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In February 1956, Soviet Premier Khrushchev denounced his predecessor, Josef
Stalin, and his intolerance for other brands of communism. This gave hope to
many in Eastern Europe who soon began demanding that their countries be able to
determine their own fates. A labor dispute in Poland grew into national riots
in mid-1956. The Soviets used force to stop the riots, but later compromised
with the Polish by letting them choose the chairman of the Polish Communist
Party. Meanwhile, Hungary's new government, backed by local revolutionary
councils throughout Hungary, announced that it was pulling out of the Warsaw
Pact and becoming neutral. The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance between the
Soviet Union and Eastern bloc countries established in May 1955. In October
1956, Soviet troops moved in to crush the revolt. Hungarians appealed to the
United States for help, but the United States was not able to do anything in
Eastern Europe, short of all out war.
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