It was a one-party dictatorship based on the Soviet model led by Rakosi, the
government banned all other parties and executed opposition leaders, took control
of the media and set up a secret police AVH to spy on the population and prevent
any opposition to the regime
It is estimated that 2000 were killed in political
purges and another 200,000 imprisoned
The Government controlled the economy all
farms and business had been taken over and
resources such as wheat and coal were shipped
to Russia
Hungary's economy did not recover and living standards were low
Life in the satellite states like Hungary was grim and many people resented the way they were ruled, they lacked personal freedom and faced low standards