May Day has been an official holiday in Hungary since 1946. At that time the country had a democratically-elected coalition government, but the communists had already begun their political takeover. Pictures of the first official May Day perfectly capture the spread of forced communist ideology throughout Hungarian society.
May Day has become the biggest international workers’ day over the last century. After World War II, the holiday was particularly important in the Soviet Union and in communist countries of central and eastern Europe under its influence. Eastern Bloc countries held official celebrations in every town and city, during which party leaders greeted the crowds while workers marched through the streets carrying banners with political slogans.