The First Hungarian Republic (), until 21 March 1919 the Hungarian People's Republic (), was a short-lived unrecognized country, which quickly transformed into a small

rump state A rump state is the remnant of a once much larger state that was reduced in the wake of secession, annexation, occupation, decolonization, a successful coup d'état or revolution on part of its former territory. In the last case, a government st ...

due to the foreign and military policy of the doctrinaire

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

Károlyi The House of Károlyi is the name of an old and prominent Hungarian nobility, Hungarian noble family, whose members held the title of Count in Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary, awarded to them on 5 April 1712 by Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor. They clai ...

government. It existed from 16 November 1918 until 8 August 1919, apart from a 133-day interruption in the form of the

Hungarian Soviet Republic The Hungarian Soviet Republic, also known as the Socialist Federative Soviet Republic of Hungary was a short-lived communist state that existed from 21 March 1919 to 1 August 1919 (133 days), succeeding the First Hungarian Republic. The Hungari ...

. The republic was established in the wake of the

dissolution of Austria-Hungary The dissolution of Austria-Hungary was a major political event that occurred as a result of the growth of internal social contradictions and the separation of different parts of Austria-Hungary. The more immediate reasons for the collapse of the ...

following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as a replacement for the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. During the rule of Count

Mihály Károlyi Count Mihály Ádám György Miklós Károlyi de Nagykároly (; ; or in short simple form: Michael Károlyi; 4 March 1875 – 19 March 1955) was a Hungarian politician who served as a leader of the short-lived and unrecognized First Hungarian Re ...

's pacifist cabinet, Hungary lost control over approximately 75% of its former pre-World War I territories, which was about , without armed resistance and was subjected to unhindered foreign occupation. It was in turn succeeded by the

but re-established following its demise, and ultimately replaced by the

Hungarian Republic Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and Slovenia to the ...

Name

"Hungarian People's Republic" was adopted as the official name of the country on 16 November 1918, and remained in use until the overthrow of the

Dénes Berinkey Dénes Berinkey (17 October 1871 – 25 June 1944) was a Hungarian jurist and politician who served as 21st Prime Minister of Hungary in the regime of Mihály Károlyi for two months in 1919. On 20 March 1919 the French presented the Vix Note ...

government on 21 March 1919. Following the collapse of the

, the

Gyula Peidl Gyula Peidl (4 April 1873 – 22 January 1943) was a Hungarian trade union leader and social democrat politician who served as prime minister and acting head of state of Hungary for 6 days in August 1919. His tenure coincided with a period ...

government restored the pre-communist name of the state on 2 August 1919. The government of

István Friedrich István Friedrich (Anglicisation, anglicised as Stephen Frederick; 1 July 1883 – 25 November 1951) was a Hungarian politician, footballer and factory owner who served as prime minister of Hungary for three months between August and November i ...

changed the name to "

" on 8 August; however, the denomination "Hungarian People's Republic" appeared on some government-issued decrees during this period.

History

Károlyi era

The Hungarian People's Republic was created by the

Aster Revolution The Aster Revolution or Chrysanthemum Revolution () was a revolution in Hungary led by Count Mihály Károlyi in the aftermath of World War I. It resulted in the foundation of the short-lived First Hungarian People's Republic. The revolution ...

, which started in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

on 31 October 1918. That day, King Charles IV appointed the revolt's leader,

, as Hungarian prime minister. Almost his first act was to formally terminate the

personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...

between Austria and Hungary. On 13 November, Charles issued a proclamation withdrawing from Hungarian politics. A few days later the provisional government proclaimed Hungary a people's republic, with Károlyi as both prime minister and interim president. This event ended 400 years of rule by the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...

. 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 U.S. President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

's demand for

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...

by ordering the unilateral self- disarmament of the Hungarian army. This happened under the direction of

Béla Linder Béla Linder ( Majs, 10 February 1876 – Belgrade, 15 April 1962), Hungarian colonel of artillery, Secretary of War of Mihály Károlyi government, minister without portfolio of Dénes Berinkey government, military attaché of Hungarian S ...

, (minister of war) on 2 November 1918.Dixon J. C
''Defeat and Disarmament, Allied Diplomacy and Politics of Military Affairs in Austria, 1918–1922''
Associated University Presses 1986. p. 34.Sharp A
''The Versailles Settlement: Peacemaking after the First World War, 1919–1923''
Palgrave Macmillan 2008. p. 156. . Due to the full 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. The Károlyi government's measures failed to stem popular discontent, especially when the

Entente powers The Allies or the Entente (, ) was an international military coalition of countries led by the French Republic, the United Kingdom, the Russian Empire, the United States, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan against the Central Powers ...

began distributing slices of what many considered Hungary's traditional territory to the majority ethnic groups in

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

, the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

, and the

First Czechoslovak Republic The First Czechoslovak Republic, often colloquially referred to as the First Republic, was the first Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak state that existed from 1918 to 1938, a union of ethnic Czechs and Slovaks. The country was commonly called Czechosl ...

. The new government and its supporters had pinned their hopes for maintaining Hungary's territorial integrity on the abandonment of

Cisleithania Cisleithania, officially The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council (), was the northern and western part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in the Compromise of 1867—as distinguished from ''Transleithania'' (i.e., ...

and Germany, the securing of a separate peace, and exploiting Károlyi's close connections in the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France durin ...

. When Károlyi appointed

Oszkár Jászi Oszkár Jászi (born Oszkár Jakubovits; 2 March 1875 – 13 February 1957), also known in English as Oscar Jászi, was a Hungarian social scientist, historian, and politician. Early life Oszkár Jászi was born in Nagykároly on March 2, 18 ...

as the new Minister for National Minorities of Hungary, Jászi immediately offered democratic referendums about the disputed borders for minorities, however, the political leaders of those minorities refused the very idea of democratic referendums regarding disputed territories at the Paris peace conference. After the Hungarian self-disarmament, Czech, Serbian, and Romanian political leaders chose to attack Hungary instead of holding democratic plebiscites concerning the disputed areas. Military and political events changed rapidly and drastically after Hungarian disarmament: *on 5 November 1918, the Serbian army, with the help of the French army, crossed the southern borders *on 8 November, the Czechoslovak Army crossed the northern borders *on 13 November, the Romanian army crossed the eastern borders The Entente considered Hungary a partner in the defeated Dual Monarchy, and dashed the Hungarians' hopes with the delivery of successive diplomatic notes. Each demanded the surrender of more land to other ethnic groups. On 20 March 1919, the French head of the Entente mission in Budapest gave Károlyi a note delineating the final postwar boundaries, which the Hungarians found unacceptable. Károlyi and Prime Minister

were now in an impossible position. They knew accepting the French note would endanger the country's territorial integrity, but were in no position to reject it. In protest, Berinkey resigned. Károlyi informed the cabinet that only the

Hungarian Social Democratic Party The Social Democratic Party of Hungary (, , MSZDP) is a social democratic political party in Hungary. Historically, the party was dissolved during the occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany (1944–1945) and the communist period of Hungary from ...

could possibly form a new government. Unknown to Károlyi, however, the Social Democrats had merged with the

Hungarian Communist Party The Hungarian Communist Party (, , abbr. MKP), known earlier as the Party of Communists in Hungary (, , abbr. KMP), was a communist party in Hungary that existed during the interwar period and briefly after World War II. It was founded on Novem ...

; the latter promised that the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

would help Hungary to restore its original borders. Although the Social Democrats held a majority in the newly merged Hungarian Socialist Party, the communists led by

Béla Kun Béla Kun (, born Béla Kohn; 20 February 1886 – 29 August 1938) was a Hungarian communist revolutionary and politician who in 1919 governed the Hungarian Soviet Republic. After attending Franz Joseph University at Kolozsvár (today Cluj-N ...

immediately seized control and announced the establishment of the

on 21 March 1919.

Re-establishment and dissolution

After the fall of the Soviet Republic on 1 August 1919, a social democratic government—the so-called "trade union government"—came to power under the leadership of

. A decree was issued on 2 August restoring the form of government and the official state name back to "People's Republic". During its brief existence, the Peidl government began to abrogate the edicts passed by the Communist regime. On 6 August,

, leader of the White House Comrades Association—a right-wing,

counter-revolutionary A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution has occurred, in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "c ...

group—seized power in a bloodless coup with the backing of the Royal Romanian Army. The next day,

Joseph August Joseph H. August, A.S.C. (26 April 1890 – 25 September 1947) was an American cinematographer and co-founder of the American Society of Cinematographers. His films included ''Gunga Din'' (1939) for which he was nominated for Academy Award for ...

declared himself

regent of Hungary The regent of Hungary was a position established in 1446 and renewed in 1920. It was held by Admiral Miklós Horthy until 1944. Under Hungary's constitution there were two regents, one a regent of the ruling house, called the Nádor, and another ...

—he held the position until 23 August, when he was forced to resign—and appointed Friedrich as Prime Minister. The state was formally dissolved by the new government on 8 August 1919.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hungarian Republic, First 1910s in Hungary 1918 establishments in Hungary 1919 disestablishments in Hungary 1918 in politics 1919 in politics Aftermath of World War I in Hungary Former countries in Europe Former countries of the interwar period Former republics States and territories established in 1918 States and territories disestablished in 1919 States succeeding Austria-Hungary Former socialist republics