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Hungary Workers' Guard
The Workers' Guard, a paramilitary organization
directly
controlled by the HSWP, claimed to have 60,000 members in
1988.
Possessing only small arms, its mission was officially
limited to
protecting the population and state property in times of
war or
unrest. In fact, the Workers' Guard assisted the National
Police
and army during events that required crowd control. The
guard
wore its own distinctive gray uniform.
Directly controlled by a permanent department of the
HSWP's
Central Committee, the Workers' Guard was, in effect, the
party's
private army, and the overwhelming majority of the guard
were
party members. Founded in 1957 shortly after the
revolution, this
organization became the chief protector of the newly
formed Kadar
regime.
In June 1989, the government announced that in the
future it,
not the party, would have control over the Workers' Guard
and
that many of the functions of this paramilitary
organization
would be eliminated. An interministerial committee of the
government was formed to examine the mission and
activities of
the guard and perhaps even to rename it.
Data as of September 1989
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