The Hungarian Experience of Building Socialism in the Era of János Kádár in a Historical Retrospective

Authors

  • Alexander S. Stykalin Institute of Slavic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences , Russian State Archive of Social-Political History

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31168/2073-5731.2025.1-2.06

Keywords:

Hungary, Hungarian events of 1956, Hungarian model of socialism, János Kádár, Soviet-Hungarian relations, socialist reforms

Abstract

The Hungarian Communist politician János Kádár, having come to power with direct Soviet military support in November 1956 in the days of a deep internal political crisis in the country, had to fully comply with the will of Moscow at the early stage of his tenure as the head of the government. However, having consolidated his power and proven to the Soviet leaders that he was in complete control of the situation in Hungary, he could allow himself more independence in foreign and domestic policy. Since the early 1960s, the regime has steadily developed along the path of liberalization in accordance with the declared principle “whoever is not against us is with us”. In 1968, an economic reform was launched aimed at making the economy more efficient, but in 1972–1974 it was forced to be curtailed due to internal contradictions and ongoing Soviet pressure. With the refusal of reforms, the Hungarian model of socialism entered a period of crisis; it was only possible to maintain the already achieved level of welfare and to minimize public discontent with the help of a growing external debt. The specifics of this model, however, ensured a fairly smooth transition to an entirely different model in the context of a “change of systems” at the turn of the 1980s – 1990s.

Received: 09.12.2024.
Revised: 12.02.2025.
Accepted: 18.03.2025.

Citation
Stykalin A. S. The Hungarian Experience of Building Socialism in the Era of János Kádár in a Historical Retrospective // Slavic Almanac. 2025. No 1–2. P. 139–160 (in Russian). DOI: 10.31168/2073-5731.2025.1-2.06

Author Biography

  • Alexander S. Stykalin, Institute of Slavic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian State Archive of Social-Political History

    Candidate of History, leading research fellow
    Institute of Slavic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
    119334, Leninsky Prospect 32-А, Moscow, Russian Federation
    Leading Specialist
    Russian State Archive of Social-Political History
    125009, Bol’shaya Dmitrovka 15, Moscow, Russian Federation
    E-mail: zhurslav@gmail.com
    ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0834-9090

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Published

2025-06-25

Issue

Section

History