Hungary After WWII: From Fascist Axis Ally to Soviet Satellite and the 1956 Uprising
The shift of Hungary from a fascist Axis nation to a Soviet-aligned state is examined. During the 1920s and 1930s, under Admiral Miklós Horthy, Hungary pursued changes to its borders following the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. It aligned with the Axis powers by signing the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1939 and the Tripartite Pact in 1940. Approximately 200,000 Hungarians perished on the Eastern Front, and a coup in 1944, supported by Germany, prolonged Hungary's involvement in the war. The siege of Budapest by the Red Army resulted in an 80% loss of the city’s infrastructure, with around 864,000 fatalities from 1940 to 1945. Of the 563,000 Hungarian Jews, 500,000 were killed after the coup. Mátyás Rákosi, despite winning only 17% in postwar elections, solidified his power, leading to the deaths of about 2,000 through state terror. Following Stalin's death, Rákosi was removed from power in 1956, leading to the arrest and execution of Imre Nagy.
Key facts
- Admiral Miklós Horthy ruled Hungary throughout the 1920s and 1930s on fascist principles
- Hungary signed the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1939 and the Tripartite Pact in 1940
- An estimated 200,000 Hungarians died on the Eastern Front during WWII
- Hungary lost an estimated 864,000 deaths from 1940 to 1945, nearly 9.5% of its prewar population
- 80% of Budapest was destroyed during the Red Army siege
- Of 563,000 Hungarian Jews who died in the war, 500,000 perished after the 1944 Arrow Cross coup
- Communists won only 17% in Hungary's first postwar elections before Rákosi consolidated power
- The 1947 treaty set Hungary's borders at 1938 lines and recognized Romanian sovereignty over northern Transylvania
- An estimated 2,000 people died in Rákosi's reign of terror
- Soviet tanks entered Budapest on November 4, 1956, ending the Hungarian Uprising
- Imre Nagy was executed two years after his arrest despite a safe-conduct promise from János Kádár
Entities
Artists
- Miklós Horthy
- Mátyás Rákosi
- Béla Kun
- Imre Nagy
- Erno Gero
- Nikita Khrushchev
- János Kádár
- Adolf Hitler
- Benito Mussolini
- Joseph Stalin
Institutions
- Arrow Cross party
- Hungarian Working People's Party
- Hungarian People's Republic
- Axis powers
- Warsaw Pact
- Red Army
- NKVD
- The Collector
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Marshall Plan
Locations
- Hungary
- Budapest
- Soviet Union
- USSR
- Romania
- Northern Transylvania
- Czechoslovakia
- Yugoslavia
- Don River
- Moscow
- Transylvania
- Carpathian region
- Austria
- Eastern Europe