Party of Independence and '48

The Party of Independence and '48 (Hungarian: Függetlenségi és 48-as Párt; F48P), also known mostly by its shortened form Independence Party (Hungarian: Függetlenségi Párt), was one of the two major political parties in the Kingdom of Hungary within Austria-Hungary, along with the Liberal Party then National Party of Work. During its existence, the F48P strongly opposed the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. The party was revived after the fall of the Hungarian Soviet Republic and restoration of the monarchy.

Party of Independence and '48
Függetlenségi és 48-as Párt
First leaderDániel Irányi
Last leaderVince Nagy
Founded1884
Dissolved13 April 1945 (1945-04-13)
Merger ofIndependence Party (FP) and Party of 1848 (1848P)
Merged intoIndependent Smallholders' Party (FKGP)
HeadquartersBudapest, Hungary
Colours  Dark red

History

The Party of Independence and '48 was established in 1884 by a merger of the Independence Party and the Party of 1848.[1] Lajos Kossuth was its spiritual leader until he died in 1894, and the party was also referred to as the "Kossuth Party" thereafter.[1] From the 1896 elections onwards, it was the main opposition to the ruling Liberal Party. It won the 1905 and 1906 elections, but it lost the 1910 elections to the National Party of Work.

By this time the party was beginning to split into factions. Ferenc Kossuth and Albert Apponyi led a right-wing grouping that supported an alliance with Germany, whilst Gyula Justh and later Mihály Károlyi led a left-wing faction that opposed working with Germany. In 1916 the party split when Károlyi left to establish the United Party of Independence and '48, with Károlyi becoming Prime Minister in 1918. Following World War I, the party was severely weakened. It failed to win a seat in the 1920 elections. It ran in the 1922 elections as the Independence and '48 Kossuth Party, winning one seat, which it retained in the 1926 elections.[2]

By 1931 the party had adopted its final name, the National Independence Kossuth Party (Hungarian: Országos Függetlenségi és Kossuth Párt). The elections that year saw it lose its single seat. In the 1935 elections it won a single seat, running on a joint list with the National Radical Party in one multi-member constituency.[3][4] The party did not contest the 1939 elections, and was dissolved on 13 April 1945 when it merged into the Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party.

Election results

Election Votes % Seats +/– Status
1884
75 / 413
Opposition
1887
78 / 413
Increase 3 Opposition
1892
86 / 413
Increase 8 Opposition
1896
50 / 413
Decrease 36 Opposition
1901
79 / 413
Increase 29 Opposition
1905
165 / 413
Increase 86 Opposition
1906
253 / 413
Increase 88 In government
1910
51 / 413
Decrease 202 Opposition
1920 14,928 1.3% (#6)
0 / 219
Decrease 51 Extra-parliamentary
1922 33,220 2.03% (#9)
1 / 245
Increase 1 Opposition
1926 13,564 1.17% (#8)
1 / 245
Steady Opposition
1931 28,518 1.89% (#7)
0 / 245
Decrease 1 Extra-parliamentary
1935[lower-alpha 1] 5,648 0.29%
1 / 245
Increase 1 Opposition
  1. Joint list in one multi-member constituency with the National Radical Party

References

  1. Vincent E. McHale (1983) Political parties of Europe, Greenwood Press, p509 ISBN 0-313-23804-9
  2. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p929 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  3. Nohlen & Stöver, p920
  4. Nohlen & Stöver, p930
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