The Hungarian Revolution Revisited

On the evening of October 22, 1956, groups of students converged on the Budapest Radio station requesting that it broadcast their demands: for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary, and for free elections and freedom of expression. Shortly after 9 P.M., tear gas bombs were thrown from the radio building at the waiting crowds, and the secret police opened fire, killing and wounding a number of the demonstrators. The infuriated crowd attacked back, wresting its first weapons from the police reinforcements arriving on the scene. The military forces sent to the area hesitated briefly, then sided with the crowds. The Hungarian Revolution had begun.

Early on November 4, the revolutionary station Radio Free Kossuth broadcast: &#...