Show trials of the Hungarian Brotherhood and the communist coup in Hungary after World War II

Abstract

The article examines the fabricated show case against the secret society Hungarian Brotherhood and considers the role it played in organising the communist coup in Hungary. Looking at the background to the trial, the article describes the political situation in Hungary after the Second World War and the place of local communists in the state. It considers on how, thanks to the occupation by Soviet troops and the subsequent assistance of Russian communists and the NKVD, Hungarian communists built a ‘state within a state’ by seizing the Ministry of Internal Affairs and organising a political police force.

The study then analyses the process of developing unjust accusations and presenting them in court. Particular attention is paid to how the existence of the Hungarian Brotherhood, a network for discussing current political issues in the country, was exposed and, thanks to propaganda, turned into an organization for a coup d’état and the overthrow of democracy. For the sake of persuasion, the communists used and reinterpreted texts and topics, that were actually discussed by members of the Brotherhood, as truly criminal. Details of the racism charges and the restoration of the legal continuity of the Miklós Horthy regime, which were charged in the first trials against György Donáth and Endre Misteth, are given.

The article shows that it was only with the help of the Soviet occupation administration that the Hungarian communists managed to deal with the largest government party — Independent Smallholders’ Party. It demonstrates how propaganda worked in the media and explains how the cases aligned with the seizure of power.

The study offers material for further comparative research, as the Soviets organized show trials both in their national republics and in most of the occupied countries of Central and Eastern Europe, both over democratic political forces and over communists, who demanded more sovereignty for themselves. Regarding Ukrainian history, the article will provide information for comparison with the trial of the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine in 1930.