Miklós Horthy

Miklós Horthy (1868-1957), Hungarian admiral and statesman, born in Kenderes, and educated at the Naval Academy of Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia). During World War I he rose to become admiral of the Austro-Hungarian navy. After the war he returned to Hungary and organized a counter-revolution against the Bolshevist government of Béla Kun. Horthy was made commander in chief of the Hungarian armed forces in 1919, and in 1920 the National Assembly elected him regent. As regent he defeated the attempts (in March and October 1921) of Charles I, former Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, to regain the throne, a move in which Horthy was supported by the Hungarian government. Under his regime, Hungary became the first post-World War I nationalist dictatorship in Europe, ruthlessly suppressing all political opposition. At the same time, revision of the Treaty of Trianon was demanded, and a strong tide of nationalism arose, focusing on the return of territories lost after the war.

Through Horthy's efforts, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in 1940 in return for part of the territory it claimed from Romania. In 1944, when the tide of World War II turned against the Axis powers, Horthy attempted to make a separate peace between Hungary and the Allies; as a result, Hungary was occupied by German troops, and Horthy was deposed as regent. He disappeared, reportedly as a prisoner of the Germans, until the following year, when he was captured in Bavaria by the United States Army. He was held in protective custody until the end of 1945 and was then released. He spent the rest of his life in Portugal.