Hungary 1956: The first protest against communism
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The first large-scale protest against communism that the Soviet Union stood for in Eastern Europe took place in Hungary in 1956. The nationwide protests started on 23 October and lasted until the Soviet invasion on 10 November. The riots started with thousands of students in Budapest taking to the streets and marching towards the radio building. There they forced their way in and wanted to broadcast their demands over the radio. These students were arrested and the students demanded their release. The security police inside the radio building fired at the demonstrating demonstrators outside, several students were killed.
Demanded democratic reforms
Now the news is spreading quickly in Budapest and beyond the country. Local militia groups took up the fight against the security police. Many people were killed and the government lost control. Political prisoners were released and the government collapsed. For the first time since the Second World War, the Soviet Union felt threatened.
The rebels took control of local towns and a leader of the rebellion itself eventually became Imre Nagy. He himself had been chairman of the Council of Ministers and prime minister until 1955. During the protests, he promised reforms and promised that Hungary would withdraw from the Warsaw Pact. He also promised to introduce elections where the coalition partners from 1945. Nagy was a Marxist and was true to his political beliefs. He did not intend to introduce a multi-party system as we know it, but a system within the limits of socialism. Imre Nagy was very disappointed with the form of communism that was practiced under Stalin. It is said about Imre Nagy that he was the only communist the people could accept.
In Moscow, the riots in Hungary came as a surprise. At first they were willing to negotiate a withdrawal of Soviet forces. The riots in Hungary calmed down and at the end of October it was almost completely calm.
Hungary 1956 remained with the dream
The Soviet Union changed its mind and on 4 November large Soviet forces invaded Budapest and other major cities in Hungary. The rebellion had to be put down.
Fighting broke out in Hungary between the population and Soviet forces. These lasted until the Soviets had full control of the country on 10 November. During these days, 2,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet soldiers were killed.
Imre Nagy sought refuge in Yugoslavia’s embassy. But he was lured out of the embassy and arrested on 22 November. He is deposed to Romania, where he is put on trial for high treason and executed in 1958 along with others from his government.
Hungarian refugees
After the Soviet Union’s invasion of Hungary in 1956, there was a large flow of refugees from the country. An estimated 200,000 fled.
They rightly feared reprisals from the authorities. After the rebellion was put down, an estimated 20,000 were executed for their involvement in the rebellion. Even more received prison sentences.
The Hungarian uprising of 1956 was the first major uprising against the Soviet Communist Empire. A rebellion that was put down hard, but which left its mark. We then had violent revolts against communism in Czechoslovakia, Poland and Romania. Eventually the Berlin Wall came down as a symbol of communism in Eastern Europe’s fall.