1942: Hungary

Hungary so far has gained considerably by her partnership with the Axis and her alliance with Germany. It is therefore understandable that Hungary is fighting wholeheartedly on Germany's side against the democracies, even more so because Fascism gained a strong hold on Hungary some twenty years ago. Hungary which in 1930 had a population of 8,668,319, in 1942 had a population of 14,736,000 increased by the incorporation of Czechoslovak, Rumanian and Yugoslav territory. Hungary has declared war on the Soviet Union and on the United States of America.

Political Situation.

Hungary, since the abdication of the Hapsburgs, was considered a monarchy with a vacant throne, the functions of the king being exercised by the regent, Admiral Nicholas Horthy. As the regent is of advanced age and in failing health, the Hungarian parliament decided to elect a vice regent, to take over part of the duties of the regent, and especially to fill the vacancy in case of his death. In February it elected the older son of the regent, Stephen Horthy, as vice regent. Mr. Horthy who was only 38 years old, was known as an expert and skillful flier, he had piloted his own plane in April 1940 on his wedding trip to Rome, and had in July 1939 made a solo flight from Budapest to Bombay. In August 1942 he was killed while flying on the Russian front. A successor to the new high office has not as yet been elected.

The month of March also saw a change in the Hungarian cabinet. Prime Minister Dr. Ladislaus Bardossy resigned on account of ill health. The new Prime Minister is Nicholas von Kallay, a former Minister of Agriculture, who temporarily assumed also the office of Foreign Minister. All the other members of the cabinet remained in their position. In his programmatic declaration the new Prime Minister declared that Hungary's place could be only on the side of Germany and Italy. Hungarian official policy and public opinion have never shown the slightest hesitation, the Premier declared, in aligning Hungary with the Fascist Axis. This decision was not new, it had already been taken at a time when Fascism in the world was still in its infancy and when Germany had not yet started on the road to becoming the greatest power on earth. He pointed out that Hungary's fate was being decided on the Russian battlefield and that therefore Hungarian honor could not permit that this decision should come without Hungary's full and active participation. The chief concern of the government would therefore be the full prosecution of the war. As regards internal policy the Prime Minister promised a strict adherence to Fascist principles and the continuation of the anti-Semitic policy.

Relations with Neighbors.

Hungary's relations with all its neighbors were extremely strained. Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia and Rumania were afraid that Hungary might covet more of their territory. Hungary in 1938 and 1939 had annexed Slovakian and Carpatho-Ukrainian territory and thus acquired a large Slavonic minority, and Slovakia complained about the treatment of this minority. In the south Hungary had acquired in 1941 the Yugoslav territory of the Backa. There in January 1942 the Serb population revolted against Hungarian domination. The revolt took dangerous form, and for several days the most important city of the territory, Novisad, was in the hands of the Serb patriots. In suppressing this revolt the Hungarian armed forces were ruthless. Thousands of Serbs were executed and massacred. The Hungarian Prime Minister discussed these events in the Hungarian parliament in mid-July and regretted the excesses of Hungarian officials, and that among the victims many innocent persons were found. He promised a strict investigation.

While the relations with the other neighbors remained strained, those with Rumania threatened to culminate in open warfare. Rumania had been forced by the Axis to cede northern Transylvania to Hungary in 1940. Northern Transylvania was regarded by the Rumanians as the cradle of the Rumanian nation and the place of birth of modern Rumanian nationalism. Many of Rumania's political and cultural leaders had come from Transylvania. She therefore could never acquiesce in its loss. The situation was further complicated by the fact that both Rumania and Hungary were German satellites, but there was an important difference between them. Hungary was more efficiently organized and had kept somewhat more of her independence; Rumania was much more directly under German control, but on the other side had suffered much greater sacrifices in the German war against Russia. During 1942 the Rumanians clamored for the return of Transylvania. Violent speeches were made, in which the Rumanians protested that the Rumanian population in the part of Transylvania annexed by Hungary was being maltreated and dispossessed. The Hungarians countered with similar accusations regarding the treatment of the Hungarian minority in that part of Transylvania which had remained within Rumania and were ready to demand the cession of that part, too. On June 14 Premier von Kallay made an inspection trip to Transylvania to manifest Hungary's determination to keep Transylvania. His visit was the occasion of great demonstrations on the part of the Rumanians. The tension found expression not only in violent speeches and articles in the press, but also in border incidents. Germany succeeded only with difficulty in postponing the outbreak of open hostilities between the two countries and the settlement of the thorny question until after the end of the war against Russia.

Politics.

Hungary tried to retain some of her independence against Germany. The forms of parliamentary life were maintained. In the Lower House the government party, the party of Hungarian life, as it called itself, had 184 deputies, and together with the party of Transylvanian deputies had a large majority. But there existed small groups which accepted the whole Nazi program and desired the complete Nazification of Hungary — among them the most important being the Arrow Cross Party which frequently bitterly attacked the government. Most of its Fascist demands were in any case granted by the government, though with some small reservations, and internal dissensions among the different leaders of the extremist groups weakened their position.

Hungarian divisions participated in the war on the Russian front. Most of them were reported in the vicinity of Voronezh. Other Hungarian divisions were used to hold down Yugoslavia. Hungarian territory was several times raided, probably by Soviet fliers. The first air attack on the Hungarian capital of Budapest happened in the night of Sept. 4, 1942.