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Goulash Communism, (Hungarian: gulyáskommunizmus) also commonly referenced as Kadarism or the Hungarian Thaw, refers to the variety of communism in Hungary following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. János Kádár and the Hungarian People's Republic imposed policies with the goal to create high-quality living standards for the people of Hungary coupled with economic reforms. These reforms fostered a sense of well-being and relative cultural freedom in Hungary with the reputation of being "the happiest barracks" of the Eastern Bloc during the 1960's to the 1970's. With elements of regulated market economics as well as an improved human rights record, it represented a quiet reform and deviation from the Stalinist principles applied to Hungary in the previous decade.

The name is a metaphor derived from goulash, a traditional Hungarian dish. Goulash is made with an assortment of unlike ingredients, it represents how Hungarian communism was a mixed ideology. Also, how it no longer strictly adhered to Marxist–Leninist interpretations as in the past. This period of "pseudo-consumerism" saw an increase of foreign affairs and consumption of consumer goods as well.

Hungarian Revolution of 1956
Mátyás Rákosi headed the Hungarian Communist Party until its demise in the 1956 revolution. Rákosi modeled Hungarian Communism after Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. In that sense, he helped implement an extensive industrialization of the country. With the quick change to industry brought an initial surge of the economy, but ultimately left many people with worse living conditions. In 1951 the Hungarian people had to utilize a ticket system to purchase basic supplies. After the death of Stalin in 1953, the Soviet Union wanted a change in leadership in Hungary and recommended Imre Nagy. Imre Nagy took steps in his government towards "political liberalization" so much so in 1955 he was ousted from his position in the government by Rákosi, who had the backing of the Soviet Union. Imre Nagy did come back and lead the government during the 1956 revolt. During the months of October and November of 1956 the people of Hungary revolted against the political and economic situation that was thrust against them. The Soviet Union reacted with military force and extinguished the uprising, while also changing the command of the state to János Kádár as general secretary in 1956.

Shedden comments: Timeline a little unclear overall: Rakosi was head of Hungary twice??

János Kádár
János Kádár joined the communist party while it was still illegal in 1931. He was arrested for conspiracy shortly after. A decade later he rejoined the party in 1941 but went unto hiding until the end of WWII, when Hungary was turned communist by the occupation of the Red Army of the Soviet Union. He started openly practicing communism and worked throughout the new communist government of Hungary until he was arrested for the third time for allegedly being a "secret agent" against the party. After Stalin's death, Imre Nagy released many people from prison, one of which was Kádár. He was released and rehabilitated. He became popular due to being a victim of Stalin's purges, a proof that he stood against the former Rákosi administration. In July 1956 he was elected to the Hungarian politburo. In October 25, 1956 he was elected in the midst of the revolution to the position of first secretary of the party. Finally on October 31, 1956 he was nominated the first secretary of the new Hungarian Socialist Worker's Party. The Politburo of the Soviet Union then summoned him to Moscow where they nominated him to be the new leader of Hungary. He had major influence in the political affairs of the country until 1988.

Shedden comments: add more commas, does Kadar have his own page? If so, you should link to it.

Ideology
Goulash Communism showed a far greater concern for public opinion and an increased focus on the present material well-being of the citizens than in the period preceding 1956. It provided a wider latitude for dissent than most others compiling the Eastern bloc. It modified the role of the Communist Party in the development of socialism, reduced the formality of relations between the party and the populace at large, increased the scope of societal self-expression and self-management.

The Communist Party still retained a monopoly of power, with the National Assembly being little more than a rubber stamp for decisions already made by the MSZMP and its Politburo. While having more leeway than in other Communist regimes, the media were still subjected to fairly onerous restrictions. The secret police operated with somewhat more restraint than in other Communist states, but were still a feared tool of control.

Shedden comments: This section needs citations. You also need to add in some of the information from the previous iteration of the Wikipedia page.,

Internal Affairs
Soon after János Kádár gained power following the military intervention by the Soviet Union, he had to control the state and force the peace. He did this through violence, he had his government imprison or execute protesters. There were even mass shootings of people, in the end he was responsible for hundred of deaths. After having quelled the uprising Kádár and his government released they had to create a major break from the past regime of Mátyás Rákosi. The goal of their "soft dictatorship" government was to create peaceful and prosperous living conditions for the people of Hungary through reform. In a show of his change of character he gave a speech with his famous line, "Who is not against us, is with us," in 1961.

In 1962, six years after the Hungarian Revolution, the 8th Congress of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party declared the general amnesty of revolutionaries imprisoned since 1956. In 1968, the Central Committee approved the New Economic Mechanism, an act to reform the economics of Hungary. It influenced businesses, letting businesses grow in a horizontal integration instead of only vertical. In turn businesses were able to source their raw material and export excess product. The Act loosened central planning allowing businesses to have more say in their suppliers and economic decisions. The New Economic Mechanism achieved the goal of raising living standards throughout the state. Throughout the majority of the 1960's and 1970's the people enjoyed more cultural freedoms and a reduction of ideological pressure from the state. Hungary's economic resources were mobilized to better satisfy consumer demand by providing a more extensive assortment of consumer goods. Some economic reform measures were introduced to integrate limited market mechanisms into the framework of the planned socialist economy. An unfortunate result of this policy were rising economic stresses and high indebtedness which became evident by the late 1980's.

Foreign Affairs
After the reconciliation of Hungary from the revolutionaries János Kádár's government created a deal with the Soviet Union where they would control foreign affairs while Kádár could employ his domestic control. Through this compromise the Soviet Union used Hungary as a rare opening between the Communism East and the Capitalist West. Hungary started trading and enacting transactions with the West. Much of the capital fueling the Goulash Communist period came from Western capital. Also fueling the reforms was an oil trade between Hungary and the Soviet Union. One main reason why Hungary could not keep Goulash Communism into the 1980's was the reliance on these foreign revenues. In the mid-1970's an oil crisis hit Hungary forcing them to draw more loans from Western countries to pay to inflated oil prices. This oil crisis led to price increases of basic commodities across Hungary and in turn by 1985 the standard of living started decreasing for the first time since the introduction of Goulash Communism.

The increase in cultural freedoms coupled with increase of living standards and a relatively openness to foreign affairs led to an increase of consumption of consumer goods through Hungary. For example people started buying private televisions, cars and dreamed of owning and consuming more. Their demand was not easily met and the phrase "Kicsi vagy kocsi" was used to express frustration, it means "the choice between a baby and a car". Even so there were influxes of Socialist cars and other consumer items all across the state. In 1964 multiple foreign embassies opened in Budapest. Also being a comparatively well-off country in the Eastern bloc, Hungary was the destination for tourists from other communist nations for whom visits to the West were much more difficult.

Shedden comments: some of the sentences in the 2nd paragraph could fit together better

Discontinuance
-What brought the end

-What are the effects of ending