Zalai történeti tanulmányok - Zalai gyűjtemény 42. (Zalaegerszeg, 1997)

Vonyó József: Bethlen István választási beszédei Nagykanizsán. 1935. március 17., 24.

JÓZSEF VONYÓ:

ISTVÁN BETHLEN’S CAMPAIGN SPEECHES IN NAGYKANIZSA

17, 24 MARCH 1935

Summary

Count István Bethlen (Prime Minister of Hungary between 1921 and 1931) as a conservative and liberal politician, representing the aristocrats’ and the plutocratic circles’ interests, played a significant role in the development of the political system of Hungary after the Trianon Treaty. His connection to Gyula Gömbös (Prime Minister of Hungary between 1932 and 1936), the leader of the extreme- rightist political forces, was characterised by the alternation of co-operation and confrontation between 1919 and 1935. At the begin of March 1935 it came to a final breakup between the two politicians, after Gömbös had succeeded in dissolution of the congress, in spite of Bethlen’s protest. Bethlen and his followers left the governing party and he stood for the 1935 election as an independent candidate.

The published sources are important documents of this breakup. Bethlen in his campaign speeches openly expressed his critics about the Gömbös- government as well as about the politics persuaded by the prime minister. On the other hand, his proclaimed programme reflected the changes of his views about the country’s situation and about the measures to be taken. The adjusting documents, at the same time, render perceptible the relation of the police and of the local governmental organisations towards the former prime minister’s political activity at that time and towards the former leader of the party.

The documents, published with detailed notes, render important new information for the researchers of the given period, too.

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