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→World War II
{{main|Hungary during the Second World War}}
{{main|Hungary during the Second World War}}
The country became allied with [[Nazi Germany]] in the [[1930s]]. The Hungarians allied themselves with the Germans in the hope that the territorial loss by the [[Treaty of Trianon]] could be reversed. Initially the alliance with Germany paid off. Some lost territories were returned to Hungary in the two [[Vienna Awards]]. In [[1941]], Hungary belatedly assisted the Germans with the [[invasion of Yugoslavia]]. Hungary then occupied the [[Backa]]. On [[22 June]] [[1941]], the Germans invaded the Soviet Union ([[Operation Barbarossa]]). The Hungarians soon followed the Germans and entered [[World War II]] as a member of the [[Axis]]. In late [[1941]], the Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front experienced success at the [[Battle of Uman]]. By [[1943]], after the [[Hungarian Second Army]] suffered extremely heavy losses at the [[Battle of Stalingrad]], the Hungarian government sought to negotiate a surrender with the Allies. On [[19 March]] [[1944]], as a result of this duplicity, German troops quietly occupied Hungary in what was known as [[Operation Margarethe]]. But, by now it was clear that the Hungarians were Germany's "unwilling satellite". On [[15 October]] [[1944]], the pro-West Horthy again ran afoul of the Germans. This time the Germans launched [[Operation Panzerfaust]] and Horthy was replaced by a puppet government under the pro-German Prime Minister [[Ferenc Szálasi]]. Szálasi and his pro-Nazi [[Arrow Cross Party]] remained loyal to the Germans until the end of the war. In late [[1944]], Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front again experienced success at the [[Battle of Debrecen]]. But this was followed immediately by the Soviet invasion of Hungary and the [[Battle of Budapest]]. On [[28 December]] [[1944]], a "provisional government" was formed in Hungary under acting Prime Minister [[Béla Miklós]]. While the Miklós government immediately ousted Prime Minister [[Ferenc Szálasi]]'s government, the Germans and pro-German Hungarians loyal to Szálasi fought on in Hungary. On [[20 January]] [[1945]], representatives of the Hungarian "provisional government" went to Moscow and agreed to complete Hungarian capitulation. Again, the Germans and pro-German Hungarians loyal to Szálasi fought on in Hungary. On [[13 February]] [[1945]], the Hungarian capital city surrendered unconditionally. On [[8 May]] [[1945]], [[World War II]] in Europe officially ended.
The country became allied with [[Nazi Germany]] in the [[1930s]]. The Hungarians allied themselves with the Germans in the hope that the territorial loss by the [[Treaty of Trianon]] could be reversed. Initially the alliance with Germany paid off. Some lost territories were returned to Hungary in the two [[Vienna Awards]]. In [[1941]], Hungary belatedly assisted the Germans with the [[invasion of Yugoslavia]]. Hungary then occupied the [[Backa]]. On [[22 June]] [[1941]], the Germans invaded the Soviet Union ([[Operation Barbarossa]]). The Hungarians soon followed the Germans and entered [[World War II]] as a member of the [[Axis]]. In late [[1941]], the Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front experienced success at the [[Battle of Uman]]. By [[1943]], after the [[Hungarian Second Army]] suffered extremely heavy losses at the [[Battle of Stalingrad]], the Hungarian government sought to negotiate a surrender with the Allies. On [[19 March]] [[1944]], as a result of this duplicity, German troops quietly occupied Hungary in what was known as [[Operation Margarethe]]. But, by now it was clear that the Hungarians were Germany's "unwilling satellite". On [[15 October]] [[1944]], the pro-West Horthy again ran afoul of the Germans. This time the Germans launched [[Operation Panzerfaust]] and Horthy was replaced by a puppet government under the pro-German Prime Minister [[Ferenc Szálasi]]. Szálasi and his pro-Nazi [[Arrow Cross Party]] remained loyal to the Germans until the end of the war. In late [[1944]], Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front again experienced success at the [[Battle of Debrecen]]. But this was followed immediately by the Soviet invasion of Hungary and the [[Battle of Budapest]]. On [[28 December]] [[1944]], a "provisional government" was formed in Hungary under acting Prime Minister [[Béla Miklós]]. While the Miklós government immediately ousted Prime Minister [[Ferenc Szálasi]]'s government, the Germans and pro-German Hungarians loyal to Szálasi fought on in Hungary. On [[20 January]] [[1945]], representatives of the Hungarian "provisional government" went to Moscow and agreed to complete Hungarian capitulation. Again, the Germans and pro-German Hungarians loyal to Szálasi fought on in Hungary. On [[13 February]] [[1945]], the Hungarian capital city surrendered unconditionally. On [[8 May]] [[1945]], [[World War II]] in Europe officially ended.
===Holocaust===
Hungary was the first modern nation to pass distinctly [[History of the Jews in Hungary#20th century: persecution and destruction|anti-Semitic laws]]. The [[Numerus clausus|"numerus clausus"]] laws of the early 1920s restricted Jewish access to higher education. In the late 1930s, more specifically anti-Semitic laws followed. Though massacres of Jews by Hungarian forces took place during the early part of the Second World War, Hungary initially resisted large scale deportation of its [[Jewish population]]. Ultimately, however, during the German occupation in May-June [[1944]], the [[Arrow Cross Party]] and Hungarian police deported nearly 440,000 Jews, mostly to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]].<ref name="USHMM">[http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?ModuleId=10005458 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Holocaust Encyclopedia]</ref> Over 400,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered during the [[Holocaust]], as well as tens of thousands of [[Roma people]]. Hundreds of Hungarian people were also executed by the [[Arrow Cross Party]] for sheltering Jews, among them Sister [[Sára Salkaházi]]. Foreign heads of states and diplomats who helped save many lives included Cardinal Roncalli, later Pope [[John XXIII]], [[Raoul Wallenberg]], and [[Carl Lutz]]. Italian businessman [[Giorgio Perlasca]] posed as a Spanish diplomat in order to issue forged visas and establish safe houses, including one for Jewish children. When Soviet forces liberated Budapest in February 1945, more than 100,000 Jews remained.<ref name=USHMM/>