ABSTRACT
Laszlo Borhi’s work, which attempts to determine how and when Hungary’s fate as a Soviet satellite was sealed, traces the origins of independent, democratic Hungary’s demise to the final years of World War II. Borhi insists that the nations of East- Central Europe “were not the masters of their own fate” and that the “Allies hoped to prosper from Hungary’s desperate situation.” Based primarily on the correspondence and writings of the Hungarian Stalinist leader Matyas Rakosi, Borhi also argues—that Joseph Stalin intended to fully integrate Hungary into the Soviet Bloc from the very beginning. Perhaps Borhi’s most interesting and novel contribution, however, is his assessment of the Soviets’ economic penetration of Hungary. Borhi is to be commended for starting his narrative of early Cold War Hungary during World War II, but the fact remains that much work has yet to be done on the effects the war had on policymakers and dissidents alike.
