History, The Regency

Under Allied supervision, an interim government representing the various political parties of Hungary was formed on November 25, 1919. Dominated by Miklos Horthy de Nagybanya, a former Austro-Hungarian admiral who had organized a counterrevolutionary army and government during the brief Communist period, the government immediately instituted severe reprisals against leftists and liberals. At the insistence of the Allies, general elections for a national assembly were held in early 1920. The national assembly dissolved all Hungarian affiliations with Austria, proclaimed the country a monarchy, and named Horthy as regent, in place of a king. On June 4, 1920, the Hungarian government accepted the Treaty of Trianon, which was part of the World War I peace settlements. The treaty stripped about two-thirds of Hungary’s territory, including Transylvania, Croatia, and Slovakia.

During the premiership of Count Stephen Bethlen, which lasted from 1921 to 1931, economic distress and desire for revenge inspired by the humiliating terms of the Trianon treaty provided incentive for resurgent Hungarian nationalism. After Horthy appointed fascist-leaning Gyula von Gombos as premier in September 1932, this nationalism was characterized by an aggressive foreign policy toward neighboring democracies, and close relations with the fascist regimes of Italy and Germany. Collaboration with Nazi Germany brought substantial rewards following the partition of Czechoslovakia in 1938, when German dictator Adolf Hitler agreed to allocate part of Slovakia and all of Ruthenia to Hungary. The country subsequently withdrew from the League of Nations, and in January 1939, it became a signatory, with Germany, Italy, and Japan, to the Anti-Comintern Pact against the USSR.