Hungarian Revolution of 1956 

Shoutout to Historigraph for giving us permission to use his video on the Hungarian Revolution: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EqImvCnO15w.html

Hearing someone pronouncing hungarian names almost flawlessly for the first time(even knowing that the family name comes first), I'm impressed!

I was there when the Stalin statue came down. I was five, with brothers nine, and 11. We all sneaked across the Austrian border. Walked through 2 kilometers of mine field. 5 pairs of feet, and never hit a mine.

My mom didnt hear about the revolution until the curtain fell and we have been having memorial days (she was born in 1970, in a small town in Hungary, teaching about the revolution was taboo)

I met an old Hungarian refugee in Melbourne Australia a few years ago. He was still emotionally wounded from having to leave in 1956 and being not allowed to go back for his father's funeral twenty years later.

My grandpa was there, at 14 years old. I'm so proud him! Nyugodj békében papa 🖤

Later that year Hungary vs USSR water polo match at Melbourne Olympic Games 1956. The team left before the start of the revolution. It was noted as one of the most physically intense Olympic Games matches as the Hungarian team fought back on behalf of their now lost country against the invader.

The only country that offered military aid to the Hungarians in 1956 was Spain. FRANCO, who was a furious anti-communist and military man, was so enthusiastic in helping them that he planned to send a contingent of 100,000 volunteers to fight alongside the Hungarians (twice the number of volunteers of the Blue Division on the Russian Front). This desire to actively participate in the Hungarian revolution of 1956 can be explained because at that time 20 years had passed since the Spanish civil war and this was the occasion to remember good old days fighting against the communists again, Franco never stopped being a soldier. In the end, these intentions remained in humanitarian aid only for logistical reasons, due to the lack of collaboration (for fear of the USSR) of the transit countries, it became impossible to transfer that contingent of soldiers.

I'm so glad we donated so much blood for our Hungarian friends in 1956 because it actually made us a family by definition! Love and respect from Poland!

Love Hungaria and Hungarian people. Brave, amaizing and talented people. Ria Ria Hungaria from Poland!

My grandfather, a Spanish Republican who fought against Fascism in the Spanish Civil War and in the French Resistance, tore up his Communist Party card in disgust at the treatment of Hungarians by the Soviets in 1956.

My family is Hungarian from Southern Slovakia (actually very close to the village Gerő Ernő was from). And even though we weren’t part of the revolutionary Hungary. My grandad was 14 when the revolution happened they had no idea what was going on at the time (news did spread quickly here thoguh), but he still remembers the columns of Soviet Tanks driving down our village heading to Budapest from the nearby military base, then coming back up again afterwards. ironically the same happened in reverse when Czechoslovakia was occupied in the 60's.

Freedom fighters not rebels. The best 2 weeks of my life.

Thank you for covering this topic thats pretty personal to my family, both my grandfather and great uncle took some part in the revolution. My grandfather was on the last day of his mandatory military service when the soviet tanks came over the border near Ukraine in november, upon hearing the tanks in the early morning everyone stationed there ran out and the next thing my grandfather saw was one of his comrade's head rolling on the ground, probably decapitated by machinegun fire, him and 4 other soldiers were sent out to hold a bridge not far from where they were stationed with nothing but a machine gun, their commander in chief fled and he was left as commander, he quickly ordered for the firing pin to be removed from the gun and thrown into the river under the bridge, they called in saying that they were given a faulty weapon and requested to evacuate. After the revolution he had to serve an extra year in the Hungarian military. My great uncle on the other hand was only 16 during the revolution and quickly joined, theres actually a photo of him holding a machinegun somewhere out there and after the revolution he was sentenced to death and escaped to Switzerland and never returned to Hungary.

My mom was one of the 120 000 that fled for Austria as a child. Her whole family eventually settled in Canada

My grandpa was there all along. He was the son of a wealthy peasent who were deemed kulaks and had all their belongings taken away. Since all better job oppurtinites were denied from people like him, he ended up being a teamster in Budapest when the revolution started. He participated in toppling the statue. He told stories on how they trapped tank columns in narrow streets and rained on them down with molotovs, or how they practiced firing an artillery gun in a park (he himself was a veteran of WW2), and how they pitied the frightened soviet soldiers when who were clearly just as much victims. In the end he fleed back to his home village where however he was quickly charged and imprisoned. He served about 6 years in like 4 prisons until the amnesty. He was still not allowed to settle down in the HALF of the country he was from so had to come to the western part where I live today. Till the end of his life he had a burning hatred for communism, and because he was branded anyway he never backed down from voicing his opinion knowing they can't put him any more down (not just because of '56 but having experienced the stalinist style persecution personally, even suffering outright torture). He was often at the market and constantly shittalked the communist party. In one example when some well known party figure died he corrected people saying he didn't perish but said "megdöglött" which is a term we use for animals, when applied for humans it is considered super dehumanizing and demeaning. When he went for a job interview and was asked if he served prison time (something the questioner obviously knew holding his papers) he shouted "of course I did, i fought in 56 against the communist vermins, why do I not look like honest Hungarian man to you?". From what my father told he constantly did these sheinigans just to poke needles at the regime. His biggest regret in life was that in 1989-1991 when the regime collapses its members weren't given the same treatment. He reputedly regularly harassed ex-communists by promising them the same they did to them. Sadly it never came to be and their descendants hold many key positions. Rest in peace grandpa.

I did a 110-page independent research project in Budapest on this, based on original archives. Amazing job on this video!

The way my grandmother discovered about the revolution: Her parents sent her to buy some vegetables from the market, and when she got there, there was already a shootout.

My Hungarian Father in law ( who passed away with Covid Oktober 2021) was in Budapest at this time saw his friend killed, he escaped Hungary while being shot at escaping via Austria to eventually England at the age of 16. He made many friends and was very successful in England and made a large (Nagy) Family. Thanks to him I now live in central Budapest, a wonderful city I love very much and every day I am reminded by my surroundings of those events. God bless Hungary and it's people.

My mother is Hungarian and my grandfather decided to leave once things got hairy and move to Australia they arrived here in 1956 I am glad they did

Thank you for covering this! ❤

Great episode. Living memory for many in Hungary and beyond. Canada received the largest number of Hungarian refugees per population after the Revolution. More than 38000 Hungarians were allowed to settle in the country. Many of them had their tickets to Canada payed by the government of Canada.

Where the term "Tankie insult" came from

I like your Hungarian pronunciation, and I love that you say the names in Hungarian order: first is the family name, second is the forename. 😊

The wife of a former employer was Hungarian, and, as a young teen, had escaped to the West with her family around 1960. While crossing the border, a young woman with their group stepped on a mine, and both her legs were blown off. They were forced to walk away and leave as the mine explosion and her agonized screams were attracting the attention of border guards.

Roughly a century apart Russian troops quelled a Hungarian revolt against the then Austrian Hapsburg monarchy and then against their own puppet communist dictatorship.

Avanti ragazzi di Buda

Greetings to Hungarian people .I am from Poland leaving in Australia.

Made in Hungary 1956 born in the USA 1957 my mother was six months pregnant with me and they almost wouldn't let her get on the plane because they were worried of a miscarriage but the doctor finally gave the OK it was safe to fly

25,000?! I knew of the uprising but never knew it had cost so dearly

My Father was a Sailor on the USS Ft Mandan. That ship and others picked up and transported thousands of non-communist refugees from Hungary. As you said, there was a lot going on at that time and I believe the United States did not make this publicly known. I truly enjoyed this video. Remembering the story my father had told me about this one excercise, of many amazing things done on the USS Ft Mandan. Take Care and be safe, John

My father took me with him to fight for freedom against the communist regime. He talked about the west abandoning us when we needed help. The Russian tank gunners killed two of my friends not more than ten feet from me. In December we, my mother and younger sister, escaped under fire through a mine field to Austria unharmed. I still have flashbacks on that.

Another amazing content. Waited all weekend for your video.

My dad fled Budapest in early November, a little under a month before his 8th birthday, and has described how the horrific images of bodies everywhere are burned in his memory to this day. He lived in district VIII, and I had no idea is was basically a central rebel stronghold. Thank you so much for this well-researched, and historically accurate depiction. Cheers!

Hello The Cold War. I sometimes go to Mass at a Hungarian Church on the side of town I happen to live because I can walk on a nice day. There are two shrines, one to St. Steven of Hungary and one to the uprising of 1956. If you would like pictures or what have you, no problem. Great work as always, thank you.

Cangrats David! That was a pretty good summary of the revolution. I'm a Hungarian, and love history so I can tell. Grate videos, keep it up!

I'm impressed by the effort made in pronouncing the names right. Been following the channel for a while, amazing content!

I love how you included Hungarian Dance # 4 by Johannes Brahms at the end. Very good.

I'm sad you never mentioned the last transmission of Nagy towards the west where they were asking for help.

Nice video!

Please Remember the Hong Kong anti-extradition law Protest. 1956 In Budapest 2019 In Hong Kong

Around 1980 in Jacksonville, Florida I knew a man who was a teenager in Budapest when the H.R. happened in 1956. He fled the country with his parents and immigrated to the United States. He said *the normal Russian soldiers doing the fighting were told that the Nazi's had risen again and taken over Hungary.* He told me of a specific bridge (I've forgotten which) in Budapest where *the Soviets took the heads of those they'd killed and stuck them on top of the lamp-posts.* I never asked him if he'd been part of the fighting. It seemed he was just glad to escape alive and the thought he may have resisted never occurred to me until watching your video just now.

Well told, sir! My complements to your ability at wrapping your tongue around thos Hungarian names! Bravo!

Amazing video! These comments are a gold mine....many stories that need to be remembered.

This was a great couple of episodes 👍

Loved the video. Please make a video on the situation in Antarctica during the Cold War

This is so sad. I was rooting for the revolutionaries even though I already knew the outcome.

A well done episode. I'm sure that though the time you are getting the necessary experience to produce the quality of the content that this trouble era is needed.

Thank you so much for this :) Very nice name pronunciation! Greetings from Budapest!

I'm an 8th grader, and in Hungary we learn history starting in 5th grade. So just imagine: I waited 3 years, and about 5 months to finally learn about the Hungarian revolution. We only discussed the first day of the revolution today (and we'll learn about the rest on wednesday.), like how the peaceful procession turned into a bloody revolution. For me this was one of the most interesting lesson ever. :)

Thank you 🙏AGAIN for your work 👍🙏 it's an excellent succinct informative flawless video 👍💪.

Nice history video with clearly explained

Great video. Very informative.!!

Very well explained Cold War Chanel. Thankyou.

Just picked up a 53' M44, and being of Hungarian blood, this is interesting. My Hungarian family told me of this history, but it is another aspect to view it. They fought and started a new life for me and future generations.

Great information.

The episode is awsome and put together simply, so everyone understands the situation right on the go. One thing I would point out is the inconsistentcy in the names. You used the family names first then the given names (e. g. Nagy Imre) but then flipped it when it came to squares and places (Zsigmond Móricz square iso Móricz Zsigmond). I don't mind I know them, but foreigners watching this may get confused.

Thank you.

Very well written and presented. It's too bad that Hungary in 1956 became a casualty of the cold War.

I tip my hat to you guys,well done.

I wonder "What If" the Hungarian Revolution had been far less radical and more moderate. And "What If" the moderates in the Soviet Government had prevailed when it came to Hungry. How different would history have been? My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.

A bunch of Hungarian Forestry students fled the country during this time and actually finished their university education here at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Ha! Everyone uses Historigraph's animations apparently. Great stuff!

Polak, Węgier, dwa bratanki.

Great video and pronouncing of the Hungarian names. My father and uncles were involved in the revolution and had to flee Hungary. They were adamant that the propaganda from Radio Free Europe had fueled hope there would be US and/or NATO intervention for a successful Hungarian revolution. You can hear that in the last broadcasts from the revolutionary radio station in Budapest during the last minutes of the revolution. Again great video looking forward to watching the next one.

Interestingly there were queues of volunteers in Leeds, England hoping to help Hungarians. They were refused passports by British home office. I have this from a friend who stood in that queue

Great video! I'm in Szeged and working on a video on the local history of 1956 in English. I was looking to see how much is available in English of the revolution and I was very happy to see your video! I'll link it to mine and just cover the local events. You generally say the Hungarian names pretty well, though "Nagy" is a different sound in the end. If you need any help in Hungarian pronounciation in the future, you can ask me.

If you think the outcome would have been different if only the Hungarians had moderated their demands , think again. In 1968 Dubcek did just that. And received “ fraternal assistance “. in the form of Russian tanks The Ruskis have but one response to any attempt at independence

The birth of the "tankie"

Thank you

1956 - the year my mother fled Hungary - but her mother and sister remained. She made her way to Austria and accepted an arranged marriage with my father (who immigrated to the US shortly after the war and was sponsored by the US soldiers who captured him around Normandy as a 17 year old “soldier” working in NYC as a long shore man and then an accountant... also fought for the - right - side in Korea) my mother didn’t dare to go back until 1977 when her mom was dying and my brother and I got to see Communism first-hand... a neighbor at my aunt’s apartment reported “Americans” to the secret police... decades late I went back in 1992 and that same neighborhood apologized and became a close friend

so great!!!! please make more videos about the middle east during cold war era

My son-in-laws family was able to leave Hungary during the revolution when the Hungarians opened the border to Austria for a few days. They were the first family to arrive in Los Angeles as Hungarian refugees. His mother was the first child in their family to be born in the US. The Hungarians had hoped for help or at least diplomatic pressure from the West but alas-poor timing. The Hungarian revolution happened at the same time as the Suez Crises so that is where the gaze from the West was turned at that time. James Michener wrote a great little book about the Revolution as he was a UN observer at the Austrian border for the few days opening and talked to many Hungarians after they had crossed.

Great couple of episodes. Sad to think of how close they were to a compromise.

Thanks for this show. It is really important to remember the Hungarians' fight for freedom. However, you missed at least two important pieces of information: 1. you never mentioned card. Mindszenty and 2. in communist Poland there were widespread blood donations for the Hungarians, something that was quite opposite to the official policy of the communist block.

another October Revolution. glory to the heroes and martyrs of Hungarian Revolution!

Great video on the revolution of my home country, it was even more detailed than I remember from history class. I found only one mistake and even that is a small one. You guys or somebody who made video that showed Janos Kadar mispelled his name as Janos Katar. Otherwise, great job!

Sadly, the facts about Moskow's turning point (the brutal attack on AVH during cease-fire) is not really mentioned at all, or very biased in the Hungarian school history textbooks... Thanks for that. It would be nice if you can do a video about Kádár's era, the "Gulash Communism" , since it is quite unique among eastern bloc countries (well, all are unique, but still).

This and the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia isn’t talked about enough even in history courses in college. Thanks for shining some light on this

Ah, yes ! The Molotov cocktail. The official drink and proud sponsor of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution ! Our uncle said people in their desperation broke off the handle of frying pans (palacsinta sütő) and tossed them onto roads, stopping entire tank columns in their tracks . The Russians thought they were land mines.

I wonder if the French and British weren't too busy trying to grasp onto their collapsing empires, if the West would have taken a firmer stand in support of Hungary.

It's soo sad what happened to Imre Nagy he and the hungarian people are the real heroes.

kudos! your hungarian is great!

Mad respect for the pronunciation of hungarian words and names, somebody must have helped who speaks the language or something cause it was top notch.

never forget

You know, knowing that you're a Canadian based channel, every time I watch a video I can't help but think of Igor Gouzenko, and a novel I once read. I can't remember the title or author, but it was undoubtedly inspired by Gouzenko. A defector is being debriefed in a city that is cold, snowy and miserable. Through the entire book, you're led to believe it's a Western defector to the East. It closes with the defector looking out the window, across the snow, at the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill.

On behalf of my father who took part in 1956 Revolution and Hungary. I just wanna thank the United States of America for dropping leaflets that read hold out help is on the way!!!!!! Thank you president Eisenhower for not lifting a finger and not allowing Spain to bring weapons or ammunition to Hungary. Which made the wholesale torture and slaughter of freedom loving Hungarians much easier. I'd like to think that if perhaps Hungary had oil or another resource that the US finds valuable they might have felt the need to spread some that democracy they talk so much about.

Alt hist hub: what if hungarian rebels did not fire on avh

love to Hungary from Poland....

Imagine being a mighty kingdom, then dual partner in one of the largest European empires, and then a few decades later being a small soviet satellite state. Poor Hungary

Nice 👍.

Today’s generations still feel the incredibly damaging impact the soviet union had on this country. It’s like with burn victims: their wounds can heal, sure… but constant reminders of the pain, agony, torture, and the lenghty recovery will always remain. I go to school in an area which was heavily impacted by cheap, soviet architecture. Tall, concrete blocks, cheap rundown buildings and the overwhelming abudance of greyness. My school itself is poorly made, blocky, unwelcoming and overall depressing looking. I dread each morning that I walk from the decrepit trainstation to that sad excuse of an institution. And even something as benign as the architecture around us has an affect on people. Feelings of frustration and hopelessness spread like a disease, especially in winter months. I truly despise the people who lived before my time and made these awful living conditions possible. And the ones who let it happen. Let us never forget what they did to us. Let us never forget why we are the way we are today.

The Hungarian dances music is such a beautiful addition!!

Viva La Hungary!

köszönöm

4:39 ah Andropov, owner of scariest weapon of Soviet Union

Great pronunciations, the Magyar language is difficult to master IMO.

Early finally!!!

My husband was conceived during the revolution and was adopted out in New Zealand in 1957. His mother escaped to NZ from Hungary. To this day he does not know who his father is.

Andropov made some deal with Nagy to not execute lads under 18 years of age. So they ended up in prison. When they reached the age of 18 they were executed. There are witnesses of dreadful tortures in those prisons, some on RU-vid, you might have to use translator for some.