The National Archives of Hungary (Budapest, 2006)
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL ARCHIVES OF NATIONAL COLLECTION - Hungarian National Archives by Géza Érszegi and István G. Vass
Legislative Assembly Legislative Assembly Parliament) and documents of their organizations were left fragmented or a part of them are still kept in the archives of the Parliament. The records kept in archives give valuable information mainly in connection with the various political situations during the coalition era. After 1949, the Parliament had a quasi- representative role. It had sessions only twice or three or four times a year and only legislated a few laws. The documents are of no great value as a source. The upper bodies of administration, (1945 - fond main group XIX.). The reports of the Cabinet Council of Ministers from 1944 - 1988 are held in the archives. In some cases the Cabinet of Ministers transferred some tasks to the bodies formed themselves. Among them the most important are, Economic Supreme Council, 1946 - 1949, People's Supreme Economic Council, 1949 - 1953, Economic Committee, 1954 - 1988, and National Planning Board, 1974 - 1987, which was mainly concerned with questions of economic policy, economic developemnt, nationalization and establishing and abolishing companies. The Committee of International Economic Relations, 1949 - 1988 dealt mainly with cases and businesses of socialist countries, guided and supervised by the Council for Mutual Economie Aassisdance (COMECON). Also with the help of documents from the Scientific Political Committee, we are able to study important cultural policies of the time. We should also have to stress the importance of the Prime Minister's Office and Secretariat of the Council of Ministries that helped the Cabinet of Ministers and the Prime Minister. The documents of the former include important information on the re-organization of the government after war, changes in staff personnnel because of political reasons, communication with Allied Control Commission and conditions of Hungarian people living in neighbouring countries. Also the documents of some important historical figures. For example, Deputy Prime Ministers Imre Nagy János Kádár, Prime Minister Ferenc Münnich, Ernő Gerő, Antal Apró, Lajos Fehér, Mátyás Tímár merits attention. Among different competent ministries, the records of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are the most researched. Here can be found the most important documents in connection with preparing, concluding and carrying out the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947 but this collection of documents also reflect the fate of Hungarian people living outside the country's immediate border, the problems of Hungarian political emigration and the international economic and cultural relationships of Hungary. The Home Office gave over its documents quite imperfectly, mainly up to the year of 1950. Still, there are great opportunities for researching political