The second Communist dictatorship in the world lasted only 133 days in Hungary

The democratic government that formed in Hungary after its WWI defeat was not able to keep wild Communist propaganda supported by Moscow at bay and after less than 5 months they were overthrown by a well-organised coup d’etat.

People were desperate

However, the world’s second Communist dictatorship did not reign in Budapest for long: despite the unprecedented terror it implemented the regime collapsed precisely 100 years ago on August 1, 1919. 

But how could Communists gain power in Hungary, the land of the 1956 revolution during which adolescents fought against the most enormous army of the world, the Soviet Red Army?

In the final days of WWI Hungary (like other nations taking part in the war) was no longer the land that once grabbed arms with great enthusiasm to punish the Serbs or the Russians. In 1918 fall

millions were starving

at home and on the front, as well, everybody wanted to finish the war, return home and punish those they thought are responsible for the 4-year-long bloodshed. They found their leader first in Mihály Károlyi who promised to put an end to the massacre, to democratise Hungary and preserve its territorial unity against Romanian, Serbian or Czech demands.

However, Károlyi and his governments failed to meet the exaggerated expectations of the people. The First People’s Republic of Hungary was unable to defend the borders against the invading neighbours helped by the entente powers, and they were also incapable of

implementing crucial reforms like the distribution of land or organising a general election.

On the other hand; however, since they regarded themselves as democrats, they did not step up against wild Communist propaganda promising almost everything and winning the support of more and more people as the time passed. The parties of the government were like political clubs without real membership except for the social democrats who had almost 1 million party members. By March 1919 Károlyi thought that only the social democrats and their many supporters could stop foreign forces and save Hungary from the destruction. Therefore, he appointed a full social democratic government, but he was not aware of the fact that the Social Democrats already made a pact with the Hungarian Bolsheviks and gave power into their hands.

On March 21, 1919, the Revolutionary Governing Council was formed which proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic and dismissed Károlyi. 

To tell the truth; however, anti-clerical and anti-peasantry Communists were extremely unpopular in the countryside so their

base was mostly the working class of the large industrial centres