ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the military as an agent of political socialization in Communist systems. It examines a single Communist state, Hungary, as a case study of how the Eastern European Communist regimes use the military as an agent of political socialization. A definitional problem also arises when attempting to delineate short-term from long-range political socialization efforts. Short-term political socialization attempts are those aimed at instilling minimal social values in draftees, whose military terms range from twelve to thirty-two months. Long-range political socialization attempts are all those aimed at the "professional soldier," both noncommissioned and commissioned officers, and extending from military training institutions to political instruction on the company level. In 1949 the Political Department of the Hungarian Ministry of Defense issued a directive that attempted to provide a temporary solution for the shortages of qualified, politically reliable personnel by establishing a system of dual controls in which command decisions were jointly made by a political officer and a military commander.
