Századok – 2016
2016 / 6. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Szente Zoltán: Magyarország második világháborús hadba lépésének alkotmányosságáról
ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL BACKGROUND OF HUNGARY’S ENTERING WORLD WAR II by Zoltán Szente Summary This study analyses the constitutional and legal bases of Hungary’s entereing the Second World War. The author surveys the historical development of constitutional rules and conventions on war and peace in Hungary, and the relevant rules of the domestic legal system and international law which were in force in 1941. On this ground, he explores the extent to which the major events and stages of Hungary’s joining the war - the invasion of Yugoslavia, the declaration of war on the Soviet union in June 1941, and on the United States in December, were in accordance with contemporary legal regulations. Based on a comparison of the historical circumstances and the relevant constitutional regulation, and an exploration of the chief arguments of the scholarly literature, the study comes to the final conclusion that, in contrast to the dominant views of the domestic historians, all the steps by which Hungary became a belligerent party were unconstitutional, and violated the rules of international law.
