[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 165 (Tuesday, October 24, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2005]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THIRTY-NINTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION

                                 ______


                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 24, 1995

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, 39 years ago yesterday, 
Hungarian students demanding reforms and democratization demonstrated 
in Budapest, touching off what has become known as the 1956 Hungarian 
Revolution. The 2 weeks that followed witnessed events that were truly 
incredible given the context of the times: following the initial 
demonstrations, Soviet troops and tanks entered Budapest; hundreds of 
peaceful marchers were killed at Parliament Square in Budapest; 
fighting spread across the country; a new Hungarian Government was 
formed and negotiations for Soviet troop withdrawals were begun; 
revolutionary workers' councils and local national committees rose to 
prominence and attention was given to political and economic demands, 
including calls for free elections, free speech, press, assembly, and 
worship. Hungary announced its withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact and 
proclaimed itself neutral. In early November, Soviet forces attacked 
Budapest and took over strategic locations across Hungary. By mid-
November, any hope of advancement was crushed by the ruthless Soviet 
military assault. Mr. Speaker, the short lived, but courageous struggle 
against communism and Soviet domination so brutally quelled by Soviet 
tanks vividly illustrated to the entire world the realities and 
intentions of Soviet imperialism and totalitarianism.
  The West offered no effective response, Mr. Speaker, and the bloody 
suppression of the Hungarian freedom fighters seemingly underscored the 
status quo of Soviet power and might. This led to a feeling of 
impotence in the West. The 1956 Revolution was, of course, a testament 
to the fortitude, heroism, and commitment to freedom of the Hungarian 
people. One could note that the uprising also signified the beginning 
of the end of Soviet rule. The famous Yugoslav dissident, Milovan 
Djilas, writing very shortly after the uprising, characterized the 
revolution in Hungary as ``the beginning of the end of communism 
generally,'' and observed that ``* * * the Hungarian fighters for 
freedom, struggling for their existence and country, may not have 
foreseen what an epochal deed they had initiated.''
  Innocent lives were lost, hopes were dashed, much of the potential of 
the States under Soviet dominance was never allowed to blossom, and 
almost two generations knew nothing of basic freedoms. But, Mr. 
Speaker, as later events showed, Djilas proved to be prescient in his 
analysis. The Hungarian Revolution began to expose, Mr. Speaker, the 
ultimate futility of communism and the inherent weakness of the Soviet 
Union. Henry Kissinger, in his 1994 book ``Diplomacy,'' notes that: ``A 
generation later, latent Soviet weakness would cast the Hungarian 
uprising as a harbinger of the ultimate bankruptcy of the communist 
system.'' Mr. Speaker, perhaps this was the most important legacy of 
the Hungarian uprising, attesting that the blood shed by the Hungarian 
people in 1956 ultimately was not in vain.

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