Miklós Horthy in the context of "Charles IV of Hungary's attempts to retake the throne"

The Kingdom of Hungary, referred to retrospectively as the Regency, the Horthy era, the Horthy regime, and Horthyist Hungary, existed as a country from 1920 to 1946 under the rule of Miklós Horthy for the most of its existence, who officially represented the Hungarian monarchy after a period of revolutions and the counter-revolution as the Regent of Hungary. In reality there was no king, and attempts by King Charles IV to return to the throne shortly before his death were prevented by Horthy.

Horthy came to power after supressing the Hungarian Soviet Republic during the period of White Terror, installing an authoritarian political system relying on the traditional economic elites and bureaucracy. Hungary under Horthy was characterized by its conservative, nationalist, and fiercely anti-communist character; some historians have described this system as para-fascist. The government was based on an unstable alliance of conservatives and right-wingers; while conservatism was predominant in the 1920s, afterwards Horthy manoeuvered between conservatives and the radical right with fascist leanings. Foreign policy was characterized by revisionism — the total or partial revision of the Treaty of Trianon, which had seen Hungary lose over 70% of its historic territory along with over three million Hungarians, who mostly lived in the border territories outside the new borders of the kingdom, in the Kingdom of Romania and the newly created states of Czechoslovakia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (in greatly enlarged Romania there also remained a significant Hungarian population in Székely Land). Republican Austria, the successor of the former other half of the dual monarchy also received some minor territory from Hungary. Thus the post-1918 kingdom can be described as a rump state. Hungary's interwar politics were dominated by a focus on the territorial losses suffered from this treaty, with the resentment continuing until the present. After a period of international isolation in the 1920s, it began maintaining ties with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.

Para-fascism are authoritarian conservative movements and regimes that adopt characteristics associated with fascism such as personality cults, paramilitary organizations, symbols and rhetoric, while diverging from conventional fascist tenets such as palingenetic ultranationalism, modernism, and populism. Para-fascism often emerges in response to the need for a facade of popular support in an age of mass politics, without a genuine commitment to revolutionary nationalism, instead focusing on maintaining tradition, religion, and culture. Para-fascist regimes may co-opt or neutralize genuine fascist movements.

The historian Roger Griffin defines the following regimes and movements as para-fascist: Austrofascism in the Federal State of Austria led by Engelbert Dollfuss and Kurt Schuschnigg, Metaxism in the Greek '4th of August Regime', the "New State" of António de Oliveira Salazar's Portugal, the Bando nacional and the FET y de las JONS led by Francisco Franco in the Spanish State, Kingdom of Hungary led by Miklós Horthy, and the Révolution nationale in Vichy France led by Philippe Petain; the dictatorships of Carol II and Ion Antonescu in the Kingdom of Romania, Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship in Spain and Antanas Smetona's Lithuanian Nationalist Union in Lithuania have also been referred to as para-fascist. While most historians of fascism agree that these regimes were not totally fascist, many authors do acknowledge that they have some kind of connection with fascism, either by being partially influenced by it or by co-opting some genuine fascist groups. The words used by different historians to characterize these conservative regimes include, apart from parafascism: semi-fascist, fascisant, fascistic, fascistized, quasi-fascist, and others.

The regent of Hungary (Hungarian: Magyarország kormányzója) was a position established in 1446 and renewed in 1920. It was held by Admiral Miklós Horthy until 1944. Under the Constitution of Hungary there were two regents, one a regent of the ruling house, called the Nádor, and another called "Kormányzó" (which can mean "governor"). As the Entente had banned the legitimate Nádor (kept by a member of the House of Habsburg) from taking his place, the choice fell on electing a governor-regent: Admiral Horthy was chosen. Thus, he was regent of the post-World War I state called the Kingdom of Hungary and served as the head of state in the absence of a monarch, while a prime minister served as head of government. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" (Ő Főméltósága a Magyar Királyság Kormányzója).

Authoritarian conservatism is a political ideology that seeks to uphold order, tradition, and hierarchy, often with forcible suppression of radical and revolutionary enemies such as communists, Nazis, and anarchists. Authoritarian conservative movements and regimes have included Chiangism in the Republic of China, Metaxism in Greece, Francoism in Spain, Regency of Miklós Horthy in Hungary, and Vichyism in the French State.

The rise of authoritarian conservatism coincided with the rise of fascism. In some cases, the authoritarian conservatism clashed with fascism, like in Austria and Portugal, while in other cases, like in Francoist Spain, Vichy France, and Fascist Italy, it cooperated with fascism. Although both ideologies espoused nationalism and anti-communism, the traditionalist nature of authoritarian conservatism made it distinct from the revolutionary, palingenetic, and populist nature of fascism. While fascism espoused vitalism, irrationalism, or secular neo-idealism, the authoritarian conservatism based its views on the traditional religion.