The Hungarian Revolution of 1956
A national uprising against Soviet-backed rule in Hungary that unfolded over thirteen days in October and November 1956, was suppressed by military intervention, and was formally vindicated only with the fall of the communist regime in 1989.
Events
The Student March and the Toppling of Stalin
On October 23, 1956, students gathered at the statue of Polish general Jozsef Bem and marched to Parliament, where the crowd grew to roughly 200,000 people demanding the withdrawal of Soviet troops, free elections, and the return of Imre Nagy to government. Demonstrators toppled the 8-metre (26-foot) Stalin statue on Heroes Square and cut it apart for souvenirs. That evening, state security police (AVH) fired on a crowd outside the radio building, and armed resistance began.
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Nagy Becomes Premier as Soviet Troops Enter
Moscow-backed party leaders installed Imre Nagy as prime minister while Soviet armored units entered Budapest early on October 24. Workers' councils formed in factories and armed groups of civilians, including many soldiers who defected, fought tanks with Molotov cocktails in the capital. Communist party officials stated that the rising was a "counterrevolutionary" attempt to restore capitalism, while insurgents described it as a national revolution.
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Ceasefire and the Dissolution of the AVH
On October 28, Nagy announced a ceasefire and acknowledged that the uprising was a national, democratic revolution rather than a counterrevolution. The feared AVH security police were dissolved, and revolutionary councils formed across the country. Two days later, the new government under Nagy, including non-communists, took office, and Soviet forces withdrew from Budapest while the Presidium in Moscow debated the response.
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Nagy Declares Neutrality and Appeals to the UN
On November 1, with fresh Soviet divisions crossing into Hungary, Nagy declared Hungary's neutrality and its withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact. He appealed to the United Nations for protection of the country's sovereignty. Janos Kadar, who had joined Nagy's government, defected to the Soviets and was announced as head of a rival "Revolutionary Workers'-Peasants' Government" from Moscow in the following days. The UN, preoccupied with the Suez Crisis that had erupted the same week, took no protective action, and the United States, despite years of Radio Free Europe broadcasts encouraging resistance to communist rule, made clear it would not intervene militarily.
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Operation Whirlwind Crushes the Revolution
At dawn on November 4, a Soviet intervention codenamed Operation Whirlwind — launched with roughly 60,000 troops and hundreds of tanks, growing into a much larger occupation force — stormed Budapest. Nagy broadcast a final message from the parliament building before taking refuge in the Yugoslav embassy. Isolated resistance continued in the Csepel industrial district until November 11. Around 2,500 Hungarians were killed and 20,000 wounded; roughly 200,000 fled across the border as refugees, most through Austria. The Soviet leadership framed the operation as fraternal assistance requested by the new Kadar government against counterrevolutionary elements; Western governments condemned it but did not intervene.
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Mass Repression and Deportation of Nagy
On November 22, Soviet agents seized Imre Nagy and his associates from the Yugoslav embassy, where they had been promised safe passage, and deported them to Romania. In the following months the Kadar government detained around 40,000 people; roughly 22,000 received prison sentences and 229 were executed by 1961. Soviet leaders pressured the Hungarian leadership to commute death sentences, and many were, but the most prominent figures were not spared.
Location: Budapest and Romania
The Execution of Imre Nagy
After a secret trial that began in February 1958, Imre Nagy, defense minister Pal Maleter, and journalist Miklos Gimes were convicted of treason and hanged in Budapest prison on June 16, 1958. Nagy's reported last words were "I have served socialism for forty years; I am not a traitor." His body was buried in an unmarked grave in the prison yard.
Location: Budapest, Hungary
The Reburial of Imre Nagy and the Road to 1989
On June 16, 1988, police dispersed a commemorative march for Nagy in Budapest, an event widely credited with reviving open opposition. On the same date in 1989, Nagy and his co-defendants were reburied with full honors at Heroes Square before a crowd of roughly 250,000 people, with a young Viktor Orban among the speakers demanding the withdrawal of Soviet troops. On October 23, 1989, the 33rd anniversary of the revolution, the Republic of Hungary was proclaimed and the uprising was formally recognized as a popular revolution.
Location: Budapest, Hungary