army crushing by overwhelming force a national movement and eliminating the Government." By 8:00 am organised defence of the city evaporated after the radio station was seized, and many defenders fell back to fortified positions. The strongest of these fortified positions was Corvin alley (Corvin köz), under the command of Gergely Pongrátz. [Full citation needed] Hungarian civilians bore the brunt of the fighting, as Soviet troops spared little effort to differentiate military from ...