In the fall of 1956, events occurred that after the fall of the communist regime were referred to as the Hungarian uprising, and in Soviet sources were called the counter-revolutionary rebellion. But, regardless of how these or other ideologists characterized them, it was an attempt by the Hungarian people to overthrow the pro-Soviet regime in the country by force of arms. It entered one of the most important events of the Cold War, which showed that the USSR was ready to use military force to maintain its control over the countries of the Warsaw Pact.
The establishment of a communist regime
To understand the reasons for the uprising that took place in 1956, one should dwell on the domestic political and economic situation of the country in 1956. First of all, it should be noted that during the Second World War, Hungary fought on the side of the Nazis, therefore, in accordance with the articles of the Paris Peace Treaty, signed by the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, the USSR had the right to keep its troops on its territory until the withdrawal of the allied occupying forces from Austria.
Immediately after the end of the war, general elections were held in Hungary, in which the Independent Party of Small Masters won by a significant margin of victory over the Communist Military - Hungarian Party of Workers. As it became known later, the ratio was 57% versus 17%. However, relying on the support of the contingent of the Soviet armed forces located in the country, already in 1947, the military-technical commission seized power by means of fraud, threats and blackmail, appropriating the right to be the only legal political party.
Student of Stalin
The Hungarian Communists tried in everything to imitate their Soviet party members, not without reason their leader Matthias Rakosi was popularly nicknamed the best student of Stalin. He was awarded this “honor” because, having established a personal dictatorship in the country, he tried in every way to copy the Stalinist model of government. In an atmosphere of blatant arbitrariness, industrialization and collectivization were carried out by force , and in the field of ideology, any manifestations of dissent were mercilessly suppressed. The country also launched a struggle with the Catholic Church.
During the reign of Rakosi, a powerful state security apparatus, AVH, was created, numbering 28 thousand employees, assisted by 40 thousand informants. All aspects of the life of Hungarian citizens were under the control of this service. As it became known in the post-communist period, dossiers were opened per million inhabitants of the country, of which 655 thousand were persecuted, and 450 thousand served various terms of imprisonment. They were used as free labor in mines and mines.
In the field of economics, as well as in political life, an extremely difficult situation has developed. It was caused by the fact that as a military ally of Germany, Hungary had to pay a significant reparation to the USSR, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, which paid almost a quarter of the national income. Of course, this extremely negatively affected the standard of living of ordinary citizens.
Short political thaw
Certain changes in the life of the country came in 1953, when, in view of the obvious failure of industrialization and the weakening of ideological pressure on the part of the USSR caused by the death of Stalin, Matthias Rakosi, who was hated by the people, was removed from his post as head of government. His place was taken by another communist - Imre Nagy, a supporter of immediate and fundamental reforms in all areas of life.
As a result of his measures, political persecution was stopped and their previous victims were amnestied. By a special decree, Nagy put an end to the internment of citizens and their forced eviction from cities on a social basis. The construction of a number of unprofitable large industrial facilities was also stopped, and the funds allocated for them were used to develop food and light industry. On top of this, government bodies have eased pressure on agriculture, reduced tariffs for households, and lowered food prices.
The resumption of the Stalinist course and the beginning of unrest
However, despite the fact that such measures made the new head of the government very popular among the people, they were also an occasion to exacerbate the internal party struggle in the military. Dismissed from the post of head of government, but retaining a leading position in the party, Matthias Rakosi through behind-the-scenes intrigues and with the support of Soviet Communists managed to defeat his political opponent. As a result, Imre Nagy, on whom most ordinary citizens of the country had his hopes, was removed from his post and expelled from the party.
The consequence was the renewal of the Stalinist line of government by the Hungarian Communists and the continuation of political repression. All this caused extreme discontent among the general public. The people began to openly demand the return to power of Nadia, a general election built on an alternative basis and, most importantly, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country. This last requirement was especially relevant, since the signing of the Warsaw Treaty in May 1955 gave the USSR the foundation to maintain its contingent in Hungary.
The Hungarian uprising was the result of the aggravation of the political situation in the country in 1956. An important role was played by the events of the same year in Poland, where open anti-communist protests took place. Their result was an increase in critical mood among students and the writing intelligentsia. In mid-October, a significant portion of young people announced their withdrawal from the Democratic Youth Union, which was an analogue of the Soviet Komsomol, and entry into the student union that existed before, but was dispersed by the Communists.
As it often happened in the past, students gave an impetus to the uprising. Already on October 22, they formulated and presented to the government demands that included the appointment of I. Nadia to the post of prime minister, the organization of democratic elections, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country and the demolition of monuments to Stalin. Banners with such slogans were prepared to be carried by participants in a nationwide demonstration planned for the next day.
October 23, 1956
This procession, which began in Budapest at exactly fifteen o’clock, attracted more than two hundred thousand participants. The history of Hungary hardly remembers another, so unanimous manifestation of political will. By this time, the ambassador of the Soviet Union, the future head of the KGB, Yuri Andropov, urgently contacted Moscow and reported in detail about everything that was happening in the country. He ended his message with a recommendation to provide the Hungarian Communists with comprehensive, including military, assistance.
By the evening of the same day, the newly appointed first secretary of the All-Union Military Technical Council, Ern Ger, spoke on the radio with condemnation of the demonstrators and threats against them. In response, a crowd of demonstrators rushed to storm the building where the broadcasting studio was located. An armed conflict occurred between them and the units of the state security forces, as a result of which the first dead and wounded appeared.
Regarding the source of the demonstrators' receipt of weapons in the Soviet media, it was argued that it had been delivered to Hungary in advance by Western intelligence agencies. However, from the testimonies of the participants in the events themselves, it can be seen that it was received or simply taken away from the reinforcements sent to help the defenders of the radio. It was also mined in warehouses of civil defense and in captured police stations.
Soon, an uprising swept all over Budapest. The army and state security units did not show serious resistance, firstly, because of their small numbers - there were only two and a half thousand people, and secondly, because many of them openly sympathized with the rebels.
The first entry of Soviet troops into Hungary
In addition, an order was received not to open fire on civilians, and this deprived the military of the opportunity to take serious action. As a result, by the evening of October 23, many key objects were in the hands of the people: warehouses with weapons, newspaper printing houses and the Central City Station. Aware of the threat of the situation, on the night of October 24, the Communists, wishing to gain time, again appointed Imre Nagy as Prime Minister, and they themselves turned to the USSR government with a request to send troops to Hungary in order to crush the Hungarian uprising.
The appeal resulted in the introduction of 6,500 troops, 295 tanks and a significant number of other military equipment into the country. In response to this, an urgently formed Hungarian National Committee appealed to the US President to provide military assistance to the rebels.
First blood
On the morning of October 26, during a rally in the square near the parliament building, fire was opened from the roof of the house, as a result of which a Soviet officer was killed and a tank was set on fire. This provoked a return fire, which cost the lives of hundreds of demonstrators. The news of what happened quickly flew around the country and became the reason for the massacre of residents with state security officers and just the military.
Despite the fact that, wishing to normalize the situation in the country, the government announced an amnesty for all participants in the mutiny who voluntarily laid down their arms, the clashes continued for the following days. The replacement of the first secretary of the Armed Forces, Ern Hero, Janos Kadaroam, did not affect the current situation. In many areas, the leadership of party and state institutions simply scattered, and in their place local government bodies spontaneously formed.
Soviet withdrawal from the country and the beginning of chaos
As participants in the events testify, after the ill-fated incident in the square in front of the parliament, Soviet troops did not take active action against the demonstrators. After a statement by Prime Minister Imre Nagy about condemning the old “Stalinist” methods of leadership, the dissolution of the state security forces and the start of negotiations on the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country, many had the impression that the Hungarian uprising had achieved the desired results. The fighting in the city stopped, for the first time in recent days there was silence. The result of negotiations between Nadia and the Soviet leadership was the withdrawal of troops, which began on October 30.
These days, many areas of the country were in an atmosphere of complete anarchy. The previous power structures were destroyed, but the new ones were not created. The government, which met in Budapest, had practically no effect on what was happening on the streets of the city, and there was a sharp surge in crime, since more than ten thousand criminals were released from prisons along with political prisoners.
In addition, the situation was aggravated by the fact that the Hungarian uprising of 1956 very soon radicalized. The consequence of this was the massacre of military personnel, former employees of state security agencies, and even ordinary communists. More than twenty party leaders were executed in the central military committee building alone. In those days, photographs of their mutilated bodies circled the pages of many world publications. The Hungarian revolution began to take on the features of a "senseless and merciless" rebellion.
Re-entry of the armed forces
The subsequent suppression of the uprising by Soviet troops was made possible primarily as a result of the position taken by the US government. Having promised military and economic support to I. Nadia’s cabinet, the Americans at a critical moment renounced their obligations, leaving Moscow to intervene unhindered in the current situation. The Hungarian uprising of 1956 was almost doomed to defeat when, at a meeting of the CPSU Central Committee on October 31, N. S. Khrushchev called for the adoption of the most radical measures to establish communist rule in the country.
Based on his orders , USSR Minister of Defense Marshal G.K. Zhukov led the development of an armed invasion plan for Hungary, called the Whirlwind. It provided for the participation in the hostilities of fifteen tank, motorized and rifle divisions, with the involvement of the air forces and airborne units. Almost all the leaders of the Warsaw Treaty member countries spoke in favor of this operation.
Operation Whirlwind began when the recently appointed Hungarian Defense Minister, Major General Pal Maleter, was arrested on November 3 by the Soviet KGB. This happened during the negotiations held in the city of Tököl, near Budapest. The input of the main contingent of the armed forces, which was personally commanded by G.K. Zhukov, was made the next morning. The official reason for this was the request of the government, headed by Janos Kadar. In a short time, the troops captured all the main objects of Budapest. Imre Nagy, saving his life, left the government building and took refuge in the embassy of Yugoslavia. Later, he will be lured out of him, put on trial, and together with Pal Maleter publicly hanged as traitors.
Active suppression of rebellion
The main events unfolded on November 4. In the center of the capital, Hungarian rebels fiercely resisted Soviet troops. To suppress it, flamethrowers were used, as well as incendiary and smoke shells. Only fear of a negative reaction of the international community to a large number of civilian casualties kept the command from bombing the city with airplanes already in the air.
In the coming days, all the available centers of resistance were suppressed, after which the Hungarian uprising of 1956 took the form of an underground struggle against the communist regime. To one degree or another, it did not subside over the following decades. As soon as the pro-Soviet regime was finally established in the country, mass arrests of participants in the recent uprising began. The history of Hungary began to develop again according to the Stalin scenario.
According to researchers, at that time about 360 death sentences were passed, 25 thousand citizens of the country were prosecuted, and 14 thousand of them served different terms of imprisonment. For many years, behind the Iron Curtain, which fenced the countries of Eastern Europe from the rest of the world, was also Hungary. The USSR - the main stronghold of communist ideology - vigilantly followed everything that was happening in the countries controlled by it.