Military Vehicles - Hungary: Books - History, Types and Construction

Hungarian Armored Forces in World War II

After WWI, Hungary was in a very critical situation. In 1920 the Allied Powers gave the Hungarian delegation their conditions for peace. This agreement, the Treaty of Trianon, was very similar to the one already imposed on Germany at Versailles, and a French General was later to state that the only result was a twenty year long cease-fire, nothing more. The peace conditions for Hungary reduced the area of the country from 282,000 square kilometres to 93,000 square kilometres and the population from 18 million to 9.5 million.

In the autumn of 1919, after the failure of a short-lived Soviet-style republic, a new Hungarian National Army was organised under French supervision. This army was led by a former k. und k. admiral, the highest-ranking native Hungarian military officer, Admiral Miklós Horthy, who was later (in 1920) to become Regent of Hungary, ruling in place of the deposed Habsburgs.

This book gives an overview of the armored vehicles used by the Hungarian army in World War 2.

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Hungarian Armoured Fighting Vehicles in the Second World War - Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives (Images of War)

The actions of the German armoured forces during the Second World War is well known. What has not yet been so well told are the actions of the armoured forces from Germany's allies. While it is true that their performance was generally quite secondary in comparison to the Reich, the actions of the Hungarian armoured forces should be highlighted.
Hungary not only managed to organize its armoured forces, but developed its own military industry that was able to supply weapons and equipment to its troops. The Hungarian military was able to produce all kinds of weapons, vehicles and armoured vehicles, although they were generally under-gunned and under-armoured.

This book rescues Hungary's participation during the Second World War from oblivion through the use of superb photographs, which take the reader from the beginning of the USRR campaign and the conquest of Soviet lands, before ending with the bloody battles to avoid the Soviet and Romanian advance into Hungary (the Siege of Budapest) and the last clashes in Austrian and Slovenian territory before the army's unconditional surrender.
The author highlights the bravery and courage of these men, as well as the terrible fate of the Hungarian armoured forces when the Soviet Army invaded Hungary.

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The 38M Toldi Light Tank

The 38M Toldi light tank entered into service in 1940. Before that time the Hungarian Army had its WWI style armored trains, armored cars and the tiny Italian FIAT Ansaldo tankettes. The 38M Toldi light tank and its Swedish origin the L-60 were the same class as the German Pz. II, the Polish 7TP, the Soviet T-40 and T-60 light tanks, designated for reconnaissance and liaison role.

However, at the beginning of the war they were the only tracked armored vehicles of the Hungarians to fight the Red Army in 1941. The 38M Toldi light tank was also the first armored vehicle produced by the Hungarian War Industry during the war.

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Axis Tanks of the Second World War - Rare photographs from wartime archives (Images of War)

The German Army used tanks to devastating effect in their Blitzkrieg campaigns during the early years of the Second World War and in the intense defensive battles leading up to final defeat in 1945.

It may be a surprise to many that the Japanese Army had more tanks than Nazi Germany in 1938; these included the Type 95 light tank and the Type 89 and 97 medium tanks. Co-belligerents in the Axis Alliance that built their own tanks included Italy, Romania and Hungary.
The latter was responsible for the Toldi and Turan light tank series.

As can be seen from the descriptions and images in this classic Images of War series work, the Axis powers had drawn on British and, in some cases, French design for their tanks in the period leading up to the Second World War: the Carden-Loyd tankette suspension was used in the Panzer 1 series and the light Italian and Japanese tanks.
German engineering talent resulted in the original and ingenious designs of the Panzer II, III and IV series and, later in the War, the Panther Medium and Tiger heavy tanks.

This latest work by author and expert Mike Green will fascinate and inform historians, engineers and war gamers.

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Tanks of Hitler's Eastern Allies 1941-45 (Osprey)

The titanic armor battles of the Russian Front are widely known, but the role of Germany's eastern allies is not as well known. Two of these countries, Romania and Hungary, manufactured their own tanks as well as purchasing tanks from Germany. These ranged from older, obsolete types such as the PzKpfw 35(t) all the way up to the latest and best German vehicles including the Tiger I and Hetzer.
These tanks played a frequent role in the battles in southern Russia and Ukraine and were especially prominent in the disaster at Stalingrad where the Red Army specifically chose the weaker Romanian and Hungarian salients for their critical envelopment operation.

This book will provide a broad survey of the various and colorful tanks used. Besides covering the largest of these Axis tank forces, this book will cover the many smaller and lesser known forces including the Italian contingent in Russia, the Finnish armored force, and the small but interesting armored forces of the Russian Vlasov (RONA), Croatian, Bulgarian and Slovakian armies.

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Kfz und Panzer der Achsenmächte 1939-1945

Even 75 years after the end of the Second World War, surprisingly little is known about the tanks of the Third Reich's allies in Europe and their practical use. Italy, for example, used tanks in the First World War and even had two of its own manufacturing companies, Fiat and Ansaldo. Later, Italy built a series of self-designed light and medium-weight models. A heavy type, the P40, was even created.

Hungary based its own developments on Czech and Swedish models. Romania had light tanks of Czech and French origin. Bulgaria bought not only light tanks made in Italy and England, but also Czechoslovakian types. Finland mainly used tanks of Soviet origin.

In this unique volume, Gabriele Faggioni describes all the important tank types that were sent to the fronts by the German Reich's European allies such as Italy, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia during the war years from 1939 to 1945.
He answers the questions of how the tanks were used militarily, how they were armed and how they performed. This book is illustrated by around 200 historical, mostly rare photographs.

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