Parties seek unity
A year earlier, Count István Bethlen had become the country’s prime minister. He had guaranteed his preferred consolidation of reconciling with the potentially dangerous Social Democrats, who had been operating illegally since the overthrow of the short-lived Soviet Republic in 1919. This led to the Bethlen-Peyer Pact at the end of 1921 and came into force in 1922, when the Smallholders’ Party took the spotlight.
In addition to Bethlen’s KNEP (Christian National Union Party), the smallholders were the other dominant voice in the political sphere, and consolidation with them as well – even given the divisions within the KNEP – provided strength and unity. The subsequent United Party came into being at the beginning of the year. In the parliamentary elections of early summer, this new political bloc won by a landslide.
Pandemic & Habsburgs
Other important political factors in 1922 was the accession of Hungary to the League of Nations, predecessor of the United Nations, and the passing of Karl I, here referred to as Károly IV of Hungary. Having been crowned during World War I, he had made several bids to reclaim the Hungarian throne even though the monarchy had been dissolved in 1918.
He died in exile at the age of 34, of the Spanish flu that was receding by this stage. Thereafter, also given that his successor would have been nine-year-old Otto Habsburg, there were no further attempts to have another Habsburg sit on the Hungarian throne.
No! No! Never!
Politics also influenced culture, of course, particularly as far as the rapidly spreading revisionist movement was concerned, whose members were national conservatives and generally anti-Semitic, yearning for the restoration of Greater Hungary that existed before World War I.
In 1922, one such group, the League of Territorial Defence, hit upon a slogan that remains to this day, related to the post-war Treaty of Trianon and used ever since by far-right Hungarian movements: “No! No! Never!”. It was taken from one of the early works by revered poet Attila József, a verse written in protest against the Trianon decision, with these three little words as its title. The only difference is that the exclamation marks were then introduced to the vernacular by the revisionists.
Literature strikes back
Attila József’s reaction to the usage isn’t known. What was more important was that the young József, aided by fellow poet Gyula Juhász, had his first volume of verse, Szépség koldusa (‘Beggar of Beauty’), published. Literary life was flourishing. Despite the war and the Soviet Republic, Nyugat (‘The West’), which had been the most dominant literary forum after the turn of the century, still thrived. Its second great age began in the 1920s.
The first short story by János Kodolányi (Sötétség, ‘Darkness’) was published in 1922. Ernő Szép wrote his play Vőlegény (‘The Groom’) this same year, and Dezső Szomory created his historical drama, King Lajos II, whose premiere was interrupted by an anti-Semitic demonstration. In 1922, the key Hungarian figure of the literary avant-garde, Lajos Kassák, published his poem entitled A ló meghal a madarak kirepülnek (‘The Horse Dies, the Birds Fly Out’).
Jenő Józsi Tersánszky also embarked on his series of novels, Kakuk Marci, the first part of which was published in 1922, Kakuk Marci ifjúsága (‘Marci Kakuk’s Youth’), and the great Hungarian writer Dezső Kosztolányi came out with Nero, a véres költő (Nero, the Bloody Poet’). The biggest literary success of the year – if not the whole era – also originated in 1922: Lajos Zilahy’s Halálos tavasz (‘Deadly Spring’), which 17 years later became a hit film starring Katalin Karády and Pál Jávor.
Film keeps rolling
This was
still the era of the silent movie. As so many major directors and actors had
fled Hungary during and immediately after World War I, no major feature came
out in 1922, although films were still being made by the bucketload. By way of
good example, the particularly prolific Alfred Deésy made a total of six during
this calendar year alone, which also saw the opening of Hungarian studios one after the other.
Another important change was that most of the
cinemas in Budapest passed to American ownership this year, so all the European
and US films that had been banned during the war – those made in the enemy’s
workshops – now flooded domestic screens.
Fashion statements
The
fashion of the age had started to modernise during the previous decade, but the big
changes came in the 1920s. Contributing to this was the birth of the modern
woman, whose opinion now counted, and who could vote and get a job without any
man being involved.
Of course, this was more typical in Budapest than in small rural towns. The few feminists had to fight their corner, but the process
towards full equality was already on an irreversible path.
Women’s
clothes became sharper and more comfortable. Huge hats and floor-length skirts
were out, and women’s attire embraced practicality. Skirts became shorter and
shorter, and milliners favoured small-brimmed hats that completely covered the
woman’s forehead.
Another change was that visible make-up was no longer
considered outrageous. The female hairstyle of the age became the bob, and women
with long hair used a bun to imitate shorter hairstyles.
For men, the Gatsby
style was dominant. Their clothes were elegant and sporty, with the fedora hat in
vogue. It was now that women, and partly men, began to carry accessories more
and more.
Football scandals
The Hungarian football championship, in place since 1901, was won by the all-powerful MTK, one point ahead of Ferencváros. The top-of-the-table clash between them towards the end of the season had been mired in controversy. MTK were awarded a penalty, causing their furious opponents to leave the field and spectators to invade the pitch.
There were further football scandals in 1922. The Kispest team had fielded players who should not have played because they were considered professionals – these were still amateur days. The fraudulent director was removed but then revealed that the club had long been double-dealing. As far as Hungarian football is concerned, plus ça change.
