Hungary in World War I and Its Aftermath
Prelude to War (1913-1914)
Istvan Tisza, a seasoned politician, led the government in 1913. In 1914, Austria-Hungary was drawn into World War I alongside Germany.
World War I (1914-1918)
A devastating period for Hungary; the country lost 1 million people in the fighting.
Post-War Turmoil (October 1918-March 1920)
After World War I, on October 31, 1918, Hungary experienced a bourgeois, democratic revolution under Mihaly Karolyi’s government. However, this was short-lived, as Bela Kun’s Communist Party established the Council Republic on March 21, 1919. This period lasted only 133 days and was known as the “red terror” era. By March 1920, with the assistance of the Romanian army, Miklos Horthy established himself as Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, ushering in an era known as the “white terror”.
Treaty of Trianon and Its Aftermath (June 4, 1920 onwards)
On June 4, 1920, the Treaty of Trianon, imposed by the Allies, stripped Hungary of two-thirds of its territory and half its population. This caused great resentment among Hungarians, a sentiment exploited by the Horthy regime in its propaganda and by Hitler and Mussolini. This period also saw the introduction of the first anti-Semitic law, which imposed a university quota system.