The Hungarian Working People's Party (, , abbr. MDP) was the ruling Marxist-Leninist party of Hungary from 1948 to 1956.
It was formed by a merger of the Hungarian Communist Party (MKP) and the Social Democratic Party of Hungary (MSZDP).Neubauer, John, and Borbála Zsuzsanna Török. The Exile and Return of Writers from East-Central Europe: A Compendium. New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2009. p. 140 However, the merger had actually occurred as a result of massive pressure brought to bear on the Social Democrats by both the Hungarian Communists, as well as the Soviet Union. The merger was almost entirely on Communist terms, and the few independent-minded Social Democrats who had not been sidelined by Communist salami tactics were pushed out in short order after the merger. This left the MDP as essentially the MKP under a new name.
Other minor legal Hungarian political parties were allowed to continue as independent coalition parties until late 1949. However, they were completely subservient to the MDP. It was the dominant force in the Hungarian Independence People's Front, a popular front that was effectively the only legal political organization.
Its leader was Mátyás Rákosi until 1956, then Ernő Gerő in the same year for three months, and eventually János Kádár until the party's dissolution.
During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the party was reorganized into the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP) by a circle of communists around Kádár and Imre Nagy. The new government of Nagy assessed the uprising not as counter-revolutionary but as a "great, national and democratic event" and to dissolve the State Protection Authority (ÁVH). Hungary's declaration to become neutral and to exit the Warsaw Pact caused a second Soviet intervention on 4 November 1956. After 8 November 1956, the MSZMP, under Kádár's leadership, fully supported the Soviet Union.
Leaders of the Hungarian Working People's Party
General/First Secretaries Portrait Name Term of office Position(s) Took office Left office Duration 1 Mátyás Rákosi 12 June 1948 18 July 1956 General Secretary First Secretary (from 28 June 1953) 2 Ernő Gerő 18 July 1956 25 October 1956 3 János Kádár 25 October 1956 31 October 1956
Chairman Portrait Name Term of office Position(s) Took office Left office Duration 1 Árpád Szakasits 12 June 1948 24 April 1950 Also President (1948–1949) and Chairman of the Presidential Council (1949–1950)
Electoral history
National Assembly elections ElectionParty leaderVotes%Seats+/–PositionGovernment1949Mátyás Rákosi 285 1st1953 79 1st
See also History of Hungary Politics of Hungary List of political parties in Hungary Eastern Bloc politics
References