A wave of authoritarian regimes in the 20s

This map is part of a series of 19 animated maps showing the history of Europe and nations, 1918-1942.

During the 1920s, extreme right-wing movements came to power, or acquired substantial political influence, in a number of European countries. This wave of authoritarian regimes took advantage of general dissatisfaction with the peace treaties, socio-economic difficulties upheavals, and the vulnerability of fledgling democratic regimes.

In Hungary, the democratic experiment ended in March 1919. A short-lived Communist government under Béla Kun was replaced by an authoritarian reactionary government under Admiral Horthy with the support of the army.

In 1919, in Italy, Mussolini created the Fascist movement which combined, in its early phases, both ultra-national and socialist ideals. With Italy facing a crisis, Mussolini came to power legally in October 1922, following the “March to Rome”, and then began to establish a Fascist State in the years 1925-1926.

Authoritarian regimes were also set up in Bulgaria, in Spain by Primo de Rivera, in Lithuania, in Portugal by Gomes da Costa and later Salazar, in Poland by Marshall Pilsudski, and in Yugoslavia by Alexander I.

Despite the existence of a form of parliamentary government, Austria and Romania were also placed under authoritarian regimes during the 1920s.