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After Stalin’s death in 1953, there was a reaction against his dictatorship.

Nikita Khrushchev emerged as the new Soviet leader and he introduced a de-Stalinisation policy, which encouraged people in the Eastern bloc to think that greater freedoms might be possible.

However, there were clear limits to the freedoms Khrushchev would allow.

There was no possibility of countries in the Soviet sphere of influence leaving the Warsaw Pact or of changing their system of government from communism.

This led to riots and demonstrations in Poland and Czechoslovakia and a full blown rebellion in Hungary in 1956.

The Hungarian leader, who had been in control since 1949, was Mátyás Rákosi, a hard-line communist fully under the control of Moscow.

Rákosi’s secret police (the AVH) created a climate of fear and arrested anyone who spoke out or opposed communist rule.

Consequently, Hungarians had no freedom of speech and even something as simple as listening to Western music could lead to arrest.

Soviet presence

Thousands of Soviet troops and officials were stationed in Hungary, and they were a drain on Hungarian resources, leading to poverty.

In June 1956, the Hungarian people began to protest against Rákosi’s regime, and Moscow replaced him with Ernő Gerő.

He was no more popular and on 23 October 1956, students took to the streets and were supported by the workers and the Hungarian army.

• Nationalism: The Hungarians were very proud of their country and had a strong sense of identity.
• Religion: The Catholic religion had been banned under communist rule and the Church's leader Cardinal Mindszenty was imprisoned.
• Poverty: Hungary was poor and yet much of its goods still had to be sent to the USSR.
• Oppression: Communist rule imposed censorship, secret police (AVH), control of education, Russian language.
• Western promises: Hungarians thought the UN or USA would support them if they rebelled.
• Death of Stalin – It was thought that Khrushchev might be willing to exert less control on the Warsaw Pact countries.

• 23 October 1956 - students took to the streets demanding reforms and were supported by the workers and the Hungarian army.
• 24 October 1956 - Soviets agreed to the formation of a new government under the leadership of the more liberal Imre Nagy - a popular communist leader.
• 28 October 1956 - Soviet tanks withdraw from Hungary.
• 1 November 1956 - Nagy introduces reforms including leaving the Warsaw Pact , declaring neutrality in the Cold War, the complete removal of Soviet troops from Hungary and holding free democratic elections.
• 4 November 1956 - 6,000 Soviet tanks crossed the Hungarian border. Bitter street fighting occurred and 30,000 were killed.

Although the West expressed sympathy for the Hungarian people, there was no attempt at intervention by the USA or Western Europe.

This was due to a number of reasons:

1. Their attention was fixed on the Anglo-French invasion of Suez.
2. President Eisenhower was campaigning for re-election and was not interested in events in Hungary.
3. The problem of getting access to Hungary, as Austria was neutral and NATO forces could not advance through it.
4. Khrushchev threatened Britain and France with rockets if they attempted to intervene and it risked the possibility of war with the USSR.
5. It was clear that the West was not prepared to attempt rollback of communism within the Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.

• Hungary was placed under strict communist control.
• In Eastern Europe, there was the realisation that the USSR would not tolerate anyone attempting to break free from theWarsaw Pact.. They also accepted that even if they remained loyal to communism, it had to be on the USSR’s terms.
• Events in Hungary were a clear warning to the other countries within the Soviet sphere of influence not to attempt any move towards independence.