There were also often shortages of food and fuel in Hungary in 1956. July 1956 The USSR orders Hungarian Prime Minister Matyas Rakosi to be replaced by Erno Gero, known for his hardline views.

The Warsaw Pact meant that the USSR controlled Hungarian foreign policy. Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader, made a ‘Secret Speech’ in February 1956 which criticised the previous Soviet ...