The Political and Administrative Elite of Győr between 1945 and 1956 Examined with Regard to their Social Background, Occupation and Tendency to Mobility

Abstract

This study aims to survey some sociostatistical attributes of the political and administrative elite of Győr in the years between 1945 and 1956. A detailed account is given concerning their social background, their original occupation and qualifications prior to their political career as well as their opportunities for both inter- and intragenerational mobility. The study, which was primarily based on archive materials, stated that a significant part of the local elite (41,8%) came from a working-class family, while the smallest proportion of them (7,1% respectively) had a clerical or intellectual background. Plenty of them were workers (59,3%), while peasants (5,3%) and craftsmen/retailers (3,6%) were increasingly driven into background especially when compared to the data concerning their origin. Intergenerational mobility characterised more than half of the group (51,5%), whereas the principal trend of mobility was a social one, that is becoming a member of the working class.