Osprey Elite 148 : The Hungarian Revolution 1956

Stalin's death in 1953 led to unrest in several states of the Soviet empire, as their hungry, tyrannized peoples sensed a slackening in the grip of their hard-line regimes. This is an account of the October 1956 student demonstrators in Budapest who attracted growing support from workers and, when the secret police opened fire, from many Hungarian troops. For five days they successfully fought off Soviet tanks, and it even seemed that Moscow might negotiate a withdrawal but then the tanks rolled in again, in crushing numbers. This stirring story is illustrated with fascinating contemporary photos and meticulously researched colour plates. Text by Erwin Schmidl and László Ritter with illustrations by Peter Dennis.

Contents

• Historical Background
• Events of 1956
• Organization, Uniforms and Weapons
  Hungarian People's Army
  Police & Border Police
  Insurgents
• Soviet Armed Forces
  Special Corps
  NKVD troops
  Additional Intervention Forces