to travel abroad, and significantly rolled back the secret police state. These measures earned Hungary the moniker of the "merriest barrack in the socialist camp" during the 1960s and 1970s. One of the longest-serving leaders of the 20th century, Kádár would finally retire in 1988 after being forced from office by even more pro-reform forces amidst an economic downturn. Hungary stayed that way until the late 1980s, when turmoil broke out across the Eastern Bloc, culminating with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union's dissolution. Despite the end of communist control in Hungary, the 1949 constitution remained in effect with amendments to reflect the country's transition to liberal democracy. On 1 January 2012, the 1949 constitution was replaced with the brand new constitution. History Formation Following the occupation of Hungary by the Red Army, Soviet military occupation ensued. After seizing most material assets from German hands, the Soviets tried to control Hungarian political affairs, with some success. Using force, the Red Army set up police organs to persecute the opposition, assuming this would enable the Soviet Union to seize the upcoming elections, together with intense communist propaganda to attempt to legitimize their rule. Despite all efforts, in the elections of November 1945 the Hungarian Communist Party was trounced by a Smallholder-led coalition, receiving only 17% of votes. The coalition, under Prime Minister Zoltán Tildy, thus frustrated the Kremlin's expectations of ruling through a democratically elected government. The Soviet Union, however, intervened through force once again, resulting in a puppet government that disregarded Tildy, placed communists in important ministerial positions, and imposed several restrictive measures, like banning the victorious coalition government and forcing it to yield the Interior Ministry to a nominee of the Hungarian Communist Party. Communist Interior Minister László Rajk established the ÁVH secret police, in an effort to suppress political opposition through intimidation, false accusations, imprisonment and torture. In early 1947, the Soviet Union pressed the leader of the Hungarian Communists, Mátyás Rákosi, to take a "line of more pronounced class struggle". American observers likened communist machinations to a coup and concluded that "the coup in Hungary is Russia's answer to our actions in Greece and Turkey", referring to US military intervention in the Greek Civil War and the building of US military bases in Turkey pursuant to the Truman Doctrine. Rákosi complied by pressuring the other parties to push out those members not willing