We talked about non-German Axis volunteers quiet a bit on this channel. Dutch, French, Estonian,
Soviets and thrust me, there is much more to cover. But what about non-German Axis Armies. In
this video you'll learn about the Royal Hungarian Army in World War II. Who these men were, what
they wore and where they fought is what you're gonna learn today.
Welcome back everyone. If this is your first time here, welcome to History Hustle. I'm Stefan,
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A sore point in Hungarian history or perhaps the sore point in Hungarian history was the Treaty
of Trianon. It was drafted during the Paris Peace Conference that also drafted the Treaty
of Versailles for Germany. Trianon was signed in 1920 and the territory of Hungary (that before
was together with Austria in a duo-monarchy) was reduced from 325,000 to 93,000 sq km with
a population drop from 20 to 7.6 million. Hungary that was a medium sized country before,
now became a landlocked small state surrounded with new larger neighbors such as Poland
and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia). As for it's army, the
Hungarian Army was reduced to 35,000 men and only light weapons were permitted.
National conscription was introduced in 1939. At the age of 21 (later 19) Hungarian men
undertook three years of military training. I read that Germans were over-represented in
the officer corps, many of them learned Hungarian and adopted Hungarian names.
On 1 March 1940 Hungary formed 3 field armies. Each army was commander by a general
or colonel-general, each with 3 corps. Also: a seperate Carpathian Group was formed. This had to
do with covering the so-called Lost Territories (I get to that later). Of the 45 brigades
raised, 27 were infantry. From 1939 unarmed labour battalions were set-up with Slovaks, Romanians and
Serbs who lived within Hungary's borders and the Hungarian government deemed unreliable.
Naval Forces did excist, despite Hungary not bordering to an ocean, but these were merely
River Forces to patron the Danube River. Hungary's regent Miklos Horthy was an admiral after all.
Hungary also had a 5,734-men strong air force with one parachute bn. Then there was also
the Royal Hungarian Gendarmerie counting 22,000 gendarmes in July 1944, performing
rural police duties and anti-partisan duties in Yugoslavia. Before discussing
were the Hungarian units were stationed, let's take a look at the uniforms first.
Uniform – Like in each army – big or small – there are too many variaties
to sum up. Therefore I focus on the regular infantry man. If you have some additional
information, lemme know in the comments! The Hungarian helmet was the M1938 helmet.
The Germans allowed and assisted the Hungarians in copying their design of their steel helmet.
Therefore, the WWII-produced M38 Hungarian steel helmet is nearly identical to the
German M1935 with some minor differences: rougher finishing, different liner and rivets position.
It was painted in Hungarian brown-green. That brings us to the tunic which was brown-green
as well. In WW2 the Hungarian soldiers wore the M1926 field tunic with standing collar
or the M1939 with turnover collar. For infantry the collar patches were green.
What's quiet unique is the trousers. They wore these tapered trousers, tight in the calf (like we
see in many WW1 and 2 armies), combined with low ankle boots plus leather anklet. This is fairly
unique since most soldiers of that time either had leather boots or low ankle boots combined
with leather gaiters of puttees. And to be fair... no. Sorry. It looks like something is missing.
Interesting enough the Hungarian soldier used to wear puttees but in 1925 they got
rid of those. Later in 1943 canvas anklets were issued. I read that engineer troops did
wear leather boots and these were also unofficially worn by other branches.
Weapons and equipment – Standard infantry rifle was the FÉG 35M rifle that was issued from 1935.
Border guards sometimes made still use of the absolute Mannlicher M1895 from the times of
the Austro-Hungarian Empire. From 1939 there was also the M1939 Kiraly submachine gun (also
known as the Danuvia 39M). It saw an updated version in 1943. Some Hungarian troops made
used of the captured Soviet submachine gun: the PPSh-41. Furthermore soldiers had a belt
with ammunition pouches, supporting straps, backpack with overcoat, bayonet and frog,
spade, breadbag, canvas gasmask bag, messtin and aluminium waterbottle.
If you want more details, go to sources below the video and check the first book:
it's packed with the smallest details about the Hungarian WW2 army uniform.
Recovering Lost Territories – In 1938 Austria became part of the German Third Reich. Next
was the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia. Hitler promised Hungary Slovakia (formerly known as
Upper Hungary) if the Hungarians were willing to provide military assistence. Hungarian leaders
found it too risky. Yet, Hitler did manage to acquire Sudetenland after the Munich Conference.
After this Hungarian-Czechoslovak negotiations took place to reach an agreement on the
issues concerning the Hungarian minority. And agreement wasn't made and border clashes occured.
Britain and France had no interest and thus a German-Italian arbitration took place.
Two Vienna awards took place in which Hungary recovered not all the last territories but a
certain amount. This is explained in detail in the video you see in the top-right corner.
Hungary did take part on the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia which commenced on 6 April 1941.
Hungary occupied the Bácska and Baranya regions (today Vojvodina, northern Serbia). The Hungarian
Parachute Bn saw action here an captured several canal bridges. Hungarian rule was harsh. In
January 1942 almost 4,000 civilians (mostly Jews and Serbs) were killed by Hungarian troops during
an anti-partisan operation. This became known as the Massacre of Novi Sad (or Újvidék Massacre).
Invasion and Occupation of the USSR – On 22 June 1941 the Germans invaded the USSR.
Hungarian chief of staff LtGen Henrik Werth supported this and Regent Miklos Horthy
was an fierce anti-communist. Yet, Hungary wasn't prepared for this. Germany did let the country
know that Hungarian assistance was welcome. The Hungarian air force directed an attack against the
Galician town of Stanislau (today Ivano-Frankivsk in Ukraine) early morning June 27. Ground troops
crossed the border at Volóc (Volovets) in the afternoon as fire-fights with Soviet border guards
had already taken place in the morning. And so, Hungary had joined Hitler's crusade. If you want
to learn the details about the run-up to Hungary's participation, check the video in the top right
corner. I also talk about the casus belli, the strange bombing of Kassa, check it out. Hungarian
forces reached the Dniester River on 7 July and took Kamianets-Podilskyi on 10 July. Turning
northeastwards they defended 120 miles of the Dnieper bridgehead from Nikopol to Dnepropetrovsk
30 Aug-10 Oct 1941. After that they crossed the River Donets. The Hungarians delivered more troops
to participate in Germany's Summer Offensive the following year: Fall Blau. Where they fought at
Voronezh. During the Battle of Stalingrad the Hungarians had to protect the northern flanks
and were overstretched which resulted in tremendous losses. Estimations of
Hungarian cassualties vary between 100 to 150K. In the meanwhile other Hungarian troops occupied
parts of the USSR: Ukraine (1941-2) and parts of Ukraine and Belarus in 1943-44. Here they had to
secure supply routs and conduct sweeps against Soviet partisans. They also were stationed
in Poland, but Hungary refused to aid the Germans in crushing the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.
Defending Hungary – Germany was aware that also the Hungarians were war weary and Hitler ordered
the invasion of Hungary in March 1944. In a swift take-over known as Operation Margarethe
the Germans ensured the Hungarians would fight on their side. When Hungarian Regent Horthy
didn't comply the Germans launched Operation Panzerfaust in October 1944 and removed Horthy
from power. They installed Ferenc Szálasi and his fascist Arrow Cross Party as a puppet government.
By that time the Soviets were already deed inside Hungary's borders. Near the end of
1944 two Hungarian Waffen-SS formations were raised where some 50,000 Hungarian
nationalists volunteered for: – 25th Waffen Infantry Division
Hunyadi (1st Hungarian) – 26th Waffen Infantry
Division Hungarie (2nd Hungarian) There by the way also existed the
22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division Maria Theresia
which comprised of ethnic German conscripts from Hungary.
Towards the end of 1944 a climactic battle commenced at Budapest between German-Hungarian
forces versus Soviet-Romanian forces. Romania by that time had switched sides. It left Hungary's
capital in ruins and countless of lives – both military and civilian – were lost. In March
1945 near Lake Balaton the Germans launched Operation Spring Awakening but to no avail.
Eventually Hungary was completely conquered by the
Soviets and would become a communist-controlled state for years to come. Over 300,000 Hungarian
soldiers would end up in Soviet POW camps with some 251,000 repatriated by December 1948.
Also many ordinary Hungarians were deported. The others would live under communist rule till 1989.
Since this was a general overview of the Hungarian WW2 Army I'm sure there are people who like to add
information. Do so in the comments. Related topics as how effective the Hungarians were
on the Eastern Front and how the Arrow Cross Party influenced it after they were put 'in
charge' so to say I hope to cover in the future. Subscribe so you won't miss that!