Somogyi Múzeumok Közleményei 1. (1973)

Tanulmányok - Benke József: Termelőszövetkezeti mozgalom Somogyban, 1948-1956

PRODUCERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN SOMOGY COUNTY BETWEEN 1948-1956 There were two integral sides to agrarian development in Hungary during the 15 years after the Liberation of the country: the democratic and the socialist transformation of agrarian conditions. A whole series of important publications on democratic transformation have appeared during the last 15 years while literature on socialist transformation has been neglected and it is only recently that analytic history on the socialist transformation of agriculture has started to appear. This negligence has left its mark on local historiography. While dozens of local history documents appeared on land reform and on democratic agrarian development that followed it, not a single significant study has appeared on the socialist reorganisation of agriculture, i. e. on the socialist development of agriculture which followed. Our Worktis an outline of a part of the third chapter of a dissertation entitled „The Democratic and Socialist Transformation of Agriculture in Somogy County" and explains the development of the producers' cooperative movement in Somogy County from its inauguration in 1948 up to the counterrevolution in 1956. In Somogy County from the fall of 1948 to the Spring of 1949 altogether 22 cooperative groups were formed completely voluntarily with a total membership of 420 (which included 220 Party members). However, from the fall of 1949 political and economic-political coercive measures were introduced against the cooperative groups such as increased taxes and burdensome compulsory deliveries (during 1949 and 1956-as a result of the great difference between compulsory delivery prices and free market prices — the amount withdrawn from the agricultural territory of Somogy County doubled the total figure actually invested in the entire County); the regrouping of landstrips with complete disregard for economic aspects (át the beginning of 1951 and 1952 three regroupings were carried out in Somogy townships earmarked for development). Direct means and methods of coercion were also applied (the number of prison sentences for public crimes committed with eatable provisions involved more than 5500 people in the five years from 1951 to 1956). As a result, the attitude to work of those forced into cooperatives greatly dampened the work morale of otherswho had joined the cooperatives out of conviction. It was obvious that such a policy would avenge itself, and it did. In 1953, when it became possible to quit the cooperative, over 58% of cooperative members resigned in Somogy County — the national figure was only 34%. At the end of 1955 and the beginning of 1956, the ratio of cooperative farmers jn Somogy County had far surpassed the national «figure. This great difference in ratio repeated itself in 1956 during the counterrevolution when 94% of the farmers quit the cooperatives in Somogy County while the national figure was 64%. During the decade under discussion, Hungary was unable to find those methods of developing the producers' cooperative movement which were best suited to Hungarian potentials. Since dogmatism repeatedly made way for itself, the Soviet example was copied at all costs and as a result the producers' cooperative movement of Hungary (including Somogy County) suffered such great setbacks that the consequences were felt long after 1956. J. senke