The apologetics of the accused: Fascism, communism and the Catholic Church of Hungary, 1945–1949

This essay examines the conflict between the Catholic Church of Hungary and the Hungarian Communist Party, from 1945 to 1949. The immediate postwar period represented a cultural struggle between a conservative Catholic Church and the nascent Communist Party. Both institutions competed for power in the reconstructed Hungary and proposed vastly different and mutually exclusive visions for the future of the country. The conflict began as a debate in the Church and Party press over the World War II past and the Church's alleged collusion with fascist and authoritarian elements of the interwar regime. These rhetorical attacks were also accompanied by force, as Communist leaders saw the Catholic Church and its affiliated youth and educational institutions as the fledgling Party's greatest rivals and obstacles to power in the postwar period.