THE SOVIET UNION AND THE ONSET OF THE CRISES IN POLAND AND HUNGARY
THE SOVIET UNION AND THE ONSET OF THE CRISES IN POLAND AND HUNGARY

Summary/Abstract: This article looks at Soviet policy toward Eastern Europe in 1953–1956, prior to the start of the Hungarian revolution. It shows that the leadership succession struggle in Moscow often caused sharp, and undesirable, fluctuations in Soviet relations with Hungary and the other East European countries. Abrupt shifts in Soviet policy, stemming mainly from internal political maneuvering, helped to produce a volatile situation in both Hungary and Poland in 1956. Soviet leaders were so preoccupied by domestic concerns that they failed to take timely action to cope with the deepening instability in Hungary and Poland. By the time events came to a head in October 1956, the Soviet Union was faced with the prospect of the collapse of Communist rule in Hungary.

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