oa ‘Nacht over Europa’ - De internationale sociaal-democratische beweging en de ondergang van de sociaal-democratie in Oost-Europa, 1945-1948

The social democratic parties in post-war Eastern Europe have often been portrayed as nothing but cryptocommunist organisations. According to this view, social democratic ranks were increasingly infiltrated by fellow-travellers as the parties drew ever closer to the communists in the run-up to the forced mergers of political parties in 1947-1948. After the opening-up of the archives in Eastern Europe, however, some more balanced accounts emphasizing the national autonomy and the international independence of the social democrats have appeared. Yet, as this article shows, the literature in this field of research is far from conclusive. For that reason, in the second part of the article some themes are specified in which further research needs to be conducted. Only this will help us to come to an answer to the crucial question whether the collapse of social democracy in post-war Eastern Europe was inevitable or not.