Minister of Defence of Hungary
Magyarország honvédelmi minisztere
Incumbent Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky since 24 May 2022
Ministry of Defence
Type	Minister
Member of	Hungarian cabinet
Formation	7 April 1848
First holder	Lajos Batthyány
Website	Official website

The minister of defence of Hungary (Hungarian: Magyarország honvédelmi minisztere) is a member of the Hungarian cabinet and the head of the Ministry of Defence. The defence minister appoints the Chief of General Staff of the Hungarian Defence Forces. The current minister is Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky.

The position was called People's Commissar of War (Hungarian: hadügyi népbiztos) during the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919 and Minister of War (Hungarian: hadügyminiszter) during two short periods of Hungarian history: at the time of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and during a very short chaotic term (less than two years) after World War I, when three political transformations took place.

Ministers of war (1848–1849)

Hungarian Kingdom (1848–1849)

Parties   Opposition Party   Peace Party   Military

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Political party	Cabinet	Assembly (Election)
—		Lajos Batthyány (1807–1849) acting	7 April 1848	23 May 1848	Opposition Party	Batthyány	Last Diet
1		Lázár Mészáros (1796–1858)	23 May 1848	2 October 1848	Military
							1 (1848)
(1)			2 October 1848	14 April 1849	Peace Party	Committee of National Defence

Hungarian State (1849)

Parties   Peace Party   Military

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Political party	Cabinet	Assembly (Election)
(1)		Lázár Mészáros (1796–1858) acting	14 April 1849	1 May 1849	Peace Party	Committee of National Defence	1 (1848)
			1 May 1849	6 May 1849		Szemere
2		Artúr Görgei (1818–1916)	7 May 1849	7 July 1849	Military
3		Lajos Aulich (1793–1849)	14 July 1849	11 August 1849	Military

After the collapse of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Kingdom became an integral part of the Austrian Empire until 1867, when dual Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was created.

Ministers of defence (1867–1918)

From 1867 to 1918 there was a Honvédministerium responsible for the military of the Hungarian half of Austria-Hungary and a Ministry of Defence for the military of the Austrian half, along with a Ministry of War with responsibility for Austria-Hungary as a whole.

Hungarian Kingdom (1867–1918)

Parties   Deák Party/Liberal Party/National Party of Work   National Constitution Party   FÜG48–Károlyi   Independent

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Political party	Cabinet	Assembly (Election)
1		Gyula Andrássy (1823–1890)	17 February 1867	14 November 1871	Deák Party	Andrássy DP	3 (1865)
							4 (1869)
2		Menyhért Lónyay (1822–1884)	14 November 1871	4 December 1872	Deák Party	Lónyay DP
							5 (1872)
3		József Szlávy (1818–1900) acting	4 December 1872	15 December 1872	Deák Party	Szlávy DP
4		Béla Szende (1823–1882)	15 December 1872	21 March 1874	Independent
			21 March 1874	2 March 1875		Bittó DP–BK
			2 March 1875	20 October 1875		Wenckheim SZP
			20 October 1875	18 August 1882 (died in office)		K. Tisza SZP	6 (1875)
							7 (1878)
							8 (1881)
5		Gedeon Ráday (1841–1883)	19 August 1882	26 December 1883 (died in office)	Liberal Party
—		Béla Orczy (1822–1917) acting	2 January 1884	28 October 1884	Liberal Party
							9 (1884)
6		Géza Fejérváry (1833–1914)	28 October 1884	13 March 1890	Independent
							10 (1887)
			13 March 1890	19 November 1892		Szapáry SZP
							11 (1892)
			19 November 1892	15 January 1895		Wekerle I SZP
			15 January 1895	26 February 1899		Bánffy SZP
							12 (1896)
			26 February 1899	27 June 1903		Széll SZP
							13 (1901)
7		Dezső Kolossváry (1854–1919)	27 June 1903	3 November 1903	Independent	Khuen-Héderváry I SZP
8		Sándor Nyiri (1854–1911)	3 November 1903	18 June 1905	Liberal Party	I. Tisza I SZP
9		Ferenc Bihar (1847–1920)	18 June 1905	6 March 1906	Independent	Fejérváry SZP	14 (1905)
10		Béla Pap (1845–1916)	6 March 1906	8 April 1906	Independent
—		Sándor Wekerle (1848–1921) acting	8 April 1906	14 April 1906	National Constitution Party	Wekerle II FÜG48–OAP–KNP–PDP
11		Lajos Jekelfalussy (1848–1911)	14 April 1906	17 January 1910	National Constitution Party
							15 (1906)
12		Samu Hazai (1851–1942)	17 January 1910	22 April 1912	National Party of Work	Khuen-Héderváry II NMP
							16 (1910)
			22 April 1912	10 June 1913		Lukács NMP
			10 June 1913	19 February 1917		I. Tisza II NMP
13		Sándor Szurmay (1860–1945)	19 February 1917	15 June 1917	Independent
			15 June 1917	23 August 1917		Esterházy NMP–FÜG48–OAP–PDP–KNP
			23 August 1917	31 October 1918		Wekerle III NMP–FÜG48–OAP–PDP–KNP

Ministers of war (1918–1919)

Hungarian Kingdom (1918)

Parties   Independent

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Political party	Cabinet	Assembly (Election)
1		Béla Linder (1876–1962)	31 October 1918	9 November 1918	Independent	M. Károlyi FÜG48–K–PRP–MSZDP	MNT (—)
2		Albert Bartha (1877–1960)	9 November 1918	16 November 1918	Independent

Hungarian People's Republic (1918–1919)

Parties   FÜG48–Károlyi   MSZDP   Independent