Hungary
Miklós Horthy
1868–1957 Commander of the Austro-Hungarian fleet, 1918; Regent of Hungary, 1920–1944
Born to an untitled noble family at Kenderes, Horthy joined the Austro-Hungarian Navy as a cadet at 14 and was naval aide-de-camp to Emperor Franz Joseph from 1911. In World War I he commanded the light cruiser Novara at the Battle of the Strait of Otranto in 1917 and was wounded. Made commander of the fleet in March 1918, he was ordered to hand it over to the new State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs on 31 October. In 1919 he took command of the counter-revolutionary National Army, whose officers carried out the White Terror. The National Assembly elected him regent in March 1920, and he held office until the Germans forced him to abdicate on 15 October 1944. He died in exile in Portugal in 1957.