Bethlen’s 1922 Campaign on Questions of Foreign Policy

Abstract

Bethlen’s 1922 campaign, especially its treatment of foreign policy questions, has not been investigated by the relevant literature so far, although it is fairly well-known that the Prime Minister, Count István Bethlen, participated in the international conference in Genoa between 8 and 21 April 1922. He returned from there on account of the need to administer the election campaign in Hungary. Convinced by the results of the Genoa Conference, he gave a realistic foreign policy programme: this fitted into the expectations of the winners, but at the same time, made a stand for the country’s independence and full sovereignty. The programme refused the intervention of the Little Entente into the internal affairs of Hungary, but urged to enter into trade treaties with them. What is more, it also made a stand for the interests of the Hungarians living as a minority. All these considerations show that Bethlen urged and supported consolidation in Hungarian foreign policy, too. It was also a contribution to the 1922 election campaign of the Unity Party, and last but not least, to the development of the new foreign policy orientation of the Hungarian state.