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,  

history teacher, hustling history  for you. Please consider subscribing  

and don't forget to hit the notification  bell to join the hustle. Let's start!

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!