Aims and objectives
EAP1591 will make accessible the archival material of the three earliest trade unions/professional associations in Hungary (1847–1951). Pre-1945 documents of Hungarian trade unions are fragmentary due to changing political conditions and administration and filing difficulties. The Council of Trade Unions’ archives were destroyed during the Second World War, and only the Archives of Political History and Trade Unions still possess material from these early workers’ organisations. The collections of typographers and publishing workers stand out. More literate than average workers, typographers and publishing workers held a special position within the workers' movement, mediating mass media and public opinion. Their activism around workers’ rights, self-organisation and education - often happening against administrative harassment and discrimination - offers a longue durée view on how workers’ organisations emerged in Central and Eastern Europe.
