István Bethlen

Count István Bethlen Bethlen [ iʃtva ː n bɛtlɛn ] (* October 8, 1874 Gernyeszeg, Transylvania, Austria - Hungary, now circle Mureş, Romania; ? † October 5, 1946 in or near Moscow ) was a Hungarian politician and 1921-1931 Hungarian Prime Minister.

Count Bethlen came from an old noble family from Transylvania. He was in 1901 elected as a Liberal in the Hungarian Parliament. After the collapse of Austria -Hungary in 1918, he fought against the Hungarian Soviet Republic and was a close advisor of Admiral Miklós Horthy. Horthy appointed him in 1921 as prime minister. He held until 1931 this office.

Based on the Unity Party, founded in 1922 ruled Bethlen authoritarian. He sought the economic consolidation of Hungary. Through an alliance with Italy in 1927 closed he could create a counterweight against the Little Entente and break the isolation occurred after 1918 in Hungary. After the German occupation of Hungary, Bethlen went into hiding, but the Red Army seized him in 1945 and deported him to Moscow, where he reportedly died. A plaque was temető On the Kerepesi for him erected.