Eighty years ago, a tragic historical event took place, which was even included in the Hungarian Basic Act: “Our country lost its right to self-determination on 19 March 1944”.
To this day there are different opinions, half-truths and misconceptions about the German occupation, its causes and those liable for it. The main debate is whether there was an alternate and what the Hungarian leadership did or could do to avoid occupation. We talked about this with Sándorm Sakálym, CEO of the Veritas Historical investigation and Archives Institute.
“At the end of the last war, Romania, and at the end of that war, Germany invaded the capital of Hungary. Then the Romanians were sent by the victorious Ententa to crush the dictatorship of the proletariat in Budapest, now the Germans invaded a country that could not be relied on. At the time, we asked to defend the Western Allies from the Romanians. Now, in our fight with the Germans, we were hoping for the same thing. Why have we never received aid where our heart brought us, where did we anticipate help? Is it our fault, or is it our evil policy, or is it written in the Book of Destiny?"
Yes Miklós Kállay, who resigned as Prime Minister on that day, and the following day escaped German arrest to the Turkish embassy, summarizes the essence of German business on 19 March 1944 in his memoirs, first published in English in fresh York City in 1954.
♪ erstwhile upon a Time ♪
It besides shows that neither he nor regent Miklós Horthy, nor did most Hungarian political and military leaders until fresh days believe that German business could take place. However, from a German point of view, this was a long-standing necessity, according to the winner of the Szécheny Prize, historian Sándor Szakály, manager General of the Veritas Historical investigation and Archives Institute. Why?
Since, after the landing of the Western Allies in Sicily and Mussolini's fall, Italy, Germany's most crucial ally, effectively withdrew from the war on 8 September 1943, which forced German military command to shift serious forces to the Italian front. Hungary has just made a secret agreement with the British, according to which, if the armies of Western powers scope their borders in Hungary, the country will retreat from the war. erstwhile this information reached German military and political command, Hitler declared that Italy should not repeat itself, and already in September 1943 ordered the improvement of an operational plan for the business of Hungary. Of course, the Hungarians were not informed of this.
Stalin convinced Roosevelt
Germany was seriously afraid about the Hungarian return in politics, as evidenced by the fact that Hitler had already informed the Hungarian regent in April 1943 that he knew about the secret negotiations of the Kallay government with the Anglo-Saxons and warned Horthy that “Germany and their allies are on the same ship in the rough sea and it is clear that in this situation anyone who wishes to get out of it would immediately drown”. In the fall of 1943, the Führer made respective private statements that if the US-British forces landed in the Balkans, German forces (also due to geographical and weather conditions) would be hard to prevent this.
adm. Miklos Horthy and Adolf Hitler (1943)
Indeed, any Hungarian political and military leaders long hoped that British and American troops would land in the Balkans. They felt that the Anglo-Saxon powers would not let the Red Army to penetrate into the mediate of Europe, so they were planning an offensive operation from Italy and the Balkans towards Central Europe," explains Sándor Szakály.
They thought that erstwhile Western troops came to Hungary, they would leave Hitler. However, this minute never came due to the fact that at a conference of leaders of the 3 anti-Hitlerian powers in Tehran, late November 1943, Stalin convinced, despite Churchill's opposition, American president Roosevelt that the Western Allies should open the main front against the Germans, landing in northern France. This meant that the east half of Europe, until Germany, would be occupied by the russian Union.
Out of the war, but how?
According to the historian, in a given geographical and geopolitical situation there was no chance of withdrawing from the war, which is besides confirmed by the fact that any country that withdrew from the war and switched to the Allied side, specified as Italy and Romania, did so erstwhile troops of previously hostile powers entered the country. It is characteristic that in the summertime of 1943 Horthy privately said:
“Many advise that we gotta leave the war, but no 1 can tell how to do it. However, I cannot stand on the balcony of the Royal Castle and call out: I changed my mind. The Germans will bring Shalasi [leader of the Hungarian Nazis – ed.] in twenty-four hours...”
In March 1944, the war situation was specified that crucial advancement had been made by the russian army on the east theatre of action, it was increasingly approaching the centre of Europe and the Balkans, while the Western Allies only tropted in Italy. Given its strategical position in Central Europe, Germany could not hazard Hungarian secession, so Hitler yet decided to take military business at the end of February [1944]. Hungarian political and military leadership knew only partially. The Regent, the Prime Minister and others saw a hard situation in the country.
Was there no way to avoid occupation? Sándor Sakály believes not. This could have been avoided if the Hungarian Government had immediately met all German political, military and economical demands.
The question besides arises as to what Miklos Horthy might have done differently. What was his mistake? Horthy and Hungarian leaders are guilty of joining the war with the russian Union in June 1941.which at the time seemed to have ended with Germany's victory. In addition to the Germans, Romanians and Slovaks marched there, and Hungarians feared what would happen to territories returned to them from 1938 to 1941 in the event of Germany's victory.
However, these are theoretical questions, due to the fact that in the mediate of Europe it was impossible to stay distant from this war," explains Sándor Szakály.
Only Switzerland, Sweden to the north and Portugal, Spain and Turkey were left out at the end of Europe. At the same time, neutral Switzerland and Sweden besides maintained excellent relations with Nazi Germany. Bulgaria was besides outside the war, but it did not substance much, and at the end of the war it was occupied by the russian Red Army, as was our country.
Hitler’s Decision
According to Sándor Szakály, erstwhile Hitler invited Horthy to Klessheim in mid-March 1944, the issue of business was already settled. The Hungarian regent protested and threatened to resign in vain, but could not change Führer's decision. Of course, he could resign and quit to his property in Kenderes on December 18 or 19, after returning home, but at that time many believed that if a noble gentleman did so, extremist forces would immediately come to power in Hungary, leaving the country entirely at the mercy of German wishes and interests.
The German leader besides blackmailed Horthy, saying that if he did not agree to the German occupation, the Romanian, Slovak and Croatian troops will besides enter Hungarywhich would be disastrous for the full Hungarian political elite and most of the population. Moreover, Hitler promised that German troops would be withdrawn as shortly as a Hungarian government was established that would suit German interests. In his memoirs, Hortha, a erstwhile naval officer, explained why he did not resign: “I could not afford to leave the sinking ship just erstwhile he needed his captain most.”
Theoretically, the Hungarian government could have chosen military opposition even in the absence of the regent, but according to Sándor Szakály, this was impossible and would have been suicide. Most of the Royal Hungarian defence Forces fought on the east Carpathians frontfield, and between Budapest and the western border there were no crucial military forces. Horthy was the ultimate chief, and the accompanying Ferenc Szombathely, head of the Defence Staff, telegraphed to his deputy on the evening of March 18, ordering that no steps be taken until the regent returns home, and German troops should be welcomed in a friendly manner. If the Hungarian troops had tried to resist, they would have been crushed in a short time by the invading German forces, and then the consequences would be even more tragic: the Hungarian army would be disarmed and violent retaliation would be carried out.
Only the Soviets don't!
Of course, this was not in the interest of the Germans who wanted to take Hungary in specified a way that the economical and military possible of Hungary was not damaged and that all funds and resources could be utilized for action against the Red Army.
"However unusual it would sound, the German business could have been worse," says the historian. For the average man there was no noticeable change due to the fact that the Germans did not behave like soldiers of the russian Red Army shortly after. The population was not harmed, there was no looting, women were not raped.
Most were more afraid of the Russian invasion and believed that the Germans had entered us to aid us fight the Russians.
However, it is hard to deny that Hungary's already limited sovereignty with the German business and the scope for the regent's and the government's manoeuvres have narrowed further. The most serious consequence was the mass deportation of Hungarian Jews, which Horthy besides condemned, and in the face of the fact that the deported Jews were exterminated by the Germans, he intervened and managed to prevent the deportation of about 2 100 1000 Budapest Jews.
Although historians do not like the question, what would have happened if...?, Sándor Sakály is convinced that if the regent had left his post during the German occupation, what happened in mid-October 1944, after the gunfighters took power and Horthy's resignation, would have happened by the end of March. All of this does not change the fact that Western powers actually gave up the space between Germany and the russian Union at the latest in Tehran. Their war goal was to completely defeat the Germans, for which they needed the russian military power, and they were willing to pay Stalin countries and peoples of Central Europe for this.
For: ‘Magyar Nemzet’
