The Hungarian Revolution began on 23 October 1956 with a student demonstration in Budapest that swelled into a mass protest against the Stalinist government of Mátyás Rákosi and his successor Ernő Gerő. After security forces (the ÁVH) fired on demonstrators outside the Radio Budapest building, the protest turned into an armed insurrection. Workers' councils formed across the country, statues of Stalin were toppled, and revolutionary committees took control of much of Hungary within days.
Imre Nagy, a reform communist, was installed as Prime Minister and moved rapidly in response to popular demands. By 1 November, his government announced Hungary's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact (signed only the year before, in 1955), declared neutrality, and appealed to the United Nations for recognition. Multi-party politics were briefly restored.
The Soviet leadership under Nikita Khrushchev, initially hesitant, decided on intervention. On 4 November 1956, Soviet forces launched Operation Whirlwind (Vikhr), entering Budapest with armored units and overwhelming resistance within days. János Kádár, who had defected from Nagy's cabinet, was installed as the new leader of a Soviet-aligned government.
Estimates suggest roughly 2,500–3,000 Hungarians and several hundred Soviet soldiers were killed. Approximately 200,000 refugees fled to Austria and Yugoslavia. Imre Nagy, who had taken refuge in the Yugoslav embassy, was lured out, arrested, secretly tried, and executed in June 1958.
The revolution had significant international consequences:
- It coincided with the Suez Crisis, which distracted Western powers and limited their response.
- Western broadcasts (notably Radio Free Europe) were later criticized for encouraging expectations of intervention that never came.
- It prompted resignations from several Western European communist parties and damaged Soviet ideological prestige.
- The UN General Assembly passed several resolutions condemning the intervention, though without effect.
In 1989, as communist rule ended, Nagy was reburied with full honors, and 23 October became a Hungarian national holiday.