Revolutionary Governing Council

The Socialist Federative Republic of Councils in Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Szocialista Szövetséges Tanácsköztársaság) (due to an early mistranslation, it became widely known as the Hungarian Soviet Republic in English-language sources ( hu, Magyar Szovjet-köztársaság)), literally the Republic of Councils in Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Tanácsköztársaság) was a short-lived Communist state that existed from 21 March 1919 to 1 August 1919 (133 days), succeeding the First Hungarian Republic. The Hungarian Soviet Republic was a small communist rump state. When the Republic of Councils in Hungary was established, it controlled only approximately 23% of the Hungary's historic territory. The head of government was Sándor Garbai, but the influence of the foreign minister Béla Kun from the Hungarian Communist Party was much stronger. Unable to reach an agreement with the Triple Entente, which maintained an economic blockade in Hungary, tormented by neighboring countries for territorial disputes, and invested by profound internal social changes, the soviet republic failed in its objectives and was abolished a few months after its existence. Its main figure was the Communist Béla Kun, despite the fact that in the first days the majority of the new government was Socialist. The new system effectively concentrated power in the governing councils, which exercised it in the name of the working class.

The new regime 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. A small volunteer army was organized mostly from Budapest factory workers and attempts were made to recover the lost territories at the hands of neighboring countries, an objective that aroused widespread support from worker class people in some larger cities, not only those more favorable to the newborn regime. Initially, thanks to patriotic support from conservative officers, the republican forces advanced against the Czechoslovakians in Slovakia, 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. In mid-June, the birth of the Slovak Soviet Republic was proclaimed, which lasted two weeks until the Hungarian withdrawal at the request of the Triple Entente. On 20 July, the soviet republic launched a new attack on the Romanian posts. After a few days in advance, the Romanians managed to stop the offensive, to break through the front and reach Budapest, the Hungarian capital, a few days after the end of the soviet republic, which was abolished on 2 August.

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. 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; the effort to convert Hungary, which still had the aftermath of the Habsburg period, into a socialist society was unsuccessful due to a number of elements, namely lack of time, experienced administrative and organizational staff, as well as inexperience, both political and economic, in some of the maneuvering activities. The attempt to win the sympathies of the peasants met with general indifference, since encouraging agricultural production and supplying the cities at the same time was not a process that could be completed in a short period of time. After the withdrawal from Slovakia, the application of some measures aimed at regaining popular support was ordered, without great success; in particular, the ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages was repealed, the delivery of some plots to peasants was planned without land, and attempts were made to improve the monetary situation and food supply. Unable to apply them, the soviet republic had already lost the support of the majority of the population between June and July, which led, together with military defeats, to its inexorable ruin. The failure of internal reform was joined by that of foreign policy; the political and economic isolation of the Triple Entente, the military failure in the face of neighboring countries and the impossibility of joining forces with the Red Army units contributed to the collapse of the soviet republic. The Socialist–Communist government was succeeded by an exclusively Socialist one on 1 August; the Communists left Budapest and went abroad.

Overview

When the Republic of Councils in Hungary 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.

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 Hungarian Republic of Councils 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. It is often referred to as the Hungarian Soviet Republic in English sources, but this is a mistranslation: the literal translation is "Republic of Councils in Hungary"; this was chosen to avoid any strong Hungarian ethnic connotation, and to express the proletarian internationalist doctrine of the new Communist regime.

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 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.Dixon, John C. (1986)
''Defeat and Disarmament, Allied Diplomacy and Politics of Military Affairs in Austria, 1918–1922''
Associated University Presses. p. 34.Sharp, Alan (2008)
''The Versailles Settlement: Peacemaking after the First World War, 1919–1923''
Palgrave Macmillan. p. 156. . 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. 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. 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.

Formation of the Communist party

An initial nucleus of a Hungarian Communist Party had been organized in a hotel on 4 November 1918, when a group of Hungarian prisoners of war and other communist proponents formed a Central Committee in Moscow. Led by Béla Kun, the inner circle of the freshly established party returned to Budapest from Moscow on 16 November. 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. 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.

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, 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 led to the fall of the liberal Count Mihály Károlyi's government, which was by then devoid of significant support. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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". Accordingly, the Communists started to purge the Social Democrats from the government on the next day.

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