Kálmán Darányi de Pusztaszentgyörgy et Tetétlen (22 March 1886 in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
– 1 November 1939 in Budapest) was a
Hungarian politician who served as
Prime Minister of Hungary
The prime minister of Hungary ( hu, Magyarország miniszterelnöke) is the head of government of Hungary. The prime minister and the Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Parliament, to their political part ...
from 1936 to 1938. He also served as Speaker of the House of Representatives of Hungary from 5 December 1938 to 12 June 1939 and from 15 June 1939 to 1 November 1939. Darányi was associated with the radical right in Hungarian politics, and although not sympathetic to the Hungarian fascists, pursued an increasingly authoritarian policy at home, and an alliance with the fascist powers Germany and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
abroad.
Early life
His parents were Béla Darányi and Antónia Nagy. His uncle was
Ignác Darányi
Ignác Darányi de Pusztaszentgyörgy et Tetétlen (15 January 1849 – 27 April 1927) was a Hungary, Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Agriculture of Hungary, Minister of Agriculture predecessor of the Minister of Agriculture Anto ...
who served as Minister of Agriculture during the
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
. Darányi started his civil service career in 1909 at
Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun County. After the revolutions of 1918–1919 he served as commissioner then
ispán
The ispánRady 2000, p. 19.''Stephen Werbőczy: The Customary Law of the Renowned Kingdom of Hungary in Three Parts (1517)'', p. 450. or countEngel 2001, p. 40.Curta 2006, p. 355. ( hu, ispán, la, comes or comes parochialis, and sk, župan)Kirs ...
(county head) of
Győr County
Győr county (in Hungarian: ''Győr (vár)megye'') was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary, situated mostly on the right (south) side of the Danube river. Its territory is now part of Hungary, except seven villages on th ...
,
Komárom County
Komárom (Hungarian: ; german: Komorn; la, Brigetio, later ; sk, Komárno) is a city in Hungary on the south bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom County. Komárno, Slovakia, is on the northern bank. Komárom was formerly a separate vill ...
and
Győr
Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia region, and – halfway between Budapest and Vienna – situated on one of ...
. Darányi became a member of the
Hungarian Diet
The Diet of Hungary or originally: Parlamentum Publicum / Parlamentum Generale ( hu, Országgyűlés) became the supreme legislative institution in the medieval kingdom of Hungary from the 1290s, and in its successor states, Royal Hungary and t ...
in 1927.
Gyula Gömbös appointed him Minister of Agriculture in 1935. In addition to his political activities he played a leadership role in the agricultural class movement. He also took part in the life of the
Calvinist Church
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John ...
as a member of the Universal
Convent
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...
and
synod.
Prime Minister of Hungary
Darányi replaced the ailing Gyula Gömbös as Prime Minister. After the death of Gömbös, Regent
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya ( hu, Vitéz nagybányai Horthy Miklós; ; English: Nicholas Horthy; german: Nikolaus Horthy Ritter von Nagybánya; 18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957), was a Hungarian admiral and dictator who served as the regent ...
appointed Darányi as Gömbös' successor on 12 October 1936. Darányi wanted to return to the platform of
István Bethlen
Count István Bethlen de Bethlen (8 October 1874, Gernyeszeg – 5 October 1946, Moscow) was a Hungarian aristocrat and statesman and served as prime minister from 1921 to 1931.
Early life
The scion of an old Bethlen de Bethlen noble f ...
with a program to preserve constitutional order, but he did not want to turn sharply against Gömbös' political testament. He maintained the promise of secret suffrage, but first of all he wanted to increase the gubernatorial jurisdiction and the House of Magnates' role.
He set himself apart from right-wing and left-wing extremes both during the initial period of his prime ministership. In April 1937 he banned the
Party of National Will, which was the predecessor of the
Hungarian National Socialist Party
The Hungarian National Socialist Party ( hu, Magyar Nemzeti Szocialista Párt) was a political epithet adopted by a number of minor Nazi parties in Hungary before the Second World War.
Early Nazi groups
From its early origins up to the eventual f ...
and the
Arrow Cross Party
The Arrow Cross Party ( hu, Nyilaskeresztes Párt – Hungarista Mozgalom, , abbreviated NYKP) was a far-right Hungarian ultranationalist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which formed a government in Hungary they named the Government of National ...
.
Ferenc Szálasi
Ferenc Szálasi (; 6 January 1897 – 12 March 1946), the leader of the Arrow Cross Party – Hungarist Movement, became the "Leader of the Nation" (''Nemzetvezető'') as head of state and simultaneously prime minister of the Kingdom of Hungary' ...
, the leader of the party, was arrested and sentenced to imprisonment for three years. But the March Front (founded on 15 March 1937), a progressive political-intellectual movement, was also subjected to police harassment and prosecutions.
Darányi and his Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Kálmán Kánya attempted to strengthen contacts with the United Kingdom and France to balance pressure from
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. However, the Western powers were not very receptive of these endeavors. Hungarian foreign policy continued to promote the country's relationship with
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
at the same time. The thought of the cooperation between Italy,
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, Hungary and
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
was resumed in Rome.
During his term the gubernatorial jurisdiction was expanded again (for the fourth time). The Regent was now allowed to delay the implementation of bills by up to a year, and he was no longer accountable to Parliament. The law also specified the role of the National Council in case of vacancy of the gubernatorial seat. The House of Magnates' jurisdiction was also expanded: the upper house could now return laws to the lower house twice.
In 1938, Darányi accepted the law of
suffrage that was advocated by Gyula Gömbös. This law modified earlier provisions in two areas: it abolished the open vote in favor of the secret ballot, but narrowed suffrage rights. The new law reduced the number of eligible voters by 250,000 – 300,000. The minimum voting age for men was now 26 (in regional elections) and 30 (in constituency elections), while for women, the universal voting age was 30 years. He introduced mandatory old-age social insurance for agricultural workers. For the civil servants the work week was set at 44 hours while for industrial workers, 48 hours.
The
Hungarian military force's state was disastrous. To address this, Darányi presented the
Győr
Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia region, and – halfway between Budapest and Vienna – situated on one of ...
Program, which was drawn up by
Béla Imrédy. The aim of the program was the modernize the army and upgrade its equipment. The government allocated
one billion pengős for the program. This, originally earmarked for five years, was spent in under two years. Of the program's budget, 60% was used for the development of the army while 40% was spent on infrastructure. This program's invigorating effect on the economy was considerable.
After the
Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
, Darányi's political direction changed. As of March 1938, Hungary was now a neighbor of Nazi Germany. A vigorous
Nazi propaganda
The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation of Nazi polici ...
campaign was initiated in the country. Darányi shifted towards the right in response. He appointed pro-German politicians to his cabinet. He regularly expressed the importance of the German relations. Darányi began secret negotiations with
Kálmán Hubay with the intention of uniting
right extremist forces. He agreed to allow
Arrow Cross Party
The Arrow Cross Party ( hu, Nyilaskeresztes Párt – Hungarista Mozgalom, , abbreviated NYKP) was a far-right Hungarian ultranationalist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which formed a government in Hungary they named the Government of National ...
members to run for parliament so long as these right extremist politicians agreed to respect the law. Conservatives responded to these steps with distrust. Horthy also expressed his discontent, which is why Darányi resigned as Prime Minister on 11 May 1938. He was followed by Béla Imrédy in this position.
Later life
Promoting the First Anti-Jewish Law and its preparation are connected to his name yet. This bill was introduced to the parliament during his prime ministership, but it already became law during reign of Imrédy. Kálmán Darányi served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 5 December 1938 until his death.
References
Magyar Életrajzi Lexikonparlament.hu* Jenő Gergely – Lajos Izsák: A huszadik század története.
istory of the twentieth century.Annonica Kiadó, 2000. (Magyar századok)
* Mária Ormos: Magyarország a két világháború korában 1914–1945.
ungary during the two World Wars 1914–1945.Csokonai Kiadó, Debrecen, 1998. (Történelmi kézikönyvtár)
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daranyi, Kalman
1886 births
1939 deaths
Politicians from Budapest
People from the Kingdom of Hungary
Hungarian Calvinist and Reformed Christians
Hungarian nobility
Prime Ministers of Hungary
Hungarian Interior Ministers
Agriculture ministers of Hungary
Speakers of the House of Representatives of Hungary