TheSzeged Idea (Hungarian:Szegedi gondolat[ˈsɛɡɛdiˈɡondolɒt]), also informally known asSzeged fascism, refers to the ideology that developed amonganti-communistcounter-revolutionaries inSzeged,Hungary, in 1919 as initially aproto-fascism and later developed into an ideology resemblingNazism.[1] The Szeged Idea was based upon the claim that Hungary was stabbed in the back inWorld War I by communists and Jews and promoted action to undo this evil by declaring holy war against such traitors.[2] Szeged militants promotedHungarian nationalism, an economic "third way", and advocated a "strong" state.[1]
Szegedists promotedirredentist claims to territories belonging to Hungary prior to the end ofWorld War I.[1] The ideology claimed the existence of a "Judeo-Bolshevik" conspiracy in Hungary.[1] The principal leader of the Szegedists wasGyula Gömbös.[3] Gömbös declared violence to be "an acceptable means of statecraft... to shape the course of history, not in the interest of a narrow clique, but of an entire nation".[3] Upon being appointed Prime Minister, Gömbös and hisUnity Party adopted fascist positions, including the promotion ofcorporatist solutions to national unity like that ofBenito Mussolini and a racial policy like that ofAdolf Hitler.[3]
Gömbös declared that his government would "secure our national civilization based upon our own special racial peculiarities and uponChristian moral principles".[3]
