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Hungarians investigate a disabled Soviet tank in Budapest
The 1956 Hungarian Revolution, also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a popular revolt against Soviet influence and control in Hungary. The revolt was brutally suppressed by Soviet troops. About 25-50,000 Hungarian insurgents and 7,000 Soviet troops were killed, thousands more were wounded, and nearly a quarter million left the country as refugees. The revolution was a watershed event for communists in Western countries; many who had formerly supported the Soviet Union now criticized it.
1 Overview
On 23 October 1956 Hungary's population rose up against their government. The population achieved control over a large number of social institutions and territory. The Hungarians began to implement their own policies, one of the first of these being hunting down and killing known ÁVH informants. The Soviet Union's army intervened on two occasions to stop this process, once on the night of October 23, resulting in a ceasefire by 1 November 1956. On the night of 4 November 1956 the Soviet army again acted to halt this process of popular reform. By January 1957 the Soviet Union had installed a new Hungarian government and halted the reforms demanded by the people. Due to the rapid change in government and social policies; the role of left-wing ideology in uniting the population; and, the use of armed force to achieve political goals this uprising is often considered a revolution.
2 Historical debate
The historical and political significance of the Hungarian revolution of 1956 is still actively debated. The main views on the nature of the revolution are:
- That it was a socialist and democraticA democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the laws and structures of government lies with the voting citizenry (referred to as "the people", because in modern times it usually consists of all people over 18 years of age), and all revolution aiming to create a more open communist society like YugoslaviaThe Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a Balkan state that existed from 1945 to 1992. It was formed in 1945 from remains of the pre-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia under the name Democratic Federal Yugoslavia in 1946 it changed its name to Federal Peo, or a social democratic society like SwedenThe Kingdom of Sweden Konungariket Sverige in Swedish) is a Nordic country in Scandinavia, in Northern Europe. It is bordered by Norway on the west, Finland on the northeast, the Skagerrak and the Kattegat on the southwest, and the Baltic Sea and the Gulf, or perhaps a new and different kind of socialist system. This view was popular among reformist communists and is popular among democratic socialistsDemocratic socialism is a political movement propagating the ideals of socialism within the framework of a parliamentary democracy. Democratic socialism has its roots in classical Marxism and the socialist movement of the 19th century; however, it is stro, Trotskyists and others.
- That it was a libertarian socialist and anarchist revolution aiming to create a new kind of society modelled on the Hungarian workers councils. This view is popular amongst council communists and left wing anarchists.
- That it was a nationalist and democratic revolution with an intention to create a capitalist economy. This view is popular in the United States of America.
- That it was a clerical and fascist attempt to restore a Horthyite or Arrow Cross government and a feudal capitalist economy. This view was popular with Soviet Union and Chinese aligned communist parties. This position has little historical credibility, but its bias is present in many accounts of the revolution.
Due to the variety of conflicting and irreconcilable historiographical positions on the Hungarian revolution of 1956, it is difficult to produce a summary account of revolutionary events. Similarly, because the revolution was short lived, it is impossible to speculate on what its effects might have been.
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