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Stalin's death + Khrushchev's 'thaw' DESTABILISED Iron Curtain states.
1956 saw crises in several states trying to destalinise.
1. Poland, 1956
• Some political prisoners freed; bad harvest → unrest.
• RAILWAY workers protested (‘Cheap Bread’, ‘Higher Wages’); police shot marchers → riot → officials killed.
• GOMULKA took power.
• Khrushchev sent Soviet troops but left Gomulka in power → Poland stayed loyal to USSR/Warsaw Pact, continued destalinisation.
2. Czechoslovakia, 1956
• Writers' CONGRESS: authors criticised repression.
• May Day protests (Prague, Bratislava) → demanded free speech, access to Western press.
• NOVOTNY suppressed protests, maintained Stalinist regime.
3. Hungary, 1956
Causes
• Poverty: Hungarians poor; USSR took food + goods.
• Russian control: Patriotism + resentment of censorship, secret police (AVH), education control.
• Catholic Church: Communists banned religion; Cardinal MINDSZENTY jailed.
• Help from West?: Hoped for UN/US aid (Eisenhower).
• Destalinisation: Communist Party reforms → unrest. Rakosi wanted to arrest 400 ‘troublemakers’; Khrushchev refused → Rakosi resigned (July 1956) → unrest continued.
Events
• 23 Oct: Riots (students, workers, soldiers); AVH + Soviet troops attacked; STALIN statue destroyed.
• 24 Oct: Imre NAGY became PM, asked USSR to withdraw troops.
• 28 Oct: Khrushchev agreed; USSR troops left Budapest.
• 29 Oct - 3 Nov: New govt → democracy, free speech, religion (Mindszenty freed). Nagy announced Hungary leaving WARSAW PACT.
• 4 Nov: 1000 Soviet tanks invaded Budapest; Hungarian army crushed by 8:10 am; 4000 Hungarians killed.
• Nagy arrested + executed (1958); KADAR installed as pro-Soviet PM → repression restored.
Results
1. In Hungary
◦ Soviet Control: Kadar stayed in power until 1988.
◦ Repression: 1000s arrested; c.300 executed. Mindszenty hid in US embassy (15 yrs).
◦ Brain Drain: 200k skilled workers/intellectuals fled → economic damage.
◦ Economic Damage: Soviet tanks destroyed industrial districts.
◦ Reforms: Kadar introduced ‘GOULASH COMMUNISM’ (= gradual reforms).
2. Internationally
◦ USSR Dominance: No Iron Curtain state removed Soviet troops until Czechoslovakia (1968).
◦ Western Reaction: Outrage; many UK Communists left party.
◦ US failed to help, fearing nuclear war/ UN resolutions vetoed by USSR = Iron Curtain ABANDONED.
◦ Cold War Impact: West saw rollback as impossible → reinforced containment policy.
◦ Legacy: 1956 influenced Prague Spring (1968) + 1989 revolutions.
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