Why was Soviet rule in Hungary challenged in 1956 and why did it fail?

Learning objective – to be able to the reasons for and the failure of the Hungarian Uprising of I can describe the key developments of the Hungarian Uprising of Grade D I can explain the causes of the Hungarian Uprising of Grade B I can evaluate the impact of the Hungarian Uprising of Grade A

Starter – what do you think the story of this image is?

Hungary under Soviet control Why? Hungary was an important and large country in Eastern Europe. What? Hungarian land was redistributed to other East European countries. Hungarian coal, oil and wheat were shipped to USSR, while Hungarians did not have enough food. Non-communist parties were abolished. Religion was banned with the popular Cardinal Mindszenty imprisoned. Russian officials controlled the government and the army. Matyas Rakosi was installed as Hungary’s dictator. Cominform began a reign of terror – executing opposition leaders and their supporters.

Rule of Rakosi and Why? Rakosi was loyal to the USSR. Rakosi was willing to employ brutal methods to establish Soviet control What? Raskosi’s oppressive regime targeted political opponents and Catholics where nearly 400,000 were imprisoned or executed. The Soviets took control of the education system. Living standards began to fall after a failed economic plan to stimulate industrial production. Significant? Rakosi became an increasingly hated figure within the Hungarian people.

De-Stalinisation – Why? The death of Stalin and the emergence of Khrushchev led to the move away from extremely oppressive government. What? 1955, the Austrian State Treaty saw USSR agree with their wartime allies to remove their forces from Austria rendering it a neutral country. 1956, Khrushchev’s secret speech criticised Stalin and suggested greater freedoms within the USSR saw a small uprising in Poland against Communist rule which the Soviet replaced the Polish dictator. Significant? This gave Hungary the impression that the USSR was open to relaxing controls.

Leadership of Imre Nagy – Why? Nagy replaced Rakosi as Hungarian leader in 1953 as Rakosi had become unpopular with the Soviet leadership due to his failed economic plans. What? Imre Nagy was a popular Hungarian politician, more concerned about the people than the state, which made him a figure of suspicion for the Soviets. A more humane leader, Nagy wanted to move away from the tactics of Rakosi but the Soviets stopped him from doing this and he was replaced with Rakosi and thrown out of the Communist Party in Significant? Nagy became a leader the Hungarians turned to who were fed up with the Communist regime.

Growing discontent and violence in Hungary – October 1956 Why? Bad harvests and fuel shortages led to riots in October Growing anti-Soviet feeling. Concessions made in Poland – Hungary wanted the same – a moderate leader. That man was Imre Nagy. Falling living standards. Impression Khrushchev gave in his Secret Speech about reform. What? Students led demonstrations in Parliament Square demanding a 16 point list of reforms to be made. Fighting between police and the people spread throughout Hungary. Nagy was reappointed Prime Minister.

Nagy wants reforms – 1956 Why? Nagy wanted reforms to support the people, remove USSR influence from Hungary and gain support from West. What? Wanted Hungary to leave the Warsaw Pact. Hold free elections. Have a free press and freedom of speech. Wanted the UN to recognise Hungarian neutrality and defence against any USSR invasion. Wanted US financial support. Significant? Split the government with the pro-USSR, Janos Kadar, setting up an alternative government.

USSR Invasion of Hungary – November 1956 Why? Khrushchev was faced with almost total collapse of the Communist government in Hungary. Khrushchev hated the proposed reforms and had to take action or face accusations of weakness. What? USSR forces marched into Hungary on 4 th November in support of Kadar’s government. Two weeks of bitter fighting took place around Budapest with over 200,000 Hungarians fleeing abroad. Janos Kadar took over as Prime Minister of Hungary as Nagy was sacked. Most of this took place while the world was diverted with the Suez Crisis. Significant? USSR was in effective control of Hungary by the end of November, although still faced some vestiges of the uprising until early 1957.

USSR clean up operation – Why? Imre Nagy was still alive. Hungary wanted to show they were still in control of Hungary and serve it was a warning to other countries who wanted to break away. What? Nagy was put on secret trial and executed in Kadar became Hungarian Prime Minister and his programme included US gave Hungary aid and allowed 80,000 Hungarian refugees to come to America. No practical military support was offered. UN made disapproving statements towards the USSR but did nothing. Some nations boycotted the 1956 Olympics in protest. Significant? USSR was in effective control of Hungary by the end of November, although still faced some vestiges of the uprising until early 1957.

Task Complete the note making framework – either on the sheet or copying it into your exercise book. The framework concentrates on three areas – Why the Hungarian Uprising took place? What happened during the Hungarian Uprising? What were the consequences of the Hungarian Uprising?

Task This word cloud summarises the content of the Hungarian Uprising In pairs, find the 14 terms in the word cloud and using the PowerPoint and the sheet given to you, list the 14 terms and, for each term, write their relevance to how the it relates to the Hungarian Uprising.