Timeline of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution: 12 Days of Uprising

The 1956 Hungarian Revolution began on October 23, 1956, when 20,000 university students in Budapest led a demonstration that swelled to 200,000 people protesting the communist regime. The secret police (AVH) shot and killed several unarmed protesters, sparking a nationwide uprising. University and high school students, industrial workers, and even military commanders like Colonel László Zolomy and Police Chief Sándor Kopácsi joined the resistance. On October 24, revolutionaries captured the Budapest Radio building. By October 25, at least 34,000 Soviet troops with 1,350 tanks arrived; a massacre at Kossuth Lajos Square killed between 800 and 1,000 unarmed protesters, ordered by KGB head Ivan Serov. A ceasefire on October 28 led to the dissolution of the AVH, but on October 30, the Republic Square Massacre saw 23 secret police killed. On November 1, Prime Minister Imre Nagy announced Hungary's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact. The Soviets appointed János Kádár as prime minister on November 2. On November 4, 2,500 tanks and 150,000 troops invaded Budapest; resistance held out until November 11 on Csepel island. Official reports claim 2,000–3,000 Hungarian deaths and 700 Soviet fatalities, but survivors estimate over 30,000 Hungarians killed or wounded and up to 8,000 Soviet deaths. Up to 50,000 people were arrested.