Hungarian National Socialist Party
Hungarian National Socialist Party Magyar Nemzeti Szocialista Párt | |
---|---|
Founded | 1920s |
Dissolved | 1944 |
Merged into | Arrow Cross Party |
Ideology | Nazism Antisemitism Hungarian Turanism |
Political position | Far-right |
Part of a series on |
Nazism |
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The Hungarian National Socialist Party (
Early Nazi groups
From its early origins up to the eventual fall of the
A second group, the National Socialist Party of Work, was founded by
The Hungarian National Socialist Agricultural Labourers' and Workers' Party (HNSALWP) was formed in 1933 as a splinter group from the Smallholders Party under Zoltán Meskó. This party appealed specifically to landless peasants. It soon absorbed the original HNSP and its followers became known as the Greenshirts for their distinctive uniforms. They also adopted the Arrow Cross as their symbol.[2]
Around the same time
Attempts at unity
In 1934 the HNSALWP, the HNSPP and Pálffy's HNSP concluded a formal alliance, although before long Festetics was expelled for his perceived 'softness' on the issue of Hungary's
The two remaining parties came together as the National Socialist Party of Hungary in 1935 and before long Pálffy had seen off Meskó as well to leave him as sole leader. As a consequence Meskó re-established the HNSALWP, although it failed to gain much support.[2]
Scythe Cross rebellion
While the various factions had struggled to gain some sort of unity the Scythe Cross movement had remained independent. The group pushed a strong platform of
Developing a militia structure, the Scythe Cross opted for insurgency and launched a rebellion of sorts on May Day 1936. A few thousand supporters of the group mobilised with the stated intention of marching on Budapest, with the capital denounced in their rhetoric as "sinful".[7] However the still fairly small and poorly equipped group was no match for the army and it was quickly put down. As a result, the group was banned and suppressed by the government and Böszörmény went into exile in Germany.[8]
Unity under Szálasi
While this was going on Ferenc Szálasi had emerged as a strong leader of his own Party of National Will (later the Arrow Cross Party). This group soon became the focus for unity, absorbing first Balogh's group in 1937 before adopting the HNSP moniker for his own group that same year. Before long Szálasi had brought all the main talent bar Festetics, who was closer to the aristocracy despite his flirtation with Nazism, under his umbrella.[9]
War-time experience
The Arrow Cross was banned when war broke out and as a result Szálasi found unity difficult to maintain. Pálffy joined with László Baky to relaunch the HNSP almost immediately and this group had 15 deputies by 1940 when it once again merged into Szálasi's group. This merger was not to last however as in 1941 they broke away to form Hungarian Renewal - National Socialist Party (HRNSP), which had as many as 44 deputies.[10] Supported by the German-funded newspaper Magyarság, the party made little headway, although it was one of the few allowed to continue after the German invasion and played a minor role in the government of Szálasi.[11] The HRNSP was officially merged into the Arrow Cross in 1944, although separate organisations largely continued to function until the end of the war.[12]
None of the various claimants to the title of Hungarian National Socialist Party survived the
Electoral results
National Assembly
Election | Votes | Seats | Rank | Government | Leader of the national list | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | % | ±pp | # | +/− | ||||
1926 | 1,118 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 0 / 260
|
11th | in opposition | ||
1935 | 57,544 | 3.9% | 3.9 | 2 / 260
|
5th | in opposition | ||
1939 | 10,872 | 0.7% | 0 / 260
|
14th | in opposition |
References
- ^ Steven Bela Vardy, Historical Dictionary of Hungary, Scarecrow Press, 1997, p. 327
- ^ a b c d e f Payne, p. 270
- ^ Carsten, pp. 173-174
- ^ R. Braham,'The Politics of Genocide - The Holocaust in Hungary' Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 'Hungarian Fascism'
- ^ T. Brass, Peasants, Populism and Postmodernism: The Return of the Agrarian Myth, p. 60
- ^ Carsten, p. 174
- ^ Payne, p. 271
- ^ Payne, pp. 273-4
- ^ Payne, pp. 415-6
- ^ Philip Rees, Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890, László Baky entry
- ^ Payne, p. 419
Bibliography
- F.L. Carsten, The Rise of Fascism, London: Methuen & Co, 1974
- Stanley G. Payne, A History of Fascism 1914-1945, London, Routledge, 2001
- English-language review of Rudolf Paksa, Magyar nemzetiszocialisták (Hungarian National Socialists). Budapest: Osiris, 2013: Originally published on HSozKult.