Aspects of violence in the propaganda of the "Ready for Work and Combat" movement — with particular reference to the methods used to promote the movement between 1948 and 1951

Abstract

The study explores the role of violence in the propaganda of the Hungarian “Ready for Work and Combat” (MHK) movement between 1948 and 1951. Focusing on printed media and educational seminars, it analyzes how sport was instrumentalized to serve communist ideological goals. The movement sought to mobilize youth and workers for mass physical education, promoting loyalty to the regime. Through the lens of class struggle and anti-capitalist rhetoric, sport was reframed as a political tool rather than a health practice. The paper high-lights how propaganda blurred the line between physical training and ideological indoctrination.