Hungarians Killed at the Hands of the Soviet Union Essays

In 1956, thousands of Hungarians, aggrieved by the lack of freedom in their nation, crowded into the streets in revolt to protest against the injustice done towards them. Nikita Khrushchev responds quickly and violently to this unruly show of disloyalty. He sends in his troops and tanks to put a swift, crushing end to the spontaneous uprising. This led to the death of more than 2,500 Hungarians at the hands of Khrushchev. The West made no attempts of intervention, due to their desire to not spark conflict with the Soviet Union, and risk war in the process. This event does not reflect the containment policy due to the West’s passivity in the matter; on the grounds that it did not represent the spread of communism, as Hungary was already a†¦show more content†¦In one case, when the Polish Communist Party elected a new official, they were faced with threats of the Soviet forces invading Poland. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union was at odds with the West, how did they respond? The West was following their policy of containment: to prevent communism from spreading any further than it already had. Their response to the matter does not reflect the policy of containment. They didn’t do anything to intervene or support Hungary. Although their citizens were disturbed by the brutal force shown by Khrushchev, and protested, they ultimately remained passive in the matter. Their leaders stated that their policy was containment. They rationalized that Hungary had already been in communist hands before Khrushchev sent his forces in. Consequently, they had no business intervening. In addition, if they did interfere, they would be risking war with the Soviet Union. Therefore they decided they would ultimately remain inactive. In conclusion, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 resulted in the death of more than 2,500 Hungarians. Many of the attitudes and occurrences at the time, such as Khrushchev’s brutality and the general unrest under the Soviet Union’s control of countries and their freedom were large factors in the revolt. The West makes no attempts of intervention; Hungary was already under the power ofShow MoreRelatedLife in the Soviet Regime During the Cold War1837 Words   |  7 PagesThe Bonds of the Soviet People Elena Gorokhova explains in her memoir that â€Å"The rules are simple: they lie to us, we know theyre lying, they know we know theyre lying, but they keep lying to us, and we keep pretending to believe them.† The novel, A Mountain of Crumbs, depicts the hopelessness, opression and deception of life behind the Iron Curtain during the 70s and 80s. Many rights of the people within the Soviet Union were violated and unacknowledged. 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