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Matyas Rakosi

Rákosi, Mátyás

A Dictionary of Contemporary World History | 2004 | | Copyright

Rákosi, Mátyás (b. 9 Mar. 1892, d. 5 Feb. 1971). Prime Minister of Hungary 1952–3 Born in Ada, he became a Communist and was a commissar for Kun's Communist regime. After its collapse he fled to Moscow, but was sent back in 1924 to revitalize the ailing Communist Party, which had been forced underground by the regime of Horthy and Bethlen. He was imprisoned in 1925 and, after serving an eight and a half years' prison sentence, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1935. He was sent to the USSR in 1940, however. As the formerly leading Communists had mostly died in the Great Purge of Stalin, he became a leading figure in the Hungarian Communist Party, as whose leader he returned to Hungary after its liberation from German occupation in December 1944. He became Deputy Prime Minister, but as General Secretary of the Communist Party he became the main political power in Hungary. He thus engineered the 1948 Communist takeover of the state. As a devoted Stalinist, he instituted a repressive regime and orchestrated his own purges, culminating in the show trials of Rajk. The brutality of his regime fell out of favour with the USSR after Stalin's death, and he was forced to resign the leadership to Nagy. He came back to power in 1955, but memories of his terror were so strong that he was forced by the Soviet Union to return into exile there.
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JAN PALMOWSKI. "Rákosi, Mátyás." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JAN PALMOWSKI. "Rákosi, Mátyás." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-RkosiMtys.html

JAN PALMOWSKI. "Rákosi, Mátyás." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-RkosiMtys.html

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Mátyás Rákosi

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

Mátyás Rákosi , 1892–1971, Hungarian Communist politician. An associate of Bela Kun and later a disciple of Joseph Stalin , Rákosi was one of the chief engineers of post–World War II Communist Hungary. He became premier in 1952, but was removed in 1953 as a Stalinist. His successor, Imre Nagy , was ousted in 1955 for Titoism, and Rákosi regained the premiership. In Aug., 1956, shortly before the anti-Soviet rebellion, Rákosi was again forced by anti-Stalinists to resign, and he fled to the Soviet Union. He was expelled from the Communist party in 1962 and was erroneously reported to have died in the Soviet Union in 1963.

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"Mátyás Rákosi." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Rakosi, Matyas

A Dictionary of World History | 2000 | Copyright

Rakosi, Matyas (1892–1971) Hungarian politician. He played an important role in the Hungarian communist revolution led by Béla KUN in 1919. After four years in Moscow (1920–24), Rakosi returned to Hungary but was later arrested, to be released only in 1940. In 1944 he became First Secretary of the Hungarian Communist Party and during this time established a ruthless Stalinist regime. He was Prime Minister (1952–53). Opposition to his Stalinist policies led to his resignation as Party Secretary and return to the Soviet Union in 1956. The brutality of his secret police contributed to the HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION of 1956.
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"Rakosi, Matyas." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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"Rakosi, Matyas." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-RakosiMatyas.html

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