The Hungarian Republic[4][5] (Hungarian: Magyar Köztársaság) was a short-lived republic that existed between August 1919 and February 1920 in the central and western portions of the former First Hungarian Republic (controlling most of today's Hungary and parts of present-day Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia). The state was established in the aftermath of the Hungarian–Romanian War by counter-revolutionary forces who sought to return to the status quo prior to 31 October 1918.[6][7][8]
Quick Facts Magyar Köztársaság (Hungarian), Status ...
A militantly anti-communistauthoritarian government composed of military officers entered Budapest in November on the heels of the Romanians.[13] A "White Terror" ensued that led to the imprisonment, torture, and execution without trial of communists, socialists, Jews, leftist intellectuals, sympathizers with the Károlyi and Kun regimes, and others who threatened the traditional Hungarian political order that the officers sought to re-establish.[13] Estimates placed the number of executions at approximately 5,000.[13] In addition, about 75,000 people were jailed.[13][9] In particular, the Hungarian right-wing and the Romanian forces targeted Jews for retribution.[13] Ultimately, the White Terror forced nearly 100,000 people to leave the country, most of them socialists, intellectuals, and middle-class Jews.[13]
In 1920 and 1921, internal chaos racked Hungary.[13] The White Terror continued to plague Jews and leftists, unemployment and inflation soared, and penniless Hungarian refugees poured across the border from neighboring countries and burdened the floundering economy.[13] The government offered the population little succour.[13] In January 1920, Hungarian men and women cast the first secret ballots in the country's political history and elected a large counter-revolutionary and agrarian majority to the unicameralparliament.[13] Two main political parties emerged: the socially conservative Christian National Union Party and the National Smallholders and Agricultural Labourers Party, which advocated land reform.[13] On 29 February 1920,[2] the parliament restored the Hungarian monarchy, ending the republic, and in March, annulled both the Pragmatic Sanction of 1723 and the Compromise of 1867.[13] The parliament postponed electing a king until civil disorder had subsided.[13] Former Austro-Hungarian admiral Miklós Horthy became regent,[13] a position he would hold until 1944.
Dr. Térfy, Gyula, ed. (1921). "1920. évi I. törvénycikk az alkotmányosság helyreállításáról és az állami főhatalom gyakorlásának ideiglenes rendezéséről.". Magyar törvénytár (Corpus Juris Hungarici): 1920. évi törvénycikkek (in Hungarian). Budapest: Révai Testvérek Irodalmi Intézet Részvénytársaság. p.3.
Bekény, István, ed. (1996). "A Horthy-korszak". Magyarország a XX. században: Politika és társadalom, hadtörténet, jogalkotás (in Hungarian). Vol.1. Szekszárd: Babits Kiadó. p.49. ISBN963-9015-08-3.
Pölöskei, Ferenc; Gergely, Jenő; Izsák, Lajos (1995). Magyarország története 1918–1990 (in Hungarian). Budapest: Korona Kiadó. pp.32–33. ISBN963-8153-55-5.