Dénes Berinkey

Dénes Berinkey
2nd Prime Minister of the Hungarian Democratic Republic
In office 11 January – 21 March 1919
Preceded by	Mihály Károlyi
Succeeded by	Sándor Garbai
Personal details
Born	(1871-10-17)17 October 1871 Csúz, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary (now Dubnik, Slovakia)
Died	Budapest, Hungary
Nationality	Hungarian

The native form of this personal name is Berinkey Dénes. This article uses the Western name order.

Dénes Berinkey (17 October 1871 – 25 June 1944) was a Hungarian jurist and politician who served as prime minister in the regime of Mihály Károlyi for two months in 1919.

On 20 March 1919 the French presented the Vix Note ordering Hungarian troops further back into Hungary; it was widely assumed that the military lines would be the new frontiers. Berinkey was unwilling to accept the Note, as it would have endangered the country's territorial integrity. However, he was in no position to reject it either. As a result, Berinkey and his cabinet resigned. President Károlyi then announced only the Social Democrats could form a new government. Unknown to Károlyi, however, the Social Democrats had merged with the Communists. Thus, when Károlyi turned over power to what he thought was a Social Democratic government, he was actually swearing in a Communist one. The new government promptly proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic.

External links

• Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon (Hungarian)
• Karl-Heinz Gräfe: Von der Asternrevolution zur Räterepublik. Ungarn 1918/19, in: UTOPIE kreativ, Oktober 2004, S. 885–900 (German)
• Die Argumente der Gewalt (Ungarn 1918/19) (German)

Political offices
Preceded by Barna Buza	Minister of Justice 1918–1919	Succeeded by Sándor Juhász Nagy
Preceded by Mihály Károlyi	Prime Minister of Hungary 1919	Succeeded by Sándor Garbai
	Minister of Foreign Affairs Acting 1919	Succeeded by Ferenc Harrer