Hungary 1956: Workers' revolution - triumph and tragedy (E-Book)

Hungarian Revolution – an inspiration for the socialist struggle today

For a few days at the end of October 1956, power was in the hands of the working class in Hungary. An insurrection and general strike was in progress. The old politicians and their hated system of government had been pushed aside. Revolutionary councils had been formed in the factories, in the countryside, in the universities and inside the army and police forces. The state machine had crumbled.
Few, if any, wanted a return to capitalism. Real socialism was firmly on the agenda. A revolutionary party like the Bolsheviks in Russia, 1917, could have lead this workers' rising to victory. With an international appeal to the workers of the world, the revolution could have spread so far and wide that both Stalinism and capitalism would have been wiped from the face of the earth.
Fifty years later, the struggle for genuine socialism is still hampered by the crimes of Stalinism and the way the capitalists use them to discredit the whole idea struggling against their system. But the Committee for a Workers’ International, with sections, groups and individual members in 45 countries, on all continents, is striving to reach new sections of young people and workers, to convince them that the struggle for socialism is as vital today as ever.
The burning need to cleanse the world of capitalism and landlordism, of war, poverty and environmental destruction means we cannot rest. The heroism of the millions of youth and workers in Hungary who made a revolution against Stalinist dictatorship and for real workers' democracy remains an inspiration to all who want to change the world.