Adam Farkas presents the history of the Hungarian–Soviet Cultural Society, founded in 1945 to promote Soviet-Russian culture in Hungary. This geopolitical product also had significant support from non-communist intellectuals who participated in the foundation and its leadership in the beginning. The book reimagines the society’s role in Soviet-Hungarian relations, portraying it not merely as a propaganda source but as an institution with its own distinct political agenda. Drawing on previously unexplored archival sources, Farkas reveals a range of challenges faced by the organization. These included socio-political indifference, elevated political expectations, organizational issues, mandatory political propaganda, lack of resources, and the diminishing civil society. Despite these, the organization still managed to fulfill its cultural tasks through organizing exhibitions, lectures, concerts, theater and film premieres, Russian language courses, and book publishing. Although the promotion of the Soviet Union was foremost a political matter, the most significant contradiction in the organization’s history was the Hungarian Communist Party’s refusal to take ownership of the initiative. Maintaining such a civil-society institution proved unfeasible within the increasingly undemocratic political landscape.
