiving support from the enemy rebels, as it made them act and operate in a confident decisive matter3. The CC has no control over the press and radio; and these actions and events can be rooted from their disapproval in the party secretary Rakosi4. Many members of the party who ended up regretting their choice when voting for the resolution became bourgeois milieu (a group that opposes the government)5. This is a result of the weakened Hungarian leadership from the influences of western propaganda and opposing rebellion press and radio that had expanded.
By 1952 the Politburo had narrowed the number of members to 10, so it is interesting for a historian to find that at a political gathering in 1956, that key leaders doubted its ability as a collaborative guidance, it could be thought that this political group could have become extinct6. This historical document would give historians a well-rounded look into how each member personally felt about the issues; therefore it can be considered a important piece of political memorabilia. They can find the document useful for understanding the leaders and the undercover members of the CPSU more thoroughly. For instance, Mikoyan asked the group if there were issues determining the principle problems amongst the CC members, and brought up that each keep their opinions brief or and refrain from dropping hints7. Only many hide their views unless someone perhaps with a higher rank gives their opinion. An example of this is when Gero responded to Mikoyan’s question and the other members all agreed with8.
After these learned what the members believed to be the limitations of the government. Some believed in a rather Leninist point of view, that collectivization should be post ponded for a period of time and that farm equipment should be sold to peasants9. The law of cost to work in a economy needed to be limited so that a completive build in the system could be introduced, a rather western thought10. Then there were concerns mentioned of Imre Nagy, the recently exiled Prime Minister, and that while his behavior was improper, he should have not been exiled entirely from the party; and that the CC made their struggle harder, by complicating the matter11.
The book is composed of different variations of documents, each providing useful information. But as it is a report, all the content is detailed, giving times and dates, places, and people. Right at the beginning of the report, Mikoyan states those specific details, and where he was but also
