Hungary, 1956

Question 1

Who was Hungary lead by from 1949-1956?

Answer 1

A hardline communist - Rakosi

Question 2

How did the Hungarians feel about communism/Rakosi?

Answer 2

• Hungarians hated the restrictions imposed on them
• Bitter about losing their freedom of speech
• Feared the secret police
• Resented the presence of thousands of Soviet troops and officials in their country
• There were some Russian street signs, schools and shops
• Hungarians had to pay for Soviet forces to be in Hungary

Question 3

What happened in Hungary in June 1956?

Answer 3

A group within the Communist Party in Hungary opposed Rakosi.

Question 4

What did Rakosi do?

Answer 4

He appealed to Khrushchev for help.

Question 5

What did Khrushchev say?

Answer 5

• Rakosi wanted to arrest 400 leading opponents but Moscow (cap. of Russia) wouldn’t back him
• He ordered Rakosi to be retired for ‘health reasons’

Question 6

Who was the new leader after Rakosi?

Answer 6

Gero, but he was no more acceptable to the Hungarian people.

Question 7

What happened on the 23rd October, 1956?

Answer 7

The giant statue of Stalin in Budapest (cap. of Hungary) was pulled down.

Question 8

How long did Gero lead Hungary for?

Answer 8

Just over three months.

Question 9

Who took over as leader after Gero?

Answer 9

Nagy, who was well-respected.

Question 10

What is the simple definition of reform?

Answer 10

Change

Question 11

What reform occurred in Hungary under Nagy, in October 1956?

Answer 11

• Soviet troops and tanks that has been stationed in Hungary since WW2 began to withdraw
• Hungarians created thousands of local councils to replace Soviet power
• Several thousand Hungarian soldiers defected from the army to the rebel cause, taking their weapons with them!

Question 12

What plan’s did Nagy’s government start to make? (Card 1)

Answer 12

• Planned to hold free elections
• Create impartial (treating all rivals or disputants equally) courts
• Restore farmland to private ownership
• Wanted the total withdrawal of the Soviet army from Hungary

Question 13

What plan’s did Nagy’s government start to make? (Card 2)

Answer 13

• Planned to leave the Warsaw Pact + declare Hungary neutral in the Cold War struggle between the East and West (no support)
• There was widespread optimism that the American President Eisenhower would support the new independent Hungary with armed troops if necessary

Question 14

How did the Soviet Union respond to the conflict in Hungary? (Card 1)

Answer 14

• At first, Khrushchev seemed ready to accept some of the reforms
• But he couldn’t accept Hungary leaving the Warsaw Pact

Question 15

How did the Soviet Union respond to the conflict in Hungary? (Card 2)

Answer 15

• In November 1965, thousands of Soviet troops and tanks moved into Budapest but the Hungarians didn’t give in
• Two weeks of bitter fighting
• 3000 Hungarians and 1000 Russians killed
• 200,000 Hungarians fled across the border into Austria to escape the communist forces

Question 16

What were the outcomes of this crisis?

Answer 16

• Khrushchev put Kadar in place as leader
• Kadar took several months to crush all resistance
• 35,000 anticommunist activists arrested
• 300 of them were executed
• Kadar cautiously introduced some of the reforms demanded by the Hungarians
• Didn’t waver on the central issue - membership of the Warsaw Pact

Question 17

What were the order of leaders in Hungary?

Answer 17

• Rakosi
• Gero
• Nagy
• Kadar

Question 18

Was Nagy executed?

Answer 18

Yes