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Twelve Days: The Story of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, by Victor Sebestyen
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On the fiftieth anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution, a defining moment in the Cold War, Victor Sebestyen, a journalist whose own family fled from Hungary, gives us a totally fresh account of that uprising, incorporating newly released official Hungarian and Soviet documents, his family’s diaries, and eyewitness testimony.
Tracing the events that led to the rebellion, Sebestyen tells the story of these twelve days with front-page immediacy. Sebestyen’s narrative moves from the tumultuous streets of Budapest to the inner sanctums of the Kremlin and the White House, where we hear the conversations of the men and women who planned and took part in the uprising and of those who helped crush it–some actively, others through craven inaction.
Sebestyen shows how Western anti-Communist rhetoric encouraged the rebels and convinced them they would receive help. We witness the thrilling first days when, armed with a few rifles, petrol bombs, and desperate courage, the people of Budapest rose up against their Soviet masters and nearly succeeded in routing the Russian forces. For a few exciting days, as the Western world watched in amazement, it looked as though the Hungarians would win and humble the Soviet Union. Russian troops withdrew. But not for long.
The Soviets showed they would resort to brutal lengths to cling to their Communist empire–and the West was prepared to let them. The free world looked on in sympathy and horror, did nothing, and, finally, the Hungarians suffered a devastating defeat, remaining under Soviet occupation for three more decades.
Fast-paced, vivid, and authoritative, Twelve Days adds immeasurably to our understanding of one of the most important battles of the Cold War and reminds us–through the extraordinary courage and sacrifice of the Hungarian people in their doomed fight–of the unquenchable human desire for freedom.
- Sales Rank: #743263 in Books
- Brand: Pantheon Books
- Published on: 2006-10-03
- Released on: 2006-10-03
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.51" h x 1.18" w x 6.43" l,
- Binding: Hardcover
- 368 pages
From Booklist
Fifty years ago one of the most heroic but saddest episodes of the cold war unfolded. The Hungarians, led by the Fascist sympathizer Admiral Horthy, were allied with Germany during World War II. After the Red Army "liberated" Hungary, the Soviets imposed an especially brutal, oppressive regime upon the Hungarian people. In October 1956, spontaneous resistance against both the Hungarian government and their Soviet masters exploded. Once a hesitant Soviet government acted decisively, the rebels were crushed. Using newly available resources, Sebestyen tells this story with a fast-paced narrative that shows the heroism of many Hungarians and the venality of others. As always, historical tumult created some unlikely martyrs and villains. For example, Hungarian prime minister Imre Nagy, viewed by many as a typical Soviet stooge, bravely resisted Soviet demands, ensuring his eventual doom. The American government encouraged Hungarian opposition to the Soviets but, for reasons of realpolitik, refused to provide assistance when the revolution broke out. This is an excellent recounting of an inspiring but tragic struggle for freedom against insurmountable odds. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
“This is a vivid, heartbreaking account of the brutal crushing of the first armed insurrection against Soviet occupation. Twelve Days is essential reading for understanding the great risks people will take for freedom.”
–Kati Marton, author of The Great Escape: Nine Hungarians Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World
“On the anniversary of 1956, wielding a vast array of newly released archives and completely new eyewitness testimony, Victor Sebestyen has written a magisterial but also totally gripping and fresh account of the noble, violent, and doomed Hungarian revolution: a tale of murder and battles on the streets of Budapest and in the dungeons of the KGB, and of high-level intrigue from the White House to the Kremlin. Above all, it is a story of courage and decency among ordinary Hungarians. The result is a tour de force.”
–Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar
About the Author
Victor Sebestyen was born in Budapest and was only an infant when his family left Hungary. He has worked for many British newspapers, including the Evening Standard. He lives in England.
Most helpful customer reviews
29 of 32 people found the following review helpful.
Twelve Days That Shook The World.
By Lonya
October 20, 2006 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution, the seemingly spontaneous (at least to those outside Hungary) set of demonstrations that quickly morphed into a full-fledged revolution that almost freed Hungary from Soviet hegemony. Twelve days after it began the revolution was crushed under the tread of Red Army tanks. Victor Sebestyen's "Twelve Days: The Story of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution" is an informative and well-written examination of the revolution, its causes and its consequences.
Twelve Days is divided into three parts: "Prelude", "Revolution" and "Aftermath". In the Prelude Sebestyen provides a concise history of Hungary in the first half of the twentieth century. This is an invaluable introduction for readers, such as this reviewer, who have not previously immersed themselves in Hungarian history. After the First World War and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles, Hungary came to be ruled by a fascist regime led by Admiral Horthy. Hungary under Horthy became an ally of Hitler's Germany and found itself at war with the Allied Powers, most importantly the USSR. Toward the end of the Second World War, the German Army occupied Hungary and fought a desperate battle against the Red Army. The 100 day siege and conquest of Budapest was brutal and the damage to Budapest was exceeded only by the damage done to Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Warsaw. (Krisztian Ungvary's "The Siege of Budapest" makes an excellent companion volume to Twelve Days). Sebestyen then takes the reader through the immediate post-World War II years in which the Hungarian Communist Party, under the leadership of Matyas Rakosi gradually seized total control of the reins of power. Sebestyen's description of the brutality of Rakosi, who fancied himself as something of a Stalin-protégé follows. Rakosi's brutality, which rivaled that of Stalin's, laid the groundwork for the 1956 uprising. As noted by Sebestyen, Stalin's death and Khrushchev's denunciation of the cult of Stalin left many Hungarian's feeling that the time was ripe for liberalization and it is with this feeling in mind that Sebestyen begins his recitation of the revolution itself.
The revolution starts with a series of small demonstrations in Parliament square but these demonstrations caused the Communist party structure to collapse like a house of cards. The relatively small Soviet troop presence was humbled by the demonstrators. The Soviets deposed Rakosi and announced that Imre Nagy would take over Hungary's leadership. Nagy is a compelling figure. Sebestyen paints a sympathetic yet objective portrait of Nagy. Nagy, a dedicated Communist (albeit not a hardliner) found himself immersed in a situation he could not control. A jovial, if somewhat plodding bureaucrat, Nagy underwent a transformation from a party-liner to the leader of the drive for total independence from the USSR and from the one-party system then in place in Hungary.
Events in Hungary did not take place in a vacuum and Sebestyen's narrative covers the critical roles played by both the USSR and the USA. Sebestyen takes the reader into the Kremlin and paints a picture of a fragmented and confused Politburo that initially was prepared to grant Hungary some `freedoms' but ultimately decided it had to crush to the revolution brutally lest it lose its grip on the rest of Eastern Europe. The USA's role was marked more by inaction than action. The Eisenhower administration, most notably his Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, made the `roll back of Communism' a key tenet of the administration and Eisenhower's 1956 re-election campaign. At the same time, the USA-sponsored Radio Free Europe regularly urged its Eastern European listeners to take a stand against Communist rule. Unfortunately, the Hungarian people were cruelly disappointed to find that the USA had absolutely no interest in doing battle with the USSR over Hungary. In fact, Eisenhower made it a point to let the USSR know that it wished to remain neutral and, in effect, let the Kremlin know it had a free hand to do what it wanted.
The Kremlin did send in the tanks in great numbers and crushed the incipient revolution twelve days after it started. Order was restored and the Communist Party took back control of the government. The new party leader, Janos Kadar, was responsible for the prosecution and execution of the revolt's leaders, including Nagy. Life returned to the status quo until the fall of the Soviet Union over thirty years later.
Victor Sebestyen's "Twelve Days" provides a great service in providing a concise history of these twelve days. Twelve Days is a scholarly work (thoroughly researched and annotated) that is written with the lay reader in mind. Twelve Days is a thoughtful, well-written account of twelve tumultuous days in Hungary that left this reader hungry for more accounts of Hungary and its history. Highly recommended. L. Fleisig
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Freedom Crushed by an Iron Fist
By Mike Beri
This is a story about betrayal.
First from the West. Ike and Dulles wanted a "rollback" of communism and led the people (through Radio Free Europe) to believe the US would be there to help them. But when the Suez Crises arouse, Hungarians were forgotten. The last pleas from Imre Nagy to the UN were not even read for 2 hours, then debates over the minutia of what "assembly" Nagy was referring to. All leading to nothing being done, while thousands of Soviet tanks and troops were tightening the noose around Budapest. The next day the UN Secretary General when went to Egypt the next day.
Imre Nagy was a man who being a lifelong communist was the only leader available but was unable and unwilling to do what needed to be done. While not betrayal in the true sense of the word, Hungarians deserved better. While the Soviets were sending tanks and troops into Hungary, Nagy did nothing. Not mobilize the army, warn the people, nothing. He did believe that the Soviets would stick to their word about troop withdrawals even as the noose tightened. Only when Budapest shook under tank and air bombardment did he realize, too late, than the Soviets had lied to him. He was hanged after being promised that his life would be spared if he came out from hiding and recognized the Soviet puppet government with the Judas Kadar in the Presidency.
The worst acts were committed by the workers paradise, the USSR. Strangely the Soviets were at first confused and shocked by the revolution happening in Hungary. After the initial revolution the Soviets promised that they would withdraw. After much discussion and politics in the Kremlin, Khrushchev decided to crush the revolution to keep it from spreading to the other occupied satellites. The Soviet ambassador to Hungary, Andropov had the job of keeping the Hungarians lulled into a false sense of security. He was a master of lying in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. You can't help but admire Andropov and how he did his job. But Nagy wanted to believe so badly the Soviets were gone and not coming back, Andropov just told him what he wanted to hear. The KGB even engineered the capture of the Defense minister under the umbrella of talks concerning Soviet troop withdrawals. This left Hungary unable to use its army to defend itself.
Finally the Judas Kadar. He was a minister under Nagy and betrayed himself to the soviets. He defended himself later, saying if not him, them someone else more brutal would have been installed as President. Such as preventing the reinstall of Stalin's puppet, Rakosi who had led Hungary (brutally) in the postwar years. Kadar himself though proved just as bloodthirsty. He had Nagy hung along with hundreds of freedom fighers. The once open borders were now closed shut to prevent escape to freedom. Some of those who had feld were convinced to return with no harm to them. However they were arrested and imprisoned if not killed once they stepped back on home soil.
My father was one of those who managed to flee to the west after participating in the uprising in Budapest. I grew up hearing stories of street battles, Molotov cocktails and bloodshed. I just learned that he even had a piece of Stalin's statue that was torn down (but lost some years ago). This book is a testament to those heady days of freedom in '56.
25 of 31 people found the following review helpful.
It is the 50th Anniversary - let's write a book
By Karl May
This is the story of one of the most heroic, and yet, saddest episodes of the Cold War. Unfortunately, it was apparently published in haste, and therefore the excellent historical research is almost negated by the factual errors. Although Mr. Sebestyen apparently was there as a baby, and then taken to England, he has no idea of Hungarian geography and spelling. He liberally uses the "accent marks" - which in Hungarian don't indicate accent, they indicate a different-sounding vowel from the one without the mark - unfortunately more often in the wrong places than in the right ones. To anyone who actually reads Hungarian, this alone makes the book appear like an amateurish effort by a careless and ill-informed foreigner. He consistently puts geographical places almost consistently in the wrong directions from Budapest (often the opposite of reality) - consulting a map of Hungary would have been useful. Some of his numbers are wrong - for example, the US did not take 150,000 Hungarian refugees. By an Executive Order of President Eisenhower, 35,000 were admitted as "parole residents" ("white card"), which was converted to permanent resident status backdated to their entry by Congress after some time.
Ultimately, although he reminds us of this event with some detail, this is a flawed historical work. This one is flawed not because of political expediency - that is it did not yield to political pressures of re-writing history as so many historical works do. It simply lacks in good execution. With that understanding, I would recommend buying it because the literature is rather limited on this historical event - but Caveat Emptor!
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