 Bethlen resigned without warning amid national turmoil in August 1931.His successor, Gyula Károlyi, failed to quell the crisis.Horthy then appointed a reactionary demagogue, Gyula Gömbös, but only after Gömbös agreed to maintain the existing political system, to refrain from calling elections before the parliament's term had expired, and to appoint several Bethlen supporters to head key ministries.