1/ THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION, DAY 11
69 years ago today, thousands of Soviet troops were entering Hungary to prepare for Operation Whirlwind – the crushing of the Hungarian Revolution. Even as the invasion was being prepared, Hungarians celebrated their last few days of freedom.
69 years ago today, thousands of Soviet troops were entering Hungary to prepare for Operation Whirlwind – the crushing of the Hungarian Revolution. Even as the invasion was being prepared, Hungarians celebrated their last few days of freedom.
2/ Twelve more Soviet divisions have joined the five divisions already stationed in Hungary. They are commanded from Szolnok in central Hungary by Marshal Ivan Konev, a Second World War veteran who is now the Supreme Commander of the Warsaw Pact Combined Forces.
3/ By now well aware of what is planned, Hungarian Prime Minister Imre Nagy (left) protests to Soviet Ambassador on Hungary (and later Party leader) Yuri Andropov (right) and briefs foreign ambassadors in Budapest.
4/ Nagy appeals to the UN to recognise Hungary's neutrality as a guarantee of the withdrawal of Soviet troops. Pál Maléter, newly promoted to Major General and appointed as Minister of Defence, is instructed to negotiate a Soviet withdrawal.
5/ Major General Béla Király develops a defence plan for Budapest, and artillery batteries are installed at important points in the city. The day is otherwise quiet across Hungary, with clashes having virtually ceased following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the capital.
6/ Life has changed radically for the better for many Hungarians. The hated ÁVH secret police is no more, shops and markets are open, damage from the earlier fighting in Budapest is being cleaned up, and newspapers can publish without censorship for the first time in many years.
7/ However, the Soviets see matters very differently. 650 km away, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev is secretly meeting with Yugoslav leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito on the Brijuni Islands. Khrushchev is seeking Tito's support, which he obtains, for the imminent invasion.
8/ Khrushchev's arguments are recorded in detail by Veljko Mićunović, Yugoslavia's ambassador to Moscow:
9/ "Communists are being hanged in Hungary, and the restoration of capitalism is imminent. We cannot stand idly by, neither as communists nor as internationalists. If we allowed it, the capitalists would think we were weak or stupid."
10/ The Soviet leader is also concerned about the potential effects of a successful Hungarian Revolution on the Soviet Union itself, "because the Soviet people would say that such a thing could not have happened under the heavy-handed Stalin, thus criticising the new leadership."
11/ Tito recommends that a new "communist revolutionary government composed of Hungarians, which would appeal to the people with some kind of programme" should be formed under János Kádár to replace the collapsed Hungarian communist regime. The Soviets agree.
12/ Khruschev assures Tito that no other Communist states will be involved in the invasion (unlike in the crushing of the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia twelve years later). Tito, who opposes a suggestion that Romania should participate as well, is relieved:
13/ "That’s good, very good. The other socialist countries don’t have to intervene. The Soviet Union is a great power, and its troops are already in Hungary. They should just provide assistance to the Hungarian working class on a legal basis."
14/ Imre Nagy has already been in touch with the Yugoslavs about providing a refuge for him and his ministers at their embassy, if the Soviets go ahead with their invasion. Tito informs Khrushchev of this, though the latter is almost certainly well aware himself of Nagy's plans.
15/ However, the Soviets have no intention of allowing the Yugoslavs to provide any protection to the members of the Hungarian government. As darkness falls over Hungary, time is running out for the revolution.
(To be continued tomorrow.)
Day 1:
(To be continued tomorrow.)
Day 1:
https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1981499282021810477
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