Hungarian Republic of Councils | ||||||||||
Magyarországi Tanácsköztársaság | ||||||||||
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Motto "Világ proletárjai, egyesüljetek!" "Workers of the world, unite!" |
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Anthem Internacionálé The Internationale |
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Map of territory of the former Kingdom of Hungary, May–August 1919
Controlled by Romania in April 1919
Controlled by the Soviet Republic of Hungary
Subsequently controlled by Soviet Republic of Hungary to establish the Slovak Soviet Republic
Controlled by France and Yugoslav countries
Borders of Hungary in 1918
Borders of Hungary in 1920
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Capital | Budapest | |||||||||
Languages | Hungarian | |||||||||
Government | Soviet socialist republic | |||||||||
Leader | ||||||||||
• | 1919 | Béla Kun | ||||||||
Chairman | ||||||||||
• | 1919 | Sándor Garbai | ||||||||
Legislature | National Assembly of Soviets | |||||||||
Historical era | Interwar period | |||||||||
• | Established | 21 March 1919 | ||||||||
• | Constitution | 23 June 1919 | ||||||||
• | Disestablished | 1 August 1919 | ||||||||
Currency | Hungarian korona | |||||||||
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The Hungarian Soviet Republic or literally Republic of Councils in Hungary (Hungarian: Magyarországi Tanácsköztársaság or Magyarországi Szocialista Szövetséges Tanácsköztársaság) was a short-lived independent communist republic established in Hungary in the aftermath of World War I.
It was the successor of the first Hungarian People's Republic and lasted only from 21 March to 1 August 1919. The state was led by Béla Kun. It was the second socialist state in the world to be formed after the October Revolution in Russia brought the Bolsheviks to power. The Hungarian Republic of Councils had military conflicts with the Kingdom of Romania, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and the evolving Czechoslovakia. It ended on 1 August 1919 when Hungarians sent representatives to negotiate their surrender to the Romanian forces.
As the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy collapsed in 1918, an independent Hungarian People's Republic was formed after the Aster Revolution. Official proclamation of the republic was on 16 November 1918 and its president became Mihály Károlyi. Károlyi struggled to establish the government's authority and to control the country.
An initial nucleus of a Hungarian communist party had been organized in a Moscow hotel on 4 November 1918, when a group of Hungarian prisoners of war and other communist proponents formed a Central Committee. Led by Béla Kun, the first members returned to Hungary, and on 24 November created the The Party of Communists from Hungary. The Communist party chose "The Party of Communists from Hungary" (Hungarian: Kommunisták Magyarországi Pártja) title instead of "Hungarian Communist Party", because — at the time — the vast majority of their following represented social class: the factory workers, the "proletariat," hadn't ethnic Hungarian roots in Hungary yet, and the ethnic Hungarians were only a minority in the newly founded party. It recruited members while propagating party's ideas, radicalising many Social Democrats in the process. By February 1919, the party numbered 30,000 to 40,000 members, including many unemployed ex-soldiers, young intellectuals and ethnic minorities.