Official Enemies – Secret Allies – Part III
Official Enemies – Secret Allies – Part III

Summary/Abstract: US–Hungarian negotiations had dragged on for too long, close to half a year. As in the case of the delay of six weeks spent by the Allies and the anti-Nazi Badoglio government to negotiate an armistice, the Germans were given ample time to prepare their next moves. Had there been a quick accord following the September 1943 meeting in Istanbul, events might have taken a different turn. Momentum might have gathered for closer cooperation, and Donovan might have found support in the US Army and the White House for his proposal to land an airborne division or two in Hungary at a time when Wehrmacht troops in the country numbered only a few thousand. Another step would have been to line up Hungarian military units loyal to Horthy and Szombathelyi to receive and protect the Americans. The arrival of additional US forces from nearby Italy could have turned a token presence into a bridgehead.

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