Coup Atlas Research Database
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31011041956SuccessfulPalace coup

Hungary, 1956 — palace coup

Hungary (HUN)Eastern Europe, EuropeNovember 4, 1956

Event Summary

On November 4, 1956, the Soviet Union launched a full military invasion, Operation Whirlwind, to crush the Hungarian Revolution and overthrow the reformist government of Prime Minister Imre Nagy. Nagy had come to power during the October uprising and had taken the revolution to a breaking point with Moscow by declaring Hungary's neutrality and its withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact on November 1. In the early hours of November 4, Soviet tanks entered Budapest; Nagy made a brief final radio broadcast announcing the attack and then took refuge in the Yugoslav embassy.

Moscow installed a puppet government under Janos Kadar, flown in from the Soviet side of the border, which declared the Nagy government illegitimate. Organized resistance was crushed within days at the cost of thousands of Hungarian lives. Nagy was later lured from the embassy, arrested, and secretly executed in 1958.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Imre Nagy, Prime Minister of Hungary (overthrown by Soviet invasion; took refuge, later arrested and executed)
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Imre Nagy (reformist premier overthrown)
Janos Kadar (installed as Soviet-backed leader)
Nikita Khrushchev (Soviet leader who ordered the invasion)

Sources

At 05:20 on 4 November 1956 Nagy broadcast his final plea announcing that Soviet forces were attacking Budapest; the Soviet plan was to install a provisional government under Janos Kadar, who proclaimed the new government from Szolnok that morning.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, "Hungarian Revolution of 1956" open source ↗
On 4 November 1956 Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest to crush the uprising; within hours Nagy sought asylum at the Yugoslav embassy, was captured shortly after, and was executed two years later, while Kadar prepared to take power with Moscow's backing.
SOURCE REVIEWED HISTORY, "Soviets put a brutal end to Hungarian revolution" open source ↗
On 1 November Nagy declared Hungarian neutrality and withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact and appealed to the UN; on 4 November the Soviet Union invaded to stop the revolution, and Nagy was executed for treason in 1958.
SOURCE REVIEWED Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Hungarian Revolution" open source ↗
The Red Army's 4 November intervention resulted in roughly 3,000 Hungarian deaths; Kadar and other leaders had fled to the Soviet Union to declare a new government, and Nagy took refuge in the Yugoslav embassy until 22 November, when he left and was arrested.
SOURCE REVIEWED EBSCO Research Starters, "Soviets Crush Hungarian Uprising" open source ↗

Editorial Note

The Cline dataset codes 4 November 1956 with the leader exiled, matching Nagy's flight to the Yugoslav embassy; he was in fact later arrested and executed in 1958, which the summary notes for accuracy. This is a Soviet-imposed overthrow rather than a purely domestic coup. Two Wikipedia-derived and two other reputable sources were read directly. It is the sequel to the July 1956 Rakosi removal record.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
31011041956

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Imre Nagy, Prime Minister of Hungary (overthrown by Soviet invasion; took refuge, later arrested and executed).

Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; exiled. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imre_Nagy

New York Times

“Capital Stormed,” by Paul Hoffman, November 4, 1956

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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Related Records

Hungary — Palace coup, 19561956-07-15SuccessfulEastern EuropeHungary — Palace coup, 19881988-05-22SuccessfulEastern EuropeHungary — Dissident coup, 19471947-05-31SuccessfulEastern Europe