The story of the Hungarian Revolution

In the years leading up to the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Hungary was a tightly controlled satellite of the Soviet Union behind the Iron Curtain. Under the leadership of Mátyás Rákosi, a hardline communist loyal to Moscow, the country endured political repression, show trials, and forced collectivization.

However, following Stalin’s death in 1953, the Soviet Union attempted to soften its approach, and Rákosi was removed as prime minister in favour of Imre Nagy, a peasant who had become an NKVD informer before going into politics. Nagy introduced popular reforms that promised an end to forced industrialization, greater agricultural freedom, and the release of political prisoners. These changes gave Hungarians hope, but in 1955, under pressure from hardliners, Moscow removed Nagy, reinstated Rákosi, and tightened control.

Public resentment grew. Rákosi himself was dismissed in July 1956, but his replacement, Ernő Gerő, was even more unpopular. The situation was further destabilised by international events – in February 1956 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin and, during the summer, the Poles rioted, gaining reforms. Encouraged, Hungarians began demanding reforms of their own.

On 23 October, students and workers gathered in Budapest, marching in protest and calling for democracy, free speech, and an end to Soviet rule. When government forces fired on them, the protest escalated into a full-scale uprising. The statue of Stalin was torn down, and Hungarian soldiers, along with ordinary citizens, joined the revolution. Soviet troops entered Budapest the next day, but Prime Minister Imre Nagy, reinstated in the chaos, called for their withdrawal; on 28 October, Khrushchev agreed, and Soviet forces pulled out.

Over the next three days, Hungary underwent dramatic changes. Nagy’s government introduced free elections, an impartial legal system and land reforms. However, after growing pressures for intervention from China (who accused Khrushchev of going soft) and Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia (who feared copycat uprisings) some Soviet troops were transferred back into Hungary on 1 November.

The new Hungarian government’s response – after first securing a promise from the Soviet ambassador that the USSR would not invade – was to announce that Hungary would leave the Warsaw Pact and become a neutral country. On 3 November a Hungarian delegation led by Defence Minister Pál Maléter, which had been invited to Soviet HQ to discuss the matter, was arrested. And on 4 November, at dawn, the Soviet army launched ‘Operation Whirlwind’, and more than 1,000 tanks rolled into Budapest, crushing resistance. By the afternoon, Soviet troops had captured the radio station, which broadcast its final desperate message: “Help! Help! Help!”.

The world, however, watched but did not act. Western propaganda had encouraged resistance to Soviet rule but, when the moment arrived, no military support was offered. The United States, fearing that intervening in Hungary would provoke World War III, concluded that direct military action in Eastern Europe was too risky. The United Nations condemned the invasion, but the Soviet Union simply vetoed any serious resolutions.

The Hungarian Army put up some resistance. Hungarian citizens, including teenagers, fought for a week in the streets with rifles and Molotov cocktails, but by 12 November the revolution had been completely crushed. Even then, a general strike and other forms of peaceful resistance continued for months.

Soviet control was ruthlessly reimposed. Maléter was executed. Nagy was abducted and later executed in 1958. János Kádár, who had defected from Nagy’s government, was installed as the new communist leader, backed by Moscow. More than 4,000 Hungarians had died in the fighting, thousands were arrested, and 200,000 fled the country as refugees.