Hungarian defence minister who ordered the crushing of the October 1956 rising and fled to the Soviet Union
A factory worker, Bata joined the Hungarian Social Democratic Party in 1930. After studying at the Moscow military academy in 1947–1949 he became air-defence commander and chief of staff, then defence minister in July 1953, and in 1955 he was in the delegation that signed the Warsaw Pact. On 24 October 1956 he divided Budapest into three military districts and ordered the revolution crushed, but when the army split he was dismissed on the 26th and fled to the Soviet Union on the 29th. On 2 November in Moscow he met Kádár and called for a military dictatorship; on 16 November he was expelled from the party as a Stalinist.
Activities and affiliations
-
1930–1948
Hungarian Social Democratic Party (MSZDP)
Social movements and organizing -
1950–1956
Hungary state institutionsMinister of DefenceMain
Military command -
1951–1956
Hungarian Working People's Party (MDP)
Political and party leadership
Career Timeline
- 1930Joined the Hungarian Social Democratic Party
- 1947–1949Studied at the Moscow military academy
- 1950Air-defence commander, then chief of staff
- 1953.07.04–1956.10.24Minister of Defence
- 1955Member of the delegation that signed the Warsaw Pact
- 1956.10.29Fled to the Soviet Union
- 1956.11.16Expelled from the party as a Stalinist
- 1958Returned to Hungary; worked for the Budapest transport company
October 1956: the defence minister who ordered the crushing
István Bata had been defence minister since 4 July 1953. In the 1956 revolution he was one of those who drew up the Soviet operation code-named "Wave" (Volna), meant "to restore social peace in Hungary", together with Soviet Ambassador Yuri Andropov, Colonel Maleshenko and KGB Lieutenant-General Tikhonov. On 24 October he divided Budapest into three military districts and ordered the revolution crushed.
By 26–27 October, however, it was clear that the Hungarian army had split in two. He was relieved of all his posts on the 26th and fled to the Soviet Union on the 29th. On 2 November he conferred with János Kádár, who had arrived in Moscow, and attended the enlarged session of the Presidium of the Soviet Central Committee with Kádár and Ferenc Münnich. There he said: "Order must be made with a military dictatorship. The government's policy must be changed." But on 16 November Kádár's new party expelled him as a Stalinist. He returned to Hungary only in 1958 and worked for the Budapest transport company until he retired.