Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party

Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party
Független Kisgazda, Földmunkás és Polgári Párt
Leader Péter Hegedüs
Founded 12 October 1930
18 November 1988 (refoundation)
Headquarters 1092. Budapest, Kinizsi u. 22.
Ideology Agrarianism,
Hungarian nationalism,
National conservativism
Political position Right-wing
European affiliation None
European Parliament group None
Colours Green
Website
www.fkgp.hu
Hungary
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
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The Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party (Hungarian: Független Kisgazda-, Földmunkás- és Polgári Párt), known mostly by its acronym FKgP or its shortened form Independent Smallholders' Party (Hungarian: Független Kisgazdapárt), is a political party in Hungary. Since the 2002 parliamentary elections, the party has won no seats.

History

Founded on 12 October 1930, the original party won an overwhelming majority in the first elections after the Second World War, resulting in its leader, Zoltán Tildy, becoming prime minister. In the relatively free elections in November 1945, the Smallholders' polled 57% of votes against the Communists' 17%. The Communist response was to intensify terror and to sponsor the coalition of "democratic" parties against the "reactionary" smallholders.[1] The Smallholders-dominated parliament established a republic in 1946 with Tildy as president. He was succeeded as prime minister by Ferenc Nagy. However, the Soviet occupation of the country, the Hungarian Communist Party's salami tactic to break up opponent parties and widespread election fraud in 1947 elections led to a communist government.

In 1947 the Communist Party carried out a coup d’état against the rule of the Smallholders’ Party. Though not all democratic institutions were abolished, the Communists firmly held power. Most of the more courageous Smallholder were either arrested or forced to leave the country. Lajos Dinnyés of the Smallholders remained prime minister after the 1947 elections, but his government was controlled by the communists. Over the next two years, the Communists pressured the Smallholders into expelling their more courageous members as "fascists" and fascist sympathizers as part of Communist leader Mátyás Rákosi's "salami tactics". Another Smallholder, the openly pro-Communist István Dobi, became premier in December 1948, and pushed out the remaining elements of the party who weren't willing to do the Communists' bidding. In 1949, the party was absorbed into a People’s Independent Front, led by the communist Hungarian Working People's Party. The latter prevailed in elections held that year, marking the onset of undisguised Communist rule in Hungary. The Smallholders party was dissolved later in 1949, and Dobi and several other left-wing Smallholders joined the Communist Party.

Party leaders (1930–1949; 1988–)

Leader Dates
Bálint Szijj 1930–1931
Gaszton Gaál 1931–1932
Tibor Eckhardt 1932–1940
Zoltán Tildy 1940–1944
István Balogh (acting) 1944–1945
Zoltán Tildy 1945–1946
Ferenc Nagy 1946–1947
István Dobi 1947–1949
Hungary was under one-party rule 1949–1956
Béla Kovács 1956
Hungary was under one-party rule 1956–1988
Tivadar Pártay 1988–1989
Vince Vörös 1989–1990
Ferenc József Nagy 1990–1991
József Torgyán 1991–2002
Miklós Réti 2002–2005
Péter Hegedűs 2005–

Election results

National Assembly

Election year National Assembly Government
#of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 #of
overall seats won		 +/–
1931 173,477
11.48% (#4)
10 / 245
 in opposition
1935 387,351
19.62% (#2)
22 / 245
 Increase 12 in opposition
1939 569,054
30.83% (#3)
14 / 260
 Decrease 8 in opposition
1944
(#3)
124 / 498
 Increase 110 in government
1945 2,697,262
57.03% (#1)
245 / 409
 Increase 121 in government
1947 766,000
15.34% (#2)
68 / 411
 Decrease 177 in government
19491 5,478,515
97.1%
62 / 402
 Decrease 6 in government
1990 576,256
11.74% (#3)
44 / 386
 in government
until 1992
1994 476,416
8.82% (#4)
26 / 386
 Decrease 18 in opposition
1998 617,740
13.78% (#3)
48 / 386
 Increase 22 in government
2002 42,338
0.75% (#7)
0 / 386
 Decrease 48 extra-parliamentary
2006 838
0.02%
0 / 386
 Steady 0 extra-parliamentary
2010 381
0.01%
0 / 386
 Steady 0 extra-parliamentary
2014 7,426
0.16% (#15)
0 / 199
 Steady 0 extra-parliamentary

1FKGP was a member of the Communist-led Hungarian Independence People's Front (MFN). Hungary became a one-party state after the 1949 election.

Notes

  1. ↑ Laar, M. (2009). "The Power of Freedom. Central and Eastern Europe after 1945." Centre for European Studies, p. 38. http://www.poweroffreedombook.com/preview_PoF.pdf

External links


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