Kálmán Darányi de Pusztaszentgyörgy et Tetétlen (22 March 1886 – 1 November 1939) was a Hungarian politician who served as

Prime Minister of Hungary The prime minister of Hungary () is the head of government of Hungary. The prime minister and the government of Hungary, Cabinet are collectively accountability, accountable for their policies and actions to the National Assembly (Hungary), Par ...

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 rights in the 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, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

abroad.

Early life

His parents were Béla Darányi and Antónia Nagy. His uncle was Ignác Darányi who served as the Minister of Agriculture during the

Austro-Hungarian Monarchy Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. 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. (, , and ),Kirschbaum 2007, p. 315. deriving from title of župan, ...

(county head) of Győr County,

Komárom County Komárom (Hungarian: ; or ; , later ; ) is a city in Hungary on the south bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom County. Komárom fortress played an important role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and many contemporary English sources re ...

and

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

. Darányi became a member of the

Hungarian Diet The Diet of Hungary or originally: Parlamentum Publicum / Parlamentum Generale () was the most important political assembly in Hungary since the 12th century, which emerged to the position of the supreme legislative institution in the Kingdom ...

in 1927.

Gyula Gömbös Gyula Gömbös de Jákfa (26 December 1886 – 6 October 1936) was a Hungarian military officer and politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1 October 1932 to his death. Background Gömbös was born in Murga, Tolna County, King ...

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 as a member of the Universal

Convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

and

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

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 (18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957) was a Hungarian admiral and statesman who was the Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary Hungary between the World Wars, during the ...

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 – 5 October 1946) was a Hungarians, Hungarian Aristocracy (class), aristocrat and politician, statesman and served as prime minister from 1921 to 1931. Early life The scion of an old Bethlen ...

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 The Arrow Cross Party (, , abbreviated NYKP) was a far-right Hungarian nationalism, Hungarian ultranationalist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which formed a government in Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1946), Hungary they named the Government of Nation ...

, which was the predecessor of the Hungarian National Socialist Party and the

Arrow Cross Party The Arrow Cross Party (, , 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 Unity. They were in power from 15 October 1944 to ...

Ferenc Szálasi Ferenc Szálasi (; 6 January 1897 – 12 March 1946) was a Hungarian military officer, politician, Nazi sympathizer and founder of the far-right Arrow Cross Party who List of prime ministers of Hungary, headed the government of Hungary duri ...

, 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, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. However, the Western powers were not very receptive of these endeavors. Hungarian foreign policy continued to promote the country's relationship with

at the same time. The thought of the cooperation between Italy,

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, Hungary and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

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 Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

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

Program, which was drawn up by

Béla Imrédy Béla vitéz Imrédy de Ómoravicza (; 29 December 1891 – 28 February 1946) was Prime Minister of Hungary from 1938 to 1939. Born in Budapest to a Catholic family, Imrédy studied law as a young man before he started working for the Hungaria ...

. The aim of the program was to 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 (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

, Darányi's political direction changed. As of March 1938, Hungary was now a neighbor of Nazi Germany. A vigorous

Nazi propaganda Propaganda was a tool of the Nazi Party in Germany from its earliest days to the end of the regime in May 1945 at the end of World War II. As the party gained power, the scope and efficacy of its propaganda grew and permeated an increasing amou ...

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

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 a 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 Lexikon

parlament.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 nobility Hungarian Calvinist and Reformed Christians Unity Party (Hungary) politicians Prime ministers of Hungary Ministers of the interior of Hungary Ministers of agriculture of Hungary Speakers of the House of Representatives of Hungary Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1926–1931) Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1931–1935) Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1935–1939) Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1939–1944) Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I