The Liberation Day ( hu, Felszabadítási Nap) in
Hungary was celebrated on 4 April, the anniversary of the exit of the last German army units from Hungary on 4 April 1945, at the rear end of the
Siege of Budapest and the broader
Budapest offensive.
[Cavendish, Marshall (2005), p. 114.]
On 4 April 1950, the
Presidential Council of the Hungarian People's Republic
The Presidential Council of the Hungarian People's Republic was the collective head of state of Hungary during the Communist era. It was created in 1949, following the enactment of a new constitution that year that officially created the People's ...
declared Liberation Day to be the main national holiday in the socialist republic. As the primary victorious power in Hungary in 1945 had been the Red Army of the Soviet Union, the commemoration of Soviet forces fit into the governing ideology of the Soviet-aligned Hungarian People's Republic. Holiday celebrations were held especially in the vicinity of Red Army graveyards in Hungary, dedicated to Soviet military personnel killed in action during the Soviet conquest of Hungary. Commemorative activities included ceremonial meetings, wreath laying ceremonies at the Memorial Stone of Heroes (''Hősök emlékköve''). Every 5 years, a
military parade of the
Hungarian People's Army would be held on
Heroes' Square inside the
City Park in honor of the holiday, the last of which being held in 1985 in the presence of General Secretary
János Kádár, Defense Minister
István Oláh and a Soviet delegation led by
Vasili Kuznetsov.
With the
end of communism in Hungary approaching, the Council of Ministers of the Hungarian People's Republic removed the holiday from
among its public holidays in 1989 and was abolished in 1991, as the oppression inflicted by Soviet-aligned rule between 1945 and 1989 (especially during the crackdown of the
Hungarian Revolution of 1956) was considered too severe to maintain the anniversary as a genuine "Liberation Day". Although no longer a state-endorsed holiday, groups of private individuals in Hungary still held commemorative events in Hungary after 1991, especially in the vicinity of Soviet memorials, such as near
Liberty Square.
See also
*
Victory Day, in the
Soviet Union and subsequently in
Russia
*
Liberation Day, in the
Bulgarian People's Republic
*
Liberation from Fascist Occupation Day, in the
Romanian Socialist Republic
The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the state was known as the Romanian People ...
*
National Day of the Rebirth of Poland, in the
Polish People's Republic
External links
Liberation Day in 1957Liberation Day in 1960Liberation Day in 19851985 április 4
References
Events in Hungary
Observances in Hungary
Public holidays in Hungary
April observances
Summer events in Hungary
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