Hungarian Revolution

Hungarian Revolution, popular uprising in Hungary in 1956 following a speech by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in which he attacked the period of Joseph Stalin’s rule. Encouraged by the new freedom of debate and criticism, a rising tide of unrest and discontent in Hungary broke out into active fighting in October 1956. Although the Soviet Union invaded Hungary to stop the revolution, the country subsequently evolved into probably the most liberal of the Soviet satellite states.

Background

The Hungarian People’s Republic—a one-party, communist-ruled state within the Soviet sphere of influence—was established in 1949. Its early years were marked by economic hardship, as well as political infighting and mass repression. The death of Joseph Stalin in 1953 inaugurated a period of limited liberalization in the Soviet Union known as the “thaw,” a trend that also affected the satellite countries. In Hungary in the same year, the country’s hardline communist leader, Mátyás Rákosi, was replaced by the reformist Imre Nagy. Two years later, however, Nagy was deposed and replaced, first by Rákosi again, then by Ernő Gerő.

In 1955 neighboring Austria officially became neutral, and all occupying military forces left; many Hungarians saw this as a hopeful precedent for their own country. Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin followed in February 1956. In June protests against the ruling party broke out in Poland. While the Polish crisis was eventually resolved with the appointment of reform communist leader Władysław Gomułka, events took a different turn in Hungary.

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Hungary: The Revolution of 1956

Course of events

Student protests began in Hungary in October, partly under the influence of the Polish protests, and partly as an expression of local grievances. Students issued numerous demands, including those for economic reforms and the withdrawal of the Soviet military. A large-scale protest on October 23 led to clashes with local security forces. Soviet troops stationed in Hungary intervened the next day at Gerő’s request. On that same day—October 24—Nagy was appointed prime minister once again. After several days of fighting, he called for a ceasefire, which was arranged on October 28.

Nagy immediately promised to initiate political reforms. On November 1 he declared Hungarian neutrality and appealed to the United Nations for support, but Western powers were reluctant to risk a global confrontation. Alarmed by Nagy’s actions, Khrushchev ordered the Soviet Army to invade Hungary. By November 8 most of Budapest was under Soviet control; by November 11 the revolt had been crushed. About 2,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet soldiers died in the fighting. János Kádár, a member of Nagy’s cabinet, became the new prime minister under Soviet auspices. With the revolt suppressed, Nagy was arrested on November 22; he was executed for treason with two of his colleagues in June 1958 after a secret trial.

Aftermath

An estimated 200,000 refugees fled Hungary after the crushing of the revolt, mostly to Austria. Kádár’s government cracked down severely on dissent, executing over 300 participants in the uprising and imprisoning thousands more. Most political prisoners had been released by 1963.

Kádár’s harsh policies gradually gave way to a more moderate approach. From the 1960s onward censorship and other restrictions were relaxed, and Hungarians enjoyed more personal and economic freedoms, especially after the policies known as the New Economic Mechanism took effect in 1968. This period, lasting until the rule of the Communist Party ended in 1989, was popularly known as “goulash communism.”

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