When I say the Axis powers most of you will think Germany, Italy or Japan, but there were
also lesser known Axis Powers such as Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Hungary. Did you
know that Hungary occupied some parts of the former Yugoslav Kingdom after it was
overthrown by the German-led invasion of the country. This here is the story
of the forgotten Hungarian occupation of parts of Yugoslavia, keep watching!
Due to the Treaty of Trianon, which was signed in 1920, Hungary lost much of its territory leaving
the population and the politicians resentful and the main aim of the Hungarian politicians during
the interwar period was the redrawing of the old borders, but this was not going to be easy.
Hungary was surrounded by larger states such as Czechoslovakia, Romania and the Kingdom of
Yugoslavia which formed the Little Entente, which was backed by France to keep the country in check.
Hungary made an alliance with Germany and when Hitler rose to power revision of the old
borders seemed possible. Hitler stressed that 100 % revision simply was not realistic,
however when Germany was overturning the status quo in the second half of the 1930s things seemed
to be possible and that happened during the First and Second Vienna Award (1938 and 1940) where
Hungary gained territory from Czechoslovakia and Romania. In November 1940 Hungary joined
the Axis Powers. Despite signing a treaty with Yugoslavia, the Treaty of Eternal Friendship,
Germany pressed Hungary into participating in the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia and this
did not sit well with Hungary and Hungary made clear that it would only participate
if victory was ensured; in other words if the Yugoslav state would disintegrate and Croatia
would secede. And this happened shortly after the Germans set foot on Yugoslav soil: Croatia seceded
from the Yugoslav Kingdom and this was the green light for the Hungarian invasion of the country.
That happened on the 11th of April during the short campaign which lasted just 12 days. The
Hungarian Army suffered 126 dead and 241 wounded. Hungary took control and annexed two continuous areas
of Yugoslavia. I hope you enjoyed the video so far. I like making stuff like this but YouTube
itself... well not really. Topics like this won't get that many views; but the point is I make a
part-time income via YouTube... but yeah with videos like this I won't get get that much. Personally I
don't care because I love making videos like this, but I also you know need to earn a living so if
you can support me: please do so. You can do it via Patron, via PayPal or via Super Thanks. You can all
find the information below the video and let's continue with the episode. The parts the Hungarians
occupied was the Slovene area of Prekmurje and Croatian Međimurje which had around
eight percent of Hungarians living in it. Hungary also gained control of Bačka and Baranja which had
around 30 percent of Hungarians living in it. The occupation started with violence as the Hungarians
were beset by stereotypical images and prejudices against the Serbian population. As the text of a
leaflet that was handed out to Hungarian soldiers read: “As it is known, the Serbs throughout their
history have been a conspiratorial people, prone to rebellion, violence, even bloody solutions. […] [T]he Serb
is a typical conspirator with an inclination to organize secret organizations and terrorist associations.”
In Zombor (Sombor) and also in Szabadka (Subotica) Chetnik forces, within the Royal Yugoslav Army, ambushed
Hungarian troops killing several of them. Hungarian Lieutenant-General Elemér Gorondy-Novák issued
the order that people caught with weapons or munition were immediately shot dead; now
interesting enough the Hungarians had a different approach than the Germans: according to Wehrmacht
regulations the Wehrmacht was not allowed to play the role of judge; prisoners had to be delivered
to the competent institutions: Secret Military Police, Field Gendarmerie, or the Security Service.
Do notice that these regulations often were not followed upon, but what is certain is that the
Hungarian soldiers had more freedom in playing the role of judge. Orders of Gorondy-Novák
permitted the taking of hostages and executions if necessary. Public executions occurred in Zombor,
as well as in Szabadka (Subotica). According to Yugoslav sources over 3,500 Yugoslav people were shot dead.
in the Hungarian invasion of the country. Hungarian sources mentioned 1,120 deaths. Apart from executions
the Hungarians demanded tax money of the Jewish population of Novi Sad (Újvidék) and Zombor. Major-General
Ferenc Bajor was court-martialled for this in 1942, but this was due to the fact that he spent the money himself.
The Hungarian occupation authorities they classified the population in two different groups:
those who lived in the area before 1918 and those who entered it in the interwar years. The influx
was seen as the so-called Yugoslavization (mostly Serbianization), as they called it, which had to
be undone by measures of Magyarization. Around 10 000 people were expelled to Serbia, Croatia
or Montenegro. The Hungarians they had plans to deport 150 000 of them, but the Germans they
halted this, although the Hungarians continued to expel people in smaller numbers. Tens of thousands were sent
gradually. Land was given to Hungarian people. “They reestablished the old 1918 administrative
divisions of local government, with the difference that the new officials were appointed rather than elected. They encouraged the activity of Hungarian political parties and
patriotic organizations in the drive to Magyarize desirable elements of the population, which conversely meant discrimination against Serbs and Croats.”
In education and cultural institutions similar discrimination against Serbs,
Croats and Jews took place; also Germans were initially discriminated against, but when this
became known to Hitler he pressured the Hungarian government to do something about this and policies
were changed. The Germans soon came to enjoy the status of almost a state within a state.
They were allowed to appoint their own officials in towns with predominantly German population.
In the second half of 1941 resistance broke out. Initially small in scale the Hungarian occupation
authorities responded by executing repressive measures. The harshest action occurred in January
1942. It became known as the Novi Sad Raid or the Novi Sad Massacre (or Újvidék massacre) and the monument you see
behind me is dedicated to the victims and these were around 3,500 people: mostly Serbs and Jews
who were killed. Thousands were robbed, imprisoned, otherwise maltreated or taken to concentration
camps.The Backa Partisan movement was never strong in the first place as the area was very
flat and therefore was not ideal for guerrilla resistance. Also do notice that the South Slav
population only amounted to one-third of the total population in the area. The Chetniks did
have an underground organization, but showed little activity. Collaboration with Hungarians
did occur: there were local businessmen but also politicians and landowners wanted to protect their
own interests and therefore collaborated with Hungary. The Jews of the occupied territories
were subjected to forced labor by the Hungarian authorities; over 15 000 were sent to labor
camps within Hungary and some had to perform labor tasks for the Hungarian army on the Eastern Front.
Speaking of, the Hungarians suffered huge losses on Eastern Front. It became known as the 'Disaster
on the Don'. Then the Hungarian government wanted to exit the war: it made attempts to reach the Western
Allies by the end of 1943. The Germans became aware of this and took control of the country in March
1944. Regent Miklos Horthy was allowed to remain as head of state. The Germans also superimposed
their rule over the Hungarian-annexed Yugoslav areas. Horthy continued to seek contact with the Allies and managed
to reach an armistice with the Soviets, when Soviet forces were well within the borders of
Hungary. When the Germans learned about this they overthrew Horthy and installed Ferenc Szalasi, the
leader of the Hungarian Arrow Cross party, which was the Hungarian fascist party. Little could be done
to stop the Soviet onslaught and ethnic Germans from Backa and Baranja were evacuated to Austria
in October 1944. By the end of that month Soviet, Bulgarian and Partisan forces had cleared the
area of German troops. The areas of Medjimurje and Prekmurje were taken by Bulgarian forces. What
followed were purges and many ethnic Germans and Hungarians fell victim to this. An estimated 55 000
were killed in these communist purges. If you want to learn about the Royal Hungarian Army,
click here! I want to thank you for watching and best wishes from Novi Sad, Serbia.