Kingdom of Hungary Magyar Királyság (Hungarian) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920–1946 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motto: Regnum Mariae Patrona Hungariae (Latin) ("Kingdom of Mary, the Patron of Hungary") | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Anthem: Himnusz (English:"Hymn") | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg) The Kingdom of Hungary in 1942 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capital and largest city | Budapest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Official languages | Hungarian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recognized regional languages | Rusyn[1][2] (inSubcarpathia) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spoken | Romanian • German • Slovak • Croatian • Serbian • Yiddish • Slovenian • Romani[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ethnic groups (1941)[3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion (1941)[3] | List
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Demonym | Hungarian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Unitaryparliamentaryconstitutional monarchy under anauthoritarianregency (1920–1944) UnitaryHungaristtotalitarian state (1944–1945) Unitarytransitionalcoalition government (1944–1946) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| King | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1920–1946 | Vacant[note 1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head of state | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1920–1944 | Miklós Horthy[note 2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1944–1945 | Ferenc Szálasi[note 3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1944–1946 | High National Council[note 4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime minister | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1920 (first) | Károly Huszár | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1945–1946 (last) | Zoltán Tildy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Legislature | Diet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Upper | Felsőház | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Lower | Képviselőház | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar · World War II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 29 February 1920 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 June 1920 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 26 March 1921 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 October 1921 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 November 1938 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 March 1939 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 August 1940 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 April 1941 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 27 June 1941 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 March 1944 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 October 1944 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 February 1946 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1920[4] | 92,833 km2 (35,843 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1930[5] | 93,073 km2 (35,936 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1941[6] | 172,149 km2 (66,467 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1920[4] | 7,980,143 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1930[5] | 8,688,319 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1941[6] | 14,669,100 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Hungarian korona (1920–1927) Hungarian pengő (1927–1946) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [note 5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Today part of |  Hungary Romania Serbia Croatia Slovenia Ukraine Slovakia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TheKingdom of Hungary,[a] referred to retrospectively asthe Regency,[b] theHorthy era,[c] theHorthy regime,[8][9] andHorthyist Hungary,[10][11] existed as a country from 1920 to 1946[d] under the rule ofMiklós Horthy for the most of its existence, who officially represented theHungarian monarchy after aperiod of revolutions and the counter-revolution as theRegent of Hungary. In reality there was no king, and attempts byKing Charles IV to return to the throne shortly before his death wereprevented by Horthy.
Horthy came to power after supressing theHungarian Soviet Republic during the period ofWhite Terror, installing anauthoritarian political system relying on the traditional economic elites and bureaucracy.[9] Hungary under Horthy was characterized by itsconservative,nationalist, and fiercelyanti-communist character; some historians have described this system aspara-fascist.[12] The government was based on an unstable alliance of conservatives and right-wingers; while conservatism was predominant in the 1920s, afterwards Horthy manoeuvered between conservatives and the radical right with fascist leanings.[9] Foreign policy was characterized byrevisionism — the total or partial revision of theTreaty of Trianon, which had seen Hungary lose over 70% of itshistoric territory along with over three millionHungarians, who mostly lived in the border territories outside the new borders of the kingdom, in theKingdom of Romania and the newly created states ofCzechoslovakia and theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (in greatly enlarged Romania there also remained a significant Hungarian population inSzékely Land).Republican Austria, the successor of the former other half of thedual monarchy also received someminor territory from Hungary. Thus the post-1918 kingdom can be described as arump state. Hungary's interwar politics were dominated by a focus on the territorial losses suffered from this treaty, with the resentment continuing until the present. After a period of international isolation in the 1920s, it began maintaining ties withFascist Italy andNazi Germany.[9]
Nazi Germany's influence in Hungary has led some historians to conclude that the country increasingly became aclient state after 1938.[13] The Kingdom of Hungary was anAxis power during World War II, intent on regaining Hungarian-majority territory that had been lost in the Treaty of Trianon, which it mostly did in early 1941 after theFirst andSecond Vienna Awards and after joining theGerman invasion of Yugoslavia. By 1944, following heavy setbacks for the Axis, Horthy's government negotiated secretly with the Allies, and also considered leaving the war. Because of thisHungary was occupied by Germany andHorthy was deposed. The extremistArrow Cross Party's leaderFerenc Szálasi established a newNazi-backed government, effectively turning Hungary into a German-occupiedpuppet state. As the Soviet Union reached Hungary, its anti-fascist parties found it possible to create acounter-government [ru] which sided with the Soviet Union in the last months of the war and began progressive reforms and the transition towards a republic.[14][15][16]
After World War II, the country fell within theSoviet Union's sphere of influence. It changed its name to theHungarian State[17] (Hungarian:Magyar Állam) and theSecond Hungarian Republic was soon thereafter proclaimed in 1946, succeeded by the communistHungarian People's Republic in 1949.
Upon thedissolution of Austria-Hungary after World War I, theHungarian Democratic Republic and then theHungarian Soviet Republic were briefly proclaimed in 1918 and 1919, respectively. The short-lived communist government ofBéla Kun launched what was known as the "Red Terror", involving Hungary in an ill-fatedwar with Romania. In 1920, the country fell into a period of civil conflict, with Hungariananti-communists andmonarchists violently purging the communists, leftist intellectuals, and others whom they felt threatened by, especially Jews. This period was known as the "White Terror". In 1920, after the pullout of the last of theRomanian occupation forces, the Kingdom of Hungary was restored.
After the collapse of the short-lived Communist regime, according to historianIstván Deák:
On 29 February 1920, a coalition of right-wing political forces united and returned Hungary to being aconstitutional monarchy. However, it was obvious that theAllies would not accept any return of theHabsburgs. Earlier, ArchdukeJoseph August had declared himselfregent, but he stood down after two weeks when the Allies refused to recognize him.
It was thus decided to choose a regent to represent the monarchy until a settlement could be reached.Miklós Horthy, the last commandingadmiral of theAustro-Hungarian Navy, was chosen for this position on 1 March.Sándor Simonyi-Semadam was the firstprime minister of Horthy's regency.
In 1921 Charles returned in Hungary andtried to retake its throne, even trying to march on Budapest with some rebel troops in October 1921; however, his attempts failed as much of theRoyal Hungarian Army remained loyal to Horthy and thus Charles was arrested and exiled toMadeira.
On 6 November 1921 theDiet of Hungary passed a law nullifying thePragmatic Sanction of 1713, dethroning Charles IV and abolishing the House of Habsburg's rights to the throne of Hungary. Hungary was a kingdom without royalty. With civil unrest too great to select a new king, it was decided to confirm Horthy as Regent of Hungary. He remained in that powerfulpresident-like status until he was overthrown in 1944.[19]
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Horthy's rule asRegent possessed characteristics such that it could be construed adictatorship. As a counterpoint, his powers were a continuation of the constitutional powers of theKing of Hungary, adopted earlier during thefederation with theAustrian Empire.[20] As Regent, Horthy had the power to adjourn or dissolve theHungarian Diet (parliament) at his own discretion; he appointed theHungarian prime minister.[21]
The succession after Horthy's death or resignation was never officially established; presumably the Hungarian Parliament would have selected a new regent, or possibly attempted to restore the Habsburgs under Crown PrinceOtto. In January 1942, Parliament appointed Horthy's eldest sonIstván as Deputy Regent and expected successor. Whether this represents an attempt to gradually re-establish monarchy in Hungary is unclear; at any rate, István was killed in an airplane crash in August that year, and a new Deputy Regent was not appointed.
During his first ten years, Horthy led increased repression of Hungarian minorities. In 1920, thenumerus clausus law formally placed limits on the number of minority students at university, and legalized corporal punishment for adults in criminal cases. Although the law seemingly applied in equal measure to all minorities, the ethnicity quota system was never fully introduced and the law acted largely to conceal anti-Jewish action from foreign observers.[22] Limitations were relaxed in 1928. Racial criteria in admitting new students were removed and replaced by social criteria. Five categories were set up: civil servants, war veterans and army officers, small landowners and artisans, industrialists, and the merchant classes.[23][24] UnderIstván Bethlen as prime minister the electoral system was changed to reintroduce an open vote system outside Budapest and its vicinity and cities with county municipal rights.[25] Bethlen's political party, theParty of Unity, won repeated elections. Bethlen pushed for revision of theTreaty of Trianon. After the collapse of the Hungarian economy from 1929 to 1931, national turmoil pushed Bethlen to resign as prime minister. In 1938 the changes to the electoral system were reversed.[25]
Social conditions in the kingdom did not improve as time passed, as a very small proportion of the population continued to control much of the country's wealth. Jews were continually pressured to assimilate into Hungarian mainstream culture. The desperate situation forced the Regent, Horthy, to accept the far-right politicianGyula Gömbös as prime minister. He pledged to retain the existing political system. Gömbös agreed to abandon his extremeantisemitism and allow some Jews into the government.
In power, Gömbös moved Hungary towards a one-party government like those ofFascist Italy andNazi Germany. Pressure by Nazi Germany for extreme antisemitism forced Gömbös out and Hungary pursued antisemitism under its "Jewish Laws". Initially, the government passed laws restricting Jews to 20 percent in a number of professions. Later it scapegoated the Jews for the country's failing economy.
In March 1944, responding to the advancing Soviet forces, Prime MinisterMiklós Kállay, with Horthy's backing, established contacts with theAllies in order to open negotiations and switch sides; however, this became known to the Germans, who proceeded toinvade Hungary and quickly overran the country, meeting only limited resistance. With the country now under German occupation, Horthy was forced to remove Kállay from his position and appoint pro-Nazi politicianDöme Sztójay as the new prime minister.[26] Sztójay legalized the antisemitic and pro-NaziArrow Cross Party, deported large numbers of Hungarian Jews to Germany and initiated a violent crackdown on liberal and leftist opposition.[27]
As the months went by, Horthy became increasingly appalled by Sztójay's brutal methods and alarmed by the rapidly collapsingEastern Front. In August 1944, he deposed the pro-German prime minister and installed a more balanced government led byGéza Lakatos, in an effort to engage with the Allies and avoid occupation by theSoviet Union. This did not sit well with Hitler and, in October, German forcesoverthrew Horthy and Lakatos and installed apuppet regime led byFerenc Szálasi of the Arrow Cross Party. The Arrow Cross Party never abolished the monarchy as a form of government, and Hungarian newspapers continued to refer to the country as the Kingdom of Hungary (Magyar Királyság), althoughMagyarország (Hungary) was used as an alternative.[28][29] From May to June 1944, Hungarian authorities rapidly rounded up and transported hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews to Nazi concentration camps, where most died.
After the fall of the Szálasi regime, a Soviet-backed government underBéla Miklós was nominally left in control of the entire country. AHigh National Council was appointed in January to assume the regency, and included members of theHungarian Communist Party, likeErnő Gerő, and laterMátyás Rákosi andLászló Rajk.
Upon the kingdom's establishment soon after World War I, the country suffered from economic decline, budget deficits, and high inflation as a result of the loss of economically important territories under theTreaty of Trianon, including toCzechoslovakia,Romania, andYugoslavia.[30] The land losses of the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 caused Hungary to lose agricultural and industrial areas, making it dependent on exporting products from what agricultural land it had left to maintain its economy. Prime MinisterIstván Bethlen's government dealt with the economic crisis by seeking large foreign loans, which allowed the country to achieve monetary stabilization in the early 1920s. He introduced a new currency in 1927, thepengő.[31] Industrial and farm production rose rapidly, and the country benefited from flourishing foreign trade during most of the 1920s.[30]
Following the start of theGreat Depression in 1929, the prosperity rapidly collapsed in the country, especially in part due to the economic effects of the failure of theÖsterreichische Creditanstalt bank inVienna, Austria.[32] From the mid-1930s to the 1940s, after relations improved with Germany, Hungary's economy benefited from trade. The Hungarian economy became dependent on that of Germany.
Initially, despite a move towardsnationalism, the new state under Horthy, in an effort to prevent further conflicts, signed theTreaty of Trianon on 4 June 1920, thereby reducing Hungary's size substantially: the whole ofTransylvania was taken by Romania; much ofUpper Hungary became part of Czechoslovakia;Vojvodina was assigned to theKingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (known after 1929 as Yugoslavia); and theFree State of Fiume was created.
With a succession of increasingly nationalist prime ministers, Hungary steadily came to resent the Treaty of Trianon, and aligned itself with Europe's two fascist states,Germany and Italy, which both opposed the changes to national borders in Europe at the end of World War I. The ItalianFascist dictatorBenito Mussolini sought closer ties with Hungary, beginning with the signing of a treaty of friendship between Hungary and Italy on 5 April 1927.[33]Gyula Gömbös was an open admirer of the fascist leaders.[34] Gömbös attempted to forge a closer trilateral unity between Germany, Italy and Hungary by acting as an intermediary between Germany and Italy, whose two fascist regimes had nearly come to conflict in 1934 over the issue of Austrian independence. Gömbös eventually persuaded Mussolini to accept Hitler'sannexation of Austria in the late 1930s.[33] Gömbös is said to have coined the phrase "axis", which he applied to his intention to create an alliance with Germany and Italy; those two countries used it to term their alliance as theRome–Berlin axis.[34] Just prior to the Second World War, Hungary benefited from its close ties with Germany and Italy when theMunich Agreement obliged Czechoslovakia and Hungary to settle their territorial disputes by negotiation. Finally, theFirst Vienna Award reassigned the southern parts of Czechoslovakia to Hungary, and shortly after Czechoslovakia was abolished Hungary occupied and annexed the remainder of theCarpatho-Ukraine.
After the successful revision policy, Hungary sought further solutions to the remainder of its former territories and demanded the concession of Transylvanian territory from Romania. The Axis powers were not interested in opening a new conflict in Central Europe; both countries were facing strong diplomatic pressures to avoid any military operations. Finally both parties accepted the arbitration of Germany and Italy, known as theSecond Vienna Award, and as a resultNorthern Transylvania was assigned to Hungary. Shortly afterward, the Kingdom of Hungary joined theAxis powers. Hitler demanded that the Hungarian government follow Germany's military and racial agenda to avoid potential conflict in the future. Antisemitism was already an established political cause by the far right in Hungary. In 1944, after the ousting of Horthy by Hitler and before the installation of the National-Socialist Arrow Cross Party, the Hungarian government readily aided Nazi Germany in the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Jews to concentration camps during theHolocaust, where most of them died.[citation needed]
In April 1941, Hungary let theWehrmacht into her territory, thus supporting Germany and Italy in theinvasion of Yugoslavia. After theIndependent State of Croatia was proclaimed, Hungary joined the military operations and was allowed to annex theBačka (Bácska) region inVojvodina, which had a majority of Hungarians, as well as the region of Muraköz (present-dayPrekmurje andMedjimurje), which had largeSlovenian andCroatian minorities, respectively.
On 27 June 1941,László Bárdossy declared war on theSoviet Union. Fearing a potential turn of support to the Romanians, the Hungarian government sent armed forces to support the German war effort duringOperation Barbarossa. This support cost the Hungarians dearly. Almost the entire Second Army Group of theRoyal Hungarian Army was lost during theBattle of Stalingrad.
By early 1944, withSoviet forces fast advancing from the east, Hungary was caught attempting to contact the British and the Americans to secretly escape the war and establish an armistice with the Allies. On 19 March 1944, the Germans responded by invading Hungary inOperation Margarethe. German forces occupied key locations to ensure Hungarian loyalty. They placed Horthy underhouse arrest and replaced Prime MinisterMiklós Kállay with a more pliable successor.Döme Sztójay, an avid supporter of the Nazis, became the newHungarian prime minister. Sztójay governed with the aid of a Nazi military governor,Edmund Veesenmayer: he legalized the antisemitic and pro-NaziArrow Cross Party, started to deport Hungarian Jewsen masse to Germany and initiated a violent crackdown on liberal and leftist opposition.[27] Increasingly appalled by Sztójay's methods and alarmed by the imminent collapse of the Eastern Front, Horthy was finally able to remove him in August 1944 and replaced him with the more balancedGéza Lakatos.
By October of the same year, the Hungarians were again caught trying to quit the war, and the Germans launchedOperation Panzerfaust. They replaced Horthy withArrow Cross leaderFerenc Szálasi. TheGovernment of National Unity was proclaimed, and it continued the war on the side of theAxis. Szálasi did not replace Horthy as regent, but was appointed as the "Leader of the Nation" ("Nemzetvezető") and prime minister of the new "Hungarist state".[35][36] Antisemitic persecution and pogroms increased during Szálasi's regime and his militias were singularly responsible of the murder of 10,000–15,000 Hungarian Jews.[37]
The newQuisling regime, however, was to be short-lived, for in November 1944 theRed Army had already reached Budapest and along siege started, while Szálasi fled the capital.[38] On 21 December 1944, a Hungarian "Interim Assembly" met inDebrecen, with the approval of the Soviet Union. This assembly elected an interim counter-government headed byBéla Miklós, the former commander of theHungarian First Army.
The new government declared war on Germany, concluded an armistice with the Allied powers and established People's Tribunals to prosecute accused war criminals in January 1945; in march, it implemented a land reform. It acted under the supervision of the Soviet-dominated Allied Control Commission headed by the Soviet marshalKliment Voroshilov. As the Hungarist government retained control over the Hungarian army, the Debrecen government began forming the new army to assist the USSR in the war; however, the Hungarian volunteers were able to create only small units, and the biggest Hungarian unit to fight on the Soviet side was theVolunteer Regiment of Buda.[14][15][16]
Budapest capitulated in February 1945 and the so-called Government of National Unity, now in exile inMunich, was disbanded at the end of May 1945.[39]
UnderSoviet occupation, the fate of the Kingdom of Hungary was already determined. AHigh National Council was appointed as the country's collective head of state until the monarchy was formally abolished on 1 February 1946. The regency was replaced by theSecond Hungarian Republic. It was quickly followed by the creation of theHungarian People's Republic.
There has been some debate as to what extent the Hungarian state of the 1930s and '40s can be classified as fascist. According toRichard Griffiths, the regime's increasing economic dependence on Germany, its passage of antisemitic legislation and its participation in exterminating local Jews all place it within the realm of international fascism.[40]
Media related toHistory of Hungary between the World Wars at Wikimedia Commons| Preceded by Austria-Hungary 1867–1918 Hungarian Democratic Republic 1918–1919 Hungarian Republic 1919–1920 White Terror 1919–1921 | Kingdom of Hungary also known as the Regency 1920–1946 | Horthy regime (1920–1944) succeeded by Second Hungarian Republic 1946–1949 People's Republic of Hungary 1949–1989 |
47°29′54″N19°02′25″E / 47.49833°N 19.04028°E /47.49833; 19.04028
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