Ferenc Szálasi

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The native form of this personal name is Szálasi Ferenc. This article uses the Western name order.

Ferenc Szálasi
Date of birth	January 6, 1897
Date of death	March 12, 1946
Political Party	Arrow Cross Party
Political positions	Leader of the Hungarian Nation (1944-1945)

Ferenc Szálasi (January 6, 1897 – March 12, 1946) was a Fascist and National Socialist and the Prime Minister of Hungary during the final days of Hungary's participation in World War II.

Contents 1 Life 1.1 Early life 1.2 First steps in politics 1.3 Way to power 1.4 Death 2 References

[edit] Life

[edit] Early life

Born the son of a soldier in Kassa (Hungarian name of the present-day Slovak town Košice) of mixed Armenian, German, Hungarian (one grandparent) and Slovak or Rusyn heritage, Szálasi followed in his father's footsteps and joined the army at a young age. He eventually became an officer and served in the army during World War I. In 1925, Szálasi entered the Hungarian General Staff and by 1933 he had attained the rank of major. Around this time, Szálasi became fascinated with politics and often lectured on Hungary's political affairs. Szálasi was a fanatical right winger and a strong proponent of Hungarism, advocating the expansion of Hungary's borders (back to their thousand year lasting "original" state) and the spread of Hungarian culture and power throughout Europe.

[edit] First steps in politics

In 1935, Szálasi left the army in order devote his full attention to politics, after which time he established the Party of National Will, a nationalistic group which was unpopular with the people. It was eventually outlawed by the government for being too radical. Unperturbed, Szálasi established the Hungarian National Socialist Party in 1937, which was also banned. However, Szálasi was able to attract considerable support to his cause by adopting views that appealed to industrial workers and members of Hungary's lower classes.

After Germany's Anschluss with Austria in 1938, Szálasi's followers became more radical and violent in their political activities, and as such Szálasi was arrested by the Hungarian Secret Police and imprisoned. However, Szálasi managed to remain a powerful political figure in prison, and was proclaimed leader of the fascistic Arrow Cross Party (a combination of multiple right wing groups) when it was expanded in 1938. The party attracted a large number of followers and in the 1939 elections it gained 30 seats in the Hungarian Parliament, thus becoming one of the most powerful parties in Hungary. Freed due to a general amnesty resulting from the Second Vienna Award in 1940, Szálasi returned to politics. When World War II began, the Arrow Cross Party was officially banned by Prime Minister Pál Teleki, thus forcing Szálasi to operate in secret. During this time period, Szálasi gained the support and backing of the Germans, who had once been opposed to Szálasi due to his advocacy of Hungarian expansionism.

[edit] Way to power

When the pro-German Döme Sztójay became Prime Minister of Hungary in March of 1944, Szálasi and his supporters were rewarded when the Arrow Cross Party was legalized by the government, which allowed Szálasi to expand the party even further. When Sztójay was deposed in August, however, Szálasi once again became an enemy of the Hungarian government and Regent Miklós Horthy ordered his arrest. Szálasi, however, was protected by the Germans, who had grown tired of dealing with Horthy and planned to make Szálasi prime minister. The Germans forced Horthy to resign as regent in 1944 and appointed Szálasi prime minister and head of state, thus making Szálasi the sole leader of Hungary.

Upon becoming ruler of Hungary, Szálasi clashed with the Germans on the treatment of Hungarian Jews. Although an Anti-Semite, Szálasi was against the mass extermination of Jews and initially refused to deport Hungary's Jews to Germany. Szálasi's government was still brutally Anti-Semitic, however, and tens of thousands of Jews were murdered by Arrow Cross men while many thousands more were put into forced labor programs and ghettos. Szálasi's reign was ultimately short lived, however, as the Soviet and Romanian armies had been advancing through Hungary since before Szálasi had taken office. On December 24, 1944, the Soviets, in alliance with the Romanians^[1], reached Budapest and less than two months later completely defeated the German and Hungarian soldiers defending it. Szálasi and his followers continued to operate in Hungary until it was completely seized in April 1945, after which time Szálasi fled to Austria.

[edit] Death

After the war, he was captured by U.S. troops in Germany and returned to Hungary, where he was tried by the People's Tribunal in Budapest and sentenced to death for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was executed in 1946 in Budapest.

[edit] References

1. ^ The Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front (army group) included the 1st and 4th Romanian Armies.
   Source: p. 178, The Times Atlas of the Second World War, ed. John Keegan, pub. 1989

Preceded by Miklós Horthy (as regent)	Leader of the Hungarian Nation 1944–1945	Succeeded by High National Council
Preceded by Géza Lakatos	Prime Minister of Hungary (de facto) 1944–1945	Succeeded by Béla Miklós