Workers' Militia

Slate grey clad Hungarian workers' guards and their PPSh-41 sub-machine guns. With a lightweight, fold-up shoulder strap, it was made in Hungary for a version of the Armed Forces ("Armed Forces"). This basic weapon was used by the Workers' Guard until the early 1970s.

Similar worker-guard organizations existed before 1956 in various socialist countries, partly to the circumvent closing of the Second World War peace treaties (such as the German Democratic Republic's Kampfgruppe squads), in part to provide more actionable, non-regular "popular" groups than the armed forces (such as the Lidové Milice of Czechoslovakia).

Following the quelled Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the Revolutionary Workers'-Peasants' Government ordered on February 18, 1957 the formation of the Workers' Militia. It replaced the revolutionary regime's special police force (karhatalom or also known as pufajkások, named after their Soviet-style quilted jackets). The slate-grey uniformed and armed Militia's aim was to defend the means of production. It was a voluntary service, but obviously offered some career advantages. Starting with 20,000 members, it gradually developed into a large armed force (60,000 strong in 1988[1]), although they were never deployed.

The first commander of the organization was Lajos Halas (1957–1962), followed by Árpád Papp (1962–1970), then lastly Sándor Borbély (1970–1989).

On October 31, 1989, a referendum was held with the question: "Should the Workers' Militia be disbanded?". The answer was an overwhelming Yes (94.9%), a result which confirmed the previously-adopted law (1989 XXXth).