Student Demonstrations
● In the afternoon, large crowds of students demonstrate at Bem Square and Petöfi Square
● The list of 16 demands is read out

1. We demand the immediate evacuation of all Soviet troops, in conformity with the provision of the Treaty of Peace.
2. We demand the election by secret ballot of all Party members from top to bottom, and of new officers for the lower, middle and upper echelons of the Hungarian Workers Party. These officers shall convoke a Party Congress as early as possible in order to elect a Central Committee.
3. A new Government must be constituted under the direction of Comrade Imre Nagy: all the criminal leaders of the Stalin-Rákosi era must be immediately relieved of their duties.
4. We demand a public enquiry into the criminal activities of Mihály Farkas and his accomplices. Mátyás Rákosi, who is the person most responsible for all crimes of the recent past as well as for the ruin of our country, must be brought back to Hungary for trial before a people’s tribunal.
5. We demand that general elections, by universal, secret ballot, be held throughout the country to elect a new National Assembly, with all political parties participating. We demand that the right of workers to strike be recognised.
6. We demand revision and re-adjustment of Hungarian-Soviet and Hungarian-Yugoslav relations in the fields of politics, economics and cultural affairs, on a basis of complete political and economic equality , and of non-interference in the internal affairs of one by the other.
7. We demand the complete reorganisation of Hungary’s economic life under the direction of specialists. The entire economic system, based on a system of planning, must be re-examined in the light of conditions in Hungary and in the vital interest of the Hungarian people.
8. Our foreign trade agreements and the exact total of reparations that can never be paid must be made public. We demand precise and exact information on the uranium deposits in our country, on their exploitation and on the concessions accorded the Russians in this area. We demand that Hungary have the right to sell her uranium freely at world market prices to obtain hard currency.
9. We demand complete revision of the norms operating in industry and an immediate and radical adjustment of salaries in accordance with the just requirements of workers and intellectuals. We demand that a minimum living wage be fixed for workers.
10. We demand that the system of distribution be organised on a new basis and that agricultural products be utilised in rational manner. We demand equality of treatment for individual farms.
11. We demand reviews by independent tribunals of all political and economic trials as well as the release and rehabilitation of the innocent. We demand the immediate repatriation of prisoners of war (WW2) and of civilian deportees to the Soviet Union, including prisoners sentenced outside Hungary.
12. We demand complete recognition of freedom of opinion and of expression, of freedom of the press and of radio, as well as the creation of a daily newspaper for the MEFESZ Organisation (Hungarian Federation of University and College Students’ Associations).
13. We demand that the statue of Stalin, symbol of Stalinist tyranny and political oppression, be removed as quickly as possible and be replaced by a monument in memory of the martyred fighters for freedom of 1848-49.
14. We demand the replacement of emblems that are foreign to the Hungarian people by the old Hungarian arms of Kossuth. We demand for the Hungarian Army, new uniforms conforming to our national traditions. We demand that 15th of March be declared a national holiday and that the 6th of October be a day of national mourning on which schools will be closed.
15. The students of the Technological University of Budapest declare unanimously their solidarity with the workers and students of Warsaw and Poland in their movement towards national independence.
16. The students of the Technological University of Budapest will organise as rapidly as possible local branches of MEFESZ, and they have decided to convoke at Budapest, on Saturday October 27, a Youth Parliament at which all the nation’s youth will be represented by their delegates.

● The symbol of the revolution, the Hungarian flag with the crest of the Rákosi era cut out, is born

Demonstration in front of Parliament

● Many of the demonstrators make their way to Kossuth Square in front of the Hungarian Parliament
● The crowd refuses to disburse despite lights being turned out
● At 9:00 PM Imre Nagy makes a disappointing speech to the crowd
● He is ineffective at convincing the crowd to end their demonstration

Violence erupts at the Magyar Radio building

● An increasing number of demonstrators from the afternoon marches and the crowd from the Parliament gather in front of the Magyar Radio building in an effort to get the list of 16 demands broadcast
● The building is protected by armed ÁVH and police
● Weapons destined for the defenders of the building find their way into the hands demonstrators
● A speech by party 1st Secretary Gerő broadcast from the building enrages the crowd
● An armed conflict ensues. Who fired the first shots has never been clarified
● The building is besieged and finally captured by the demonstrators in early morning

Stalin is toppled

● At the same time violence breaks out at the Radio building, other demonstrators gather at the giant Stalin statue at Dózsa György Street
● Consistent with one of the 16 demands, the statue is torn down
● It is dragged to a location in front of the National Theatre where it is broken to pieces