Hungarian+Uprising

Hungarian Revolution of 1956  Background: Since the end of world war two Stalin had been puting puppet communist governments in all the countries that were in the soviet sphere of infulence. One of these countries was Hungary. Hungary was located in eastern Europe and after WW2 was determined to be in the soviet sphere of infulence. Previously it had been part of the Austro-Hungarian empire but was the empire was dissolved after WW1. Hungary was a proud counrty with strong nationalist feelings and therefore did not take being governed by an outside influence lightly. For 11 years Hungary had been under the influence of a Pro-Stalin government. But in 1956 Hungary got what seemed like to the Hungarian Nationalists their chance for Autonomy. This chance occured in 1953 when Stalin died. After a power struggle in the U.S.S.R Nikita Kruschev gained power. Kruschev then proceeded to follow a policy of De-Stalinisation. He made a speech calling for openess in the soviet sector and a peaceful co-existence with the west. The Hungarian Nationalists took this as a sign of weakness and decded that they would reclaim Hungary from the outside power that was the U.S.S.R.

Basic content summary: Once the Hungarians had descovered that Kruschev was attempting to de-stalinise the soviet sector they took their chance. It started with student demonstrations the public saw these demonstrations and quickly joined in. News of this spread thoughout Hungary quickly and soon the demonstrations spread throughout Hungary. In Budapest the police fired into a crowd of demonstrating people, this turned a peacful demonstration into a angry riot. As a follow up of the riots Hungarian nationalists lynched communist leaders and secret police. Once the puppet comunist government was delt with a moderate communist took power. This was Imre Nagy, his first act in power was to request the withdraw of soviet troops in Hungary. Some of the soviet troops did withdraw but still the violent protesting continued. Nagy had to accept the protestors demands and requested the remaining soviet troops withdraw. His next act was to annonce that Hungary would become neutral and leave the warsaw pact. He then went on to ask the UN and the west for help in defending hungary. Eisenhower refused to get involved and this doomed the hungarian revolution to its fate. In response to all of nagy's actions Krushchev sent 6000 tanks into hungary. the hungarians tried to fight back but they didnt have decent weapons and their revolution was crushed.

(short version)

The **Hungarian Revolution of 1956** (Hungarian: //1956-os forradalom Magyarország//) was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the Stalinist government of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956. It began as a student demonstration which attracted thousands as it marched through central Budapest to the Parliament building. A student delegation entering the radio building in an attempt to broadcast its demands was detained. When the delegation's release was demanded by the demonstrators outside, they were fired upon by the State Security Police (ÁVH) from within the building. The news spread quickly and disorder and violence erupted throughout the capital. The revolt spread quickly across Hungary, and the government fell. Thousands organized into militias, battling the State Security Police (ÁVH) and Soviet troops. Pro-Soviet communists and ÁVH members were often executed or imprisoned, as former prisoners were released and armed. Impromptu councils wrested municipal control from the Communist Party, and demanded political changes. The new government formally disbanded the ÁVH, declared its intention to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact and pledged to re-establish free elections. By the end of October, fighting had almost stopped and a sense of normality began to return. After announcing a willingness to negotiate a withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Politburo changed its mind and moved to crush the revolution. On 4 November, a large Soviet force invaded Budapest and other regions of the country. Hungarian resistance continued until 10 November. An estimated 2,500 Hungarians died, and 200,000 more fled as refugees. Mass arrests and denunciations continued for months thereafter. By January 1957, the new Soviet-installed government had suppressed all public opposition. These Soviet actions alienated many Western Marxists, yet strengthened Soviet control over Central Europe, cultivating the perception that communism was both irreversible and monolithic. Public discussion about this revolution was suppressed in Hungary for over 30 years, but since the thaw of the 1980s it has been a subject of intense study and debate. At the inauguration of the Third Hungarian Republic in 1989, 23 October was declared a national holiday.

__Hungarian Uprising__ (long version). !Note! this was taken from [|www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk] and is likely to be baised. The Hungarian Communist Party was very small during the Second World War. Led by Laszlo Rajk , party members were involved in fighting a largely unsuccessful underground war against Adolf Hitler. The Soviet Army invaded Hungary in September 1944. It set up an alternative government in Debrecen on 21st December 1944 but did not capture Budapest until 18th January 1945. Soon afterwards Zolton Tildy became the provisional prime minister. In elections held in November, 1945, the Smallholders Party won 57% of the vote. The Hungarian Workers Party, now under the leadership of Matyas Rakosi and Erno Gero, received support from only 17% of the population. The Soviet commander in Hungary, Marshal Voroshilov, refused to allow the Smallholders Party to form a government. Instead Voroshilov established a coalition government with the communists holding some of the key posts. Zoltan Tildy, was named president and Frenc Nagy prime minister. Matyas Rakosi became deputy prime minister. Laszlo Rajk became minister of the interior and in this post established the security police. In February 1947 the police began arresting leaders of the Smallholders Party and the National Peasant Party. Several prominent figures in both parties escaped abroad. Later Matyas Rakosi boasted that he had dealt with his partners in the government, one by one, "cutting them off like slices of salami." The Hungarian Communist Party became the largest single party in the elections in 1947 and served in the coalition People's Independence Front government. The communists gradually gained control of the government and by 1948 the Social Democratic Party ceased to exist as an independent organization. Its leader, Bela Kovacs was arrested and sent to Siberia. Other opposition leaders such as Anna Kethly, Frenc Nagy and Istvan Szabo were imprisoned or sent into exile. Matyas Rakosi also demanded complete obedience from fellow members of the Hungarian Communist Party. His main rival for power was Laszlo Rajk , who was now foreign secretary. Rajk was arrested and at his trial in September 1949 he confessed to being an agent of Miklos Horthy, Leon Trotsky, Josip Tito and Western imperialism and admitted that he had taken part in a murder plot against Matyas Rakosi and <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">                  Erno Gero. Laszlo Radk was found guilty and executed. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Janos Kadar <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">and other dissidents were also purged from the party during this period. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Matyas Rakosi now attempted to impose authoritarian rule on Hungary. An estimated 2,000 people were executed and over 100,000 were imprisoned. These policies were opposed by some members of the Hungarian Workers Party and around 200,000 were expelled by Rakosi from the organization. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Rakosi rapidly expanded the education system in Hungary. This was an attempt to replace the educated class of the past by what Rakosi called a new "toiling intelligentsia". Communist indoctrination took place in schools and universities. Religious instruction was denounced as propaganda and was gradually eliminated from schools. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty, who had bravely opposed the German Nazis and the Hungarian Fascists during the Second World War, was arrested in December, 1948, and accused of treason. After five weeks of torture he confessed to the charges made against him and he was condemned to life imprisonment. The Protest churches were also purged and their leaders were replaced by those willing to remain loyal to Rakosi's government. 1956 Hungarian Uprising || Remembering 1956 || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Rakosi had difficulty managing the economy and the people of Hungary saw living standards fall. His government became increasingly unpopular and when Joseph Stalin died in 1953 Matyas Rakosi was replaced as prime minister by <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Imre Nagy <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">. However, he retained his position as general secretary of the Hungarian Workers Party and over the next three years the two men became involved in a bitter struggle for power. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">As Hungary's new leader <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Imre Nagy <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">removed state control of the mass media and encouraged public discussion on political and economic reform. This included a promise to increase the production and distribution of consumer goods. Nagy also released anti-communists from prison and talked about holding free elections and withdrawing Hungary from the <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Warsaw Pact <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Matyas Rakosi led the attacks on Nagy. On 9th March 1955, the Central Committee of the Hungarian Workers Party condemned Nagy for "rightist deviation". Hungarian newspapers joined the attacks and Nagy was accused of being responsible for the country's economic problems and on 18th April he was dismissed from his post by a unanimous vote of the National Assembly. Rakosi once again became the leader of Hungary. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Rakosi's power was undermined by a speech made by <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Nikita Khrushchev in February 1956. He denounced the policies of Joseph Stalin and his followers in Eastern Europe. He also claimed that the trial of <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Laszlo Rajk <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">had been a "miscarriage of justice". On 18th July 1956, Rakosi was forced from power as a result of orders from the Soviet Union. However, he did managed to secure the appointment of his close friend, Erno Gero, as his successor. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On 3rd October 1956, the Central Committee of the Hungarian Communist Party announced that it had decided that <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Laszlo Rajk <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">, Gyorgy Palffy, Tibor Szonyi and Andras Szalai had wrongly been convicted of treason in 1949. At the same time it was announced that <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Imre Nagy <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">had been reinstated as a member of the Communist Party. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">T <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">he uprising began on 23rd October by a peaceful manifestation of students in Budapest. The students demanded an end to Soviet occupation and the implementation of "true socialism". The police made some arrests and tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas. When the students attempted to free those people who had been arrested, the police opened fire on the crowd. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The following day commissioned officers and soldiers joined the students on the streets of Budapest. Stalin's statue was brought down and the protesters chanted "Russians go home", "Away with Gero" and "Long Live Nagy". The Central Committee of the Hungarian Communist Party respond to these developments by deciding that <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Imre Nagy <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">should become head of a new government. **Cummings,** ** //News Chronicle// (November, 1956) ** <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On 25th October Soviet tanks opened fire on protesters in Parliament Square. One journalist at the scene saw 12 dead bodies and estimated that 170 had been wounded. Shocked by these events the Central Committee of the Communist Party forced Erno Gero to resign from office and replaced him with <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Janos Kadar <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Imre Nagy <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">now went on Radio Kossuth and announced he had taken over the leadership of the Government as Chairman of the Council of Ministers." He also promised the "the far-reaching democratization of Hungarian public life, the realisation of a Hungarian road to socialism in accord with our own national characteristics, and the realisation of our lofty national aim: the radical improvement of the workers' living conditions." <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On 28th October, Nagy and a group of his supporters, including <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Janos Kadar  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">, Geza Lodonczy, Antal Apro, Karoly Kiss, Ferenc Munnich and Zoltan Szabo, manage to take control of the Hungarian Communist Party. At the same time revolutionary workers' councils and local national committees are formed all over Hungary. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> "Bah! Counter-revolutionaries!"
 * [[image:http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/14REVcold1.jpg width="164" height="240"]]

**Victor Weisz** **, //Daily Mirror// (November, 1956) ** <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The new leadership of the party is reflected in the comments made in its newspaper, // Szabad Nep //. On 29th October the newspaper defends the change in the government and openly criticises Soviet attempts to influence the political situation in Hungary. This view is supported by Radio Miskolc and it calls for the immediate withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On 30th October, <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Imre Nagy <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">announced that he was freeing Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty and other political prisoners. He also informs the people that his government intends to abolish the one-party state. This is followed by statements by Zolton Tildy, Anna Kethly and Ferenc Farkas concerning the reconstitution of the Smallholders Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Petofi Peasants Party. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Nagy's most controversial decision took place on 1st November when he announced that Hungary intended to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact. as well as proclaiming Hungarian neutrality he asked the United Nations to become involved in the country's dispute with the Soviet Union. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On 3rd November, Nagy announced details of his coalition government. It included communists ( <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Janos Kadar <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">, <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> George Lukacs   <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">, Geza Lodonczy), three members of the Smallholders Party (Zolton Tildy, Bela Kovacs and Istvan Szabo), three Social Democrats (Anna Kethly, Gyula Keleman, Joseph Fischer), and two Petofi Peasants (Istvan Bibo and Ferenc Farkas). Pal Maleter was appointed minister of defence. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Nikita Khrushchev <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">, the leader of the Soviet Union, became increasingly concerned about these developments and on 4th November 1956 he sent the Red Army into Hungary. Soviet tanks immediately captured Hungary's airfields, highway junctions and bridges. Fighting took place all over the country but the Hungarian forces were quickly defeated. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> "Let's Go Wash our Hands in the Canal...""   ** //Bombay Express// (November, 1956) **

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Imre Nagy <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">sought and obtained asylum at the Yugoslav embassy in Budapest. So also did <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> George Lukacs  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">, Geza Lodonczy and Julia Rajk, the widow of <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Laszlo Rajk  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Janos Kadar <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">, who claimed that Nagy had gone too far with his reforms, became Hungary's new leader. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">It is estimated that about 3,000 Hungarians were killed during the uprising. About 12,000 were arrested and imprisoned. Of these, between 400 and 450 were executed. An estimated 200,000 people managed to escape to the West. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Janos Kadar <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> promised Nagy and his followers safe passage out of the country. Kadar did not keep his promise and on 23rd November, 1956, Nagy and his followers, were kidnapped after leaving the Yugoslav embassy. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On 17th June 1958, the Hungarian government announced that several of the reformers had been convicted of treason and attempting to overthrow the "democratic state order" and <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Imre Nagy <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">, Pal Maleter and Miklos Gimes had been executed for these crimes. Geza Lodonczy and Attila Szigethy were both to die in suspicious circumstances soon afterwards.

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**Force/Movement** Nationalism- The Soviet puppet government in Hungary brought about a nationalist Hungarian movement, started by students, by blunt oppresion of Hungarian culture. Hungary had been a proud Cotholic country with its own sphere of influence, however after WWII it had been reduced to a small pocket of land in Eastern Europe. The Soviets had also begun to opress religion, this also caused alot of anger, so the uprising was hardly unforeseeable. Super Power Rivalry- Kruschev was afraid that if he allowed Hungary to break away, it would weaken the Warsaw Pact as other small eastern European nations, opressed by the USSR, would attempt to break away and Soviet power would be broken. Also they would lose the important buffer zone incase of a western invasion.