Hungarian Revolution 1956

In October 1956 Hungarian students and workers rose against communist rule and briefly forced Soviet troops out before a massive invasion crushed the revolution.

Overview

Destalinization after the Khrushchev secret speech emboldened reform communists and students. On 23 October huge crowds toppled the Stalin statue in Budapest and demanded the return of Imre Nagy as premier. Insurgent street fighters, many of them teenagers, battled Soviet armor with petrol bombs, and whole army units went over to the revolution. Nagy announced withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact and free elections. On 4 November the Red Army invaded in overwhelming force, and resistance was broken by about 10 November. Around twenty-five hundred Hungarians died, two hundred thousand fled, and Nagy was executed in 1958. The revolt revealed that communist rule in Eastern Europe rested on Soviet arms and shattered western communist parties.