The Khrushchev secret speech of February 1956 and the Soviet invasion of Hungary in November constituted a traumatic shock to British Communists, resulting in deep public discredit, unprecedented rank-and-file dissent and the loss of one member in four. The Scottish section of the Party, which had enjoyed a stronger trade union and local government influence than its English counterpart, showed,
... [Show full abstract] with variations, the same general pattern of development. Its leading bodies followed the line of playing down the Khrushchev revelations and endorsing the invasion of Hungary, despite objections at different levels of the Scottish Party. Consequently, it was faced with a breakaway movement which for a time eclipsed it in its mining stronghold of West Fife, as well as a broader mood of demoralization.