The Changing Significance of the 1956 Revolution in Post-Communist Hungary

Abstract

This article explores the changing political uses of the memorialisation of the 1956 revolution in Hungary since 1989, in written history and in public monuments and displays. 1956 was central to the political discourse in 1989; merely 10 years later its anniversary publicly carried the significance of a bank holiday but within a few more years, and especially by the time of the 50th anniversary in 2006, the revolution had become a recurring motif in politics, as the political parties tried to stake their claim as the heirs of 1956. The article illustrates how the 1956 revolution first decreased and then increased in importance over the 20 years following the fall of communism, and how this was a direct result of the ability to use the revolution's memory for political gain.