Miklós Horthy (Hungarian Nazi)

Born to an untitled lower nobility during Hungary’s union with Austria, Miklós Horthy became Regent of Hungary in the ensuing aftermath of the collapse of the Hungarian Soviet Republic where he was a key figure in stabilising the nation and restoring the Hungarian monarchy. As Fascism rose in Germany and Italy which saw the two form a union that would later be joined by Japan, Hungary seeked to regain territories that were lost following World War 1 which included a region that is still part of Romania to this day called Transylvania. Yes, that Transylvania but without Count Dracula who was a creation of Irish writer Bram Stoker! Hungary eventually joined the Axis powers in 1940 to align itself with the stronger powers that were now dominating Europe for all of the wrong reasons.

Likewise with Norway and other Nazi puppet states that were headed by Nazi toadies, Jews, the disabled, the Roma and LGBT people were persecuted in Hungary and there were economic hardships not helped by rations at all for the war effort (though of course, the Axis war effort ended up being worthless afterwards). Hungary was under an authoritarian rule during Horthy’s tenure who was capable to maintain a degree of Hungarian independence amid the Axis alliance (even if you just see mainland Europe bar Switzerland and Spain who were neutral being completely engulfed in Nazi Germany’s borders with no trace of Hungary being independent). Horthy was able to keep his nation independent by negotiating with both the Allied powers and the Axis powers.

Like most Nazi toadies, once the Allied powers start storming your nation that had been occupied, it was only a matter of time before you were in for your own Waterloo. How did Horthy meet his? He failed to negotiate a separate peace with them and he was made to resign. The Allied powers captured Horthy and while being held by Americans, he was trialed after the war ended for war crimes but was surprisingly never convicted but he did go into exile in Portugal and died over a decade later since was an old man when he became head of a puppet state and was an even older man when he resigned.