This extract comes from a Foreign Office Report of April 6th 1949. It was
commenting on Moscow Radio broadcasts which were criticising the UK and USA.
The issue they were arguing about was the Communist governments in Eastern
Europe. In this case, the main focus was on Hungary and Bulgaria. At the end
of the war these countries had to sign peace treaties with the Allies, because
they had co-operated with the Germans.
One of the main terms was that they would respect the full democratic rights
of their own citizens. Another was that they would not allow Fascist or Nazi
type parties to exist.
When the Communists took over these states they very quickly began to attack
opposition politicians and parties. They introduced censorship and set up
secret police forces, usually with Soviet commanders.
In Hungary the Communists accused opposition leaders like Ferenc Nagy of
being Fascists and imprisoned them. This was an effective way to silence opposition.
In Bulgaria the actions were even more extreme. Opposition leader Nikola
Petkov was executed.
The US and UK accused the Communists of violating the human rights aspects
of the treaties they had signed, and many others as well.
These transcripts show Moscow Radio's responses to the accusations.
