Editing Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)

{{Infobox country|name=Kingdom of Hungary|native_name=Magyar Királyság|image_flag=Old Hungarian flag.png|year_start=1920|year_end=1946|largest_city=[[Budapest]]|capital=[[Budapest]]|official_languages=Hungarian|recognized_regional_languages=Rusyn|government_type=Monarchic Fascist State|population_estimate=14,669,100|population_estimate_year=1941}}

The '''Kingdom of Hungary''' was a country in [[Central Europe]] ruled by [[Miklós Horthy]]. It was later liberated by the [[Red Army]] and replaced by a [[Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989)|socialist democracy]].

== History ==
Hungary, then part of the [[Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (1867–1918)|Austro-Hungarian Empire]], was defeated in the [[First World War]] and lost 70% of its land as a result. In 1920, Regent Miklós Horthy crushed left-wing parties in the [[White Terror (Hungary)|White Terror]].<ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=[[TheFinnishBolshevik]]|newspaper=ML-Theory|title=History of the Hungarian People’s Republic PART 1: Horthy’s Hungary|date=2021-09-05|url=https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2021/09/05/history-of-the-hungarian-peoples-republic-part-1-horthys-hungary/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912135957/https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2021/09/05/history-of-the-hungarian-peoples-republic-part-1-horthys-hungary/|archive-date=2021-09-12|retrieved=2022-06-14}}</ref>

=== Second World War ===
Hungary invaded the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet Union]] along with [[German Reich (1933–1945)|Germany]] during the [[Second World War]] in an attempt to recreate its empire. Prime Minister [[Döme Sztojáy]] approved a plan to send 100,000 Jews to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]]. In May 1944, an [[Anti-fascism|anti-fascist]] resistance was formed and the [[Workers' and Peasants' Red Army|Red Army]] began to liberate Hungary on 6 October. Horthy announced a ceasefire on 15 October and was overthrown and replaced by Hungarian fascist [[Ferenc Szálasi]], who was a member of the [[Arrow Cross Party]].<ref name=":0" />

The [[German Reich (1933–1945)|Nazi]] invaders stole 214,000 tons of goods, including machinery and food, from Hungary and murdered over half a million Jews. They destroyed 70,000 homes and left a quarter of Hungarians homeless. The number of livestock dropped from 8.6 million to 3.2 million, causing major food shortages. The [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet Union]] sent 1,500 wagons of cereal, 300 of meat, and 200 of sugar to relieve the starving population.<ref name=":1">{{News citation|author=TheFinnishBolshevik|newspaper=ML-Theory|title=History of the Hungarian People’s Republic (PART 2: Democratic Coalition Government)|date=2021-10-31|url=https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2021/10/31/history-of-the-hungarian-peoples-republic-part-2-democratic-coalition-government/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231100917/https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2021/10/31/history-of-the-hungarian-peoples-republic-part-2-democratic-coalition-government/|archive-date=2021-12-31|retrieved=2022-07-19}}</ref>

=== Provisional government ===
Towards the end of the war, a provisional [[Anti-fascism|anti-fascist]] government was established in Debrecen. The new government was a coalition of the [[Communism|communists]], [[Social democracy|social democrats]], [[Peasantry|peasants]], and  [[Trade union|trade unionists]]. In December 1944, they established a national council, which confiscated land from war criminals.<ref name=":1" /> In March 1945, the provisional government redistributed 4.5 million acres among 660,000 peasants.<ref>{{Citation|author=David Pryce-Jones|year=1970|title=The Hungarian Revolution|page=19|publisher=Horizon Press|isbn=9780510181109}}</ref> By 4 April 1945, all of Hungary had been liberated.<ref>{{Citation|author=Ignotus Pál|year=1972|title=Hungary|page=152|city=London}}</ref>

In November 1945, Hungary held the first free elections since the [[Hungarian Soviet Republic (1919)|Hungarian Soviet Republic]] of 1919. The [[Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party|Smallholders' Party]] received 57% of the vote and the communists and social democrats received 17%.<ref name=":1" />

== Economy ==
Hungary had a feudal economy with an aristocracy and nobility and most wealth was owned by the [[Catholic Church]].<ref name=":0" /> The richest 1%, mostly clergy and nobility, owned half the land in the country.<ref name=":1" /> The economy was mainly agricultural and Hungary's industry was mostly foreign-owned and developed very slowly.<ref name=":0" /> 40% of all capital invested in 1937 belonged to foreign companies. 84% of farms, with less than 142 acres, only controlled 20% of the country's farmland, but the biggest 0.9% of farms controlled almost half the land.<ref name=":02">{{Citation|year=1954|title=Political Economy|chapter=The Economic System of the People's Democracies in Europe|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/subject/economy/authors/pe/pe-ch41.htm|section=The Prerequisites of the People's Democratic Revolution|mia=https://www.marxists.org/subject/economy/authors/pe/index.htm}}</ref>

== Politics ==
The Kingdom of Hungary had a parliament but under 30% of the population was allowed to vote.<ref>{{Citation|author=Wilfred G. Burchett|year=1951|title=People's Democracies|title-url=https://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/archive/burch0.htm|publisher=World Unity Publications}}</ref> The [[Social Democratic Party of Hungary|Social Democratic Party]] was allowed to participate in elections but could not organize [[Strike action|strikes]].<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Former states]]