Today Hungary remembers the heroes of the Revolution and Freedom Fight of 1956. The events of the revolution are a testimony to Hungary’s thirst for freedom and self-governance, but also to its vulnerability to the world order.

While the Polish October enabled Poland to support Hungary in its revolutionary struggle, Budapest was inspired by Poland to revolt.

Mária Wittner, one of Hungary’s last 1956 revolutionaries, passed away on 14 September, at the age of 85. Today, we remember her life, her dedication to the fight against communist authoritarianism, and the sacrifices she made for Hungary’s freedom.

Carl von Clausewitz advised that “According to our idea of a people’s war, it should, like a kind of nebulous vapoury essence, never condense
into a solid body; […]. Still, however, on the other hand, it is necessary that this mist should collect at some points into denser masses, and form threatening clouds from which now and again a formidable flash of lightning may burst forth.

By 1956, disillusionment with chivalric or martial ideas or even just ordinary love of country was again de rigueur in the world of words.