Charles I of Austria's attempts to retake the throne of Hungary
Encyclopedia
After Miklós Horthy
had been chosen Regent
of Hungary
on 1 March 1920, Charles I of Austria-Hungary, who had reigned in Hungary as Károly IV, returned to Hungary twice, to try unsuccessfully to retake his throne. His attempts are called the "First" and "Second Royal coups d'état" (első és második királypuccs in Hungarian) respectively.
s, Charles deliberately avoided using that term in the event the people of either nation recalled him.
Charles's last Hungarian prime minister, Mihály Károlyi
, took advantage of the situation and proclaimed the Hungarian Democratic Republic
, with himself as provisional president. The continued Allied occupation made Károlyi's situation untenable, and in March 1919 he was pushed out of office by a Social Democratic-Communist coalition that made Hungary a Soviet republic
. Under the Communist leader Bela Kun
, Hungary became the world's second Communist nation. However, Kun's harsh rule alienated large numbers of people, and he was overthrown in August. Eventually, Archduke Joseph August
took power as regent for Charles, only to be forced out when the Allies refused to recognize him.
Finally, in March 1920, Miklós Horthy
, the last commander of the Austro-Hungarian Navy
, was named regent of Hungary."
that year: the diet
was not in session, the diplomatic corps was away in the country, and Regent Horthy planned a quiet holiday with his family in the royal palace. Charles, prompted by suggestions from his immediate Swiss entourage and trusting in the promises of certain European royalist circles, took advantage of this quiet. Despite warnings by many of his supporters and by Horthy himself that the time was not right to return to the throne, he was optimistic, believing that the mere news of his reappearance and Horthy's willingness to hand over power would revive Hungarians' love for their king. His secret negotiations with French Prime Minister
Aristide Briand
led him to expect French support if he succeeded, and no armed intervention from Hungary's neighbours.
At the time, the Hungarian diet was dominated by two right-wing monarchist parties, the Christian Union and the Smallholders. The difference was that most Christian Union members were legitimists, seeing Charles IV as Hungary’s legitimate king and favouring his restoration to power. Most Smallholders were free-electors and held that Hungarians were now free to choose as king anyone they wished.
Shorn of his moustache and armed with a forged Spanish
passport, Charles left his Swiss
villa and arrived undetected at Szombathely
on March 26. There he made his way to the palace of Count János Mikes, a prominent legitimist; the news spread quickly among local legitimists and by the early hours of March 27 Charles had a small privy council, including József Vass, Horthy's Minister of Education, and Colonel Antal Lehár. The latter placed himself and his soldiers at Charles' disposal but warned of significant military risks. Charles agreed to summon Prime Minister Count Pál Teleki
(who was staying nearby) for negotiations. Teleki, roused from his sleep at 2:00 am, muttered "too soon, too soon" before Charles and urged him to return, averring that otherwise civil war would break out and the Little Entente
would intervene. Eventually it was agreed that Charles must meet Horthy; Teleki left by car for Budapest
at 6:30 am, with Charles following an hour later. Teleki's car arrived much later in the day, having taken a wrong turn; some suspect that the "wrong turn" was a pretext by Teleki to remain uninvolved, as the Szombathely-Budapest road is a straight one.
Charles arrived at the palace totally unannounced early on the afternoon of the 27th, just as Horthy was sitting down to an Easter
dinner with his wife. Horthy's aide-de-camp
tried to draw him away from the table, but Horthy's wife Magdolna
insisted her husband should at least be allowed to finish his soup in peace. Horthy then withdrew and, having no time to phone his advisers, had to grapple with the situation himself. Within minutes he was embracing Charles and leading him into the Regent's (formerly the King's) office. There followed an emotional two-hour discussion that Horthy would later describe as "the most difficult moments in my entire life" and a "thoroughly odious" experience. Charles thanked Horthy for his service as regent but said the time had come to "hand over power to me"; Horthy replied, "This is a disaster. In the name of God, Your Majesty must leave at once and return to Switzerland, before it's too late and the Powers learn of your presence in Budapest". Charles said he had "burned his bridges", and, speaking in German, spent the rest of the meeting using numerous arguments to break down the flustered Horthy's resistance. He reminded Horthy of his tearful pledge of loyalty made at Schönbrunn Palace
in November 1918, and of the sworn oath of obedience to the Habsburg monarch from which he had never been released. Horthy reminded him that he had more recently sworn an oath to the Hungarian nation. Shocked by Horthy's recalcitrance, Charles eventually said: "I stick by my position. I'll give you five minutes to think it over". During this break Horthy composed himself (Charles seemed exhausted), reiterated his fear of civil war, and was sceptical about Charles' claim to have assurances of support from Briand.
A tentative three-week truce was reached that both men interpreted differently. Horthy expected Charles to leave Hungary and either march on Vienna
or retire to Switzerland. Charles assumed that, whether or not he invaded Austria, Horthy would strive to facilitate his restoration within three weeks. Leaving by a back door and catching cold (he was given no overcoat), Charles was driven to Szombathely while Horthy spent the evening recounting the meeting in ever more dramatic fashion. Over the next few days, both men remained firm, but Charles' position began to suffer. On March 28, Czechoslovak
and Yugoslavians
envoys declared a restoration would be a casus belli; on April 1 the diet (with legitimists abstaining) passed a unanimous resolution praising Horthy's conduct and endorsing the status quo, and calls for Charles' arrest grew (Horthy adamantly refused this); by April 3 Briand publicly denied any deal had been made. With the army still loyal to Horthy, Charles reluctantly left by train on April 5, reaching Hertenstein Palace the next day. A proclamation of his that he was Hungary’s rightful ruler appeared in Hungarian newspapers on April 7. The Swiss government placed stricter limits on his political activity.
Charles left Hungary with a deep antipathy toward Horthy, persisting in his belief that the great powers would not oppose a restoration and that (notwithstanding the vote in Parliament), the Hungarian people truly yearned for his return. In fact, no demonstrations of support occurred in Hungary during the "Easter Crisis", except on a small scale in the traditionally royalist western counties, and while he was treated respectfully at Szombathely, officers wavered in their support and the people generally treated him with indifference. A shaken and badly damaged Teleki resigned on April 6 and Horthy appointed Count István Bethlen
in his stead eight days later.
, declaring that "the exercise of royal power is not just a right but a necessity"; that Charles’ declaration of November 1918, forfeiting participation in the conduct of state affairs, was made under duress and therefore invalid; and that he would begin negotiations with the Great Powers at the “appropriate time” in order to convince them to accept a restoration. However, he also denounced attempts to restore Charles by force.
The previous day, after dictating his will, Charles had made a daredevil flight (the plane's engine stopped working several times) from Dübendorf
airport in an Ad Astra Aero
Junkers F.13
monoplane, landing surreptitiously in western Hungary. On October 23, a Treaty of Versailles
-mandated plebiscite was scheduled to occur in the Burgenland
(with a choice between Austria and Hungary on offer), and in mid-October Colonel Lehár, Count Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek, and other legitimist officers had decided to take advantage of the tense situation, sending Charles a message that he should try and seize power before October 23. They wrote, "The domestic political situation is such that when His Majesty enters Budapest no sort of opposition is to be expected. To the contrary, the restoration will be greeted everywhere with jubilation". Not informed that some of Hungary's most prominent legitimists had no knowledge of the plan, Charles thought this was the long-awaited cry for help from the Hungarian nation, declaring, "The Hungarians need me". He was prepared to take power by force, assumed that the Little Entente could not mount an attack within a day or two, and that the Great Powers would accept a fait accompli by that time.
After landing on a field belonging to the legitimist Count
József Cziráky in the village of Dénesfa
, Charles quickly made his way to Sopron
. Having no intention to seek compromise with Horthy, whose cabinet he considered illegitimate, he formed a provisional government:
On the afternoon of October 21, while Bethlen was speaking, a group of armoured trains was being equipped in Sopron. This royal armada was guarded by Ostenburg's troops, who were apparently told that communism had erupted in Budapest and that Horthy had called for Charles' help to restore order. In a stirring mass ceremony, the battalion took the traditional Honvéd oath of loyalty to "Charles of Habsburg, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia". Departing for Budapest (some 120 miles away) late that morning, the armada proceeded more like a ceremonial excursion in the countryside than a relentless military advance, stopping at each village station to have the local garrison and public officials take the oath of loyalty and to allow groups of loyal peasants to chant "long live the King!" and pay homage to the royal couple. It took ten hours to make the 50-mile Sopron-Győr
trip, a delay that allowed Horthy to regroup.
A report reached Horthy late on the 21st; he was shocked that Lehár and Ostenburg had betrayed him. Bethlen presided over a cabinet meeting the next morning at 9:30, and there he communicated his decision that force would be used if necessary. Horthy, citing the danger that Hungary would be destroyed, made a military proclamation that he would keep power and demanded loyalty from his army. Many officers, especially older ones, preferred a "wait and see" strategy, and most of those whose units were stationed along the royal armada's path found it impossible (or inexpedient) to be disloyal to Charles. The officers and soldiers of the Győr garrison took the oath of loyalty about the time Horthy was making his proclamation; Komárom
also capitulated later that day. The highest military officers in Budapest were reluctant to assume command of the government's forces, and several declined the task. Furthermore, of the twelve commanders of battalions outside Budapest, only two reported that they could reach the city ready for combat by the 23rd, and the Budapest garrison was suspected of unreliability. The Entente powers reaffirmed their opposition to a restoration, while the Czechoslovak, Yugoslav and Romanian
ministers declared that such a move would be regarded as a casus belli
. Horthy sent a letter to Charles, begging him to give up, but the latter did not even read the letter. Gyula Gömbös
did however manage to assemble a ragtag battalion of 400-500 poorly equipped volunteers (many University of Budapest students) to be used for bolstering meagre army support.
On the morning of October 23, Hungary seemed on the brink of civil war. Charles' army was on the outskirts of Budapest, 20 miles of clear track from the suburban rail station of Kelenföld
. Martial law had been declared in Budapest, while Czechoslovakia was reported to be mobilising. British envoy Thomas Hohler
sent a telegram to London asserting that "all is lost", anticipating Charles' entry into Budapest that afternoon. Horthy received news that if the legitimists launched an attack, the defence would collapse.
The first indication of a turn of events came at 9:00 am, when legitimist General Pál Hegedűs came to Kelenföld station. Somewhat vacillating, he was persuaded to see Horthy and Bethlen in person. The latter denounced Charles's "mad enterprise", while Hohler informed Hegedűs that Britain "would never recognise Charles and would never permit the return of a Habsburg". He warned that Budapest, if taken by royal troops, would be occupied by the Czechs within a week. Hegedűs, who had trusted Charles's assurances that the great powers backed him, now denied being associated with him and offered to broker an armistice.
After meeting with the general, Horthy went with Gömbös to the station, guarded by a largely volunteer force. In a rousing speech, he urged the troops to hold their position, else Austria-Hungary
would be revived and Hungary resume her inferior position. Gömbös exhorted them to fight, claiming Charles' army consisted mostly of "Austrian and Czech adventurers".
This intervention emboldened the army, as there was sporadic fire in the direction of Charles' forces all morning. Additionally, sometime before noon an advance contingent of Ostenburg's army was fired upon as it approached the station. In the only significant military engagement of the restoration attempt, 14 government troops and five of Ostenburg's were killed in the Battle of Budaörs
(a village close to the capital). Word of the skirmish (which resulted in a government victory) electrified the ex-king's officers, for they had assumed to march on Budapest would be bloodless; civil war was now quite possible.
By noon on October 23, the tide was clearly shifting in Horthy's direction, and the regent began to regain his confidence. That afternoon, as Hegedűs returned to the royal military headquarters just east of Kelenföld, the mood in the Hungarian officer corps also grew more pro-Horthy. Further adding to their disillusionment was the fact that many believed Horthy would welcome Charles' return and that the march was largely ceremonial; and that there was no Bolshevist eruption. Seeing Horthy was determined to resist, Charles reluctantly agreed to armistice negotiations, arranging a truce until the following morning.
Talks began in Biatorbágy
at 8:00 am on October 24, by which time Horthy had a decisive military advantage. Harsh terms were composed (Charles was called on to order his troops to lay down arms and turn over all war material); Charles's safety would be guaranteed if he abdicated in writing. In return all supporters of the restoration, "except agitators and ringleaders", would be amnestied. As Charles read these terms shots rang out and a stray bullet hit the royal train; he was quickly bundled into the train, which began to move westward. The indignant Lehár and Ostenburg called for a "last stand" and a "fight to the last drop of blood", but Charles, in resignation, ordered the train to stop and from his window shouted, "Lehár! Ostenburg! Stop and come back here! I forbid any more fighting! It's all quite senseless now..." He then dictated a surrender order.
The government now moved decisively to restore domestic order and defuse the growing international crisis. Prominent legitimists such as Count Sigray, Count Andrássy and Gusztáv Gratz were arrested. The King and Queen, temporarily sheltered on the estate of Count Móric Esterházy, were arrested at Tata
and placed under military custody in a monastery in Tihany
. Charles complied with all the requests except that he did not abdicate the throne.
Despite the clear government victory, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia refused to demobilise the army divisions they were deploying on Hungary's borders. On October 29, Edvard Beneš
, Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia, hoping to exploit the situation, presented an ultimatum threatening an invasion if the Habsburgs were not dethroned, the Little Entente did not participate in disarming Hungary, and Hungary did not show a willingness to compensate Prague for its troop mobilisation. Horthy thought this was outrageous, though Hohler dissuaded him from mobilising his own army to resist invasion. On November 1, when an invasion seemed imminent, Bethlen informed Hohler that Hungary placed itself entirely in the hands of the great powers and would conform to their decisions. He gave assurances that legislation would be passed excluding the Habsburgs, and Horthy urged his officers that all insurgents should be evacuated from western Hungary, else he would do so himself.
Bethlen's maneuver, Horthy's plea, the departure of Charles and Zita
on November 1, and stern British and French warnings to Beneš defused the crisis. On November 3, hours after a British gunboat, the HMS Glowworm, left Hungarian waters with the royals aboard, Bethlen presented Parliament with a bill that would nullify the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713
. Passed on November 6, this in essence dethroned the Habsburg dynasty, though Hungary remained a monarchy and a Habsburg could theoretically be elected king in the future. Charles, having been taken down the Danube
to Galaţi
, Romania
, was later forced into exile on Madeira
. Shattered by his failure, his health deteriorated month by month until he died on April 1, 1922. It was clear that his 10-year-old son and heir Otto
would not play an active political role for years, and the Hungarian royalist movement was never to recover its former influence. To the surprise of many, though, Horthy appeared at a memorial service held for Charles at the Matthias Church
in Budapest shortly thereafter, discharging a final duty to his former king.
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" .Admiral Horthy was an officer of the...
had been chosen Regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
on 1 March 1920, Charles I of Austria-Hungary, who had reigned in Hungary as Károly IV, returned to Hungary twice, to try unsuccessfully to retake his throne. His attempts are called the "First" and "Second Royal coups d'état" (első és második királypuccs in Hungarian) respectively.
Background
On November 13, 1918, Charles had issued a proclamation in which he relinquished his right to take part in Hungarian affairs of state. He also released the officials in the Hungarian half of the empire from their oath of loyalty to him. This came two days after he issued a similar statement withdrawing from Austrian politics. Although these statements have been described as abdicationAbdication
Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...
s, Charles deliberately avoided using that term in the event the people of either nation recalled him.
Charles's last Hungarian prime minister, Mihály Károlyi
Mihály Károlyi
Count Mihály Ádám György Miklós Károlyi de Nagykároly was briefly Hungary's leader in 1918-19 during a short-lived democracy...
, took advantage of the situation and proclaimed the Hungarian Democratic Republic
Hungarian Democratic Republic
The Hungarian People's Republic was an independent republic proclaimed after the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918...
, with himself as provisional president. The continued Allied occupation made Károlyi's situation untenable, and in March 1919 he was pushed out of office by a Social Democratic-Communist coalition that made Hungary a Soviet republic
Hungarian Soviet Republic
The Hungarian Soviet Republic or Soviet Republic of Hungary was a short-lived Communist state established in Hungary in the aftermath of World War I....
. Under the Communist leader Bela Kun
Béla Kun
Béla Kun , born Béla Kohn, was a Hungarian Communist politician and a Bolshevik Revolutionary who led the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919.- Early life :...
, Hungary became the world's second Communist nation. However, Kun's harsh rule alienated large numbers of people, and he was overthrown in August. Eventually, Archduke Joseph August
Archduke Joseph August of Austria
Archduke Joseph August Viktor Klemens Maria of Austria, Prince of Hungary and Bohemia was for a short period head of state of Hungary, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and the eldest son of Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria and his wife Princess Clotilde of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
took power as regent for Charles, only to be forced out when the Allies refused to recognize him.
Finally, in March 1920, Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" .Admiral Horthy was an officer of the...
, the last commander of the Austro-Hungarian Navy
Austro-Hungarian Navy
The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine , abbreviated as k.u.k. Kriegsmarine....
, was named regent of Hungary."
Easter Crisis
The former king's first coup attempt began on March 26, 1921. This was Holy SaturdayHoly Saturday
Holy Saturday , sometimes known as Easter Eve or Black Saturday, is the day after Good Friday. It is the day before Easter and the last day of Holy Week in which Christians prepare for Easter...
that year: the diet
Diet of Hungary
The Diet of Hungary was a legislative institution in the medieval kingdom of Hungary from the 15th century, and in its successor states, Royal Hungary and the Habsburg kingdom of Hungary throughout the Early Modern period...
was not in session, the diplomatic corps was away in the country, and Regent Horthy planned a quiet holiday with his family in the royal palace. Charles, prompted by suggestions from his immediate Swiss entourage and trusting in the promises of certain European royalist circles, took advantage of this quiet. Despite warnings by many of his supporters and by Horthy himself that the time was not right to return to the throne, he was optimistic, believing that the mere news of his reappearance and Horthy's willingness to hand over power would revive Hungarians' love for their king. His secret negotiations with French Prime Minister
Prime Minister of France
The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
Aristide Briand
Aristide Briand
Aristide Briand was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic and received the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize.- Early life :...
led him to expect French support if he succeeded, and no armed intervention from Hungary's neighbours.
At the time, the Hungarian diet was dominated by two right-wing monarchist parties, the Christian Union and the Smallholders. The difference was that most Christian Union members were legitimists, seeing Charles IV as Hungary’s legitimate king and favouring his restoration to power. Most Smallholders were free-electors and held that Hungarians were now free to choose as king anyone they wished.
Shorn of his moustache and armed with a forged Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
passport, Charles left his Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
villa and arrived undetected at Szombathely
Szombathely
Szombathely is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria...
on March 26. There he made his way to the palace of Count János Mikes, a prominent legitimist; the news spread quickly among local legitimists and by the early hours of March 27 Charles had a small privy council, including József Vass, Horthy's Minister of Education, and Colonel Antal Lehár. The latter placed himself and his soldiers at Charles' disposal but warned of significant military risks. Charles agreed to summon Prime Minister Count Pál Teleki
Pál Teleki
Pál Count Teleki de Szék was prime minister of Hungary from 19 July 1920 to 14 April 1921 and from 16 February 1939 to 3 April 1941. He was also a famous expert in geography, a university professor, a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and Chief Scout of the Hungarian Scout Association...
(who was staying nearby) for negotiations. Teleki, roused from his sleep at 2:00 am, muttered "too soon, too soon" before Charles and urged him to return, averring that otherwise civil war would break out and the Little Entente
Little Entente
The Little Entente was an alliance formed in 1920 and 1921 by Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia with the purpose of common defense against Hungarian revision and the prevention of a Habsburg restoration...
would intervene. Eventually it was agreed that Charles must meet Horthy; Teleki left by car for Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
at 6:30 am, with Charles following an hour later. Teleki's car arrived much later in the day, having taken a wrong turn; some suspect that the "wrong turn" was a pretext by Teleki to remain uninvolved, as the Szombathely-Budapest road is a straight one.
Charles arrived at the palace totally unannounced early on the afternoon of the 27th, just as Horthy was sitting down to an Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
dinner with his wife. Horthy's aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
tried to draw him away from the table, but Horthy's wife Magdolna
Magdolna Purgly
Magdolna Purgly de Jószáshely was the wife of Admiral Miklós Horthy.-Early life:...
insisted her husband should at least be allowed to finish his soup in peace. Horthy then withdrew and, having no time to phone his advisers, had to grapple with the situation himself. Within minutes he was embracing Charles and leading him into the Regent's (formerly the King's) office. There followed an emotional two-hour discussion that Horthy would later describe as "the most difficult moments in my entire life" and a "thoroughly odious" experience. Charles thanked Horthy for his service as regent but said the time had come to "hand over power to me"; Horthy replied, "This is a disaster. In the name of God, Your Majesty must leave at once and return to Switzerland, before it's too late and the Powers learn of your presence in Budapest". Charles said he had "burned his bridges", and, speaking in German, spent the rest of the meeting using numerous arguments to break down the flustered Horthy's resistance. He reminded Horthy of his tearful pledge of loyalty made at Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunn Palace is a former imperial 1,441-room Rococo summer residence in Vienna, Austria. One of the most important cultural monuments in the country, since the 1960s it has been one of the major tourist attractions in Vienna...
in November 1918, and of the sworn oath of obedience to the Habsburg monarch from which he had never been released. Horthy reminded him that he had more recently sworn an oath to the Hungarian nation. Shocked by Horthy's recalcitrance, Charles eventually said: "I stick by my position. I'll give you five minutes to think it over". During this break Horthy composed himself (Charles seemed exhausted), reiterated his fear of civil war, and was sceptical about Charles' claim to have assurances of support from Briand.
A tentative three-week truce was reached that both men interpreted differently. Horthy expected Charles to leave Hungary and either march on Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
or retire to Switzerland. Charles assumed that, whether or not he invaded Austria, Horthy would strive to facilitate his restoration within three weeks. Leaving by a back door and catching cold (he was given no overcoat), Charles was driven to Szombathely while Horthy spent the evening recounting the meeting in ever more dramatic fashion. Over the next few days, both men remained firm, but Charles' position began to suffer. On March 28, Czechoslovak
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
and Yugoslavians
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
envoys declared a restoration would be a casus belli; on April 1 the diet (with legitimists abstaining) passed a unanimous resolution praising Horthy's conduct and endorsing the status quo, and calls for Charles' arrest grew (Horthy adamantly refused this); by April 3 Briand publicly denied any deal had been made. With the army still loyal to Horthy, Charles reluctantly left by train on April 5, reaching Hertenstein Palace the next day. A proclamation of his that he was Hungary’s rightful ruler appeared in Hungarian newspapers on April 7. The Swiss government placed stricter limits on his political activity.
Charles left Hungary with a deep antipathy toward Horthy, persisting in his belief that the great powers would not oppose a restoration and that (notwithstanding the vote in Parliament), the Hungarian people truly yearned for his return. In fact, no demonstrations of support occurred in Hungary during the "Easter Crisis", except on a small scale in the traditionally royalist western counties, and while he was treated respectfully at Szombathely, officers wavered in their support and the people generally treated him with indifference. A shaken and badly damaged Teleki resigned on April 6 and Horthy appointed Count István Bethlen
István Bethlen
Count István Bethlen de Bethlen was a Hungarian aristocrat and statesman and served as Prime Minister from 1921 to 1931....
in his stead eight days later.
Interlude
In June, the legitimists, sensing that the government was taking no real action to bring Charles back, launched a major offensive against Horthy and Bethlen (a legitimist at heart but one who understood that there was no chance for a restored monarchy at the time). They aimed to undermine Horthy’s prestige, weaken his power and create favourable conditions for Charles’ return. In response, Horthy and Bethlen began secret discussions with legitimist leaders in early August (preferring to deal with them rather than with the pro-democracy Smallholder faction of István Szabó de Nagyatád). In principle, as early as August, the government began to prepare Charles’ return: for instance, at the end of that month the Hungarian minister in Paris informed leaders at the French Foreign Ministry that his return was unavoidable due to public opinion.March on Budapest
On October 21, Bethlen, having reached an agreement with the legitimist leader Andrássy, made an ill-timed speech to moderate legitimist aristocrats in PécsPécs
Pécs is the fifth largest city of Hungary, located on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the south-west of the country, close to its border with Croatia. It is the administrative and economical centre of Baranya county...
, declaring that "the exercise of royal power is not just a right but a necessity"; that Charles’ declaration of November 1918, forfeiting participation in the conduct of state affairs, was made under duress and therefore invalid; and that he would begin negotiations with the Great Powers at the “appropriate time” in order to convince them to accept a restoration. However, he also denounced attempts to restore Charles by force.
The previous day, after dictating his will, Charles had made a daredevil flight (the plane's engine stopped working several times) from Dübendorf
Dübendorf
Dübendorf is a municipality in the district of Uster in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.It is a suburb of Zürich in Switzerland with a population of about 23,000 . It is the fourth largest city in the canton, after Zürich, Winterthur, and Uster.-History:Dübendorf is first mentioned in 946 as...
airport in an Ad Astra Aero
Ad Astra Aero
Ad Astra Aero was a Swiss airline.-Time of the pioneers:Initiated by Oskar Bider and Fritz Rihner, in July 1919 the «Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Lufttourismus» was established in Zürich...
Junkers F.13
Junkers F.13
The Junkers F.13 was the world's first all-metal transport aircraft, developed in Germany at the end of World War I. It was an advanced cantilever-wing monoplane, with enclosed accommodation for four passengers. Over 300 were sold...
monoplane, landing surreptitiously in western Hungary. On October 23, a Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
-mandated plebiscite was scheduled to occur in the Burgenland
Burgenland
Burgenland is the easternmost and least populous state or Land of Austria. It consists of two Statutarstädte and seven districts with in total 171 municipalities. It is 166 km long from north to south but much narrower from west to east...
(with a choice between Austria and Hungary on offer), and in mid-October Colonel Lehár, Count Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek, and other legitimist officers had decided to take advantage of the tense situation, sending Charles a message that he should try and seize power before October 23. They wrote, "The domestic political situation is such that when His Majesty enters Budapest no sort of opposition is to be expected. To the contrary, the restoration will be greeted everywhere with jubilation". Not informed that some of Hungary's most prominent legitimists had no knowledge of the plan, Charles thought this was the long-awaited cry for help from the Hungarian nation, declaring, "The Hungarians need me". He was prepared to take power by force, assumed that the Little Entente could not mount an attack within a day or two, and that the Great Powers would accept a fait accompli by that time.
After landing on a field belonging to the legitimist Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
József Cziráky in the village of Dénesfa
Dénesfa
Dénesfa is a village in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.- External links :*...
, Charles quickly made his way to Sopron
Sopron
In 1910 Sopron had 33,932 inhabitants . Religions: 64.1% Roman Catholic, 27.8% Lutheran, 6.6% Jewish, 1.2% Calvinist, 0.3% other. In 2001 the city had 56,125 inhabitants...
. Having no intention to seek compromise with Horthy, whose cabinet he considered illegitimate, he formed a provisional government:
- Prime Minister: István RakovszkyIstván RakovszkyIstván Rakovszky de Nagyrákó et Nagyselmecz was a legitimist Hungarian politician. During the Second Royal coup d'état Charles IV returned to Hungary to try unsuccessfully to retake his throne...
- Minister of the Interior: Ödön BeniczkyÖdön BeniczkyÖdön Beniczky de Benice et Micsinye was a Hungarian legitimist politician, who served as Interior Minister between 1919 and 1920. He was a resolute adversary of Governor Miklós Horthy. He supported the king Charles IV in the king's attempts to retake the throne of Hungary. That is why Beniczky was...
- Minister of Foreign Affairs: Count Gyula AndrássyGyula Andrássy the YoungerCount Gyula Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka the Younger was a Hungarian politician.The second son of Count Gyula Andrássy, the younger Andrássy became under-secretary in the Sándor Wekerle ministry in 1892; in 1893, he became Minister of Education, and, in June 1894, he was appointed...
, highly sceptical and disheartened but dutiful - Minister of Finance and Industry: Gusztáv GratzGusztáv GratzGusztáv Gratz was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1921. He was a correspondent member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Gratz published in the Huszadik Század and the Társadalomtudományi Társaság newspapers. He was a representative in the National Assembly...
- Minister of Defence: Baron Antal Lehár
- Minister of Education: Count Albert ApponyiAlbert ApponyiCount Albert Apponyi de Nagyappony was a distinguished Hungarian nobleman and politician from an ancient noble family dating back to the 13th century. He was born on 29 May 1846, in Vienna, where his father, Count György Apponyi, was the resident Hungarian Chancellor at the time...
.
On the afternoon of October 21, while Bethlen was speaking, a group of armoured trains was being equipped in Sopron. This royal armada was guarded by Ostenburg's troops, who were apparently told that communism had erupted in Budapest and that Horthy had called for Charles' help to restore order. In a stirring mass ceremony, the battalion took the traditional Honvéd oath of loyalty to "Charles of Habsburg, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia". Departing for Budapest (some 120 miles away) late that morning, the armada proceeded more like a ceremonial excursion in the countryside than a relentless military advance, stopping at each village station to have the local garrison and public officials take the oath of loyalty and to allow groups of loyal peasants to chant "long live the King!" and pay homage to the royal couple. It took ten hours to make the 50-mile Sopron-Győr
Gyor
-Climate:-Main sights:The ancient core of the city is Káptalan Hill at the confluence of three rivers: the Danube, Rába and Rábca. Püspökvár, the residence of Győr’s bishops can be easily recognised by its incomplete tower. Győr’s oldest buildings are the 13th-century dwelling tower and the...
trip, a delay that allowed Horthy to regroup.
A report reached Horthy late on the 21st; he was shocked that Lehár and Ostenburg had betrayed him. Bethlen presided over a cabinet meeting the next morning at 9:30, and there he communicated his decision that force would be used if necessary. Horthy, citing the danger that Hungary would be destroyed, made a military proclamation that he would keep power and demanded loyalty from his army. Many officers, especially older ones, preferred a "wait and see" strategy, and most of those whose units were stationed along the royal armada's path found it impossible (or inexpedient) to be disloyal to Charles. The officers and soldiers of the Győr garrison took the oath of loyalty about the time Horthy was making his proclamation; Komárom
Komárom
Komárom is a city in Hungary on the right bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom county.The city of Komárom was formerly a separate suburban village called...
also capitulated later that day. The highest military officers in Budapest were reluctant to assume command of the government's forces, and several declined the task. Furthermore, of the twelve commanders of battalions outside Budapest, only two reported that they could reach the city ready for combat by the 23rd, and the Budapest garrison was suspected of unreliability. The Entente powers reaffirmed their opposition to a restoration, while the Czechoslovak, Yugoslav and Romanian
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
ministers declared that such a move would be regarded as a casus belli
Casus belli
is a Latin expression meaning the justification for acts of war. means "incident", "rupture" or indeed "case", while means bellic...
. Horthy sent a letter to Charles, begging him to give up, but the latter did not even read the letter. Gyula Gömbös
Gyula Gömbös
Gyula Gömbös de Jákfa was the conservative prime minister of Hungary from 1932 to 1936.-Background:Gömbös was born in the Tolna County village of Murga, Hungary, which had a mixed Hungarian and ethnic German population. His father was the village schoolmaster. The family belonged to the ...
did however manage to assemble a ragtag battalion of 400-500 poorly equipped volunteers (many University of Budapest students) to be used for bolstering meagre army support.
On the morning of October 23, Hungary seemed on the brink of civil war. Charles' army was on the outskirts of Budapest, 20 miles of clear track from the suburban rail station of Kelenföld
Kelenföld
Kelenföld is a neighborhood in Budapest, Hungary. It belongs to Újbuda, and located in the southern part of Buda. The large Kelenföld housing estate was built between 1967 and 1983 from pre-fabricated concrete blocks. The older streets around Bocskai út were mainly built in the first half of the...
. Martial law had been declared in Budapest, while Czechoslovakia was reported to be mobilising. British envoy Thomas Hohler
Thomas Hohler
Sir Thomas Beaumont Hohler, KCMG, CB, JP was a British diplomat.During World War I, he was head of the British delegation to Mexico, in Mexico City, and was involved in the interception of the German Zimmermann Telegram that was used to promote the entry of the United States into the war...
sent a telegram to London asserting that "all is lost", anticipating Charles' entry into Budapest that afternoon. Horthy received news that if the legitimists launched an attack, the defence would collapse.
The first indication of a turn of events came at 9:00 am, when legitimist General Pál Hegedűs came to Kelenföld station. Somewhat vacillating, he was persuaded to see Horthy and Bethlen in person. The latter denounced Charles's "mad enterprise", while Hohler informed Hegedűs that Britain "would never recognise Charles and would never permit the return of a Habsburg". He warned that Budapest, if taken by royal troops, would be occupied by the Czechs within a week. Hegedűs, who had trusted Charles's assurances that the great powers backed him, now denied being associated with him and offered to broker an armistice.
After meeting with the general, Horthy went with Gömbös to the station, guarded by a largely volunteer force. In a rousing speech, he urged the troops to hold their position, else Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
would be revived and Hungary resume her inferior position. Gömbös exhorted them to fight, claiming Charles' army consisted mostly of "Austrian and Czech adventurers".
This intervention emboldened the army, as there was sporadic fire in the direction of Charles' forces all morning. Additionally, sometime before noon an advance contingent of Ostenburg's army was fired upon as it approached the station. In the only significant military engagement of the restoration attempt, 14 government troops and five of Ostenburg's were killed in the Battle of Budaörs
Budaörs
Budaörs is a city in Pest county, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. The town has a large German-speaking minority who call it Wudersch...
(a village close to the capital). Word of the skirmish (which resulted in a government victory) electrified the ex-king's officers, for they had assumed to march on Budapest would be bloodless; civil war was now quite possible.
By noon on October 23, the tide was clearly shifting in Horthy's direction, and the regent began to regain his confidence. That afternoon, as Hegedűs returned to the royal military headquarters just east of Kelenföld, the mood in the Hungarian officer corps also grew more pro-Horthy. Further adding to their disillusionment was the fact that many believed Horthy would welcome Charles' return and that the march was largely ceremonial; and that there was no Bolshevist eruption. Seeing Horthy was determined to resist, Charles reluctantly agreed to armistice negotiations, arranging a truce until the following morning.
Talks began in Biatorbágy
Biatorbágy
Biatorbágy is a town in Pest County, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. It has a population of 10,720 .On 13 September 1931 a demented man blasted the train to Vienna on the viaduct of Biatorbágy. Prime minister Gyula Károlyi inducted martial law, and executed two illegal communist...
at 8:00 am on October 24, by which time Horthy had a decisive military advantage. Harsh terms were composed (Charles was called on to order his troops to lay down arms and turn over all war material); Charles's safety would be guaranteed if he abdicated in writing. In return all supporters of the restoration, "except agitators and ringleaders", would be amnestied. As Charles read these terms shots rang out and a stray bullet hit the royal train; he was quickly bundled into the train, which began to move westward. The indignant Lehár and Ostenburg called for a "last stand" and a "fight to the last drop of blood", but Charles, in resignation, ordered the train to stop and from his window shouted, "Lehár! Ostenburg! Stop and come back here! I forbid any more fighting! It's all quite senseless now..." He then dictated a surrender order.
The government now moved decisively to restore domestic order and defuse the growing international crisis. Prominent legitimists such as Count Sigray, Count Andrássy and Gusztáv Gratz were arrested. The King and Queen, temporarily sheltered on the estate of Count Móric Esterházy, were arrested at Tata
Tata, Hungary
Tata is a town in north-western Hungary, Komárom-Esztergom county, northwest from county seat Tatabánya.-Location:Tata is located in the valley between the Gerecse and Vértes Mountains, some from the Budapest, the capital. By the virtue of its location, the city is a railway and road junction...
and placed under military custody in a monastery in Tihany
Tihany
Tihany is a village on the northern shore of Lake Balaton on the Tihany Peninsula . The whole peninsula is a historical district....
. Charles complied with all the requests except that he did not abdicate the throne.
Despite the clear government victory, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia refused to demobilise the army divisions they were deploying on Hungary's borders. On October 29, Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš was a leader of the Czechoslovak independence movement, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the second President of Czechoslovakia. He was known to be a skilled diplomat.- Youth :...
, Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia, hoping to exploit the situation, presented an ultimatum threatening an invasion if the Habsburgs were not dethroned, the Little Entente did not participate in disarming Hungary, and Hungary did not show a willingness to compensate Prague for its troop mobilisation. Horthy thought this was outrageous, though Hohler dissuaded him from mobilising his own army to resist invasion. On November 1, when an invasion seemed imminent, Bethlen informed Hohler that Hungary placed itself entirely in the hands of the great powers and would conform to their decisions. He gave assurances that legislation would be passed excluding the Habsburgs, and Horthy urged his officers that all insurgents should be evacuated from western Hungary, else he would do so himself.
Bethlen's maneuver, Horthy's plea, the departure of Charles and Zita
Zita of Bourbon-Parma
Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma was the wife of Emperor Charles of Austria...
on November 1, and stern British and French warnings to Beneš defused the crisis. On November 3, hours after a British gunboat, the HMS Glowworm, left Hungarian waters with the royals aboard, Bethlen presented Parliament with a bill that would nullify the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713
Pragmatic Sanction of 1713
The Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 was an edict issued by Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI to ensure that the throne of the Archduchy of Austria could be inherited by a daughter....
. Passed on November 6, this in essence dethroned the Habsburg dynasty, though Hungary remained a monarchy and a Habsburg could theoretically be elected king in the future. Charles, having been taken down the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
to Galaţi
Galati
Galați is a city and municipality in Romania, the capital of Galați County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, in the close vicinity of Brăila, Galați is the largest port and sea port on the Danube River and the second largest Romanian port....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, was later forced into exile on Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
. Shattered by his failure, his health deteriorated month by month until he died on April 1, 1922. It was clear that his 10-year-old son and heir Otto
Otto von Habsburg
Otto von Habsburg , also known by his royal name as Archduke Otto of Austria, was the last Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary from 1916 until the dissolution of the empire in 1918, a realm which comprised modern-day Austria, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia,...
would not play an active political role for years, and the Hungarian royalist movement was never to recover its former influence. To the surprise of many, though, Horthy appeared at a memorial service held for Charles at the Matthias Church
Matthias Church
Matthias Church is a church located in Budapest, Hungary, at the heart of Buda's Castle District. According to church tradition, it was originally built in Romanesque style in 1015. The current building was constructed in the florid late Gothic style in the second half of the 14th century and was...
in Budapest shortly thereafter, discharging a final duty to his former king.