Editing Imre Nagy (section)

==1956 Revolution==
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{{Main|Hungarian Revolution of 1956}}
Following [[Nikita Khrushchev]]'s "[[Secret Speech]]" denouncing the crimes of Stalin on 25 February 1956, dissent began to grow in Eastern Bloc against the ruling Stalinist-era party leaders. In Hungary, [[Mátyás Rákosi]]—who self-styled as "Stalin's greatest disciple"—came under increasingly intense criticism for his policies from both the Party and general populace, with more and more prominent voices calling for his resignation. This public criticism often took the form of the Petőfi Circle—a debating club established by the [[Union of Working Youth|DISZ]] student youth union to discuss Communist policy—which soon became one of the foremost outlets of dissent against the regime. While Nagy himself never attended a Petőfi Circle meeting, he was kept well informed of events by his close associates [[Miklós Vásárhelyi]] and [[Géza Losonczy]], who informed him of the vast popular support expressed for him at the meetings and the widespread desire for his restoration to the leadership.<ref>Hall, Simon. ''1956: The World in Revolt.'' New York: Pegasus Books, 2015. p. 185</ref>

In the face of widespread public pressure on Rákosi, the Soviets forced the unpopular leader to resign from power on 18 July 1956 and leave for the Soviet Union. However, they replaced him with his equally hard-line second in command [[Ernő Gerő]], a change which did little to mollify public dissent. Nagy was a prominent guest at the 6 October reburial of former secret police chief [[László Rajk]], who had been purged by the Rákosi regime and later rehabilitated. He was readmitted to the Party on 13 October in the midst of growing revolutionary fervor. On 22 October, students from the [[Budapest University of Technology and Economics|Technical University]] in Budapest compiled a list of [[Demands of Hungarian Revolutionaries of 1956|sixteen national policy demands]], the third of which was Nagy's restoration to the premiership.

In the afternoon of 23 October, students and workers gathered in Budapest for a massive opposition demonstration arranged by the Technical University students, chanting—among other things—slogans of support for Imre Nagy. While the ex-premier sympathized with their reformist demands, he was hesitant to support the movement, believing it to be too radical in its demands. While he was in favor of changes to the system, he preferred those to be made within the framework of his "New Course" of 1953–55 and not a revolutionary upheaval. He also feared that the demonstration was a provocation by Gerő and Hegedüs to frame him as inciting rebellion and to crack down on the opposition.

His associates ultimately convinced him to travel to the Parliament Building and give a speech to the demonstrators to calm the unrest. While no accurate record of this speech exists, it did not have its intended effect; Nagy essentially told the protesters to go home and let the Party handle things. The demonstrations soon escalated into a full-scale revolt as [[ÁVH]] secret policemen opened fire on the protesting citizens. Hungarian soldiers sent to crush the demonstrators instead sided with them, and Gerő soon called in Soviet intervention.

Early in the morning of 24 October, Nagy was renamed as [[List of Prime Ministers of Hungary|Chairman]] of the [[Council of Ministers of the Hungarian People's Republic]] again, in an attempt to appease the populace. However, he was initially isolated within the government, and powerless to stop the Soviet invasion of the capital that day. The decision to call in Soviet forces had already been made by Gerő and outgoing Prime Minister [[András Hegedüs]] the previous night, but many suspected that Nagy had signed the order.<ref>János Rainer M. Imre Nagy. Political biography 1953–1958. (Volume II) 1956 Institute, Budapest, 1999, 248–249.</ref> This perception was not helped by the fact that Nagy declared martial law on that same day and offered an "amnesty" to all rebels who laid down their arms, weakening the public's trust in him. The next day (25 October) he announced he would begin negotiations on the withdrawal of Soviet troops after order was restored. On 26 October, he began to meet with delegations from the Writers' Union and student groups, as well as from the Borsod Workers' Council in [[Miskolc]].

On 27 October, Nagy announced a major reformation of his government, to include several non-communist politicians including former president [[Zoltán Tildy]] as a [[Minister of State]]. At negotiations with Soviet representatives [[Anastas Mikoyan]] and [[Mikhail Suslov]], Nagy and the Hungarian government delegation pushed for a ceasefire and political solution.

In the morning of 28 October, Nagy successfully prevented a massive attack on the main rebel strongholds at the [[Battle of the Corvin Passage|Corvin Cinema]] and Kilián Barracks by Soviet troops and pro-regime Hungarian units. He negotiated a ceasefire with the Soviets, which came into effect at 12:15 and fighting began to die down across the city and country. Later that day, he gave a speech on the radio assessing the events as a "national democratic movement," proclaiming his full support of the Revolution and agreeing to fulfill some of the public's demands.<ref>Chronicle 1956 . Editor-in-Chief: Louis Isaac. Ed .: Gyula Stemler. Kossuth Publisher – Tekintet Alapítvány, Bp., 2006. p.</ref> He announced the dissolution of the ÁVH and his intention to negotiate the full withdrawal of Soviet troops from the city. Nagy also supported the creation of a National Guard, a force of combined soldiers and armed civilians to maintain order amidst the chaos of the Revolution.

On 29 October, as fighting died down across Budapest and Soviet troops began to withdraw, Nagy moved his office from the Party headquarters to the Parliament Building. He also began to meet and negotiated with several representatives of the armed groups that day, as well as the representatives of the workers' councils that had been formed over the course of the previous week.

By 30 October, Nagy's reformist faction had gained full control of the Hungarian government. Ernő Gerő and the other Stalinist hard-liners had left for the Soviet Union, and Nagy's government announced its intent to restore a multi-party system based on the coalition parties from 1945.{{sfn|Rainer|2009|p=118}} Throughout this period, Nagy remained steadfastly committed to Marxism; but his conception of Marxism was as "a science that cannot remain static", and he railed against the "rigid dogmatism" of "the Stalinist monopoly".<ref>Stokes, Gale. ''From Stalinism to Pluralism''. pp. 82–83</ref> He did not intend a full return to multi-party liberal democracy but a limited one within a socialist framework, and was willing to allow the function of the pre-1948 coalition parties.<ref>Sándor Révész: Communists in the Revolution, Gábor Gyáni – Rainer M. János (ed.): Thousand Ninety-Seventy in the New Historical Literature, Symbol and Idea History of the Revolution, p. 2007. 1956 Institute, Budapest, {{ISBN|9789639739024}}</ref>

Nagy was appointed to the temporary leadership committee of the newly formed [[Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party]], which replaced the disintegrated [[Hungarian Working People's Party]] on 31 October. This was originally intended as a "[[National communism|national communist]]" party that would preserve the gains of the Revolution. However, at a meeting of the [[Soviet Politburo]] that day, the Kremlin leaders decided that the Revolution had gone too far and needed to be crushed. On the night of 31 October – 1 November, Soviet troops began crossing back into Hungary, contrary to their declaration of 30 October expressing willingness to withdraw from the country entirely. Nagy protested this action to Soviet Ambassador [[Yuri Andropov]]; the latter replied that the new troops were only there to cover the full withdrawal and protect Soviet citizens living in Hungary. This likely prompted Nagy to make his most controversial decision. In response to a major demand of the revolutionaries, he announced Hungary's withdrawal from the [[Warsaw Pact]] and appealed through the UN for the great powers, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, to recognise Hungary's status as a neutral state.<ref>Gyorgy Litvan, ''The Hungarian Revolution of 1956'', (Longman House: New York, 1996), 55–59</ref> Late that night, General Secretary [[János Kádár]] went to the Soviet embassy, and the next day he was taken to Moscow.

Between 1–3 November, Nikita Khrushchev traveled to various [[Warsaw Pact]] countries as well as to Yugoslavia to inform them of his plans to attack Hungary. On the advice of Yugoslav leader [[Josip Broz Tito]], he selected the then-Party General Secretary János Kádár as the country's new leader on 2 November, and was willing to let Nagy remain in the government if he cooperated. On 3 November, Nagy formed a new government, this time with a Communist minority. It included members of the Communists, [[Independent Smallholders' Party]], [[National Peasant Party (Hungary)|Peasants' Party]], and [[Social Democratic Party of Hungary|Social Democrats]]. However, it would only be in office for less than a day.

In the early morning hours of 4 November, the USSR launched "Operation Whirlwind," a massive military attack on Budapest and on rebel strongholds throughout the country. Nagy made a dramatic announcement to the country and the world about this operation.<ref>Ferenc Donáth: Imre Nagy, Radio News of 4 November 1956 and the Geneva Conventions. Our past, 2007/1. s. 150–168.</ref> However, to minimize damage he ordered the Hungarian Army not to resist the invaders.<ref>Hall, Simon. ''1956: The World in Revolt.'' New York: Pegasus Books, 2015. pp. 346–347</ref> Soon after, he fled to the [[Embassy of Serbia in Budapest|Yugoslav Embassy]], where he and many of his followers were given sanctuary.

In spite of a written safe conduct of free passage by [[János Kádár]], on 22 November, Nagy was arrested by the Soviet forces as he was leaving the Yugoslav Embassy and taken to [[Snagov]], [[Communist Romania|Romania]].{{sfn|Rainer|2009|p=142}}{{sfn|Rainer|2009|p=145}}