Hungary in World War II

Hungary allied with the Axis powers, joined the war against the Soviet Union, and was occupied by Germany in 1944 before Soviet forces conquered it.

Treaty of Trianon: The 1920 peace treaty that sharply reduced Hungary’s territory and population after World War I. Its territorial settlement fueled Hungarian revisionism that shaped wartime alignment.
Invasion of Yugoslavia: The 1941 Axis invasion that dismantled Yugoslavia and drew Hungary into the campaign. Hungary joined the invasion after Germany promised territorial gains, despite an earlier treaty with Yugoslavia.
Pál Teleki: Hungarian prime minister who opposed joining Germany’s war against Yugoslavia and died by suicide in 1941. His death followed Hungary’s breach of its non-aggression treaty with Yugoslavia.
Deportation of Hungarian Jews: The 1944 mass deportation of Jews from Hungary, carried out largely to Auschwitz-Birkenau. German occupation enabled the rapid deportation of roughly 440,000 Jews, chiefly from the provinces.
Miklós Horthy: Hungarian admiral and regent who governed the country from 1920 until 1944. His conservative regime pursued territorial recovery while preserving limited independence from Germany.
Hungary in the Soviet Union: The deployment and combat of Hungarian forces on the Eastern Front during World War II. The disastrous Don River campaign exposed the cost of Hungary’s military alliance with Germany.
Miklós Kállay: Hungarian prime minister from 1942 to 1944 who secretly sought a separate peace with the Allies. His covert diplomacy prompted Germany to occupy Hungary.
Holocaust in Hungary: The persecution and murder of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust, especially under German occupation in 1944. It was among the Holocaust’s fastest mass-deportation campaigns.
Hungarian irredentism: A political movement seeking to recover territories lost by Hungary after World War I. Axis support enabled Hungary to regain territories, tying revisionist aims to German policy.
Operation Margarethe: Germany’s March 1944 occupation of Hungary to prevent its defection from the Axis. Occupation ended Hungary’s room to maneuver and enabled direct German control.

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