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Nowadays, it is a National Holiday to remind Hungarians of their historic revolt against Soviet oppression Furthermore, later in 1989, after the fall of communism, Hungary symbolically declared a republic on October 23. Thus, “Day of the Republic” turned into a memorial recognition of nationwide heroism's Hungarian emblematic act.
In 1945, the residents of Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and the other countries in the region, welcomed the Soviet troops pouring in Eastern Europe to pursue the fleeing German Army as liberators. Unfortunately, soon enough, the euphoria died out with the quick realization that Stalin did not intend to withdraw from Eastern Europe after Germany's defeat. Instead, the absolute Soviet ruler was planning to turn the region into Russian satellite friendly nations.<ref>Hungarian history: War and renewed defeat -https://www.britannica.com/place/Hungary/History#ref411390</ref> Furthermore, like many of its neighboring countries in the region, in 1949, the Russians coerced and effectively forced Hungarians to sign a mutual assistance treaty with the Soviet Union, granting them rights to enforce a continued military presence and thereby assure ultimate political control. Gradually the communists shifted power from the freely elected Hungarian government Independent Smallholders Party to the Soviet-backed Hungarian Socialist Worker’s Party led by the infamous and sinister Matyas Rakosi.
However, following Stalin’s death in 1953, the Soviet block started to weaken with riots in East Berlin and Poland in the following year.<ref>1956 Hungarian Uprising: Post War Hungary & Sowing The Seeds of Dissent - http://www.local-life.com/budapest/articles/1956-hungarian-uprising</ref> Furthermore, Hungarian conditions got a little improved when the same year Moscow forced Rakosi to also resign in 1953. The far more liberal Imre Nagy became the leader of Hungary and declared a new, more liberal government program that aimed at increasing the standard of living and easing farmers' burdens. Nagy promised a new course – ending the heavy industry's forced development, providing more consumer goods, no more forcing of peasants into the collectives, the release of political prisoners, and the closing of internment camps. However, introducing these reforms, Moscow hesitated to support him for being well too liberal at the time. Nagy started a positive change in politics by a thorough review of the illegally condemned nationals’ cases.
On the other hand, the previous leadership members feared their vanishing privileges and that they would be accounted for their prior unjust deeds. Meanwhile, former Hungarian communist leader Rakosi had held a decent political power post as General Secretary of Hungarian Workers Party in the background. Unsurprisingly, the members of the previous leadership backed Rakosi, who convinced the Russian party leaders that Nagy’s program endangered the very state of the socialist-communist system in Hungary.<ref>October 23, 1956, Revolution - http://www.budapestbylocals.com/event/23rd-october-1956-revolution/</ref> Moscow ordered Nagy to withdraw his government program, but he refused to cooperate. As Nagy set about releasing anti-Communists from jail and removing state control of the media, Rakosi campaigned against him. Soviets quickly discredited and denounced Nagy, removed him from power, and quickly excluded him from the communist party. Rakosi then once more became the nation’s leading politician. However, Nikita Khrushchev, who had succeeded Stalin in Kremlin, shortly removed him from power, denouncing Stalin and his close followers to acknowledge their mistakes, endangering the very socialist-communist regime. Nevertheless, before stepping down, Rakosi secured his close follower Erno Gero as the new General Secretary of the Hungarian Workers Party. The political leadership with Erno Gero – the former second in command of the Rakosi cabinet – did not aim at conducting any reforms, while more and more Hungarians were demanding real changes. Therefore, the scene was still ripe for unrest.
Furthermore, it turned out that the events in Poland were the trigger for the Hungarian Revolution. Although the Polish government forces violently put down Poznan workers' staged mass protest earlier in June 1956, the Soviets in Moscow were worried. They let Poland negotiate wider autonomy and liberalization to avoid further unrest. A year earlier, Austria had also managed to declare itself neutral and avoid joining the Warsaw Pact. In turn, many Hungarians hoped to achieve something similar. When students from the Budapest Technical University (who had become a strong political voice) heard that the Hungarian Writers Union planned to express solidarity with Poland's pro-reform movements, they decided to join them.
