Since 1872, the Ludovica Military Academy had been turning out competent and efficient officers and graduated the majority of officers for the Hungarian Army. A core of competent and educated officers struggled to handle the large expansion of the Hungarian Army to meet the needs of the Eastern Front. The Hungarians enjoyed a professional and experienced core of staff officers.
Although the majority of infantry forces fielded by the Royal Hungarian Army in 1944–45 were not combat hardened, there were some experienced units after 3 years of fighting on the Eastern Front. Infantry Divisions of the Hungarian First Army had recently fought in the defence of Galicia in early 1944, and would put their experience to good use, like the 25th Division at the Battle of Tordá and the 10th Division inside the Budapest pocket.
Considering the country’s location and involvement in major European conflicts for centuries, Polish officers came from a society that valued a proud military tradition. After the end of World War I, having freshly wrested its independence from neighboring powers, Poland was in a state of almost constant conflict. Most of the officers in Poland’s military were experienced and capable leaders.
Despite facing the double invasion of their homeland in 1939 by both Germany and the Soviet Union, the vastly outnumbered Polish military fought with bravery and tenacity. The Polish army in 1939 was large, well-officered and relatively well-equipped. It fought hard, but was entirely outmanoeuvred by fast-moving German armoured thrusts supported by all arms in a new dynamic style of war that a largely foot-slogging Polish army could not match. When the Soviets joined the fight and also invaded Poland, bisecting the country, it was too much for an already over-extended army short of armour and air support to hold out against – the end was inevitable.