Relationship of the Hungarian Department Under the Petrograd Provincial Committee of the RCP(b) with Hungarian Prisoners of War

This article, based on documents on the activities of the Hungarian Department at the Petrograd Provincial Committee (Gubkom) of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), examines the problem of the loyalty of foreign prisoners of war to the Soviet government, as well as issues related to their temporary stays in Petrograd and their repatriation. Analysis of materials of the Central State Archive of Historical and Political Documents of Saint Petersburg allows us to conclude that the Hungarian prisoners were not always loyal towards the Communist movement and the idea of world revolution was far from absolute, and that their behaviour was determined, to a large extent, by urgent needs, not their consciences. The policy of the Hungarian Department at the Petrograd Gubkom of the RCP(b) in controlling the movement of prisoners of war and their exploitation was contradictory: measures to attract them through propaganda on the one hand, and their use in forced labour on the other. The attitude of the Hungarian Department towards the representatives of higher social classes — the Hungarian officers — was contradictory as well: hostility and distrust were combined with efforts aimed at attracting them to the revolutionary camp as it corresponded to the interests of the RCP(b) and Hungarian communists living in Petrograd. Consequently, the role of Petrograd as an important propaganda point and one of the training centres for Red commanders and agitators increased.