ENDING THE NAGY AFFAIR: YUGOSLAVIA, SOVIET UNION AND THE TERMINATION OF HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION REVISITED

Abstract

This paper analyzes the diplomatic relations between Hungary, Yugoslavia, and the Soviet Union during the Soviet intervention in Hungary in 1956, with a primary focus on the case of Imre Nagy’s capture. The crisis that arose during Nagy’s hiding in the Yugoslav embassy reveals the background of these countries’ relations, in which Yugoslavs showed ambiguousness to maintain the achieved status of a free socialist country on the one hand, and on the other, to keep good relations with the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the author attempts to provide answers on Yugoslav role in Nagy’s arrest after he left his hideout within the Yugoslav embassy. The author argues that Yugoslavs were not aware of any Soviet plans to capture Nagy after he left the embassy, even though there are other claims present in this paper that suggests the opposite.