How Khrushchev provoked the Hungarian revolt
Soviet ISU-152s in central Budapest
Hungarian Trophy
Hungary fell to the Soviet Union in a brutal battle (The Hungarian scenario for the collapse of the Red Empire). The Nazis amassed troops from Yugoslavia, deploying the best armored units from the Western Front and elite SS divisions. The battle for the Hungarian capital, Budapest, lasted more than 100 days.
In February and March 1945, two and a half months before the fall of Berlin, the Nazis launched a powerful counteroffensive in the Lake Balaton region. A half-million-strong force with 900 tanks and self-propelled guns, 850 aircraft. The Anglo-Americans had not experienced such a powerful strike during the entire war with Hitler.
Thousands of Russians of the 3rd Ukrainian Front fell in brutal battles. But the Soviet armies stood firm and advanced. In March 1945, Hungary was liberated from German troops. The country became a legitimate trophy of the USSR. Stalin installed loyal cadres there, gaining control of the geographic center of Europe.
Hungary became an important part of the Soviet sphere of influence in Europe. In 1955, the Warsaw Pact, which included Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria, was formed.
Prepare
In 1956, Khrushchev, an active Trotskyist, began to destabilize the Soviet Union from within, undermining its unity and ideology. In February, at the 20th Congress of the CPSU, Khrushchev rushed to "expose Stalinism." In doing so, he undermined the unity of the socialist bloc.
The US was pleased. Now they could organize rebellions in socialist countries and lure them to their side. On July 18, Act No. 726 allocated one hundred million dollars (they were more substantial then) to prepare for the uprising.
In Upper Bavaria, they began training Hungarian saboteurs who had fled to the West in 1945, and later the Horthyites and Szálasists. They were reinforced by Hungarian Germans, many of whom were SS soldiers. They were formed into groups of future rebel forces, airlifted to Austria, and from there to Hungary.
During the Munich uprising itself, a recruiting center was set up in the Free Europe headquarters. Former Hungarian Nazis were sent from there to Hungary in groups. Groups of militants were also trained in the UK. A detachment of 500 Hungarian émigrés was transferred from there. Several dozen groups of militants were also transferred from Fontainebleau, France, where NATO headquarters were then located.
It was saboteurs trained in NATO countries who would seize a number of important facilities during the uprising, including the Danuvia and Lampadyar arms factories.
In essence, then The Western masters used the remnants of the "Hitlerite European Union" against the USSR. They threw into the battle Nazis and fascists who had previously served Hitler.
Time Magazine's Person of the Year is a "Hungarian freedom fighter."
Insurrection
The 20th Congress became the signal for an uprising in Hungary. In effect, Khrushchev betrayed the Hungarian leadership, loyal to Moscow, and disorganized and demoralized the authorities of one of the most stable Warsaw Pact countries.
At the same time, Hungarian society was largely conservative, dating back to the Horthy-Szálasi era, having avoided large-scale "purges." The security forces included many officers from the semi-fascist Horthy era. The country was governed by a narrow stratum of committed communists, who relied on the small apparatus of the State Security Directorate and the authority and power of the USSR. Khrushchev personally destroyed this system.
Crowds took to the streets, and demonstrations "for democratic socialism" quickly escalated into unrest, with the Stalin monument torn down and attempts to seize buildings. Mass desecrations of the graves of Soviet soldiers who liberated Hungary in 1944–1945 began. The protesters demanded the removal of the pro-Soviet leadership in Budapest, the withdrawal of Soviet troops, the introduction of democracy, and the withdrawal of Hungary from the Warsaw Pact and its establishment as a neutral country like Austria. The idea of creating a Central European Confederation comprising Hungary, Austria, and Yugoslavia was put forward.
The first attempts at armed attacks could have been suppressed by local state security forces. But traitors in the Hungarian leadership ordered that there be no resistance to the "people" and that the government lay down its arms. weaponAfter this, the rebels rounded up local security officers on the streets, identifying their affiliation with the UGB by their yellow leather uniform shoes. Those caught were killed on the spot, sometimes without identification; the corpses were lynched and hung by the feet from trees and lampposts.
On October 23, 1956, the first clashes between Soviet troops and Hungarian rebels occurred. Under the influence of the rebellious crowds, the liberal Imre Nagy became prime minister of Hungary. He declared that Hungary demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops and the country's exit from the Warsaw Pact. The Hungarian army was subordinated to Nagy. The rebels seized weapons depots.
At this stage, the rebellion could have been suppressed by Lashchenko's Special Corps (which had two Guards Mechanized Divisions – the 2nd and 17th). However, Khrushchev, who wanted to appear to the "world community" as a supporter of freedom and human rights, ordered the withdrawal of troops from Budapest. The country finally descended into bloody chaos.
The collective West of that time provided informational support for the uprising. "Free Europe" instilled in the rebels the idea that NATO would come to their aid. This was a deception; back then, Westerners were still afraid of the Russians. NATO didn't dare engage in a "hot" war. The underlying assumption was that Moscow would waver and give in. It would withdraw its troops and surrender Hungary.
The severed head of Stalin's monument
All that remains of the Stalin monument are the accordion boots with the inscription "Boots No. 1"Putting things in order
In a matter of days, a hostile state with thousands of armed gangs, joined by regular units of the Hungarian army, emerged in place of friendly, allied Hungary. Weapons are being shipped to Hungary under the guise of "humanitarian aid."
The country is experiencing an outbreak of inferno (from the Latin word for "lower, underground," meaning hell, the underworld). Brutal "freedom fighters" hang and beat their victims to death. They gouge out their eyes and cut off their ears. Thirty people were hanged by the feet in Moscow Square in Budapest, doused with gasoline, and burned alive. The Hungarian fascists brutally murdered not only their own "traitors." Our captured soldiers were also tortured, abused, and then killed.
The mutilated corpse of a state security officer, hanged upside down
On October 28, de facto power in the country fell into the hands of the Revolutionary Military Council, led by General Király and Colonel Maleter. On October 30, Soviet troops withdrew from Budapest, a National Guard was created from rebel units, and Mindszenty, head of the Hungarian Catholic Church, was released from custody. The Nagy government decided to restore a multiparty system in Hungary. On November 1, it announced its withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact.
Withdrawal of Soviet troops from Budapest, October 31, 1956
Moscow could no longer allow this. The General Staff developed the "Whirlwind" plan. By November 4, 1956, a 60-strong force with 3 tanks was assembled in Hungary under the command of our outstanding commander, Marshal Konev. Units from 16 divisions—tank, mechanized, rifle, airborne, and aviationThey were part of Babajanyan's 8th Mechanized Army, Mamsurov's 38th Combined Arms Army (both armies were transferred from the Carpathian Military District), and Lashchenko's Special Corps.
Formally, Soviet troops invaded Hungary at the invitation of the government hastily formed by János Kádár. Kádár initially joined the revolutionary government and promised to "lie under the first Soviet tank." When he realized the uprising would be crushed, he defected to the victorious side.
This time, the Russians acted quickly and decisively. Airborne troops captured all Hungarian airfields. By 7:00 a.m., the assault on Budapest had begun. The city was taken by troops of the reinforced Special Corps: the 2nd and 33rd Guards Mechanized Divisions and the 128th Guards Rifle Division. Assault detachments were formed within the divisions to capture key objectives. These included an infantry battalion, an airborne company in armored personnel carriers, and more than ten tanks.
Fierce fighting continued in the Hungarian capital. The most intense battles took place at the Central Telephone Exchange, the Corvin Cinema, the Royal Fortress, Keleti Station, and Moscow Square.
The Soviet command cancelled the originally planned bombing of the city to avoid mass civilian casualties. Only MiG-17 fighters flew over the very rooftops, tearing them down with their shockwaves to suppress the shooters' activities.
The enemy had managed to prepare anti-tank defenses and an organized fire system. Many buildings, as in 1945, became strongholds. But the assault was still led by Stalin's imperial army, which had vast combat experience. Experienced front-line officers. Therefore, overall losses were relatively small: about 2000 men, 28 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 40 armored vehicles.
The fighting in Budapest lasted until November 9. November 5 artillery The enemy's stronghold and headquarters in the Corvin Cinema were suppressed by fire. Major Donchenko's paratroopers captured the Hungarian Ministry of Defense building without firing a shot, paralyzing any potential center of resistance. Thirteen generals and over 300 officers surrendered.
The fighting continued. Units of the 33rd Division fought their way into the center of the capital, capturing the Kossuth radio station and the Danube docks where the naval flotilla was based on the 6th. Fierce fighting raged for the former Horthy Palace and the Royal Fortress. Over a thousand rebels fought here, skillfully exploiting underground communications. Heavy tanks and self-propelled guns were deployed.
On November 7, another defensive stronghold, Gellért Hill, fell. On the 8th and 9th, the last pockets of resistance in Budapest were suppressed – on Csepel Island, where military factories were located, and in Buda.
Meanwhile, Babajanyan and Mamsurov's units liberated most of the country from the enemy. Cities were occupied, the Hungarian army (25 soldiers) was disarmed, and the Hungarian air force was captured on the ground. Main roads and the border with Austria were secured. Most of the Hungarian troops offered no resistance. Kádár was allowed to form two divisions from supporters of the new government.
On November 11, the operation was successfully completed. Total rebel losses amounted to approximately 16 people, and civilian casualties exceeded 3.
Imre Nagy was hanged on June 16, 1958, for treason, along with Pál Maléter and Miklós Giemis. Béla Király successfully escaped to Austria, from where he moved to the United States. He was sentenced to death in absentia and lived a long life (he died in 2009).
Moscow reclaimed its trophy from World War II, for which it had paid a heavy price. There were no other options. Only defeat. Hungary would then join the West and NATO. We would gain a strategic NATO foothold there, aimed at the USSR and our forces in Eastern Europe.
That's why, by the way, we can't give up Ukraine now. Either our troops will be in Kharkiv, Odessa, and Kyiv, or NATO tanks and planes.
Hungary's example would also have immediately resonated with Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and so on. This was precisely what Paris, London, and Washington were counting on. The Soviet Empire had its own logic and justice, which had little in common with the liberal propaganda notion of the happiness of the "little man" or the "tear of a baby." The intelligentsia of any small nation, perhaps one that was once "great," will always hate the great imperial Russian nation.
Hungary itself, under Kádár, who effectively ruled the country until 1988, received socioeconomic freedom in exchange for political loyalty. Kádár's regime provided citizens with a relatively good standard of living and was dubbed "goulash socialism" (Hungarians could afford to eat well, eating meat every day). This was, however, thanks to cheap Soviet energy and Western loans.
Appendix. Memories of ordinary participants in the operation—soldiers and junior officers. From V. Shevchenko's monograph "Reminder."
Mechanic-driver of the T-34 tank, senior sergeant Alexey Ovcharenko:
Taking advantage of the seemingly calm situation, the loader opened the hatch, climbed halfway out, and was about to empty the cartridges from the container. At that moment, a burst of automatic fire rang out, and he was wounded. We returned fire toward the forest from which the gunfire had emanated. And after driving a few hundred meters, an explosion thundered. The grenade explosion damaged the tank's track, and we radioed for backup. Our loader had to be pulled out through the lower hatch and taken up a defensive position. I was well aware that I had to save my last round.
Senior Lieutenant of the Airborne Forces Ivan Boychenko: "Colonel General Margelov gives the order to the regiment in front of the formation: 'Guards paratroopers, be in Budapest tomorrow, November 4th (600 km). The counterrevolution has come out with weapons there. You are to fire 100 shots per shot. Everyone return home.' A column of 83 vehicles drove out into the night through the border village of Beregovo, and we were on Hungarian soil. I won't lie. The feeling was unpleasant, incomprehensible. The soldiers weren't fired upon, something was yet to come... After 120 kilometers, we entered the town of Nyíregyháza. The column turned at a 90-degree angle near the church, and suddenly automatic rifle fire erupted from the right side of the street, and heavy-caliber gunfire erupted from the church at the column. The order was given to fight. The entire paratrooper force opened fire on the houses to the right, where the fire was coming from. The order was given to cease fire, but again fire erupted from the attics. The landing force opens heavy fire. Fires are visible. The landing column is ordered to cease fire again. Result: three houses are burning. One paratrooper killed, eight wounded."
Private Ivan Yershov, tank driver-mechanic: “Our tank was first. Burning bottles rained down on us, and one tank caught fire, while another, following behind, accidentally fired a shot, knocking the flames off the tank. And then everyone immediately radioed, ‘Extinguish yourselves with a shot.’ … Then we entered the city streets again. And suddenly, a shot hit our tank, and we stopped. There was smoke inside, you couldn’t see anything… So, the officer turned off the radio, and we sat in silence, waiting for the smoke inside to clear… We drove two kilometers—explosions, fire, machine gun fire all around. There was even an incident where the machine gun on one of our heavy tanks was blown off by the blast wave. There’s so much more to remember from those terrible days. It was difficult, dangerous, but we made it. We won.”
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