On 17 October, 2016, the ICDT organized an academic conference. Its aim was to analyze the political impacts of the revolution of 1956 on the Hungarian regime change in 1989. The event was held with the support of the 1956 Memorial Committee.
The full-house conference was opened by Professor János Martonyi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary and President of the Board of Trustees of the ICDT, at the Clubroom (Kodaly-room) of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Minister Martonyi has put the topic of the conference into context, giving the main directives to the panelists.
The first panel – consisting of historians - dealt with the opposition movements and the political environment of the decades after the revolution. The panelists – Prof. János M. Rainer, doctor of sciences (DSc.), Ms. Réka Földváryné Kiss, President of the Hungarian Committee of National Remembrance, and Mr. Tamás Baranyi, Research Director of the József Antall Knowledge Center - highlighted the recent narratives of the historiography as well.
In the second panel, historians and former politicians analyzed the political relations of the revolution and the regime change in Hungary. In his presentation, Mr. Péter Tölgyessy emphasized the political differences of the events of 1956 and 1989. Prof. Sándor M. Kiss (Deputy Director of the Retörki Institute) and Mr. Imre Kónya (Former Interior Minister of Hungary) responded to the lecture in a framework of a panel discussion.
The third panel was focusing on the international aspects of the topic. Prof. András Balogh, doctor of sciences (DSc.) and former ambassador analyzed the effects of 1956 on an international level as well as its consequences for the Hungarian diplomacy. The József Attila-award winning Hungarian writer and journalist editor, Mr. Mátyás Sárközi, highlighted the British approach to the revolution in his presentation, along with the reactions of the international press. Mr. István Kovács, polonist and József Attila-award winning writer then evaluated the relationship between ’56 and the Poznan Uprising.
Photo Courtesy: Berecz Valter, 24.hu/Valter Berecz, 24.hu, All Rights Reserved
The event was widely covered by press (in Hungarian):
24.hu, October 17, 2016 (Tölgyessy: Csak '56 ne legyen még egyszer)
Hirado.hu, October 17, 2016 (Martonyi: az '56os forradalom kegyelmi pillanat volt)
Atv.hu, October 17, 2016 (Tölgyessy: Sikeres rendszerváltás titka az átlagember aktivitása)
Hírtv.hu, October 17, 2016 ('89 a többség számára nem egy felszabadító élmény volt)
Echotv.hu, October 17, 2016 ('56 hatása a rendszerváltoztatásra)
