The Hungarian First Army was a field army of the Royal Hungarian Army that saw action during World War II .
66-792: Under Hungarian Regent , Admiral Miklós Horthy , Hungary was an Axis state at the beginning of the European conflict. On 1 March 1940, the Hungarian Army formed three field armies. All three Hungarian armies saw action on the Eastern Front against the Red Army . Unlike the Hungarian Third Army which took part in the invasion of Yugoslavia (1941) and the Hungarian Second Army that fought at
132-502: A Magyar Királyság Kormányzója ). On the untimely death of Albert in 1439, John Hunyadi was of the opinion that Hungary was best served by a warrior king and lent his support to the candidature of young King of Poland Władysław III of Varna in 1440, and thus came into collision with the powerful magnate Ulrich II of Celje , the chief proponent of Albert's widow Elisabeth of Bohemia (1409–1442) and her infant son, Ladislaus Posthumus of Bohemia and Hungary . Featuring prominently in
198-491: A man at machine-gun point can have little legality." Szálasi led the Government of National Unity from 15 October 1944 to 28 March 1945. The Hungarian parliament approved the formation of a Council of Regency ( Kormányzótanács ). On 4 November 1944, Szálasi was sworn in as the "National Leader" ( Nemzetvezető ), so he became the head of state in addition to being the head of government as Prime Minister of Hungary . While
264-567: A member of a junior branch of the Habsburgs, was a significant intermediary between the revolutionaries and the imperial court in Vienna. However, after 1848, the palatine was only a symbolic function, but it was only in 1918 – with the end of Habsburgs in the Kingdom of Hungary (the kingdom continued formally until 1945) – that the function ceased officially. The Golden Bull of 1222 authorized
330-571: A new judiciary era in Europe, characterized by the absolute supremacy of the Parliament, (dietal system) and a tendency to centralization. During his reign, Matthias reduced the power of the feudal lords, and ruled instead with a cadre of talented and highly educated individuals, chosen for their abilities rather than their social status. The Diet appointed Mihály Szilágyi , the new king's uncle as regent, because of Matthias' young age. Throughout 1458
396-752: A newly formed Hungarian government, under acting Prime Minister Béla Miklós , officially declared war against Nazi Germany . But the Germans and the pro-German Hungarians in Hungary fought on against the Soviets. However, there are indications that some elements of the Hungarian First Army went over to the Soviets at about this time. Béla Miklós had been the commander of the Hungarian First Army from 1 August 1944 to 16 October 1944. Between 1 January and 16 February 1945, most of what remained of
462-523: A truce with Frederick for two years. On 20 January 1458, Matthias (son of John Hunyadi) was elected king by the Parliament . This was the first time in the medieval Hungarian kingdom that a member of the nobility, without dynastic ancestry and relationship, mounted the royal throne. Such an election upset the usual course of dynastic succession in the age. In the Czech and Hungarian states they heralded
528-470: Is documented from the early 13th century. In 1201, King Emeric exempted the "guest settlers" in Sárospatak from the jurisdiction of all judges but the king and the palatine, which proves that the palatines had already heard cases on their own right, not only as the monarchs' representatives. The Golden Bull of 1222 declared that a palatine had jurisdiction over all inhabitants of Hungary, although he
594-602: The Austro-Hungarian Empire (Emperor Charles I of Austria who was King Charles (Karoly) IV of Hungary) from exile as the return of a Habsburg on the Hungarian throne was unacceptable to the Entente powers ( Archduke Joseph August , a Habsburg, had been rejected by them as a regent after assuming the position for a few weeks in 1919). Instead, with National Army officers controlling the parliament building,
660-576: The Battle of Stalingrad (1942), the Hungarian First Army did not see much combat at the start of the war. The troops of the Hungarian First Army, like all Hungarian troops, were part of the one-million-plus non-German Axis troops on the Eastern Front . While the majority of these Axis troops were Romanian , there were also significant contingents of Hungarians, Finns, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Italians, Slovaks, Croatians, Frenchmen, Danes, Norwegians, Belgians, and Spaniards. The first commander of
726-453: The Kingdom of Croatia until 1918 the ban held similar function as the highest office in the Kingdom (after the king himself), monarch's representative, commander of the royal army and viceroy (after the union of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia with Hungary in 1102). The earliest recorded Medieval Latin form of the title was comes palatii ("count of the palace"); it was preserved in
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#1732772375234792-491: The Pannonhalma Archabbey on the king's behalf around 1005, must have been a palatine, because the villages were situated in many counties , suggesting that he was not the head of one county. The Long Life of Saint Gerard say that King Stephen I made Csanád "the master of the household of the king and Ajtony " after Csanád defeated Ajtony. Some historians (including Györffy and Gábor Thoroczkay) say that
858-674: The Tisza , called the Partium or Körösvidék , to rule. As the anarchy resulting from the division became unmanageable, Hunyadi was elected regent of Hungary ( Regni Gubernator ) on 5 June 1446 in the name of Ladislaus V and given the powers of a regent. His first act as regent was to proceed against the German king Frederick III , who refused to release Ladislaus V. After ravaging Styria , Carinthia , and Carniola and threatening Vienna , Hunyadi's difficulties elsewhere compelled him to make
924-427: The curialis comes administered justice on the king's behalf in the royal court in the 12th century , but according to a scholarly theory, he heard disputes in the royal court already during the reign of King Coloman's son, Stephen II of Hungary , which gave rise to the development of the palatines' own court of justice. The curialis comes was mentioned as iudex curie , or royal judge, after around 1219. Changes in
990-464: The deed of foundation of the Tihany Abbey , issued in 1055. A new variant (comes palatinus) came into use in the second half of the 11th century ; it was first recorded around 1067. The shortened palatinus form became the official version in the 1230s. A new official title – palatinus regni Hungariae ("Palatine of the Kingdom of Hungary ") – was adopted in
1056-489: The ispáns and the stablemen) do not seem to have been responsible for the management of the royal household. Consequently, most historians say that most probably the palatines were the administrators of the royal domains and revenues up until the 1120s. The palatines' jurisdiction over the udvornici , or royal serving people, which is documented from the end of the 11th century , also validate this theory. The late 13th-century chronicler, Simon of Kéza , stated that it
1122-414: The "count of the duke" was to pay the same amount if "he judges others besides his own people", which suggests that the head of the " duchy " was also entitled to appoint his own palatine. A new great officer, the curialis comes , appeared in the royal court in the first half of the 12th century . He was responsible for the management of the royal household. Authentic royal charters do not prove that
1188-745: The 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th century were the Aba (family) , Lackfi , in the 15th century the Garay , afterwards the Báthory and the Zápolya , Esterházy , Pálffy , and ultimately the Joseph branch of the Habsburg . Prominent palatines have been: in the early 17th century, István Illésházy of Trencsén , then up to 1616, György Thurzó and János Zakmárdi . Thurzó is the palatine who arrested Elizabeth Báthory ,
1254-519: The 1340s, which shows that the palatines who were still royal officials were also regarded as representatives of the Estates of the realm from that time on. The original Hungarian version of the title was nádorispán ; it was first recorded around 1405. The etymology of the word is uncertain. Most scholars agree that its root is the Slavic word for court (dvorjь) , but no documents evidence that
1320-668: The Diet. From around 1450 he had the right to grant royal property – like the king himself but with certain restrictions. An act of 1485 explicitly stipulated that the palatine shall be the viceregent in the king's absence. After 1526, when the Habsburgs became rulers of the kingdom and the Turks seized large parts of the kingdom, the palatine, as the vice-regent (viceroy), had his seat outside Royal Hungary in Prague and later in Vienna . In 1526,
1386-556: The Entente had banned the legitimate Nádor from taking his place, the choice fell on electing a governor-regent: Admiral Horthy was chosen. Thus, he was regent of the post- World War I state called the Kingdom of Hungary and served as the head of state in the absence of a monarch, while a prime minister served as head of government . Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" (Hungarian: Ő Főméltósága
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#17327723752341452-578: The Germans. After Romania withdrew from the Axis and accepted an armistice with the Soviet Union in August 1944, Horthy decided to secretly negotiate with the Soviets. On 15 October 1944, Horthy announced in a national radio broadcast that Hungary had signed an armistice with the Soviets. The Germans responded with Operation Panzerfaust . This included arresting both Horthy and his son Miklós . Horthy
1518-611: The Horthy regency had come to an end the Hungarian monarchy was not abolished by the Szálasi regime. The need for a regent, or a regency, ended when the Kingdom of Hungary was replaced by the Second Hungarian Republic on 1 February 1946. Palatine of Hungary The Palatine of Hungary ( Hungarian : nádor or nádorispán , German : Landespalatin , Latin : palatinus regni Hungariae )
1584-533: The Hungarian First Army was Lieutenant-General (or Altábornagy according to the Hungarian army rank) Vilmos Nagy. After 30 August 1940, under Nagy, the Hungarian First Army took part in Hungary's annexation and occupation of northern Transylvania . This region of Romania was awarded to Hungary as a condition of the Second Vienna Award . From 1940 to mid-1944, the Hungarian First Army saw little action other than occupation duties. By 30 April 1944,
1650-494: The Hungarian First Army was overrun, bypassed, or destroyed about 200 kilometers north of Budapest when the Soviet 40th Army advanced through the area. But, even after this, the Hungarian First Army did not cease to exist. The remnants fought on as an attachment to Heinrici 's German First Panzer Army . Fighting as they went, they moved progressively westward into Slovakia . The army was not officially disbanded until 8 May 1945,
1716-614: The Hungarian First Army was used to bolster Army Group South Ukraine. This army group was pushed back during the Battle of Târgul Frumos in May 1944. The Hungarians were placed in defensive positions north of the Romanian Fourth Army and south of Army Group North Ukraine. From 13 July to 29 July 1944, the Hungarian First Army fought against the Soviet Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive . At this time
1782-590: The Hungarian government - set up lawfully on the basis of the April Laws . In April 1849, when the Hungarians had won many successes, after sounding the army, Lajos Kossuth issued the celebrated Hungarian Declaration of Independence , in which he declared that "the house of Habsburg-Lorraine, perjured in the sight of God and man, had forfeited the Hungarian throne." Establishing the Hungarian State ,
1848-547: The Hungarians were attached to the German First Panzer Army commanded by Colonel-General ( Generaloberst ) Gotthard Heinrici , which, in turn, was part of Army Group North Ukraine. Later in 1944, Soviet troops entered Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. The Romanians capitulated. The Bulgarians capitulated. The Hungarians tried to capitulate twice, but unsuccessfully. In the end, the Hungarian First Army continued its precarious existence. On 28 December,
1914-466: The administration of the royal court and the palatines' office occurred around the same period. Hereafter the highest-ranking royal officials, including the palatine and the royal judge, were styled as "barons". The first documents issued in a palatine's name is dated to about 1219. Up to that time, the palatines' decisions had not been recorded by their own officials, but by other authorities, especially by cathedral chapters. The earliest references to
1980-480: The armed forces. With those sweeping powers guaranteed, Horthy took the oath of office. (King Charles did try to regain his throne twice; see Charles IV of Hungary's attempts to retake the throne for more details.) The Hungarian state was legally a kingdom, but it had no king, as the Allies of World War I would not have tolerated any return of the Habsburgs. The country retained its parliamentary system following
2046-590: The assembly voted to install the former Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Fleet ( Austro-Hungarian Navy ), and current Minister of War and Commander of the National Army, Admiral Horthy as head of state ; he defeated Count Albert Apponyi by a vote of 131 to 7 and became the new Regent of Hungary. Bishop Ottokár Prohászka then led a small delegation to meet Horthy, announcing, “Hungary’s Parliament has elected you Regent! Would it please you to accept
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2112-402: The assumed *nadъ-dvorjь-županъ ("head of the royal court") form actually existed. In Czech and Serbo-Croatian languages, similar expressions ( náderšpan and nadršpan ) existed, but only as loanwords from Hungarian, in reference to the palatines of Hungary. Ludovicus Tubero and some other 16th-century scholars referred to the palatine as nándorispán . Historian András Róna-Tas says that
2178-548: The brief ensuing civil war, Władysław III's side was thus reinforced by Hunyadi's noticeable military abilities, and was rewarded by Władysław with the captaincy of the fortress of Belgrade , a latter dignity that he shared with Miklós Újlaki . At the diet which met in February 1445 a provisional government consisting of five Captain Generals was formed, with Hunyadi receiving Transylvania and four counties bordering on
2244-603: The countess accused for killing numerous girls and young women. The position was occupied in the remaining 17th century by members of the families Esterházy , Pálffy, Francis Wesselényi , Rhedey and others. The last palatines at the end of the 18th and the first half of the 19th century were the Habsburgs Archdukes Alexander Leopold , Joseph and his son Stephen , who resigned in 1848. Following Stephen's death in 1867 without issue, his half-brother Archduke Joseph August of Austria inherited
2310-627: The county taxes. From the 13th century, his deputy ( vicepalatinus ) was based in Pest (around 1300 temporarily in Old Buda ), where he was simultaneously the county leader of the Pest county and judge of the middle nobility. According to the Article II of Law 1439, the king could appoint the palatine only with the consent of the parliament. The Diet of the Kingdom of Hungary of 1455 and 1456 issued
2376-423: The declaration was a step characteristic of his love for extreme and dramatic action, but it added to the dissensions between him and those who wished only for autonomy under the old dynasty, and his enemies did not scruple to accuse him of aiming for Kingship. The dethronement also made any compromise with the Habsburgs practically impossible. Lajos Kossuth became head of state as Governor-President of Hungary. Upon
2442-426: The decree "de officio Palatini", which guaranteed the palatine's position as the representative of the king. From around 1400 he was the viceregent of the king, a function which however only became important after 1526. He was allowed to command the royal army and to preside over the Diet of the Kingdom of Hungary instead of the king. When the king was not of age or if there was an interregnum , he also could convene
2508-646: The dissolution and break-up of Austria-Hungary after World War I , the Hungarian Democratic Republic and then the Hungarian Soviet Republic were briefly proclaimed in 1918 and 1919, respectively. The short-lived communist government of Béla Kun launched what was known as the " Red Terror ", involving Hungary in an ill-fated war with Romania . In 1920, the country fell into a period of civil conflict, with Hungarian anti-communists and monarchists violently purging
2574-455: The dissolution of Austria-Hungary , with a prime minister appointed as head of government. As head of state, Horthy retained significant influence through his constitutional powers and the loyalty of his ministers to the crown. Although his involvement in drafting legislation was minuscule, he nevertheless had the ability to ensure that laws passed by the Hungarian parliament conformed to his political preferences. During World War II Hungary
2640-514: The end of the war. That is when the last commander of the Hungarian First Army, Lieutenant-General László Dezső, surrendered. Regent of Hungary The regent of Hungary was a position established in 1446 and renewed in 1920. It was held by Admiral Miklós Horthy until 1944. Under Hungary's constitution there were two regents, one a regent of the ruling house, called the Nádor , and another called "Kormányzó" (which can mean "governor"). As
2706-457: The head of the royal court in 892. In 11th-century Bohemia and in Poland , the "count of the palace" was the monarch's deputy in military affairs. According to a scholarly theory, the comes palatii was originally responsible for the administration of the royal household, but primary sources do not contain direct reference to the palatines' economic functions. Hungarian historians agree that
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2772-474: The imperial court of the Holy Roman Empire set the pattern for the organization of the royal household in Hungary. Historians also concur that the first king of Hungary , Stephen I , who died in 1038, appointed the first palatine, although no primary source mentioned this office during his reign. György Györffy says that one Comes Ceba, who was responsible for the transfer of ten villages to
2838-494: The king's knowledge by any judge. The earliest charters referring to the palatines' deputies mentioned them under several names, including vicarius palatini (in 1220 and 1221), and vicecomes palatini comitis and viceiudex palatini comitis (in 1221). The same documents, all preserved in the Regestrum Varadinense (including Maurice Pok ), suggest that the palatine and his deputies administered justice during
2904-540: The men of our realm, but cases concerning nobles condemned to capital punishment and loss of possessions shall not be concluded without the king's knowledge. The count palatine shall judge without differentiation all the men of our realm except ecclesiastical persons and clerks, and cases concerning marriage, dowry, and other ecclesiastical matters which appear to belong for whatever reason to ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Cases concerning nobles condemned to capital punishment and loss of possessions shall not be concluded without
2970-540: The nation of communists, leftist intellectuals, and others whom they felt threatened by, especially Jews. This period was known as the " White Terror ". In 1920, after the pullout of the last of the Romanian occupation forces, the Kingdom of Hungary was restored. On 1 March 1920, the National Assembly of Hungary re-established the Kingdom of Hungary , but chose not to recall the deposed Habsburg ruler of
3036-533: The office of Regent of Hungary?” To their astonishment, Horthy declined unless his powers were expanded. As Horthy stalled, the politicians folded, and granted him "the general prerogatives of the King, with the exception of the right to name titles of nobility and of the patronage of the Church." Those prerogatives included the power to appoint and dismiss prime ministers, to convene and dissolve parliament, and to command
3102-469: The original title, was first recorded in 1784. High-ranking officials who bore the title comes palatinus or comes palatii were present in several royal courts of medieval Europe. In the Carolingian Empire , the comes palatii was the monarch's deputy and one of the highest judges in the 9th century , according to the contemporaneous Hincmar . In Croatia , the zuppanus palatii was
3168-552: The palatine became a life function. In 1527, the palatine István Báthory created the Hungarian Vice-regency Council (a kind of government, seat in Pozsony (German: Pressburg, now Bratislava ) since 1531) comprising also other noble representatives, which became a permanent institution headed by the palatine in 1549. In 1608, the functions of vice-regent and palatine were separated. The Palatine's office
3234-415: The palatine from "send[ing] the seal" to anyone "except only to those who are called [udvornici] and to those who come to him voluntarily" while he was absent from the royal court. On the other hand, the decree also shows that in the second half of the 11th century , the palatine's jurisdiction over the udvornici was independent of his role as the sovereign's deputy. Around 1100, King Coloman authorized
3300-415: The palatine to hear appeals against decisions of judges from the counties "if a popular outcry arises against them". Four royal charters show that the palatines, along with other high-ranking royal officials, occasionally heard disputes between ecclesiastic institutions and royal people as judges, specifically assigned with the task by the monarchs in the 12th century . The palatines' own court of justice
3366-445: The palatine to represent the monarch at the great assembly which was customarily held at Székesfehérvár on the feast of King St Stephen in each year. The presence of the palatine at the yearly law-day enabled him to act as a mediator between the sovereign and the noblemen. Initially, the palatines administered justice on the kings' behalf, primarily in the royal court. A decree, attributed to King Ladislaus I, explicitly forbade
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#17327723752343432-400: The palatine was that high official. A law-book, issued during or shortly before the reign of King Ladislaus I of Hungary , preserved the first reference to the palatines' judiciary function, ordering that a palatine who administer justice to people who fell outside his jurisdiction should pay a fine of "fifty-five pensae " (the equivalent to 2,000 pence ). The same decree also ruled that
3498-485: The palatines' deputies, who were later known as vicepalatines or the palatines' vicejudges, were also recorded in 1219. From the 1230s, the monarchs occasionally entrusted the palatines, along with other barons of the realm, with specific tasks. For instance, Andrew II sent Denis, son of Ampud on diplomatic missions; Stephen Gutkeled destroyed mills built without permission on the river Rába on Béla IV 's orders. The palatines acted as itinerant judges , wandering in
3564-531: The same period but in faraway territories: while Palatine Nicholas Szák heard cases in the lands east of the river Tisza , his deputies worked in Transdanubia in 1220. This practise was obviously unpopular, because the Golden Bull of 1222 explicitly stated that the palatine "shall have no deputy judge except for the one at his own court". Important families that provided several palatines were: in
3630-574: The struggle between the young king and the magnates, reinforced by Matthias's own uncle and guardian Szilágyi, was acute. But Matthias, who began by deposing Garai and dismissing Szilágyi, and then proceeded to levy a tax, without the consent of the Diet, in order to hire mercenaries, easily prevailed. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 the new Emperor Francis Joseph revoked all the concessions granted in March and outlawed Kossuth and
3696-567: The text suggests that Csanád held the office of palatine for some time during Stephen's reign; other historians (for example, Tibor Szőcs and Tibor Almási) write that the author of the legend borrowed the expression from Psalm 105 which mentioned the "master" of the king's household. Nevertheless, Gerard of Csanád 's same legend preserved the earliest historical event in connection with a palatine – the dethronement of Stephen I's successor, Peter Orseolo by " Count Palatine Aba " in 1041. According to modern scholars' consensus, Aba, who
3762-514: The title may be connected to the Bulgars ' old Hungarian exonym (nándor) . If his theory is valid, the palatine was originally the head of the Bulgars in Hungary. Other scholars have not accepted Róna-Tas's theory, because the nándorispán version seems to have developed from the original nádorispán version. The modern Hungarian version of the title (nádor) , which is the shortened version of
3828-532: The whole realm in the 1230s and early 1240s. Roland Rátót , who became palatine in 1248, abandoned this practice and mostly heard cases in Pressburg (now Bratislava in Slovakia). After Béla IV of Hungary and his son, Stephen divided the country along the river Danube in 1262, Stephen, who adopted the title of "junior king", set up his own royal court and made Denis Péc his palatine. Andrew III , who
3894-399: Was King Coloman who had "made over his own udvornici for the use of the palatine of the realm", but Kéza's testimony is suspect. In his Admonitions , King Stephen I declared that the kings should not judge legal cases in person, suggesting that a high-ranking official administered justice on the kings' behalf already in the first half of the 11th century . Modern historians agree that
3960-549: Was Stephen I's brother-in-law or nephew, must have been made palatine by Stephen I. A decree of King Coloman the Learned stated that messengers sent by the ispáns from the borderlands to the monarch were entitled to "claim the cost of travel and an equal amount for the return journey" from the palatine. No other primary sources contain direct evidence of the first palatines' economic duties, but other royal officials who were mentioned in 11th-century royal charters (including
4026-486: Was aligned with Nazi Germany . As the war turned against the Germans the Hungarian government began to dissociate itself from the war effort and the Germans became concerned they might desert the Axis powers . In March 1944, Germans occupied Hungary during Operation Margarethe to keep them in the war. Horthy was allowed to remain in his position, but he was forced to remove his prime minister and appoint one that would appease
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#17327723752344092-612: Was crowned king in 1290, often made two influential noblemen palatines. During the interregnum that followed Andrew III's death , many oligarchs were styled palatines, including Amadeus Aba , Matthew Csák and Stephen Ákos . He was also the judge of the Jászok (Alans), of the Cumanians and of the Jews . Title of Palatine is abolished in 1848. From 1200, he was also the comes of several counties, thus being entitled to one third of
4158-417: Was forced to sign a statement that renounced the armistice and turned over control of the government to Ferenc Szálasi as Magyar királyi miniszterelnök (Royal Hungarian Prime Minister). Szálasi was the leader of the pro-Nazi Arrow Cross Party . Horthy later explained his capitulation: "I neither resigned nor appointed Szálasi Premier, I merely exchanged my signature for my son’s life. A signature wrung from
4224-455: Was only authorized to condemn a nobleman to death or confiscate a nobleman's property if the monarch had consented to it. The same decree was completed with a sentence which confirmed the jurisdiction of ecclesiastical courts (including the clergymen's immunity) in accordance with customary law when King Andrew II of Hungary confirmed the Golden Bull on the prelates' demand in 1231. The count palatine shall judge without differentiation all
4290-469: Was suspended in 1673 when Emperor Leopold I appointed a Directorium to more directly administer Hungary in the crackdown that followed the Magnate conspiracy , however the office was restored in 1681. The Vice-regency council was abolished in 1673, but renewed in 1723, when the palatine became the official president of the council. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 , the palatine Archduke Stephen ,
4356-479: Was the highest-ranking office in the Kingdom of Hungary from the beginning of the 11th century to 1848. Initially, Palatines were representatives of the monarchs , later (from 1723) the vice-regent ( viceroy ). In the early centuries of the kingdom, they were appointed by the king, and later (from 1608) were elected by the Diet of the Kingdom of Hungary. A Palatine's jurisdiction included only Hungary proper, in
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