Slowing Sovietization: The Labour Party, the Hungarian Social Democrats and the Elections of 1947

Abstract

Between 1945 and 1947 the Hungarian Social Democratic Party (MSzDP) and the British Labour Party developed a relationship which resulted in regular contacts, visits and communications between the two parties. From the British perspective a major motivation in pursuing this relationship was to discourage the Hungarian Socialists from making themselves subservient to the Communist Party, which at that time was very influential. The summer of 1947 was the most intense period of this unusual Anglo-Hungarian relationship, with leading British diplomatic and Labour Party figures actively encouraging the MSzDP to take a stand against Communist demands. This work examines the relationship between the British Foreign Office and Labour Party and the MSzDP in the context of the events that surrounded the general election that was held in Hungary in the summer of 1947. It focuses predominantly on events in Hungary but it also examines an unusual set of discussions that took place in London in September 1947