Baják László Ihász István: The Hungarian National Museum History Exhibition Guide 4 - The short century of survival (1900-1990) (Budapest, 2008)

Room 16. From the Belle Epoch to the Collapse of the Monarchy (1900-1919). László Baják

out of sympathy with communism, but also with the intention of defending Hungary, repulsed the attackers despite being outnumbered and freed large territories from Czech power. On the other hand, trust withered in the hinterland due to lack of land distribution, the despotism and requisitioning of the system, ruthless terror with which rebellions were suppressed and chaos in provisioning which could not be counterbalanced by the various social measures. The resources of the dictatorship had been exhausted. At the end of July the front along the River Tisza against the Romanians collapsed. On August 1 the communist government resigned, the majority of its members fleeing to Austria. Following the collapse of the military the central part of the country fell under Romanian occupation. Apart from securing the occupied Eastern Hungarian territories and eliminating communism, the aim of the Romanians was to plunder the occupied territories as completely as possible. It is only thanks to the decisive steps taken by an American general, Harry Hill Bandholtz, that the treasures in the Hungarian National Museum were not transported off. Meanwhile in Budapest a temporary, so-called trade union government was formed, which was overthrown six days later by a putsch. The new government led by István Friedrich was appointed by Archduke Joseph Habsburg, but neither he nor his government could keep a grip on power. Decisions were in the hands of the Allies, and so a British diplomat was sent to assess the situation. Sir George Clerk judged the balance of power to be such that the only man capable of stabilizing the political situation in Hungary was Horthy, the ex-vice admiral. In May Horthy had already become the Minister of War in the (counter-)government of the counter revolution in Szeged, but later organised the 'National Army' at the van of which he began his own personal brand of politics. At the end of October the Allies ordered the Romanians to return to behind the demarcation line and allowed the National Army to take its place. On November 16, a sad rainy day, Miklós Horthy rode into Budapest on his already famed white horse, to bring the "wicked city" to heel. At the outset, it was the right, and indeed the extreme political right that assembled around Horthy, which blamed Hungary's bitter fate upon liberalism and Mihály Károlyi, upon the communists and because of the many Jewish leaders of the Hungarian Soviet Republic Jewry in general. The officers' detachment marching alongside the National Army did their utmost to punish those they deemed responsible with unbridled terror. However, gradually the slow process of political consolidation also began. In December 1919 Hungary was at last invited to attend the peace talks in Paris, in January 1920 there was a general election and on March 1 Miklós Horthy was elected Regent.