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| Hungarian State (1939–1945) | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Magyarország |
| Conventional long name | Hungarian State |
| Common name | Hungary |
| Status | Axis-aligned satellite state |
| Government | Regency under Miklós Horthy; pro-Axis administration under Döme Sztójay; Arrow Cross rule under Ferenc Szálasi |
| Year start | 1939 |
| Year end | 1945 |
| Capital | Budapest |
| Largest city | Budapest |
| Leader1 | Miklós Horthy |
| Year leader1 | 1920–1944 |
| Leader2 | Ferenc Szálasi |
| Year leader2 | 1944–1945 |
Hungarian State (1939–1945) was the official designation of Hungary during the late interwar and World War II period when the country aligned with the Axis powers, underwent territorial revisions, internal political radicalization, and suffered catastrophic military defeat and human rights atrocities. The period encompassed treaty revisions after the Treaty of Trianon, participation in the Axis campaigns including the Invasion of Yugoslavia and the Invasion of the Soviet Union, occupation by Nazi Germany, the rise of the Arrow Cross Party, and postwar occupation by the Red Army leading into the Potsdam Conference reshaping of Central Europe.
The state's formation followed revisionist diplomacy after the Treaty of Trianon, driven by the Little Entente tensions with Czechoslovakia and ambitions tied to the First Vienna Award and the Second Vienna Award, with territorial recovery in Carpatho-Ukraine, Transylvania, and southern Bačka during interventions connected to the Munich Agreement and the Axis Powers' influence, while domestic politics revolved around figures such as Miklós Horthy, Gyula Gömbös, and Pál Teleki who negotiated alignments with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.
Political life was dominated by the regency of Miklós Horthy, conservative-nationalist parties, and increasing influence from radical movements like the Arrow Cross Party led by Ferenc Szálasi, with successive cabinets including Pál Teleki and the pro-German government of Döme Sztójay; state institutions interacted with Hungarian versions of corporatist models, reconciliation attempts with monarchist circles, and pressure from German diplomacy represented by figures such as Hans von Veesenmayer and Edmund Veesenmayer, while opponents such as Endre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky and émigré circles around Miklós Kállay resisted total collaboration.
Foreign policy was defined by rapprochement with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy to revise borders lost at Trianon, participation in the Axis invasions of Yugoslavia and Soviet Union under the auspices of agreements with leaders like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, and later strained relations culminating in the Operation Margarethe German occupation of Hungary, interactions with the Allies via clandestine approaches to United Kingdom and United States, and culminated in the Soviet advance of the Red Army and diplomatic outcomes shaped by the Yalta Conference and Potsdam Conference decisions.
The Hungarian Armed Forces, including the Royal Hungarian Army and aviation units that fought in the Carpatho-Ukraine campaign, the Battle of Uman, and on the Eastern Front alongside the Wehrmacht, faced equipment and manpower constraints compared with the Soviet Red Army and the Royal Yugoslav Army opposition, while naval and air operations had limited impact beyond support roles during the Invasion of Yugoslavia; commanders such as Miklós Horthy Jr. and ministers like Károly Beregfy presided over mobilizations, conscription disputes, and the catastrophic losses at the Battle of Debrecen and during the Siege of Budapest.
Domestic policy saw anti-Semitic laws modeled on the Nuremberg Laws and social engineering initiatives influenced by authoritarian nationalist ideologies of leaders such as Gyula Gömbös and intellectuals linked to the Hungarian Revisionism movement, while cultural institutions in Budapest faced censorship and mobilization under state bodies and collaborationist organizations, conservative elites negotiated with social democrats and agrarian interests, and resistance networks including anti-fascist cells and émigré opposition engaged with foreign intelligence services of the British Special Operations Executive and the Soviet NKVD.
Economic policy emphasized rearmament, export of agricultural products to Nazi Germany, and industrial conversion under ministries influenced by technocrats and ministries such as the Hungarian Ministry of Finance and industrialists with ties to German firms; sectors in Budapest and regional centres like Miskolc and Pécs faced labor mobilization, shortages, and Allied bombing targeting rail hubs and oil facilities, while forced labor battalions and deportation of minorities impacted workforce composition amid wartime procurement for the Wehrmacht.
State-sponsored persecution targeted Jews and Roma through successive statutes culminating in mass deportations organized by Hungarian authorities in coordination with the Gestapo and SS units under leaders such as Adolf Eichmann, with deportation trains to Auschwitz-Birkenau and mass shootings in occupied territories like Kamenets-Podolskiy, while political opponents, members of leftist movements, and ethnic minorities suffered imprisonment, show trials, and extrajudicial killings under collaborationist police and paramilitary formations including elements linked to the Arrow Cross Party and Hungarian gendarmerie; survivors and rescuers such as Raoul Wallenberg appear in the historical record alongside postwar trials of perpetrators.
The collapse followed the Soviet Budapest Offensive and the fall of Budapest, the capture of remnants of the regime including Ferenc Szálasi and the flight of collaborators to Germany; postwar Hungary underwent occupation by the Soviet Union, legal purges, the Budapest Trials, restitution debates, and incorporation into the Soviet sphere leading to the eventual establishment of the Second Hungarian Republic and later the Hungarian People's Republic, with legacies contested in historiography involving figures like Imre Nagy, wartime collaborators, and victims' communities.
Category:History of Hungary Category:States and territories established in 1939 Category:States and territories disestablished in 1945