communist rule. The two counter-revolutionary centers, Vienna and Szeged, harmonized their work in the interest of the common aims. Károlyi's Minister of War was Admiral Miklós Horthy, who set up the National Army; these two politicians began to be friends. Prime Minister of Hungary Károlyi retired from politics for nearly ten years after 1919. After the Treaty of Trianon his family lost the estate in Arad County. Károlyi then farmed in Szabolcs County and Szatmár County. He became a member of the House of Magnates in 1927, and a Crown Guard in 1928. He undertook a bigger role in the politics during the Great Depression, becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs for a short time in the cabinet of István Bethlen, following Lajos Walko. In this capacity, Károlyi visited Benito Mussolini in Rome in March 1931. He had also made a controversial statement: "Emotions, reason, and the threads of interest bind Hungary to France", which brought him some notice in the French press. István Bethlen resigned the prime ministership on 19 August 1931, because he did not want to bring in unpopular measures. Regent Miklós Horthy then appointed Károlyi to this post. The new cabinet was established on 24 August 1931, but the ministers did not change very much. In Hungary the economic catastrophe presented itself as a protracted agrarian and credit crisis. Agricultural products comprised the larger part of the Hungarian exports, but these prices fell 50—70% on the world market. The peasants' situation became horrible, and industry and trade also suffered. Károlyi reduced state expenses with large-scale economies. The Ministry of Finance reduced the pay of state employees: railwaymen, postmen, clerks, soldiers, gendarmes, members of the river forces, and customs workers. Social benefits and pensions were reduced. This, however, was not a solution to these serious economic problems; it helped only slightly that Károlyi forbade all ministers to use state cars: he as prime minister commuted from his apartment in Pest to Buda Castle. When Szilveszter Matuska blew up a portion of the Biatorbágy bridge near Budapest on 13 September 1931, causing the engine and nine of the eleven coaches of the Vienna Express to plunge into a ravine 30 meters deep, Gyula Károlyi issued two orders imposing martial law. He made use of this tragedy to imprison Communists and to ban all political rallies and processions. Imre Sallai and Sándor Fürst, leaders of the Communist movement, were arrested