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THE HUNGARIAN UPRISING, 1956

Hungary 1956 Before 1949 Hungary had been part of the Austro. Hungarian Empire. This was something that they were very proud of. Soviet Take. Over 1949 – Soviet Union established a Soviet Government in Hungary. They were now ruled by Communists.

Background • Hungary was a Nazi ally in WW 2. • The Soviets occupied Hungary and continued to do so after the war. • When they arrived they raped and robbed their way across Hungary. • They ignored efforts by the UK and USA to get them to leave after the war. Hungary was in the Soviet sphere of influence. • In 1945 elections gave the communists 17% of the vote. The Soviets established a communist coalition regardless.

Hungary under Stalin 1949 -53 • In 1949, COMINFORM imposed an oppressive communist regime on Hungary. • Living standards began to fall, and in 1952, Hungary experienced its lowest agricultural output ever. Hungarian coal, oil and wheat were shipped to Russia. • Non-communist parties were abolished. • COMINFORM began a reign of terror, executing political leaders and supporters. • Matyas Rakosi was appointed as dictator.

HUNGARY- A SOVIET SATELLITE RAKOSI – THE HARDLINE COMMUNIST RULER OF HUNGARY AFTER WORLD WAR TWO

Matyas Rakosi – Hungary’s Dictator • Rakosi was dictator from 1949 -1956. He described himself as ‘Stalin’s best pupil’ but Hungarians nicknamed him ‘the bald butcher’. • His regime imprisoned over 380, 000 and was responsible for more than 2, 000 deaths. He effectively introduced a Stalinist police state. • The AVH (Allamvedelmi Hatosag) was Hungary's hated and much feared secret police. • Religious teaching was removed from schools (in a Catholic country)

Background • Stalin died in 1953. Khrushchev is in power by 1956. He openly criticises Stalin and adopts a policy of ‘de-Stalinisation’ (destroying the cult of Stalin). • In a secret speech at the Communist party congress in 1956 he shared a message of peaceful co-existence. • International relations begin to thaw. https: //www. theguardian. com/world/2006/feb/26 /russia. theobserver

Hungarian Protests • Khrushchev's ‘Secret Speech’ was interpreted by many in Eastern Europe as an end to Soviet Rule. People believed that Khrushchev would let them rule themselves. • October 1956: In Hungary, students rioted and attacked Soviet troops with petrol bombs and grenades. It was illegal to demonstrate by law but huge demonstrations took place in Budapest. • The protests became violent and police lost control. Protests began to spread to other cities in Hungary.

Russian Control 
The Hungarians were very patriotic, and they hated Russian control – which included censorship, the vicious secret police (called the AVO after 1948) and Russian control of what the schools taught. Help from the West Hungarians thought that the United Nations or the new US president, Eisenhower, would help them. The basic cause of the Hungarian revolution was that the Hungarians hated Russian Communism. Poverty 
Hungarians were poor, yet much of the food and industrial goods they produced was sent to Russia. WHAT WERE THE CAUSES OF THE HUNGARIAN UPRISING, 1956? De-Stalinisation 
When the Communist Party tried to de-Stalinise Hungary, things got out of control. The Hungarian leader Rakosi asked for permission to arrest 400 trouble-makers, but Khrushchev would not let him. Catholic Church. The Hungarians were religious, but the Communist Party had banned religion, and put the leader of the Catholic Church in prison.

Pronounced: (Im-Re Narg) Nagy’s Reform Programme • In response, Khruschev agreed to the appointment of a more liberal leader, Imre Nagy proposed reforms: FREE ELECTIONS TRADE WITH THE WEST AN END TO ONE-PARTY RULE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS FREEDOM OF SPEECH FREEDOM OF WORSHIP HUNGARY TO BECOME A NEUTRAL STATE FREE TRADE UNIONS WITHDRAWAL FROM THE WARSAW PACT. How do you think Khrushchev would react to these proposals?

EVENTS OF THE UPRISING, 1956 On 23 October, there were riots of students, workers and soldiers. They smashed up the statue of Stalin, and attacked the AVH and Russian soldiers. On 24 October, Imre Nagy took over as Prime Minister. He asked Khrushchev to take out the Russian troops. On 28 October, Khrushchev agreed, and the Russian army pulled out of Budapest. 29 October – 3 November: The new Hungarian government introduced democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion (the leader of the Catholic Church was freed from prison). Nagy also announced that Hungary was going to leave the Warsaw Pact. On 4 November, at dawn, 1000 Russian tanks rolled into Budapest. By 8. 10 am they had destroyed the Hungarian army and captured Hungarian Radio – its last words broadcast were ‘Help! Help”!’ Hungarian people – even children – fought them with machine guns. Some 4000 Hungarians were killed fighting the Russians. November 10 th: A ceasefire is agreed. Nagy flees to is betrayed by the Yugoslav ambassador and arrested. He is hanged in 1958

SOVIET TANKS ROLL INTO BUDAPEST https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=m 89 XLY 2 wbd. A

Russia stayed in control behind the Iron Curtain – no other country tried to get rid of Russia troops until Czechoslovakia in 1968. Khrushchev put in Janos Kadar, a supporter of Russia, as Prime Minister. Nagy was tried and executed THE RESULTS OF THE HUNGARIAN UPRISING OF 1956 The ‘thaw’ in the Cold War was over. Mistrust & suspicion increased. 200, 000 Hungarian refugees fled into Austria.

The Suez Crisis, which took place at the same time, was considered far more important and of greater relevance to the west than the suffering of the Hungarians. Hence why Britain, France and America concentrated their resources on this crisis. Because of the geographic location of Hungary, how could you actually help without resorting to war? WHY DID EUROPE AND AMERICA DO NOTHING EXCEPT OFFER MORAL SUPPORT AND CONDEMN RUSSIA Any economic boycott of the Soviet Union would have been pointless as Russia took what it needed from the countries it occupied. Both sides in the Cold War were nuclear powers and the risks were too great.