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→Holocaust
===Holocaust===
===Holocaust===
Hungary was the first modern nation to pass distinctly [[History of the Jews in Hungary#20th century: persecution and destruction|anti-Semitic laws]]. The [[Numerus clausus|"numerus clausus"]] laws of the early 1920s restricted Jewish access to higher education. In the late 1930s, more specifically anti-Semitic laws followed. Though massacres of Jews by Hungarian forces took place during the early part of the Second World War, Hungary initially resisted large scale deportation of its [[Jewish population]]. Ultimately, however, during the German occupation in May-June [[1944]], the [[Arrow Cross Party]] and Hungarian police deported nearly 440,000 Jews, mostly to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]].<ref name="USHMM">[http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?ModuleId=10005458 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Holocaust Encyclopedia]</ref> Over 400,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered during the [[Holocaust]], as well as tens of thousands of [[Roma people]]. Hundreds of Hungarian people were also executed by the [[Arrow Cross Party]] for sheltering Jews, among them Sister [[Sára Salkaházi]]. Foreign heads of states and diplomats who helped save many lives included Cardinal Roncalli, later Pope [[John XXIII]], [[Raoul Wallenberg]], and [[Carl Lutz]]. Italian businessman [[Giorgio Perlasca]] posed as a Spanish diplomat in order to issue forged visas and establish safe houses, including one for Jewish children. When Soviet forces liberated Budapest in February 1945, more than 100,000 Jews remained.<ref name=USHMM/>
Hungary was the first modern nation to pass distinctly [[History of the Jews in Hungary#20th century: persecution and destruction|anti-Semitic laws]]. The [[Numerus clausus|"numerus clausus"]] laws of the early 1920s restricted Jewish access to higher education. In the late 1930s, more specifically anti-Semitic laws followed. Though massacres of Jews by Hungarian forces took place during the early part of the Second World War, Hungary initially resisted large scale deportation of its [[Jewish population]]. Ultimately, however, during the German occupation in May-June [[1944]], the [[Arrow Cross Party]] and Hungarian police deported nearly 440,000 Jews, mostly to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]].<ref name="USHMM">[http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?ModuleId=10005458 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Holocaust Encyclopedia]</ref> Over 400,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered during the [[Holocaust]], as well as tens of thousands of [[Roma people]]. Hundreds of Hungarian people were also executed by the [[Arrow Cross Party]] for sheltering Jews, among them Sister [[Sára Salkaházi]]. Foreign heads of states and diplomats who helped save many lives included Cardinal Roncalli, later Pope [[John XXIII]], [[Raoul Wallenberg]], and [[Carl Lutz]]. Italian businessman [[Giorgio Perlasca]] posed as a Spanish diplomat in order to issue forged visas and establish safe houses, including one for Jewish children. When Soviet forces liberated Budapest in February 1945, more than 100,000 Jews remained.<ref name=USHMM/>
===Soviet era===
[[Image:Mock&Horn.jpg|left|thumb|240px|The fall of the [[Iron Curtain]], [[1989]]: the [[foreign minister]]s of [[Austria]] and Hungary, [[Alois Mock]] and [[Gyula Horn]], ceremoniously cut through the border defences separating their countries.]]
Following the fall of Nazi Germany, Hungary became a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union. This followed a brief interval of democracy from 1946 to 1947 when the Hungarians proclaimed their second republic. After 1948, Communist leader [[Mátyás Rákosi]] established Stalinist rule in the country. The rule of the Rákosi government was nearly unbearable for Hungary's war-torn citizens. This led to the [[1956 Hungarian Revolution]] and Hungary's temporary withdrawal from the [[Warsaw Pact]]. The Soviets retaliated massively with military force, sending in over 150,000 troops and 2,500 tanks<ref>Findley, Carter V., and John Rothney. Twentieth Century World. sixth ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. 278.</ref>. Nearly a quarter of a million people left the country during the brief time that the borders were open in 1956. From the 1960s through the late 1980s, Hungary was often satirically referred to as "[[the happiest barrack]]" within the [[Eastern bloc]]. This was under the autocratic rule of its controversial communist leader, [[János Kádár]].