Today is the Hungarian national holiday, in celebration of the foundation of the regency which ended a period of chaos after the Great War and resulted in the foundation of a new, though greatly attenuated, nation. For Hungarian it is a day of mixed feelings. It commemorate the loss of territory which followed the Treaty of Trianon, but also a triumph over the Red terror which for a short while reigned in the disorganized country, and the foundation of a constitutional monarchy which has held its own through the complications which have overcome Europe since then. For Hungary is still a constitutional monarchy, in spite of the fact that there is no monarch. Admiral Horthy de Nagybanya is the Regent, to carry on a tradition which, among all the European nations, is probably one of the most heroic and picturesque. In the centuries when Europe's fate hung in the balance, with eastern invaders ever hammering at its doors, Hungary was fated to be the barrier which enabled a then nascent civilization to develop. In turn the Byzantines, the Huns, the Turks, and the Mongols battered at the gates, but the gates remained close, even though time and again the flower of Hungary's chivalry was wiped out. To quote a Hungarian commentator: "The blue Danube was rather a crimson Danube for a thousand years." - The mutilated nation now possesses a strong irredentist complex, as a result of the carving up of long owned lands. But under the regency of Admiral Horthy, its government is strong enough to keep its hands out of the witches' cauldron which Herr Hitler has brewed in Europe, and remains faithful to the concept that small nations have a right to exist, even though more powerful neighbours demand "lebensraum." Admiral Horthy had a distinguished career in the Austrian navy during the last war, in which he began as the captain of a battleship, By the end of the conflict he was commander-in-chief of the Austro-Hungarian fleet. After the revolution of October, 1918, in Budapest, Admiral Horthy retired to his estate, and later became War Minister in the cabinet of Count Karolyi, When Count Karolyi resigned, Admiral Horthy became commander-in-chief of the Hungarian national army, during which time he was largely responsible for the overthrow of the Red regime which had imposed itself on the country. As a Regent he has attracted world-wide admiration, and today, as the world pays its respects to a thriving Hungarian nation, he is recognized as one of the greatest figures in central Europe.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.