The realignment and staffing of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1945 and 1950

Abstract

On March 19, 1944, under the German occupation, Hungary lost its sovereignty. Due to the Second World War and the fighting in Budapest, the building and organization of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs were in ruins. After the war, the reorganization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began with the employees of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs operating between 1920 and 1944. The Ministry followed the previous organizational and operational principle. Diplomats and ministry workers gained their foreign experiences before the war. In parallel with the takeover of power by the communists in Hungary, many diplomats and foreign workers emigrated due to the removal of old specialists and the open takeover of power by the communists. The communist-led Ministry of Foreign Affairs had a huge shortage of staff and specialists, which were replaced on the one hand by communist cadres of working and peasant origin, and on the other hand the Foreign Academy was established whose curriculum consisted of the classics of Marxism-Leninism. In 1950, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was reorganized, and a horizontal and vertical operating structure was established.