What the Hungarians Wrought

IN October 1956, just fifty years ago, Hungarian freedom fighters rose against their Soviet colonizers and oppressors. Their forebears had done the same under Lajos Kossuth in 1848, and the Habsburg and Russian autocracies then combined to suppress them bloodily. The Soviets were even more brutal. Approximately 2,500 freedom fighters were killed in twelve days of fighting, as well as nearly 100 members of the secret police, known as the AVO, and several hundred Soviet soldiers. In the aftermath, about 300 prominent Hungarians were judicially executed, including Imre Nagy, the prime minister who was the revolution’s figurehead. Some 850,000 police prosecutions were opened, as a result of which 22,000 people were imprisoned. Afew others were deported to the Soviet Union, and 200,000 fled to the West, among them the cream of the intelligentsia, including scientists, well-known writers such as Pal Ignotus, Tibor Meray, and Gyorgy Paloczi-Horvath, and not least General Bela Kiraly, the revolution’s chief of staff.

Stifled in blood and terror, the revolution appeared a failure, and Communism set firm to be another long Dark Age. As Orwell had predicted, the future was to be a jackboot stamping on the human face forever. To do their bidding, the Soviets installed Janos Kadar as Communist Party leader and prime minister, the very essence of a quisling, a dour character with a thorough understanding of the mechanics of repression. It was his express purpose to hang Imre Nagy and other former close colleagues as well. So he was able to rule unchallenged for thirty years; and yet things did not work out as intended. Resting on force and the secret police, Communism proved unable to satisfy basic material and spiritual needs, and gradually withered on the vine, not only in Kadar’s Hungary but throughout the Soviet bloc.

About the Author

David Pryce-Jones

David Pryce-Jones (1936–2025) was a British author and commentator and served as a senior editor of National Review.

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IN October 1956, just fifty years ago, Hungarian freedom fighters rose against their Soviet colonizers and oppressors. Their forebears had done the same under Lajos Kossuth in 1848, and the Habsburg and Russian autocracies then combined to suppress them bloodily. The Soviets were even more brutal. Approximately 2,500 freedom fighters were killed in twelve days of fighting, as well as nearly 100 members of the secret police, known as the AVO, and several hundred Soviet soldiers. In the aftermath, about 300 prominent Hungarians were judicially executed, including Imre Nagy, the prime minister who was the revolution’s figurehead. Some 850,000 police prosecutions were opened, as a result of which 22,000 people were imprisoned. Afew others were deported to the Soviet Union, and 200,000 fled to the West, among them the cream of the intelligentsia, including scientists, well-known writers such as Pal Ignotus, Tibor Meray, and Gyorgy Paloczi-Horvath, and not least General Bela Kiraly, the revolution’s chief of staff.

Stifled in blood and terror, the revolution appeared a failure, and Communism set firm to be another long Dark Age. As Orwell had predicted, the future was to be a jackboot stamping on the human face forever. To do their bidding, the Soviets installed Janos Kadar as Communist Party leader and prime minister, the very essence of a quisling, a dour character with a thorough understanding of the mechanics of repression. It was his express purpose to hang Imre Nagy and other former close colleagues as well. So he was able to rule unchallenged for thirty years; and yet things did not work out as intended. Resting on force and the secret police, Communism proved unable to satisfy basic material and spiritual needs, and gradually withered on the vine, not only in Kadar’s Hungary but throughout the Soviet bloc.