István Bata (5 March 1910 – 17 August 1982) was a Hungarian military officer and politician who served as

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

from 1953 to 1956.

Biography

A factory worker, Bata joined the

Social Democratic Party of Hungary The Social Democratic Party of Hungary (, , MSZDP) is a social democracy, social democratic list of political parties in Hungary, political party in Hungary. Historically, the party was dissolved during Government of National Unity (Hungary), the ...

in 1930. He was arrested in 1942 by the police for his political activities and was under supervision. After the end of the Second World War, from 1945 he became a member of the Central Management of the Public Employees' Trade Union, and then became the site manager of Budapest Metropolitan Transport Company. From 1947 to 1949 he was a student at the Moscow Military Academy. In 1950, he was appointed Air Defense Commander and then Chief of Staff. From 1951 he was an alternate member of the Central Executive of the Hungarian Working People's Party and from 1953 he was a full member. From 4 July 1953 to 24 October 1956 he was Minister of Defense. In this capacity in 1955 he was a member of the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...

to the signatory Hungarian delegation. During the

1956 Hungarian Revolution The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

, he was one of the creators of the Soviet operation under the pseudonym "Wave" (Whirlwind), which was enacted in order to, “restore social peace in Hungary,” by then-Soviet Ambassador

Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov ( – 9 February 1984) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from late 1982 until his death in 1984. He previously served as the List of Chairmen of t ...

. Bata divided

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

into three military districts and gave an order to defeat the revolution. On 26 October 1956 Bata was relieved of all of his functions. Three days later he escaped to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He negotiated with

János Kádár János József Kádár (; ; né Czermanik; 26 May 1912 – 6 July 1989) was a Hungarian Communist leader and the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, a position he held for 32 years. Declining health led to his retireme ...

and wanted to organize a military dictatorship after the fall of the revolution. On 16 November Bata was expelled from the party because of his past pro-Stalin stance. Later, he returned to Hungary, where he worked for the Budapest Transport Company.

References

Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bata, Istvan 1910 births 1982 deaths People from Tura, Hungary Social Democratic Party of Hungary politicians Hungarian Communist Party politicians Members of the Hungarian Working People's Party Ministers of defence of Hungary Hungarian generals