Question

Were the Hungarians helping the good side in WWII? Thanks

Answer 1

There was an uneasy alliance between Hungary and the Axis powers because Hungary's economy was bad.

Explanation:

Hungary sided with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany during the war. In the early years of the 1930's (Hitler took power in 1933) Hungary relied on Germany for trade and to help pull them out of a depression that Hungary was currently in.

Hungarian politics turned significantly nationalistic in the 1930's, just like Germany and Italy. They also instituted policies that were similar to ones that Germany had installed. One main theme of these new policies was irredentism. Irredentism is the ideology that a group of people are seeking to reclaim land that was quote-unquote "lost" through history. Germany had also put forth these laws.

Turn to early 1940's and Germany had invaded Poland and under pressure from Nazi Germany, Hungary formally joined the Axis Powers. Hungary was most noted in helping in the invasion of Yugoslavia and the USSR.

But Hungary was still wary of getting fully involved. While they were fighting Soviets, the Hungarian Gov't secretly signed a armistice agreement between the US and UK. Hitler would soon discover this and order German troops to occupy Hungary in 1944. At this point in time, Soviet troops began to near Hungary and so Hungary's leader Miklós Horthy signed another armistice with the USSR, which led to German troops kidnapping Horthy's son, threatening to kill him of he didn't revoke the armistice, which then led to Horthy revoking the armistice. Horthy was then thrown from power and a fascist leader named Ferenc Szálasi took over.

The following year, 1945, Soviet troops invaded Hungary and defeated the coalition of German and Hungarian troops. Szálasi fled and was captured by American troops in the town of Mattsee. He was put on trial and sentenced to death for high treason and war crimes. He was hanged on March 12, 1946.

After Horthy was thrown out of power, he was held under house arrest in a Bavarian castle by SS officers until the end of the war. After he was liberated by American troops, he was rearrested and interrogated about his German contacts. He was not charged with any crime. He was then reunited with his son. Also the American soldiers protected him from the Russian troops, as the Russians were furious with Horthy about the 1942 massacre of Serbian and Jewish civilians under Horthy. He was protected though and eventually made his way to Portugal, where he lived out the rest of his life.