Levéltári Közlemények, 90. (2019)

Csikós Gábor: „Magyar csoda” vagy a „régi iskola”? A magyar kollektivizálás a svéd sajtóban (1948–1967)

GÁBOR C

SIKÓS

“HUNGARIAN MIRACLE” OR “THE OLD SCHOOL”? Hungarian Collectivization in the Swedish Press (1948–1967) It was seldom mentioned that the collectivization of agriculture between 1948 and 1961 was the last collective trauma suffered by the Hungarian society. Contemporary party press hindered the publicity for traumatic social experiences and promoted the modernization narrative with the highlight of communist merits in raising the standards of living for the masses. Articles in the Swedish press seem to be appropriate to illustrate the events of collectivization. Sweden was a neutral and democratic country with press pluralism that could share both proand anti-communist narratives. Although the Hungarian government emphasized that violent agitation was characteristic only before 1956 – and it was frequently repeated by the Swedish leftist journals, several events presented in liberal and conservative journals contradict this sterile narrative. 64