The Royal Hungarian Army 1920-1945 Volume II (Hungarian Mobile Forces), by Peter Mujzer

Published by Axis Europa in 2000, 122 pages. Large Hardback with Dust Jacket - c.22cm by 28cm (A28N2WSO)

Please note the dust jacket has a slightly amateur feel about it, is slightly smaller than the book itself (along the top and bottom edges), and has been printed on the reverse side of another Europa title dust jacket.

From the inside front fly leaf: 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 ofTrianon, 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-tire, 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. Thus 3,263,000 Hungarians became citizens of foreign countries under often hostile administrations. The provisions of the Treaty of Trianon reduced Hungary's 1914 industrial base by about 80%.

The Hungarian Army, due to the limitations imposed by the Trianon Treaty, was unable to protect the country. The available manpower was just enough to maintain internal security in accordance with the requirements of the Little Entente states: Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Romania. The basic formation of the Army became the Mixed Brigade, of which seven were organised. The Army also formed four Cavalry/Hussar Regiments and a few support units to arrive at the permitted total of 35,000 men.

The plan was to establish a flexible, powerful and not too expensive basic formation, which later could be used as the cadre for expansion to a larger army. The Mixed Brigades were composed of two infantry regiments, one artillery and one cyclist battalion, mortar and cavalry companies plus support units. Seven Brigades were organised and were allocated to seven military districts within Hungary. These districts were headquartered at Budapest (1 "), Szekesfehervar (2nd), Szombathely (3rd), Pecs (4th), Szeged (5tH), Debrecen (6th), and at Miskolc
(7th).

Forbidden heavy artillery pieces, armoured trains and others prohibited weapons were concealed all around Hungary in civilian stores, cellars or simply dug under the earth to conceal them from the Allied Military Committee. Unfortunately, the result of these improper storage conditions was that the majority of the weapons were damaged, rusted and unsuitable for use in case of war. The output of Hungarian military industries was either confiscated by Romanian forces in 1920, or destroyed by the Allied Military Committee. The greatest problem of the Hungarian Army was its very poor financial condition, which created a serious obstacle to modernisation and enlargement. Starting in 1927, the pressure from the Allied Committee lessened, and the constant supervision ended...

The condition of the book is generally good. The dust jacket has several minor scuffs and blemishes, and light creasing and wear along the edges and corners, but the spine is intact, and all pages are intact, unblemished and tightly bound.