The Hungarian Army

Hungarian Defence Forces (Hungarian: Magyar Honvédség) is the national army of Hungary. It currently has two branches: the Hungarian Ground Forces and the Hungarian Air Force.

The term "main defense force" was originally used to refer to the armed forces established by Lajos Kossuth for defense and the National Defence Committee of the Hungarian Revolutionary Parliament during the 1848 Revolution. According to the Compromise of 1867,

Honvédség is the name of the Hungarian army since 1848, indicating its purpose ("hon" means "homeland" and "véd" means "defender" or "defense", so "honnéd" means "homeland defense").

The name Honvédség is the name of the Hungarian army. It literally means (the defenders of the homeland), and was originally used to refer to the revolutionary army established by Lajos Kossuth, and the National Defence Committee of the Hungarian Revolutionary Parliament in September 1848 during the 1848 Revolution. According to the Compromise of 1867, it allowed Hungarians to establish a unified national defense force within the Imperial Forces. Honvédség became the Hungarian army specifically within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, distinguished from the Austrian Landwehr and the Imperial Army (K.u.K.) as a whole.

Honvédség continued to be the name of the Hungarian army after the end of World War I and the dissolution of the empire. It is still called the Hungarian army today, and Honvéd is an equivalent rank in the reserve.

The term is also used in the name of the Hungarian football club, Budapest Honvéd FC, originally a football team in the army.

History

Modern military history, ancient, medieval, and early modern

Habsburg Hungarian Military

Under Habsburg rule, the Hungarian Hussar Regiment rose to fame as an international model for light cavalry in many European countries. During the 18th and 19th centuries, hundreds of thousands of registered Hungarian males were conscripted for at least 12 years each into the Imperial Austrian Army.

Two wars for independence during this period ended with defeat: Francis II Rákóczi between 1703 and 1711, and Lajos Kossuth in 1848-1849. On July 11, 1848, the parliament in Budapest called for the formation of a Honvéd army of 200,000 men who would use Hungarian as their language. It was to be formed around existing Imperial units, with twenty infantry battalions, ten hussar regiments, and two Székely companies from the Transylvanian military border. More joined by eight Italian companies stationed in Hungary and parts of the fifth Bohemian artillery regiment.

In 1848-1849, Honvéd (comprising mostly enthusiastic nationalists with little prior military training) achieved remarkable successes against better-trained and equipped Austrian forces, despite a clear numerical advantage on the Austrian side. The Winter Campaign by Józef Bem and the Spring Campaign by Arthur Görgey are still studied in prestigious military schools around the world, including West Point Academy in the United States. After initial setbacks, including losses in Budapest, Honvéd took the initiative and reorganized its government under Kossuth in Debreczen. Again advancing, the Hungarians had largely cleared their country of foreign forces by the end of spring 1849, and would have achieved independence, but for Russian intervention. At the request of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, [6] the Russians invaded with a force of 190,000 soldiers—against 135,000 in Honvéd—and defeated the army decisively at the Battle of Peremil