October 23

Before I post about what I did on my four day weekend, I wanted to write more about the reason for the national holiday.

On October 23, 1956, Hungarian students and eventually thousands more citizens revolted against the nation's pro-Soviet government. As a result, the old government fell, and a new government was installed that pledged to hold free elections and withdraw from the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet Union seemed open to withdrawing, but they quickly changed their mind. On November 4, Soviet tanks and troops invaded Hungary. Over 2,500 Hungarians died, and by January 1957, a new Soviet government was firmly in place. Time's 1956 Man of the Year was the "Hungarian Freedom Fighter."

October 23 is a national day of remembrance, but has also been marked by a lot of anti-government rioting in the last two years. In May 2006, the Prime Minister gave a closed speech to the National Assembly, a recording of which was released later that year. In the recording, the PM confessed that his government had completely lied to the Hungarian nation about the economy:

"I almost died when I had to pretend for one and a half years as if we were governing. Instead, we lied in the morning, at night and in the evening. I don’t want to do it anymore. Either we do it [the reform] and you have your man to do it, or you choose someone else. (…) You are wrong if you think that you have a choice. You do not and nor do I (…) There will be conflicts, yes. There will be rallies, yes. They can go and rally in front of the Parliament. (…)"
-Prime Minister Gyurcsany

Well, rally in front of Parliament people did. And they've continued to do so. The US Embassy sends all Americans in Hungary notifications about planned demonstrations - over 20 occurred this Oct. 23. The police force spent $1.5M to secure the demonstrations this year, and they went on without incident (despite the few Molotov cocktails that were confiscated).