Hungarian Workers' Party
|
|
- Note: if you are looking for Workers' Party in Hungary (Munkáspárt in Hungarian), click the link.
The Hungarian Workers' Party (Hungarian: Magyar Dolgozók Pártja - MDP) was the ruling communist party of Hungary from 1948 to 1956. It was formed by a merger of the Communist Party of Hungary and the Social Democratic Party. Its leader was Mátyás Rákosi until 1956, then Ernő Gerő in the same year for two months, and eventually János Kádár until the party's dissolution. Other minor legal Hungarian political parties were allowed to continue as independent coalition parties, entirely reliant on the HWP dominated government.
During the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, the party was reorganised into the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party by a circle of communists around Imre Nagy. However, after 4 November 1956, the HSWP was controlled by János Kádár and fully supported the Soviet Union. In the early 1960s the HSWP gained a degree of autonomy from the Soviet Union's line, and followed a somewhat independent course, especially in economic areas.