Soviet Policy, Political Parties, and the Preparation for Communist Takeovers in Hungary, Germany, and Austria, 1944-1946

Abstract

A large number of similarities can be seen between Soviet and communist activities following World War II in Germany and Austria and in East Central European countries such as Hungary, which were later entirely incorporated into the Soviet bloc. In both cases, Moscow-trained communists aimed at establishing “people’s democracy” and took a leading role in rebuilding the respective country’s adminis-trative apparatus. However, while they managed, with Soviet support, to take over power in Hungary, they failed to do so in Austria. In Germany, communist and Soviet action contributed to the partition of the country. This article, on the basis of Soviet and German documents, draws the conclusion that the main reason for the success or failure of communist takeover was the Soviet factor: the power Soviet authorities had in the respective countries and the priority they assigned to communist takeover.