The Hungarian people's Republic emerged in 1949 after the Hungarian Workers' Party eliminated its rivals and assumed control of the state. Soviet control of Eastern Europe after World War II had enabled a minuscule communist party deficiencying popular support to gain power in the nation and gradually eliminate its political rivals. Under Matyas Rakosi, the party consolidated its control and radically transformed the nation economically, socially, and politically.

contempt internal divisions, strong foreign determine, and outright attempts to force the Hungarians to assimilate into other cultures, Hungarian nationalism has thrived throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Nationalism drove Hungary to ally itself with Nazi Germany to regain territories lost after World War I. Nationalism also inspired Hungarians to revolt against the Stalinist political order in October 1956.