Geza Lakatos Hungarian General Date of Birth: 30.04.1890 Country: Hungary

1. Early Life and Military Career
2. Military Attache and Army Commander
3. Prime Ministership
4. German Intervention and End of Premiership
5. Post-War Years

Early Life and Military Career

Géza Lakatos was born into a military family in 1890. He graduated from the prestigious Ludovika Military Academy and embarked on a successful military career.

Military Attache and Army Commander

In 1938, Lakatos was appointed as the military attache in Prague, where he served until 1944. In 1943, he became the commander of the 2nd Hungarian Army, and in 1944, he led the 1st Hungarian Army.

Prime Ministership

Amidst growing anti-German sentiment in Hungary, Miklós Horthy and Géza Lakatos orchestrated a military coup in August 1944, ousting the pro-German government of Döme Sztójay. Lakatos was appointed as Prime Minister on August 29, 1944. His government immediately ordered the cessation of the deportation of Hungarian Jews to concentration camps.

German Intervention and End of Premiership

However, on October 15, 1944, the Germans captured Horthy's son and coerced him to hand over power to the fascist Ferenc Szálasi. Lakatos was forced to resign as Prime Minister, and his post was abolished. He was placed under house arrest in Sopron by the Szálasi government.

Post-War Years

After the Soviet Army liberated Hungary in April 1945, Lakatos was arrested and interrogated. He was released in January 1946 and served as a witness in trials against former members of the Horthy and Szálasi regimes. In 1949, he was stripped of his pension and land, and returned to Budapest. In 1956, he was allowed to emigrate to Australia, where he died in 1967.