Hungary (Fall Grün)

Hungary, officially the Kingdom of Hungary (Hungarian: Magyar Királyság) was a sovereign state in Central Europe, established in 1920 after the fall of the. It was a de facto regency state under Regent Miklós Horthy officially representing the abdicated Hungarian monarchy. Attempts by Charles IV King of Hungary to return to the throne were prevented by threats of war from neighbouring countries, and by lack of support from Horthy. Hungary participated in the invasion of Czechoslovakia in October 1938 on the side of Nazi Germany, and following the conquest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, Hungary annexed the territories of Slovakia and Carpatho Ruthenia.

Formation of the Kingdom
After the pullout of occupation forces of Romania in 1920 from its war against the Communist regime of Béla Kun, the country went into civil conflict, with Hungarian anti-communists and monarchists violently purging the nation of communists, leftist intellectuals and others they felt threatened by, especially Jews. Later in 1920, a coalition of right-wing political forces united and returned Hungary to being a constitutional monarchy. Selection of the new King was delayed due to civil infighting, and decided to select a regent to represent the monarchy. Former Austro-Hungarian navy admiral Miklós Horthy was chosen as regent who would remain its head of state until its downfall.

Politics of Hungary
The first ten years of the reinstated kingdom saw increased repression of Hungarian minorities. Limits on the number of Jews permitted to go to university were placed, corporal punishment was legalized. Under the leadership of Prime Minister István Bethlen, democracy dissipated as Bethelen manipulated elections in rural areas which allowed his political party, the Party of Unity to win repeated elections. Bethlen pushed for the revision of the Treaty of Trianon. After the collapse of the Hungarian economy from 1929 to 1931, national turmoil pushed Bethlen to resign as Prime Minister.

Social conditions in the kingdom did not improve as time passed, with extremely small percentages of the population controlling much of the country’s wealth. Jews were continually pressured to assimilate into Hungarian mainstream culture.

The desperate situation forced Regent Horthy to accept far-right politician Gyula Gömbös to become Prime Minister on the condition that he pledged to retain the existing political system. Gömbös agreed to abandon his extreme anti-Semitism and allow some Jews into the government.

In power, Gömbös pursued moving Hungary into being a one-party government like that of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. However pressure by Nazi Germany for extreme anti-Semitism forced Gömbös out and afterwards Hungary pursued intense anti-Semitism with its “Jewish Laws”. Initially, laws were passed limiting the number of Jews to 20 percent in a number of professions. Later Jews were scapegoated for the country’s failing economy and were deported to concentration camps.

Foreign policy of Hungary
Initially, despite a move back towards nationalism, the new state under Regent Horthy agreed to ending the chance for further immediate conflicts and signed the Treaty of Trianon on June 4, 1920. Trianon reduced Hungary’s size substantially from its size in Austria-Hungary. Transylvania was taken by Romania; Slovakia became part of Czechoslovakia; Croatia, Slavonia, and Vojvodina joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia after 1929).

With the succession of increasingly nationalist and far-right Prime Ministers, Hungary steadily moved to opposing the Treaty of Trianon and established ties with the dictatorships of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

Economy of Hungary
The land losses of the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 caused Hungary to lose agricultural and industrial areas making it dependent on exporting what agricultural land it had left to maintain its economy.

The situation worsened after the Stock Market Crash in 1929, when grain prices fell drastically. Farmers in Hungary were forced to return to subsistence farming to survive. Unemployment increased rapidly and living standards dropped as pay cuts and job cuts were administered.

From the mid-1930s to the 1940s, with relations improved with Germany, Hungary’s economy benefited from trade with Germany, though the Hungarian economy became dependent on the German economy to sustain itself.

Hungary at War
Hungary benefited from its close ties with Germany and was allowed to annex parts of former Slovak territories and Carpatho-Ukraine from Czechoslovakia.