Social Democratic Party of Hungary
헝가리 사회민주당
A social democratic party founded in Hungary, then part of Austria-Hungary, on 7 December 1890 along the lines laid down by the Second International. In 1919 it merged with the Communists to proclaim the Hungarian Soviet Republic, and under Horthy it worked as a legal opposition party within strict limits. In June 1948 it was absorbed into the Communist Party to form the Hungarian Working People's Party; it was briefly revived during the 1956 revolution and re-established in 1989.
In depth
The party was founded on 7 December 1890 under the leadership of Pál Gábor Engelmann, its core membership coming from the disintegrating General Workers' Party of Hungary. Its programme called for abolishing the capitalist social order, bringing the means of production into common ownership, universal suffrage and laws protecting workers, and it played a large part in founding trade unions and educating the peasantry. After 1892 the leadership split into radical and moderate wings, and the party drifted towards reformism, putting the introduction of universal suffrage at the top of its demands.
According to the Hungarian-language source, the party pursued an anti-war line before the First World War but justified the war once it had begun; the English-language source says the war split the party into pro-war and anti-war factions. After the Aster Revolution of 1918 it took part in the Károlyi and Berinkey governments, and when these failed to master the political crisis it turned to the imprisoned Communist leaders. The two parties merged on 21 March 1919 and proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic, although senior leaders such as Ernő Garami, Manó Buchinger and Gyula Peidl opposed the merger.
After the fall of the Soviet Republic the party was rebuilt on reformist lines under Károly Peyer and Peidl. It boycotted the 1920 elections, and in 1921 the Bethlen–Peyer pact spared it from being banned in exchange for working under strict limits. Several members were murdered during the White Terror. In its first parliamentary election, in 1922, it won 17% and 25 seats, becoming the second-largest party; it never repeated that result but remained in parliament until 1944. The party belonged to the Labour and Socialist International from 1923 to 1940, renamed itself the Social Democratic Party (SZDP) in 1939, and in 1943 concluded an anti-fascist agreement with the Smallholders' Party.
After the German occupation in 1944 the party was outlawed; its leaders were arrested by the Gestapo and deported to concentration camps or fell victim to the Arrow Cross terror. It finished second in the November 1945 election and governed in coalition with the Smallholders, but under Communist pressure its right wing was expelled in 1948. The rest of the party, led by Árpád Szakasits, merged with the Hungarian Communist Party on 12 June 1948 to form the Hungarian Working People's Party.
During the 1956 revolution the party was revived under Anna Kéthly and joined Imre Nagy's government, but it disappeared again after the revolution was crushed and much of its leadership went into exile. It was re-established in January 1989 but won only 3.55% in the 1990 election and failed to enter parliament, remaining a minor party close to the Hungarian Socialist Party.