PPKE Repository of Dissertations (Pázmány Péter Catholic Univ.)

Bihary Dóra

A baktériumok quorum érzékelésének ágens alapú modellezése

Fekete Ádám Tamás

Felületi plazmon rezonancia elvű bioszenzorok és stimulált emissziós mikroszkópia. Esettanulmányok az elektromágneses tér és az anyag kölcsönhatásáról

László Márton

Pázmány Péter Roman Catholic University 
Faculty of Humanities 
History Doctorate School 
Economy History Workshop 
 
Theses of the Dissertation 
 
LÁSZLÓ MÁRTON 
 
COLLECTIVISATION IN SZEKLERLAND 
 
(1949-1962) 
 
 
 
Marosvásárhely 
 
2013
1 
  
The Antecedents of the Research. The Questions of the Research 
In the course of universal history the rural society has suffered the 
deepest transformation under the shortest time in the period of so 
called “communism”, when under a decade the farming manner, the 
land ownership and the stratification rural society were radically 
transformed. 
This absurd, ideologically determined experiment was accompanied by 
the tragedies of the individual and the community, ignoring human 
nature and the economic rationality. This experiment ended in total 
failure, leaving behind a burdensome heritage. 
One victim of these changes was the rural society, which was deprived 
of his property, its elite were crushed, and was forced to join the 
collective farms. The process is known as “collectivisation”, but it was 
more than that: it meant the total transformation of rural society and 
economy. 
The detailed description of this transformation, the analysis of the 
process and its components did not occur until now. There was no 
chronology of the collectivisation in Szeklerland, there are no case 
studies about the most violent actions and about the movements 
against collectivisation; we could rely on only a few interview-volumes 
and studies. 
 
 
 
2 
  
Methodology 
The methods used by the author were determined by the available 
sources, elaborated mainly by the authorities. Therefore the method of 
critical comparison was used, alongside with the data collected from 
sources of oral history. 
As far as written sources are concerned, it was primary to decode the 
“gobbledegook” of the authorities – the communist rhetoric – this was 
the way to get near to the truth. Another characteristic of the Party 
documents is the conflation of the unique and general phenomena. 
Therefore in many cases the information from these documents could 
not be used. This is why the author had to reconstruct the events from 
every village. 
As far as the statistics are concerned, the general opinion is that the 
statistic data from the period of communism are forged, and therefore 
cannot be used, consequently the author tried to analyse the statistics 
by comparing them, and – when possible – the data relating to regions 
were compiled using the available “basic” (communal, and 
“raion”/district) data. The conclusions that can be drawn from the 
statistical data were treated cautiously, mainly to illustrate the 
deceleration or acceleration of certain processes. 
One of the hardest tasks was the ascertaining of the violent methods, 
atrocities; one can find data concerning this in the documents only 
when – after a large-scale movement – the events were investigated 
following an order of a high-level authority. 
 
3 
  
New Results 
As a result of the research we have an extended chronology of the 
collectivisation in Szeklerland, a fairly detailed description of the 
movements against collectivisation is completed; in the murder cases 
the victims were successfully identified, the date and the location of 
the execution have been established, and in one full reconstruction of 
the events has been carried out. 
The process of collectivisation has been drawn up, broken down to 
months for the period between 1953-1962, and the methods used 
during collectivisation, also establishing a typology. 
Due to the nature of the sources the chronology is patchy: several 
periods – with more data – could be reconstructed in great detail, 
other periods are sketchy. 
Among the distraction methods the agricultural tax was analysed for 
the years 1947-1955, this is that period, for which there are 
comparable data. It was determined, that increase of the value of 
cereals and that of the most important agricultural products reported 
to the average income – and that of the relating taxes – is continuous. 
In the case of the domestic animals there was a moderate increase, 
halted in 1955, at this time agricultural policy makers realised that the 
decreasing of the number of the livestock must be stopped, and the 
first step in this direction could be the relaxing of the tax burdens 
imposed on them. 
4 
  
In the course of the examination of the two monetary reforms, it can 
be established, that the exchange significantly impoverished the rural 
wealthy layer, and it had a restraining effect on the private initiatives 
and producers' activity. 
In the case of compulsory delivery system the author could examine 
only the manner of the produce harvesting, the withdrawal rate 
temporarily could not be quantified because of the incompatible and 
fragmented data. Though, based on written and oral reminiscences 
one may state that the compulsory delivery system was the most 
important device of the state deprivation. On one hand the farmers 
received only a fraction of the free market price of their produces, and 
on the other hand the volume of the delivery towards the state was so 
high, especially in the case of the kulaks, that they remained with 
almost nothing. This was made even more difficult by the fact that due 
to inefficient organisation the farmers and the delivered livestock were 
moved back and forth. In addition the quotas were established without 
taking into consideration the local characteristics and asking for 
produce that were not grown in a specific place. 
In case of the changes in land ownership one can observe that the 
state leaders had a well-established, longterm strategy. First in 1947 
the land acquisition was placed under state control, lest the owners of 
large properties would not be able to sell them, and in 1949 they were 
confiscated by the state. 
In the same year the state acquired the majority of the land owned by 
the Churches (they depended on state subvention), and in the same 
5 
  
year collectivisation began – and the small land properties gradually 
disappeared. 
The farmers with bigger land had increased quotas – they often could 
not execute it – and the state “gallantly” offered to take over these 
lands from those who wanted to. This possibility was used by many 
farmers, to get rid of the land. At the end of this one and a half decade 
long process there were only insignificant privately owned land 
properties left, the rest was engulfed by collective farms, and the big 
land properties functioned as state property. 
Analysing the process of collectivisation it could be established that the 
authorities have combined the compelling, incentive methods with 
physical violence. 
The poverty-stricken rural layer was lured into the new collective farms 
with the promise of  small household lands, the well to do farmers 
were forced into collective farms through extorsion, intimidation and 
physical violence. 
Of course the rural society resisted, that sometimes culminated in 
movements, which engulfed whole regions. The authorities have 
crushed these, sometimes temporarily retreated, or compromised, but 
the process could only be slowed down, and under one and a half 
decade crushed the rural society. 
The authorities used violent methods for the first time in the summer 
of 1950, using executions to intimidate the people. The reaction of the 
rural society was further resistance, but if needed authorities applied 
armed force and crushed the resistance. 
6 
  
After a consolidation period a new wave of mass-collectivisation began 
in the summer of 1952, but soon after Stalin’s death the further moves 
were stopped. 
The collectivisation stagnated until end of 1955, and in the next year 
because of the events from Hungary progress was halted in 
Szeklerland. Instead of collectivisation the authorities accentuated the 
organisation of agricultural cooperatives: they were organised 
agricultural association: their territories increased by half in 1956, 
doubled in 1957, in increased by five times 1958, doubled in 1959. In 
1957 the number of the members doubled, and tripled in 1958. 
The growth of the collective farms was moderate until 1961, but in 
that year the transformation of the agricultural associations into 
collective farms was started: the overall number of members and 
territories of the agricultural associations and collective farms at the 
beginning and the end of the year was roughly the same – with 
fluctuations – but during the year part of the members and territories 
were “reorganised” into collective farms. This process lasted until 
March 1962, after that the fusion of the collective farms begins. 
 
 
 
 
 
7 
  
Publications about the Dissertation 
• Collectivisation and rural change. Nándor Bárdi – Csilla Fedinec – 
László Szarka (editors): Minority hungarian communities in the 
twentieth century. Columbia University Press, New York, 2011, 366-
378. Coauthor: Bárdi Nándor. 
• Kollektivizálás a Székelyföldön. A vidéki gazdaság és társadalom 
átalakítása 1949-1962 [Collectivisation in Szeklerland. Change of the 
rural economy and society 1949-1962]. Heller Farkas Füzetek 2010, 
63-75. 
• A kollektivizálás menetrendje és modelljei a Székelyföldön [Models 
and process of the collectivisation in Szeklerland]. Korall 36., 2009. 
július, 55-84. 
• László Márton (editor): Máthé János: Magyarhermány kronológiája 
[Cronology of Magyarhermány]. Pro-Print, Csíkszereda, 2008. 
• A kollektivizálás és a falu átalakítása [The collectivisation and rural 
transformation]. Bárdi Nándor – Fedinec Csilla - Szarka László 
(editors): Kisebbségi magyar közösségek a 20. században [Minority 
hungarian communities in the twentieth century]. Gondolat Kiadó – 
MTA Kisebbségkutató Intézet, Budapest, 2008, 234-241. Coauthor: 
Bárdi Nándor 
• László Márton: Kollektivizálás a Székelyföldön 1950-1951 
[Collectivisation in Szeklerland 1951-1952]. Bárdi Nándor-Simon Attila 
(szerk.): Integrációs stratégiák a magyar kisebbség történetében 
[Integration strategyes in the history of hungarian minorityes]. 2006, 
Fórum Kisebbségkutató Intézet, Somorja, 277-293. 
• A vidéki társadalom, tulajdonviszonyok az ötvenes évek Romániájában 
[The rural society, property relations in the 50’th Romania]. Korunk 
2006/február, 59-64. 
• Kollektív gazdaság-ellenes akciók Maros tartományban 1950-1951 
[Actions against collective farms in Maros region]. Bárdi Nándor (editor): 
8 
  
Autonóm magyarok? Székelyföld változása az „ötvenes” években-
Tanulmányok [Autonomous hungarians? The change of Szeklerland in the 
„fifteens”]. Pro-Print, Csíkszereda, 2005, 199-272. 
• Többszempontú kollektivizálástörténet [History of collectivisation by 
multiple sight]. Dorin Dobrincu, Constantin Iordachi (editors): Ţărănimea şi 
puterea. Procesul de colectivizare a agriculturii în Romănia (1949-1962), 
Iaşi, 2005, Polirom. Régió 2005/3, 178-183. (Review) 


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