Hungarian Soviet Republic

The Hungarian Soviet Republic was the political regime in Hungary from March 21, 1919 until the beginning of August of the same year, and it is the second Communist (or soviet) government in world history, after the one in Russia (1917).

Downfall

The situation of the Hungarian Communists began to deteriorate when, after a failed coup by the National Social-Democrats on June 24, the new Communist government of Antal Dovcsák resorted to large-scale reprisals. Revolutionary tribunals ordered 590 executions of people who were suspected of having been involved in the attempted coup. This became known as the "Red Terror", and greatly reduced domestic support for the government.

Related Topics:
June 24 - Antal Dovcsák - Red Terror

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At the same time, Soviet Hungary faced external threats. The advance of its armies had been halted in the North, and Soviet Slovakia fell to counter-revolutionary forces at the end of June. At the same time, the Romanians attacked from the South-East with the consent of the Entente, and advanced across Hungary all the way to the gates of the capital, engaging the Red Guards in a pitched battle before Budapest. The battle was eventually lost, and Béla Kun fled to Austria on August 1 together with other high-ranking Communists with only a minority remaining in Budapest, including Lukács the former Commissar for Culture and noted Marxist philosopher, to organise an underground Communist Party. The Budapest Workers' Soviet elected a new government, headed by Gyula Peidl, which only lasted a few days before the Romanian forces entered Budapest on August 6, putting an end to the Hungarian Soviet Republic.

Related Topics:
Romanians - Entente - August 1 - Gyula Peidl - August 6

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In the power vacuum created by the fall of the Soviet Republic and the Romanian occupation, the far-right Conservative forces of István Bethlen and Miklós Horthy gradually took control of Western Hungary (which was outside the Romanian occupation zone). They initiated a campaign of violence against Communists, leftists and Jews, known as the White Terror. After Horthy's army marched into Budapest with the consent of Romanian forces on November 16, many supporters of the Hungarian Soviet Republic were imprisoned or executed without trial.

Related Topics:
Far-right - István Bethlen - Miklós Horthy - Leftists - Jew - White Terror - November 16

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