Hungarian Social Democratic Party
Encyclopedia
The Hungarian Social Democratic Party (Magyarorszagi Szociáldemokrata Párt, MSZDP) is a political party in Hungary
. Both the MSZDP and SZDP lay claim to the same heritage: the Social Democratic Party which was part of a governing coalition in Hungary between 1945 and 1948, and a short period in 1956, which itself was renamed from the Hungarian Social Democratic Party, previously established in December 1890. Traditional areas of support have been the industrial areas of Budapest, especially Obuda
, Pesterzsébet
and Angyalföld
.
:
Hungary as an independent country:
. The MSZDP leadership entered into government as part of an unsuccessful post-war socialist administration. Revolution and counter-revolution resulted in a brutal backlash against opposing political camps. This led to both the Red Terror
and the White Terror
. Many MSZDP supporters were killed during the White Terror
. The entire left-wing boycotted the elections of 1920, which resulted in a right-wing victory and continued right-wing government for the inter-war period.
The MSZDP made their peace with Horthy's government in 1921 with the Bethlen-Peyer pact. More radical elements were suppressed, and trade union activity was increasingly driven underground during the 1930s. After 1939, the party became officially known as the SZDP, dropping the "Magyarorszagi" moniker. The environment became increasingly hostile during the Second World War and activity virtually drained to a halt. With the Nazi takeover of Hungary in 1944, the party was declared illegal. Many of the leadership were executed, with the remainder imprisoned or driven underground.
The party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International
between 1923 and 1940.
The MSZDP fought the election of November 1945, finishing in a strong second place. From 1945-1948, the MSZDP governed in association with the Smallholders Party. They were placed under increasing pressure to merge with the Hungarian Communist Party
. Eventually, the right-wing were forcibly excluded from the MSZDP - and this allowed the party to officially join the Soviet-sponsored Hungarian Working People's Party. With the establishment of the police state, members were increasingly pressured to co-operate with the Communists. The grouping became the largest party in 1947, but by the end of 1948 the MSZDP had ceased to function independently.
The MSZDP re-emerged defiantly in the 1956 revolution. Under the leadership of Anna Kéthly
, Gyula Keleman and Joseph Fischer the MSZDP took a prominent role in Imre Nagy
's Provisional Government. For the first time in many years the party newspaper "Népszava
" was published independently. Following the suppression of the Revolution in 1956 and 1957, the MSZDP disappeared again under state repression, and much of the leadership escaped into exile.
The gradual softening of the official government policies in Hungary in the 1970s and 1980s led to many in the governing Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party
(MSZMP) being associated with reform communism. This was sometimes not easily distinguishable from social democracy
.
(MSZP), started with a large base of members, plenty of financial resources and a core electorate. The MSZP and MSZDP were in competition for the same left-wing support.
The transition period was marked by chaos in the newly reformed MSZDP. There were many disagreements throughout 1989 regarding the direction of the MSZDP, and a breakaway was established in November 1989 as the "Historical" Social Democratic Party
(SZDP). The SZDP claimed to be the ideological successor to the "anti-communist" MSZDP of 1945-1948 and 1956. Another breakaway party also emerged in 1989 - the Independent Social Democratic Party (FSZDP). The results of the 1990 elections
under the leadership of Anna Petrasovics was a huge disappointment to the MSZDP, as the reconstituted party failed to reach the 5% parliamentary threshold.
Following this defeat, the MSZDP has failed to cross the threshold into Parliament at every subsequent election. Whilst retaining its separate status, it has become even further linked to the MSZP. Its leader, László Kapolyi, was elected to Parliament in 2002 as part of a joint MSZP–MSZDP ticket. He sits with the MSZP in Parliament, as a normal MSZP MP, along with Gabor Hars, a defector from the MSZP.
In 2007 and 2008, further defections from the MSZP to the MSZDP in Óbuda
and Zugló
resulted in some pressure to more clearly define an independent social democratic perspective to differentiate the party from the MSZP. In response to this, László Kapolyi tried to prevent further defections from joining, under pressure from the MSZP's leadership. However, pressure from the remaining membership of the MSZDP has created tensions. In November 2009, a number of local MSZDP associations made autonomous decisions to form electoral alliances with the Green Left
, regardless of the MSZDP's national leadership.
On its 45-th Congress, October 8, 2011, Kapolyi was reelected as chairman, and Andor Schmuck was elected as general secretary.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. Both the MSZDP and SZDP lay claim to the same heritage: the Social Democratic Party which was part of a governing coalition in Hungary between 1945 and 1948, and a short period in 1956, which itself was renamed from the Hungarian Social Democratic Party, previously established in December 1890. Traditional areas of support have been the industrial areas of Budapest, especially Obuda
Óbuda
Óbuda was a historical city in Hungary. United with Buda and Pest in 1873 it now forms part of District III-Óbuda-Békásmegyer of Budapest. The name means Old Buda in Hungarian...
, Pesterzsébet
Pesterzsébet
Pesterzsébet is the 20th district of Budapest, Hungary. It is located in the southern part of the capital and is the 17th biggest district in the city...
and Angyalföld
Angyalföld
Angyalföld is a neighbourhood in Budapest, Hungary. Administratively it belongs to District 13th. The traditionally working class neighbourhood went through a process of gentrification due to the office-building boom of the 1990s.- Location :...
.
Overview
Hungary as part of Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
:
- 1868–1890 The General Workers Association (Általános Munkásegylet)
- 1890–1918 The Hungarian Social Democratic Party (Magyarországi Szociáldemokrata Párt) - independent party
Hungary as an independent country:
- 1918–1939 The Hungarian Social Democratic Party (Magyarországi Szociáldemokrata Párt) - independent party
- 1939–1948 The Social Democratic Party (Szociáldemokrata Párt) - merged with Hungarian Working Peoples Party
- October 1956 - November 1956 The Social Democratic Party (Szociáldemokrata Párt)
- 1989 Hungarian Social Democratic Party (Magyarországi Szociáldemokrata Párt)
Election results
- 1922 National Assembly: 17% - 26 seats
- 1926 National Assembly: 11.1% - 15 seats
- 1931 National Assembly: 11.0% - 14 seats
- 1935 National Assembly: 6.7% - 11 seats
- 1939 National Assembly: 3.4% - 5 seats
- 1945 National AssemblyHungarian parliamentary election, 1945The Hungarian parliamentary election of 1945 was held on 4 November of that year. It came at a turbulent moment in the country's history: World War II had had a devastating impact; the Soviet Union was occupying it, with the Hungarian Communist Party growing in numbers; a land reform that March had...
: 17.4% - 69 seats - 1947 National AssemblyHungarian parliamentary election, 1947The Hungarian parliamentary election of 1947 was held on 31 August of that year. The Hungarian Communist Party, which had lost the previous election, consolidated its power in the interim using salami tactics. This fact, combined with the weakening of the opposition and a revised electoral law, led...
: 14.9% - 67 seats
Since 1990
- 1990 National AssemblyHungarian parliamentary election, 1990The 1990 Hungarian general election, which took place on March 25 and April 8 of that year, was the first free election to be held in the country since 1945, and only the third honest election in the country's history...
: 3.5% - 0 seats - 1994 National AssemblyHungarian parliamentary election, 1994The 1994 Hungarian general election was held in two round in May 1994. It saw the return to power of the Hungarian Socialist Party, the former Communist party, under the leadership of Gyula Horn, who became Prime Minister. The Socialist achieved a remarkable revival, winning an overall majority of...
: 1.0% - 0 seats - 1998 National AssemblyHungarian parliamentary election, 1998The results of the Hungarian parliamentary election of 1998 are as follows:The election was a significant defeat for the governing Socialist Party and their coalition allies , the Alliance of Free Democrats and a narrow surprise victory for Viktor Orbán's right-wing Fidesz.The successful...
: 0.1% - 0 seats - 2002 National AssemblyHungarian parliamentary election, 2002The results of the Hungarian parliamentary election of 2002 are as follows:-External links:* ,...
: 0.7% - 0 seats - 2010 National AssemblyHungarian parliamentary election, 2010A parliamentary election was held in Hungary on 11 and 25 April 2010 to choose MPs for the National Assembly. They were the sixth free elections since the end of communist era. The 386 members of parliament were elected in a combined system of party lists and electoral constituencies...
: 0.08% - 0 seats
History up to 1989
The party grew in power and influence until the First World War, which resulted in the party fracturing into pro-war and anti-war factions. The chaos which followed the war resulted in the collapse of the Dual MonarchyDual monarchy
Dual monarchy occurs when two separate kingdoms are ruled by the same monarch, follow the same foreign policy, exist in a customs union with each other and have a combined military but are otherwise self-governing...
. The MSZDP leadership entered into government as part of an unsuccessful post-war socialist administration. Revolution and counter-revolution resulted in a brutal backlash against opposing political camps. This led to both the Red Terror
Red Terror
The Red Terror in Soviet Russia was the campaign of mass arrests and executions conducted by the Bolshevik government. In Soviet historiography, the Red Terror is described as having been officially announced on September 2, 1918 by Yakov Sverdlov and ended about October 1918...
and the White Terror
White Terror
White Terror is the violence carried out by reactionary groups as part of a counter-revolution. In particular, during the 20th century, in several countries the term White Terror was applied to acts of violence against real or suspected socialists and communists.-Historical origin: the French...
. Many MSZDP supporters were killed during the White Terror
White Terror
White Terror is the violence carried out by reactionary groups as part of a counter-revolution. In particular, during the 20th century, in several countries the term White Terror was applied to acts of violence against real or suspected socialists and communists.-Historical origin: the French...
. The entire left-wing boycotted the elections of 1920, which resulted in a right-wing victory and continued right-wing government for the inter-war period.
The MSZDP made their peace with Horthy's government in 1921 with the Bethlen-Peyer pact. More radical elements were suppressed, and trade union activity was increasingly driven underground during the 1930s. After 1939, the party became officially known as the SZDP, dropping the "Magyarorszagi" moniker. The environment became increasingly hostile during the Second World War and activity virtually drained to a halt. With the Nazi takeover of Hungary in 1944, the party was declared illegal. Many of the leadership were executed, with the remainder imprisoned or driven underground.
The party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International
Labour and Socialist International
The Labour and Socialist International was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The LSI was a forerunner of the present-day Socialist International....
between 1923 and 1940.
The MSZDP fought the election of November 1945, finishing in a strong second place. From 1945-1948, the MSZDP governed in association with the Smallholders Party. They were placed under increasing pressure to merge with the Hungarian Communist Party
Hungarian Communist Party
The Communist Party of Hungary , renamed Hungarian Communist Party in 1945, was founded on November 24, 1918, and was in power in Hungary briefly from March to August 1919 under Béla Kun and the Hungarian Soviet Republic. The communist government was overthrown by the Romanian Army and driven...
. Eventually, the right-wing were forcibly excluded from the MSZDP - and this allowed the party to officially join the Soviet-sponsored Hungarian Working People's Party. With the establishment of the police state, members were increasingly pressured to co-operate with the Communists. The grouping became the largest party in 1947, but by the end of 1948 the MSZDP had ceased to function independently.
The MSZDP re-emerged defiantly in the 1956 revolution. Under the leadership of Anna Kéthly
Anna Kéthly
Anna Kéthly , was a Hungarian Social Democrat politician. She was one of nine children born into a poor family in Budapest, Hungary. At the age of fifteen she started working in a garment factory but soon found more appealing work in the editorial office of a women's magazine and this gave her...
, Gyula Keleman and Joseph Fischer the MSZDP took a prominent role in Imre Nagy
Imre Nagy
Imre Nagy was a Hungarian communist politician who was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary on two occasions...
's Provisional Government. For the first time in many years the party newspaper "Népszava
Népszava
Népszava is a Social-democratic newspaper established in 1877 in Budapest by Viktor Külföldi. It was the official newspaper of the Hungarian Social Democratic Party until 1948....
" was published independently. Following the suppression of the Revolution in 1956 and 1957, the MSZDP disappeared again under state repression, and much of the leadership escaped into exile.
The gradual softening of the official government policies in Hungary in the 1970s and 1980s led to many in the governing Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party
Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party
The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party was the ruling Marxist–Leninist party of Hungary between 1956 and 1989. It was organised from elements of the Hungarian Working People's Party during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution...
(MSZMP) being associated with reform communism. This was sometimes not easily distinguishable from social democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
.
History after the transition
In 1989 the MSZDP was re-founded, and took a prominent role in the transitional arrangements before the first elections. The MSZMP, now calling itself the Hungarian Socialist PartyHungarian Socialist Party
The Hungarian Socialist Party describes itself as a social democratic party in Hungary. It is the partial successor of the communist Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party , which ruled Hungary between 1956 and 1989. The decision to declare the party a successor of the MSZMP was controversial, and...
(MSZP), started with a large base of members, plenty of financial resources and a core electorate. The MSZP and MSZDP were in competition for the same left-wing support.
The transition period was marked by chaos in the newly reformed MSZDP. There were many disagreements throughout 1989 regarding the direction of the MSZDP, and a breakaway was established in November 1989 as the "Historical" Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party (Hungary)
The Social Democratic Party often known as the "Historical" Social Democratic Party is a Hungarian political party that emerged following a split within the Hungarian Social Democratic Party in 1989...
(SZDP). The SZDP claimed to be the ideological successor to the "anti-communist" MSZDP of 1945-1948 and 1956. Another breakaway party also emerged in 1989 - the Independent Social Democratic Party (FSZDP). The results of the 1990 elections
Hungarian parliamentary election, 1990
The 1990 Hungarian general election, which took place on March 25 and April 8 of that year, was the first free election to be held in the country since 1945, and only the third honest election in the country's history...
under the leadership of Anna Petrasovics was a huge disappointment to the MSZDP, as the reconstituted party failed to reach the 5% parliamentary threshold.
Following this defeat, the MSZDP has failed to cross the threshold into Parliament at every subsequent election. Whilst retaining its separate status, it has become even further linked to the MSZP. Its leader, László Kapolyi, was elected to Parliament in 2002 as part of a joint MSZP–MSZDP ticket. He sits with the MSZP in Parliament, as a normal MSZP MP, along with Gabor Hars, a defector from the MSZP.
In 2007 and 2008, further defections from the MSZP to the MSZDP in Óbuda
Óbuda
Óbuda was a historical city in Hungary. United with Buda and Pest in 1873 it now forms part of District III-Óbuda-Békásmegyer of Budapest. The name means Old Buda in Hungarian...
and Zugló
Zugló
Zugló is the official name of the 14th district of Budapest , the capital of Hungary. It is a large and mixed neighborhood, with communist era style highrise apartments sprinkled between decently kept one house residential streets...
resulted in some pressure to more clearly define an independent social democratic perspective to differentiate the party from the MSZP. In response to this, László Kapolyi tried to prevent further defections from joining, under pressure from the MSZP's leadership. However, pressure from the remaining membership of the MSZDP has created tensions. In November 2009, a number of local MSZDP associations made autonomous decisions to form electoral alliances with the Green Left
Green left
The term Green left is used primarily to refer to a combination of environmentalism, feminism, socialism, and pacifism in countries where the term is used...
, regardless of the MSZDP's national leadership.
On its 45-th Congress, October 8, 2011, Kapolyi was reelected as chairman, and Andor Schmuck was elected as general secretary.