The key events surrounding the 1956 Uprising

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Thursday October 19, 2006

Budapest- The key events prior to, during and after Hungary's 1956 uprising against Soviet rule: April 4, 1945: Soviet troops liberate Hungary from the Nazis. In the following years, the Communist Party builds up its power under Matyas Rakosi and declares the nation a people's republic. Rakosi quickly becomes loathed as the man responsible for an oppressive reign of terror.

March 5, 1953: Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin dies, prompting hopes of reform. Not long after, reform communist Imre Nagy replaces Rakosi as prime minister.

April 18, 1955: Nagy is forced out by Moscow.

February 25, 1956: Soviet Leader Nikita Krushchev denounces Stalin, furthering bolstering hopes of reform in Hungary.

July 13, 1956: Moscow gets rids of Rakosi, but replaces him with an equally hardline and unpopular communist, Erno Gero.

October 6, 1956: The first political demonstrations take place after the reburial of Laszlo Rajk, a man who posthumously earned a reputation as a patriot after being hanged during one of Rakosi's purges.

October 19, 1956: Reformist Wladislaw Gomulka appointed leader of Polish Communist Party after anti-communist revolt.

October 23, 1956: Students in Budapest, inspired by the Polish example, attempt to have their manifesto calling for the departure of Soviet troops and reform of the communist state read out on the state-controlled radio station. Secret police fire into the crowd, causing the first fatalities of the revolution. Imre Nagy is re- installed as Prime Minister at midnight.

October 24, 1956: Soviet tanks enter Budapest in an attempt to crush the uprising. Instead of the meagre resistance they were expecting, a hail of Molotov cocktails greets them.

October 25, 1956: Hungarian secret police and Soviet troops fire into an unarmed crowd of protestors outside Parliament, causing over 70 deaths.

October 26, 1956: Revolution spreads to the countryside with "revolutionary councils" taking over many provincial towns.

October 28, 1956: Nagy's new government is sworn in and begins negotiations with Soviets for their withdrawal.

October 29, 1956: Suez Canal crisis deepens, taking world attention away from Hungary.

October 30, 1956: As Soviet troops leave Budapest, freedom fighters lynch members of the secret police outside the Communist Party headquarters.

October 31, 1956: Krushchev and Politburo secretly decide to reverse their decision to withdraw Soviet troops. They are to keep up the pretence of negotiations until their forces are in place four days later. The first Soviet troops re-enter Hungary.

November 1, 1956: Huge numbers of Soviet troops and tanks flood over the border. Krushchev begins tour of Warsaw Pact nations to inform them of Moscow's decision to crush the uprising. Nagy announces Hungary's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact in a desperate bid to garner international support.

November 3, 1956: Moscow sets a trap for key leaders of Hungarian fighters and arrest them under the guise of talks.

November 4, 1956: Soviet troops return to Budapest in overwhelming numbers and crush the uprising. Nagy flees to Yugoslav Embassy.

November 7, 1956: Janos Kadar, the man who would run Hungary for the next 30 years, returns to Budapest to be installed as prime minister.

November 11, 1956: Moscow announces last pockets of resistance have been mopped up and refugees beginning streaming across the Austrian border, among them General Bela Kiraly, the leader of the Hungarian National Guard and one of the last fighters to hold out. Eventually 200,000 Hungarians would flee.

June 16, 1958: Imre Nagy is hanged alongside Pal Maleter, the defence minister during the uprising, and Miklos Gimes, Nagy's close adviser.

June 16, 1989: Hundreds of thousands attend the reburial of Imre Nagy and his compatriots.

October 23, 1989: A new democratic, multi-party Hungary replaces the People's Republic 33 years after the beginning of the uprising.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency