By the 1980s, Hungary began to suffer from inflation, which particularly hurt people on fixed incomes. At the same time the mean age of village populace grew rapidly. On 9 March 1955, the Central Committee of the Hungarian Working People's Party condemned Nagy for rightist deviation. Under Rakosis rule from 1945 to 1956, hundreds of thousands of Hungarians were imprisoned, exiled, or executed. On August 18, the newly elected National Assembly passed a new constitutiona near-carbon copy of the Soviet Constitution. Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. The same political dynamics continued through the years, with the Soviet Union pressing and maneuvering Hungarian politics through the Hungarian Communist Party, intervening whenever it needed to, through military coercion and covert operations. They did not want the Soviet system, but instead to claim the right to national self-determination.

In December 1988, Prime Minister Mikls Nmeth expressed the attitude of many reformers by stating publicly that "the market economy is the only way to avoid a social catastrophe or a long, slow death." In December, Dinnys was replaced by the leader of the Smallholders' left wing, the openly pro-Communist Istvn Dobi. A History This included a promise to increase the production and distribution of consumer goods. The bear was reportedly borrowed from a zoo to promote the anniversary of the deli and tasted everything on the menu. The Hungarian economy was damaged in the final stage of the war, farming, industry, and transportation took considerable losses.

The New Economic Mechanism was the only set of economic reform in Eastern Europe enacted after the wave of 1950s and 60s revolutions that survived past 1968. Due to pressure from the Soviet occupation administration a coalition government was maintained, with the communists staffing, among others, the internal affairs ministry. Hungary, one of the oldest states in Central and Eastern Europe, had its first communist experience in 1919 when attempts to impose a communist regime spread chaos and broughtthe country to the verge of disaster. The percentage of the former was rapidly falling until 1980 (53,9%), only to rise to 70,6% again in 1988. The process was more or less completed with the elections of May 1949. This fear that continued economic decline would lead to social upheaval is usually given as the main reason for the regime's decision to negotiate with the opposition, and a prime pressure that caused the fall of communism in Hungary. Rowman & Littlefield. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 began on October 23 as a peaceful demonstration of students in Budapest. [citation needed] Since real wages continued to drop in the following years, there is little reason to believe that the attitudes towards the economic situation became more positive in 1989. ), The Warsaw Pact and the Balkans, New York 1989, p. 13-66. In June 1920 he was forced to sign the Trianon peace treaty in Versailles. Pl Malter was appointed minister of defence. Organy bezpieczestwa w europejskich krajach bloku sowieckiego 19441989, The police made some arrests and tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas. [29] Even by the late 1980s, sanitary conditions were generally far from adequate. He asked the United Nations to become involved in the country's dispute with the Soviet Union. Hungary in Time- In February 1920 Hungary was again proclaimed a kingdom, ruled by the regent admiral Mikls Horthy. Moreover, forced labour camps were operational in 1059-1953. The 80s brought a culmination of negative social phenomena that had been accruing for years. In 1985 almost 20 thousand shops and over 5 thousand restaurants operated. It was won by the peasant Independent Smallholders Party (Fggetlen Kisgazdaprt, FKgP) with 57% of votes. During Kdr's interrogation, the VH beat him, smeared him with mercury to prevent his skin pores from breathing, and had his questioner urinate into his pried-open mouth. Soviet troops left Hungary the following year.

[15] The minister of defence from Nagys government was arrested, sentenced, and executed.

In 1948 farming collectivization was proclaimed. On the other hand, General Secretary Grosz was known for advocating "one-party pluralism." Putting foreign and communist relations at risk, Hungarys Foreign Minister declared in September that it would not stop the thousands of East Germans fleeing to Austria. Routledge. As part of intra-party manoeuvring, Rajk was tried and executed. In December 1944 the Provisional National Assembly and a government were established, with significant communist participation, on the territories gained by the Red Army, specifically in Debrecen. The battered head of Budapests Stalin statue after being dragged through the streets. Rkosi had difficulty managing the economy and the people of Hungary saw living standards fall rapidly. Od ugody do ugody 1867-1990, Warszawa 1997, Kovcs Jzsef, The Forced Collectivization of Agriculture in Hungary, 1948-1961, [in:], Constantin Iordachi, Arnd Bauercamper (eds. Mass arrests of 1942 paralyzed the party. The aim of the CommunistCrimes portal is to raise international awareness about the crimes against humanity, committed by communist regimes worldwide. Warszawa 2010, p. 517-590, Volgyes Ivan and Barany Zoltn, Hungary: The Evolution of the Hungarian Peoples Army, The quick expansion of the army caused the military expenses to reach 13,9% of the gross national income in 1950 and as much as 24,3% in 1953 (it decreased in the following years). With their support, Hungary gained a part of Slovakia and Romania. A bear behind the bar of a famous delicatessen in 1960. Rkosi's power was undermined by a speech made by Nikita Khrushchev in February 1956. At least 2,500 Hungarians died in clashes and 200,000 fled the country. With Gorbachevs new policy of not using military action in the satellite states, and of permitting general sovereignty within the confines of each individual country, obeying popular public opinion was necessary. In 1949 there were 70,5% Catholics, 21,9% Calvinists and 5,2% Lutherans among the Hungarians. He also informed the people that his government intended to abolish the one-party state. Despite Kdr distancing himself from the plans of solving the crisis in Czechoslovakia by force, the MN took part in the Warsaw Pact military intervention with about 20 thousand soldiers. Another 55,000 were detained in concentration camps. [6] The imposition of order though military force was also out of the question. Communist command economy was established, hindering the countrys development. Hungary's transition to a Western-style democracy was one of the smoothest among the former Soviet bloc. Thus, he could explain the higher prices as a down payment to the NEM, and promise good times to come without losing public approval and social order. After five weeks under arrest, he confessed to the charges made against him and he was condemned to life imprisonment. The communists tried to build an alliance with the anti-German forces. The desire to rewrite the Trianon treaty led to an alliance with Germany. The highest percentage of atheists was recorded in 1980 (23,2%), only 3,7% in 1988. About 600 people fell victim to them. Rajk (who was later executed) called it "a dictatorship of the proletariat without the Soviet form" called a "people's democracy. In November 1918, Bla Kun, who a few months earlier created the Hungarian section of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), returned to Hungary with a group of comrades, financially supported by the Bolsheviks. [2] By coercion through force, when the Red Army set up police organs to persecute the opposition, assuming this would enable the Soviet Union to seize the upcoming elections, to intense communist propaganda in an attempt to legitimize their rule.

As the Soviet Union weakened at the end of the 1980s, the Eastern bloc disintegrated. The Establishment of the Communist The new government was led by Kdr. Political opponents of communists, especially FKgP activists, were the first to fall victim to repressions. "Popular Protest in East Germany, 1945-1989: Judgements on the Street". Tibor Szamuely, Bla Kun, Jen Landler. In the first years after the war Hungarian culture could develop relatively freely. The communist model was chosen main beneficiaries were the 400 thousand landless peasants, and not the farmers owning (often small) farms. He also promised "the far-reaching democratization of Hungarian public life, the realisation of a Hungarian road to socialism in accord with our own national characteristics, and the realisation of our lofty national aim: the radical improvement of the workers' living conditions.". In the beginning of the 30s a wave of repressions resulted in two leadership members being executed. In 1959 and 1960 partial amnesty was proclaimed, a full one in 1963, but the last prisoners werent released until the 1970s. This allowed East Germans, who were allowed only to travel to communist countries, to go to Hungary and escape to West Germany through Austria, never again to return to East Germany. Monument in Budapest, dedicated to the leaders of the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919. Additionally, during "social purges" of non-party members, in Budapest at 2:00 AM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays vans transported purge targets, who by 1953, numbered approximately 700,000. The number of individual farmers fell from 1600000 in 1949 to 145 000 in 1962. Hungarian newspapers joined the attacks and Nagy was accused of being responsible for the country's economic problems and on 18 April he was dismissed from his post by a unanimous vote of the National Assembly. 198889 peaceful transition to a multi-party system, Learn how and when to remove this template message, removal of Hungary's barbed wire fence with Austria, "Hungarian Who Led '56 Revolt Is Buried as a Hero", "30 Years of Freedom - Third Time's a Charm: The Hungarian Republic Reborn", Eastern European anti-Communist insurgencies, Predictions of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Removal of Hungary's border fence with Austria, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=End_of_communism_in_Hungary&oldid=1080456763, Articles needing translation from Hungarian Wikipedia, Articles needing additional references from May 2011, All articles needing additional references, Articles containing Hungarian-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2012, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. At the same time revolutionary workers' councils and local national committees were formed all over Hungary. At the end of the decade there were less than a thousand political investigations started yearly, ten years later 200-300 people were tried yearly. At the September 1949 trial, Rajk made a forced confession, claiming that he had been an agent of Mikls Horthy, Leon Trotsky, Josip Broz Tito and Western imperialism. [14] After the insurrection was suppressed, a purge was carried out to remove many officers, the number of soldiers was temporarily reduced as well in 1959 there were 84 thousand. The most serious were alcoholism, high suicide rate (in 1980 it was 44,9 per 100 thous., one of the highest in Europe) and low birth rate. It sought to accomplish reforms in many sectors of its economy, attempting autonomous self-management of collective farms, the break-up of monopoly industries, and curtailing subsidies other than those used for exports. Uncle Sam (on throne) drives a parody parade past Budapests Stalin monument in 1954. Similarly Marxism-Leninism ruled in science. By the early 1980s, it had achieved some lasting economic reforms and limited political liberalization and pursued a foreign policy which encouraged more trade with the West. During the Stalinism period it was subjected to total control, the only doctrine was socialist realism. Routledge. Life expectancy of men grew until 1966, reaching 67,5 years (59,3 in 1949), by 1989 it fell to 65,4. The changes in religious structure were relatively low. In 1951 members of the former owning classes were deported from cities (15 thousand from Budapest alone). In 1946 a decree on protection of the democratic system in the state was adopted, until 1956 it provided the base to start legal proceedings against 42 thousand people. In the beginning of the 80s 185 thousand people were in the hostiles list, in 1989 -164 thousand. The Fortepan archive plots the slow reconstruction of Budapest and captures moments from Hungarys communist period which began after the war and lasted until 1989. [citation needed], In October 1989, the MSZMP convened its last congress and re-established itself as the Hungarian Socialist Party. After being tapped to lead a Soviet-backed government in Hungary, Rakosi (center, with various communist leaders in 1953) described himself as Stalins best pupil.. [12] Approximately 350,000 Hungarian officials and intellectual party members were purged from the Hungarian Communist Party from 1948 to 1956. The united front tactic was implemented with limited success, obtaining the Smallholders Partys cooperation. After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was suppressed by Soviet forces, Hungary remained a communist country.

Already in 1958 the net cohort reproduction rate fell below 1,0 (to 0,852 in 1988), and the mean family size fell from 3,29 people in 1949 to 2,92 in 1984. Soviet tanks immediately captured Hungary's airfields, highway junctions and bridges. A land reform and nationalization of main branches of industry was effected. "Stalin and the Cold War in Europe". Signs of resistance, strikes and manifestations were suppressed for many months. The number of actively invigilated dropped from over 6 thousand in 1968 to 2200 in 1985. In 1966, the Central Committee approved the "New Economic Mechanism", through which it sought to overhaul the economy, increase productivity, make Hungary more competitive in world markets, and create prosperity to promote political stability. An amnesty was proclaimed in spring 1956, over 11 000political prisoners were released. [3] The Hungarian Communist Party, despite all the efforts, was trounced, receiving only 17% of votes, by a Smallholder-led coalition under Prime Minister Zoltn Tildy, thus frustrating the Kremlin's expectations of ruling through a democratically elected government. ISBN, Hardt, John Pearce; Kaufman, Richard F. (1995). Despite their helping Rkosi to liquidate Rajk, future Hungarian leader Jnos Kdr and other dissidents were also purged from the party during this period. Under the 1947 peace treaty Hungary relinquished 40 km2 of land to Czechoslovakia, a partial population exchange was also made. Central planning was reinstated in industry. A monument to Stalin in Budapests City Park. ), Big Brother's miserable grocery store. In response, the New Economic Mechanism was introduced in 1968. [4] Communists influence was limited, and their number negligible. The revised constitution also championed the "values of bourgeois democracy and democratic socialism" and gave equal status to public and private property. The People's Republic of Hungary or Hungarian People's Republic (Hungarian language: Magyar Npkztrsasg) was the official state name of Hungary from 1949 to 1989 during its Communist period under the guidance of the Soviet Union. Rkosi once again became the leader of Hungary. As the situation calmed, the security apparatus reduced the number of people deemed hostile. In the 60s Kdr loosened the cultural policies, and then the economic ones. In 1988 the rights of all economic sectors were made equal and a VAT was introduced.

In return the Hungarian military fought against the USRR. Voters were presented with a single list of all parties, running on a common programme. In the elections held that year, the Communists became the largest party, but were well short of a majority. This process culminated in 1947, when the prime minister threatened with arrest, Ferenc Nagy, remained abroad, and the new election improved the MKPs position in the government. Imre Nagy was arrested and replaced by the Soviet loyalist, Jnos Kdr, as head of the newly formed Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (Magyar Szocialista Munksprt). [16] These social purges used immense amounts of resources, including almost one million Hungarian adults employed to record, control, calculate, indoctrinate, spy on and sometimes kill targets of the purge.[17]. [1] Despite this, it became the weakest point of Hungarian communism, and a pressure that contributed greatly to the transition to democracy. The state considered itself the heir of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, which was formed in 1919 and was the second socialist state formed after Soviet Russia. Horthys rule was a dictatorial one. Many artists were sentenced, the Hungarian Writers' Union was dissolved. Sporadic demonstrations appeared (e.g. Prices of selected goods were partially freed. The newly created Red Army took over a part of Slovakia, where the Slovak Soviet Republic was proclaimed. But in the early 1960s, Kdr announced a new policy under the motto "He who is not against us is with us", a variation of Rkosi's quote: "He who is not with us is against us". 1973). Hungarys communist regime fell simultaneously with the rest of Central and Eastern Europe, setting the country on a path of recovery. However, it did not mean it had wider social support in the election of November 1945 the MKP got 16,9% votes, less than the social democrats (17,4%). Imre Pozsgay told the MSZMPs general secretary that "a Hungarian soldier ordered to shoot on his own people would either shoot his commander or go home to his mother. A survey from 1986 said that 61% of the Hungarian population described their position as hopeless or continually worsening. Kdr's major political rivals then cooperated to move the country gradually to Western-style democracy. Despite its later incorporation into the internal affairs ministry, the VH became a symbol, and the functionaries were lynched during the revolution.

However, Kdr, the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party, handled them with adeptness, banking on his continuing political credibility. When the protesters attempted to free those who had been arrested, the police opened fire on the crowd, provoking rioting throughout the capital. [citation needed]. Some influence was gained among the youth and intelligentsia.

The opposition grew in the middle 80s. Preparations for a faade trial of the Zionists were interrupted by Stalins death. It was led by Comintern agents, Mtys Rkosi for the longest time. In 1984 facilitations for small private enterprises (about 16 thousand existed at this point) were introduced. The markers of production growth were significantly raised already in 1951, a year after the five-years introducing them was started. Altogether 2700 Hungarians were killed, over a dozen thousand were wounded, 200 thousand escaped abroad. history of the Hungarian secret services after World War II, Budapest 2012, Kenez Peter, Hungary from the Nazis to the Soviets. [30] Only 60% of Hungarian housing had adequate sanitation by 1984, with only 36.1% of housing having piped water.[31]. The new Hungarian military hastily staged public, pre-arranged trials to purge "Nazi remnants and imperialist saboteurs". Few shops and restaurants were owned by private entrepreneurs (in 1970 respectively 9043 and 682, in 1980 9946 and 1457). [1] The state remained in existence until 1989 when opposition forces consolidated in forcing the regime to abandon the struggle for communism. [9] Over 100,000 people are estimated to have attended Nagy's reinterment. The protestant churches were also purged and their leaders were replaced by those willing to remain loyal to Rkosi's government. [22] A bookstore window scrawled with the phrase Russians go home! Hungarians fought bitter, deadly battles with Soviet troops inside the country during the uprising. The Central Committee of the Hungarian Working People's Party responded to the pressure by appointing the reformer Imre Nagy as the new Prime Minister.

The industrialization and collectivization caused a quick flow of people from villages to cities. That same year, the Parliament adopted a "democracy package", which included trade union pluralism; freedom of association, assembly, and the press; a new electoral law; and a radical revision of the constitution, among others. In addition to some beneficial effects such as better education for the poor, more opportunities for working class children and increased literacy in general, this measure also included the dissemination of communist ideology in schools and universities. members. Space Perspective, Budapest 1999, Bks Csaba, Byrne Mlcolm, Rainer Jnos (eds. Soviets exploited some goods (e.g. Early the following morning, Soviet military units entered Budapest and seized key positions. List of currently active United States military land vehicles, Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary, List of Worker's Party General Secretaries. Despite the partial withdrawal from reforms in the following decade, Goulash Communism persisted in Hungary. [5] In early 1947, the Soviet Union pressed the leader of the Hungarian Communists, Mtys Rkosi, to take a "line of more pronounced class struggle." In 194546, some 35,000 people were arrested on political grounds and 1,000 of them executed or tortured to death. The first wave of repressions, at the turn of 1944/1945, was organized by the Soviet NKVD and Smiersz. Communism brought a deep change to the social structure of Hungary. The Fortepan archive also holds precious moments of humanity far removed from the politics and conflict of the period. Despite its poor resource base and its favorable opportunities to specialize in other forms of production, Hungary developed new heavy industry in order to bolster further domestic growth and produce exports to pay for raw-material import. Although Hungary had achieved some lasting economic reforms and limited political liberalization during the 1980s, major reforms only occurred following the replacement of Jnos Kdr as General Secretary of the Communist Party (MSZMP) on 22 May 1988. The revitalized and reformed socialists performed poorly despite having more than the usual advantages of an "incumbent" party. The total number of repression victims is estimated at 600 thousand. The final wave of collectivization came in 1958-1961. In 1945 a land reform, which was a matter of dispute between the MKP and the FKgP was introduced. Hungarys leadership sided with Nazi Germany during World War II. In April 2011, a new constitution was adopted which came into force on 1 January 2012, beginning the Fourth Hungarian Republic. "Eastern Europe in the twentieth century and after". On the 33rd anniversary of the 1956 Revolution, October 23, the Presidential Council was dissolved. On 29 October the newspaper welcomed the new government and openly criticised Soviet attempts to influence the political situation in Hungary. [18] Some Soviet soldiers returned fire on the VH, mistakenly believing that they were the targets of the shooting.

[20] The Soviets modeled economies in the rest of the Eastern Bloc, such as Hungary, along Soviet command economy lines. VH units began shooting into the crowd from the rooftops of neighboring buildings. The society livened, a huge impression was made by the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The students protested for the implementation of several demands including an end to Soviet occupation. ), The Collectivization of Agriculture in Communist Interior Minister Lszl Rajk established the VH secret police, in an effort to suppress political opposition through intimidation, false accusations, imprisonment and torture. (1997). Hungarys state ballet troupe in training in 1955. In the following years, the MKP used the salami tactic (term forged by Lszl Rajk) gradual weakening, splitting and eliminating of independent forces, most importantly the FKgP. Discontent was gradually growing, the special unit known as Lenin Boys (Lenin-fik) made efforts to suppress it. Rkosi complied by pressuring the other parties to push out those members not willing to do the Communists' bidding, ostensibly because they were "fascists." Actresses Hilda Gobbi (middle) and Hedi Temessy (right) with a friend in 1965. However, he did manage to secure the appointment of his close friend, Ern Ger, as his successor. "East-Central European Economies in Transition". The percentage of officials among all employees had by far the fastest increase rate from 8% in 1949 to 22,5% in 1980. His government became increasingly unpopular, and when Joseph Stalin died in 1953, Mtys Rkosi was replaced as prime minister by Imre Nagy. In 1988, communist Hungary also started making it easier for its own citizens to travel to the west, which led to May 1989's removal of Hungary's barbed wire fence with Austria. In 1960 it fell from 600 thousand to 160 thousand, including 6 thousand permanently invigilated. Union, Budapest - New York 2004, Gough Roger, A Good Comrade. After the Germans were pushed out and the Arrow Cross forces destroyed in March 1945, all of Hungary fell under Soviet occupation, the pre-1938 borders were reinstated. A photo archive reveals epic historical moments and everyday life under communism in Hungary. Prisoners stitching footballs in a prison in Marianosztra in northern Hungary in 1987. After the revolution was suppressed, the repressions lasting until 1961 included 228 death sentences (including Imre Nagy), 26 thousand imprisonments, 13 thousand internments. Fighting took place all over the country but the Hungarian forces were quickly defeated. After the revolution was pacified the MSzMP set up paramilitary units under its command armed with light weapons the Workers Militia (Munksrsg). The Hungarian Soviet Republic fell in August 1919, when Budapest was taken by Romanian army. In 1955 Hungary joined the Warsaw Pact. Studies on the In 1949 52% of the population worked in farming, in 1960 38%, in 1970 27%, in 1980 20%. Other government ministers or supporters who were either executed or died in captivity included Pl Malter, Gza Losonczy, Attila Szigethy and Mikls Gimes. "[7], The Hungarian communist elite believed the economic crisis they faced could turn into social upheaval, which came on the backs of decreasing real wages, high inflation, and a mounting debt crisis. During the Hungarian Uprising an estimated 20,000 people were killed, nearly all during the Soviet intervention. From the mid-80s, the population of Hungary began to decrease. ISBN, Articles containing Hungarian-language text, Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, States and territories disestablished in 1989, States and territories established in 1949, The CWIHP at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars Collection on Hungary in the Cold War. On October 25, a mass of protesters gathered in front of the Parliament Building. Production collectives and state farms were merge into big (and mostly inefficient) units.

The MDP was transformed into the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (Magyar Szocialista Munksprt, MSzMP), led by Kdr, who was imprisoned a short time before. "Housing policies in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union". At the height of his rule, Rkosi developed a strong cult of personality. Repression was harsher in Hungary than in the other satellite countries in the 1940s and 1950s due to a more vehement Hungarian resistance. Hungary ran a massive foreign debt, and poverty became widespread. Amos Chapple is a New Zealand-born photographer and picture researcher with a particular interest in the former U.S.S.R. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 2022 RFE/RL, Inc. All Rights Reserved.