oct 23, 1956 - Hungarian Revolution - Charles

Description:

On October 23, 1956, a handful of students from Budapest began to protest Soviet dominance, and nothing could have prepared them for what followed. Within the next couple of hours, tens of thousands of Hungarians poured into the streets protesting. Later that night, it had evolved into a full scale rebellion against the Gerő-Hegedüs government; one that was a stalinist-esque government.
Over the next five or so days, there was intense fighting between the communists and Hungarian resistance fighters. At first, the Hungarian resistance proved powerful, defeating the Soviets and leading them to withdrawal of forces. The ecstatic Hungarians started to form a new government, one far from that of the communists. The Soviets responded by rolling their tanks into Budapest on November 4th, just a short two weeks after the rebellion. The Hungarian freedom fighters resisted their forces for a long six days, before they were ultimately crushed. The Soviets immediately started executing and arresting thousands of Hungarians, leading to almost 200,000 Hungarians fleeing to Austria and Yugoslavia before the borders closed.

“Remembering ’56: The Hungarian Revolution at Sixty.” Origins, origins.osu.edu/milestones/october-2016-remembering-56-hungarian-revolution-sixty. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.

Hungarian Revolution | Uprising, Soviet Union, Imre Nagy | Britannica, www.britannica.com/event/Hungarian-Revolution-1956. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.

Added to timeline:

Date:

Images: