In Interview 106, a majority of the information highlighted is about the actual Hungarian Revolution, on the side of those who were against the communist regime. This can be seen in a majority of the answers, about the reason why people were willing to take part in the revolution. However, there is a question that has been sticking out to me as I read through these – were they published to further prove the United States’ point that communism = evil? Is there a deeper reason as to why these interviews were recorded, or is it just to preserve an important part of history?
Through the Iron Curtain
Questioning the United States’ motive in this reminded me of one of Dr. Dodge’s stories he told in Middle East history. He spoke about being in college at this time and referenced the amount of propaganda the United States poured into the Eastern Bloc, including Hungary. By constantly promising these countries support if they rise up against the “evil” that was communism as the US would say, the United States in many ways led or at least influenced Hungary into the revolutionary mindset. But in the end, the United States as we know did not provide support to Hungary and in this decision to not support Hungary (and violating its promise made in propaganda) could have delayed many other nations from rising up against the Soviet Union in some way. Maybe, recording these interviews was for a combination of reasons: on the surface level, the interviews further stated that communism = bad and preserved an important part of history, but they also preserved a part of history that the United States directly influenced and may have allowed for some feeling of reconciliation for the United States. For example, when asking questions that were in many ways searching for meaning in the revolution like “was it a useful thing or not?”, “do you think it could have succeeded?”, and most obviously “had you expected any help from the West?”, it seems as if there was a deeper intent in this search for answers here.