Hungary as a Sport Superpower

Part 1: Interwar Years and World War II (1924 – 1945)

Introduction: Football along the Danube

Part 1 of this book analyses the ways Hungarian governments used football as a diplomatic tool between 1924 and 1945. Hungary emerged from World War I utterly devastated and much reduced in size, having lost almost two-thirds of its pre-war territory, including half its industrial facilities and banks, under the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. The treaty also awarded substantial reparations to the successor states and severely restricted Hungary’s armed forces, thereby depriving the country of hard power. However, Hungary’s political leaders were quick to realise that they could still exert influence through soft power. Kuno von Klebelsberg, who served ...