The forgotten Revolution

“For Freedom and Truth” was the last proclamation made by the official government of Hungary in 1956 just before the Soviet forces took the Parliament building in Budapest. It was written by an author who awaited inside the Parliament, the last man there, to be arrested by the Soviet military forces.

en.wikisource.org...

To My Fellow Hungarians!

When the Soviet Army attacked today at dawn, Prime Minister Nagy Imre went to the Soviet Embassy to negotiate and could not return. Tildy Zoltán, who was already in the Parliament building, and ministers Szabó István and Bibó István attended the council of ministers meeting which was convened this morning. As Soviet troops surrounded the Parliament building, minister Tildy Zoltán - to avoid bloodshed - reached an agreement, by which Soviet soldiers would occupy the Parliament building and allow all civilians to evacuate. According to this agreement, he then departed. Only the undersigned, Bibó István, remained in the Parliament building as the only representative of the only existing legal Hungarian government. Under these circumstances, I make the following declaration:

Hungary does not wish to pursue an anti-Soviet Policy. On the contrary, Hungary's full intent is to live in the community of free Eastern European nations which want to organise themselves on the principles of liberty, justice and freedom from exploitation. Before the entire world, I also reject the slanderous accusation that the glorious Hungarian Revolution has been despoiled by fascist or anti-semitic excess. The entire Hungarian nation, without class or denominational differences, participated in the struggle. it was moving and marvelous to see the humane, wise and discretionary behaviour of the insurgents, and how they were able to limit their outrage only towards the oppressive foreign army and the local executioner-commandos. The recently-formed Hungarian government had the ability to put an end to the incidents of street justice that repeatedly occurred during the past days, as it would have been able to halt the emergence of the unarmed arch-conservative political elements. The claim that a large foreign army had to be called or recalled into the country to accomplish these objectives is both frivolous and cynical. On the contrary, the very presence of this army is the major cause of the current tensions and disturbances.

I admonish the Hungarian people to not consider the occupying army or their puppet government as legal authority, and to utilise against them every means of passive resistance except those that would endanger the essential supplies and public utilities of Budapest. I cannot issue an order for armed resistance: I have been in the government for only one day and am not informed about the military situation. It would thus be irresponsible of me to risk the priceless blood of Hungarian youth. The Hungarian people have already sacrificed enough of their blood to show the world their devotion to freedom and truth. Now its up to the world powers to demonstrate the fore of principles embodied in the United Nations Charter and the strength of the world's freedom-loving peoples. I appeal to the major powers and the United Nations to make a wise and courageous decision to protect the freedom of our subjugated Nation.

I also declare that Hungary's sole authorised representative abroad and the senior member of the country's diplomatic corps is Minister of State Kéthly Anna.

May God Protect Hungary!

Budapest, November 4, 1956

Bibó István

Minister of State

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www.time.com...

Von Brentano's grim recommendation: the peoples of Eastern Europe must be discouraged from "taking dramatic action which might have disastrous consequences for themselves." In other words, sadly but realistically, Von Brentano considered that the Hungarians were too brave for their own good. NATO's new Secretary-General Paul-Henri Spaak glumly called the Hungarian revolt "the collective suicide of a whole people."

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On October 23, 1956 a patriotic Hungarian poem from the 1848 Revolution was chanted in the streets:

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On your feet, Magyar, the homeland calls!
The time is here, now or never!
Shall we be slaves or free?
This is the question, choose your answer! -
By the God of the Hungarians
We vow,
We vow, that we will be slaves
No longer!

We were slaves up til now,
Damned are our ancestors,
Who lived and died free,
Cannot rest in a slave land.
By the God of the Hungarians
We vow,
We vow, that we will be slaves
No longer!

Useless villain of a man,
Who now, if need be, doesn't dare to die,
Who values his pathetic life greater
Than the honor of his homeland.
By the God of the Hungarians
We vow,
We vow, that we will be slaves
No longer!

The sword shines brighter than the chain,
Decorates better the arm,
And we still wore chains!
Return now, our old sword!
By the God of the Hungarians
We vow,
We vow, that we will be slaves
No longer!

The Magyar name will be great again,
Worthy of its old, great honor;
Which the centuries smeared on it,
We will wash away the shame!
By the God of the Hungarians
We vow,
We vow, that we will be slaves
No longer!

Where our grave mounds lie,
Our grandchildren will kneel,
And with blessing prayer,
Recite our sainted names.
By the God of the Hungarians
We vow,
We vow, that we will be slaves
No longer!

The toppling of the government began and ended in just 5 days leading to a new revolutionary government. Then just one week later the Soviet Union intervened. The Hungarians stood strong and resilient, unwilling to give up, unwilling to back down, with the pride of an ancient people and the resilience that made them uniquely Hungarian they risen up to challenge the superpower military of the entire Soviet Union. With all the force it had the Soviets quickly pushed forward into Hungary, taking the east with dozens upon dozens of tanks. Leading to the capital of Budapest where they surrounded downtown. The Soviet tanks lined up on streets in downtown Budapest, drove by slowly and opened fire using machine guns on the buildings, attempting to kill as many people as possible.

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Quickly it was realized that the Soviets were there, and the revolution was soon to end, however this did not stop the freedom fighters which absolutely refused to back down, ending with over 2,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet soldiers dead.

However controversy soon came after the Revolution and Soviet intervention that the United States and the rest of the West did not help the Hungarians pursue freedom and independence. Many considered it a Western betrayal. Others understood that for the West to get involved on the side of Hungary it could have led to a nuclear war.

In the end though this revolution should be an inspiration to every person, for just like the United States Revolution, the Hungarians a relatively small nation, challenged a superpower and rose up against it, against all odds. They fought for their freedom and died for their freedom, but in the end, freedom was lost.

"October 23, 1956, is a day that will live forever in the annals of free men and nations. It was a day of courage, conscience and triumph. No other day since history began has shown more clearly the eternal unquenchability of man's desire to be free, whatever the odds against success, whatever the sacrifice required."

John F. Kennedy, on the first anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution

www.gwu.edu...

I guess it was forgotten again.

great post, of course you knew that.

i for one would rather live or die William Wallace style instead of bowing out as a coward whether it be the Chinese, Soviets, Zionists, Mexican Reconquistas, or any tyrant.

the cowards who lived were subject to slavery. the following quote is the best I've ever read.


"Men had better be without education than be educated by their rulers; for their education is but the mere breaking in of the steer to the yoke; the mere discipline of the hunting dog, which, by dint of severity, is made to forego the strongest impulse of his nature, and instead of devouring his prey, to hasten with it to the feet of his master" Thomas Hodgskin

reply to post by rebeldog


That is a very good quote. You know you can find a lot of quotes at Brainyquote.com. I use it all the time to find good quotes.

Also thanks for the reply.

reply to post by Misoir


Misoir, your words are most inspiring to me.

I had truly forgotten about this until I watched the peoples revolution in Egypt last week.

It is most difficult to get men/women in the United States of America to get out of their comfort zones and do anything that might risk life or limb.

Can there ever be a peaceful revolution? I don't believe so.

Will the citizens of our country revolt against a corrupt government? Will there be enough of us to change anything. I pray so.

My allegiance is to the people of this great country and not to our government.

As I live and breathe I will give all I have for freedom and a proper government of the people and for the people.

Those Hungarians who stood up for their freedom will not be forgotten by me again.

Their efforts will continue to inspire me.

Originally posted by dizziedame
reply to post by Misoir

 

Misoir, your words are most inspiring to me.

Those Hungarians who stood up for their freedom will not be forgotten by me again.

Their efforts will continue to inspire me.

Thank you very much.

My grandparents escaped Hungary in 1956 as refugees from the Soviet occupation. They joined with their family that moved here in 1914 just before the onset of World War 1. My grandparents have told me about the revolution before and how they were there when the head of Stalin was laying on the ground and how inspiring it was for them.

I am glad to some this Revolution is still relevant.

Here is the Nemzeti Dal, the Hungarian "National Poem". It is in Magyar.