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Introduction

The students went home happily on this Tuesday, because this day was the last of the school-year. Summer was waiting for them with its warmth and the tempting sunshine made them forget about all the troubles throughout the year .The holiday meant fun, freedom and cheer. No more trouble till September. I wonder if they cared about the events happening in the world. It was possible that they did not bothered themselves by paying attention to the international political life. Though very important questions were discussed in Vienna. Seeing the situation now, 18 years later if the talks between Brezhnev and Carter had not been successful, the sky in the summer of 1979 would have been darkened even for carefree students.

Historians cannot complain about the 1970s and 1980s. That period was very eventful : it brought significant turns that made the international political situation better. The traditional Russian-American rivalry frightened people who felt at least a bit responsibility for the future of the world. The huge amount of arm-arsenal was like a bomb which could blow up in any minute. The threat of a nuclear war darkened the ages of the Cold War.

In the summer of 1979, when Brezhnev and Carter signed SALT-II, there was a little glimmer of hope that the senseless rivalry would not end up in a world-catastrophe. Being in the shade of the Soviet Union meant that Eastern-European countries could not have their autonomies and freedom of choice but they had a puppet government, which obeyed the commands of Moscow. The constant military presence was the mean of terrorizing people and politicians systematically misled the nation by its propaganda.

In my research I tried to find out how the power of the Soviet Union influenced the international politics and how the socialist ideology affected the everyday life of Hungarian people. The daily newspapers reflected well the events in the world. As a source they helped me form a clear picture and express opinion about how life looked in 1979.

Method
The Central Library of Vas County provides a rich collection of sources for both experts and students. I asked the librarian to give me different kinds of national papers published on those particular days. E.g. Magyar Hirlap, Népszabadság, Népsport. I indicated the main articles and had them photocopied for home use. Focusing on my research question I selected the articles about international and national political life

In the first step I noted the documents down in detail The second step was to draw the conclusion in terms of the facts. Finally I tried to find an answer to my research question.

Results and Discussion

International affairs: Conference in Vienna

The elegant hall was full of Austrian politicians of high rank and famous journalists. They were all waiting for the most important meeting of the year, where the leaders of the two countries in power: the United States and the Soviet Union, would come to an agreement. Vienna was a neutral place for the conference. When Leonid Brezhnev and James Carter entered the hall they received a warm reception. The act of signing happened at one o´clock. When the two heads of state exchanged the documents they congratulated each other. Both leader made a short speech in order to express their opinions and to say thanks to experts who participated in their works. The comments emphasized the efforts that would maintain world peace. Brezhnev said that the treaty was a big step forward. He claimed that he was a follower of peace and his party would also follow the peaceful way of co-operation and a non-aggressive .foreign policy. In his opinion SALT-II was a more advanced version than SALT-I. Both in the limitation of the quantity of arms and in the limitation of quality of arms. He believed that this treaty contributed to a better Soviet-American relationship.

Carter said that without dialogue and controllable limitation the catastrophe was unavoidable. He was sure that one treaty would not be enough to put an end to the inimical atmosphere, but constant efforts would help to reach compromise. By starting to reduce the fear in the world they could ensure a better future. James Carter strongly believed that no country and no nation would get hurt during the fight for peace between the superpowers.

SALT-II
The document consists of 19 paragraphs. The signatories to the treaty obliged themselves to reduce the number of strategic arms. The contracting parties promised that no new strategic offensive arms would be developed. According to the treaty, in 1981 the quantity of intercontinental ballistic missile, nuclear weapons and ballistic rockets on submarines would be reduced to 2250. Weapons more than this number would be destructed. Both parties obliged themselves that they would not start to build new launching pads. The document also dealt with further nuclear experiments. Any kind of nuclear research would be forbidden. Whether the parties would keep their promise or not would be controlled by an international organization. In order to avoid the outburst of a nuclear war a strategic balance was needed. Destabilization of offensive arms and restrictive steps could reduce the risk of a possible conflict.

The aim of the treaty
The reason for the document was to reduce the danger of a world-catastrophe. By trying to reach a compromise between the American and Soviet interests the contracting parties eased the tense and inimical atmosphere. Their responsibility was not limited to the two countries´ affairs, because the limitation of strategic arms affected the whole world. They promised to fight against the political propaganda that filled people with hate. Though the Iron Curtain as a symbol of the Cold War still divided the world into two parts: the Capitalist and Socialist countries, the mutual efforts to pull down the wall gave a new alternative to solve the weighty conflicts.

National affairs
Kádár János traveled to Sofia
Kádár János, the leading secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Worker´s Party traveled to Bulgaria to a friendly visit. Todor Zhivkov, the leading secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party, invited him with the members of the Hungarian delegation. At twelve o´clock in the company of two fighter aircrafts the plane of the Hungarian delegation landed in Sofia. The airport was decorated with the two countries´ national flags and red flags all over. Todor Zhivkov welcomed Kádár János and his delegation with warm, friendly love.

After the greeting the Bulgarian and Hungarian national hymns were heard, which was accompanied by 21 cannon shots. When the reception in the airport finished, the guests and the hosts went to the accommodation. Thousands of people were on the streets , cheerfully welcoming the Hungarian and Bulgarian leaders. At four o´clock in the afternoon Kádár János placed a wreath at the foot of the memorial of Georgi Dimitrov. A friendly talk followed the ceremony in Zhivkov´s office, where they discussed informally some actual political events. The official discussions began afterwards. A pleasant, comradely atmosphere characterized the talks. Both parties agreed that the Hungarian and Bulgarian friendship is balanced and indissoluble. The interests were similar for both countries: building successful and strong socialist countries , where the economic and cultural relationships would improve undisturbed. In the evening program the hosts gave a gala dinner in honor of the Hungarian delegation.

The official talks
The leaders of the parties found it important to emphasize the strong Bulgarian-Hungarian friendship and the togetherness with the Soviet Union. According to Népszabadság Todor Zhivkov said: ‘ The Socialist state is powerful and we are happy to have faithful friends who strengthen our country. The Bulgarian-Hungarian co-operation and the belonging to the Soviet Union forms a block, which resists the Capitalist, imperialist influence.

We are satisfied with the mutual foreign trade, because the amount of goods in circulation have increased a lot. We welcome SALT-II, the Soviet-American treaty about reducing the strategic offensive arms, which was signed today in Vienna. The aim of our foreign policy is to protect peace and safety in the Eastern-European region and to free people from the danger of war. We hope that together with the Hungarian comrades we can realize our plans for the future.’ (1979, June 19, p. 5)

According to Népszabadság Kádár János´ comment on the talks was the following: ‘Our meeting is an excellent opportunity to share our experience about building the Socialist state and to discuss the current questions about the international workers´ movement. It is great that the pleasant, comradely atmosphere of our talks reflects well that the aims of our nations are common and makes Hungary and Bulgaria belong to one unit. We can say that Bulgarian and Hungarian relations are healthy and developing well. From the point of view of maintaining international peace the Soviet Union plays a particularly important role. Thanks to its efforts for a peaceful world, the improvement of relationships between socialist countries can go on. We are pleased to meet the Bulgarian communist comrades and we would like to thank the nice reception we have had here.’ (1979, June 19, p.6.)

Conclusion
By studying the articles attentively, as small pieces of history they give a clear picture about the 1970s. The Soviet Union was present wherever important international political questions were discussed. It is obvious from the articles that the United States and the Soviet Union played the leading role in the world.

The countries in the Socialist block were only the assistants. So the Hungarian government followed the Marxist-Leninist ideology and this way of thinking ruled not only the political propaganda, but the cultural life, the economy, the foreign policy. The ‘comradely atmosphere’ was compulsory. Fortunately the world has changed since then and with autonomy we do not have to be the puppet of a military superpower any more.