Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Budapest is liberated by the Soviet army in April, a month before full victory in Europe,
with three quarters of its buildings and all of its bridges in ruins.
1946
Hungary experiences the world's worst hyperinflation, with notes of up to 10,000 trilli-
on pengő issued; Liberty Bridge, the first of the spans over the Danube to be rebuilt,
reopens.
1949
The Communists, in complete control, form the 'People's Republic of Hungary'; Sta-
linist show trials of 'Titoists' and other 'enemies of the people' begin in Budapest.
1956
Budapest is in flames after October riots; Hungary briefly withdraws from the Warsaw
Pact as a neutral state; the status quo is restored and János Kádár is installed as lead-
er.
1957
Rock-and-roll legend Elvis Presley performs a spiritual song called 'Peace in the Valley'
on US TV to express his 'preoccupation with Hungary's plight' after the Uprising.
1958
Imre Nagy and others are executed by the Communist regime for their role in the
Uprising and buried in unmarked graves in Budapest's New Municipal Cemetery.
1968
Plans for a liberalised economy are introduced in an attempt to overcome the ineffi-
ciencies of central planning but are rejected as too extreme by conservatives.
1978
The Crown of St Stephen is returned to Hungary from the USA, where it had been held
at Fort Knox in Kentucky since the end of WWII.
1988
János Kádár is forced to retire in May after more than three decades in power; he dies
and is buried in Budapest's Kerepesi Cemetery the following year.
