As the days count down to October 23, Budapest is preparing for the highly-anticipated 50th anniversary of its 1956 revolution. Just in case you were under a rock—as I was, on October 23, 1956, university students all over Hungary started peaceful demonstration against the Soviet Union’s occupation. They chanted the censored “National Song” (Nemzeti dal), the refrain of which states: “We vow, we vow, we will no longer remain slaves.” Hundreds of thousands of people then joined them for the cause.
The rally then turned to violence when the State Protection Authority (ÁVH)—an external appendage of the Soviet Union’s secret police forces, stopped them; by force that is. People still believed that help could come from the United States as American-run Radio Free Europe in Germany encouraged them to go all the way against the Kremlin and even broadcast lessons on how to make Molotov cocktails. But their hope failed them as Russian tanks returned to Budapest on November 4. Six thousand guns were said to open fire on the city, raining phosphorous shells. More than 2,500 Hungarians were said to be killed, some 20,000 wounded, and another 200,000 fled, first to Austria then on to America, Canada, and Australia, in Europe’s first big refugee crisis since the second world war.
“Reform Communist” Prime Minister Imre Nagy pleaded for help on the radio: “This is Prime Minister Imre Nagy speaking. At dawn, Soviet troops attacked our country in order to overthrow the legitimate Hungarian democratic government.” Only Red Cross answered the call. American-Hungarian historian Charles Gati wrote earlier this year that the United States was unprepared to help them and that a few high officials even expected some political and foreign policy benefits from a Soviet invasion. Vice President Richard Nixon explained to his colleagues at a top-secret National Security Council meeting in July 1956 that “it wouldn’t be an unmixed evil, from the point of view of U.S. interest, if the Soviet iron fist were to come down again on the Soviet bloc.”
Fifty years later, people are still embittered about what happened; and who could blame them? Historian Pal Germuska said, “This anniversary should be a chance to make a fresh start at a moment where everyone can agree. Unfortunately no one believes this can happen. The freedom fighters and the killers are still living in this society. Fifty years is not enough to sort out all these problems.”
President George W. Bush might want to redeem the past. In a recent White House proclamation issued to mark the anniversary, he said, “The story of Hungarian democracy represents the triumph of liberty over tyranny. In the fall of 1956, the Hungarian people demanded change, and tens of thousands of students, workers, and other citizens bravely marched through the streets to call for freedom. Though Soviet tanks brutally crushed the Hungarian uprising, the thirst for freedom lived on, and in 1989 Hungary became the first communist nation in Europe to make the transition to democracy.”
That was awfully nice of him; while during his stay in Budapest he stated that he saw parallels between Hungary in 1956 and Iraq in 2006. I can tell you that most people here disagree with him. On second thought, maybe he did have a point. Hungary in 1956 was occupied by Soviet Union, while Iraq in 2006 is occupied by you know who. Hm, interesting!
