Miklós Horthy in Poland. Official visit, image of charismatic leader and his leader cult. The Hungarian interpretation1

Abstract

After the First World War, the leader cult was a widespread phenomenon in Europe. These cults manifested themselves around the figure of political and military leaders, such as Hitler, Franco, Mussolini, Hindenburg, Metaxas, Mannerheim, Pilsudski, Horthy and so on. After giving a short overview of the evaluation of the Horthy cult, this paper will focus on the official visit of the Hungarian Regent, Miklós Horthy (1920–1944) in Poland, in February 1938. This case study makes an attempt to demonstrate some aspects of the image of a charismatic leader. The aim of this paper is to show how the Hungarian News Agency and the selected Hungarian dailies used statements from the Polish press to justify the position of the Regent as national leader with extraordinary qualities. This paper will also endeavour to show how these statements may have contributed to the preservation of the charismatic image of Horthy. His extraordinary qualities were emphasized, such as his imagined deeds, his indispensability, his mission and the “fact” that he was chosen, as well as being a “saviour”. Horthy and Pilsudski were compared to each other to bolster the larger-than-life image of Miklós Horthy. His charismatic image was composed of these above-mentioned elements.