words Péter Mujzer pictures As credited
Péter Mujzer reports on the robust 38 M.Botond All-Terrain Truck, one of Hungary’s most versatile vehicles in World War Two
Following the end of World War One, the Hungarian manufacturing industry was in a poor condition. The resources lost in territories ceded to other nations following the war, casualties from the fighting and the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Trianon all contributed to the situation the country found itself in.
A small number of well-known heavy industry companies whose origins lay in the old Imperial and Royal (k und k) period had played an important role in the Hungarian military industry and would help with the rebuild.
While mechanisation was one of the Hungarian Army’s most important development projects, in the years after World War One financial difficulties presented a significant obstacle. In 1922 a State Arsenal was established, partly to help conceal possible future Hungarian military developments and production. From the 1930s, the Manfred Weiss, FÉG, Diósgyöri State Ordnance Factory, Ganz, MÁVAG, Magyar Vagon és Gépgyár (Rába), GAMMA and Danuvia companies provided the backbone of Hungarian military industry. The factor…
