Agricultural Decisions and Disagreements in Stalinist Hungary, 1948–1953

Abstract

The purpose of the study. The aim of this study is to explore the inner repression in the state and party apparatus regarding rural affairs, the emerging dissent among the cadres and the conflicts of Stalinist style collectivization related to agricultural decision-making and its implementation. The main research period is the height of party state terror when the symptoms of malfunction of planned economy surfaced more intensively between 1951 and mid-1953. Applied methods. Qualitative analysis was conducted on archival sources, which consists of party organs’ resolutions and documents as well as of reports, minutes and records of the Ministry of Agriculture in particular. Outcomes. The party leadership’s reaction to the challenges and crisis was constant purge, but even persecution of the “enemies” of the state had to be limited. The study highlights that the agricultural apparatus did not implement unreasonable plans without any resistance from 1948 up until mid-1953. It does mean that the communist agricultural policy cannot be seen as a straight line. On the one hand, the failing collectivization drive forced the top brass to reconsider policy; on the other hand, the growing dissatisfaction and disagreement could play a significant role in the process.