1. society
2. unrest and war

Conservative Authoritarianism
in Inter-war Eastern Europe
Conservative Authoritarian EE
• Useful to start with ‘German fallacy’
• Functioning democracies were
established in the countries after WW1
• These democracies could not survive
the impact of the Great Depression
• Democracies were replaced in the
1930s by fascist regimes
In fact
• With one clear exception (Czechoslovakia)
and three partial exceptions (Yugoslavia,
Latvia and Estonia) the countries of the
region ceased to be democratic long before
the recession
• On the other hand, none of them were
governed by fascist regimes for any
significant period – most coups were to
prevent fascist take-over, although some
adopted some fascist trappings
• Economic and especially ethnic crisis in
Czechoslovakia resulted in not fascism but
the destruction of the country
Partial exceptions because
• Yugoslavia, Latvia and Estonia were
never challenged from the Left in the
1920s
• The coup in Lithuania was in response
to a socialist coalition government
• Only Czechoslovakia had a legal
Communist Party and allowed social
democrats to participate fully in political
life
Nature of Regimes
• Balkan Royal Dictatorships – Albania,
Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria
• Baltic Presidential Dictatorships –
Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia
• Authoritarian democracies of the
‘historic nations’ of Central Europe –
Hungary and Poland
• Democratic Czechoslovakia
Graphic Representation
• In the following pictures notice the
prominence of the army and the church in
relationship to the high offices of state
• Both Church and Army are classically
conservative institutions
• And the regimes created no new institutions
for government
• Nevertheless, there were fascist parties in all
countries
• But they nowhere held power for significant
periods, and only approached mass support
in Romania and Hungary
Hugh Seton-Watson
• ‘These dictatorships were not Fascist regimes
in the proper sense … [they] never
succeeded in raising the minimum of popular
enthusiasm necessary for Fascism … [they]
relied not even on artificially stimulated
popular enthusiasm, but on police pressure
… [they] were able to survive because they
had a firm grasp on the bureaucratic and
military machines, because the people were
backward and apathetic, and because the
bourgeoisie would always support them in
case of need’
Political violence - Bulgaria
• 9 June 1923: coup d’état against
Alexanander Stamboliiski’s peasant
government organised by Professor Tsankov,
Colonel Velchev and IMRO.
• Thousands of peasants killed.
• Stamboliiski handed over to IMRO, tortured,
made to dig his own grave and executed.
• His hands were cut off for having signed the
Nis convention establishing better relations
with Yugoslavia and his severed head was
sent in a biscuit tin to Sofia
Political Violence Yugoslavia
• Stalemate over Croat reluctance to
participate in the state reached a nadir
on 20 June 1928
• Montenegrin radical produced a
revolver and killed two deputies and
mortally wounding the Croat Radić ,
who died some seven weeks later
• 9 October 1934 Croatian Ustase
assassinate King Alexander as he visits
Marseilles
Ethnic violence - Romania
• 28 Dec 1937, following elections which
produced no overall winner, King Carol, afraid
of the Iron Guard and not wanting to call on
Maniu, appoints a fascist Goga-Cuza
government, even though he had only 9% of
the vote (compared with Iron Guards 16%,
NPP’s 22% and Government Party’s 38%)
• interpreted by Right as approval of fascist
violence. Romania descends into chaos gang warfare, Jew-baiting, fighting between
rival Iron Guard units, shops close, Stock
Exchange collapses, Western Powers protest
• 10 Feb 1938, Carol dismisses Goga,
suspends constitution, introduces royal
dictatorship
Political Corruption - Romania
• King Carol took a cut out of every stated
contract and owned stock in all major
companies, every casino and night club
in Bucharest paid him extortion fees
• Between 1930-40 he deposited $3040m abroad
• After the loss of Bessarabia and
Transylvania he fled the country in dead
of night in a nine-carriage railway train
filled with gold and art treasures