Economy and foreign relations in Europe in the early inter-war period – The case of Hungary’s financial reconstruction

Abstract:

All the measures taken by the different Hungarian governments in the period between 1920 and 1924 to cope with the financial consequences of the Great War did not record the expected success. At the beginning of 1923, it was quite clear for the leaders of Budapest that the possible benefits of the inflationist phenomenon had disappeared and the country’s only chance to recover was the appeal to international financial aid.

Consequently, after failing to get a loan from Switzerland, the only solution for Hungary was to ask for the help of the League of Nations, especially that this modality had been successfully used by Austria, who was confronted to a more desperate economic and financial situation than Hungary. Our paper is the story of that endeavour and its immediate outcomes.