This publication, launched in February 2010, is the first volume of a book series on the democratic transition of CEE, published within the framework of the project Oral History. In this book, editor Iván Bába collected and arranged 18 interviews with prominent Hungarian personalities of the transition, presenting their personal experiences and memories of the era, and thus introducing the reader to the “subjective” side of the events. This can, on one hand, enrich our understanding of this exceptional period of history and, at the same time, serve as a lesson for other evolving democracies.

The individuals who appear in this volume all played a role, although not in the same way, in the course of the regime change. They led the state party, founded organizations, organized different movements, debated in pubs, social forums, and negotiating tables, and sat in parliament, ministries, and the Government. Despite speculations to the contrary, the events discussed are authentic and valid today, as well as essential to the understanding of the beginnings, arrangements, and background that continue to shape today’s debates. Regarding the alleged idea that Hungary, in its moment of hopeful beginning, was pushed toward ruin: there was no conspiracy planned from the start, neither in the West nor the East, and there were no secret societies that controlled the course of events. The visions, notions, strategies, and tactics continuously developed among the different interest groups. The political landscape changed from step to step, as did power relations.

The process splitting up the socialist regime had its own interior logic, because the decisions that were made and not made, the steps that were taken and those that were not, always had consequences in every political institution. People fell, others suddenly rose up, some hesitated, others became agitated, but all of this occurred during a dynamic, quick timeframe where events pointed solely in one direction, to the end of the state party’s communist dictatorship.

This volume will hopefully act as a brush upon an emerging picture that represents this beautiful and complex time in Hungary’s history.