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Hungary declared its exit from the Austro-Hungarian monarchy on 31st October 1918. Monarchy was reintroduced on 1st March 1920 after an unsuccessful democratic republic and a failed dictatorial soviet republic. After the peace treaty of Trianon was accepted, Hungary lost about 1/3 of its territory to the surrounding states. About 3.2 millions Hungarians were separated from their motherland. This led to large strains between Hungary and its neighbouring countries in the period following. The revisionist politics led to a political rapprochement to the 3rd Reich in the 1930s. After smashing Czechoslovakia in the year 1938, Hungary tried to regain territories lost to Slovakia. In some areas, heavy battles came about. Due to the decisions of Vienna, Hungary regained a part of southern Slovakia and large parts of Transylvania but these had to be given back in 1945. On 27th June 1941, Hungary joined the war against the Soviet Union on the Axis side. In 1944, Hungary tried to negotiate terms of surrender with the Allies. Consequently, Germany applied a party-line government under the fascistic Arrow Cross Party.
The equipment of the Hungarian armed forces was of lower quality then the German equipment. Partially, the demands were covered by the products of Hungarian manufacturers. A part of the equipment originated from foreign manufacturers. German motor vehicles gained a greater significance in the Hungarian armed forces in the second half of war.
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