Soviet Invasion of Hungary
Soviet Invasion of Hungary
After the Second World War, Hungary was part of the Eastern European group of nations that was part of the Soviet Union’s defence strategy against the West. These countries were part of the Soviet machine in terms of ideology, but remained independent of the Soviet Union itself. The Hungarians disapproved of Stalin’s efforts to exert control over them. In 1945, the Hungarians held free elections, and the Communist party received less than one fifth of the vote. This enraged Stalin and he set about forcing a reshuffle of the elected government and giving many of the key positions to Communists who were sympathetic to the Soviet policy. Stalin rigged the elections that were held in 1947 to make sure that the Communist party was in power. After Stalin’s death in 1953, Khrushchev came to power. His ‘de-Stalinisation’ process gave satellite states new hope for democratic freedom,due to which Hungary even joined the Warsaw pact in 1955. The Warsaw Pact also known as the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, was signed by the eastern and central European communist states primarily to counter the perceived threat of the Western NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) alliance.
However, Hungary was still determined to be independent of Soviet rule, especially after seeing Khrushchev’s easy attitude towards Poland. Hungary wanted economic reforms, including increased trade with western European states. Due to its dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union, Hungary left the Warsaw Pact in 1956. This further angered Khrushchev who was afraid that the eastern European buffer zone was breaking down. Consequently, changes were made to the Hungarian Communist central leadership. The Soviets forced Matthias Rakosi, the general Secretary of the Hungarian Communist party and the then Prime Minister, to resign and to be replaced by Erno Gero. A mass demonstration on 23 October 1956, which led to the army aligning themselves with the demonstrators, and called for the removal of Gero from his post and the replacement of Imre Nagy as Prime Minister, was the catalyst for Khrushchev to send Soviet troops into Hungary. The rebellion was quickly crushed and the Communists took control of the situation. A new government that completely ignored the wants of the people was set up. Only what the people could contribute to the great Soviet machine was what mattered. While on the surface, the invasion can be viewed as victory; in reality it showed how only total control would allow Communists to be effective. Soviet troops withdrew from Hungary after the end of the Cold war in 1991.
