Office of the Historian

864.00/11–1545: Telegram

The Representative in Hungary (Schoenfeld) to the Secretary of State

Budapest, November 15, 1945—6 p.m.
[Received November 17—9:33 a.m.]

916. Tildy has successfully formed new government to be composed of 18 members including 9 Smallholders, 4 Communists, 4 Social Democrats and one National Peasant (mytel 91763). As result exhaustive negotiations (mytel 910 November 1464) Smallholders conceded Interior Ministry to Communists while labor leaders Rakosi and Szakasits agreed to enter Cabinet as “Ministers of State”, without portfolio. We learn question whether they will rank in future as Deputy Prime Ministers will be decided by Ministerial Council itself. Interior Under Secretary for police matters will be Smallholder Jekely Laszlo. New Interior Minister Nagy Imre former Minister of Agriculture was apparently acceptable to Smallholders as not being vigorous personality.65

New Government does not accurately reflect mandate of people which gave Smallholders clearcut majority since Leftist parties now [Page 907] have equal number ministerial votes with Smallholders. However, fact party leaders are included in new Cabinet is considered salutary since important policy decisions will now be made within govt rather than as formerly by political leaders outside. Balogh remains as Political Under Secretary to Prime Minister.

Provisional Government announced its resignation this morning and new Cabinet was appointed and sworn in by Chief National Council this afternoon.

Schoenfeld
  1. Not printed; it reported the composition of the new Hungarian Cabinet (864.002/11–1545).↩
  2. Not printed; it reported that the prolonged negotiations which had been proceeding among Hungarian party leaders had been reduced to the primary issue between the Smallholders and the Communists regarding the latter’s demands for several Deputy Prime Minister posts (864.00/11–1445).↩
  3. Telegram 947, November 22, 5 p.m., from Budapest, reported that the Hungarian Interior Ministry would continue under Communist control and no police reorganization would occur. Imre Nagy was described as a long-time Moscow-trained Communist who would carry out party dictates, and that the Smallholder Under Secretary, Gyorgy Gulaczy, would “undoubtedly follow the Tildy line of appeasing the Communists” (864.00/11–2245).↩