At 8 p.m. yesterday the Soviet High Command in Hungary ordered Mr NagyÕs Government to surrender by noon Òor Budapest will be bombed.Ó Soviet armoured forces then went into action. Just after 1 p.m. Moscow radio announced, ÒThe Hungarian counter-revolution has been crushed.Ó
A mid-afternoon Moscow radio bulletin said that Ònegligible groups of insurgentsÓ were offering resistance in Budapest but were being crushed. The radio also announced that a new ÒRevolutionary WorkersÕ and PeasantsÕ GovernmentÓ had been formed under Janos Kadar, the former ÒTitoistÓ who became first secretary of the Communist party at one point in the rebellion.
Budapest radio had gone off the air at 8 10 p.m. with a womanÕs appeal to Òhelp HungaryÉ Help, help, helpÉ Ó In mid-afternoon a Vienna monitor picked up what was apparently the last rebel-held radio station in Hungary. It broadcast repeated calls for help.
ÒCivilised people of the world. On the watch tower of a 1,000-year-old Hungary the last flames begin to go out. Soviet tanks and guns are roaring over Hungarian soil. Our women Ñ mothers and daughters Ñ are sitting in dread. They still have terrible memories of the armyÕs entry in 1945. Save our souls.
ÒThis word may be the last from the last Hungarian freedom station. Listen to our call. Help us Ñ not with advice, not with words, but with action, with soldiers and arms.Ó
The last news from Budapest itself reached the British Foreign Office in mid-afternoon. This said that Soviet troops were in control of key points and bridges in the city although gunfire was still in progress. Other reports said that Mr Nagy, who attempted to restore democracy in the country after the insurrection, was under arrest together with members of his Government.
Mr Nagy had given news of the Soviet attack to the world in a dramatic broadcast over Budapest radio. He spoke in English and then repeated his message in Hungarian. ÒThis is Imre Nagy speaking,Ó he said. ÒIn the early hours of this morning, Soviet troops started to attack the Hungarian capital with the apparent purpose of overthrowing the democratic Government of the Hungarian PeopleÕs Republic.Ó After broadcasting frequent appeals to Russian troops not to fire on peaceful citizens, the radio then went off air.
Last night President Eisenhower sent an urgent message to Marshal Bulganin, the Soviet Premier, asking him to withdraw the Soviet troops. The President expressed Òshock and dismayÓ at the Soviet attack on the Hungarian people and urged that Hungary be given the right to choose its own government.