Hungarian Ground Forces

The Hungarian Ground Forces is the most recent iteration of the Hungarian army since Hungary became an independent state after World War I.

Royal Hungarian Coat of Arms

The first version was National Army which was formed by Miklós Horthy from various anti-communist military. On 1 January 1922, the National Army was redesignated the Royal Hungarian Army, a title maintained until 1945. During World War II, Hungary allied itself with Germany. However, after Admiral Horthy attempted to broker a separate peace with the Allied Forces, in October 1944, Germany placed Horthy under arrest and launched Operation Panzerfaust, effectively taking control of the Hungarian Army. On 7 May 1945, General Alfred Jodl, the German Chief of Staff, signed the document of unconditional surrender for all German forces, and the Royal Hungarian Army was officially disbanded.

Under the Soviet-backed Hungarian People's Republic, the Hungarian People's Army was established in 1949. The government made a concentrated effort to establish a large army based on the Soviet Red Army. When Hungary attempted a revolution in 1956, a substantial part of the army joined the revolutionaries. In response, the Soviets pared down the Hungarian People's Army, taking back equipment. In 1959, when the Soviets offered to withdraw from Hungary, the government asked the Soviets to maintain a large garrison in Hungary, thereby allowing the Hungarian government to essentially spend its budget on a number of various projects while defunding the army.

After the fall of the Soviet Union and collapse of communism in Hungary, the Hungarian government established the Hungarian Ground Forces in 1991. The army is smaller than prior times in its history, with a limited mission of national security and peacekeeping.

Hungarian Army in The Hot War

The Hungarian People's Army was part of the Soviet-led coalition that invaded West Germany in February, 1951 as part of World War III. Initially, the Hungarians were used to garrison areas the Soviets had successfully overrun. However, as the war progressed, the Hungarians were used in combat.

Hungarian Army in "The Phantom Tolbukhin"

The Hungarian Army had been brought to the Ukraine to help pad out the German Forces and assist in their fight against Soviet partisans. However, their animosity towards the Romanians meant that they couldn't be stationed near the Romanian Army, in fear that the two sides would fight each other rather than the Soviets.

Hungarian Army in The War That Came Early

The Royal Hungarian Army had helped the Germans dismantle Czechoslovakia when the country was invaded in 1938. Because of this, England, France and Russia broke off diplomatic relations with Hungary.

When the 'Big Switch' occurred in 1940, the Hungarian Army sent units to help fight the Russians.