Imre Nagy Facts & Worksheets

• Nagy was known as intelligent and curious as a child. 
• At an early age, he was known to be a political and social activist. 
• He was imparted with ideologies, especially Marxism and socialism. 
• He then moved to Budapest for further studies, where he witnessed active political discussion and social reform movements. 
• His belief also found answers to the economic instability of the era and the plight of the urban poor, which made him sure that socialism was the solution to poverty and inequality.
• Nagy’s early life was a formative period that helped pursue social justice. From his observation of the problems that rural and urban communities face, he was able to put together a unique perspective provided by his peasant roots and the knowledge of the systemic problems of his country. His experiences gave him the dedication that would live on in his life supporting the working class.

PARTICIPATION IN WORLD WAR I

• Nagy was 18 when World War I started, and the course of his life was changed dramatically. He was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian army and served on the East Front along with many young Hungarians. Seeing conflict work in such depressingly inequitable and futile ways further aided his vision of a society that was fairer.
• During the war, Nagy was captured by Russian forces and became a prisoner of war. 
• It was a transformative phase after spending his life in captivity. 
• He encountered Marxist ideas and went through discussions with Russian revolutionaries and fellow prisoners in the prison camps. 
• During these interactions, he had been exposed to the principle of socialism and the belief that society, with the aid of revolutionary means, could be changed. 
• This ideological transformation is credited for the years leading to Nagy’s future political activities in Hungary.
• When he was released in 1918, Nagy returned to Budapest and joined the Communist (Social Democratic) Party of the Foreign Workers of Siberia, a subgroup of the Russian Communist Party. During the Russian Civil War, he joined the Red Army, where his Marxist beliefs were further solidified and he gained a practical understanding of revolutionary governance. However, these experiences only served to reinforce his belief that socialism provided a way towards justice and equality for Hungary’s oppressed working class.
• After the civil war, Nagy became a candidate member of the Russian Communist Party in February 1920 and became a full member by May. He worked as a clerk for the Cheka, the Soviet secret police, focusing on matters concerning the prisoners of war. In April 1921, Nagy was among 278 Hungarian communists who were sent back to Hungary to establish an underground communist network, as the Hungarian Communist Party had been banned since 1919.

POLITICAL LIFE OF IMRE NAGY

• Imre Nagy’s political career revolved around socialism while denouncing social injustice. On his return home to Hungary, he joined the Social Democratic Party of Hungary (MSZDP) and later the Socialist Workers’ Party of Hungary (MSZMP), focusing on agrarian issues and building the socialist movement in his hometown of Kaposvár. Hungary fell under Soviet influence as part of the Eastern Bloc after World War II, and Nagy’s career as a politician persisted amid such a difficult era. Under external pressure, he always defended policies that were supposed to improve the lives of ordinary Hungarians.
• In the 1940s and 1950s, Nagy served in the government as a commissar. In favour of land redistribution policies, he stated that peasant improvements should be ensured to enable the economy to be stabilised by the distribution of fair resources. However, he continually got into trouble with Stalinist cadres within the Hungarian Communist Party, who were much against his progressive policies. This opposition did not make Nagy budge, as he continued to fight for a fairer society.