Hungary's lesson for democracy advocates

Fifty years ago Monday, the 1956 Hungarian uprising put a crack in the Iron Curtain. But freedom came decades later.

In the streets of Budapest, secret police were mowing down ordinary Hungarians who on Oct. 23 attempted to have their demands for Soviet withdrawal read out on the state-controlled radio. But the protesters - armed only with Molotov cocktails and rifles - prevailed, driving out the Red Army tanks after only five days. Overwhelmed with joy at the apparent victory, a still-weak General Kiraly sneaked past his doctors on Oct. 29 to become commander of the Hungarian National Guard.

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Though Kiraly and his new recruits were suppressed by Soviet troops less than a week later, their brave actions - known today as the Hungarian Uprising - are still seen as the first crack in the Iron Curtain, and are credited with starting the process that led to freedom for Hungary in 1989 and the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

"The Soviets committed the most despicable cheating," says Kiraly, who at 94 is the last surviving member of the uprising leaders. "It taught the world that their system was the enemy of human freedom. 1956 was the beginning of the end of Bolshevism."

As Hungary Monday marks the uprising's 50th anniversary, the commemorations are in danger of becoming overshadowed by politicians using the legacy of communism to divide the young democracy. After a month of demonstrations following the prime minister's admission that he lied to get reelected, the main opposition party is boycotting official events in favor of its own ceremony.

With such a long time needed to bring Hungarian democracy to this uneasy stage, many say the lesson of patience is an important one that should be applied to other nations in transition, such as Iraq.

"The lesson of Hungary is clear: Liberty can be delayed but it cannot be denied," President Bush said during a June visit to Budapest. "Defeating these enemies [in Iraq] will require ... the kind of patience Hungary displayed after 1956."

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