Government of National Unity (Hungary)
| Kingdom of Hungary | ||||||||||||
| Magyar Királyság | ||||||||||||
| Puppet state of Nazi Germany | ||||||||||||
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Motto Regnum Mariae Patrona Hungariae "Kingdom of Mary, the Patron of Hungary" |
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Anthem Himnusz "Hymn" |
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| Capital | Budapest | |||||||||||
| Languages | Hungarian | |||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic, Calvinism, Lutheranism | |||||||||||
| Political structure |
Nazi one-party state, Totalitarian dictatorship |
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| Leader of the Nation | ||||||||||||
| • | 1944–1945 | Ferenc Szálasi | ||||||||||
| Legislature | Diet | |||||||||||
| Historical era | World War II | |||||||||||
| • | Operation Panzerfaust | 15 October 1944 | ||||||||||
| • | Government formed | 17 October 1944 | ||||||||||
| • | Government members fled to Germany | 28–29 March 1945 | ||||||||||
| • | End of German occupation of Hungary | 12 April 1945 | ||||||||||
| • | Capture of Szálasi | 6 May 1945 | ||||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 7 May 1945 | ||||||||||
| Currency | Hungarian Pengő | |||||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Croatia Hungary Slovakia Slovenia
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The Government of National Unity (Hungarian: Nemzeti Összefogás Kormánya) existed during the occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany between October 1944 and May 1945. Formed by the Nazi Arrow Cross Party, it was established on 17 October 1944 after Regent Miklós Horthy was removed from power during Operation "Panzerfaust" (Unternehmen "Eisenfaust" ). Arrow Cross leader Ferenc Szálasi became Prime Minister and, as "Nation Leader", the head of state. During the government's short period of rule, ten to fifteen thousand Jews were murdered in Hungary and around eighty thousand Jews, including many women, children and elderly Jews, were deported from Hungary to their deaths in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
After Miklós Horthy announced an armistice with the Allies on 15 October, the Germans kidnapped him and threatened to kill his son unless he renounced the armistice and abdicated. To spare his son's life, Horthy signed a statement announcing both his abdication and the appointment of Arrow Cross leader Ferenc Szálasi as Magyar királyi miniszterelnök (Royal Hungarian Prime Minister) on 16 October. He was then deported to Germany. This act merely rubber-stamped an Arrow Cross coup, as Szálasi's men had taken over Budapest the previous night.
The Hungarian parliament approved the formation of a Council of Regency (Kormányzótanács) of three on 17 October. On 4 November, Szálasi was sworn as Leader of the Nation (nemzetvezető). He formed a government of sixteen ministers, half of which were members of the Arrow Cross Party. While the Horthy regency had come to an end, the Hungarian monarchy was not abolished by the Szálasi regime, as government newspapers kept referring to the country as the Kingdom of Hungary (Magyar Királyság, also abbreviated as m.kir.), although Magyarország (Hungary) was frequently used as an alternative.
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