Forewarned is Forearmed: How the Hungarian Crisis of 1956 Helped the Romanian Leadership

Abstract

This article examines how the Hungarian crisis and Soviet interventions strengthened the position of the Romanian communist leadership. First, it eroded the respect of several Bucharest officials for the Soviet army, reinforcing their desire to see Soviet troops leave Romania. Second, the crisis brought back memories of earlier historical events that seemed to provide ‘proof’ of Hungarian bellicosity, which the Romanian leadership used to discriminate against ethnic Hungarians in Romania. Third, the crisis aroused fears of Transylvanian irredentism, which Bucharest used to control the population. Fourth, by incarcerating Imre Nagy, Bucharest leaders could witness his suffering, which motivated them to avoid his fate.