Reconsidering the Postwar in Hungary: society, money, and the state, 1945–1958 (Accepted)

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The paper presents the findings of my recently completed doctoral research on the role of money in shaping socio-economic change in postwar Hungary. The paper argues that the Hungarian postwar state was financially more vulnerable in terms of policy implementation than previously assumed in economic histories. Even during the most repressive Stalinist years, citizens counteracted state power and questioned the forint’s value, the course of public policy, and the state’s fiscal authority inflicted upon them often by turning the disorganised planned economy and communist bureaucracy to their advantage. The findings of the study are based on the assessment of five thematic cases related to various economic phenomena and monetary instruments. Namely, these are the hyperinflation of 1945–6; direct taxation of the self-employed (1945–56); state-loans (1949–55); consumer lending and home construction loans (1953–6); and, finally, consumption and the lottery (1953–8). The paper relies on unused primary evidence sourced from multiple Hungarian archives. It builds on party and ministerial reports on policy design and implementation, ‘mood reports’ of workers’ public opinion, personal letters, complaints, petitions, and private ‘proposals’ as well as interviews conducted with Hungarian émigrés during the early Cold War.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Szinan Radi is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Jordan Center of New York University. His research considers state-society relations, everyday economic life, and the popular experience of early-communist rule in postwar Eastern Europe with a special focus on Hungary. He obtained his BA degree in History from the Karoli Gaspar University in 2015, his Master's degree in History (Economic and Social History) from the University of Manchester in 2017, his research Master's degree in Social Science Research (Economic and Social History) from the University of Nottingham in 2019, and his PhD in History from the University of Nottingham in 2022.