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Hungarian Working People's Party

communist party (1948-1956)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 14, 2026
Entity authorityQ1073752 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Hungarian Working People's Party (Hungarian: Magyar Dolgozók Pártja, pronounced [ˈmɒɟɒr ˈdolɡozoːk ˈpaːrcɒ], abbr. MDP) was the ruling communist party of Hungary from 1948 to 1956.

It was formed by a merger of the Hungarian Communist Party (MKP) and the Social Democratic Party of Hungary (MSZDP). However, the merger had actually occurred as a result of massive pressure brought to bear on the Social Democrats by both the Hungarian Communists, as well as the Soviet Union. The merger was almost entirely on Communist terms, and the few independent-minded Social Democrats who had not been sidelined by Communist salami tactics were pushed out in short order after the merger. This left the MDP as essentially the MKP under a new name.

Other minor legal Hungarian political parties were allowed to continue as independent coalition parties until late 1949. However, they were completely subservient to the MDP. It was the dominant force in the Hungarian Independence People's Front, a popular front that was effectively the only legal political organization.

Its leader was Mátyás Rákosi until 1956, then Ernő Gerő in the same year for three months, and eventually János Kádár until the party's dissolution.

During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the party was reorganized into the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP) by a circle of communists around Kádár and Imre Nagy.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Hungarian Working People's Party” is communist party (1948-1956). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Hungarian, Working and People's, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1948, 1956, 1949—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1948-06-14. For this dossier, Hungarian, Working and People's is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “communist party (1948-1956)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1073752. VIAF identifies the subject as 153380443. The Library of Congress control number is n82166406. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1948, 1956 and 1949.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Hungarian Working People's Party”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Hungarian Working People's Party primary sources, Hungarian Working People's Party archive and Hungarian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Hungarian Working People's Party”?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Hungarian Working People's Party” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.