Why didn't the Kingdom of Hungary have a king? (Short Animated Documentary)

The Kingdom of Hungary was reestablished after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But despite its name no king ever ruled over it. So why not? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

A special thanks to my patrons:

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[DualTheEggist]

My favourite quote from Horthy is when Mussolini asked why Horthy was still called the admiral horthy even though his country was landlocked, to which Horthy responded "Why does Italy still have a finance minister".

[TheDarthbinky]

In case you're wondering, Horthy was an admiral in a landlocked country because he had been an admiral in the navy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (which did control coastlines in what's now Italy and Croatia); towards the end of WW1, he was promoted to overall commander of the navy. When the empire dissolved in the final weeks of WW1, Hungary was left without a coast or a navy, and Horthy resigned. When he got involved in politics, people still referred to him as an admiral, as we often do with former military officers in the English-speaking world.

Another point - that "last king of Hungary" was Charles Habsburg... that's not a mistake. The Austrian (and previously the Holy Roman) Habsburg Emperors also happened to be the Kings of Hungary going back for like 400 years or so (a story for another time). That's why everything in the Austro-Hungarian military is listed as "k.u.k.", which comes from the German "kaiserlich und königlich", or "imperial and royal". So as WW1 was ending and the empire was collapsing, Emperor (and King) Charles issued a proclamation that said (paraphrasing) "I'm firing my entire Imperial government and I'm not going to have a political role anymore". He was careful to word it so that it wasn't an abdication... but everyone just basically took it as an abdication anyway. Austria immediately became a Republic and abolished its aristocracy, but as this video notes, Hungary (eventually) decided to remain a kingdom. Charles insisted that since he hadn't abdicated, he should still be the king, but as this video explains, that didn't quite work out for him. He eventually went into exile in Portugal and died of pneumonia in 1922. His son and heir Otto died about a decade ago, and Otto's son and heir is James Bissonnette. Just kidding, his name is Karl and he's a politician in Austria.

[Quin_Ram]

The Kingdom of Hungary, an admiral without a navy and a kingdom without a king.

[mrterp]

Three suggestions from a loyal Patreon supporter:
1.) Why does Monaco exist?
2.) How did Thailand avoid being colonized?
3.) How did Portugal hold on to Goa and Macau so long?

[christurner]

As a Hungarian myself, I never learned about these candidates, like that British prince, who wanted to be named Béla V. apparently? And then the king of Romania? Truly forces you to think about those 'what-if' situations. Interesting!

[douglasboyle]

Fun fact: because it had wound up in Austria at that point, when WWII ended the US Army took the actual Hungarian Crown (bent cross and all) back to the US to keep the Soviets from getting their hands on it. The crown and other related regalia were stored in the Fort Knox Bullion Depository until 1978 when they were repatriated to Hungary. This was only done with a guarantee that they were to be returned as property of the Hungarian people and not the government, fortunately that promise was kept and they have been displayed in the Hungarian parliament building ever since.

[ygma]

This man had a bunch of adventures worthy of episodes of their own. Sailing around the world, saving British diplomat from Ottomans, his naval action during WWI, the political turmoil during civil war years, the gamble on marching to Budapest despite what Little Entente had said would happen if he did, allowing Poles to escape through Hungary when Germany invaded, helping jews escape German persecution, etc.

Granted, they're not always tales of epic overcoming of great difficulty with absolute triumph, it was amazing how many times he was in a situation of "pick your poison".

[Snoflakes_]

If anybody's wondering: the cross on the Hungarian crown is bent because it's also bent irl. When I went to Budapest, I saw the old crown jewels and our guide told us some story about it being looted and not handled with a lot of care (idk the entire story anymore). Nice attention to detail

[matik]

Fun fact: Charles (Von Habsburg), the last emperor of Austria (which he became after his uncle Franz Ferdinand was assassinated (heir) and his grand-uncle Franz Josef died) had a son named Otto, who has a son named Karl, which is technically the heir to the Habsburg monarchy and the Austrian- Hungarian empire is still alive and is a politician in Austria. Although he can't call himself Karl von Habsburg, he is now known as Karl Habsburg-Lothringen.

[aidanfedorochko]

You should do a video about the coup against Miklos Horthy by the Germans. It was such a crazy story.

[nickmacarius]

Its impressive that the land-locked Hungary was able to exile Charles Habsburg by sailing him to an island with a dreadnaught. Most impressive, Hungary. 👍

[notsoawake]

The casual reference to the civil unrest in Ireland in this video is one of many reasons why I love this channel so much! 😂😂😂

[ferencjenoerdei]

As a Hungarian, I appreciate that you used the interior of the Hungarian Parliament at 1:07

[jesseberg]

Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute!
If the Brits had sent their second Prince to Hungary in 1918, that would have been Albert, the future George VI, and Queen Elizabeth's father!
The Prince of Wales was Edward, later Edward VIII. He was the one who abdicated. That means he wouldn't have been sent, as Crown Prince. So Albert could have been sent to Hungary, and Elizabeth could have been Queen of Hungary (presumably Queen in exile for 45 years) instead?

[michaelman]

Actually, Karl's army WAS willing to fight, but he wasn't willing to cause another civil war, so when it became clear that there would be serious resistance he called it off.

[sergeanttentacles]

Transylvania was not majority Hungarian in the early 20th century, but around 30% Hungarian.

[balazszsinkai]

As a Hungarian, I'm so happy you made a video about Hungary too! Great work as always!

[subsWithvidsChallenge]

Contrary to popular belief the kingdom of Hungary actually did have a king. The reason why this is a little known fact is due to the king of Hungary James Bissonette being very low key.

[Trofusky]

I’d love to see a video about Spain’s reaction to the French Revolution seeing how both Spain and France had the same royal family

[kgw]

Suggestion: why wasn’t the Kingdom of Asturias conquered by the Umayyad caliphate?