to the former cabinet. The government's position was weak, subject to various pressures: opponents in the capital, Horthy's counter-revolutionary National Army, desertion by some smaller military units, or defectors who left the Socialists after having supported the Hungarian Soviet Republic. His government The cabinet, which contained four of Kun's former government commissioners (including Garbai himself), quickly transformed into Social Democrats, who retained important ministerial portfolios (including Defence and Foreign Affairs). At its first meeting on 2 August 1919, it officially dissolved the Hungarian Soviet Republic and declared again the Hungarian People's Republic; the people's courts were disbanded and former political prisoners were released from prisons. The release of the opponents reinforced the counter-revolutionaries. The country worked without a head of the state nor head of government. Former private owners were given nationalised former properties. Landowners were not transferred nationalised estates, however, as a gesture to the peasantry. On the same day, the National Smallholders and Agrarian Workers Party (OKGFP) was invited into the government, and the Allied representative promised an end to the economic blockade. Peidl's government tried to demonstrate to the Allies its break with the previous government and its willingness to pursue a policy of moderation. The Allies, however, refused to recognise the new government for having only socialist members. The Romanian occupation army was not willing either to support the new government or to protect it from the counterrevolutionary forces. Meanwhile, on the same day, the army recovered Szolnok on the outskirts of Budapest and ejected the Romanians. The Allies ordered their representative to begin negotiations with Peidl if he accepted, as he did, the Belgrade armistice; At the same time Peidl requested an army of occupation, partly to counter the Romanians and Czechs and partly to reinforce the power of his government. On 4 August 1919, the Hungarian Red Guard was dissolved and the Hungarian police force was established. The capture of communist leaders was secretly ordered. The new government, however, had no real control over any armed force, and the battalions of the workers had been dissolved. The measures taken quickly by the new government tried to win the sympathies of the bourgeoisie and the peasantry, while the cabinet began on 5 August 1919 a round of talks with the liberal parties. On the same day, and at the request of the Allied representative, the Red Guard, now particularly and disorganised and weak, and the