Hungary

• when was the Hungarian uprising ?

  1956
• 1944 - Hungary was invaded by the USSR to drive out the Nazis
• Hungary was made to pay $300,000,000 of reparations to the USSR for damages
• Impact of Soviet control:

  • leaders of Popular parties were arrested or fled
  • Communist party became the largest party but did not have the majority so served in a coalition
  • Hungary became a member of cominform
  • Matayas Rakosi emerged as a dictator
• Matyas Rakosi:

  • He used terror and brutality to keep control
  • 2000 were killed and 200,000 were imprisoned
  • Religion was not taught in schools
  • Imprisoned the head of the catholic church
  • The Hungarian economy was prevented from trading with Western Europe or receiving marshall aid. living standards fell - this made Rakosi increasingly unpopular
• Consequence:

  • 20,000 Hungarian rebels killed
  • 7,000 Soviet troops killed
  • 200,000 hungarians Fled the country
  • Imre Nagy was executed in 1958
  • Janos Kadar became the new leader of Hungary after the invasion
• Key events of the Hungarian uprising :

  • March 1953: death of Stalin . Rakosi replaced by Imre Nagy as Hungarys prime minister
  • April 1955: Nagy replaced by Rakosi
  • May 1955: creation of Warsaw pact
  • February 1956: Krushchevs “ secret speech”
  • July 1956: Rakosi forced from power on the orders of Moscow and succeeded by his close friend Erni Gero
  • October 1956: Victims of Rakosi‘s purge were re-buried
  • 23 October 1956: students demonstrated in Budapest , the capital of Hungary , demanding free elections, free press and the withdrawal of Soviet troops. Statue of Stalin was pulled down in Budapest and dragged through the streets