Violent protests send Hungarian Revolution committee scrambling for consensus

Hungarian student protests against the USSR turned into a violent demonstration with several shots fired, leaving the Hungarian Revolution committee scrambling to address the protesters 16 demands.

The protesters “16 Points,” ranging from economic reform to “De-Stalinization,” accompanied the looming threat of more social unrest should the committee fail to find a solution, prompting heated discourse over the best course of action.

Despite the steadily climbing urgency of the protesters demands, committee members struggled to agree on long term solutions. Galvanized by the protests and shots fired by the Soviet State Security Police, one group advocated for upholding the 16 Points by implementing a more capitalist economic system and moving away from the USSR.

“The most important ideology we hold is doing things for the people,” Péter Veres, President of the Writers’ Union and supporter of economic, said. “As we’ve continuously mentioned, the USSR is tyrannical and not what’s best for anyone. The protests happened as a reflection of the national mood.”

However, the group met fierce opposition by another bloc, spearheaded primarily by First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania Enver Hoxha, which supported maintaining both the integrity of the Warsaw Pact and communism as the prevailing economic system.

“We believe that these Hungarian dissidents are working to undermine everything that we have built and destroy the very fabric of eastern Europe,” Hoxha said. “If we allow this revolution to continue, thousands of lives will be lost, and the shackles of capitalism will be clamped on tighter than ever before.”

To partially diffuse the situation while they continued debating ideology-rooted issues, committee members discussed several directives to appease the Hungarian masses. One such directive, titled “For the People,” involved Hungarian minimum wage and destroying Stalin-related posters and statues throughout the nation.

An additional directive the committee, championed by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, moved to pool the resources of high-profile figures in the committee and included a $20 million donation to Hungary on behalf of Egypt. According to Nasser, this directive marks the beginning of a more permanent response.

CLAMOR FOR CONSENSUS: Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania Enver Hoxha dictates his ideas for preserving the Warsaw Pact and keeping Hungary communist to fellow USSR supporters.

“Egypt wants what’s best for Hungary and the future of this side of the world,” Nasser said in a speech advocating for his directive. “By pooling resources, we have begun to take action toward a potential long-term solution that will benefit everyone.”

With Nasser’s directive in place, the Hungarian Revolution committee, despite ideological differences, hopes to achieve peace in the region.