𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝙷𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚢| 𝚁á𝚔𝚘𝚜𝚒 𝙼á𝚝𝚢á𝚜

Footage of Stalinist Hungary during the years of 1947-1955. History: 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.[ Rákosi the leader of Hungary during this era 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. He described himself as “Stalin’s best Hungarian disciple“ and “Stalin’s best pupil“. The government collectivized agriculture and it extracted profits from the country’s farms to finance the 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 an attempt to replace the educated class of the past with 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. The Stalinist era would come to end in 1956.