Changes

Many consider the Hungarian Uprising in 1956 the nation’s greatest tragedy. This utmost Uprising, also commonly referred to as the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, represented a clearly spontaneous revolt by the Hungarian people against the ruling Stalinist regime and Communist party at the time, both of which in turn were crippling post-war Hungary’s development under Moscow’s Soviet policies and the Russian oppression. Although the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 comprised of several major events, undoubtedly, it did begin with the vast students’ protests on October 23 in Budapest and it was quickly, though fiercely, crushed only a few weeks later with the infamous proclamation by the Soviet-backed Janos Kadar on November 11 announcing that he had killed the Uprising.

Nowadays it is a National Holiday when commemorations take place in Budapest and entire Hungary to remind Hungarian people their brave historic revolt against the communists’ oppression and Soviet ruled system. Furthermore, later in 1989, after the fall of communism, Hungary symbolically declared a republic on October 23, as well. Thus, “Day of the Republic” turned into a memorial recognition of the Hungarian emblematic act of nationwide heroism.

==Pre-existing conditions for the revolt in the post-war Hungary==

A man of Stalin’s ilk, Rakosi initiated his relentless Soviet-backed authoritarian regime over Hungary and set about communizing the country and purging the nation of dissidents, arresting or executing his political opponents often mercilessly and without proper trials. Meanwhile, his mishandling of the economy and huge expenditures for militarization of the regime unsurprisingly led to drastic falls of quality of life for virtually every Hungarian.

However, following Stalin’s death in 1953 the Soviet block started to weaken with riots in East Berlin and Poland in the following year.<ref>1956 Hungarian Uprising: Post War Hungary & Sowing The Seeds of Dissent - http://www.local-life.com/budapest/articles/1956-hungarian-uprising</ref> Furthermore, Hungarian conditions got a little improved when the same year Moscow forced Rakosi to also resign in 1953. The far more liberal Imre Nagy became the leader of Hungary and declared a new, more liberal government program, which aimed at increasing standard of living and easing the burdens of farmers. Nagy promised a new course – ending the forced development of the heavy industry, providing more consumer goods, no more forcing of peasants into the collectives, the release of political prisoners, and the closing of internment camps. Introducing these reforms, however, Moscow hesitated to support him for being well too liberal at the time. Nagy started a positive change in the politics by a thorough review of the illegally condemned nationals’ cases.

Furthermore, it turned out that the events in Poland were the trigger for the Hungarian Revolution. Although the Polish government forces violently put down the staged mass protest of Poznan workers earlier in June 1956, the Soviets in Moscow were worried and they let Poland to negotiate wider autonomy and liberalization in order to avoid further unrest. A year earlier Austria had also managed to declare itself neutral and avoid joining the Warsaw Pact. In turn, many Hungarians hoped to achieve something similar, and when students from the Budapest Technical University (who had become a strong political voice) heard that the Hungarian Writers Union planned to express solidarity with pro-reform movements in Poland, they decided to join them.

==Hungarian protests vs Soviet violence – first wave of Russian tanks enter Budapest==

Around 2 am on October 24, the first Soviet tanks entered Budapest and positioned strategically outside the parliament building as to bring down the revolution. Meanwhile more Soviet troops penetrated key positions in the city. On the radio, Nagy called for end to violence and promised to initiate political reforms abolished three years earlier. Despite all efforts for a peaceful resolution of the riots, when Erno Gero ordered a Soviet tank to fire upon unarmed peacefully demonstrating protesters in Parliament Square on October 25, the fighting escalated. <ref>Hungarian Revolution of 1956: First shots - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956</ref>The demonstrators tried to seek refuge in the ministry of agriculture building but they weren’t allowed in and around 800 died that day in what is now referred to as the “Bloody Thursday”. After the Soviet public massacre, the revolution was unstoppable. The Soviet troops and their AVH cohorts continued to fight against the revolutionaries until 28th October, when Moscow ordered the Soviets to retreat from the city. Communist regime was widely denounced by Hungarians with Hungarian Workers’ Party discredited and Erno Gero was forced to resign as First Secretary, with Janos Kadar replacing him.

==Hungary’s Fate decided in Moscow. Soviet following decisive interventions of 4 November: The Soviet Empire strikes back ending the Revolution==

Undoubtedly, most of the following developments within the very Hungarian leadership also played a key part in Moscow’s decision. Nagy, who Moscow reinstated once more into the country’s leadership role after it became clear that the crowd completely discredited all old Stalinist leaders, had proved ineffective in following strict Moscow’s orders. His appeal to the United Nations for help in establishing the country’s neutrality, endangered Soviet Union and represented a breach in the Soviet defensive buffer zone of satellite nations. Soviet fear of invasion from the West as well as of development of yet another capitalist state were decisive. On November 1, 1956, Nagy formally addressed Hungarian people over the National Radio and declared Hungary’s withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact as well as Hungary’s stance of neutrality. He also released many political prisoners and allowed previously banned political parties to reappear and join the coalition. The mood was defiantly optimistic. For a short period, it seemed that Nagy was going to be able to achieve the Hungarian people’s wishes for a neutral, multi-party social-democratic nation. However, he conducted dramatic steps that did not please and infuriated the Soviet leaders in Moscow.

==Aftermath of the 1956 Revolution and International recognition==

Recriminations followed with tens of thousands of Hungarians arrested, imprisoned and deported to the Soviet Union, often without evidence or any proper trials. Until mid-1957, many enemies of the communist regime were executed without trace and more than 200 000 people fled Hungary - either fearing for their lives, or simply to escape from the Communist regime. Moreover, many of them were Hungary’s best educated people searching for a better life in the Western world.

National leaders of this period as well as later historians saw the failure of the uprising in Hungary as a firm evidence that the Cold War in Europe had become a stalemate. Moreover, in January 1957, United Nations General Assembly resolutions requested investigation and observation of the events in Soviet-occupied Hungary. UN Secretary General subsequently established the Special Committee addressing the problem of Hungary. For over five months the Committee interviewed more than 100 refugees, both Communist and non-Communist. However, the new Hungarian government utterly refused the UN officials entry and independent investigation, and the government of the Soviet Union did not respond to requests for information. The Committee Report was presented to the General Assembly in June 1957, concluding “the Kadar government and Soviet occupation and intervention were in violation of the human rights of the Hungarian people”. The General Assembly resolution was approved, confirming “the repression of the Hungarian people and the Soviet occupation” with no other action effectively taken.

The Hungarian representative at UN disagreed with the Committee Report’s conclusions, accusing it of falsifying the events, and argued that the very establishment of the Committee was illegal. Hungary then accused the Committee of being hostile to Hungary and its social system.

Nevertheless, the Hungarian Revolution clearly indicated the weaknesses of the enforced Soviet system and Hungarian people free will for reforms and better life. It did further paved the way for the oncoming Eastern European revolts and challenges spreading across the remaining Soviet satellite countries against the common Oppressor – mostly Yugoslavia, Poland, Czechoslovakia with its emblematic Prague Spring of 1968 requiring over 650 000 Soviet troops to further enforce an end of the country’s call for more liberal reforms.