Once again, playing on their hatred toward Israel, the Russian empire manipulated a Middle East crisis by mobilizing Muslim support, thus deflecting attention from Eastern Europe. It happened in 1956, while crushing the Hungarian revolution and now in 2023 Ukraine.
The Russian Empire has a historical pattern of manipulating the Middle East to divert international attention away from its actions in Eastern Europe. This tactic has been employed in two notable instances: 1956’s Hungarian Revolution and the current situation in Ukraine in 2023. In both cases, Russia launched aggressive invasions of foreign nations without provocation, all while creating crises in the Middle East to shift global focus.
Despite differing motivations, there are striking similarities between these scenarios. Russia used these actions to regain lost territories and assert its dominance as a major world power.
The events in 1956 were influenced by crucial international agreements, including the Red Army’s withdrawal from Austrian territory, the formation of the Warsaw Pact, and a Soviet arms agreement with Egypt, all of which significantly impacted global relations.
The formation of the Warsaw Pact on May 9, 1955, was the Soviet answer a few days later after the western world allowed West Germany to become a member of NATO, and re-arm the Bundeswehr.
The Soviet politicians’ and soldiers’ fear about the possibility of German revenge was instinctive. The thawing has stopped, to be replaced by the theory of “the preventive action”, that implied the possibility of a preventive war against West-Germany or against the whole of western-Europe. An idea that the Soviet leadership had entertained as one of the bases of its military politics.
Although the Soviet political and military leadership were afraid but were getting ready for a “preventive war”, by using the well-known slogan from WWII, that “the one with the oil is the winner”.
By the beginning of 1956, the Soviets already had access to long-range missiles capable of reaching London or Paris from Soviet territories, while the USA could only launch its first satellite at the end of 1957. For a short time, the Soviet Union was leading in racket technologies, which gave them an advantage over the West.
They recognized Western Europe’s vulnerability due to limited oil reserves, so in 1956, the Soviet Union orchestrated a series of coordinated incidents in the Suez Canal and the Hungarian counter-revolution to showcase its military might. Their aim was to secure access to the Suez Canal, disrupting oil shipments to Western Europe in the event of conflict.
Khrushchev was also aware that the USA, in the fall of 1956 without the backing of long-range missiles, and in the midst of a presidential election, that happened to be scheduled on the 6th of November that year, had no power to intervene. So, within the Yalta territories, including Poland and Hungary, Khrushchev had a free hand, and the USA, lacking opportunity and political will, had no intention to interfere.
The events in Hungary and Poland in 1956 were part of a broader Soviet strategy to maintain control over its satellite nations. Hungary was chosen as a location for a power demonstration due to its strategic significance.
The timing of the Suez Crisis and the Hungarian Uprising was meticulously coordinated by Moscow. The Soviet Union manipulated events in Budapest to convince England and France that they were deeply embroiled in the Hungarian crisis, allowing the Suez attack to proceed without interference.
Israel’s attack on Egypt in 1956 was also influenced by the Suez Crisis and the Soviet Union’s manipulation of events.
Ultimately, the Soviet Union’s plan succeeded in achieving its objectives, though it did not carry out a preventive military action against Western Europe. These historical events highlight the complex interplay of power, strategy, and geopolitics in the mid-20th century, where the Middle East became a stage for global maneuvers.
But once again, the Russian Empire turned to the Middle East, and playing on their hatred toward Israel, manipulated a Middle East crisis by mobilizing Muslim support, thus deflecting attention from Eastern Europe. Their ruthless invasion of Ukraine didn’t quite go the way it was planned, for Ukraine not only fought back, but gained not only the moral support, but financial and military aids from the West.
The only difference between now and 1956, is that the Russians don’t have the backing of the Warsaw pact, to excuse their attacks on Ukraine. But just like in 1956, they are still arrogant or maybe desperate enough to risk a third world war, with all its brutality, even if it affects their own people.
It’s time to wake up the world and point the finger to the real provocateurs of hatred and stop them stirring the pot, enticing millions to hate.
Judith Kopacsi Gelberger
Toronto, Canada
