Becoming the arbiters of the Carpathian basin, Hitler and Mussolini responded to Hungarian demands by awarding in 1938 a narrow strip of former Upper Hungary, now Slovakia, inhabited primarily by Hungarians. Here Regent Horthy and his wife are shown exiting the historic Kassa Cathedral, with the palace guard in the background, after a thanksgiving service.

 Horthy Visits Recovered Kassa Cathedral, 1938

As Hitler's international moves led to the end of Czechoslovakia in March, 1939, Hungary was given Berlin's green light for the recovery of the province of Ruthenia or Karpatalja, garnered by Prague back in 1918-1920. Here Magyar Honveds look over from the castle hill both the city of Munkacs and the Carpathian mountains in the background.

Hungarian Soldiers View Recovered Munkacs, 1939

Bishop Saint Gerard Sagredo’s (Szent Gellért püspök) damaged statue in Buda / Gellért Hill. On the opposite bank of the river Danube lies Pest, where you can see the stump of the Franz Joseph I bridge (today it is called Liberty Bridge) which was blown up in january the 16th 1945.