Bethlen quickly returned to Hungary to assume leadership of the anti-communist "white" government, based in Szeged, along with former Austro-Hungarian Navy Admiral Miklós Horthy.

[2][3] After the attempted return of King Charles IV to the throne of Hungary in 1921, Horthy asked Bethlen to form a strong government to eliminate the possibility of other such threats to the new country.

He was also able to unite the two most powerful factors in Hungarian society, the wealthy primarily-Jewish industrialists in Budapest and the old Magyar gentry in rural Hungary, into a lasting coalition.

[4] French Prime Minister Aristide Briand used the scandal by pushing for Bethlen's removal from power and his replacement by a more liberal politician.

Several plotters provided incriminating evidence of Bethlen's involvement, but he managed to cover up his role by exercising direct control over the proceedings.

Increasingly shunted into political obscurity, Bethlen stood out as one of the few voices in Hungary to be actively opposed to an alliance with Nazi Germany.

As it became apparent that Germany was going to lose the Second World War, Bethlen attempted to negotiate a separate peace with the Allied powers.