White Terror (Hungary)

The White Terror in Hungary (Hungarian: fehérterror) refers to a period of violent repression and retribution carried out by counter-revolutionary forces in Hungary between 1919 and 1921, following the fall of the Hungarian Soviet Republic (also known as the Republic of Councils). This period was characterized by extrajudicial killings, torture, imprisonment, and other forms of persecution directed against communists, socialists, Jews, Roma, intellectuals, and anyone suspected of having supported the Béla Kun regime.

The White Terror was largely instigated and perpetrated by military officers and paramilitary groups, often composed of former officers and soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Army. These groups aimed to dismantle the institutions and ideologies of the short-lived Soviet Republic and restore a conservative, nationalist order. Miklós Horthy, who later became Regent of Hungary, consolidated power during this period, though he often struggled to control the violence of the White Terror groups.

While exact numbers are debated, historians estimate that thousands of people were killed during the White Terror. The violence was particularly intense in the countryside, where local grievances and suspicions were exploited by the counter-revolutionary forces. The White Terror contributed to a climate of fear and political instability that shaped Hungarian politics in the interwar period, hardening political divisions and exacerbating existing social tensions. It played a significant role in the establishment of Horthy's conservative authoritarian regime.

The term "White Terror" is derived from the historical association of white as the color of royalist or counter-revolutionary movements, contrasting with the red associated with socialist or communist revolutionaries.