Hausner Gábor szerk.: A Hadtörténeti Múzeum Értesítője = Acta Musei Militaris in Hungaria. 9. (Budapest, 2007)

GYŰJTEMÉNYI- ÉS MŰHELYMUNKA - BACZONI TAMÁS: A „demokratikus" magyar honvédség 1945 M. egyenruhája

THE M1945 UNIFORM OF THE HUNGARIAN „DEMOCRATIC" ARMED FORCES The Hungarian armed forces, re-established after the lost War, soon faced the problem of a limited availability of uniform items, due to the damages inflicted by the War. In parallel with solving that problem, the Ministry of Defence also intended to introduce a new system of clothes and equipment. The required changes certainly had political reasons, too. The new regime wanted to demonstrate that the „Democratic" Armed Forces broke with pre-1945 traditions, and the modernization of the military uniform offered a spectacular solution to that. In accordance with the idea, a decree of the Minister of Defence was issued on 17 September 1945, instituting a new type of uniform, which was completely different from the traditional clothes of the armed forces of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and interwar Hungary. From a practical point of view, the new design was influenced by the experiences of the Second World War. The new uniform was supposed to be comfortable both on parade and in the field, as well as to meet the requirements of modern warfare. New elements of the Ml 945 officer's parade dress uniform were the visor cap, the open-collar tunic and the field-brown trousers. The main change to the uniform of the rank and file was the general introduction of trousers and sapper boots. The use of curved pocket flaps was discontinued in the case of all types of tunics. The introduction of branch insignia stamped out of metal represented another novelty. The insignia had to be worn on the top collar of the tunic. The new uniform brought a fundamental change to the appearance of soldiers (primarily officers and NCOs), and it was indeed an attractive and modern outfit. The institution of the Ml949 uniform in April 1949 brought the use of the Ml 945 uniform to an end. The latter change, however, was merely due to political reasons; the Ml945 uniform was considered to be „European" cut to such an extent that it did not meet the requirements of „Sovietisation", which took place after the political changes of 1948 in Hungary.