The Hungarian Defence Forces is the national defence force of Hungary. Since 2007, the Hungarian Armed Forces is under a unified command structure. The Ministry of Defence maintains the political and civil control over the army. A subordinate Joint Forces Command is coordinating and commanding the HDF corps. In 2020, the armed forces had 22,700 personnel on active duty. In 2019, military spending was $1.904 billion, about 1.22% of the country's GDP, well below the NATO target of 2%. In 2016, the government adopted a resolution in which it pledged to increase defence spending to 2.0% of GDP and the number of active personnel to 37,650 by 2026.
Military vehicles on show
Hungarian hussars in battle during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Graves of a Royal Hungarian Army captain and 6 of his men who fell, fighting on the Polish side in Warsaw uprising 1944
Uniform of the Hungarian People's Army (Magyar Néphadsereg): Hungarian military police summer uniform (enlisted, private, 1965–2005)
Hungarian Revolution of 1848
The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, also known in Hungary as Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although the revolution failed, it is one of the most significant events in Hungary's modern history, forming the cornerstone of modern Hungarian national identity—the anniversary of the Revolution's outbreak, 15 March, is one of Hungary's three national holidays.
Artist Mihály Zichy's painting of Sándor Petőfi reciting the National Song to a crowd on 15 March 1848
Photograph of the aged Emperor Ferdinand I dated c. 1870
The entrance room of the Pilvax coffee palace at Pest in the 1840s
The National Song being recited at the National Museum