The Last Struggle: The Suppression of Agrarian Parties in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, 1944–1948

• Authors: Vasil Paraskevov
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Th is paper examines struggle between three agrarian parties – the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union “Nikola Petkov”, the Hungarian Smallholders Party and the Romanian National Peasant Party – and the local communist parties and Soviet representatives. It identifi es the pattern and forms of communist campaigns against the opposition agrarian parties and places them in the context of domestic and international developments. Th e paper discusses how the abolition of the agrarian parties contributed to the sovietization of Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. The paper shows that the agrarian parties were suppressed through the strong presence of Soviet representatives in the Allied Control Commission in Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary; communist pressure on the agrarian parties and their adherents during the parliamentary elections; communist propaganda and accusations against the agrarian opposition of subversive activities, chauvinism, fascism, anti-Soviet feelings, revengefulness; juridical trials that initially sought to discredit and fi nally led to the prohibition of agrarian parties; a very important factor for the domination of communist parties was their leading positions in the Ministries of the Interior and the security services. The paper outlines several reasons for the emergence of agrarian opposition: communist suppression of basic civil liberties and the expansion of Soviet infl uence after the war; agrarian disagreement with the restrictions on private property in agriculture with land reforms and fears of complete collectivization of land according to the Soviet model; the severe frictions between parties in the ruling coalitions; the fundamental ideological diff erences between agrarians and communists regarding the future development of Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania; and agrarian dissatisfaction with their junior position in the ruling coalitions.

Keywords

EN

Agrarianism; Communism; Eastern Europe; Sovietization; Totalitarianism

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Masaryk's Institute and Archives, ASCR
• Journal: Střed. Časopis pro mezioborová studia Střední Evropy 19. a 20. století. / Centre. Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies of Central Europe in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 47-69
• Document type: Masarykův ústav a Archiv AV ČR, v. v. i., Gabčíkova 2362/10, Praha 8, 182 00, Czech Republic

Contributors

author

Vasil Paraskevov