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Gyula Károlyi de Nagykároly | |
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| Prime Minister of Hungary | |
| In office 24 August 1931 – 1 October 1932 | |
| Regent | Miklós Horthy |
| Preceded by | István Bethlen |
| Succeeded by | Gyula Gömbös |
| In office 5 May 1919 – 12 July 1919 In opposition to:Sándor Garbai | |
| Preceded by | Dénes Berinkey |
| Succeeded by | Dezső Pattantyús-Ábrahám |
| Member of the House of Magnates | |
| In office 31 January 1927 – 28 March 1945 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1871-05-07)7 May 1871 Nyírbakta,Kingdom of Hungary,Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 23 April 1947(1947-04-23) (aged 75) Budapest,Second Hungarian Republic |
| Nationality | Hungarian |
| Political party | Liberal Party,Unity Party |
| Spouse | Melinda Károlyi |
| Profession | politician |
Gyula Count Károlyi deNagykároly in English:Julius Károlyi (7 May 1871 inBaktalórántháza – 23 April 1947) was a conservativeHungarian politician who served asPrime Minister of Hungary from 1931 to 1932. He had previously been prime minister of the counter-revolutionary government inSzeged for several months in 1919. As prime minister, he generally tried to continue the moderate conservative policies of his predecessor,István Bethlen, although with less success.
He was born inNyírbakta (now:Baktalórántháza) to an oldaristocratic family. His parents were CountTibor Károlyi, who served as Speaker of the House of Magnates from 1898 to 1900, and Countess Emma Degenfeld-Schomburg. Tibor Károlyi was also the guardian of Gyula's first cousin,Mihály Károlyi, who would become first prime minister and then president of Hungary.
Aftergrammar school studies he attended the Faculty of Law at theUniversity of Budapest, followed by studies at theUniversity of Berlin and theUniversity of Bonn. After returning home, he joined Hungarian politics as a member of the House of Magnates. He served as theispán ofArad County between 1906 and 1910. Following this he retired from politics and started farming on the huge family estate in Arad County. He became a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1915.
AfterWorld War I broke out, he volunteered and fought on theEastern Front as a lieutenant ofhussars. After the war he returned to his estate, but the country's situation was chaotic: his cousin, Mihály Károlyi led theAster Revolution and theAustro-Hungarian Monarchy collapsed. The new leadership decreased theHungarian Army's numbers to indicate their peaceful intentions towards theEntente Powers. The adjacent countries (Romania, andCzechoslovakia) took advantage of this to gain even more territory: the Romanians occupiedTransylvania and thePartium in Spring 1919. On top of this, theHungarian Soviet Republic was established on 21 March 1919.
Many significant Hungarian politicians emigrated toVienna because of the revolution and theRed Terror. Organizing began withIstván Bethlen's movement for the liquidation ofBolshevik power, the Antibolshevik Committee. In parallel with this Gyula Károlyi formed acounter-revolutionary government inArad. In May the Romanians occupied the town, interning Károlyi and many of his ministers. After his release, he went toSzeged, which was controlled by theFrench Army. Károlyi reorganized his government here with the goal of endingcommunist rule and on 12 July 1919Dezső Pattantyús-Ábrahám became its prime minister. The two counter-revolutionary centers, Vienna and Szeged, harmonized their work in the interest of the common aims. Károlyi's Minister of War was AdmiralMiklós Horthy, who set up the National Army; these two politicians began to be friends.
Károlyi retired from politics for nearly ten years after 1919. After theTreaty of Trianon his family lost the estate in Arad County. Károlyi then farmed inSzabolcs County andSzatmár County. He became a member of the House of Magnates in 1927, and a Crown Guard in 1928. He undertook a bigger role in the politics during theGreat Depression, becomingMinister of Foreign Affairs for a short time in the cabinet of István Bethlen, followingLajos Walko. In this capacity, Károlyi visitedBenito Mussolini inRome in March 1931. He had also made a controversial statement:"Emotions, reason, and the threads of interest bind Hungary to France", which brought him some notice in the French press.
István Bethlen resigned the prime ministership on 19 August 1931, because he did not want to bring in unpopular measures. RegentMiklós Horthy then appointed Károlyi to this post. The new cabinet was established on 24 August 1931, but the ministers did not change very much.
In Hungary the economic catastrophe presented itself as a protracted agrarian andcredit crisis. Agricultural products comprised the larger part of the Hungarian exports, but these prices fell 50—70% on theworld market. Thepeasants' situation became horrible, andindustry andtrade also suffered.
Károlyi reduced state expenses with large-scale economies. The Ministry of Finance reduced the pay of state employees:railwaymen,postmen,clerks,soldiers,gendarmes, members of the river forces, andcustoms workers.Social benefits andpensions were reduced. This, however, was not a solution to these serious economic problems; it helped only slightly that Károlyi forbade all ministers to use state cars: he as prime minister commuted from his apartment inPest toBuda Castle.
WhenSzilveszter Matuska blew up a portion of theBiatorbágy bridge nearBudapest on 13 September 1931, causing the engine and nine of the eleven coaches of the Vienna Express to plunge into a ravine 30 meters deep, Gyula Károlyi issued two orders imposing martial law. He made use of this tragedy to imprison Communists and to ban all political rallies and processions. Imre Sallai and Sándor Fürst, leaders of theCommunist movement, were arrested and executed in 1932 after ashow trial. These emergency measures did not improve the situation: there had been no real threat of a mass movement.
This unrelieved crisis deepened discontent in Hungariansociety, even among thepolitical elite. The opposition demanded extension of thefranchise, introduction of primary elections and thesecret ballot, and more effective protection ofwage earners, while the agrarian lobby demanded extension of markets and protection of farmers. These groups turned against the Prime Minister when they saw no actual results, and these failures led Bethlen to call for Károlyi's resignation in September 1932. Károlyi gladly followed this advice, as he had been hesitant from the first to be prime minister. He resigned on 21 September 1932, returning to his lands, and was succeeded byGyula Gömbös.
After his prime ministership, he retired from active politics. He was a member of Horthy's inner advisory council, and became a secret advisor in 1936. He protested against all forms of anti-Semitism throughout his political career. He resigned from all his posts and even his membership of the upper house of parliament in 1939, in protest against the second Jewish law.[1]
He also sharply criticised the German orientation of Hungarian politics.During theSecond World War he supported the policies ofMiklós Kállay. Károlyi died inBudapest at the age of 75.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by — | Prime Minister of the Counter-Government of Hungary 1919 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs 1930–1931 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Hungary 1931–1932 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance Acting 1931 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
