Hungarian Communist Party
Communist party that ruled Hungary briefly in 1919 and after WWII.
Last updated
The Hungarian Communist Party (MKP), originally founded as the Party of Communists in Hungary (KMP) in 1918, was a communist party that briefly held power during the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919 under Béla Kun. After a period of exile and suppression during the interwar period, it reemerged after World War II, eventually merging with the Social Democrats in 1948 to form the Hungarian Working People's Party, establishing a one-party state.
Background
The party was founded on November 24, 1918, as the Party of Communists in Hungary by Béla Kun, a former journalist who had been a POW in Russia. It came to power in March 1919, establishing the Hungarian Soviet Republic, which lasted 133 days before being overthrown by the Romanian Army. Kun was exiled to Vienna, and later many communists moved to Moscow. During the interwar period, membership dwindled, and the Comintern dissolved the party in 1936.
Did You Know?
- The party originally named itself 'Party of Communists in Hungary' because most factory workers in Budapest were not ethnic Hungarians.
- During World War II, the party briefly operated under the name 'Peace Party' before reverting to the Communist Party name in 1944.
- The party's secret police launched a violent terror campaign in June 1919 after an attempted coup.
More in Revolutions of
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Hungarian Communist Party (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the , each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced