Hello,
Does anyone know how many soldiers the Royal Hungarian Army fielded in late June 1940?
I'm seeking to compare the Royal Romanian Army with its probable opponents at this time (USSR, Hungary, Bulgaria).
Thank you.
Regards,
CNE503
Hungarian manpower strength in June 1940
Hungarian manpower strength in June 1940
"Sicut Aquila" / "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre" / "par l'exemple, le coeur et la raison" / "Labor Omnia Vincit"
Re: Hungarian manpower strength in June 1940
It's hard to say, the Hungarian Royal Army was engaged in a rapid development procedure in 1940. Also, the freshly annexed territory from (Czecho)slovakia also provided additional forces for the HRA. In order to evaluate the combat effectiveness of the HRA, I can provide you some informations.
1.) After the Conference of Bled, where the right of rearming herself was acknowledged by her neighbours, the Hungarian Royal government formed a plan in 1938 to develop the Army in 3 phases; these plans were codenamed Hub I., II. and III. Huba I. should have been completed by October 1, 1940.
2.) In accordance with the First Vienna Award, Hungary gained significant territories on November 12, 1938. Some time later, they annexed Carpatho-Ukraine in March 1939, and launched a war against the Slovak state, which ended with gaining some more territiories in April 1940. These territorial changes also changed the plans of Huba I.
3.) Huba I. set out to build up an army of 107,000 soldiers (in peace-time) or 250,000 soldiers (in war-time) with the following organization:
3 Army
7 Infantry Corps
21 Divisions
2 Motorized Brigade
2 Cavarly Brigade
1 Airforce Division
River Guard (1 brigade)
Border Guard (3 divisions)
The mobilization method was the following: every peace-time regiment and artillery units would give half of its soldiers and guns to a "twin"-regiment, and the reservists will fill the other half.
4.) After the reclaim of the Upper-Hungarian territories, the 8th Infantry Corps and a Mountain Brigade were assembled.
5.) In theory, the total number of deployable Hungarian Royal Army forces would be around 250-300,000 as of mid-late 1940. (Given that every regiment consisted of 4300 men, so the additional manpower from the annexations in 1938-1939 could be around 40-50,000 men.)
6.) One can take into account the positive things for the HRA:
- the armour and the cavarly were assembled and deployed in one, independent unit in 1940 (Gyorshadtest, meaning Fast Division), the coordination of the mechanized troops was good overall
- the targeted region had a considerable Hungarian population, a majority in many cases, especially along the border and in the Székely Land
- one-front war
7.) One can take into account the negative things for the HRA:
- numerical inferiority
- easily defensible terrain in Transsylvania
- terrible command & control; the actual movements of the HRA after the Second Vienna Award were incredibly crappy. Had it been a real war, the invasion could be a disaster for the HRA.
1.) After the Conference of Bled, where the right of rearming herself was acknowledged by her neighbours, the Hungarian Royal government formed a plan in 1938 to develop the Army in 3 phases; these plans were codenamed Hub I., II. and III. Huba I. should have been completed by October 1, 1940.
2.) In accordance with the First Vienna Award, Hungary gained significant territories on November 12, 1938. Some time later, they annexed Carpatho-Ukraine in March 1939, and launched a war against the Slovak state, which ended with gaining some more territiories in April 1940. These territorial changes also changed the plans of Huba I.
3.) Huba I. set out to build up an army of 107,000 soldiers (in peace-time) or 250,000 soldiers (in war-time) with the following organization:
3 Army
7 Infantry Corps
21 Divisions
2 Motorized Brigade
2 Cavarly Brigade
1 Airforce Division
River Guard (1 brigade)
Border Guard (3 divisions)
The mobilization method was the following: every peace-time regiment and artillery units would give half of its soldiers and guns to a "twin"-regiment, and the reservists will fill the other half.
4.) After the reclaim of the Upper-Hungarian territories, the 8th Infantry Corps and a Mountain Brigade were assembled.
5.) In theory, the total number of deployable Hungarian Royal Army forces would be around 250-300,000 as of mid-late 1940. (Given that every regiment consisted of 4300 men, so the additional manpower from the annexations in 1938-1939 could be around 40-50,000 men.)
6.) One can take into account the positive things for the HRA:
- the armour and the cavarly were assembled and deployed in one, independent unit in 1940 (Gyorshadtest, meaning Fast Division), the coordination of the mechanized troops was good overall
- the targeted region had a considerable Hungarian population, a majority in many cases, especially along the border and in the Székely Land
- one-front war
7.) One can take into account the negative things for the HRA:
- numerical inferiority
- easily defensible terrain in Transsylvania
- terrible command & control; the actual movements of the HRA after the Second Vienna Award were incredibly crappy. Had it been a real war, the invasion could be a disaster for the HRA.
"Everything remained theory and hypothesis. On paper, in his plans, in his head, he juggled with Geschwaders and Divisions, while in reality there were really only makeshift squadrons at his disposal."