ZH
IT
DE
Why are Hungarians mourning today with flags half-mast?
Hungarian flags are flying at half-mast across the country all day today. But what exactly are Hungarians mourning?
With military honours, the national flag was solemnly raised and then lowered to half-mast on this national day of mourning, in the presence of Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, General Gábor Böröndi, Chief of the Hungarian Defence Forces General Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Rihárd Haslinger, and Colonel Tamás Zsolnai, commander of the 32nd Guard Regiment, reports MTI.
4 November: National Day of Mourning in Hungary
Today marks the national day of mourning in Hungary to remember the events of 69 years ago. On 4 November 1956, Soviet troops re-entered Hungary to crush the anti-Soviet revolution and freedom fight.
By the end of October 1956, it became clear to both the Hungarian Communist leadership and Soviet authorities that a wide-reaching popular movement had erupted in Budapest and major regional cities against Soviet military occupation and the country’s Sovietisation. The Soviet and Hungarian troops stationed there could no longer control it.
- “Budapest will be ours too”, says Russian propagandist after anniversary of Hungarian revolution
Imre Nagy, selected by Moscow as Communist Prime Minister, refused to sign a document requesting Soviet military intervention to suppress what they deemed counter-revolutionary elements.
Instead, Nagy transformed his originally Communist government: he allowed pre-Soviet Hungarian parties to re-form, invited new members from these parties (Smallholders, Petőfi Party, Social Democrats), declared that free elections would be held soon, and announced Hungary’s exit from the Warsaw Pact. The aim was for Hungary to become a neutral state, like Austria or Finland.
Soviet reaction and military invasion
The Soviets, holding military power over Central and Eastern Europe, could not tolerate such embarrassment. Around 30–31 October, Moscow likely decided on a military counterstrike, choosing János Kádár, Nagy’s Interior Minister, as their new leader. Kádár was flown to the Soviet capital and returned on Soviet tanks in early November.
- Why the West refused to help Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956
The Soviet attack struck Budapest, still celebrating earlier victories, early on Sunday, 4 November. Except for some militarily defended areas like Széna Square and Corvin Passage, Soviet forces quickly took control. Soviet losses were around 600–700 soldiers, while Hungarian casualties were higher; however, the greatest loss was over 200,000 people fleeing the country.
The aftermath: repression and terror under Kádár
János Kádár took years to consolidate power, relying on the Soviet army, Communist internal security, and brutal terror tactics — including executions, imprisonments, and torture lasting for years. Most prisoners jailed due to the 1956 events were released only in 1963, while many others remained detained, officially convicted of common crimes, often framed for killing a Soviet soldier.
Today, Hungary remembers the brave souls who stood up against the Soviet army, those who died in battle, those wounded, executed, or imprisoned during the struggle for freedom.
Click and read more articles concerning the 1956 Hungarian revolution and freedom fight.
“Executions, imprisonments, and torture lasting for years” – that is what the Russians bring to any territory they conquer. They are doing it right now in the areas of Ukraine they have taken control of and will do it in any further territory they take. Anyone treating them as “partners” deserving “mutual respect” has made a partnership with evil.
Absolute rubbish, but then again you seem to excel at that.
It’s rather simplistic to assume that Humanity did not evolve through the past 69 years. Some for the better, others less so, as observing the West seems to suggest…