How did Khrushchev react in response to Nagy's declaration of Hungarian independence?
1 Answer
He captured him after he left the Yugoslavian Embassy under the false pretence that he could leave Hungary and was hanged.
Explanation:
Nagy was the more Liberal leader appointed by Khrushchev after his "Secret Speech" against Stalinism, and the Hungarian Revolt that followed it, which led to Rakosi being kicked from power due to his Stalinist ways and how unpopular he was to Hungarian Citizens.
Nagy had originally planned to introduce many reforms before he was executed, that being making Hungary Neutral, making better relations with the West, having a multi party political system and seeking protection from the USSR from the UN.
However, when he announced the plan to leave the Warsaw Pact, Khrushchev saw this as bad, as he had informants across the Eastern Bloc who had fed information back to the USSR about unrest and a wanting to leave the Warsaw Pact.
So the USSR invaded Hungary the day after the revolution began and captured, trialled and hanged Nagy.
The Soviet Invasion not only achieved the aim of crushing the rebellion, it showed the other countries and radicals in the Warsaw Pact that the USSR was not going to be letting go of it's Stalinist ways very soon.
