NEW YORK ¨C Ever since the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the country has served as a cautionary tale about the dangers of political reform in one-party states. After Viktor Orban¡¯s defeat in Hungary¡¯s parliamentary elections last month, this lesson is being pondered again by the world¡¯s autocratic powers ¡ª not least China.
The story starts 70 years ago with Nikita Khrushchev¡¯s ¡°Secret Speech,¡± delivered to a closed session of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In that speech, Khrushchev denounced Stalin, condemning his predecessor¡¯s cult of personality, his brutal purges and his lack of preparedness for the Nazi invasion.
Supposedly delivered in secret, the speech nevertheless quickly leaked, sending shock waves through the Eastern bloc countries then under the Kremlin¡¯s thumb. The idea that Stalin, the emblem of absolute power, could come under attack from one of his own acolytes elevated hopes for new political possibilities.
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