Editing Béla Kun (section)

===To the Soviet Republic===
In Hungary, the resources of a shattered government were further strained by refugees from lands lost to the Allies during the war and that were due to be lost permanently under the projected Treaty of Trianon. Rampant inflation, housing shortages, mass unemployment, food shortages and coal shortages further weakened the economy and stimulated widespread protests. In October 1918, the so-called "Aster Revolution" established a shaky democratic coalition government. Kun founded the Hungarian Communist Party in Budapest on 4 November 1918.

He immediately began a highly energetic [[propaganda]] campaign against the government: he and his followers engaged in attacks against the President, Count Mihály Károlyi, and his Social Democratic allies.

His speeches had a considerable impact on his audiences. One who heard such a speech wrote in his diary:

In addition, the Communists held frequent marches and rallies and organized strikes. Desiring to foment a revolution in Hungary, he communicated by telegraph with Vladimir Lenin to garner support from the Bolsheviks which would ultimately not materialize.<sup>[6]</sup> Kun acquired a sizable following although the Social Democrats, Hungary's largest party at the time, continued to dwarf the Communists.

On 19 March 1919, French Lt-Col Fernand Vix presented the "Vix Note", ordering Hungarian forces to be pulled back further from where they were stationed. It was assumed that the military lines would be the new frontiers that would be established by the peace conference between Hungary and the Allies. The Vix Note created a huge upsurge of nationalist outrage, and the Hungarians resolved to fight the Allies rather than accept the national borders. Károlyi resigned from office, ceding power to the Social Democrats, who realized that Hungary needed allies for the coming war and in their view the only ally that offered Hungary anything was Soviet Russia. As Kun was known to be friendly with Lenin, it was assumed that including him in the government would bring Soviet aid for war against the Allies.

Though imprisoned in February 1919 by the government of Mihály Károlyi, Kun was allowed to continue directing Hungary’s Communist Party from his cell. The Social Democrats first approached Kun on the subject of a coalition government. Such was the desperation for them to have Kun receive promised Soviet support that it was Kun, a captive, who dictated the terms to his captors. This was despite the Red Army's full involvement in the Russian Civil War and the unlikelihood that it could be of any direct military assistance.

Kun demanded the merger of the Social Democrat and Communist parties, the proclamation of a Soviet Republic and a host of other radical measures. The Social Democrats agreed to all his demands. On 21 March 1919 a Soviet Republic was announced; the Social Democrats and Communists were merged under the interim name Hungarian Socialist Party, and Béla Kun was released from prison and sworn into office.

The Social Democrats continued to hold the majority of seats in government. Of the thirty-three People's Commissars of the Revolutionary Governing Council that ruled the Soviet Republic, fourteen were former Communists, seventeen were former Social Democrats and two had no party affiliation. With the exception of Kun, every Commissar was a former Social Democrat and every Deputy Commissar a former Communist.