Hungarian Soviet Republic: Difference between revisions
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{{distinguish|People's Republic of Hungary}} |
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{{short description|1919 socialist state in Central Europe}} |
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{{Infobox Former Country |
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{{about|the short-lived 1919 socialist state in Hungary|Communist-ruled Hungary|Hungarian People's Republic}} |
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|native_name = ''Magyarországi Tanácsköztársaság'' |
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{{use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} |
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|conventional_long_name = Hungarian Soviet Republic |
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{{Infobox country |
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|common_name = Hungary |
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| conventional_long_name = Soviet Republic of Hungary |
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|continent = Europe |
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| native_name = {{native name|hu|Magyarországi Tanácsköztársaság}} |
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|region = Eastern Europe |
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| life_span = 21 March – 1 August 1919 |
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| p1 = First Hungarian Republic |
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| flag_p1 = Flag of Hungary (1918–1919).svg |
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| s1 = First Hungarian Republic |
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| flag_s1 = Flag of Hungary (1918–1919).svg |
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| flag = Flag of Hungary |
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| flag_type = Flag |
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| image_flag = Flag of Hungary (1919).svg |
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| symbol = |
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| symbol_type = [[Red star|Emblem]] |
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| image_coat = Red_star.svg |
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| national_motto = ''Világ proletárjai, egyesüljetek!''<br>"[[Workers of the world, unite!]]" |
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|event2 = |
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| national_anthem = ''Internacionálé''<ref>{{cite web|last=Angyal|first=Pál|title=A magyar büntetőjog kézikönyve IV. rész|url=http://betiltva.com/files/angyal_magyar_buntetojog_kezikonyve04.php|work=A magyar büntetőjog kézikönyve|year=1927|accessdate=19 January 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070727/http://betiltva.com/files/angyal_magyar_buntetojog_kezikonyve04.php|archivedate=4 March 2016}}</ref><br>"[[The Internationale]]"{{center|[[File:Internationale_orchestral_arrangement.ogg]]}} |
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|date_event2 = |
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| image_map = Nepkoztarsasag.png |
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| image_map_caption = Map of territory of the former [[Kingdom of Hungary]], May–August 1919 |
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|date_event3 = |
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<div style="padding:0.3em 0 0 0.5em;text-align:left;"> |
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|event4 = |
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{{legend|#996600|Controlled by Romania in April 1919}} |
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|date_event4 = |
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{{legend|#D00000|Controlled by Soviet Hungary}} |
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{{legend|#FF9999|Subsequently controlled by Hungary to establish the [[Slovak Soviet Republic]]}} |
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|p1 = Hungarian Democratic Republic |
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{{legend|#009999|Controlled by French and Yugoslav forces}} |
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|flag_p1 = Civil Ensign of Hungary.svg |
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<div style="font-size: 110%;">{{legend-line|black solid 2px|Borders of Hungary in 1918}} |
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|s1 = Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938) |
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{{legend-line|black solid 1px|Borders of Hungary in 1920}}</div> |
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|flag_s1 = Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg |
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</div> |
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|s2 = Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946) |
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| status = [[List of states with limited recognition|Unrecognized]] {{nowr|[[rump state]]}} |
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|flag_s2 = Civil Ensign of Hungary.svg |
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| capital = [[Budapest]] |
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| coordinates = {{coord|47.4833|N|19.0333|E|source:kolossus-eswiki|display=inline,title}} |
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|flag = Flag of Hungary |
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| common_languages = [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] |
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|flag_type = Flag |
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| title_leader = ''De facto'' leader |
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| demonym = Hungarian |
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| government_type = [[Soviet republic|Soviet]] [[socialist republic]] |
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|symbol_type = Emblem |
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| leader1 = [[Béla Kun]]{{refn|Kun officially held the position of foreign minister.|group=nb}} |
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|image_coat = Red star.svg |
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| year_leader1 = 1919 |
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| title_deputy = [[List of heads of state of Hungary#Hungarian Soviet Republic (1919)|Chairman of the Central Executive Council]] and [[Prime Minister of Hungary|Prime Minister]] |
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|image_map_caption = Map of territory claimed by Hungary, May – August 1919<br> |
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| deputy1 = [[Sándor Garbai]] |
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<div style="text-align: left;">{{legend|#996600|Territory controlled by Romania in April, 1919}}</div> |
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| year_deputy1 = 1919 |
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<div style="text-align: left;">{{legend|#D00000|Territory controlled by Hungary}}</div> |
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| legislature = [[National Assembly of Soviets]] |
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<div style="text-align: left;">{{legend|#FF9999|Territory subsequently controlled by Hungary}}</div> |
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| era = Interwar period |
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<div style="text-align: left;">{{legend|#009999|Territory under French and Serb control}}</div> |
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| date_start = 21 March |
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<div style="text-align: left;">{{legend-line|black dotted 4px|Pre-WW1 Borders of Hungary, 1918}}</div> |
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| year_start = 1919 |
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<div style="text-align: left;">{{legend-line|black solid 2px|Post-WW1 Borders of Hungary, 1920}}</div> |
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| event1 = Provisional constitution |
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| date_event1 = 23 March 1919 |
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| event2 = Soviet elections |
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| date_event2 = 7-14 April 1919 |
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|common_languages = [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] |
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| event3 = National Assembly of Soviets convenes |
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| date_event3 = 14 June 1919 |
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| event4 = Permanent constitution |
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| date_event4 = 23 June 1919 |
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|title_leader = [[Heads of State of Hungary|Leader of the Revolution]] |
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| event5 = Kun resigns |
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| date_event5 = 1 August 1919 |
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| event6 = People's Republic restored |
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|title_deputy = [[List of Prime Ministers of Hungary|Chairman of the Revolutionary Governing Council]] |
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| date_event6 = 2 August 1919 |
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| event7 = [[Hungarian–Romanian War|Occupation of Budapest]] |
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|year_deputy1 = 1919 |
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| date_event7 = 3 August 1919 |
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|year_deputy2 = 1919 |
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| currency = [[Hungarian korona]] |
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|stat_year1 = |
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|stat_area1 = |
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|stat_pop1 = |
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|footnotes = |
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The '''Hungarian Soviet Republic'''{{refn|{{langx|hu|Magyarországi Tanácsköztársaság}}, {{lit}} the Soviet Republic of Hungary, where 'Soviet' is also translatable as 'council': i.e, [[Soviet republic|council republic]]|group=nb}}, also known as the '''Socialist Federative Soviet Republic of Hungary'''{{refn|{{langx|hu|Magyarországi Szocialista Szövetségi Tanácsköztársaság}}, also translatable as '''Hungarian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic'''|group=nb}} was a short-lived [[communist state]]{{sfn|Swanson|2017|p=80}} that existed from 21 March 1919 to 1 August 1919 (133 days), succeeding the [[First Hungarian Republic]].{{sfn|Völgyes|1970|p=58}} The Hungarian Soviet Republic was a small communist [[rump state]]<ref>{{cite book|author=John C. Swanson|title=Tangible Belonging: Negotiating Germanness in Twentieth-Century Hungary|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh Press]]|year=2017|page=80|isbn=9780822981992|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YqyzDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT80|access-date=7 August 2020|archive-date=17 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317121442/https://books.google.com/books?id=YqyzDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT80|url-status=live}}</ref> which, at its time of establishment, controlled approximately only 23% of [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]]'s historic territory. The [[head of government]] was [[Sándor Garbai]], but the influence of the [[foreign minister]] [[Béla Kun]] of the [[Party of Communists in Hungary]] was much stronger. Unable to reach an agreement with the [[Triple Entente]], which maintained an [[economic blockade]] of Hungary, in dispute with neighboring countries over territorial disputes, and beset by profound internal social changes, the Hungarian Soviet Republic failed in its objectives and was abolished a few months after its existence. Its main figure was the Communist Béla Kun,{{sfn|Völgyes|1970|p=58}} despite the fact that in the first days the majority of the new government consisted of radical [[Social Democratic Party of Hungary#History up to 1989|Social Democrats]].{{sfn|Balogh|1976|p=15}} The new system effectively concentrated power in the governing [[Soviet (council)|councils]], which exercised it in the name of the [[working class]].{{sfn|Janos|1981|p=195}}{{refn|It followed the [[Bolshevik]] model of [[Soviet Russia]] but without the direct participation of the [[workers' council]]s (soviets) from which it took its name.|group=nb}} |
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[[File:Bela.Kun.Revolution.1919.jpg|thumb|right|320px|Béla Kun was the leader of the Hungarian Revolution of 1919]] |
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The '''Hungarian Soviet Republic''' or '''Soviet Republic of Hungary''' ({{lang-hu|Magyarországi Tanácsköztársaság}}) was a short-lived [[Communism|Communist]] regime established in [[Hungary]] in the [[aftermath of World War I]]. |
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The new Communist government failed to reach an agreement with the Triple Entente that would lead to the lifting of the economic blockade, the improvement of the new borders or the recognition of the new government by the victorious powers of [[World War I]].{{sfn|Király|Pastor|1988|p=34}} A small volunteer army was organized mostly from Budapest factory workers and attempts were made to recover the territories lost to neighboring countries, an objective that had widespread support from many working class people in some larger cities, not only those favorable to the new regime.{{sfn|Bodo|2010|p=703}} Initially, thanks to patriotic support from [[conservative]] officers, the republican forces advanced against the [[First Czechoslovak Republic|Czechoslovaks]] in north Hungary,{{sfn|Király|Pastor|1988|p=6}} after suffering a defeat in the east at the hands of the [[Romanian Army]] in late April, which led to a retreat on the banks of the [[Tisza]].{{sfn|Szilassy|1971|p=37}} In mid-June, the birth of the [[Slovak Soviet Republic]] was proclaimed, which lasted two weeks until a Hungarian withdrawal at the request of the Triple Entente.{{sfn|Király|Pastor|1988|p=6}} Later that month, there was an attempted coup by the Social Democrats of Budapest, which was retaliated by the communist government. On 20 July, the republic launched a new attack on the [[Hungarian–Romanian War|Romanian posts]] who were deep in Hungary at the [[Tisza]] river.{{sfn|Király|Pastor|1988|p=226}} After a few days of the Hungarian advance, the Romanians managed to stop the offensive{{sfn|Janos|1981|p=201}} and break through the Hungarian lines. Kun and most of the government fled to Vienna. The Social-Democrat–Communist government was succeeded by an exclusively Social Democratic one on 1 August.{{sfn|Balogh|1976|p=15}}{{sfn|Janos|1981|p=201}} The communists left Budapest and went abroad.{{sfn|Janos|1981|p=201}} Despite the opposition from the Entente, the Romanians entered Budapest, the Hungarian capital, on 4 August.{{sfnm|1a1=Balogh|1y=1975|1p=298|2a1=Király|2a2=Pastor|2y=1988|2p=226}} |
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Lasting only from 21 March until 6 August 1919, the Soviet republic led by [[Béla Kun]] collapsed when [[Romania]]n forces occupied [[Budapest]] during the [[Hungarian–Romanian War of 1919|Hungarian-Romanian War]]. It was the first Communist government to be formed in [[Europe]] after the [[October Revolution]] in [[Russia]] brought the [[Bolshevik]]s to power in that country. The successor to the state was the [[Kingdom of Hungary (Regency)|Kingdom of Hungary]], which was formed after the [[Romanian Army]] pulled out of Hungary. |
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The Hungarian heads of government applied controversial doctrinal measures in both foreign (internationalism instead of national interests during wartime) and domestic policy (planned economy and heightened class struggle) that made them lose the favor of the majority of the population.{{sfn|Király|Pastor|1988|p=4}} The attempt of the new executive to profoundly change the lifestyle and the system of values of the population proved to be a resounding failure;{{sfn|Völgyes|1971|p=61}} After the withdrawal from Slovakia, the application of some measures aimed at regaining popular support was ordered, but without great success;{{sfn|Király|Pastor|1988|p=166}} in particular, the ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages was repealed, and attempts were made to improve the monetary situation and food supply.{{sfn|Király|Pastor|1988|p=166}} Unable to apply these policies effectively, the republic had already lost the support of the majority of the population between June and July, which led, together with the military defeats, to its downfall.{{sfn|Király|Pastor|1988|p=166}} The failure of internal reform was compounded by the political and economic isolation imposed on Hungary by the Triple Entente, the military failures against neighboring countries, and the impossibility of joining forces with the [[Red Army]] because of the ongoing [[Russian Civil War]] contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Republic.{{sfn|Völgyes|1971|p=88}} |
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== Formation == |
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As the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Monarchy]] collapsed in 1918 an independent [[Hungarian Democratic Republic]] was formed after the [[Aster Revolution]]. Official proclamation of the republic was on 16 November 1918 and its president became [[Mihály Károlyi]]. Károlyi struggled to establish the government's authority and to control the country. |
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==Overview== |
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An initial nucleus of a [[Hungarian Communist Party|Hungarian communist party]] had been organized in a [[Moscow]] hotel on 4 November 1918, when a group of Hungarian prisoners of war and some other communist sympathizers formed a Central Committee. Led by [[Béla Kun]], the first members returned to Hungary, and on 24 November officially created the "Kommunisták Magyarországi Pártja" and started to recruit new members and propagate the party's ideas, radicalising many of the Social Democrats in the process. By February 1919, the party numbered 30,000 to 40,000 members, including many unemployed ex-soldiers, young intellectuals and ethnic minorities.<ref name="locg">[http://www.workmall.com/wfb2001/hungary/hungary_history_hungarian_soviet_republic.html The Library of Congress Country Studies – Hungarian Soviet Republic]</ref> |
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When the Hungarian Soviet Republic was established in 1919, it controlled about 23% of the territory of [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]]'s previous pre-World War I territories (325,411 km<sup>2</sup>). It was the successor of the [[First Hungarian Republic]] and lasted from 21 March to 1 August of the same year. Though the ''[[de jure]]'' leader of the Hungarian Soviet Republic was president [[Sándor Garbai]], the ''[[de facto]]'' power was in the hands of foreign minister [[Béla Kun]], who maintained direct contact with [[Vladimir Lenin]] via radiotelegraph. It was Lenin who gave the direct orders and advice to Béla Kun via constant radio communication with the [[Kremlin]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Berger|first=Arthur Asa|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QtwzDwAAQBAJ|title=The Great Globe Itself: A Preface to World Affairs|publisher=Routledge|page=85–[https://books.google.com/books?id=QtwzDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT86 86]|isbn=9781351481861|access-date=6 October 2017|archive-date=17 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317121459/https://books.google.com/books?id=QtwzDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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It was the second [[socialist state]] in the world to be formed, preceded only by [[Soviet Russia]] after the [[October Revolution]] in [[Imperial Russia]] which brought the [[Bolsheviks]] to power. The Soviet Republic had [[Revolutions and interventions in Hungary (1918–1920)|military conflicts]] with the [[Kingdom of Romania]], the [[Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes]], and the evolving [[Czechoslovakia]]. It ended on 1 August when Hungarians sent representatives to negotiate their surrender to the [[Hungarian–Romanian War of 1919|Romanian]] forces. |
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The Communist party chose the title the "Kommunisták Magyarországi Pártja" (The Party of Communists from Hungary) instead of "Magyar Kommunista Párt" (Hungarian Communist Party). The Communists – "The Reds" – came to power largely thanks to being the only group with an organized fighting force, and they promised that Hungary would defend its territory without conscription. (Kun promised the military help of the Soviet [[Red Army]] against the Romanian Czechoslovak and Yugoslav forces). |
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==World War I and the First Hungarian Republic== |
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{{History of Hungary}} |
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===Political and military situation=== |
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[[Austria-Hungary]]'s [[Habsburg]] monarchy collapsed in 1918, and the independent [[First Hungarian Republic]] was formed after the [[Aster Revolution]]. The official proclamation of the republic was on 16 November and the liberal Count [[Mihály Károlyi]] became its president. Károlyi struggled to establish the government's authority and to control the country. The [[Royal Hungarian Honvéd|Hungarian Royal Honvéd army]] still had more than 1,400,000 soldiers<ref>{{cite book|last=Kitchen|first=Martin|year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=36WsAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA190|title=Europe Between the Wars|publisher=Routledge|page=190|isbn=9781317867531|access-date=21 January 2021|archive-date=17 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317121518/https://books.google.com/books?id=36WsAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA190|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Romsics|first=Ignác|year=2002|title=Dismantling of Historic Hungary: The Peace Treaty of Trianon, 1920|series=CHSP Hungarian Studies Series – East European Monographs|volume=3|publisher=Social Science Monographs|page=62|isbn=9780880335058}}</ref> when Mihály Károlyi was announced as prime minister of Hungary. Károlyi yielded to United States president [[Woodrow Wilson]]'s demand for [[pacifism]] by ordering the [[unilateral]] self-disarmament of the [[Hungarian Army]]. This happened under the direction of Minister of War [[Béla Linder]], on 2 November 1918.<ref name="Dixon 1986">Dixon, John C. (1986). [https://books.google.com/books?id=OKDRvNHdraoC&pg=PA34 ''Defeat and Disarmament, Allied Diplomacy and Politics of Military Affairs in Austria, 1918–1922''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317121517/https://books.google.com/books?id=OKDRvNHdraoC&pg=PA34 |date=17 March 2023 }}. Associated University Presses. p. 34.</ref><ref name="Sharp 2008">Sharp, Alan (2008). [https://books.google.com/books?id=NQodBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA156 ''The Versailles Settlement: Peacemaking after the First World War, 1919–1923'']{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 156. {{ISBN|9781137069689}}.</ref> Due to the unilateral disarmament of its army, Hungary was to remain without a national defence at a time of particular vulnerability. The Hungarian self-disarmament made the occupation of Hungary directly possible for the relatively small armies of Romania, the Franco-Serbian army and the armed forces of the newly established Czechoslovakia. |
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On the request of the Austro-Hungarian government, an armistice was granted to Austria-Hungary on 3 November by the Allies.<ref name="Armstice of 3 Nov">{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/law/help/us-treaties/bevans/m-ust000002-0001.pdf|title=Armistice with Austria-Hungary|website=Library of Congress|publisher=United States Congress|accessdate=5 May 2020|archive-date=3 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103130613/https://www.loc.gov/law/help/us-treaties/bevans/m-ust000002-0001.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Military and political events changed rapidly and drastically thereafter. On 5 November, the [[Serbian Army]], with the help of the [[French Army]], crossed southern borders. On 8 November, the [[Czechoslovak Army]] crossed the northern borders. On 13 November, the [[Romanian Army]] crossed the eastern borders of the [[Kingdom of Hungary]]. During the rule of Károlyi's pacifist cabinet, Hungary lost control over approximately 75% of its former pre-World War I territories (325,411 km²) without armed resistance and was subject to foreign occupation.<ref>{{cite web|last=Agárdy|first=Csaba|date=6 June 2016|url=https://www.veol.hu/hirek/trianon-volt-az-utolso-csepp-1772297/|title=Trianon volt az utolsó csepp – A Magyar Királyság sorsa már jóval a békeszerződés aláírása előtt eldőlt|website=VEOL|language=hu|publisher=Mediaworks Hungary|accessdate=6 June 2016|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624182358/https://www.veol.hu/hirek/trianon-volt-az-utolso-csepp-1772297/|url-status=dead}}</ref> For their part, the neighboring countries used the so-called "struggle against [[communism]]", first against the capitalist and liberal government of Count Mihály Károlyi and later against the soviet republic of communist Bela Kun, as a justification for their [[expansionist]] ambitions.{{sfn|Király|Pastor|1988|p=4}} |
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Kun founded a newspaper, called ''Vörös Újság'' ('Red News'), and concentrated on attacking Károlyi's government. During the following months, the Communist Party's power-base rapidly expanded. Their supporters began to stage aggressive demonstrations against the media. In one crucial incident, a demonstration turned violent on 20 February and the protesters attacked the editorial office of the Social Democrats' official paper, called ''[[Népszava]]'' (''People's Word''). In the ensuing chaos, seven people—including policemen—were killed. The government arrested the leaders of the Communist party,<ref name="locg"/> banned ''Vörös Újság'' and closed down the party's buildings. The arrests were particularly violent, with police officers openly beating the communists. This resulted in a wave of public sympathy for the Communist Party. On 1 March, ''Vörös Újság'' was given permission to publish again, and the Communist Party's premises were re-opened. The leaders were permitted to receive guests in their prison, which allowed them to keep up with political affairs. |
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===Formation of the Communist Party=== |
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On 20 March Károlyi announced that the [[Dénes Berinkey]] government would resign. On 21 March he informed the Council of Ministers that only the Social Democrats could form a new government, as they were the party with the highest public support. In order to form a governing coalition, the Social Democrats started negotiations with the Communist leaders—who were still imprisoned—and decided to merge their two parties under the name of Hungarian Socialist Party.<ref>Borsanyi, Gyorgy, The life of a Communist revolutionary, Bela Kun, translated by Mario Fenyo; Social Science Monographs, Boulder, Colorado; Columbia University Press, New York, 1993, p178.</ref> For the Social Democrats, an alliance with the KMP not only increased their standing with the common people, but also gave them a potential link to the increasingly powerful Russian Communist Party, as Kun had ties with prominent Russian Bolsheviks. President Károlyi, who was an outspoken anti-Communist, was not informed about the fusion of the parties. Thus, while believing to have appointed a Socialist government, he found himself faced with one dominated by Communists. |
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[[File:Fegyverbe!.png|thumb|Hungarian communist propaganda poster from 1919 reads: "To Arms! To Arms!"]] |
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An initial nucleus of a [[Party of Communists in Hungary]] had been organized in a hotel on 4 November 1918, when a group of former Hungarian prisoners of war and other communist proponents formed a Central Committee in the downtown of Moscow. Led by [[Béla Kun]], the inner circle of the freshly established party returned to Budapest from Moscow on 16 November.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mary Jo Nye|author-link=Mary Jo Nye|title=Michael Polanyi and His Generation: Origins of the Social Construction of Science|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|year=2011|page=13|isbn=978-0-226-61065-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7CLTNAzcynMC&pg=PA13|access-date=30 December 2019|archive-date=17 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317121501/https://books.google.com/books?id=7CLTNAzcynMC&pg=PA13|url-status=live}}</ref> On 24 November, they created the Party of Communists from Hungary (Hungarian: ''Kommunisták Magyarországi Pártja'', KMP). The name was chosen instead of the Hungarian Communist Party because the vast majority of supporters were from the urban industrial working class in Hungary which at the time was largely made up of people from non-Hungarian ethnic backgrounds, with ethnic Hungarians a minority in the new party itself.<ref>E. Raffay, Trianon Titkai (Secrets of Trianon), Szikra Press, Budapest 1990 ({{ISBN|9632174771}}), page 13.</ref> The party recruited members while propagating its ideas, radicalising many members of the [[Social Democratic Party of Hungary]] in the process. By February 1919, the party numbered 30,000 to 40,000 members, including many unemployed ex-soldiers, young intellectuals and ethnic minorities.<ref name="locg">{{Cite web|url=https://www.workmall.com/wfb2001/hungary/hungary_history_hungarian_soviet_republic.html|title=Hungarian Soviet Republic|website=www.workmall.com|access-date=3 August 2022|archive-date=28 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328065618/https://www.workmall.com/wfb2001/hungary/hungary_history_hungarian_soviet_republic.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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== Communist policies == |
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{{Refimprove|date=August 2011}} |
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Following [[Lenin]]'s model, but without the direct participation of the workers councils (soviets) from which it took its name, the newly-united Socialist Party created a government called the Revolutionary Governing Council, which proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic and dismissed President Károlyi on 21 March. This government consisted of a Socialist-Communist coalition, but with the exception of Kun, all commissars were former Social Democrats.<ref>Janos, Andrew C. & Slottman, William (editors) ''Revolution in perspective: essays on the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919'', Center for Slavic and East European Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 1971, p68</ref> The government was led by [[Sándor Garbai]], but Kun, as Commissar of Foreign Affairs, held the real power. Under Kun, the new government, which had adopted in full the programme of the Communists, decreed the abolition of aristocratic titles and privileges, the separation of [[church and state]], and they codified the [[freedom of speech]] and [[freedom of assembly|assembly]], free education, language and cultural rights to minorities (the last of which, at least, was not implemented in practice).<ref name="locg"/> |
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Kun founded a newspaper, called ''Vörös Újság'' (''Red News'') and concentrated on attacking Károlyi's liberal government. The party became popular among the Budapest proletariat, it also promised that Hungary would be able to defend its territory even without [[conscription]]. Kun promised military help and intervention of the Soviet [[Red Army]], which never came, against non-communist Romanian, Czechoslovak, French and Yugoslav forces. During the following months, the Communist party's power-base rapidly expanded. Its supporters began to stage aggressive demonstrations against the media and against the Social Democratic Party. The Communists considered the Social Democrats as their main rivals, because the Social Democrats recruited their political supporters from the same social class: the industrial working class of the cities. In one crucial incident, a demonstration turned violent on 20 February and the protesters attacked the editorial office of the Social Democratic Party of Hungary's official newspaper called ''[[Népszava]]'' (''People's Word''). In the ensuing chaos, seven people, some policemen, were killed. The government arrested the leaders of the Communist party,<ref name="locg" /> banned its daily newspaper ''Vörös Újság'', and closed down the party's buildings. The arrests were particularly violent, with police officers openly beating the communists. This resulted in a wave of public sympathy for the party among the masses of Budapester proletariat. On 1 March, ''Vörös Újság'' was given permission to publish again, and the Communist party's premises were re-opened. The leaders were permitted to receive guests in prison, which allowed them to keep up with political affairs. |
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The Communist government also nationalized industrial and commercial enterprises, and socialized housing, transport, banking, medicine, cultural institutions, and all landholdings of more than 40 [[hectare]]s. Kun’s economic policy created high inflation while leading to food shortages across the land. The public support for Communists was also heavily dependent on their promise of restoring Hungary's imperial borders.<ref name="locg"/> Kun took steps towards normalizing foreign relations with the [[Triple Entente]] powers in an effort to gain back some of the land that Hungary was set to lose in the post-war negotiations. |
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==Communist rule== |
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[[File:Hung.rev.leaders.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Leaders of the Hungarian Soviet Republic. [[Tibor Szamuely]], [[Béla Kun]], [[Jenő Landler]]. Monument in [[Budapest]].]] |
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===Coup d'état=== |
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In a radio dispatch to the [[Russian SFSR]], Kun informed Lenin that a "[[dictatorship of the proletariat]]" had been established in Hungary and asked for a treaty of alliance with the Russian SFSR.<ref name="locg" /> The Russian SFSR refused because it was itself tied down in the [[Russian Civil War]]. The Hungarian government was thus left on its own, and a Red Guard was established under the command of [[Mátyás Rákosi]]. |
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[[File: A Tanácsköztársaság kikiáltása - 1919. március 21, Kossuth tér.jpg|thumb|Proclamation of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, 21 March 1919]] |
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On 20 March, Károlyi announced that the government of Prime Minister [[Dénes Berinkey]] would resign. The presentation of the [[Vix Note]] proved fatal to the government, which was by then devoid of significant support.{{sfn|Juhász|1979|p=18}} Károlyi and Berinkey had been placed in an untenable situation when they received a note from Paris ordering Hungarian troops to further withdraw their lines. It was widely assumed that the new military lines would be the postwar boundaries. Károlyi and Berinkey concluded that they were not in a position to reject the note although they believed that accepting it would endanger Hungary's territorial integrity. On 21 March, Károlyi informed the Council of Ministers that only Social Democrats could form a new government, as they were the party with the highest public support in the largest cities and especially in Budapest. To form a governing coalition, the Social Democrats started secret negotiations with the Communist leaders, who were still imprisoned, and decided to merge their two parties under the name of the Hungarian Socialist Party.<ref>Borsanyi, Gyorgy, The life of a Communist revolutionary, Bela Kun, translated by Mario Fenyo; Social Science Monographs, Boulder, Colorado; Columbia University Press, New York, 1993, p. 178.</ref> President Károlyi, who was an outspoken anticommunist, was not informed about the merger. Thus, he swore in what he believed to be a Social Democratic government, only to find himself faced with one dominated by Communists. Károlyi resigned on 21 March. Béla Kun and his fellow communists were released from the Margit Ring prison on the night of 20 March.<ref>{{cite book|author=Howard Morley Sachar|author-link=Howard Morley Sachar|title=Dreamland: Europeans and Jews in the Aftermath of the Great War|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|year=2007|page=409|isbn=9780307425676|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XfNKQ8bLYLUC&pg=PA107|access-date=28 November 2016|archive-date=17 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317121514/https://books.google.com/books?id=XfNKQ8bLYLUC&pg=PA107|url-status=live}}</ref> The liberal president Károlyi was arrested by the new Communist government on the first day; in July, he managed to make his escape and flee to Paris.<ref>{{cite book|author=Spencer C. Tucker|author-link=Spencer C. Tucker|title=World War I: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection [5 volumes]: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2014|page=867|isbn=9781851099658|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2YqjfHLyyj8C&q=%22arrest+until+july+1919%22&pg=PA629|access-date=28 November 2020|archive-date=17 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317121520/https://books.google.com/books?id=2YqjfHLyyj8C&q=%22arrest+until+july+1919%22&pg=PA629|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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For the Social Democrats, an alliance with the KMP not only increased their standing with the industrial working class but also gave them a potential link to the increasingly powerful [[Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)]], as Kun had strong ties with prominent Russian Bolsheviks. Following [[Vladimir Lenin]]'s model but without the direct participation of the [[workers' council]]s (soviets) from which it took its name, the newly united Socialist Party created a government called the Revolutionary Governing Council, which proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic and dismissed President Károlyi on 21 March. In a radio dispatch to the [[Russian SFSR]], Kun informed Lenin that a [[dictatorship of the proletariat]] had been established in Hungary and asked for a treaty of alliance with the Russian SFSR.<ref name="locg"/> The Russian SFSR refused because it was itself tied down in the [[Russian Civil War]]. On 23 March, Lenin gave an order to Béla Kun that Social Democrats must be removed from power, so that Hungary could be transformed into a socialist state ruled by a "dictatorship of the proletariat".<ref>{{cite book|author=John Rees|author-link=John Rees (activist)|title=The Algebra of Revolution: The Dialectic and the Classical Marxist Tradition|publisher=[[Psychology Press]]|year=1998|page=255|isbn=9780415198776|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hW58XD73WqAC&pg=PA255|access-date=6 October 2017|archive-date=17 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317121519/https://books.google.com/books?id=hW58XD73WqAC&pg=PA255|url-status=live}}</ref> Accordingly, the Communists started to purge the Social Democrats from the government on the next day.<ref>{{cite book|author=David A. Andelman|author-link=David A. Andelman|title=A Shattered Peace: Versailles 1919 and the Price We Pay Today|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2009|page=193|isbn=9780470564721|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3H1yONggqlkC&pg=PA193|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=17 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317121532/https://books.google.com/books?id=3H1yONggqlkC&pg=PA193|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Timothy C. Dowling|title=Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2014|page=447|isbn=9781598849486|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA447|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=17 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317121521/https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA447|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In addition, a group of 200 armed men—known as the [[Lenin Boys]]—formed a mobile detachment under the leadership of [[József Cserny]]. This detachment was deployed at various locations around the country where [[counter-revolutionary]] movements were suspected to operate. The Lenin Boys, as well as other similar groups and agitators killed and [[Red Terror#Hungarian red terror|terrorised]] many people (e.g. armed with hand grenades and using their rifles' butts they disbanded religious ceremonies).<ref>{{cite book | first = János | last = Kodolányi | authorlink = János Kodolányi | title = Süllyedő világ | year = 1979 | origyear = 1941 | location = Budapest | publisher = Magvető | isbn = 9789632709352 | oclc = 7627920 | language = Hungarian }}</ref> They executed victims without trial.<ref>See resources in the article [[Red Terror#Hungarian Red Terror|Red Terror]].</ref> This caused a number of conflicts with the local population, some of which turned violent. |
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== |
===Garbai government=== |
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[[File:Hungarian Government 1919.jpg|thumb|The government of the Hungarian Soviet Republic from left to right: [[Sándor Garbai]], [[Béla Kun]], [[Vilmos Böhm]], [[Tibor Szamuely]], [[György Nyisztor]], [[Jenő Varga]], [[Zsigmond Kunfi]], [[Dezső Bokányi]], [[József Pogány]], [[Béla Vágó]], [[Zoltán Rónai]], [[Károly Vántus]], [[Jenő Landler]], [[Béla Szántó]], [[Sándor Szabados]], [[György Lukács]], [[Jenő Hamburger]], [[Gyula Hevesi]], and [[Antal Dovcsák]].]] |
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{{See also|Hungarian–Romanian War of 1919}} |
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The government was formally led by Sándor Garbai, but Kun, as the Commissar of Foreign Affairs, held the real power because only Kun had the acquaintance and friendship with Lenin. He was the only person in the government who met and talked to the Bolshevik leader during the Russian Revolution, and Kun kept the contact with the [[Kremlin]] via radio communication. The ministries, often rotated among the various members of the government, were: |
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[[File:Pepperspeaks.jpg|thumb|300px|right|[[József Pogány]] (a.k.a. John Pepper) speaks to communist soldiers.]] |
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* [[Sándor Garbai]] president and prime minister of the Hungarian Soviet Republic |
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[[Image:Heroes Square in 1919.jpg|right|thumb|300px|During the [[Hungarian Soviet Republic]] in 1919, the [[Hősök tere|Heroes Square of Budapest]] was completely covered by red textile and at the basement of the obelisk a new statue was erected: Marx with a worker and a peasant. The statues of Hungarian national heroes were toppled.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9smq580awFg&feature=related</ref> The Hungarian national symbols were banned, many Hungarian historic monuments were destroyed in the name of [[internationalism]].]] |
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* [[Jenő Landler]] commissar of the interior |
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* [[Sándor Csizmadia]], [[Károly Vántus]], [[Jenő Hamburger]], and [[György Nyisztor]] – commissars of agriculture |
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* [[József Pogány]], later also [[Rezső Fiedler]], [[József Haubrich]] and [[Béla Szántó]] – commissars of Defense |
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* [[Zoltán Rónai]], later also [[István Ládai|István Láday]] – commissars of Justice |
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* [[Jenő Landler]] – commissar of trade |
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* [[Mór Erdélyi]], later also [[Bernát Kondor]] – commissars of food |
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* [[Zsigmond Kunfi]], later also [[György Lukács]], [[Tibor Szamuely]], and [[Sándor Szabados]] – commissars of education |
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* Béla Kun – commissar of foreign affairs |
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* [[Dezső Bokányi]] – commissar of labor |
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* [[Henrik Kalmár]] – commissar of German affairs |
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* [[Jenő Varga]], later also [[Gyula Lengyel]] – commissars of Finance |
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* [[Vilmos Böhm]] – commissar for socialism, later also [[Antal Dovcsák]] |
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After the declaration of the constitution changes took place in the commissariat. The new ministries were: |
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In late May, after the Entente military representative demanded more territorial concessions from Hungary, Kun attempted to fulfill his promise to restore Hungary's borders. At some point in June, the Hungarian Red Army invaded the eastern part of the newly-forming [[Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak state]] (today's [[Slovakia]]), then controlled by Czechoslovak forces and declared a [[Slovak Soviet Republic]] in [[Prešov]] on 16 June 1919. The Hungarian Red Army achieved some military successes: under the lead of Colonel Aurél Stromfeld, ousting Czech troops from the north, and planned to march against the Romanian army in the east. Despite initial military success, however, Kun withdrew his troops about three weeks later when the French promised the Hungarian government that the Romanian forces would withdraw from the [[Tiszántúl]]. This concession shook his popular support. Following the Red Army's retreat from the north, the Romanian forces were not pulled back. |
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* Jenő Varga, [[Mátyás Rákosi]], [[Gyula Hevesi]], [[József Kelen]], [[Ferenc Bajáki]] – commissars of economic production |
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* Jenő Landler, [[Béla Vágó]] – commissars of internal affairs, railways and navigation |
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* Béla Kun, [[Péter Ágoston]] and [[József Pogány]] – commissars of Foreign Affairs |
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===Policies=== |
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The situation of the Hungarian Communists began to deteriorate when, after a failed coup by the Social Democrats on 24 June, the new Communist government of [[Antal Dovcsák]] resorted to large-scale reprisals. [[Revolutionary tribunal (Hungary)|Revolutionary tribunals]] ordered executions of people who were suspected of having been involved in the attempted coup. This became known as the "[[Red Terror (Hungary)|Red Terror]]", and greatly reduced domestic support for the government. |
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[[File: Enemy Activities - Miscellaneous - The Hungarian Revolution. Automobile loaded with revolutionists dashing through streets of Budapest - NARA - 31480144 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|An automobile loaded with communists dashing through streets of Budapest, March 1919]] |
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This government consisted of a coalition of socialists and communists, but with the exception of Kun, all commissars were former social democrats.<ref>Janos, Andrew C. & Slottman, William (editors) ''Revolution in perspective: essays on the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919'', Center for Slavic and East European Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 1971, p. 68.</ref> Under the rule of Kun, the new government, which had adopted in full the program of the Communists, decreed the abolition of aristocratic titles and privileges, the [[separation of church and state]], codified [[freedom of assembly]] and [[freedom of speech]], and implemented free education and language and cultural rights to minorities.<ref name="locg"/> |
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The Communist government also nationalized industrial and commercial enterprises and socialized housing, transport, banking, medicine, cultural institutions, and all landholdings of more than 40 [[hectare]]s. Public support for the Communists was also heavily dependent on their promise of restoring Hungary's former borders.<ref name="locg" /> The government took steps toward normalizing foreign relations with the [[Triple Entente]] powers in an effort to gain back some of the lands that Hungary was set to lose in the post-war negotiations. The Communists remained bitterly unpopular<ref>{{cite book|author=Robin Okey|title=Eastern Europe 1740–1985: Feudalism to Communism|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2003|page=162|isbn=9781134886876|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-8qIAgAAQBAJ&q=%22bitterly+unpopular+in+the+countryside%22&pg=PA162|access-date=28 November 2020|archive-date=17 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317122000/https://books.google.com/books?id=-8qIAgAAQBAJ&q=%22bitterly+unpopular+in+the+countryside%22&pg=PA162|url-status=live}}</ref> in the Hungarian countryside, where the authority of that government was often nonexistent.<ref>{{cite book|author=John Lukacs|author-link=John Lukacs|title=Budapest 1900: A Historical Portrait of a City and Its Culture|publisher=[[Grove Press]]|year=1990|page=2012|isbn=9780802132505|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ajeNDt-QsyIC&q=%22over+the+Hungarian+countryside+was+often+nonexistent%22|access-date=7 August 2020|archive-date=17 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317122059/https://books.google.com/books?id=ajeNDt-QsyIC&q=%22over+the+Hungarian+countryside+was+often+nonexistent%22|url-status=live}}</ref> The Communist party and their policies had real popular support among only the proletarian masses of large industrial centers, especially in Budapest, where the working class represented a high proportion of the inhabitants. |
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The Hungarian Soviet found it increasingly difficult to fight Czechoslovakia and later [[Romania]] with the small volunteer force, and support for both the war and the Communist Party was waning at home, partly due to the most dedicated Communists having volunteered for combat. |
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[[File:Bela.Kun.Revolution.1919.jpg|thumb|[[Béla Kun]], the ''de facto'' leader of the Hungarian Soviet Republic]] |
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Kun then unsuccessfully [[Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919|turned the Hungarian Red Army on the Romanians]], who broke through the weak Hungarian lines on 30 July. |
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The Hungarian government was left on its own, and a Red Guard was established under the command of [[Mátyás Rákosi]]. In addition, a group of 200 armed men known as the [[Lenin Boys]] formed a mobile detachment under the leadership of [[József Cserny (commander)|József Cserny]]. This detachment was deployed at various locations around the country where [[counter-revolutionary]] movements were suspected to operate. The Lenin Boys as well as other similar groups and agitators killed and terrorised many people (e.g. armed with hand grenades and using their rifles' butts they disbanded religious ceremonies).<ref>{{cite book |first=János |last=Kodolányi |author-link=János Kodolányi |title=Süllyedő világ |year=1979 |orig-year=1941 |location=Budapest |publisher=[[Magvető]] |isbn=978-963-270-935-2 |oclc=7627920 |language=hu}}</ref> They executed victims without trial, and this caused a number of conflicts with the local population, some of which turned violent. The situation of the Hungarian Communists began to deteriorate in the capital city Budapest after a failed coup by the Social Democrats on 24 June; the newly composed Communist government of Sándor Garbai resorted to large-scale reprisals. [[Revolutionary tribunal (Hungary)|Revolutionary tribunals]] ordered executions of people who were suspected of having been involved in the attempted coup. This became known as the [[Red Terror (Hungary)|Red Terror]], and greatly reduced domestic support for the government even among the working classes of the highly industrialized suburb districts and metropolitan area of Budapest. |
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=== Foreign policy scandal and downfall === |
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Béla Kun together with other high-ranking Communists fled to Austria on 1 August<ref name="locg"/> with only a minority, including [[Georg Lukács|György Lukács]], the former Commissar for Culture and noted Marxist philosopher, remaining to organise an underground Communist Party.<ref>Borsanyi, Gyorgy, The life of a Communist revolutionary, Bela Kun, translated by Mario Fenyo; Social Science Monographs, Boulder, Colorado; Columbia University Press, New York, 1993, p205.</ref> The Budapest Workers' Soviet elected a new government, headed by [[Gyula Peidl]], which only lasted a few days before the Romanian forces entered Budapest on 6 August, putting an end to the Hungarian Soviet Republic.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://epa.niif.hu/00700/00775/00014/109-113.html |title=Magyar Tudomány 2000. január |publisher=Epa.niif.hu |date= |accessdate=2008-11-21}}</ref><ref>Ignác Romsics: Magyarország története a XX. században, 2004, p. 134</ref><ref name="loc">{{cite web |url=http://www.workmall.com/wfb2001/hungary/hungary_history_hungarian_soviet_republic.html |title=Hungary: Hungarian Soviet Republic |publisher=Library of Congress Country Studies |at=Republished at geographic.com |date=September 1989 |accessdate=7 October 2010}}</ref> |
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{{see also|Hungarian–Romanian War of 1919|Revolutions and interventions in Hungary (1918–1920)}} |
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[[File:Hungarian Red Army in Kassa (1919).webm|thumb|Mass celebration of the Hungarian Red Army's march to Kassa (Košice) during the [[Hungarian–Czechoslovak War]]]] |
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[[File:Hung.rev.leaders.jpg|thumb|Leaders of the Hungarian Soviet Republic: [[Tibor Szamuely]], [[Béla Kun]], [[Jenő Landler]] (left to right). The monument is now located at the [[Memento Park]] open-air museum outside Budapest.]] |
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In late May, after the Entente military representative demanded more territorial concessions from Hungary, Kun attempted to fulfill his promise to adhere to Hungary's historical borders. The men of the Hungarian Red Army were recruited from the volunteers of the Budapest proletariat.<ref>{{cite book |author=Eötvös Loránd University |author-link=Eötvös Loránd University |title=Annales Universitatis Scientiarum Budapestinensis de Rolando Eötvös Nominatae, Sectio philosophica et sociologica, Volumes 13–15 |language=hu |trans-title= |publisher=Universita |year=1979 |page=141 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MazWAAAAMAAJ&q=%22proletariat+of+budapest+rose+in+arms%22 |access-date=17 December 2017 |archive-date=17 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317122100/https://books.google.com/books?id=MazWAAAAMAAJ&q=%22proletariat+of+budapest+rose+in+arms%22 |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> In June, the Hungarian Red Army invaded the eastern part of the newly forming [[Czechoslovak state]] (today's [[Slovakia]]), the former so-called [[Upper Hungary]]. The Hungarian Red Army achieved some military success early on: under the leadership of Colonel [[Aurél Stromfeld]], it ousted Czech troops from the north, and planned to march against the [[Romanian Army]] in the east. Despite promises for the restoration of the former borders of Hungary, the Communists declared the establishment of the [[Slovak Soviet Republic]] in [[Prešov]] on 16 June.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jack A. |last=Goldstone |author-link=Jack A. Goldstone |title=The Encyclopedia of Political Revolutions |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2015 |page=227 |isbn=9781135937584 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gre5CAAAQBAJ&q=%22slovak+soviet+republic%22+stromfeld&pg=PT271 |access-date=28 November 2020 |archive-date=17 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317121954/https://books.google.com/books?id=Gre5CAAAQBAJ&q=%22slovak+soviet+republic%22+stromfeld&pg=PT271 |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> |
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After the proclamation of the Slovak Soviet Republic, the Hungarian nationalists and patriots soon realized that the new communist government had no intention of recapturing the lost territories, only in spreading communist ideology and the establishment of other communist states in Europe, thus sacrificing Hungarian national interests.<ref>{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Pastor |title=Revolutions and Interventions in Hungary and Its Neighbor States, 1918–1919, Volume 20 |publisher=Social Science Monographs |year=1988 |page=441 |isbn=9780880331371 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uwuTAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Hungarian+soviet+republic%22+lenin%27s+intentions |access-date=10 August 2016 |archive-date=17 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317121956/https://books.google.com/books?id=uwuTAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Hungarian+soviet+republic%22+lenin%27s+intentions |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> The Hungarian patriots in the Red Army and the professional military officers saw this as a betrayal, and their support for the government began to erode (the communists and their government supported the establishment of the Slovak Communist state, while the Hungarian patriots wanted to keep the reoccupied territories for Hungary). Despite a series of military victories against the Czechoslovak army, the Hungarian Red Army started to disintegrate due to tension between nationalists and communists during the establishment of the Slovak Soviet Republic. The concession eroded support of the communist government among professional military officers and nationalists in the Hungarian Red Army; even the [[General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Hungary#Chief of General Staff|chief of the general staff]] Aurél Stromfeld, resigned his post in protest.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Peter F. |last1=Sugar |first2=Péter |last2=Hanák |first3=Tibor |last3=Frank |title=A History of Hungary |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |year=1994 |page=308 |isbn=9780253208675 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SKwmGQCT0MAC&pg=PA308 |access-date=26 August 2016 |archive-date=17 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317121953/https://books.google.com/books?id=SKwmGQCT0MAC&pg=PA308 |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> |
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In the power vacuum created by the fall of the Soviet Republic and the presence of [[Romanian Army]]. Semi-regular detachments (technically under Horthy's command, but mostly independent in practice) initiated a campaign of violence against Communists, [[left-wing politics|leftists]] and [[Jew]]s, known as the [[White Terror (Hungary)|White Terror]].<ref name="terror">{{cite web |url=http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/hotel/hungary1919b.htm |title="White Terror" in Hungary 1919-1921 |publisher=Armed Conflict Events Database |date=16 December 2000 |accessdate=7 October 2010}}</ref> Many supporters of the Hungarian Soviet Republic were executed without trial; others, including Péter Ágoston, Ferenc Bajáki, Dezső Bokányi, Antal Dovcsák, József Haubrich, Henrik Kalmár, József Kelen, György Nyisztor, Sándor Szabados, and Károly Vántus, were imprisoned by trial ("comissar suits"). Most of them were later released to the Soviet Union by amnesty during the reign of Horthy, after a prisoner exchange agreement between Hungary and the Russian Soviet government in 1921. In all, about 415 prisoners were released as a result of this agreement.<ref>[http://www.mediawave.hu/mediawave/konf/1999/2001_BUN_ES_BUNHODES_FAZEKAS.html 2000 - BŰN ÉS BŰNHŐDÉS<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Kun himself and an unknown number of other Hungarian communists were executed during the [[Great Purge]] of the late 1930s.<ref name="locg"/> |
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When the French promised the Hungarian government that Romanian forces would withdraw from the [[Tiszántúl]], Kun withdrew his remaining military units who had remained loyal after the political fiasco in Upper Hungary; however, following the Red Army's retreat from the north, the Romanian forces were not pulled back. Kun then unsuccessfully tried to turn the remaining units of the demoralized Hungarian Red Army on the Romanians with [[Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919]]. The Hungarian Soviet found it increasingly difficult to fight Romania with its small force of communist volunteers from Budapest, and support for both the war and the Communist party was waning at home. After the demoralizing retreat from northern Hungary (later part of Czechoslovakia), only the most dedicated Hungarian Communists volunteered for combat, and the Romanian Army broke through the weak lines of the Hungarian Red Army on 30 July. |
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[[File:Pepperspeaks.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|[[József Pogány]] speaking to soldiers]] |
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Béla Kun, together with other high-ranking Communists, fled to Vienna on 1 August<ref name="locg"/> with only a minority, including [[Georg Lukács|György Lukács]], the former Commissar for Culture and noted Marxist philosopher, remaining to organise an underground Communist party.<ref>Borsanyi, Gyorgy, The life of a Communist revolutionary, Bela Kun, translated by Mario Fenyo; Social Science Monographs, Boulder, Colorado; Columbia University Press, New York, 1993, p205.</ref> Before they fled to Vienna, Kun and his followers took along numerous art treasures and the gold stocks of the National Bank.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A05E4D91338EE32A25750C1A96E9C946896D6CF |work=[[The New York Times]] |title=Find Red Leaders' Loot.; Bela Kun and Szamuely Hid Valuables They Had Stolen |date=13 August 1919 |access-date=4 May 2010 |archive-date=10 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110053235/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A05E4D91338EE32A25750C1A96E9C946896D6CF |url-status=live}}</ref> The Budapest Workers' Soviet elected a new government, headed by [[Gyula Peidl]], which lasted only a few days before Romanian forces entered Budapest on 6 August.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://epa.niif.hu/00700/00775/00014/109-113.html |title=Magyar Tudomány 2000. január |publisher=Epa.niif.hu |access-date=2008-11-21 |archive-date=26 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226233751/http://epa.niif.hu/00700/00775/00014/109-113.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Ignác Romsics: Magyarország története a XX. században, 2004, p. 134.</ref><ref name="loc">{{cite web |url=http://www.workmall.com/wfb2001/hungary/hungary_history_hungarian_soviet_republic.html |title=Hungary: Hungarian Soviet Republic |publisher=Library of Congress Country Studies |at=Republished at geographic.com |date=September 1989 |access-date=7 October 2010 |archive-date=26 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426200635/http://www.workmall.com/wfb2001/hungary/hungary_history_hungarian_soviet_republic.html |url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In the power vacuum created by the fall of the soviet republic and the presence of the Romanian Army, semi-regular detachments (technically under [[Miklós Horthy|Horthy]]'s command, but mostly independent in practice) initiated a campaign of violence against communists, [[leftists]], and [[Jew]]s, known as the [[White Terror (Hungary)|White Terror]].<ref name="terror">{{cite web |url=http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/hotel/hungary1919b.htm |title="White Terror" in Hungary 1919–1921 |publisher=Armed Conflict Events Database |date=16 December 2000 |access-date=7 October 2010 |archive-date=1 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601081847/http://onwar.com/aced/data/hotel/hungary1919b.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> Many supporters of the Hungarian Soviet Republic were executed without trial; others, including [[Péter Ágoston]], [[Ferenc Bajáki]], [[Dezső Bokányi]], [[Antal Dovcsák]], [[József Haubrich]], [[Kalmár Henrik]], [[Kelen József]], [[György Nyisztor]], Sándor Szabados, and [[Károly Vántus]], were imprisoned by trial ("comissar suits"). Actor [[Bela Lugosi]], the founder of the country's National Trade Union of Actors (the world's first film actor's union), managed to escape. Most were later released to the Soviet Union by amnesty during the reign of Horthy, after a prisoner exchange agreement between Hungary and the Russian Soviet government in 1921. In all, about 415 prisoners were released as a result of this agreement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mediawave.hu/mediawave/konf/1999/2001_BUN_ES_BUNHODES_FAZEKAS.html |title=2000 – Bűn És Bűnhődés |language=hu |trans-title= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070530055207/http://www.mediawave.hu/mediawave/konf/1999/2001_BUN_ES_BUNHODES_FAZEKAS.html |archive-date=30 May 2007}}</ref> |
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Kun himself, along with an unknown number of other Hungarian communists, were executed during [[Joseph Stalin]]'s [[Great Purge]] of the late 1930s in the Soviet Union, to which they had fled in the 1920s.<ref name="locg"/> Rákosi, one of the survivors of the soviet republic, would go on to be the first leader of the second and longer-lasting attempt at a [[Communist state]] in Hungary, the [[People's Republic of Hungary]], from 1949 to 1956. |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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{{Portal|Communism|Hungary}} |
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*[[Tibor Szamuely]] |
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*[[Aftermath of World War I]] |
* [[Aftermath of World War I]] |
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*[[ |
* [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956]] |
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* [[Red Terror]] |
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*[[Hungarian Revolution of 1956]] |
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*[[Red Terror]] |
*[[Red Terror (Hungary)|Hungarian Red Terror]] |
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* [[Revolutions of 1917–1923]] |
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*[[Red Terror (Hungary)]] |
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*[[Slovak Soviet Republic]] |
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==Notes== |
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{{reflist|group=nb}} |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{reflist|30em}} |
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{{Refimprove|date=February 2008}} |
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{{reflist}} |
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==Bibliography== |
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{{div col|colwidth=30em}} |
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* {{cite journal|last=Balogh|first=Eva S.|year=1975|title=Romanian and Allied Involvement in the Hungarian Coup d'Etat of 1919|journal=East European Quarterly|volume=9|issue=3|pages=297–314|issn=0012-8449}} |
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* {{cite journal|title=The Hungarian Social Democratic Centre and the Fall of Béla Kun|last=Balogh|first=Eva S.|journal=Canadian Slavonic Papers|volume=18|issue=1|date=March 1976|pages=15–35|publisher=Taylor & Francis|doi=10.1080/00085006.1976.11091436|jstor=40867035}} |
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* {{cite journal|title=Hungarian Aristocracy and the White Terror|last=Bodo|first=Bela|journal=Journal of Contemporary History|volume=45|issue=4|date=October 2010|pages=703–724|publisher=SAGE Publications|doi=10.1177/0022009410375255|jstor=25764578|s2cid=154963526}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Juhász|first=Gyula|year=1979|title=Hungarian Foreign Policy, 1919–1945|publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó|isbn=978-96-30-51882-6}} |
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* {{cite book|last1=Janos|first1=Andrew C.|last2=Slottman|first2=William B.|year=1971|title=Revolution in Perspective: Essays on the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-05-20-01920-1}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Janos|first=Andrew C.|title=The Politics of Backwardness in Hungary, 1825–1945|year=1981|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-06-91-10123-1}} |
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* {{cite book|last1=Király|first1=Béla K.|last2=Pastor|first2=Peter|title=War and Society in East Central Europe|year=1988|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-08-80-33137-1}} |
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* {{cite journal|last=Mocsy|first=Istvan I.|year=1983|title=The Uprooted: Hungarian Refugees and Their Impact on Hungary's Domestic Politics, 1918–1921|journal=East European Monographs|isbn=978-08-80-33039-8|doi=10.2307/2499355|jstor=2499355}} |
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* {{cite journal|last=Pastor|first=Peter|title=Hungary Between Wilson and Lenin|journal=East European Monograph|year=1976|isbn=978-09-14-710134|doi=10.2307/2495009|jstor=2495009|s2cid=165079665 |doi-access=free}} |
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* {{cite journal|last=Szilassy|first=Sándor|year=1969|title=Hungary at the Brink of the Cliff 1918–1919|journal=East European|volume=1|issue=3|pages=95–109|issn=0012-8449}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Szilassy|first=Sándor|year=1971|title=Revolutionary Hungary 1918–1921|location=Aston Park, Florida|publisher=Danubian Press|isbn=978-08-79-34005-6}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Swanson|first=John C.|title=Tangible Belonging: Negotiating Germanness in Twentieth-Century Hungary|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|year=2017|isbn=978-0-8229-8199-2}} |
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* {{cite journal|last=Völgyes|first=Iván|year=1970|title=The Hungarian Dictatorship of 1919: Russian Example versus Hungarian Reality|journal=East European Quarterly|volume=1|issue=4|issn=0012-8449}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Völgyes|first=Iván|year=1971|title=Hungary in Revolution, 1918–1919: Nine Essays|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|isbn=978-08-03-20788-2}} |
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* {{cite journal|last=Zsuppán|first=Ferenc Tibor|date=June 1965|title=The Early Activities of the Hungarian Communist Party, 1918–19|journal=The Slavonic and East European Review|volume=43|issue=101|pages=314–334|issn=0037-6795|jstor=4205656}} |
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{{div col end}} |
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==Further reading== |
==Further reading== |
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* |
* György Borsányi, ''The life of a Communist revolutionary, Bela Kun'' translated by Mario Fenyo, Boulder, Colorado: Social Science Monographs, 1993. |
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* Andrew C. Janos and William Slottman (editors), ''Revolution in Perspective: Essays on the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919.'' Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1971. |
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*International Communist Current. [http://en.internationalism.org/ir/139/1919-Hungarian-Revolution-01 "The example of Russia 1917 inspired the workers in Hungary".] |
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* Bennet Kovrig, ''Communism in Hungary: From Kun to Kádár.'' Stanford University: Hoover Institution Press, 1979. |
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*Janos, Andrew C. & Slottman, William (editors) ''Revolution in perspective : essays on the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919'': Published for the University of California, Berkeley, Center for Slavic and East European Studies, Berkeley, California: [[University of California Press]], 1971. |
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*Menczer, |
* Bela Menczer, "Bela Kun and the Hungarian Revolution of 1919," ''History Today,'' vol. 19, no. 5 (May 1969), pp. 299–309. |
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* |
* Peter Pastor, ''Hungary between Wilson and Lenin: The Hungarian Revolution of 1918–1919 and the Big Three.'' Boulder, CO: East European Quarterly, 1976. |
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* [[Thomas L. Sakmyster]], ''A Communist Odyssey: The Life of József Pogány.'' Budapest: Central European University Press, 2012. |
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*Szilassy, Sándor ''Revolutionary Hungary, 1918–1921'', Astor Park. Florida, Danubian Press 1971. |
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* |
* Rudolf Tokes, ''Béla Kun and the Hungarian Soviet Republic: The Origins and Role of the Communist Party of Hungary in the Revolutions of 1918–1919.'' New York: F.A. Praeger, 1967. |
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* Bob Dent, ''Painting the Town Red: Politics and the Arts During the 1919 Hungarian Soviet Republic''. Pluto Press, 2018 |
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*Volgyes, Ivan (editor) ''Hungary in revolution, 1918–19 : nine essays'' Lincoln : [[University of Nebraska Press]], 1971. |
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*Woods, Alan. [http://www.newyouth.com/archives/historicalanalysis/hungary/hungary_1919_forgotten_rev_19791112.asp "The Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919: The Forgotten Revolution"]. 12 November 1979. |
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==External links== |
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{{coord|47.4833|N|19.0333|E|source:kolossus-eswiki|display=title}} |
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* {{cite thesis|last=Gioielli|first=Emily R.|year=2015|url=http://www.etd.ceu.hu/2015/gioielli_emily.pdf|title='White Misrule': Terror and Political Violence During Hungary's Long World War I, 1919–1924|type=PhD|publisher=Central European University|accessdate=3 September 2021|via=Electronic Theses & Dissertations}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2011}} |
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* {{cite journal|last=Hajdu|first=Tibor|year=1979|url=https://archive.org/details/HungarianSovietRepublic|title=The Hungarian Soviet Republic|journal=Studia Histórica|location=Budapest|publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó|issue=131|accessdate=3 September 2021|via=Internet Archive}} |
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** {{cite journal|last=Tokody|first=Gyula|year=1982|title=Review of The Hungarian Soviet Republic|journal=Acta Historica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae|location=Budapest|publisher=Institute of History, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences|volume=28|issue=1/4|pages=182–184|issn=0001-5849|jstor=42555690}} |
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[[Category:Rump states]] |
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[[Category:Aftermath of World War I in Hungary]] |
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[[Category:Communism in Hungary]] |
[[Category:Communism in Hungary]] |
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[[br:Republik Soviedel Hungaria]] |
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[[eo:Hungara Sovetrespubliko]] |
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[[fr:République des conseils de Hongrie]] |
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[[la:Res Publica Hungariae Consiliorum]] |
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[[ja:ハンガリー評議会共和国]] |
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[[ro:Republica Sovietică Ungaria]] |
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Latest revision as of 23:24, 5 December 2024
Soviet Republic of Hungary Magyarországi Tanácsköztársaság (Hungarian) | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
21 March – 1 August 1919 | |||||||||
Motto: Világ proletárjai, egyesüljetek! "Workers of the world, unite!" | |||||||||
Anthem: Internacionálé[1] "The Internationale" | |||||||||
Status | Unrecognized rump state | ||||||||
Capital | Budapest 47°29′00″N 19°02′00″E / 47.4833°N 19.0333°E | ||||||||
Common languages | Hungarian | ||||||||
Demonym(s) | Hungarian | ||||||||
Government | Soviet socialist republic | ||||||||
De facto leader | |||||||||
• 1919 | Béla Kun[nb 1] | ||||||||
Chairman of the Central Executive Council and Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1919 | Sándor Garbai | ||||||||
Legislature | National Assembly of Soviets | ||||||||
Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||
• Established | 21 March 1919 | ||||||||
• Provisional constitution | 23 March 1919 | ||||||||
• Soviet elections | 7-14 April 1919 | ||||||||
• National Assembly of Soviets convenes | 14 June 1919 | ||||||||
• Permanent constitution | 23 June 1919 | ||||||||
• Kun resigns | 1 August 1919 | ||||||||
• People's Republic restored | 2 August 1919 | ||||||||
3 August 1919 | |||||||||
Currency | Hungarian korona | ||||||||
|
The Hungarian Soviet Republic[nb 2], also known as the Socialist Federative Soviet Republic of Hungary[nb 3] was a short-lived communist state[2] that existed from 21 March 1919 to 1 August 1919 (133 days), succeeding the First Hungarian Republic.[3] The Hungarian Soviet Republic was a small communist rump state[4] which, at its time of establishment, controlled approximately only 23% of Hungary's historic territory. The head of government was Sándor Garbai, but the influence of the foreign minister Béla Kun of the Party of Communists in Hungary was much stronger. Unable to reach an agreement with the Triple Entente, which maintained an economic blockade of Hungary, in dispute with neighboring countries over territorial disputes, and beset by profound internal social changes, the Hungarian Soviet Republic failed in its objectives and was abolished a few months after its existence. Its main figure was the Communist Béla Kun,[3] despite the fact that in the first days the majority of the new government consisted of radical Social Democrats.[5] The new system effectively concentrated power in the governing councils, which exercised it in the name of the working class.[6][nb 4]
The new Communist government failed to reach an agreement with the Triple Entente that would lead to the lifting of the economic blockade, the improvement of the new borders or the recognition of the new government by the victorious powers of World War I.[7] A small volunteer army was organized mostly from Budapest factory workers and attempts were made to recover the territories lost to neighboring countries, an objective that had widespread support from many working class people in some larger cities, not only those favorable to the new regime.[8] Initially, thanks to patriotic support from conservative officers, the republican forces advanced against the Czechoslovaks in north Hungary,[9] after suffering a defeat in the east at the hands of the Romanian Army in late April, which led to a retreat on the banks of the Tisza.[10] In mid-June, the birth of the Slovak Soviet Republic was proclaimed, which lasted two weeks until a Hungarian withdrawal at the request of the Triple Entente.[9] Later that month, there was an attempted coup by the Social Democrats of Budapest, which was retaliated by the communist government. On 20 July, the republic launched a new attack on the Romanian posts who were deep in Hungary at the Tisza river.[11] After a few days of the Hungarian advance, the Romanians managed to stop the offensive[12] and break through the Hungarian lines. Kun and most of the government fled to Vienna. The Social-Democrat–Communist government was succeeded by an exclusively Social Democratic one on 1 August.[5][12] The communists left Budapest and went abroad.[12] Despite the opposition from the Entente, the Romanians entered Budapest, the Hungarian capital, on 4 August.[13]
The Hungarian heads of government applied controversial doctrinal measures in both foreign (internationalism instead of national interests during wartime) and domestic policy (planned economy and heightened class struggle) that made them lose the favor of the majority of the population.[14] The attempt of the new executive to profoundly change the lifestyle and the system of values of the population proved to be a resounding failure;[15] After the withdrawal from Slovakia, the application of some measures aimed at regaining popular support was ordered, but without great success;[16] in particular, the ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages was repealed, and attempts were made to improve the monetary situation and food supply.[16] Unable to apply these policies effectively, the republic had already lost the support of the majority of the population between June and July, which led, together with the military defeats, to its downfall.[16] The failure of internal reform was compounded by the political and economic isolation imposed on Hungary by the Triple Entente, the military failures against neighboring countries, and the impossibility of joining forces with the Red Army because of the ongoing Russian Civil War contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Republic.[17]
Overview
When the Hungarian Soviet Republic was established in 1919, it controlled about 23% of the territory of Hungary's previous pre-World War I territories (325,411 km2). It was the successor of the First Hungarian Republic and lasted from 21 March to 1 August of the same year. Though the de jure leader of the Hungarian Soviet Republic was president Sándor Garbai, the de facto power was in the hands of foreign minister Béla Kun, who maintained direct contact with Vladimir Lenin via radiotelegraph. It was Lenin who gave the direct orders and advice to Béla Kun via constant radio communication with the Kremlin.[18]
It was the second socialist state in the world to be formed, preceded only by Soviet Russia after the October Revolution in Imperial Russia which brought the Bolsheviks to power. The Soviet Republic had military conflicts with the Kingdom of Romania, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the evolving Czechoslovakia. It ended on 1 August when Hungarians sent representatives to negotiate their surrender to the Romanian forces.
World War I and the First Hungarian Republic
Political and military situation
Austria-Hungary's Habsburg monarchy collapsed in 1918, and the independent First Hungarian Republic was formed after the Aster Revolution. The official proclamation of the republic was on 16 November and the liberal Count Mihály Károlyi became its president. Károlyi struggled to establish the government's authority and to control the country. The Hungarian Royal Honvéd army still had more than 1,400,000 soldiers[19][20] when Mihály Károlyi was announced as prime minister of Hungary. Károlyi yielded to United States president Woodrow Wilson's demand for pacifism by ordering the unilateral self-disarmament of the Hungarian Army. This happened under the direction of Minister of War Béla Linder, on 2 November 1918.[21][22] Due to the unilateral disarmament of its army, Hungary was to remain without a national defence at a time of particular vulnerability. The Hungarian self-disarmament made the occupation of Hungary directly possible for the relatively small armies of Romania, the Franco-Serbian army and the armed forces of the newly established Czechoslovakia.
On the request of the Austro-Hungarian government, an armistice was granted to Austria-Hungary on 3 November by the Allies.[23] Military and political events changed rapidly and drastically thereafter. On 5 November, the Serbian Army, with the help of the French Army, crossed southern borders. On 8 November, the Czechoslovak Army crossed the northern borders. On 13 November, the Romanian Army crossed the eastern borders of the Kingdom of Hungary. During the rule of Károlyi's pacifist cabinet, Hungary lost control over approximately 75% of its former pre-World War I territories (325,411 km²) without armed resistance and was subject to foreign occupation.[24] For their part, the neighboring countries used the so-called "struggle against communism", first against the capitalist and liberal government of Count Mihály Károlyi and later against the soviet republic of communist Bela Kun, as a justification for their expansionist ambitions.[14]
Formation of the Communist Party
An initial nucleus of a Party of Communists in Hungary had been organized in a hotel on 4 November 1918, when a group of former Hungarian prisoners of war and other communist proponents formed a Central Committee in the downtown of Moscow. Led by Béla Kun, the inner circle of the freshly established party returned to Budapest from Moscow on 16 November.[25] On 24 November, they created the Party of Communists from Hungary (Hungarian: Kommunisták Magyarországi Pártja, KMP). The name was chosen instead of the Hungarian Communist Party because the vast majority of supporters were from the urban industrial working class in Hungary which at the time was largely made up of people from non-Hungarian ethnic backgrounds, with ethnic Hungarians a minority in the new party itself.[26] The party recruited members while propagating its ideas, radicalising many members of the Social Democratic Party of Hungary in the process. By February 1919, the party numbered 30,000 to 40,000 members, including many unemployed ex-soldiers, young intellectuals and ethnic minorities.[27]
Kun founded a newspaper, called Vörös Újság (Red News) and concentrated on attacking Károlyi's liberal government. The party became popular among the Budapest proletariat, it also promised that Hungary would be able to defend its territory even without conscription. Kun promised military help and intervention of the Soviet Red Army, which never came, against non-communist Romanian, Czechoslovak, French and Yugoslav forces. During the following months, the Communist party's power-base rapidly expanded. Its supporters began to stage aggressive demonstrations against the media and against the Social Democratic Party. The Communists considered the Social Democrats as their main rivals, because the Social Democrats recruited their political supporters from the same social class: the industrial working class of the cities. In one crucial incident, a demonstration turned violent on 20 February and the protesters attacked the editorial office of the Social Democratic Party of Hungary's official newspaper called Népszava (People's Word). In the ensuing chaos, seven people, some policemen, were killed. The government arrested the leaders of the Communist party,[27] banned its daily newspaper Vörös Újság, and closed down the party's buildings. The arrests were particularly violent, with police officers openly beating the communists. This resulted in a wave of public sympathy for the party among the masses of Budapester proletariat. On 1 March, Vörös Újság was given permission to publish again, and the Communist party's premises were re-opened. The leaders were permitted to receive guests in prison, which allowed them to keep up with political affairs.
Communist rule
Coup d'état
On 20 March, Károlyi announced that the government of Prime Minister Dénes Berinkey would resign. The presentation of the Vix Note proved fatal to the government, which was by then devoid of significant support.[28] Károlyi and Berinkey had been placed in an untenable situation when they received a note from Paris ordering Hungarian troops to further withdraw their lines. It was widely assumed that the new military lines would be the postwar boundaries. Károlyi and Berinkey concluded that they were not in a position to reject the note although they believed that accepting it would endanger Hungary's territorial integrity. On 21 March, Károlyi informed the Council of Ministers that only Social Democrats could form a new government, as they were the party with the highest public support in the largest cities and especially in Budapest. To form a governing coalition, the Social Democrats started secret negotiations with the Communist leaders, who were still imprisoned, and decided to merge their two parties under the name of the Hungarian Socialist Party.[29] President Károlyi, who was an outspoken anticommunist, was not informed about the merger. Thus, he swore in what he believed to be a Social Democratic government, only to find himself faced with one dominated by Communists. Károlyi resigned on 21 March. Béla Kun and his fellow communists were released from the Margit Ring prison on the night of 20 March.[30] The liberal president Károlyi was arrested by the new Communist government on the first day; in July, he managed to make his escape and flee to Paris.[31]
For the Social Democrats, an alliance with the KMP not only increased their standing with the industrial working class but also gave them a potential link to the increasingly powerful Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), as Kun had strong ties with prominent Russian Bolsheviks. Following Vladimir Lenin's model but without the direct participation of the workers' councils (soviets) from which it took its name, the newly united Socialist Party created a government called the Revolutionary Governing Council, which proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic and dismissed President Károlyi on 21 March. In a radio dispatch to the Russian SFSR, Kun informed Lenin that a dictatorship of the proletariat had been established in Hungary and asked for a treaty of alliance with the Russian SFSR.[27] The Russian SFSR refused because it was itself tied down in the Russian Civil War. On 23 March, Lenin gave an order to Béla Kun that Social Democrats must be removed from power, so that Hungary could be transformed into a socialist state ruled by a "dictatorship of the proletariat".[32] Accordingly, the Communists started to purge the Social Democrats from the government on the next day.[33][34]
Garbai government
The government was formally led by Sándor Garbai, but Kun, as the Commissar of Foreign Affairs, held the real power because only Kun had the acquaintance and friendship with Lenin. He was the only person in the government who met and talked to the Bolshevik leader during the Russian Revolution, and Kun kept the contact with the Kremlin via radio communication. The ministries, often rotated among the various members of the government, were:
- Sándor Garbai president and prime minister of the Hungarian Soviet Republic
- Jenő Landler commissar of the interior
- Sándor Csizmadia, Károly Vántus, Jenő Hamburger, and György Nyisztor – commissars of agriculture
- József Pogány, later also Rezső Fiedler, József Haubrich and Béla Szántó – commissars of Defense
- Zoltán Rónai, later also István Láday – commissars of Justice
- Jenő Landler – commissar of trade
- Mór Erdélyi, later also Bernát Kondor – commissars of food
- Zsigmond Kunfi, later also György Lukács, Tibor Szamuely, and Sándor Szabados – commissars of education
- Béla Kun – commissar of foreign affairs
- Dezső Bokányi – commissar of labor
- Henrik Kalmár – commissar of German affairs
- Jenő Varga, later also Gyula Lengyel – commissars of Finance
- Vilmos Böhm – commissar for socialism, later also Antal Dovcsák
After the declaration of the constitution changes took place in the commissariat. The new ministries were:
- Jenő Varga, Mátyás Rákosi, Gyula Hevesi, József Kelen, Ferenc Bajáki – commissars of economic production
- Jenő Landler, Béla Vágó – commissars of internal affairs, railways and navigation
- Béla Kun, Péter Ágoston and József Pogány – commissars of Foreign Affairs
Policies
This government consisted of a coalition of socialists and communists, but with the exception of Kun, all commissars were former social democrats.[35] Under the rule of Kun, the new government, which had adopted in full the program of the Communists, decreed the abolition of aristocratic titles and privileges, the separation of church and state, codified freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, and implemented free education and language and cultural rights to minorities.[27]
The Communist government also nationalized industrial and commercial enterprises and socialized housing, transport, banking, medicine, cultural institutions, and all landholdings of more than 40 hectares. Public support for the Communists was also heavily dependent on their promise of restoring Hungary's former borders.[27] The government took steps toward normalizing foreign relations with the Triple Entente powers in an effort to gain back some of the lands that Hungary was set to lose in the post-war negotiations. The Communists remained bitterly unpopular[36] in the Hungarian countryside, where the authority of that government was often nonexistent.[37] The Communist party and their policies had real popular support among only the proletarian masses of large industrial centers, especially in Budapest, where the working class represented a high proportion of the inhabitants.
The Hungarian government was left on its own, and a Red Guard was established under the command of Mátyás Rákosi. In addition, a group of 200 armed men known as the Lenin Boys formed a mobile detachment under the leadership of József Cserny. This detachment was deployed at various locations around the country where counter-revolutionary movements were suspected to operate. The Lenin Boys as well as other similar groups and agitators killed and terrorised many people (e.g. armed with hand grenades and using their rifles' butts they disbanded religious ceremonies).[38] They executed victims without trial, and this caused a number of conflicts with the local population, some of which turned violent. The situation of the Hungarian Communists began to deteriorate in the capital city Budapest after a failed coup by the Social Democrats on 24 June; the newly composed Communist government of Sándor Garbai resorted to large-scale reprisals. Revolutionary tribunals ordered executions of people who were suspected of having been involved in the attempted coup. This became known as the Red Terror, and greatly reduced domestic support for the government even among the working classes of the highly industrialized suburb districts and metropolitan area of Budapest.
Foreign policy scandal and downfall
In late May, after the Entente military representative demanded more territorial concessions from Hungary, Kun attempted to fulfill his promise to adhere to Hungary's historical borders. The men of the Hungarian Red Army were recruited from the volunteers of the Budapest proletariat.[39] In June, the Hungarian Red Army invaded the eastern part of the newly forming Czechoslovak state (today's Slovakia), the former so-called Upper Hungary. The Hungarian Red Army achieved some military success early on: under the leadership of Colonel Aurél Stromfeld, it ousted Czech troops from the north, and planned to march against the Romanian Army in the east. Despite promises for the restoration of the former borders of Hungary, the Communists declared the establishment of the Slovak Soviet Republic in Prešov on 16 June.[40]
After the proclamation of the Slovak Soviet Republic, the Hungarian nationalists and patriots soon realized that the new communist government had no intention of recapturing the lost territories, only in spreading communist ideology and the establishment of other communist states in Europe, thus sacrificing Hungarian national interests.[41] The Hungarian patriots in the Red Army and the professional military officers saw this as a betrayal, and their support for the government began to erode (the communists and their government supported the establishment of the Slovak Communist state, while the Hungarian patriots wanted to keep the reoccupied territories for Hungary). Despite a series of military victories against the Czechoslovak army, the Hungarian Red Army started to disintegrate due to tension between nationalists and communists during the establishment of the Slovak Soviet Republic. The concession eroded support of the communist government among professional military officers and nationalists in the Hungarian Red Army; even the chief of the general staff Aurél Stromfeld, resigned his post in protest.[42]
When the French promised the Hungarian government that Romanian forces would withdraw from the Tiszántúl, Kun withdrew his remaining military units who had remained loyal after the political fiasco in Upper Hungary; however, following the Red Army's retreat from the north, the Romanian forces were not pulled back. Kun then unsuccessfully tried to turn the remaining units of the demoralized Hungarian Red Army on the Romanians with Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919. The Hungarian Soviet found it increasingly difficult to fight Romania with its small force of communist volunteers from Budapest, and support for both the war and the Communist party was waning at home. After the demoralizing retreat from northern Hungary (later part of Czechoslovakia), only the most dedicated Hungarian Communists volunteered for combat, and the Romanian Army broke through the weak lines of the Hungarian Red Army on 30 July.
Béla Kun, together with other high-ranking Communists, fled to Vienna on 1 August[27] with only a minority, including György Lukács, the former Commissar for Culture and noted Marxist philosopher, remaining to organise an underground Communist party.[43] Before they fled to Vienna, Kun and his followers took along numerous art treasures and the gold stocks of the National Bank.[44] The Budapest Workers' Soviet elected a new government, headed by Gyula Peidl, which lasted only a few days before Romanian forces entered Budapest on 6 August.[45][46][47]
In the power vacuum created by the fall of the soviet republic and the presence of the Romanian Army, semi-regular detachments (technically under Horthy's command, but mostly independent in practice) initiated a campaign of violence against communists, leftists, and Jews, known as the White Terror.[48] Many supporters of the Hungarian Soviet Republic were executed without trial; others, including Péter Ágoston, Ferenc Bajáki, Dezső Bokányi, Antal Dovcsák, József Haubrich, Kalmár Henrik, Kelen József, György Nyisztor, Sándor Szabados, and Károly Vántus, were imprisoned by trial ("comissar suits"). Actor Bela Lugosi, the founder of the country's National Trade Union of Actors (the world's first film actor's union), managed to escape. Most were later released to the Soviet Union by amnesty during the reign of Horthy, after a prisoner exchange agreement between Hungary and the Russian Soviet government in 1921. In all, about 415 prisoners were released as a result of this agreement.[49]
Kun himself, along with an unknown number of other Hungarian communists, were executed during Joseph Stalin's Great Purge of the late 1930s in the Soviet Union, to which they had fled in the 1920s.[27] Rákosi, one of the survivors of the soviet republic, would go on to be the first leader of the second and longer-lasting attempt at a Communist state in Hungary, the People's Republic of Hungary, from 1949 to 1956.
See also
- Aftermath of World War I
- Hungarian Revolution of 1956
- Red Terror
- Hungarian Red Terror
- Revolutions of 1917–1923
Notes
- ^ Kun officially held the position of foreign minister.
- ^ Hungarian: Magyarországi Tanácsköztársaság, lit. the Soviet Republic of Hungary, where 'Soviet' is also translatable as 'council': i.e, council republic
- ^ Hungarian: Magyarországi Szocialista Szövetségi Tanácsköztársaság, also translatable as Hungarian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic
- ^ It followed the Bolshevik model of Soviet Russia but without the direct participation of the workers' councils (soviets) from which it took its name.
References
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- ^ Swanson 2017, p. 80.
- ^ a b Völgyes 1970, p. 58.
- ^ John C. Swanson (2017). Tangible Belonging: Negotiating Germanness in Twentieth-Century Hungary. University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 80. ISBN 9780822981992. Archived from the original on 17 March 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- ^ a b Balogh 1976, p. 15.
- ^ Janos 1981, p. 195.
- ^ Király & Pastor 1988, p. 34.
- ^ Bodo 2010, p. 703.
- ^ a b Király & Pastor 1988, p. 6.
- ^ Szilassy 1971, p. 37.
- ^ Király & Pastor 1988, p. 226.
- ^ a b c Janos 1981, p. 201.
- ^ Balogh 1975, p. 298; Király & Pastor 1988, p. 226.
- ^ a b Király & Pastor 1988, p. 4.
- ^ Völgyes 1971, p. 61.
- ^ a b c Király & Pastor 1988, p. 166.
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Bibliography
- Balogh, Eva S. (1975). "Romanian and Allied Involvement in the Hungarian Coup d'Etat of 1919". East European Quarterly. 9 (3): 297–314. ISSN 0012-8449.
- Balogh, Eva S. (March 1976). "The Hungarian Social Democratic Centre and the Fall of Béla Kun". Canadian Slavonic Papers. 18 (1). Taylor & Francis: 15–35. doi:10.1080/00085006.1976.11091436. JSTOR 40867035.
- Bodo, Bela (October 2010). "Hungarian Aristocracy and the White Terror". Journal of Contemporary History. 45 (4). SAGE Publications: 703–724. doi:10.1177/0022009410375255. JSTOR 25764578. S2CID 154963526.
- Juhász, Gyula (1979). Hungarian Foreign Policy, 1919–1945. Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN 978-96-30-51882-6.
- Janos, Andrew C.; Slottman, William B. (1971). Revolution in Perspective: Essays on the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919. University of California Press. ISBN 978-05-20-01920-1.
- Janos, Andrew C. (1981). The Politics of Backwardness in Hungary, 1825–1945. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-06-91-10123-1.
- Király, Béla K.; Pastor, Peter (1988). War and Society in East Central Europe. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-08-80-33137-1.
- Mocsy, Istvan I. (1983). "The Uprooted: Hungarian Refugees and Their Impact on Hungary's Domestic Politics, 1918–1921". East European Monographs. doi:10.2307/2499355. ISBN 978-08-80-33039-8. JSTOR 2499355.
- Pastor, Peter (1976). "Hungary Between Wilson and Lenin". East European Monograph. doi:10.2307/2495009. ISBN 978-09-14-710134. JSTOR 2495009. S2CID 165079665.
- Szilassy, Sándor (1969). "Hungary at the Brink of the Cliff 1918–1919". East European. 1 (3): 95–109. ISSN 0012-8449.
- Szilassy, Sándor (1971). Revolutionary Hungary 1918–1921. Aston Park, Florida: Danubian Press. ISBN 978-08-79-34005-6.
- Swanson, John C. (2017). Tangible Belonging: Negotiating Germanness in Twentieth-Century Hungary. University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 978-0-8229-8199-2.
- Völgyes, Iván (1970). "The Hungarian Dictatorship of 1919: Russian Example versus Hungarian Reality". East European Quarterly. 1 (4). ISSN 0012-8449.
- Völgyes, Iván (1971). Hungary in Revolution, 1918–1919: Nine Essays. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-08-03-20788-2.
- Zsuppán, Ferenc Tibor (June 1965). "The Early Activities of the Hungarian Communist Party, 1918–19". The Slavonic and East European Review. 43 (101): 314–334. ISSN 0037-6795. JSTOR 4205656.
Further reading
- György Borsányi, The life of a Communist revolutionary, Bela Kun translated by Mario Fenyo, Boulder, Colorado: Social Science Monographs, 1993.
- Andrew C. Janos and William Slottman (editors), Revolution in Perspective: Essays on the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1971.
- Bennet Kovrig, Communism in Hungary: From Kun to Kádár. Stanford University: Hoover Institution Press, 1979.
- Bela Menczer, "Bela Kun and the Hungarian Revolution of 1919," History Today, vol. 19, no. 5 (May 1969), pp. 299–309.
- Peter Pastor, Hungary between Wilson and Lenin: The Hungarian Revolution of 1918–1919 and the Big Three. Boulder, CO: East European Quarterly, 1976.
- Thomas L. Sakmyster, A Communist Odyssey: The Life of József Pogány. Budapest: Central European University Press, 2012.
- Rudolf Tokes, Béla Kun and the Hungarian Soviet Republic: The Origins and Role of the Communist Party of Hungary in the Revolutions of 1918–1919. New York: F.A. Praeger, 1967.
- Bob Dent, Painting the Town Red: Politics and the Arts During the 1919 Hungarian Soviet Republic. Pluto Press, 2018
External links
- Gioielli, Emily R. (2015). 'White Misrule': Terror and Political Violence During Hungary's Long World War I, 1919–1924 (PDF) (PhD). Central European University. Retrieved 3 September 2021 – via Electronic Theses & Dissertations.
- Hajdu, Tibor (1979). "The Hungarian Soviet Republic". Studia Histórica (131). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. Retrieved 3 September 2021 – via Internet Archive.
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