Blue Crab Boulevard

Talk About Dissonance

In a really bizarre case of cognitive dissonance, the student who wins a contest in Hungary about the history of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising will win a trip. To Russia.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) – It may not seem an appropriate prize but schoolchildren with the best knowledge of the 1956 Hungarian uprising, which was crushed by Soviet tanks, will win a trip to Moscow, Hungary's education ministry said on Monday.

The school quiz called Freedom Fighter 1956, run by the ministry, will culminate in a final round on October 23 to coincide with the uprising's 50th anniversary.

"The winners will spend some of the trip in Moscow archives, where they will hear lectures on the history of 1956 based on original documents that can only be found there," ministry spokesman Bela Szabo said.

The runners-up will receive palm-top computers.

I'd be very interested to hear what one of my regular commenters who lives in Hungary, Roland, has to say about this.

World news | Gaius July 18, 2006

By FormerRighty, July 18, 2006 @ 9:07 am

It only seems weird until you read that it’s an opportunity for the winner to do further research while in Moscow.

It would be analogous to an Iranian contest about the overthrow of Mossadeq, with the prize being a trip to Washington to study the archives, or a Guatemalan contest about the overthrow of Arbenz, with the prize being a trip to Washington to study the archives, or a contest in Chile about the overthrow of Allende, with the prize being a trip to Washington to study the archives.
By Roland Hesz, July 19, 2006 @ 1:07 am

I think it is a good idea.
I always thought that after 1989 we made a mistake of pretending that former Soviet Union does not even exists. We practically shut Russia out of our world, which was stupid, as he is the biggest market around here, and we should have taken advantage of connections there instead of breaking up every tie. But what has been done, has been done.

Some of the trip will be spent in the Moscow archives, learning about history, which is good – though I suspect they won’t be shown everything -, and maybe they will learn that the russian are actually kind and normal people, and that won’t hurt either. Plus, Moscow is beautiful.

I am glad, that people start to realize, that we can’t go sulking around all tied up in the past.

Of course, the right will cry that our young are sent to be brainwashed, but we got used to that – it’s kind of funny that the oldest former Communist Party leaders are on ther right, it makes their outburst sound a bit fake.

So zep, send them to Moscow. Travelling broadens the mind anyway..
By Roland Hesz, July 19, 2006 @ 5:58 am

By the way, did you know that this was started on th 23rd of january in 2006?

Well, we are a small nation in a big world. Don’t know how the media have found this news?
By Gaius, July 19, 2006 @ 6:12 am

I read a very good book about the uprising years and years ago and I wondered why we did not to to their aid.
By Roland Hesz, July 19, 2006 @ 6:50 am

There was no plans what to do.
Really. The US has not prepared for an event like this.

Nixon even said on a secret meeting, that it wouldn’t be bad for the US interests if ” the iron fist of the Soviets would strike somewhere in the area”.

It was foreign politics, and unpreparedness.
Which is ok. The only thing that was disgusting – in my opinion – that the hungarians living in the US were told that “the US government will help your country, if you just vote for us”. Don’t know which party said that. Maybe both.

I don’t have the article, but look in the Washington Post, Charles Gati wrote on this before the Bush visit in Hungary.

Oh, found it: Article here
By Avalon, July 20, 2006 @ 2:45 pm

Just what the U.S. might have done, is still unclear, but considering the way the Europeans historically react to such things, especially the French who tend to dither when confronted with naked aggression, not much, is my guess.

France, England, and Israel did take the opportunity to attack Egypt in their aborted attempt to recover the Suez Canal from Gamal Abdul Nasser, as I recall, and I think that had at least something to do with Nato sitting on their butts. The average American was incensed with their so-called allys, and only the leftists here, then as now, supported the Soviets.

I was in Hungary in 1991 and 1992 and my Hungarian friends seemed to understand who was responsible for the lapse of U.S. support at the time.

A mistake the Hungarians later made was embodying into the constitution the 50-50 sharing of tax revenues with the socialists and in legitimizing the expropriation of the unions of private properties by the communist party, an especially egregious decision.

Roland, I suspect may be one of the old aparatchiki I saw sitting along the Duna (Donau, Danube) after the wall came down enjoying their usual chess games. Not much changes when people forget and forgive so easily, seems to me. Never the less, the Hungarians are a warm and welcoming people. I hope history treats them better.

Avalon