Soviet forces attack the Corvin köz group at dawn, but the rebels repel them.
2 p.m.: The new government is sworn in. It goes on to approve the government statement put forward by Prime Minister Imre Nagy.
The curfew is lifted. At a meeting of the HWP Political Committee, János Kádár introduces a new programme to resolve the political crisis—this has been agreed with the Soviet delegates overnight. The events in the country are classified as a national movement (but not a revolution). The Interior Ministry security bodies are to be reorganized. The Soviet troops have to withdraw from Budapest. A special body, the Presidium, is established to head the party, with János Kádár in the chair and Antal Apró, Ferenc Münnich, Imre Nagy and Zoltán Szántó as members.
The Revolutionary Committee of the Hungarian Intelligentsia, the Buda University Revolutionary Committee and the Revolutionary Party of Hungarian Youth are established.
Late in the afternoon, Imre Nagy reads out on the radio a statement agreed with the HWP Presidium and the National Government. The events of the previous days are referred to as a national democratic movement aimed at national independence and the democratization of political life. Nagy states that the Soviet troops will withdraw from Budapest immediately and talks will begin on a full withdrawal of Soviet forces from the country. He also announces that the ÁVH will be dissolved, there will be a general amnesty, the ‘Kossuth’ Hungarian coat of arms of 1849 will be reintroduced, and March 15 (the outbreak of the 1848 revolution) will be a national holiday. Other promises include a settlement of wages and work norms and an end to forcible collectivization of agriculture. Nagy repeats that concurrently with the establishment of the new security force, the government is ordering a ceasefire.
The free Róka (Fox) Radio is established at the 20th District party headquarters.
Planes fire again on the Gypsy quarter of Kecskemét, which is then combed by the army. Several rebels and soldiers lose their lives in the fighting.
There are demonstrations in Békéscsaba, Eger, Kaposvár, Orosháza, Szarvas and Szombathely.
Further local revolutionary organizations form in provincial towns. They include Battonya, Békéscsaba, Eger, Kaposvár, Mohács, Nagykanizsa, Orosháza, Paks, Székesfehérvár, Szombathely and Zalaegerszeg. Workers’ councils are established in Dombrád, Dunapentele (Sztálinváros, Dunaújváros), Szeged, Tapolca and Tatabánya. National-guard units form in Debrecen, Nyíregyháza and Ráckeve.
Funerals are held for the victims of the firing at Győr and Mosonmagyaróvár. The members of the HWP committee in Sopron are arrested.
Guards at Sopronkőhida and the Komló labour camp prevent break-outs by prisoners.
The Hegyeshalom frontier crossing into Austria is closed.
A curfew is imposed in Gyöngyös.
Some 200–250 people demonstrate outside the Almássy Mansion in Felsőpetény, where Cardinal József Mindszenty is being detained.
Rebels attack barracks in Kalocsa and Vác, an arsenal in Fót and a district police station in Békés.
Pravda reports on the Hungarian revolution, under the headline ‘Collapse of the Anti-People Adventure’.
Khrushchev reports on the situation in Hungary to the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, which decides to reinforce the troops stationed in Hungary.
The UN Security Council places the ‘Hungarian situation’ on its agenda.
Hungary is offered aid by the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, the GDR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, the United States, Austria and other countries, and by agencies of the International Red Cross.
The communist leaders who have been most severely compromised—Ernő Gerő, András Hegedüs, István Bata, László Piros, Erzsébet Andics, Andor Berei and István Kovács—flee overnight to Moscow aboard Soviet planes.
Talks with representatives of rebel groups on laying down their arms are held at the Ministry of Defence.
A 2nd District national committee <revolutionary councils and committees> is formed. The Hungarian National Revolutionary Committee moves into the premises of the Szabad Nép.
About 8 p.m.: Ceasefire talks begin in Corvin köz, and later at the Budapest Police Headquarters, between the police and military and representatives of the insurrectionists.
The radio announces that the Soviet forces will begin to withdraw from Budapest next day. Hungarian troops begin to replace the Soviet guards on public buildings.
Further clashes between Soviet troops and insurrectionists occur in the 8th and 9th districts. The 7th District party headquarters is occupied by rebels. The leaders of the Corvin köz rebels begin combining the groups in the area, so that the number of organized rebels reaches 1000–1200.
The rebels in Tűzoltó utca (9th District) organize as a separate group.
A workers’ council forms at the Beloiannisz Telecommunications Engineering Factory (BHG) and national committees <revolutionary councils and committees> in the 17th District and Csepel (21st District).
Clashes continue in Kecskemét, although they become less frequent. Soldiers fire into a crowd of demonstrators at Szabadszállás.
There are lynchings at Ózd.
Control of the Hegyeshalom border post into Austria is taken over by a revolutionary committee.
Revolutionary committees are established in Esztergom, Komló, Orosháza, Tapolca, Tata and Veszprém. The work of organizing the national guard begins in Békéscsaba, Pécs, Sárvár and Szeged. Workers’ councils form in Győr, Kaposvár, Miskolc, Nagykanizsa and Szentgotthárd.
The workers’ council at the Siófok Oil Pipeline Enterprise (SKV) halts deliveries to the refineries.
At Záhony, the main border crossing between Hungary and the Soviet Union, the entrance to the broad-gauge station is blown up, to impede the arrival of Soviet trains. Several locomotives are incapacitated.
Israel launches an attack on Egypt in the Sinai Peninsula. The war over Suez breaks out.
The government recognizes the local self-governing bodies created during the revolution.
7.20 a.m.: The Defence Ministry announces on the radio that the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Budapest will continue.
Firing breaks out between rebels and guards at the headquarters of the HWP Budapest Committee in Köztársaság tér (8th District). The rebels storm the building. Many rebels lose their lives in the fighting. The defenders do not even spare medical staff tending the wounded. Twenty-three defenders die in the siege or are lynched by the crowd after the building is taken.
2.30 p.m.: Imre Nagy announces on the radio the end of the one-party system and the formation of a coalition government. Minister of State Zoltán Tildy of the Smallholders’ Party announces that the compulsory-delivery system for farm produce has been abolished and preparations are being made for free elections.
The Széna tér rebels occupy the ÁVH barracks in Maros utca (12th District).
A national committee <revolutionary councils and committees> is established in Újpest (4th District). A national guard is formed in the 8th District.
The Revolutionary Youth Association (Fisz) is established.
A workers’ council is established at the Kőbánya Pharmaceutical Factory (10th District).
The Smallholders’ (FKgP), Social Democratic (SZDP) and National Peasants’ (NPP) parties are re-established.
Several political prisoners are freed from the National Prison in Budapest.
The International Red Cross begins relief flights of aid to Budapest. The air bridge operates until the Soviet occupation.
Revolutionary committees are elected in Baja, Komló, Nagyatád and Szarvas. The Nógrád County Revolutionary National Committee is established in Salgótarján. Organization of the national guard begins in Debrecen and Jászberény. The free Vörösmarty Radio starts broadcasting in Székesfehérvár. The Transdanubian National Council forms in Győr. A communist ‘officials’ brigade’ is set up in Salgótarján.
The Újpest National Committee sends out armed men to release Cardinal Mindszenty from house arrest in Felsőpetény. His ÁVH guards have dispersed by the time the party arrives. He is accompanied to the army officers’ barracks in nearby Rétság.
Hard-liners in Moscow are pushed into the background at a meeting of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee. The prospects for a peaceful settlement of the Hungarian crisis are at their strongest at this point.
The UN Security Council convenes to debate the Suez crisis.
There are demonstrations and rallies throughout Poland in support of the Hungarian revolution.
A rally of about 2500 university students at Timişoara (Temesvár) Technical University is dispersed by the Romanian Securitate (secret police). Protests continue next day and almost 3000 students are arrested over the two-day period. The Timişoara disturbances cause the authorities in Bucharest to set up a Central Command.
Austria seals its borders. Only relief supplies and journalists may pass into Hungary.
The Revolutionary National Defence Commission (FHB) is formed at the Defence Ministry.
General Béla Király is appointed commander-in-chief of the national guard and military commander of Budapest, Colonel Pál Maléter the first deputy to the defence minister, and Major-General István Kovács the chief of staff. The Revolutionary Armed Forces Committee (FKB) is established at the Kilián Barracks (9th District).
A large national-guard unit is formed at Ferenc tér (9th District).
About 12 noon: Withdrawal of the Soviet forces from Budapest is completed.
The Presidium of the Hungarian Workers’ Party <HWP> declares the party dissolved. A new party, the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party (HSWP), is founded next day.
The National Peasants’ or Petőfi Party (NPP), Christian Democratic People’s Party and Hungarian Peasants’ Association are re-established. (The previous day’s inauguration of the NPP is declared to be annulled.)
A delegation of the Transdanubian National Council negotiates with Imre Nagy and Zoltán Tildy.
A delegate of the Hungarian National Revolutionary Committee proposes in the Transdanubian National Council that an alternative government should be formed. The Council rejects the proposal.
The free Csokonai Radio and Free Debrecen Radio start broadcasting.
Victims of the firing at Baj on October 27 are buried with full military honours in Tatabánya.
A detachment from the Újpest National Guard arrives at Rétság at dawn. At 6 a.m., the procession escorting Cardinal Mindszenty starts off, led by Major Antal Pálinkás (Pallavicini). It arrives at Buda Castle at 9 a.m.
District revolutionary committees are formed at Kisvárda and Nagykálló, with delegates from several dozen smaller communities taking part.
National-guard units are established in Keszthely, Nagykanizsa and Zalaegerszeg.
Further Soviet troops enter Hungary at night.
In Moscow, Khrushchev proposes to the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee that the Hungarian revolution should be crushed by military force. The Presidium decides on military intervention.
In Washington DC, President Eisenhower, speaking on radio and television, expresses his admiration for the Hungarian people. At the same time, he assures the Soviet Union that the United States administration does not view either the new Polish or the new Hungarian leadership as a potential ally.
Student demonstrations supporting the Hungarian revolution take place in the Romanian cities of Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár), Oradea (Nagyvárad) and Tîrgu Mureş (Marosvásárhely).
7.30 a.m.: Soviet troops surround Budapest Ferihegy Airport. Nearly all airfields in Hungary are surrounded and occupied by the Soviet army during the day.
The government protests to Soviet Ambassador Yuri Andropov at the arrival of further Soviet troops and the encircling of Budapest. The Budapest Armed Forces Command instructs Colonel János Mecséri to design a defence system for the city. Béla Király informs Imre Nagy that the Budaörs airfield is in government hands and that two planes are at his disposal if need be. The prime minister dismisses the idea of fleeing.
The Capital City National Committee, the Democratic People’s Party, the Christian Hungarian Party, the Christian Front, the National Association of Former Political Prisoners (Pofosz) and the Hungarian Scouts Association are established.
In view of the grave situation, the government announces Hungary’s withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, declares the country’s neutrality, and appeals to the United Nations for help. It calls on the four great powers for help in defending the country’s neutrality.
7.50 p.m.: Nagy announces Hungary’s neutrality on the radio. The government forbids Hungarian units to resist the Soviet troops.
8.24 p.m.: Cardinal József Mindszenty speaks on the radio.
About 10 p.m.: The radio broadcasts a speech by János Kádár, in which he pledges himself to the uprising. However, by the time it is broadcast, Kádár is no longer in the country. He and Ferenc Münnich have secretly gone over to the Soviets.
At night, Soviet troops surrounding Budapest begin to reconnoitre the city.
The rebels of Baross tér (7th District) form a national-guard unit. The Corvin köz unit elects Gergely Pongrátz as its commander-in-chief.
A county national guard is established in Győr.
Soldiers change sides during a demonstration in Kaposvár and six officers are arrested.
A start is made on building defences for the city of Szolnok.
Khrushchev tells a Polish delegation, at a meeting in Brest, that Soviet intervention in Hungary is imminent. The Poles take note of the Soviet decision.
Emergency measures are introduced throughout Romania. Foreigners are banned from Timişoara (Temesvár), Arad and other towns with large Hungarian communities. Students demonstrating at Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár) University demand democratic rights and full freedom of study.
The Yugoslav army is placed on full alert and begins to advance towards the Hungarian border.
9 a.m.: The government cabinet meets. A government delegation is appointed to negotiate with the Soviet Union. The Hungarian delegation to the UN General Assembly is also agreed.
The defence of Pécs is organized.
The North and East Hungarian National Council <revolutionary councils and committees> is formed in Miskolc.
Soviet forces block the road from Győr towards the Western frontier.
A workers’ council is established at the Dorog Colliery Trust.
A town revolutionary committee forms in Salgótarján.
Soviet troops occupy the barracks of the air-force regiment at Kiskunlacháza.
The Soviet forces establish their Hungarian headquarters in Szolnok. Marshal Ivan Konev, commander-in-chief of the Warsaw Pact forces, arrives from Moscow and gives the order for an attack on November 4.
János Kádár arrives in Moscow. He, Ferenc Münnich and István Bata attend an expanded meeting of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee.
Khrushchev and Malenkov, preparing for the Soviet military intervention in Hungary, meet Romanian, Czechoslovak and Bulgarian leaders in Bucharest.
7 p.m.: Khrushchev and Malenkov begin talks with Tito on the Yugoslav island of Brioni, informing the Yugoslavs about the impending intervention in Hungary. Tito does not oppose the Soviet military moves against Hungary. Indeed he offers to help by taking Imre Nagy out of circulation at the appropriate moment. (This occurs. The fact that Nagy and his associates accept the offer of asylum in the Yugoslav Embassy on November 4 effectively precludes any possibility of Nagy leading the armed resistance to the Soviets.)
The National Government in Hungary is reshuffled.
Cardinal József Mindszenty calls at a press conference for political and economic aid from the Western nations, especially the great powers.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces Committee holds a meeting at Budapest police headquarters, with several rebel commanders taking part.
12 noon: Hungarian-Soviet negotiations on details of the troop withdrawals begin in Parliament. The Soviets give an undertaking to halt the occupation. Further Hungarian units occupy defensive positions round Budapest—Jutadomb (20th District), Nagykőrösi út (18th and 19th districts) and Határ út (19th District),the edge of Soroksár (20th, now 23rd District), Jászberényi út, Zalka Máté tér (Liget tér, 10th District), Kőbányai út (8th District), Éles sarok (10th District) and Csajkovszkij park (10th District).
The Petőfi Circle is revived.
In the evening, Zoltán Tildy and Géza Losonczy hold an international press conference in Parliament.
8 p.m.: Cardinal József Mindszenty, head of the Hungarian Catholic Church, gives a speech on the radio emphasizing the consistency of his policy.
10 p.m.: Members of the KGB arrest the Hungarian government delegation, headed by Pál Maléter, negotiating at Tököl with the High Command of the Soviet Armed Forces in Hungary on the withdrawal of Soviet troops.
Military and national-guard units are formed in Pécs to defend the city.
Arms and ammunition are taken from Kalocsa to the national guard at Dunapentele (Sztálinváros, Dunaújváros).
Soviet forces surround Debrecen and Győr, occupy Záhony railway station on the Soviet border, and close the frontier with Austria. Rebels in Zalaegerszeg and Nagykanizsa decide to defend their towns by force of arms.
A counter-government, headed by János Kádár and Ferenc Münnich, is formed in Moscow, at a meeting of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee. An appeal is addressed to the Hungarian people.
Henry Cabot Lodge, the US ambassador to the United Nations, introduces a resolution in the Security Council calling on the Soviet Union to withdraw its troops from Hungary.