A Communist Dictatorship
In the last year of the war, just before Nazi Germany was defeated, Hungary was invaded by the Soviet Union. The troops of this Communist state remained after the war ended in 1945. By 1948, Hungary was completely under Communist control.
Under communism, Hungarians could no longer own their own business or land - everything belonged to the state. They also had no say in the government. Those ones, who protested were killed.
All hopes from democratic government were crushed. Hungary became a "satellite" state of the Soviet Union. The people were forced to follow all of the political social and economic policies of the Russians.
The years after the war were difficult ones for Hungarians. There were shortage of housing and food. In 1953, Imre Nagy, a moderate Communist, came to power in Hungary. The Soviets were not happy with Nagy. They wanted a tougher Communist leader in
Hungary. In 1955, the Soviets replaced him with one of their "puppets" - someone, who would do everything exactly what they wanted. The Hungarian people, however, were ready to demand their freedom.
