In 1956 a popular anti-Communist revolt broke out against Russian domination, led by former president Imre Nagy. It was crushed by Soviet and Warsaw Pact tanks with massive bloodshed. The most serious challenge to Soviet domination of Eastern Europe at the time, the 1956 rising sent shockwaves through the Cold War world. The subsequent Soviet-supported regime, under Kadar, steadily liberalized Hungary's politics, economy and society, preparing the way for the velvet revolution after the fall of the USSR. Thus, though the 1956 revolution failed in the short term, it stimulated long-term reforms and provided the moral and political foundation for the modern post-Soviet nation.
