Department of History of the USSR at the University of Budapest: Essay on the Sovietization of Hungarian Science and Higher Education in the 1950s

The establishment of communist regimes in Eastern and Central Europe in the second half of the 1940s. predetermined large-scale changes in the scientific and educational life of the countries of the region. One of the common features of Sovietization was the emergence departments in Soviet history, Soviet literature and Soviet law in the universities. Moreover, these departments were created according to the Soviet model, implying an appropriate staffing schedule, distribution of teaching assignments, etc. The article is devoted to an important episode in the history of the Sovietization of Hungarian humanities and education in the late 1940s — mid-1950s. This is activities of the Department of History of the USSR at the University of Budapest in 1953—1957. It was shown that creation this Department was connected with the work of the so-called Lenin Institute within the structure of the University of Budapest. On the one hand, Sovietization was carried out with the participation of specialists sent from the USSR, such as, for example, A. N. Kitushin, the Head of the Department of history of the USSR. On the other hand, a significant role was played by communist historians who returned from Moscow (J. Révai; E. Fazekas, E. Andics, D. Nemes, etc.). In the first year of the Department’s work, its employees developed a program on the history of the USSR, which was subsequently used in all major universities in the country — in Budapest, Szeged and Debrecen. The emphasis in teaching was on “key moments of historical ties between the Hungarian and Russian peoples”, especially in the 20th century. The same topic formed the basis of the Department’s research work. Its employees were compiling a collection of documents on the history of the USSR during the feudal period. They also participated in the translation of Soviet educational and scientific literature into Hungarian. Under the influence of the revolutionary upheavals in the autumn of 1956, Hungary’s intellectual agenda was adjusted. The aggressive Sovietization of humanities education has been suspended. In 1957, the Department of History of the USSR was transformed into the Department of History of Eastern Europe. The appendix to the article contains important documents from the Archives of the University of Budapest and the Archives of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, reflecting the process of Sovietization of Hungarian historical science in the early 1950s.

Keywords

Hungary, University of Budapest, Sovietization, Soviet-Hungarian scientific relations, historiography

Received

19.10.2023

Publication date

31.12.2023

Number of characters

76576

Cite

GOST	Gruzdinskaya V., Kovalev M. Department of History of the USSR at the University of Budapest: Essay on the Sovietization of Hungarian Science and Higher Education in the 1950s // ISTORIYA – 2023. – V. 14. – Issue 12 (134). Part 2 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840029564-9-1 (circulation date: 27.04.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840029564-9
MLA	Gruzdinskaya, Victoria, Kovalev, Mikhail "Department of History of the USSR at the University of Budapest: Essay on the Sovietization of Hungarian Science and Higher Education in the 1950s." ISTORIYA 14.12-2 (134) (2023) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840029564-9
APA	Gruzdinskaya V., Kovalev M. (2023). Department of History of the USSR at the University of Budapest: Essay on the Sovietization of Hungarian Science and Higher Education in the 1950s. ISTORIYA 14(12-2 (134)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840029564-9

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 50

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Kyostenberger Yu. Kadrovaya kuznitsa stalinizma. Istoriya Mezhdunarodnoj leninskoj shkoly (1926—1938) // Levaya al'ternativa v KhKh v.: drama idej i sud'by lyudej. K 100-letiyu Kominterna. M.: Politicheskaya ehntsiklopediya, 2019. S. 78—79.

2. Kitushin A. N. Rannie russko-vengerskie svyazi (IX—XV vv.) // Uchenye zapiski Azerbajdzhanskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. 1956. № 6. S. 105—114.

3. Kitushin A. N. Ob avtorstve A. N. Radischeva v razrabotke proekta «Vsemilostivejshej gramoty Rossijskomu narodu zhaluemoj» // Uchenye zapiski Azerbajdzhanskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. 1956. № 7. S. 109—112.

4. Kitushin A. N. Russko-vengerskie istoricheskie svyazi v XVII—XVIII vv. // Uchenye zapiski Azerbajdzhanskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. 1958. № 4. S. 77—86.

5. Kovalev M. V., Sheresh A. Vengerskij arkheolog Nandor Fettikh i ego svyazi s russkimi uchenymi-ehmigrantami // Slavyanovedeniya. 2019. № 4. S. 24—36.

6. Kovalev M. V., Sobi P. «Kadry reshayut vsyo!»: professional'nye traektorii pervykh sotrudnikov Vysshej ehkonomicheskoj shkoly v Prage (1950-e gg.) // Vestnik Novosibirskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Istoriya, filologiya. 2022. T. 21. № 1. S. 22—36.

7. Kovalev M. V. «Lyudi, s kotorymi mne prikhodilos' vstrechat'sya, proyavlyali k sovetskomu uchenomu ochen' mnogo vnimaniya»: vizit akademika B. D. Grekova v Budapesht v 1948 g. // Rossiya XXI. 2023. № 1. S. 30—53.

8. Politicheskaya ehkonomiya: uchebnik. M.: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel'stvo politicheskoj literatury, 1955.

9. Svak D. Na sluzhbe u Klio i u vlast' prederzhaschikh. Ehtyudy po rossievedeniyu. Budapest: Russica Pannonicana, 2014.

10. Svak D. Opyt mikroistoriografii. M.: Akvilon, 2019.

11. Sovetskij faktor v Vostochnoj Evrope. 1944—1953 gg. V 2-kh tt. Dokumenty. T. 2. 1949—1953 gg. M.: ROSSPEhN, 2002.

12. Stykalin A. S. Sent-Dyordi: «Nauka i politika dolzhny shestvovat' ryadom» // Russkaya filosofiya, kul'tura. Nekommercheskij proekt Vladimira Sharonova. URL: https://russophile.ru/2018/01/06/sent-dyordinauka-i-politika-dolzhny-shes/ (data obrascheniya: 19.02.2023).

13. Stykalin A. S. Pamyati Ehmilya Niderkhauzera // Slavyanovedenie. 2010. № 4. S. 115—116.

14. A Szovjetunió története II. Oroszország a XIX. században / Szerk. M. V. Nyecskina. Budapest: Szikra, 1956. 866. old.

15. Archív Slovenskej akadémie vied. Fond Historický ústav SAV. Škatuľa 82. Inv. Číslo 377 / XVI.

16. Borsodi Cs., Tüskés A. Az Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem Bölcsészettudományi Karának története képekben 1635—2010. Budapest, 2010. 294. old.

17. Connely J. The sovietization of East German, Czech and Polish higher education, 1945—1956. Chapel Hill; Londres: University of North Carolina Press, 2000.

18. Dolmányos I. A dekabrista felkelés magyarországi emlékei // Századok. 1955. 89. évf. 3. sz. 425. — 450. old.

19. Eőtvős Loránd Tudományegyetem Egyetemi Levéltár. 107. Kelet — Európa Tőrténete Tanszék. 1. a) A Szovjetunió Tőrténete Tanszék iratai. 1953—1956.

20. Hegedűs V. Hozzászólás Sándor Pál: “A magyar agrár- és paraszttörténet polgári irodalmának kritikájához” // Századok. 1955. 89. évf. 1. sz. 107. — 110. old.

21. Kónya S. A Magyar Tudományos Tanács 1948—1949. Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Könyvtára, 1998. 198. old.

22. Olvasókönyv a Szovjetunió története tanulmányozásához. I. Budapest: Tankönyvkiadó, 1956. 602. old.

23. Pach Zs. P. Szekfű Gyula emléktáblájánál // Élet és Irodalom. 1983. 27. Május. 27. évf. 21. sz. 5. old.

24. Peteri Gy. Academia and State Socialism: Essays on the Political History of Academic Life in Post-1945 Hungary and Eastern Europe. Highland Lakes, New Jersey: Atlantic Research and Publications, 1998.

25. Romsics I. Clio bűvöletében. Magyar történetírás a 19—20. században-nemzetközi kitekintéssel. Budapest: Osiris Kiadó, 2011. 680. old.

26. Sz. S. Grekov // Népszava. 1948. 13. November. 76. évf. 262. sz. 6. old.

27. Szidorov A. L. Fejezetek a Szovjetunió történetéből (1907—1917 Március). Budapest: Szikra 1956. 463. old.

28. Tasiné Csúcs I. Szent-Györgyi Albert: A tudós politikus. Budapest: Typotex, 2023. 302. old.

29. Farkas A. A Magyar-Szovjet Művelődési Társaság, 1945—1949. Doktori disszertáció. Budapest: Az Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem Bölcsészettudományi Kar, 2021. 194. old.