The beginning of Fordian economic organization in East German and Hungarian rural societies before 1945, with special regard to de-peasantization

Abstract

This comparative historical study examines the early stages of “de-peasantization” in East German and Hungarian rural societies prior to World War II. The analysis focuses on two regions that can subsequently be classified as transitional zones within the “Green Ring,” a belt encompassing the agricultural periphery of the continent. The question is to what extent the gradual disappearance of the peasantry was related to the two key economic paradigms of the 20th century: first, Fordism, and later the “Green Revolution”? As a theoretical framework, this study applies Reinhart Koselleck’s model, which examines a specific historical moment in the context of both past and future. Accordingly, with regard to the peasantry of the 1930s, it is necessary to examine the degree to which the “space of experience” and the “horizon of expectation” were in alignment at the time. To what extent did their synthesis anticipate subsequent trends? Furthermore, how did the German and Hungarian trajectories differ in terms of technocratic solutions in the 1930s?