Who's Who - Bela Kun
Bela Kun (1886-1936), the
Hungarian revolutionary, was responsible for founding the world's second
communist government with the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian empire
at the close of the World War One.
The founder of the Hungarian Communist Party, Kun served in the
Austro-Hungarian army with the declaration of war in August 1914, until he
was taken prisoner by the Russians in 1916.
He played no further part in the war until the Russian Revolution and the
ascent of the Bolsheviks to power. He thereafter returned to Hungary
as an ally of the Bolshevik government, with the intent of stirring a
revolutionary uprising.
In this he was remarkably successful. Having formed an alliance with
the Social Democrats Kun was able to form a coalition government that the
Communists quickly came to dominate.
In government however Kun found his popularity waning with unpopular
decisions to nationalise industry and agriculture. Unrepentant, Kun
maintain power through the ruthless use of the armed forces.
Opposition continued to grow however and, on 1 August 1919, Kun's government
fell in the face of invasions from both the Czechs and Romanians, not to
mention the French-sponsored counter-revolutionary force led by
Admiral Miklos Horthy de
Nagybanya (which succeeded in establishing Horthy in government for many
years).
Fleeing to the Soviet Union, Kun established himself as a party operator
within Stalin's government. The circumstances and date of his death
remain unclear, but he is believed to have met his end in one of Stalin's
innumerable purges.
Panzer was a term used to describe a German tank.
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