with the exception of one regimental commander, no other Hungarian officer defected in response to Miklós's plea. The one regimental commander who did defect was arrested by the Germans and immediately executed. A few days later Soviet emissaries were sent to negotiate with Miklós about the formation of a Hungarian counter-Government. These negotiations came to nothing. Interim government On 21 December 1944 the Interim Assembly met in Debrecen. Representatives were present from the Communist, Smallholders, Social Democratic, Peasant Party and Citizen's party. The Assembly elected the interim government, with Soviet approval, which was headed by Miklós. He remained in this post until the coming elections on 15 November 1945. The High National Council, which functioned as a collective head of state, formed on 26 January 1945 under the presidency of Béla Zsedényi. Miklós as incumbent Prime Minister also became a member of the body. During his premiership, the arrest of war criminals and confiscations had begun, pro-German organizations and political parties were dissolved, and the new regime removed the "reactionary elements" from public institutions and the Hungarian army. The Provisional National Government established the people's tribunes. Miklós disbanded the Military Order of Maria Theresa with a decree in the summer of 1945. Béla Miklós could not prevent the deportation of hundreds of thousands to the Soviet Union. Following the 1945 Hungarian parliamentary election, he was replaced by Zoltán Tildy. Later career In July 1947 he became a founding member of the Hungarian Independence Party (MFP: Magyar Függetlenségi Párt), a split from the Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party. In the semi-free 1947 Hungarian parliamentary election, he won a seat for the party. However, all mandates of the Independence Party, which was defamed as “fascist”, were canceled in November 1947 under pressure from the Communist Hungarian Working People's Party. After that, Miklós withdrew from public life. He died one year later and was buried without military honour. References Further reading Borhi, László. Hungary in the Cold War, 1945-1956: Between the United States and the Soviet Union ( Central European university press, 2004). Kenez, Peter. Hungary from the Nazis to the Soviets: the Establishment of the Communist Regime in Hungary, 1944-1948 (Cambridge University Press, 2006). External links Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon Library of Szeged 1890 births 1948 deaths Politicians from Budapest People from the Kingdom of Hungary Nobility from Budapest Hungarian Independence Party politicians Prime Ministers of Hungary Members of the National