1. 1956-1968 The Cold War: Hungary and Czechoslovakia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifq7dTUjonc

2. The Cold War in the 1950s: USSR  Nikita Khrushchev takes over after Stalin’s death in 1953 – ruled until 1955. March 1 - Stalin had a stroke and died four days later in the hospital from a cerebral hemorrhage.  He repudiates (refuses to acknowledge) Stalin’s use of the vast Gulag (labor camp complex) and attempts to separate Stalin’s “crimes” from true communism.

3. The Cold War in the 1950s: USSR  Begins a process called DeStalinization: Signaled a new beginning of less harsh relations between the USSR and her satellite nations. Brought the satellite states into an alliance (Warsaw Pact).

4. Poland, 1956  During the summer and fall of 1956, strikers demanded more freedom from the USSR.  This unrest led to establishing Wladyslaw Gomulka, who had been imprisoned by Stalin, as First Secretary of Poland.

5. Poland, 1956  He stayed in power for fourteen years and lifted many restrictions, yet stayed in the Communist Bloc.  He decollectivized Polish agriculture and lifted restrictions on the Roman Catholic Church.

6. “The marching people seemed very orderly and singing old, well-known patriotic songs. One amazing thing drew our immediate attention in awe: from practically every window along the line of multi-story buildings people were hanging out the Hungarian flag with the middle missing.” ~ Erwin Bernhardt My Story: The 1956 Hungarian Revolution

7. “Soviets surrendered or were fighting on the side of the Budapest people. Many of their tanks were all over the streets, burnt out and abandoned after the fighters, many of them young children, risked their lives throwing 'Molotov cocktails' at the heavy, cumbersome tanks in the narrow streets of Budapest... The streets of Budapest were devastated, an unrecognisable mess. At the beginning, the tanks were roaming up and down on the ring roads and other main roads shooting at will. ~ Erwin Bernhardt My Story

9. HUNGARY Revolution, 1956

10. History: Hungary + WWII  During World War II, Hungary was a member of the Axis Powers.  In 1941, Hungarian forces participated in the occupation of Yugoslavia and the invasion of the USSR.

11. History: Hungary + WWII  By 1944, Soviet armies were advancing toward Hungary, and the government began armistice negotiations with the Allies, which were ended by German occupation and regime change.  In 1945 Hungarian and German forces in Hungary were defeated by invading Soviet armies.

12. History: Hungary Post-WWII  After World War II, Hungary fell under the Soviet sphere of influence and was occupied by the Red Army.  By 1949, the Soviets had concluded a mutual assistance treaty with Hungary which granted the Soviet Union rights to a continued military presence, assuring ultimate political control.

13. History: Hungary Post-WWII  Hungary began the postwar period as a free multiparty democracy, and elections in 1945 produced a coalition government under Prime Minister Zoltan Tildy.

14. History: Hungary + Communism  The brief period of multiparty democracy came to an end when the Communist Party merged with the Social Democratic Party to become the Hungarian Working People’s Party, which stood its candidate list unopposed in 1949.

15. History: Hungary + Communism  The People’s Republic of Hungary was then declared (1949-1989).  Hungary became a communist state under the severely authoritarian leadership of Matyas Rakoski.

16. History: Hungary + Education  The Rákosi government thoroughly politicized Hungary's educational system to supplant the educated classes with a "toiling intelligentsia.”  Russian language study and Communist political instruction were made mandatory in schools and universities nationwide.

17. History: Hungary + Education  On 5 March 1953, Stalin died, ushering in a period of moderate liberalization (De-Stalinization) during which most European communist parties developed a reform wing.  In Hungary, the reformist Imre Nagy replaced Mátyás Rákosi ("Stalin's Best Hungarian Disciple“) as Prime Minister.

18. History: Hungary + Social Unrest  However, Rákosi remained General Secretary of the Party, and was able to undermine most of Nagy's reforms.  By April 1955, he had Nagy discredited and removed from office.

19. History: Hungary + Social Unrest  After Khrushchev’s “secret speech” of February 1956, which denounced Stalin and his protégés, Rákosi was deposed as General Secretary of the Party and replaced by Erno Gero on 18 July 1956.

20. History: Hungary + Social Unrest  Rákosi's resignation in July 1956 emboldened students, writers and journalists to be more active and critical in politics.  Students and journalists started a series of intellectual forums examining the problems facing Hungary.

21. Hungarian Revolution Begins, 1956  The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the People’s Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November, 1956.

22. Hungarian Revolution Begins, 1956  The revolt began as a student demonstration which attracted thousands as it marched through central Budapest to the Parliament buildings.  A student delegation entering the radio building in an attempt to broadcast its demands was detained.

23. Hungarian Revolution Begins, 1956  When the delegation's release was demanded by the demonstrators outside, they were fired upon by the State Security Police (ÁVH) from within the building.  The news spread quickly and disorder and violence erupted throughout the capital.

24. Hungarian Revolution Spreads, 1956  The revolt spread quickly across Hungary, and the government fell = thousands organized into militias, battling the State Security Police (ÁVH) and Soviet troops.  Pro-Soviet communists and ÁVH members were often executed or imprisoned, as former prisoners were released and armed.

25. Hungarian Revolution Spreads, 1956  Impromptu councils wrested municipal control from the ruling Hungarian Working People’s Party and demanded political changes.

26. New Government, 1956  The new government formally disbanded the ÁVH, declared its intention to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact and pledged to re-establish free elections.  By the end of October, fighting had almost stopped and a sense of normality began to return.

27. Hungarian Revolution: Soviet Crackdown, 1956  After announcing a willingness to negotiate a withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Politburo (Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) changed its mind and moved to crush the revolution.

28. Hungarian Revolution: Soviet Crackdown, 1956  Soviet tanks were sent in to obliterate dissent.  On the 4 of November, a large Soviet force invaded Budapest and other regions of the country.

29. Hungarian Revolution: Resistance and Control, 1956  Hungarian resistance continued until 10 November.  Over 2,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet troops were killed in the conflict, and 200,000 Hungarians fled as refugees.

30. Hungarian Revolution: Resistance and Control, 1956  Mass arrests and denunciations continued for months thereafter.  By January 1957, the new Soviet-installed government had suppressed all public opposition.  These Soviet actions alienated many Western Marxists, yet strengthened Soviet control over Central Europe.

31. We tried to get an agreement, an agreement that would provide reasonable self limitations for radicalism and radicals; we tried to have them understand how far they could go and we could go in light of the external circumstances. They [Soviets] did not always understand, though in the end they did. But should I have used an iron hand to make them understand? If I had, I would have betrayed myself, the people – the nation, and everything we stood for. I could not have done that, it was not in my character. Alexander Dubček Recollections of the Crisis

34. CZECHOSLOVAKIA The Prague Spring Revolution, 1968

35. History: Czechoslovakia + WWII  On 8 May 1944, Edvard Beneš (leader of the independence movement, 2 nd president) signed an agreement with Soviet leaders stipulating that Czechoslovak territory liberated by Soviet armies would be placed under Czechoslovak civilian control.

36. History: Czechoslovakia + WWII  On 21 September, Czechoslovak troops formed in the Soviet Union liberated the village Kalinov, the first liberated settlement of Czechoslovakia near the Dukla Pass in north-eastern Slovakia.

37. History: Czechoslovakia + WWII  Czechoslovakia was liberated mostly by Soviet troops (the Red Army), supported by Czech and Slovak resistance, from the east to the west, only south-western Bohemia was liberated by other Allied troops from the west.

38. History: Czechoslovakia + the Soviets  Soon after liberation from German control, the Soviets started annexing parts of Czechoslovakia.  At the conclusion of World War II (1945), Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence, and this circumstance dominated any plans or strategies for postwar reconstruction.

39. History: Czechoslovakia + the Soviets  Consequently, the political and economic organization of Czechoslovakia became largely a matter of negotiations between Edvard Beneš and Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) exiles living in Moscow.

40. History: Czechoslovakia + Democracy  Beneš had compromised with the KSČ to avoid a postwar coup; he naively hoped that the democratic process would restore a more equitable distribution of power.  Beneš had negotiated the Soviet alliance, but at the same time he hoped to establish Czechoslovakia as a "bridge" between East and West, capable of maintaining contacts with both sides.

41. History: Czechoslovakia + Democracy  KSČ leader Klement Gottwald, however, professed commitment to a "gradualist" approach, that is, to a KSČ assumption of power by “democratic” means.

42. History: Czechoslovakia + Communist Rule  In 1948 the twelve non-communist ministers resigned, in part, to induce Beneš to call for early elections.  In the meantime, the KSČ garnered its forces and began purging the government of non-communists.

43. Communist Rule Czechoslovakia  On February 25, Beneš, perhaps fearing Soviet intervention, capitulated.  He accepted the resignations of the dissident ministers and received a new cabinet list from Gottwald, thus completing the communist takeover.  From 1948-1989, the Communists ruled Czechoslovakia.

44. The Prague Spring: Revolt in Czechoslovakia, 1968  The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after WWII.

45. The Prague Spring: Revolt in Czechoslovakia, 1968  It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Slovak Alexander Dubček came to power, and continued until 21 August when the Soviet Union and members of its Warsaw Pact allies invaded the country to halt the reforms.

46. Socialism with a Human Face  The Prague Spring reforms were an attempt by Dubček to grant additional rights to the citizens in an act of partial decentralization of the economy and democratization.  Dubček’s reform movement was called “socialism with a human face.”

47. Freedoms Granted, 1968  The freedoms granted included a loosening of restrictions on the media, speech and travel.

48. Freedoms Granted, 1968  After national discussion of separating the country into a federation of three republics, Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia, Dubček oversaw the decision for two, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.  This was the only change that survived the end of the Prague Spring.

50. Revolution in Czechoslovakia, 1968  The reforms, especially the decentralisation of administrative authority, were not received well by the Soviets who, after failed negotiations, sent thousands of Warsaw Pact troops and tanks to occupy the country.  A large wave of emigration swept the nation.

51. Revolution in Czechoslovakia, 1968  While there were many non-violent protests in the country, including the protest-suicide of a student, there was no military resistance.  Czechoslovakia remained occupied until 1990.

52. Invasion, 1968  After the invasion, Czechoslovakia entered a period of normalization: subsequent leaders attempted to restore the political and economic values that had prevailed before Dubček gained control of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ).

53. Invasion, 1968  Gustav Husak, who replaced Dubček and also became president, reversed almost all of Dubček's reforms.

54. The Velvet Revolution, 1989  Communism did not fall in Czechoslovakia until the Velvet Revolution of 1989 (aka the Gentle Revolution).  November 17 – December 29, 1989.

55. The Velvet Revolution, 1989  Was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow of the communist government.

56. Brezhnev Doctrine, 1968  During the Czechoslovakian Crisis Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet President, announced that it was the right and duty of fraternal socialist countries to intervene in each others affairs when socialism was threatened.

57. Brezhnev Doctrine, 1968  This became known as the Brezhnev Doctrine and would come into play again when Eastern Bloc countries worked to gain their freedom in 1989.

58. CIERNE DNI (Black Days) featuring the song "Struggle for Pleasure"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlQDXQUJpx4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlQDXQUJpx4

60. Sources/Info  http://erwin.bernhardt.net.nz/hungary/hunrevolutio nbook.html. The 1956 Hungarian Revolution (My story), Erwin Bernhardt. http://erwin.bernhardt.net.nz/hungary/hunrevolutio nbook.html  http://library.thinkquest.org/C001155/documents/ doc37.htm. Alexander Dubček Recollections of the Crisis: Events Surrounding the Čierna nad Tisou Negotiations, Translated by: Mark Kramer, Joy Moss and Ruth Tosek. http://library.thinkquest.org/C001155/documents/ doc37.htm