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Postal History
Faeroese Postal History
Hungarian Hyperinflation
Soviet-Lithuania
1947-90
Encased Stamps
Dutch Silver Stamp
A Jewel on a Stamp
TPG Post
Azad
Hind
Christmas Island
Nordic Swans
Ephemera
Braille
Bluenose
Kaulbach Island
Canadian Nat. Symbols
Barcelos
Rooster
Easter
Private - Personalized
Roses
Swarovski Crystals
St. Zeno
St.
George
St. Patrick
St. Valentine
Thanksgiving
Mother's Day
Father's Day
Seven Wonders
Four Seasons
Curiosa
Hidden
Messages
Gothic Alphabet
Philatelic Art Mews
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
National Portrait
Gallery
Bjřrn Wiinblad
Tordenskiold
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Hungary, bordered by Slovakia, Ukraine, Austria, Slovenia, Yugoslavia,
Croatia, and Romania, is a country of 93.032 square km, inhabited by c. 10,1
million people. The
inhabitants, in Hungarian "Magyars", immigrated from the lands east of
the Caspian Sea around 896, considered by the Hungarians as the year of establishment of the nation.
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Historical
Background
Inflation, page
1 Inflation, page
2
Adópengö, page 1
Adópengö, page 2
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people, hardened through times by Turkish occupations, later by the Austrian
Habsburgs. Their strength is well described through this anecdote:
When the Italian nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi had performed the first fission,
one of his students asked him: "But, Professor, are there people in
the world that would survive this?" Fermi answered: "But
of course, they are still around, they are Magyars".
In 1848 the Hungarians revolted
against the Austrians, who were supported by the "Holy
Alliance" established after the Napoleonic wars between Russia,
Prussia and Austria. In 1864 Russia and Prussia agreed
on going to war against Denmark, and already two years later Bismarck's
Prussia had become so strong, that he defeated Austria in the Battle of
Sadova south of Prague.
- German postcard 1898, showing
Otto von Bismarck, German chancellor. Scan by courtesy of Ann
Mette Heindorff.
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This brought the Austrians to
discuss what would happen if Prussia and Hungary sided up and eventually
pressed Austria from two sides.
They simply arranged themselves with
the Hungarian leaders to have the Emperor Franz Joseph crowned with the
Crown of St. Stephen in 1867 as King of Hungary, and the
Austro-Hungarian Empire that lasted until the end of WWI was peacefully
established.
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Emperor Franz Joseph passed away in 1916, and his
nephew Charles was now crowned as King Charles IV (Scott # 105).
He abdicated in November 1918 and left for Switzerland. He did try
a couple of times to regain the Hungarian Throne, but left for Madeira
on a one-way ticket, where he died in 1921. |
 
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Hungary 1900.
Emperor Franz Joseph I (1830-1916), wearing the Hungarian Crown. Scott # 63.
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Hungary 1916.
Coronation on 30th December 1916 of King Charles IV (1897-1922). Scott # 105.
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Hungary 1916.
Coronation on 30th December 1916 of Queen Zita (1892-1988). Scott #
104.
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In 1919 Béla Kun established
the so-called Counselor Republic following Soviet communist ideas. He was
in power only for about 4 months. |
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Hungary 1919. Two
stamps from the Counselor Republic, overprinted on Scott # 189 and
193. The term "Magyar Tanácsköztársaság" means
"Hungarian Soviet Republic". Scott # 215 and Scott #
218.
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Hungary 1966. Béla
Kun (1886-1939), founder of the Hungarian Communist Party. Scott #
1735.
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In November 1919 Admiral Miklós
Horthy de Nagybánya (Nicholas Horthy) came to power through a Coup d'Etat.
Budapest was besieged on 26th November, and Béla Kun dismissed. Miklós
Horthy
re-established the monarchy and nominated himself as regent, holding regency until 1944 when he involuntarily left for Germany. Hungary ended up as a
Kingdom without a king, governed by an admiral without a navy. Until after
WWI Fiume was the naval base for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. |
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Hungary 1919. Entry
of the National Army in Budapest 1919. Overprint on Scott # 179.
Scott # 208.
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Hungary 1938.
Admiral Miklos Horthy (Nicholas Horthy). Scott # 527. Scan by
courtesy of Jay Carrigan (USA).
In the meantime Adolf Hitler
had taken power in Germany as "The Fuhrer". Having annexed
Austria and the German speaking part of Bohemia, Horty realized that he could do
the same without any other risk than Chamberlain waiving his umbrella, declaring
"Peace in Our Time"; he simply occupied ancient Hungarian land that
had belonged to Hungary before WWI, in Slovenia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and
Carpatho-Ukraine, without objections
from Germany and Italy. From a philatelic point of view special
"returned" ("Visszatért") cancels were used in each of
these territories.
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When Hitler invaded Russia in 1941, neither
Horthy
nor the Hungarians had forgotten who Austria had sided up with against them in
1848, and in 1942 Hungary joined the war in Russia as a German ally. This
step proved fatal for Hungary. When Horty realized that the Axis Powers
were about to loose the war, he initiated negotiations with the Allied Forces
for a separate armistice.
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Hungary 1930.
Admiral Miklós Horthy. 10th anniversary of his election as
Regent. Scott # 445. Scan by courtesy of Jay Carrigan (USA).
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Hungary 1939. Admiral
Miklós Horthy. Idem for the 20th anniversary of his election. Scott # 556.
When Germany invaded and
occupied Hungary in 1944, Horty chose to establish a pro-German Hungarian
government, rather than a purely German government, at the same time trying to
surrender to the Allies. His plan failed and he was instead arrested by
the Germans. By the end of WWII he was captured by the American Forces in
Bavaria and held in protection custody until the end of 1945, and then
released. He lived in exile in Portugal until his death in 1957.
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A harsh time was to come
for Hungary. By the end of WWII Hungary was a totally destroyed
and indebted nation. The Allied Forces bombed Hungary from their
bases in Italy, and what was not destroyed by the Allies, was destroyed
by the Germans as they were driven back by the Russians. The
Hungarian gold reserves had been stolen by the Hungarian Nazis and
brought to Germany.
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Off topic it may be of
interest to know that Admiral Horthy's son Istvan (Stephen) Horty, born 1904,
died in a plane crash 1942, during an air battle over Russia. A stamp was
issued 15th October 1942. In 1943 the same stamp was issued as a
semi-postal (Scott # B170), for the aid to the Horthy National Aviation
Fund.
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Hungary 1942. Death
of Istvan Horthy, son of Miklós Horthy. Scott # 600.
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Hungary 1943.
Censored cover from Budapest to Copenhagen, franked partly with Scott # 600.
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Hungary 1942.
Magdalene Horthy, mother of Istvan Horthy. Imperforated.
Semi-postal for the benefit of Hungarian Red Cross. Scott #
B150.
Historical
Background
Inflation, page
1 Inflation, page
2
Adópengö, page 1
Adópengö, page 2
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