Fourth Hungarian Republic

Flag of the Republic

The **Fourth Hungarian Republic**, the **Hungarian Republic** / **Republic**, also known as the **Alliance of Free Hajdúváross** (SzaHaSz) is the true Hungarian republic and the official successor of the Third Hungarian Republic. It is a rapidly emerging democratic state, ruled by a moderate military junta, organised and rebuilt after the nuclear holocaust in Eastern Hungary in the once prosperous town of Debrecen in Hajdú-Bihar County, which was not hit by a nuclear strike.

The Republic is the protagonist faction of *The Dark Future: Dark Folktales*, the birthplace and home of the trilogy's Hungarian protagonist Erik Polgár.

## History

### Garai era

By 2050, Hungary, upended by the nuclear holocaust, was in chaos and anarchy reigned throughout the country.In July 2051, the old government forces gathered in Debrecen and worked to form a provisional government, but there was a serious problem of politicians and government officials dwindling, and they were replaced by power-hungry, corrupt, incompetent, sometimes insane people. This was further complicated by the growth of oligarchic mayors and their cadre blocs who were gaining unlimited power in the countryside.

At the end of August, the extraordinary planetary meeting was broken up by the "Hajdúks", a military grouping organised over the weeks and led by Brigadier General Tibor Garai, who arrested and placed under house arrest the MPs, ministers and members of the committee. They then organised the Garai Bloc, temporarily abolishing the constitution and declaring martial law to save the Republic.

After the successful coup attempt, they seized power and had to put down the rural resistance movements, including the strongests, the "Outlaws" and the "Exiles". They also had to deal with some of the remaining NATO troops, which required a large army force. The organizing military junta withdrew its troops from already untenable areas for maximum defensive efficiency to protect their state from enemy factions. Withdrawal orders were issued, including to the so-called "Blue Line" drawn along the Tisza and Körös rivers. The retreat resulted in many casualties, but the Junta with Garai in the lead was able to stabilise the state administration on the verge of collapse and reorganised the Hungarian Republic behind the Blue Line in Debrecen.

Garai then reorganised the Republic's administration and reopened Parliament after eliminating all pre-war parties and their politicians, and then set up a strict system of requirements for the new parties. Garai proclaimed himself president with unlimited power and would help only parties working with him to win seats in presidential elections, giving him more than three-quarters of the parliamentary majority. He maintained a dictatorial but moderate regime and rejected party rule, but allowed coalition parties he created to exercise power through the Garai Bloc. Szilveszter Vass, the leader of the far-right National Rebirth Movement, was appointed Minister of Agriculture, while the Minister of Energy was filled by Zoltán Tildy, the leader of the Progressive Coalition.

Garai's reign lasted for 10 years, from 2051 to 2061, during which time the Republic began to stabilise and the breakaway states and communities that had emerged across the Tisza and Körös rivers were reintegrated. On New Year's Eve 2061, Tibor Garai was the victim of an assassination attempt at a New Year's Eve party, which led to disagreements, power struggles and the collapse of the Garai Bloc.

### Until the proclamation of the Fourth Hungarian Republic

The Garai Bloc, held together by Tibor Garai, fell apart as a result of serious political and economic disagreements and rivalries. In April 2062, under the leadership of Kálmán Czakó, an attack was launched to invade Szeged over the announcement of the oil embargo, which ended in a disastrous failure in the Battle of Kardos, resulting in the complete collapse of the government.

Shortly afterwards, the military government was overthrown in a Bloodless Revolution, and power and parliament were seized by the Social Democratic forces, who immediately condemned the perceived "war criminals" of the Gara Bloc and their actions. Among other things, they condemned their hated Sylvester Vass for announcing the dismantling of the "agrarian terror" and the privatisation of nationalised farmland which worked but triggered crop losses. Mistake after mistake was piled up as the new government then re-nationalised and introduced new agricultural reforms which led to a massive economic failure as they led to huge crop losses and hunger in the country.

The rising rural militias and the right-wing military leadership leaving Debrecen under Vass established their own administrative system in the north, in the Nyirség region, while the Progressive Coalition led by Tildy seceded the Satu Mare region. This was followed by a far-left revolution in Vásárosnamény, where Marxist movementists took power.

The social democrats, shattered by a severe hunger strike, in their final desperation, called for the restoration of the constitution and the Republic and for new effective economic reforms, but failed as the situation was beyond repair.

### until 2066

The unitary state stabilised under Garai has split into a number of factions, each of which still considers itself part of the Republic and sees itself as the rightful leader, while the other factions are renegades. The Fourth Republic consisted of a loose Alliance of Free Hajdúváross, separated by vast depopulated areas.

The SzaHaSz was fatally weakened, had lost most of its military strength, and its government and economy were in ruins.The countryside was ransacked by criminal gangs and the law enforcement forces retreated to the "Black Line" of the Eastern Main Canal Line, leaving the vast depopulated area behind, its population dispersing to neighbouring factions promising more opportunities.

They did not suffer total devastation, as a conflict between the governorates of Nyírség developed, which prevented the Juntas from launching their Southern Campaign to invade the SzaHaSz. This was followed by the outbreak of the Crisis of Succession in Szolnok, in the Hungarian Kingdom of Szolnok.

### After 2066

In the elections of 2066, the Social Democratic Party was forced out of parliament and replaced by a new governing party, the Social Conservatives, who promised new government policies and justice. They began to stabilise the country through slow economic and civic reforms, protection of the internal market and protectionist economic policies.

For 9 years, the Conservative Party's policy was about stabilising the country and restoring support and public goodwill, and organising an army capable of defending the country.

By 2075, the SaHaS is once again strong, but still has some of its former strength. The once prosperous and united Republic is a shadow of its former self, but despite this, the Conservative Party leaders have not given up hope of reunifying the Hungarian Republic.

## Military

The Armed Forces of Debrecen are the Republic's well-equipped defence force, and have a well-organised civilian militia with the Hajdúks, who have a large infantry army, well equipped with pre-war leftover weaponry and a fleet of vehicles.

However, the military leadership is incompetent and inexperienced, the officers are untrained and the vehicle fleet is heavily dependent on the Szeged oil states, to whom the Republic is unable to pay huge sums of money.

The Republic operates several earthworks, the Füred chain at Tiszafüred, the Dinnyes chain at Tiszaderzs, the Roff Tiszaroff, the Ballaföldvár across from Csataszög, the Csukas chain at Tiszapüspöki, and most importantly, the Kútföldvár between Szajol and Szolnok, the capital of the Kingdom. At each of them, strong military fortifications and outposts were erected, the latter with an artillery battery in Szolnok capable of firing into the city centre.