The Hungarian People's Republic was the Hungarian state from 20 August 1949 until the establishment of the current Republic of Hungary on 23 October 1989. It was a professed communist state, governed first by the Hungarian Working People's Party and after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party. Both governments were closely tied to the Soviet Union as part of the Eastern Bloc.Rao, B. V. (2006), History of Modern Europe A.D. 1789–2002, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
The state considered itself the heir to the Hungarian Soviet Republic, which was formed in 1919 as one of the first communist states created after the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR). It was designated a "people's democratic republic" by the Soviet Union in the 1940s. Geographically, it bordered Romania and the Soviet Union (via the Ukrainian SSR) to the east; Yugoslavia (via SRs Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia) to the southwest; Czechoslovakia to the north and Austria to the west.
The Communists spent consolidating their hold on power and weakening the other parties. This culminated in October 1947, when the Communists told their non-Communist coalition partners that they had to cooperate with a reconfigured coalition government if they wanted to stay in the country. The process was more or less completed in 1949, when a newly elected legislature chosen from a single Communist-dominated list adopted a Soviet-style constitution, and the country was officially recast as a "people's republic."
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. Political repression and economic decline led to a nationwide popular uprising in October–November 1956 known as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which was the largest single act of dissent in the history of the Eastern Bloc. After initially allowing the Revolution to run its course, the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops and tanks to crush the opposition and install a new Soviet-controlled government under Kádár, killing thousands of Hungarians and driving hundreds of thousands into exile. By the early 1960s, however, the Kádár government had considerably relaxed its line, implementing a unique form of semi-liberal Communism known as "Goulash Communism". The state allowed imports of certain Western consumer and cultural products, gave Hungarians greater freedom to travel abroad, and significantly rolled back the secret police state. These measures earned Hungary the moniker of the "merriest barrack in the socialist camp" during the 1960s and 1970s.
One of the longest-serving leaders of the 20th century, Kádár would finally retire in 1988 after being forced from office by even more pro-reform forces amidst an economic downturn. Those influences remained supreme until the late 1980s, when turmoil broke out across the Eastern Bloc, culminating with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union's dissolution. The Communist Party abandoned power a little over a year after Kádár's retirement, paving the way for free elections in 1990. Despite the end of communist control in Hungary, the 1949 constitution remained in effect after being almost completely rewritten to reflect the country's transition to liberal democracy. On 1 January 2012, the 1949 constitution was replaced with the current constitution.
History
Formation Following the occupation of Hungary by the Red Army, Soviet military occupation ensued. After seizing most material assets from German hands, the Soviets tried to control Hungarian political affairs, with some success. Using force, the Red Army set up police organs to persecute the opposition, assuming this would enable the Soviet Union to seize the upcoming elections, together with intense communist propaganda to attempt to legitimize their rule. Despite all efforts, in the elections of November 1945 the Hungarian Communist Party was trounced by a Smallholder-led coalition, receiving only 17% of votes. The coalition, under Prime Minister Zoltán Tildy, thus frustrated the Kremlin's expectations of ruling through a democratically elected government.Norton, Donald H. (2002). Essentials of European History: 1935 to the Present, p. 47. REA: Piscataway, New Jersey. .
The Soviet Union, however, intervened through force once again, resulting in a puppet government that disregarded Tildy, placed communists in important ministerial positions, and imposed several restrictive measures, like banning the victorious coalition government and forcing it to yield the Interior Ministry to a nominee of the Hungarian Communist Party.
Communist Interior Minister László Rajk established the ÁVH secret police, in an effort to suppress political opposition through intimidation, false accusations, imprisonment and torture.UN General Assembly Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary (1957) In early 1947, the Soviet Union pressed the leader of the Hungarian Communists, Mátyás Rákosi, a surviving member of the Soviet Republic's government, to take a "line of more pronounced class struggle". American observers likened communist machinations to a coup and concluded that "the coup in Hungary is Russia's answer to our actions in Greece and Turkey","The Untold History of the United States", Stone, Oliver and Kuznick, Peter, Gallery Books 2012, p. 208, citing Gardner, Lloyd C., "Architects of Illusion: Men and Ideas in American Foreign Policy, 1941–1949", p. 221, and Ann O'Hare McCormick, "Open Moves in the Political War for Europe", New York Times, 2 June 1947 referring to US military intervention in the Greek Civil War and the building of US military bases in Turkey pursuant to the Truman Doctrine.
Rákosi complied by pressuring the other parties to push out those members not willing to do the Communists' bidding, ostensibly because they were "fascists". Later on, after the Communists won full power, he referred to this practice as "salami tactics". Prime Minister Ferenc Nagy was forced to resign as prime minister in favour of a more pliant Smallholder, Lajos Dinnyés. In the 1947 elections, the Communists became the largest party, but were well short of a majority. The coalition was retained with Dinnyés as prime minister.Kontler, László. A History of Hungary. Palgrave Macmillan (2002),
In October 1947, Rákosi dropped all pretense of liberal democracy. He gave the non-Communist parties an ultimatum: cooperate with a new, Communist-dominated coalition government or go into exile.Hungary: a country study. Library of Congress Federal Research Division, December 1989. In short order, most of the other parties' more courageous members were pushed out, leaving them in the hands of fellow travellers willing to do the MKP's bidding.
In June 1948 the Communists forced the Social Democrats to merge with them to form the Hungarian Working People's Party (MDP). However, the few independent-minded Social Democrats were quickly shunted aside, leaving the MDP as a renamed and enlarged Communist Party. Rákosi then forced Tildy to turn over the presidency to Social Democrat-turned-Communist Árpád Szakasits. In December, Dinnyés was replaced by the leader of the Smallholders' left wing, the openly pro-Communist István Dobi.
At the elections of May 1949, voters were presented with a single Communist-dominated list, comprising candidates from all parties and running on a common programme. By this time, there was virtually no opposition left in the country. On 18 August, the newly elected National Assembly passed a new constitutiona near-carbon copy of the Soviet constitution. When it was officially promulgated on 20 August, the country was renamed the "Hungarian People's Republic."
Stalinist era (1949–1956)
Rákosi, now the de facto leader of Hungary, demanded complete obedience from fellow members of the Hungarian Working People's Party. Rákosi's main rival for power was László Rajk, who was then Hungary's Foreign Secretary. Rajk was arrested and Stalin's NKVD emissary coordinated with Hungarian General Secretary Rákosi and his State Protection Authority to lead the way for the show trial of Rajk. At the September 1949 trial, Rajk made a forced confession, claiming that he had been an agent of Miklós Horthy, Leon Trotsky, Josip Broz Tito and Western imperialism. He also admitted that he had taken part in a murder plot against Mátyás Rákosi and Ernő Gerő. Rajk was found guilty and executed. Despite their helping Rákosi to liquidate Rajk, future Hungarian leader János Kádár and other dissidents were also purged from the party during this period. During Kádár's interrogation, the ÁVH beat him, smeared him with mercury to prevent his skin pores from breathing, and had his questioner urinate into his pried-open mouth. Another notable show trial at the beginning of Rákosi's rule was the Trial of the Generals (1950).
Rákosi thereafter imposed totalitarian rule on Hungary. At the height of his rule, Rákosi developed a strong cult of personality. Dubbed the "bald murderer", Rákosi imitated Stalinist political and economic programs, resulting in Hungary experiencing one of the harshest dictatorships in Europe.Granville, Johanna, The First Domino: International Decision Making during the Hungarian Crisis of 1956, Texas A&M University Press, 2004. Gati, Charles, Failed Illusions: Moscow, Washington, Budapest, and the 1956 Hungarian Revolt, Stanford University Press, 2006 , pp. 9–12 He described himself as "Stalin's best Hungarian disciple"Sugar, Peter F., Peter Hanak and Tibor Frank, A History of Hungary, Indiana University Press, 1994, , pp. 375–377 and "Stalin's best pupil".Matthews, John P. C., Explosion: The Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Hippocrene Books, 2007, , pp. 93–94
The government collectivized agriculture and it extracted profits from the country's farms to finance rapid expansion of heavy industry, which attracted more than 90% of total industrial investment. At first Hungary concentrated on producing primarily the same assortment of goods it had produced before the war, including locomotives and railroad cars. 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.
Rákosi rapidly expanded the education system in Hungary. This was mostly in attempt to replace the educated class of the past by what Rákosi called a new "working intelligentsia". 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. Also, as part of an effort to separate the Church from the State, religious instruction was denounced as propaganda and was gradually eliminated from schools.
Cardinal József Mindszenty, who had opposed the German Nazis and the Hungarian Fascists during the Second World War, however, did support the Miklós Horthy dictatorship,Fontana, Josep, Por el bien del imperio. Una historia del mundo desde 1945, Pasado & Presente, 2011 , p. 206 and was arrested in December 1948 and accused of treason. After five weeks under arrest, he confessed to the charges made against him and he was condemned to life imprisonment. The Protestant churches were also purged and their leaders were replaced by those willing to remain loyal to Rákosi's government.