Editing Eastern Bloc (section)

==Revolts==

===1953 East Germany uprising===
{{main|Uprising of 1953 in East Germany}}
Three months after the death of [[Joseph Stalin]], a dramatic increase of emigration ([[Republikflucht]], [[brain drain]]) occurred from [[East Germany]] in the first half-year of 1953. Large numbers of East Germans traveled west through the only "loophole" left in the [[Eastern Bloc emigration and defection|Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions]], the Berlin sector border.<ref name="crampton278">{{Harvnb|Crampton|1997|p=278}}</ref> The East German government then raised "norms" – the amount each worker was required to produce – by 10%.<ref name="crampton278"/> Already disaffected East Germans, who could see the relative economic successes of West Germany within Berlin, became enraged.<ref name="crampton278"/> Angry building workers initiated street protests, and were soon joined by others in a march to the Berlin trade union headquarters.<ref name="crampton278"/>

While no official spoke to them at that location, by 2:00&nbsp;pm, the East German government agreed to withdraw the "norm" increases.<ref name="crampton279"/> However, the crisis had already escalated such that the demands were now political, including free elections, disbanding the army and resignation of the government.<ref name="crampton279">{{Harvnb|Crampton|1997|p=279}}</ref> By 17 June, strikes were recorded in 317 locations involving approximately 400,000 workers.<ref name="crampton279"/> When strikers set ruling [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] party buildings aflame and tore the flag from the [[Brandenburg Gate]], SED General Secretary [[Walter Ulbricht]] left Berlin.<ref name="crampton279"/>

A major emergency was declared and the Soviet [[Red Army]] stormed some important buildings.<ref name="crampton279"/> Within hours, Soviet tanks arrived, but they did not immediately fire upon all workers.<ref name="crampton279"/> Rather, a gradual pressure was applied.<ref name="crampton279"/> Approximately 16 Soviet divisions with 20,000 soldiers from the [[Group of Soviet Forces in Germany]] using tanks, as well as 8,000 [[Kasernierte Volkspolizei]] members, were employed. Bloodshed could not be entirely avoided, with the official death toll standing at 21, while the actual casualty toll may have been much higher.<ref name="crampton279"/> Thereafter, 20,000 arrests took place along with 40 executions.<ref name="crampton279"/>

===Hungarian Revolution of 1956===
{{main|Hungarian Revolution of 1956}}
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:HungarianRevolution BudapestAfter.jpg|thumb|Bodies in Budapest after [[Red Army]] invasion in the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956]]]] -->
After Stalin's death in 1953, a period of [[de-Stalinization]] followed, with reformist [[Imre Nagy]] replacing Hungarian Stalinist dictator Mátyás Rákosi.<ref>{{Citation | author=János M. Rainer | title = Stalin and Rákosi, Stalin and Hungary, 1949–1953 | date = 4 October 1997 | url =http://www.rev.hu/index_en.html | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20060909035345/http://www.rev.hu/index_en.html | archive-date =9 September 2006 | access-date =8 October 2006 }} (Paper presented on 4 October 1997 at the workshop "European Archival Evidence. Stalin and the Cold War in Europe", Budapest, 1956 Institute).</ref> Responding to popular demand, in October 1956, the Polish government appointed the recently [[Political rehabilitation|rehabilitated]] reformist [[Władysław Gomułka]] as First Secretary of the [[Polish United Workers' Party]], with a mandate to negotiate trade concessions and troop reductions with the Soviet government. After a few tense days of negotiations, on 19 October, the Soviets finally gave in to Gomułka's reformist requests.<ref name = satellite>{{cite web | title = Notes from the Minutes of the CPSU CC Presidium Meeting with Satellite Leaders, 24 October 1956 | website = The 1956 Hungarian Revolution, A History in Documents | publisher = George Washington University: The National Security Archive | date = 4 November 2002 | url = http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB76/doc5.pdf | access-date = 2 September 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060908023412/http://www.gwu.edu/%7Ensarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB76/doc5.pdf | archive-date = 8 September 2006 | url-status = live }}</ref>

The revolution began after students of the [[Budapest University of Technology and Economics|Technical University]] compiled a list of [[Demands of Hungarian Revolutionaries of 1956]] and conducted protests in support of the demands on 22 October.<ref name=sixteen>Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Resolution by students of the Building Industry Technological University: [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1956hungary-16points.html Sixteen Political, Economic, and Ideological Points, Budapest, 22 October 1956] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306232332/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1956hungary-16points.html |date=6 March 2009 }}. Retrieved 22 October 2006.</ref> Protests of support swelled to 200,000 by 6&nbsp;pm the following day,<ref>UN General Assembly ''Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary'' (1957) {{cite web |url= http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |title= Chapter II. A (Meetings and demonstrations), para 54 (p. 19) |access-date= 9 March 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090320024559/http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |archive-date= 20 March 2009 |url-status= live }}&nbsp;{{small|(1.47&nbsp;MB)}}</ref><ref name="UN report 2C p55">UN General Assembly ''Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary'' (1957) {{cite web |url= http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |title= Chapter II. C (The First Shots), para 55 (p. 20) |access-date= 9 March 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090320024559/http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |archive-date= 20 March 2009 |url-status= live }}&nbsp;{{small|(1.47&nbsp;MB)}}</ref> The demands included free secret ballot elections, independent tribunals, inquiries into Stalin and Rákosi Hungarian activities and that "the statue of Stalin, symbol of Stalinist tyranny and political oppression, be removed as quickly as possible." By 9:30&nbsp;pm the statue was toppled and jubilant crowds celebrated by placing [[Flag of Hungary|Hungarian flags]] in Stalin's boots, which was all that remained the statue.<ref name="UN report 2C p55" /> The [[ÁVH]] was called, Hungarian soldiers sided with the crowd over the ÁVH and shots were fired on the crowd.<ref name="UN report 2C p56">UN General Assembly ''Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary'' (1957) {{cite web |url= http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |title= Chapter II. C (The First Shots), para 56 (p. 20) |access-date= 9 March 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090320024559/http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |archive-date= 20 March 2009 |url-status= live }}&nbsp;{{small|(1.47&nbsp;MB)}}</ref><ref>UN General Assembly ''Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary 1956'' (1957) {{cite web |url= http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |title= Chapter II. C (The First Shots), paragraphs 56–57 (p. 20) |access-date= 9 March 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090320024559/http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |archive-date= 20 March 2009 |url-status= live }}&nbsp;{{small|(1.47&nbsp;MB)}}</ref>

By 2&nbsp;am on 24 October, under orders of Soviet defense minister [[Georgy Zhukov]], Soviet tanks entered Budapest.<ref>UN General Assembly ''Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary'' (1957) {{cite web |url= http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |title= Chapter II.C, para 58 (p. 20) |access-date= 9 March 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090320024559/http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |archive-date= 20 March 2009 |url-status= live }}&nbsp;{{small|(1.47&nbsp;MB)}}</ref> Protester attacks at the Parliament forced the dissolution of the government.<ref>UN General Assembly ''Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary'' (1957) {{cite web |url= http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |title= Chapter II.F, para 65 (p. 22) |access-date= 9 March 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090320024559/http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |archive-date= 20 March 2009 |url-status= live }}&nbsp;{{small|(1.47&nbsp;MB)}}</ref> A ceasefire was arranged on 28 October, and by 30 October most Soviet troops had withdrawn from Budapest to garrisons in the Hungarian countryside.<ref>UN General Assembly ''Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary'' (1957) {{cite web |url= http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |title= Chapter II. F (Political Developments) II. G (Mr. Nagy clarifies his position), paragraphs 67–70 (p. 23) |access-date= 9 March 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090320024559/http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |archive-date= 20 March 2009 |url-status= live }}&nbsp;{{small|(1.47&nbsp;MB)}}</ref> Fighting had virtually ceased between 28 October and 4 November, while many Hungarians believed that Soviet military units were indeed withdrawing from Hungary.<ref>Video: Revolt in Hungary {{cite web|url=http://files.osa.ceu.hu/holdings/selection/rip/4/av/1956-44.html |title=1956-44 |access-date=8 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117094223/http://files.osa.ceu.hu/holdings/selection/rip/4/av/1956-44.html |archive-date=17 November 2007}} Narrator: [[Walter Cronkite]], producer: CBS (1956) – Fonds 306, Audiovisual Materials Relating to the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, OSA Archivum, Budapest, Hungary ID number: HU OSA 306-0-1:40</ref>
[[File:József körút - Corvin (Kisfaludy) köz sarok, háttérben a Kilián laktanya romos épülete. Kiégett szovjet T-34-85 harckocsi. Fortepan 24857.jpg|thumb|Budapest in 1956]]
The new government that came to power during the revolution formally disbanded ÁVH, declared its intention to withdraw from the [[Warsaw Pact]] and pledged to re-establish free elections. The [[Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet Politburo]] thereafter moved to crush the revolution. On 4 November, a large Soviet force invaded Budapest and other regions of the country.<ref name=troops>UN General Assembly ''Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary'' (1957) {{cite web |url= http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |title= Chapter IV. E (Logistical deployment of new Soviet troops), para 181 (p. 56) |access-date= 9 March 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090320024559/http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf |archive-date= 20 March 2009 |url-status= live }}&nbsp;{{small|(1.47&nbsp;MB)}}</ref> The [[Csepel|last pocket of resistance]] called for ceasefire on 10 November. Over 2,500 Hungarians and 722 Soviet troops were killed and thousands more were wounded.<ref>Mark Kramer, "The Soviet Union and the 1956 Crises in Hungary and Poland: Reassessments and New Findings", ''Journal of Contemporary History'', Vol. 33, No. 2, April 1998, p. 210.</ref><ref>Péter Gosztonyi, "Az 1956-os forradalom számokban", ''Népszabadság'' (Budapest), 3 November 1990.</ref>

Thousands of Hungarians were arrested, imprisoned and deported to the Soviet Union, many without evidence.<ref>{{cite web | title = Report by Soviet Deputy Interior Minister M. N. Holodkov to Interior Minister N. P. Dudorov (15 November 1956) | website = The 1956 Hungarian Revolution, A History in Documents | publisher = George Washington University: The National Security Archive | date = 4 November 2002 | url = http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB76/doc8.pdf | access-date = 2 September 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060908023144/http://www.gwu.edu/%7Ensarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB76/doc8.pdf | archive-date = 8 September 2006 | url-status = live }}</ref> Approximately 200,000 Hungarians fled Hungary,<ref name="Cseresneyes">{{Citation|last=Cseresnyés |first=Ferenc |title=The '56 Exodus to Austria |journal=The Hungarian Quarterly |volume=XL |issue=154 |pages=86–101 |url=http://www.hungarianquarterly.com/no154/086.html |date=Summer 1999 |access-date=9 October 2006 |postscript=. |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041127172402/http://www.hungarianquarterly.com/no154/086.html |archive-date=27 November 2004}}</ref> some 26,000 Hungarians were put on trial by the new Soviet-installed [[János Kádár]] government, and of those, 13,000 were imprisoned.<ref>{{cite conference | first = Adrienne | last = Molnár | author2 = Kõrösi Zsuzsanna | title = The handing down of experiences in families of the politically condemned in Communist Hungary | book-title = IX. International Oral History Conference | pages = 1169–1166 | year = 1996 | location = Gotegorg | url = http://www.rev.hu/portal/page/portal/rev/tanulmanyok/kadarrendszer/kzsma1 | access-date = 10 October 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070607034837/http://www.rev.hu/portal/page/portal/rev/tanulmanyok/kadarrendszer/kzsma1 | archive-date = 7 June 2007 | url-status = live }}</ref> Imre Nagy was executed, along with [[Pál Maléter]] and Miklós Gimes, after secret trials in June 1958. Their bodies were placed in unmarked graves in the Municipal Cemetery outside Budapest.<ref name="BBCJune16">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/16/ "On This Day 16 June 1989: Hungary reburies fallen hero Imre Nagy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425235008/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/16/ |date=25 April 2009 }} British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reports on Nagy reburial with full honors. Retrieved 13 October 2006.</ref> By January 1957, the new Soviet-installed government had suppressed all public opposition.

===Prague Spring and the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia===
{{main|Prague Spring|Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia}}
A period of political liberalization in [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovakia]] called the [[Prague Spring]] took place in 1968. The event was spurred by several events, including economic reforms that addressed an early 1960s economic downturn.<ref>{{cite web| title = Photius.com, (info from CIA world Factbook)| url = http://www.photius.com/countries/slovakia/economy/czechoslovakia_economy_economic_policy_and_~777.html| publisher = Photius Coutsoukis| access-date = 20 January 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090116152207/http://www.photius.com/countries/slovakia/economy/czechoslovakia_economy_economic_policy_and_~777.html| archive-date = 16 January 2009| url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="Williams5">{{Harvnb|Williams|1997|p=5}}</ref> The event began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Slovak [[Alexander Dubček]] came to power. In April, Dubček launched an "[[Action Programme (1968)|Action Program]]" of liberalizations, which included increasing freedom of the press, freedom of speech and freedom of movement, along with an economic emphasis on [[consumer goods]], the possibility of a multiparty government and limiting the power of the secret police.<ref>Ello (ed.), Paul (April 1968). Control Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, "Action Plan of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (Prague, April 1968)" in ''Dubcek's Blueprint for Freedom: His original documents leading to the invasion of Czechoslovakia''. William Kimber & Co. 1968, pp 32, 54</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Von Geldern |first1=James |last2=Siegelbaum |first2=Lewis|authorlink2=Lewis Siegelbaum |publisher=Soviethistory.org |title=The Soviet-led Intervention in Czechoslovakia |url=http://soviethistory.org/index.php?action=L2&SubjectID=1968czechoslovakia&Year=1968 |access-date=7 March 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817200255/http://soviethistory.org/index.php?action=L2&SubjectID=1968czechoslovakia&Year=1968 |archive-date=17 August 2009}}</ref>

Initial reaction within the Eastern Bloc was mixed, with [[People's Republic of Hungary|Hungary]]'s [[János Kádár]] expressing support, while Soviet leader [[Leonid Brezhnev]] and others grew concerned about Dubček's reforms, which they feared might weaken the Eastern Bloc's position during the [[Cold War]].<ref name="trans">{{cite web | title = Document #81: Transcript of Leonid Brezhnev's Telephone Conversation with Alexander Dubček, August 13, 1968 | year = 1998 | url = http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/publications/DOC_readers/psread/doc81.htm | website = The Prague Spring '68 | publisher = The Prague Spring Foundation | access-date = 23 January 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080117232525/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/publications/DOC_readers/psread/doc81.htm | archive-date = 17 January 2008 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Navrátil|2006|pp=36 & 172–181}}</ref> On 3 August, representatives from the Soviet Union, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia met in [[Bratislava]] and signed the Bratislava Declaration, which affirmed unshakable fidelity to [[Marxism–Leninism]] and [[proletarian internationalism]] and declared an implacable struggle against "bourgeois" ideology and all "anti-socialist" forces.<ref>{{Harvnb|Navrátil|2006|pp=326–329}}</ref>

[[File:10 Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency.jpg|thumb|left|Czechoslovak protestors carrying their national flag past a burning Soviet tank in Prague, 1968]]
On the night of 20–21 August 1968, Eastern Bloc armies from five Warsaw Pact countries (the Soviet Union, [[People's Republic of Poland|Poland]], [[German Democratic Republic|East Germany]], [[People's Republic of Hungary|Hungary]] and [[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]]) [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia|invaded Czechoslovakia]].<ref>{{Citation| last = Ouimet | first = Matthew| title = The Rise and Fall of the Brezhnev Doctrine in Soviet Foreign Policy | publisher=University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill and London| year = 2003 |pages = 34–35}}</ref> The invasion comported with the Brezhnev Doctrine, a policy of compelling Eastern Bloc states to subordinate national interests to those of the Bloc as a whole and the exercise of a Soviet right to intervene if an Eastern Bloc country appeared to shift towards capitalism.<ref>{{Harvnb|Grenville|2005|p=780}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Chafetz| first = Glenn | title = Gorbachev, Reform, and the Brezhnev Doctrine: Soviet Policy Toward Eastern Europe, 1985–1990| date =  1993| publisher=Praeger Publishers| isbn = 978-0-275-94484-1 |page= 10}}</ref> The invasion was followed by a wave of emigration, including an estimated 70,000 Czechoslovaks initially fleeing, with the total eventually reaching 300,000.<ref>{{cite web| last = Čulík| first = Jan| title = Den, kdy tanky zlikvidovaly české sny Pražského jara| url = http://www.britskelisty.cz/9808/19980821h.html| publisher = Britské Listy| access-date = 23 January 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928050554/http://www.britskelisty.cz/9808/19980821h.html| archive-date = 28 September 2007| url-status = dead}}</ref>

In April 1969, Dubček was replaced as first secretary by [[Gustáv Husák]] and a period of "[[Normalization (Czechoslovakia)|normalization]]" began.<ref name="Williams">{{Harvnb|Williams|1997|p=xi}}</ref> Husák reversed Dubček's reforms, purged the party of liberal members, dismissed opponents from public office, reinstated the power of the police authorities, sought to [[Command economy|re-centralize]] the economy and re-instated the disallowance of political commentary in mainstream media and by persons not considered to have "full political trust".<ref name="Interpolitics">{{Harvnb|Goertz|1995|pp=154–157}}</ref><ref name="KieranPress">{{Harvnb|Williams|1997|p=164}}</ref>