Hungarian Uprising
1956
What caused the Uprising?
Nikita Khrushchev
•Part of the Bolsheviks during
WW1
•Part of the Red Army and
fought against the Whites in the
Ukraine during the Civil War
•Khrushchev's de-Stalinzation
policy encouraged people living
in Eastern Europe to believe
that he was willing to give them
more independence from the
Soviet Union.
•After the Hungarian
Khrushchev sent Janos Kadar to
Hungary and imprisoned Nagy
Imre Nagy
• 1953-1955 (1st term)
• Oct 1956-Nov 4 1956 (2nd term)
• Wanted to implement ‘far reaching
democracy’ for Hungarian people,
improve daily lives of workers, withdraw
from Warsaw Pact
• Executed in June 1958
• “This fight is the fight for freedom by
the Hungarian people against the
Russian intervention, and it is possible
that I shall only be able to stay at my
post for one or two hours. The whole
world will see how the Russian armed
forces, contrary to all treaties and
conventions, are crushing the resistance
of the Hungarian people.”
1) De-Stalinization
•Death of Joseph
Stalin= death of
Stalinism- Showed
Hope!
•Death relieved
tensions in Soviet
Union and E.
European countries.
•Hungary wanted to
become democratic
•Hungary was a
religious country, S.U.
banned religious
practices
2)Poland Uprising
•Gave Poland new hope
make itself democratic
•100,000 workers, students
were on the streets
protesting- Strike
•Polish has 10,000 troops
and 400 tanks.
•19th October, 1956
Khrushchev flew to
Warsaw, Poland and fought
with the Polish with
warships.
•Result: gained somewhat
freedom such as the
economy, but were part of
the Warsaw Pact.
3)Warsaw Pact
•Treaty between 8 E.
and Central
European countries.
•USSR’s version of
NATO
•Purpose: Treaty of
friendship, Cooperation, and
Mutual assistance.
•Provide aid to the
countries if any
opponents attacked
4)Hungarian Economy
• A lot of Poverty
• Hungarian families had barely anything to eat
• Produced a lot of food but was all imported to
Soviet Union
Hungarian Goal
• Oct 23 1956 students and workers from
Budapest protested their 16 points which
included more food, removal of secret police,
and removal of Russian control > FREEDOM
• Wanted to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact.
• Become democratic
What was the style of war, conflict, or
dispute?
• Recall: Oct 23 1956 students/workers in
Budapest protested for freedom
• Oct 31: President Imre Nagy withdraws
Hungary from Warsaw pact
• Nov 4: Soviet tanks enter Budapest
• Soviet troops enter Hungary
• Major form of weaponry used were tanks
which were used in world war 2 as they
caused severe damage.
• These tanks caused:
– Brutality
– Killing of wounded people
– Tanks dragged bodies through streets as warning
to protestors
Combatants
• Workers, university and school students,
soldiers
• Had a massive riot in Budapest, Hungary
• Stalin’s statue was smashed and protesters
chanted “Russians go home” “Long live Nagy”
• November 4th, Russians fought with
Hungarians with tanks and destroyed
Hungarian army and children were also
fighting with dangerous weapons.
“Help for Hungary A resolution from UNO”
Result:
• 30,000 people killed in Budapest
• 200,000 people fled to the West to seek safety
from the Soviet brutality
• Over 700 Soviet soldiers die & other executed
from refusing to fight
• President Imre Nagy was executed in Romania
• Nov 14: the goal of the Soviet Union was to have
Hungary under control from Moscow
– During the protest Soviet Union was already sending
in Kadar to be put in charge and for communism to be
restored.
Why did nobody help?
• WHERE WAS THE US?
– During the time of the Cold war the US
continuously preached about helping nations that
were under communist rule.
– During the crisis Eisenhower stated: “I feel with
the Hungarian people. To all those suffering under
communist slavery, let us say you can count on
us.”
However the US did nothing!
Why?
• The Geographic location of Hungary
• Too risky that a war would result if US
intervened in Hungary
• Both the US and Soviet Union were huge
nuclear powers so the risk of a nuclear war
was too much
• Suez crisis was the main priority by BR, FR, US.
Not Hungary.
Role of the UN
• Nov 1: Nagy asked UN to become involved in country’s
dispute
• 1.Establishes, for the above-mentioned purposes, a
Special Committee, composed of representatives of
Australia, Ceylon, Denmark, Tunisia and Uruguay, to
investigate, and to establish and maintain direct
observation in Hungary and elsewhere, taking
testimony, collecting evidence and receiving
information, as appropriate, in order to report its
findings to the General Assembly at its eleventh
session, and thereafter from time to time to prepare
additional reports for the information of Member
States and of the General Assembly if it is in session;
• 2.Calls upon the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics and Hungary to co-operate in every
way with the Committee, and in particular, to
permit the Committee and its staff to enter
the territory of Hungary and to travel freely
therein;
• The actions of the UN lead to a forced peace
treaty signing between Soviet union and
Hungary however it was unsuccessful.
What were the types of settlements
which concluded the uprising?
• The result of the Hungarian uprising was
neither a victory, ceasefire, or a negotiated
settlement
• Thousands of Hungarians were arrested and
deported to the Soviet Union
• Kadar comes to power but implements a form
of communism called “Goushlash
Communism”. This was communism with free
market economics.
Bibliography
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BBC: GCSE Bitesize. "Cause and Effect of the Hungarian Revolution." n.d. 10
February 2013.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/ir2/hungaryrev3.shtml>.
Clare, John D. "Hungarian Revolution 1956." 2002. John D. Claire. 10 February 2013.
<http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war14.htm>.
Poznan-Life. "Poznan 1956 Uprising." 2005. 10 February 2013.
<http://www.poznan-life.com/poznan/poznan-1956>.
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<http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/WarPact.html>.
Socialist Worker. "Poland 1956: The Poznan uprising." 1 July 2006. 10 February 2013.
<http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php?article_id=9117>.
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<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/about-the-author.htm>.
United Nations. "Report of the Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary." 1957.
lib.com. 10 February 2013.
<http://libcom.org/files/Report%20of%20the%20UN%20Special%20Committee%
20on%20the%20Problem%20of%20Hungary%20%28compiled%201957%29.pdf>.