Introduction to the local administration of the Hungarian Soviet Republic using examples from Veszprém County

Abstract

The Hungarian Soviet Republic was an extremely peculiar formation of Hungarian constitutional history. The leaders of the proletarian dictatorship wanted to put the functioning of the state on a new basis, both at national and local level. However, the legislative activity of the new system was not effective, which has also made it difficult to put decisions into practice. All this was compounded by the fact that the Hungarian Soviet Republic also struggled with a shortage of cadres, and in the countryside there were hardly any people who were fully aware of and followed the guidelines of Béla Kun. Realising the situation, the decision-makers had no choice but to tacitly acknowledge the continued operation of the former rural administrative bodies and the retention of the former professionals. They sought to comply with ideological considerations mainly by renaming authorities and positions, and by placing a trusted person in the top leadership position in each area.