The Romanian Party Leadership and the Fate of Imre Nagy

On November 2, 1956 Nikita Khrushchev secretly met in Bucharest with the leaders of Romania, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia to inform them of the Soviet plans to overthrow the Imre Nagy government. The Romanians suggested that their troops should also participate in the military operation. Romania was considered by the Soviets a more reliable allied than any other Socialist country. Turning into an active advocate and even participant of the violence over the former Hungarian Prime Minister, the Romanian Party leader Gheorghiu-Dej did more than merely submitted himself to the order of “elder brother”, he tried to derive maximum benefit from the events in the neighbor country. Mortally frightened by the Hungarian revolt, the Romanian communists succeeded in using it in the interests of strengthening their power.