The Battle of the Corvin Passage

The Battle of the Corvin Passage (Corvin közi csata) was a battle of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The battle is known for the unlike issues on which the Hungarians fought.

Prelude
Due to lack of jobs, waning quality of life, and the failure of the Hungarian economy, an uprising occurred on October 24th. The Corvin Passage was immediately seen as a strategic necessity due to its importance as a traffic junction, and its great symbolic value (mainly from its location near the Kilian barracks and the Radio of Budapest). The Passage provided a good defense point, with narrow streets that limited the movements of vehicles, such as tanks and trucks.

Early Battle
László Iván Kovács is said to have first fought at the Corvin Passage in the month of October during the early stages of the Hungarian Revolution (1956). He first began demonstrating outside of a radio station and later that day used a gun Üllői Avenue to fight against Soviet tanks. On October 26th, he joined other armed revolutionaries in Corvin where he eventually became the leader of a unit of 1,000. It was here that he set up his base in Corvin's resident cinema where his successor, Gergely, also set up command.

The soldiers at Corvin had already resisted a Soviet offensive on October 24th and the Soviets were later defeated, suffering heavy casualties. The strategy then was to gather intelligence and attack with a renewed offensive on October the 28th. To battle this offensive the Soviets appointed the leader of the 33rd Mechanized Infantry Division, Gennady Ivanovich Obaturov. Heavy artillery support, poor intelligence and insufficient planning resulted in the failure of the offensive. On October 29th he negotiated a cease fire resulting in a Soviet withdrawal from the 29th to the 31st. Despite his successes as a commander after November 1 László was deposed for unknown reasons and replaced with Gergely.

Under Gergely
Nicknamed 'Bajusz' for his 'Twirly' mustache, Gergely Pongrátz fought on less harmonious circumstances than his predecessor. Though he commanded 4,000 militia compared to László's 1,000, he still had to contend to a 2nd Soviet intervention which had turned back toward the city after it had withdrawn and attacked on the 5th. His soldiers fought from the windows of buildings, destroying Soviet tanks with makeshift Molotovs. With these tactics Gergely gained a degree of success destroying a reported 12 tanks. However, under heavy Soviet artillery and mortar fire, the defense of the passage became steadily more difficult and with the desertion of 300 troops on November 6,defensive capabilities were damaged and made fighting against the Soviets solely guerrilla. Then on November 9, Gergely's forces were defeated and he fled to Austria, ending the battle.

Aftermath and Legacy
After the war, Kovács was hanged by court order in November 30, 1957 for his part in the revolution. However, Gergely fled from Austria to the United States and founded the Hungarian Freedom Fighters' Association. He returned in 1990 and aided immensely in the founding of Jobbik. Gergely died on May 18, 2005, a year short of the 50th anniversary of the battle.