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91-571: Gyula Peidl was born on 4 April 1873 in Ravazd , Győr County . His father, a butcher, died early, thus Peidl was raised by his mother. During his apprentice years from 1886 to 1890, he became a typesetter at the printing facility of the Franklin Company. Following this he participated in study tours to Austria , Switzerland and Germany , where came in contact with Social Democratic movements and also learnt German . Returning home, he headed

182-740: A social democratic communist coalition government and proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic . Days later, the communists purged the Social Democrats from the government. The Hungarian Soviet Republic was a small communist rump state . When the Republic of Councils in Hungary was established, it controlled only approximately 23% of the Hungary 's historic territory. The communists remained bitterly unpopular in

273-649: A Romanian army division and some other newly formed units were moved from the Hungarian front to Bessarabia, those threats did not deter Romania's actions in Hungary. On 9 February 1918, the Central Powers and Ukraine signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk , which recognised Ukraine as a neutral and independent state. Incursions into Romanian territory ceased. From January–May 1919, there were some further limited actions by Soviet forces against Romania. In late January,

364-606: A Romanian population existed in a single state. In the Treaty of Bucharest of August 17, 1916, terms for Romania's acquisition of territories in Austria-Hungary were stipulated. However, in military and geopolitical sense, the key factor in Romania's entry into the war was the successes of the Russian Brusilov offensive against Austria-Hungary. After a short Romanian initial success, the campaign turned into

455-462: A co-ordinated action against Hungary by French, Serb and Romanian forces from the south and the east. However, the Allies also promised favour to Hungary in subsequent peace negotiations in delineating Hungary's new borders. On 12 June, the council discussed Hungary's proposed new borders with Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. On 23 June, Hungary signed an armistice with Czechoslovakia. By 4 July,

546-577: A complex background, with often contradictory motivations for the parties involved. After the unilateral self-disarmament of the Hungarian army by the pacifist Hungarian prime minister Count Mihály Károlyi , the Allies of World War I intended that Romania's Army , the Czechoslovak army and the Franco-Serbian armies to occupy various parts of Kingdom of Hungary . At the same time, there was

637-435: A continued Romanian advance to Budapest , with Generals Ferdinand Foch , Louis Franchet d'Espèrey , and Henri Mathias Berthelot particularly in favor of this approach. In Transylvania there were political and ethnic tensions between various Romanian , Hungarian , Saxon , and other ethnic groups. However, Romania's motivations to enter the neutral zone and cross the demarcation lines were not limited only to protecting

728-632: A demarcation line that had been agreed upon by the representatives of the Allies and Hungary at the Armistice of Belgrade . Following a request from Romania, the Allied Command in the east, led by French General Louis Franchet d'Espèrey , allowed the Romanian Army to advance to the line of the western Carpathians. The 7th Infantry division advanced toward Cluj , and the 1st division advanced in toward Alba Iulia . On 24 December, units of

819-586: A force capable of fighting Romania and Czechoslovakia. Hungary had 20,000 troops facing the Romanian Army and mobilised a further 60,000. There were recruitment centres in towns such as Nagyvárad , Gyula , Debrecen and Szolnok . There were some elite units and officers from the former Austro-Hungarian Army , but some were volunteers with little training. The Hungarian troops were equipped with 137 cannons and five armoured trains and were motivated by sentiments of Hungarian nationalism , rather than communist ideals. Kun hoped that Soviet Russia would attack Romania from

910-528: A gesture to the peasantry. On the same day, the National Smallholders and Agrarian Workers Party (OKGFP) was invited into the government, and the Allied representative promised an end to the economic blockade. Peidl's government tried to demonstrate to the Allies its break with the previous government and its willingness to pursue a policy of moderation. The Allies, however, refused to recognise

1001-534: A military disaster for Romania. After three months of war, two thirds of the territory of the Kingdom of Romania were occupied by the Central Powers . Bucharest , the capital city of Romania, was captured by the Central Powers on 6 December 1916. German General August von Mackensen was appointed as the "military governor" of the occupied territories of Romania. Following Russia's ceasefire agreements ,

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1092-528: A plane, inviting Allied troops to fraternise with them. Sixty French soldiers crossed the Dniester River to support the Russians. The Bolshevik Soviet Russian forces entered Tighina and held the town for a number of hours. The Romanian Army's 4th and 5th infantry divisions were moved to Bessarabia. In southern Bessarabia a territorial command unit formed by the Romanian Army's 15th Infantry Division

1183-542: A reluctance to allow Romania to occupy Hungary fully, although their intention was to, at least in part, satisfy the Romanian claims in accordance with the Treaty of Bucharest (1916) which proposed that Hungary cede Transylvania , Partium and parts of Banat to Romania. The situation was further complicated by the strained relationship between the Romanian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference and

1274-608: A reserve status. Only the 9th and 10th infantry divisions and the 1st and 2nd cavalry divisions were at full strength. However, those units were engaged in the protection of Bessarabia against Soviet Russia. On 11 November 1918, Germany signed an armistice with Allies under which they had to immediately withdraw all German troops in Romania and in the Ottoman Empire , the Austro-Hungarian Empire and

1365-407: Is famous for the fountain of King Béla IV . This Győr-Moson-Sopron location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Hungarian%E2%80%93Romanian War#Hungary The Hungarian–Romanian War ( Hungarian : Magyar–Román Háború ; Romanian : Războiul Româno-Ungar ) was fought between Hungary and Romania from 13 November 1918 to 3 August 1919. The conflict had

1456-725: The 1931 parliamentary election . He died in Budapest on 22 January 1943. Ravazd Ravazd is a village in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary . King Ladislaus I donated it to the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma . During the Ottoman invasion, the Cseszneky family also had noble estates in the village. The Turks destroyed the village, but in the 18th century, it was re-populated by Hungarian serfs. Ravazd

1547-596: The Belgrade armistice ; At the same time Peidl requested an army of occupation, partly to counter the Romanians and Czechs and partly to reinforce the power of his government. On 4 August 1919, the Hungarian Red Guard was dissolved and the Hungarian police force was established. The capture of communist leaders was secretly ordered. The new government, however, had no real control over any armed force, and

1638-582: The House of Representatives . When the conservative cabinet of István Bethlen applied for a loan from the League of Nations in 1924, Peidl was a member of a Social Democratic delegation to London which urged the British government not to fulfill the request until the re-adoption of universal suffrage, the abolition of the numerus clausus and the extension of assembly act. Peidl retired from politics just before

1729-821: The Italian Front . During the war, the liberal Hungarian aristocrat Count Mihály Károlyi had led a small but very active pacifist antiwar maverick faction in the Hungarian Parliament. He had even organised covert contacts with British and French diplomats in Switzerland during the war. On 31 October 1918, the Aster Revolution in Budapest brought to power Károlyi, a supporter of the Allies . The Hungarian Royal Honvéd army still consisted of 1,400,000 soldiers, who had been recruited from

1820-585: The Odessa Soviet Republic to invade Romania and make sporadic attacks across the Dniester River to reclaim territory from the Bessarabia Governorate . The Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic , established in 1924, was later used the same way. Romania successfully repelled both incursions. After the commencement of communist rule in Hungary, Soviet Russia pressured Romania with ultimatums and threats of war. Although

1911-644: The Russian Empire back to German territory. The Allies were to have access to those countries. After the German armistice, the units of the German Army, under the command of Marshal August von Mackensen, were ordered to retreat to Germany. On 10 November 1918, Romania re-entered the war on the side of the Allied forces, with similar objectives to those of 1916. King Ferdinand called for the mobilisation of

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2002-482: The Treaty of Bucharest (1918) with the Central Powers, but the treaty was never signed by King Ferdinand I of Romania . At the end of 1918, Romania's situation was dire. It was suffering from the consequences of punitive war reparations. Dobruja was under Bulgarian occupation. The bulk of the Romanian Army was demobilised and had only four full-strength divisions. A further eight divisions were left in

2093-591: The Union of Transylvania with Romania was officiated by the 1,228 elected representatives of the Romanian people of Transylvania, Banat, Crișana and Maramureș, who proclaimed the union with Romania. Later, the Transylvanian Saxons and Banat Swabians also supported the union. On 7 December, Brașov was occupied by the Romanian Army. Later that month, Romanian units reached the line of the Mureș River,

2184-568: The 9th Regiment. By 18 April, the first elements of the Romanian offensive had been completed, and the Hungarian front had been broken. On 19 April, Romanian forces took Carei (Nagykároly), and on 20 April, they took Oradea (Nagyvárad) and Salonta (Nagyszalonta). Rather than following the instructions of the Vix Note, the Romanian Army pressed on for the Tisza River , an easily defended natural military obstacle. On 23 April, Debrecen

2275-564: The Allies and the Soviet Russians. In exchange for Hungary's agreement to the conditions set out in the Vix Note, the Allies promised to lift the blockade of Hungary and to take a benevolent attitude towards Hungary's loss of territory to Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia . Kun refused the terms and demanded the Romanian forces return to the line of the Maros (Mureș) River. Smuts' negotiations ceased. Kun stalled for time to build

2366-771: The Allies. General Moșoiu became the governor of the military district between the Romanian border and the Tisza River. General Mihăescu became commander of the north battalion. The 7th Division was moved to the Russian front in Moldavia. On 24 May, King Ferdinand I of Romania and Iuliu Maniu (the head of Transylvania's Directory Council  [ ro ] ) visited the frontline area and met with generals Constantin Prezan , Gheorghe Mărdărescu , and Ștefan Panaitescu  [ ro ] at Békéscsaba. In late May, after

2457-526: The Entente military representative demanded more territorial concessions from Hungary, Kun attempted to "fulfill" his promise to adhere to Hungary's historic borders. Kun ordered the preparation of an offensive against Czechoslovakia , which would increase his domestic support by making good on his promise to "restore" Hungary's borders. The men of the Hungarian Red Army were recruited mainly from

2548-666: The General Consumer Cooperative. He actively participated in the restructuring process of the Social Democratic Party as a prominent member of the moderate and anti-communist wing. Peidl was elected Member of Parliament for Szeged (2nd constituency) in the 1922 parliamentary election . From 1922 to 1931 he led the Hungarian Social Democratic Party parliamentary group in the unicameral National Assembly then

2639-724: The Great Powers. France, in particular, was keen on the participation of Romania in the intervention against the Bolshevik forces in Russia while the Romanian authorities conditioned this involvement on the fulfillment of the promises made by the Allies in 1916. Some Allied leaders in Paris supported the advance of the Romanian Army while the Council of Four withheld its approval of the military actions. The French General Staff encouraged

2730-640: The Hungarian Army had retreated 15 km south of the Hungarian–Czechoslovak demarcation line. The council demanded Romania leave Tiszántúl and to respect the new borders. Romania said it would not do so until the Hungarian Army had demobilised. Kun said that he would continue to depend on the might of his army. On 11 July, the council ordered Marshal Ferdinand Foch to prepare a co-ordinated attack against Hungary by using Serb, French and Romanian forces. Hungary, in turn, prepared for action along

2821-536: The Hungarian Red Army started to disintegrate because of tensions between nationalists and communists during the establishment of the Slovak Soviet Republic. The concession eroded the support of the communist government by professional military officers and nationalists in the Hungarian Red Army. Even the chief of general staff , Aurél Stromfeld, resigned his post in protest. When the French promised

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2912-595: The Hungarian Soviet Republic and declared again the Hungarian People's Republic ; the people's courts were disbanded and former political prisoners were released from prisons. The release of the opponents reinforced the counter-revolutionaries. The country worked without a head of the state nor head of government. Former private owners were given nationalised former properties. Landowners were not transferred nationalised estates, however, as

3003-477: The Hungarian countryside, where the authority of that government was often nonexistent. The communist had real popular support only among the proletarian masses of large industrial centres, especially in Budapest, where the working class represented a high proportion of the population. The communist government followed the soviet model. The party established its terror groups (like the infamous Lenin Boys ) to "overcome

3094-592: The Hungarian flank with troops from the 16th Infantry Division and the Second Vânători Division and aimed to maintain contact with the Czechoslovak Army. Hungarian troops prevailed and the Romanian Army retreated to its bridgehead at Tokaj . There, between 25 and 30 May, Romanian forces were required to defend their position against Hungarian attacks. On 3 June, the Romanian Army was forced into further retreat but extended its line of defence along

3185-498: The Hungarian government that Romanian forces would withdraw from the Tiszántúl , Kun withdrew from Czechoslovakia his remaining military units that had remained loyal after the political fiasco with the Slovak Soviet Republic. Kun then unsuccessfully tried to turn the remaining units of the demoralized Hungarian Red Army on the Romanians. The Union of Bessarabia with Romania was signed on 9 April 1918. It brought these lands within

3276-726: The Romanian Army and ordered it to attack by crossing the Carpathian Mountains into Transylvania . The 1st Vânători and the 7th and 8th Infantry divisions, stationed in Moldavia , were the first units to be mobilised. The 8th was sent to Bukovina and the other two were sent to Transylvania. On 13 November, the 7th entered Transylvania at the Prisăcani River in the Eastern Carpathians . The 1st then entered Transylvania at Palanca, Bacău . On 1 December,

3367-565: The Romanian Army entered Cluj-Napoca . By 22 January 1919, the Romanian army controlled all the territory to the Mureș River. The 7th and 1st divisions were spread thinly and so the 2nd Division was sent to Sibiu and the 6th Division to Brașov . Two new infantry divisions, the 16th and 18th, were formed from soldiers previously mobilised in the Austro-Hungarian Army . A unified command of the Romanian Army in Transylvania

3458-703: The Romanian Army fortified its positions in Bessarabia. On 1 May, Bolshevik Soviet Russian Foreign Minister Georgy Chicherin issued an ultimatum to the Romanian government to leave Bessarabia. Under the command of Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko , Bolshevik Soviet Russian troops gathered along the Dniester River in preparation for a large attack on Bessarabia on 10 May. The attacks in Bessarabia intensified and peaked on 27–28 May with an uprising in Tighina . In preparation for this attack, they threw manifestos from

3549-467: The Romanian Army in the east. The Hungarian Red Army recruited men between 19 and 25 years old. Industrial workers from Budapest volunteered. Many former Austro-Hungarian officers re-enlisted for patriotic reasons. The Hungarian Red Army moved its 1st and 5th artillery divisions (40 battalions) northwards to Czechoslovakia. On 20 May 1919, a force under Colonel Aurél Stromfeld attacked and routed Czechoslovak troops from Miskolc . The Romanian Army attacked

3640-425: The Romanian Army was not to enter those cities. A demilitarised zone was to be created extending from the new demarcation line to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) beyond the line. The demilitarised zone represented the extent of Romanian territorial requests on Hungary. The retreat of the Hungarian Army behind the western border of the demilitarised zone was to begin on 22 March. On 19 March, Hungary received notification of

3731-623: The Romanian army was forced to sign the Armistice of Focșani on 9 December 1917. In 1918, after the October Revolution , the Bolsheviks signed a separate peace with the Central Powers in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk . Romania was alone on the Eastern Front , a situation that far surpassed its military capabilities. Therefore, on 7 May 1918, Romania sued for peace. Romanian Prime Minister Alexandru Marghiloman signed

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3822-400: The Romanian troops would not cross the Tisza River. On 2 May, Hungary sued for peace by a request delivered by his representative, Lieutenant Colonel Henrik Werth . Kun was prepared to recognise all of Romania's territorial demands, request the cessation of hostilities and ask for ongoing control of Hungarian internal affairs. Romania offered an armistice but gave it only under pressure from

3913-408: The Tisza River and reinforced its position with the 8th Division, which had been moving forward from Bukovina since 22 May. Hungary at the time controlled the territory from its old borders and had regained control of industrial areas around Miskolc , Salgótarján , Banská Štiavnica (Selmecbánya), and Košice (Kassa). Despite promises for the restoration of the former borders of Hungary, after

4004-450: The Tisza River. The Romanian Army faced the Hungarian army along the Tisza River front line over a distance of 250 kilometres (160 mi). The front extended from beyond Szeged in the south, adjacent to French and Serb troops, to Tokaj , in the north, adjacent to Czechoslovak troops. On 17 July, Hungary attacked. Bela Kun's Red Army was led by political commissars because the experienced professional military officers resigned after

4095-707: The Ukrainian Army, under Bolshevik command, moved towards Zbruch . Ukrainian forces took Khotyn , a town that had been occupied by Romania since 10 November 1918. Ukrainian forces held Khotyn for a few days before they were routed by the Romanian Army. Soviet Russia was then fending off attacks by the Armed Forces of South Russia led by Anton Denikin . Three French and two Greek army divisions under General Philippe Henri Joseph d'Anselme with support from Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian volunteers, attacked Soviet troops near Odessa . On 21 March 1919, in support of

4186-590: The allied attack, Romanian troops of the 39th Regiment occupied Tiraspol . In April, at Berzov, the Bolshevik Soviet Russian 3rd Army defeated d'Anselme's forces, which retreated towards Odessa. In late April, a change in government in France led to withdrawal of the Allied forces from Odessa. The troops left by ship and abandoned some heavy equipment. Some troops, with Ukrainian and Russian volunteers, retreated through southern Bessarabia. Meanwhile,

4277-473: The battalions of the workers had been dissolved. The measures taken quickly by the new government tried to win the sympathies of the bourgeoisie and the peasantry, while the cabinet began on 5 August 1919 a round of talks with the liberal parties. On the same day, and at the request of the Allied representative, the Red Guard, now particularly and disorganised and weak, and the other volunteer units were fully dissolved. Also on that day, Peidl's government ordered

4368-413: The country the next day. The new government unanimously accepted the transfer of power after the Romanian invasion of the capital and, subsequently, the end of the Hungarian Soviet Republic. Sándor Garbai , the Chairman of the Central Executive Council summoned Peidl and communicated his request to form a government, as well as a list of ministers, which Peidl reluctantly accepted because of his closeness to

4459-418: The east. When Kun declined the terms of the Vix Note, Romania acted to enforce the new railway demarcation line. The Romanian Army in Transylvania included 64 infantry battalions, 28 cavalry squadrons, 160 cannons, 32 howitzers, one armoured train, three air squadrons and two pioneer battalions, one north and one south. General Gheorghe Mărdărescu commanded the Romanian Army in Transylvania. The commander of

4550-435: The ethnic Romanians, but also to occupy the territory in accordance with the 1916 agreement, thus presenting the Allies with a fait accompli . In the aftermath of World War I and the proclamation of the independence of Hungary from the Dual Monarchy , the Hungarians tried to convince the Allies that "Hungary should not be penalized too harshly for the sins of the old". Despite the Hungarian government offering concessions to

4641-407: The ethnic minorities, it was "too little, too late". The political leaders of ethnic Romanians, as well as Serbs, Slovaks, Croats, and other minorities, had already decided to secede. Moreover, the decision of the Council of Four to establish a neutral zone that largely reflected the treaty between Romania and the Allies in 1916 contributed to the liberal president Count Mihály Károlyi's resignation and

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4732-401: The formation, in a few months, of a coalition government, the government decided to cede to the ultimatum. A Romanian contingent in the vicinity of the palace did not intervene. On 7 August 1919, the King of Romania , Ferdinand I , entered the capital. On the same day, Prince Joseph August became regent and István Friedrich , an industrialist, built a new government with career officials from

4823-598: The former cabinet. The government's position was weak, subject to various pressures: opponents in the capital, Horthy 's counter-revolutionary National Army , desertion by some smaller military units, or defectors who left the Socialists after having supported the Hungarian Soviet Republic. The cabinet, which contained four of Kun 's former government commissioners (including Garbai himself), quickly transformed into Social Democrats, who retained important ministerial portfolios (including Defence and Foreign Affairs). At its first meeting on 2 August 1919, it officially dissolved

4914-469: The government was meeting in the Sándor Palace . General Ferenc Schnetzer occupied, with Romanian support, the Ministry of Defense, without resistance. At the same time, a representative of the Allies appeared before the cabinet, backed by forty mounted policemen and some officers. He demanded, with threats of arrest, the resignation of the government. Peidl protested feebly and asked the assailants to withdraw. After receiving promises of personal security and

5005-444: The grand coalition talks intermediated by Allied representative George Clerk in early November. Peidl went into exile in Austria on 18 November 1919, after receiving an increasing number of death threats from far-right paramilitary groups. He resided in Vienna and Sankt Radegund bei Graz , where he worked as a proofreader, until his return to Hungary in November 1921, where he resumed his trade union activity. He became President of

5096-417: The harassing the Romanians outside the area controlled by the Romanian Army. The pacifist Károlyi government failed to manage domestic and military issues and lost popular support. On 20 March 1919, Béla Kun , who had been imprisoned in the Markó Street prison, was released. On 21 March, he led a successful communist coup d'état . President Károlyi was deposed and arrested by the new government. Kun formed

5187-485: The idea of seizing power the next day. Peidl received a communication from Vienna announcing that the Allies would support the government if it included bourgeois elements, which encouraged the counterrevolutionaries to accelerate their plans, backed by Traian Moșoiu , the Romanian military governor of Budapest, but rejected by the Allied representative. The Romanians seized the capital on the request of refugee counterrevolutionaries in Vienna , against Allied warnings. In

5278-405: The leadership but maintained his membership in the new unified party, called the Socialist Party of Hungary (MSZP). In July 1919, Romanian troops crossed the Tisza river and marched towards Budapest . On 1 August 1919, the Hungarian Soviet Republic ended and a government formed by Social Democrats and controlled by union leaders replaced it; the leader of the former government, Béla Kun , left

5369-430: The leadership of the Social Democratic Party of Hungary (MSZDP). During the Mihály Károlyi era following World War I and proclamation of the First Hungarian People's Republic , he was Minister of Labour and Welfare in the government of Dénes Berinkey . In opposition to the union of the party with the Party of Communists in Hungary (KMP) at the beginning of the Hungarian Soviet Republic , he resigned his position in

5460-420: The lines. On the evening of 1 May, the entire east bank of the Tisza River was under the control of the Romanian Army. On 30 April, French Foreign Minister Stéphen Pichon summoned Ion I.C. Brătianu , the Romanian representative to the Paris Peace Conference. Romania was told to cease its advance at the Tisza River and to retreat to the first demarcation line imposed by the Allied council. Brătianu promised that

5551-403: The means of giving him back his birthright of a great and free Rumania from the Tisza to the Black Sea, and to prosper in peace in accordance with our customs and our hopes and dreams." On August 27, 1916, the Kingdom of Romania declared war against Austria-Hungary and entered the First World War on the side of the Allies . In doing so, Romania's goal was to unite all the territories in which

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5642-504: The military successes the communists immediately declared the establishment of the Slovak Soviet Republic in Prešov (Eperjes) on 16 June 1919. After the proclamation of the Slovak Soviet Republic, the Hungarian nationalists and patriots soon realised that the new communist government had no intention to recapture the lost territories but only to spread communist ideology and establish other communist states in Europe, thus sacrificing Hungarian national interests. The Hungarian patriots and

5733-487: The modern Romanian state was not recognised by Soviet Russia , which was however, occupied in fighting the White movement , Poland , and Ukraine in its war for independence and so resources were not available to challenge Romania. The Bolshevik Soviet Russians might have used the Ukrainian paramilitary leader Nykyfor Hryhoriv to challenge Romania, but circumstances for that plan did not prove to be favourable. Prior to communist rule in Hungary, Soviet Russia had engaged

5824-470: The nation's borders. The government had popular support in the cities and the support of the army. Most of the officers in the Hungarian Army came from regions that had been forcibly occupied during the First World War, which heightened their patriotic mood. Hungary as a federation would appeal to Wilson under his doctrine of self-determination of peoples because of the nation's multiethnic composition. In addition, self-governed and self-directed institutions for

5915-402: The new Minister for National Minorities of Hungary, offered referendums on the disputed borders for minorities (such as the Romanians in Transylvania ), but the political leaders of those minorities refused the very idea of referendums regarding disputed territories at the Paris Peace Conference. Six days later, on 5 November 1918, the Serbian Army , with the help of the French Army , crossed

6006-421: The new demarcation line and demilitaritarised zone from French Lieutenant Colonel Fernand Vix (the " Vix Note "). The Károlyi government would not accept the terms, which was a trigger for the coup d'état by Béla Kun , who formed the Hungarian Soviet Republic . Meanwhile, limited sporadic skirmishes took place between Romanian army and small local Hungarian civil insurgent groups. Some Hungarian elements engaged in

6097-407: The new government for having only socialist members. The Romanian occupation army was not willing either to support the new government or to protect it from the counterrevolutionary forces. Meanwhile, on the same day, the army recovered Szolnok on the outskirts of Budapest and ejected the Romanians. The Allies ordered their representative to begin negotiations with Peidl if he accepted, as he did,

6188-442: The non-Magyar peoples of Hungary would lessen the dominance of the Magyar people . After 21 March 1919, Romania found itself between two nations with communist governments: Hungary to the west and Soviet Russia to the east. The Romanian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference asked the Romanian Army to be allowed to oust Kun's communist government in Hungary. The Allies were aware of the communist danger to Romania. However, there

6279-566: The north battalion was General Moșoiu. Romania planned to take offensive action on 16 April 1919. The north battalion was to take Nagykároly ( Carei ) and Nagyvárad ( Oradea ), which would separate the elite Hungarian Székely Division  [ ro ] from the rest of the Hungarian Army. The north battalion would then outflank the Hungarian Army. Simultaneously, the south battalion would advance to Máriaradna (now part of Lipova ) and Belényes ( Beiuș ). When Kun became aware of Romanian preparations for an offensive, he fortified mountain passes in

6370-422: The obstacles" in the Hungarian countryside, which was later known as the Red Terror in Hungary . The new government promised equality and social justice . It proposed that Hungary be restructured as a federation . The proposal was designed to appeal to both domestic and foreign opinion. Domestic considerations included maintaining the territorial integrity and economic unity of former crown lands and protecting

6461-401: The political fiasco during the Hungarian-Czechoslovak war. Their commanders of small units were however experienced soldiers. The Hungarian Army mustered 100 infantry battalions (50,000 men), ten cavalry squadrons (1,365 men), 69 artillery batteries of calibers up to 305 mm, and nine armoured trains. The troops were organized into three groups: north, central, and south. The central group was

6552-508: The printer's union from 1900 to 1908, and from 1909 onwards. He was one of the founding members of the General Consumer Cooperative (ÁFOSZ) in 1904. He was elected secretary of the organisation in 1908. As a journalist, he edited the weekly newspapers Typographia and Szövetkezeti Értesítő . He also served as a Board Member of the National Workers' Insurance Fund ( Hungarian : Országos Munkásbiztosító Pénztár ). In 1909 he joined

6643-474: The professional military officers in the Red Army saw the establishment of the Slovak Soviet Republic as a betrayal, and their support for the government began to erode (the communists and their government supported the establishment of a Slovak communist state, while the Hungarian patriots wanted to keep the reoccupied territories for Hungary). Despite a series of military victories against the Czechoslovak Army,

6734-399: The railway from Carei , through Oradea and north of Arad. The 20th and 21st infantry divisions were tasked with maintaining public order behind the third line. The first line was thin, as it was supposed to fight delaying actions until the true intentions of the attacking Hungarian Army were revealed. Then, together with troops in the second line, the first line was to be held until troops in

6825-482: The relatively small Romanian Army, Franco-Serbian army and the armed forces of the newly-established Czechoslovakia. During the rule of Károlyi's pacifist cabinet, Hungary lost control of approximately 75% of its former prewar territories (325,411 km (125,642 sq mi) . Proclamation of King Ferdinand I of Romania to the Romanian People, 28 August 1916: "In our moral energy and our valour lie

6916-541: The rest of the country, the collapse of the communist administration and the power vacuum left behind led to chaos. The situation was not much better in the occupied capital, where looting and retaliation took place. On 6 August 1919, the police and part of the army were already in the hands of the counterrevolutionary conspirators. That afternoon they arrested Károly Peyer , the Minister of the Interior, and learned that

7007-475: The situation between Romania and Hungary. On 4 April, South African General Jan Smuts was sent to Hungary and discussed with the Hungarian communist government a proposition that they abide by the conditions previously presented to Károlyi in the Vix Note. Smuts's mission also represented official recognition of the Kun government by the Allies. He may have asked if Kun would act as a conduit for communication between

7098-628: The southern border of the Kingdom of Hungary . On 8 November, the Czechoslovak Army crossed the northern border, and on 13 November, the Romanian Army crossed the eastern border. That day, Károlyi signed an armistice with the Allies in Belgrade , which limited the size of the Hungarian Army to six infantry and two cavalry divisions. Demarcation lines defining the territory to remain under Hungarian control were made. The lines would apply until definitive borders could be established. Under

7189-545: The strongest. Hungary planned to cross the Tisza River with all three groups. The north group would advance towards Satu Mare (Szatmárnémeti), the central group to Oradea (Nagyvárad), and the south group to Arad . Their aim was to incite Bolshevik Soviet Russia to attack Bessarabia. The Romanian Army was composed of 92 battalions (48,000 men), 58 cavalry squadrons (12,000 men), 80 artillery batteries of calibers up to 155 mm, two armoured trains and some support units. They were positioned along three lines. The first line

7280-404: The subsequent creation of the Hungarian Soviet Republic . The threat of Béla Kun 's Hungarian Red Army and Red Guards linking up with other Bolshevik forces was decisive in the joint decision of several Allied representatives and the Romanian authorities to "settle the Hungarian question immediately". In 1918, Austria-Hungary collapsed politically and disintegrated as a result of its defeat on

7371-467: The terms of the armistice, Serbian and French troops advanced from the south and took control of the Banat and Croatia. Czechoslovakia took control of Upper Hungary (today mostly Slovakia ) and Carpathian Ruthenia . Romanian forces were permitted to advance to the Mureș River. However, on 14 November, Serbia occupied Pécs . The Hungarian unilateral disarmament made the occupation of Hungary possible for

7462-472: The territory controlled by the Hungarian Red Army. Then, on the night of 15–16 April, the Hungarians launched a pre-emptive attack, but the Romanian lines held. On 16 April, the Romanian Army commenced its offensive. After heavy fighting, the Romanians took the mountain passes. On the front of the 2nd Vânători Division, a battalion of Hungarian cadets offered strong resistance; however, they were defeated by

7553-459: The territory of Kingdom of Hungary when Mihály Károlyi was announced as Hungarian prime minister . Károlyi yielded to US President Woodrow Wilson 's demand for pacifism by ordering the disarmament of the Hungarian Army, which happened under the direction of War Minister Béla Linder on 2 November 1918. The unilateral disarmament of its army made Hungary remain without national defence. Thus it became particularly vulnerable. Oszkár Jászi ,

7644-406: The various ministries and part of the conspirators, generally bourgeois plebeians. The coup frustrated the possibilities of collaboration between socialists and liberals, and took away from the government some prominent political figures opposed to the seizure of power by force. After the coup, Peidl became chair of the printer's trade union again. Representing the working class, he participated in

7735-409: The volunteers of the Budapest proletariat. In June, the Hungarian Red Army invaded the eastern part of the newly forming Czechoslovakia : Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia (approximately the former Upper Hungary ). The Hungarian Red Army achieved some early military success. Under the leadership of Colonel Aurél Stromfeld, it ousted Czechoslovak troops from the north and planned to march against

7826-407: The withdrawal of the printed currency of the Hungarian Soviet Republic and the currency of the monarchy was reinstituted into legal circulation. At the same time, the counterrevolutionary forces conspired to overthrow the government and put the Hungarian prince (and Austrian archduke) Joseph August in power. On the night of the 4 August 1919, the prince was brought from his castle to Budapest with

7917-519: Was a climate of dissension in the council among United States President Woodrow Wilson , British Prime Minister David Lloyd George , and French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau about guarantees required by France on its borders with Germany. In particular, the American delegation was convinced that French hardliners around Marshal Ferdinand Foch were trying to initiate a new conflict with Germany and Soviet Russia. The Allied council tried to defuse

8008-460: Was established. By the end of June, tensions in the area had eased. The Allies were deeply displeased by the Romanian advance to the Tisza River. The Allies asked Romania to retreat to the first railway demarcation line and to commence negotiations with the Kun government. Romania persisted at the Tisza Line. The Allies pressured Hungary to stop its incursions into Czechoslovakia by threatening

8099-433: Was established. Its headquarters were at Sibiu , with General Traian Moșoiu in command. Although Romania controlled new territories, it did not encompass all ethnic Romanians in the region. On 28 February 1919, at the Paris Peace Conference , the Allies notified Hungary of a new demarcation line to which the Romanian army would advance. The line coincided with railways connecting Satu Mare , Oradea , and Arad . However,

8190-448: Was manned by the 16th Division in the north and the 18th Division in the south. More powerful units manned the second line: the 2nd Vânători Division in the north, concentrated in and around Nyíregyháza , and the 1st Vânători Division in the south, concentrated in and around Békéscsaba . The third line was manned by Romania's strongest units: the 1st and 6th infantry divisions, the 1st and 2nd cavalry divisions and support units. It lay on

8281-418: Was occupied by Romanian forces. The Romanian Army then began preparations for an assault on Békéscsaba . On 25–26 April, after some heavy fighting, Békéscsaba fell to Romanian forces. The Hungarians retreated to Szolnok and, from there, across the Tisza River. They established two concentric defense lines extending from the Tisza River around Szolnok. Between 29 April and 1 May, the Romanian Army broke through

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