720. Revolution in the Soviet Empire: Revenge of the Red Army (Part 2)

Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland continue their series on the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. This episode covers the final days of the uprising as the initial success of the revolutionaries in Budapest gives way to a brutal Soviet counteroffensive. They detail how Nikita Khrushchev's initially hesitant response hardened into a decision to crush the revolt with overwhelming military force, the desperate diplomatic appeals by Hungarian leaders as the Red Army encircled Budapest, and the bloody urban combat that ended the short-lived revolutionary government. The episode examines the geopolitical calculations in Moscow, the abandonment of Hungary by the West, and the human cost of the revolution's suppression.