Hungarian revolution:
(Oct 23, – Nov 11, 1956)
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956, or the Hungarian Uprising, was a nationwide revolution against the Hungarian People's Republic and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956. Leaderless at the beginning, it was the first major threat to Soviet control since the Red Army drove Nazi Germany from its territory at the end of World War II in Europe.
The presence of Soviet troops in Hungary was formalized by the 1949 mutual assistance treaty, which granted the Soviet Union rights to a continued military presence, assuring ultimate political control. The Soviet Forces in Hungary were part of the so-called Central Group of Forces headquartered in Baden near Vienna. but the Hungarians were disliked the soviets very much because Hungarians were poor, yet much of the food and industrial goods they produced was sent to Russia. The Hungarians were very patriotic, and they hated Russian control – which included censorship, the vicious secret police (called the AVH after 1948) and Russian control of what the schools taught.
The revolt began as a student protest, which attracted thousands as they marched through central Budapest to the Hungarian Parliament Building, calling out on the streets using a van with loudspeakers. A student delegation, entering the radio building to try to broadcast the students' demands, was detained. When the delegation's release was demanded by the protesters outside, the protesters were fired upon from within the building by the State Protection Police, known as ÁVH. Multiple students died and one was wrapped in a flag and held above the crowd. This was the start of the next phase of the revolution. As the news spread, disorder and violence erupted throughout the capital. Although the Soviet Union did not suffer severe international consequences for the crackdown on the Hungarian Uprising, the event did had important effects on the Eastern Bloc and Soviet internal affairs. Most importantly, the rebellion in Hungary exposed the weaknesses of Eastern European communism. The revolt spread quickly and the government collapsed. during the Hungarian uprising, over 2,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet troops were killed in the conflict, and 200,000 Hungarians fled as refugees. Mass arrests and denunciations continued for months thereafter.
Hungary became a member of NATO in 1999, and a member of the EU in 2004. Hungary also has improved its often frosty neighborly relations by signing basic treaties with Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
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