When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

1956 Episode 1.15 examines the final moments of Imre Nagy, as the Soviet noose tightened around him. But the Kremlin was not safe yet. Of particular concern to Moscow and to the Hungarians was the stance of Yugoslavia, as its embassy in Budapest provided asylum to Imre Nagy and 40 other individuals responsible for guiding and leading the momentarily independent Hungarian state. The revolution may have been crushed within a few days, but it was evidently not going to be so simple to remove the memory of Nagy. Although normal Hungarian citizens couldn’t know of his fate, even when he was tricked into leaving this safe haven in late November, behind the scenes the Soviet-Yugoslav diplomacy was only serving to heighten tensions in the communist world.In addition, the Chinese, soon to visit the Eastern satellites in January 1957, had their own comments to make on the events in Hungary. The Chinese conclusion, and the conclusion which has largely survived as canon to this day, was that Vladislav Gomulka had only go