THE WORLD WAR AND AFTER The World War found Hungary in the throes of a parliamentary struggle conducted by all shades of the opposition, from Albert Apponyi to Michael Karolyi, against Tisza's attempt, supported by the Crown, to maintain the Compromise intact. Tisza's voice was the only one raised in the Crown councils of July 7 and 19, 1914, after the murder of the heir to the throne, against war and for giv ing the ultimatum to Serbia such a form as to make the avoidance of war possible. When on the death of Francis Joseph (Nov. 21, 1916), the archduke Charles succeeded him as Charles IV. of Hun gary, Tisza's obstinate fidelity to the prosecution of the war at Germany's side displeased the new sovereign. At the outbreak of the war, the parties of the Opposition had sworn a Truce of God; but by 1917 they had forgotten it. Losses, privations and in creasing food shortage, together with the absence of any prospect of final victory held out by the Austrian and German generals, kept the population in continuous unrest. On April 25, 1917, the Socialists, Karolyi's party and Jaszi's Radicals, founded the Democratic Electoral Bloc. Charles called on Tisza to submit a draft for an extension of the suffrage, whereupon Tisza resigned. The cabinets of Count Maurice Ezterhazy (June i5–Aug. 20, 1917) and Alexander Wekerle (Aug. 20, 1917-0ct. 31, 1918) attempted, without real success, to meet the increasing desire for a division of the common institutions of 1867, especially of the army, which was still under Austrian leadership. The nationalist discontent was accompanied by agitation for general suffrage, largely due to the propaganda of Jaszi's Radicals, which, after Tisza's fall, was subject to no restraint. In the last two years of the World War, while every able-bodied young man was at the front, these questions of internal politics were debated vio lently behind the front and in parliament, and the masses, espe cially in the capital, moved further to the left than they had in the preceding 5o years.
After the capitulation of Bul garia (Sept. 29, 1918), the failure of the Piave offensive (where 46% of the troops engaged were Magyar), and the collapse on the German eastern front, the leaders of the Government, civil and military, abandoned their resistance. On Oct. 25 a "National Council" was formed out of bourgeois Radicals, under the presi dency of Michael Karolyi, with the programme of dissolving parliament, introducing general suffrage and concluding a speedy peace. Popular demonstrations demanded a Karolyi Government. The archduke Joseph, whom the king appointed to clear up the situation, gave the minister-presidency to Count John Hadik, who was, however, unable to prevent the National Council, assisted by a few companies of mutinous troops, from occupying the municipal Government of Budapest on Oct. 3o and 31. The military authorities allowed no bloodshed. The king appointed Karolyi minister-president ; Jaszi and several Socialists entered the cabinet. On Oct. 31 Tisza was murdered in his villa; the Government failed to bring the murderers to justice. Councils of soldiers, students, workmen and peasants, on the Russian model, formed themselves in the Magyar districts, while far ther out, Slovak, Rumanian, Croat and Serb National Councils were formed, and took over the administration of the districts concerned. Karolyi's Government hoped by its pacifist attitude to buy peace on all fronts ; it disarmed the soldiers returning from the Italian and Russian fronts, and the minister of war, Bela Linder, declared : "I wish to see no soldiers." Jaszi negotiated with the Slovak National Councils, whom he hoped to induce to accept a division of Hungary by cantons, on the Swiss model, although they had already joined themselves with the newly constituted Czech Government and the advancing Rumanian army. The Rumanian, Serb and Czech forces, although quite weak, occupied the frontier districts deep into the solid Magyar territories ; the army under the German field-marshal, Mackensen, who had been commanding on the Balkan front, was forbidden to return through Hungary, and Mackensen was himself arrested, to prove that Hungary had abandoned the German alliance. On Nov. 8 Karolyi and Jaszi were obliged by General Franchet d'Esperay, at the armistice of Belgrade, to accept the de facto occupation of these territories.
On Nov. 13 Charles IV., in a proclamation issued from Eckartsau, renounced "participation in the conduct of State affairs"; on Nov. 16 the National Council proclaimed the "Hungarian People's Republic" and dissolved both houses of Parliament. On Nov. 19 Bela Kun (q.v.), a former insurance agent, arrived from captivity in Russia, on a forged passport, with the intention of organizing a revolution of the proletariat on the Bolshevik model. The October revolution was the work of the radical bourgeoisie and the industrial workmen; the former, however, had no following among the masses, and soon lost their leading role in the cabinet, as leader of which Karolyi, as president of the State, had appointed Dionys Berinkey. The Government possessed no armed forces, and its bourgeois ministers of war, who wished to reorganize the troops still avail able, were chased out, one after the other, by street demonstra tions of the Soldiers' Councils, which were already organized on Bolshevik lines. The impotence of the bourgeois parties gave full scope to the single compactly-organized force in the country— that of the socialistic industrial labourers. Their leaders used their position in the Government to force all State employees into the Marxist trade unions, the membership figures of which rose in October from 251,00o to 721,00o, and to 1,5oo,000 in the first half of 1919. The offices of several bourgeois newspapers were wrecked by the Socialists, so that after a few months it looked as though the urban populations could oppose no resistance to a purely socialistic Government. It was hoped to win over the peasants in the country by promises of agrarian reform, and a mortgaged estate of Count Karolyi's was distributed among them; but this had little effect on the peasants, so that the Government did not venture to introduce general suffrage—the main point in the programme of the National Council—or hold any elections.
The Socialists hoped that this anarchy would establish their own power; but this was chal lenged by the Bolsheviks under Kun, who, assisted by the Sol diers' Council, won over the remaining troops, and on Feb. 20, 1919, attacked the buildings of the Socialist newspaper, killing seven police and injuring 80. The Government, on the insistence of the bourgeoisie, had Kun arrested; but the Socialist leaders realized the strength of the Communist agitation. When, then, the nationalist bourgeoisie and peasants saw that the pacifist atti tude of the Government bore no fruit with the Entente, and that Col. Vyx, representing the Entente in Budapest, allowed the Czechs, Serbs and Rumanians to cross the line of demarcation and occupy further portions of Hungarian territory, the bourgeois politicians whom the National Council had thrust aside began to bestir themselves again to organize their forces against further foreign occupation and internal anarchy. In view of this danger the Socialists found it necessary to ally themselves with the Bolsheviks. The occasion was Col. Vyx's Note of March 20, which allowee the Rumanians to occupy a further 2,000sq.km. of Hungarian territory. It seemed probable that the country would revolt against this demand and overthrow the "pacifist" Government. Karolyi accordingly resigned the presidency on the 21st, and the Socialist minister of education in his cabinet, Sig mund Kunfi, went to Kun in prison and concluded an agreement with him whereby the Socialists and Communists were to take over the power jointly and establish the Soviet Republic of Hun gary. The whole Social Democratic Party united en bloc with the Communists. Pending the decision of the Third International, the new party was styled the "Socialist Party of Hungary" ; it was to take over the power at once in the name of the proletariat ; the dictatorship was to be wielded by the Workmen's, Soldiers' and Peasants' Councils ; immediate steps were to be taken to organize a "class army" and disarm the bourgeoisie ; a reign of terror was to be proclaimed to ensure the rule of the proletariat ; and a close military and spiritual alliance made with the Russian Soviet Government.
The power was taken over from Karolyi, by agreement with the latter, on the night of March 21, with the help of the Marxist workmen. Alexander Garbai, a mason, became president of the Soviet State, but the real ruler was Kun, who acted as people's commissary for foreign affairs. Of the 11 people's commissaries eight were Jews, and the local representatives of the Soviet were also largely Jews ; this fact was largely responsible for the subsequent outbreak of anti Semitism in Hungary. The introduction of Communism embit tered all sections of the population except the industrial labourers; on the first day of the Soviet regime all businesses and houses in the towns were confiscated as communal property, and the mer chants forced to sell their stocks on credit for the Government, which, however, gave them no new supplies. Trade was declared a State monopoly; but the State had no apparatus ready, so that all forms of purchase and sale died after a few weeks. All banks were expropriated, their depots looted, as were rich residences. The factories were obliged to close down for lack of raw materials, and the workmen transferred to the Red Army. Intellectual work ers were organized by the State in unions ; writers were paid by the State and forced to work at its orders. All bourgeois news papers were stopped ; only Communist pamphlets were allowed to appear. The chief danger for the Soviet lay in the peasants, who ceased supplying the towns with foodstuffs, and, although the large estates had been expropriated on paper, supported the counter-revolution and made several local risings. To repress these, the Government founded a special corps, the "Lenin-boys," of released convicts, and sent armoured trains into the rebellious districts. The number of murders committed by these terrorists was 585, not counting isolated murders committed by local "revo lutionary tribunals." Leading bourgeois politicians were arrested as hostages; in Budapest alone, 481. Many of them fled to Szeged, which was occupied by the French, or to Vienna. To divert the bitterness from himself, Kun sent the Red Army against the Czechs, and drove them out of Kaschau and the surrounding district. On Clemenceau's protest of June 8, however, he with drew the troops, and on June 13 actually recognized the cession of the northern part of Hungary. The demoralized Red troops were sent on July 20 against the Rumanians. The more patriotic among them, however, deserted home, and the Rumanians began to advance over the Theiss towards Budapest. The Soviet Gov ernment, threatened at once by the Rumanians and the counter revolution, resigned on Aug. 1. Kun, with most of the people's commissaries, fled to Vienna, whence they were presently sent to Russia via Germany.
After Kun's flight, it was hard to form a Government. Peidl's purely Socialist Government, which succeeded Kun, was overthrown by some counter-revolutionaries on Aug. 7, who then elected the archduke Joseph governor, while he entrusted them with the Government (Friedrich Government). As the Rumanians had occupied Budapest since Aug. 4, cutting off all communications with the rest of Hungary, this Government was quite powerless, and the archduke was forced by the Entente to retire. While this situation reigned, the Bolshevik officials were expelled in the country districts, without the control of the State authority. A counter-revolutionary Government with a small army had been formed in Szeged during the Bolshevik period, but was unable to come to Budapest on account of the Rumanian troops of occupation. The Rumanians requisitioned army supplies from the occupied districts, and when they retired behind the Theiss on Nov. 14, they took with them live-stock, rolling stock, indus trial machinery, and even typewriters from the Government offices, to the total value, as estimated by the Entente commis sioner, Col. Loree, of £3,750,000. Four Entente generals were sent to Budapest to protect the Hungarians against injustice. On the departure of the Rumanians, Sir George Clerk, representing the Entente, demanded a cabinet composed of representatives of all parties, and Charles Huszar replaced Friedrich as minister president (Nov. 25, 1919–March 15, 1920).
The Szegedin army under vice-admiral Nicholas Horthy (q.v.) was now able to come to Budapest. Elections were held, on the basis of gen eral, secret suffrage, for a new National Assembly, to sit for two years and restore order after the revolutions. The elections of Jan. 25, 1920, brought a Conservative, Christian, and partly anti Semite majority, which included many representatives of the peasants. By Art. 1 of 1920 the National Assembly restored the legal continuity of the Constitution, and also formally dissolved the link with Austria; by Art. 45 of 1921 Hungary was pro claimed to be still a kingdom, but the decision respecting the execution of the sovereign power was postponed to a later date, Admiral Horthy, commander-in-chief of the national forces, being elected regent on March 1, 1920.
The first three ministries, those of Huszar, of Alexander Si monyi-Semadam (March 15–July 19, 1920) and of Count Paul Teleki (July 19, 1920–April 14, 1921), had to face many diffi culties at home and abroad. At home the reaction and revenge against the Communist regime led to excesses. "Detachments," led by officers, executed Communists without judicial authority; these illegal bodies had to be dissolved by the Government with the help of the police and national army. The victims of this counter-revolutionary persecution numbered 307. These excesses were exploited by Jaszi's Octobrists and Kunfi's Social Com munists, most of whom had fled to Vienna, as a "White terror"; and the Amsterdam International, at the instance of the Austrian Socialists, proclaimed a boycott against Hungary (June 20–July 3, 1920), but with no great effect. The National Assembly also accepted the Treaty of Trianon, which the Hungarian delegation had had to sign on June 4, 1920, without obtaining a discussion of it with the Entente Powers. The treaty took from Hungary, and gave to her neighbours, 192,000 sq.km. of her area of 283,00o; 10,782,00o of her population of 20,886,487, and 3o%, or 3,300,000, of the 9,945,000 pure Magyars. The neighbour States expelled to Hungary in all 30,000 of these Hungarians, mostly officials and intellectuals, with their families. They returned without homes or situations, increased the unrest in Hungary, and involved the State in much expense. The peasants were quieted by the agrarian reform (Art. 36 of 1920) carried through by Stephen Szabo Nagyatad, himself a small peasant, and minister of agriculture in Teleki's cabinet. This measure made 1,300,000 "joch" available for the landless peasants, and provided them with the land for 250,000 houses. The universal impoverishment under the heavy financial conditions of the reparations clauses of the Treaty of Trianon could not, however, be averted. At the end of the Bol shevik period the Hungarian crown stood at 8o% under par; after the peace treaty it fell to 0.0003, while the rate for loans rose to 40-50% per mensem. Speculation was rife. No efforts of the successive finance ministers, neither the stamping of the cur rency notes—a measure taken to avoid a further inflation—nor the sequestration of 20% of the cash deposits of the shares and 17% of the larger estates, could remedy the situation. Trade and industry stagnated, Hungary's neighbours who, with the exception of Austria, had constituted themselves as the "Little Entente," imposed frontier restrictions and threatened on several occasions to re-occupy Hungarian territory, e.g., on the two occasions (March 7 and Oct. 29, 1921) when King Charles returned to Hungary. On each occasion Charles called on the Ministry and the regent to hand over the power to him. On his second return he appointed a ministry of his own, but was defeated at Buda-ors by Government troops and sent to Madeira by order of the En tente. Af ter the second attempt the National Assembly was obliged, at the wish of the Entente Powers and by an ultimatum from the Czechoslovak foreign minister, dated Oct. 3o, to declare the Habsburgs to have forfeited the throne (Law 47 of 1921). The question of the sovereign's person was postponed till a later date. Relations with Austria were troubled by the fact that the Treaty of Trianon ceded to that Power the western portion of Hungary; but the Austrian occupation was prevented by irregular detachments, consisting mostly of refugees from the States of the Little Entente. The Protocol of Venice (Oct. 12, 1921) finally provided for a plebiscite in the town and district of Sopron (Oedenburg). As this went in Hungary's favour, the districts where it was taken were not ceded to Austria. (See BURGENLAND.) The Bethlen Cabinet.—The consolidation of the internal and foreign situation was due to the cabinet of Count Stephen Beth len (q.v.), who succeeded Teleki on April 14, 1921. Bethlen suc ceeded in composing a working majority, the "Party of Unity," out of the small agriculturalists, reinforced by intellectuals, large proprietors, and commercial circles. With this party, Bethlen commanded the second National Assembly (June 1922–Nov. 1926). He restored the second chamber by Laws 26 of 1925 and 22 of 1926, abolishing secret ballot for the lower house, except in the towns. In the upper house Bethlen reduced the magnates' representatives to 38, 4o being elected by corporations, 76 by the towns and counties, and 4o nominated by the Government. In the lower house of the new parliament, which met on Jan. 25, 1927, Bethlen's party received 79% of the total mandates. With this powerful majority he liquidated the last counter-revolutionary movements, excluded from his party a few extreme nationalist deputies, who were condemned to long terms of imprisonment.
Recent premiers were Karolyi, 1931-32; Gombos, 1932 to his death on Oct. 6, 1936; Daranyi, 1936.
The internal political situation consolidated, it was possible to carry through the financial recon struction of Hungary with the help of the League of Nations. (See section Economy and Finance.) Even after this, however, the economic situation remained difficult. The State was obliged to maintain many thousands of refugees, housing was still in arrears, industry, cut off from its markets and sources of supply, had to readapt itself. In social legislation, Hungary remodelled her workmen's insurance, prepared old age insurance for all work men and employees, and founded several hundred scholarships for students entered at foreign universities.
The economic situation could not really improve until the many import and export restrictions, passport difficulties and tariff barriers of Central Europe were abolished. Hungary's rela tions with her neighbours were also clouded by the question of her minorities within their frontiers; in the case of the optants in Transylvania (q.v.) she appealed to the League of Nations. In other respects Hungary, as a member of the League of Nations, had concluded a network of commercial and other treaties, and recovered her place in the European system.
The chief difficulty lay in the establishment of more cordial relations with the States of the "Little Entente," whose primary purpose was the maintenance intact of the provisions of the Treaty of Trianon, while Hungarian public opinion demanded its revision, in view of the attribution by it of various districts with Magyar majorities to Hungary's neighbours, and the some times insufficient protection accorded to these minorities. Hun gary concluded treaties of friendship with Turkey (Dec. 18, 1923) ; with the United States (June 24, 1925) and with Italy (April 5, 1927), the last-named being also an arbitration treaty. Further arbitration treaties were concluded with Austria (April io, 2923) and Switzerland (June 18, 1924). Friendly relations with Italy were cemented by several ministerial visits, the Bethlen Ministry in particular stressing the importance of this relationship.
Sources: The oldest Hungarian document datesBibliography.-(a) Sources: The oldest Hungarian document dates ' from I101 (the foundation by St. Stephen of the Abbey of Pannonhalma-Szent Martin) . The oldest narrative is the Gesta Hungarorum (I 2th century) . The best of the many collections of documents is that issued by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (I 14 vols.) . More recent documents, from the archives in Budapest and Vienna, are issued by the Hungarian Historical Society. (b) Works: Most works on Hungarian history, since the 16th century, are in Magyar, but important works appeared in Latin in the 18th century, e.g., Katona's Historia critica regum Hungariae (42 vols., 1779-1810). The Bibliographia Hungarica, vols. i.–iii., issued by the Hungarian Institute at the University of Berlin, gives a list of works on Hungary in languages other than Magyar. Among modern works, see H. Marczali, Ungarische Verfassungsgeschichte (Tubingen, 191o) and Hungary in the ISth Century (trans. A. B. Yolland, 191o) ; A. B. Yolland, Hungary (1917) ; J. Szekfii, Der Staat Ungarn (Stuttgart, Berlin, 1918) ; L. Buday, Dismembered Hungary (1922) (statistics on the effects of the Treaty of Trianon) ; Count Paul Teleki, The Evolution of Hungary (Williamstown, 1923, bibl.) ; A. Domanov sky, Die Geschichte Ungarns (Munich, 1923) (latest full account) ; M. Karolyi, Fighting the World; the Struggle for Peace (1924) ; O. Jaszi, Revolution and Counter-revolution in Hungary (1924) (these two works put the case for the Socialists and Democrats) ; F. Eckhart, Introduction a l'histoire hongroise (1928) ; current numbers of the Ungarische Jahrbiicher (Berlin, quarterly, 1921 seq.) and the Revue des Etudes hongroises et finno-ougriennes (1923 seq.) .
(J. Sz.)
