Western European Society 西方欧洲社会科学.pdfVIP

Hungary, the landlocked country in the Central Europe, was an ally of Nazi Germany in World War II. With the collapse of the Axis Powers, Hungary came under the occupation of Soviet troops as a puppet Communist state (Batt, 1988). As Gati (1986) states, Stalin was not about to let Hungary emerge from occupation and he permitted a period of transition from 1945 to 1947. What’s more, because of the constitution in 1949, Hungarian Workers Party gained an exclusive monopoly on political power. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, from the 1960s to the late 1980s, Hungary was often satirically referred to as the happiest barrack within the Eastern bloc. This was under the autocratic rule of its controversial communist leader, János Kádár. Similarly, to some extent, after World War II the Russians prolonged the occupation of Austria – the other landlocked country borders Hungary to the east - though U.S. and Britain declared the Austrians a “liberated” people (Lendval, 1988). Finally, Austria concluded a state treaty with the USSR and the other occupying powers and regained its independence in 1955. The aim of this essay is to discuss why Hungary was unable to compete economically with neighbouring Austria during the 1970s and 1980s. The reasons will be mainly divided into two aspects: external factors and internal factors. At the same time, several specific references will be made to demonstrate the Hungarian people’s lower standard of living throughout this period. First of all, the external factors will be introduced. As Sinor (1990) states, during the period of occupation, U.S. has assisted Austria in various forms, the largest of which is the European economic recovery assistance, that is, Marshall Plan. As the strong