Winston Churchill warned that an "Iron Curtain" was descending the middle of Europe, the Cold War began. (Cold War) Once allies against Hitler, the Soviet Union and the United States confront each other at the end of WWII. (A Summary of the Cold War) The cold war was only a period of competition between countries. There was tension between countries who believed in capitalism and others who believed in communism. The East (capitalist) and the West (communist) made no direct military conflict for the most part because of the reciprocated fear of nuclear warfare. The Cold War held military peace in Europe for almost 50 years. During the Cold War there were many major events including: The Berlin Blockade (1948), The Korean War (1952), the Hungarian Revolution (1956), The collapse of the Berlin Wall (1961), and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). (Cold War) The conquered and powerless country of Hungary insisted on freedom which led to the revolution of 1956, this caught the whole world's attention and created world wide reactions. .
In 1941 Hungary entered WWII on Germany's side, but in 1944 Germany occupied Hungary because they didn't think that they could trust them as an ally. Hungarians fighting in the war, Hungarian-Jews that were sent to concentration camps, and other civilians died along with the downfall of their country during that time. (The History of Hungary) About one million Hungarian died during the war for these reasons. Later in 1945 the Soviet Union invaded Hungary. Hungary and the allies signed an armistice in January 1945. Hungary agreed, with no other options, to give up all the territory they had gained since 1938. (Hungary 1956 and the Political Revolution) In .
.
1946 Hungary became a republic, the new government started political, economic, and social reform. Hungarian communists were gradually gaining control of Hungary's government. Matthias Rakosi was head of the communist party, and head of the government.