The Fate of Western Hungary 1918-1921 - Corvinus Library ...

Later, in 1921, a large proportion of the students did not go home for their
summer break. They did not want to leave in case they would be unable to
return. They stayed in Sopron to protect their school and city, if necessary.
They met continuously, preparing for something. They established contact with
the students of the Theological Academy, picking trusted students from among
the middle schoolers. They included in their organizing the Boy Scouts under
the leadership of Benedictine teacher, Detre Horváth, but kept their activities a
secret in the city. The only thing that seeped out was that they swore an oath to
each other that, whatever may happen, they would take care of traitors. 284
When the Western Hungary insurrection broke out in August of 1921, the
disarmament and reorganization of the Hungarian army to the 35,000 permitted
under the Trianon treaty was under way for months. This, of course, touched
the Szombathely district command, whose strength shrank to 423 officers, 221
civilian staff, 269 NCOs, and 3,913 men (from January’s 846 officers, 666
NCOs and 14,624 men). As seen, the number of privates shrank to about a
quarter of its former strength. As a result, the former Szombathely division
shrank to become only a mixed brigade under the command of Gen. László
Horváth, the district commander appointed was Gen. Árpád Guilleaume (1868-
1951). The district gendarmerie consisted of 39 gendarme and 60 army officers,
881 professional gendarmes and a further 2,431 NCOs and men. 285 This does
not include the two national gendarme reserve battalions, under Gyula
Ostenburg 286 and Viktor Ranzenberger, which arrived in Western Hungary in
the middle of August (142 officers and 2,291 gendarmes). Also, the district had
an 800-strong unit (officers and men) of customs and revenue officers.
As a result of the terms of the Trianon Decree, Hungary was forced to close
all military training institutions, with the exception of the Ludovika Academy
in Budapest. After twenty-three years of existence, the Royal Hungarian
Military Middle School of Sopron was forced to close its doors at the end of the
1920-1921 school year (closed by Law XLIV of 1921). “What happened next is
the saddest event in the life of a military institution. They collected the rifles
from the students; they took away all their military gear, even their belts.” 287
The students were amalgamated into the commercial middle school of Sopron,
along with the institution’s equipment and assets.
284 Träger, 1925, op. cit., p. 82.
285 Fogarassy, 1994, op. cit., pp. 311-312.
286 Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek (1884-1944), politician, army officer. Served in WWI,
reaching the rank of major. During the era of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, he joined
the Hungarian National Army organized in Szeged. He sided with Charles IV in his
October 1921 second attempt to reclaim the throne and was arrested on October 23 after
the losing battle of Budaörs. He was sent into retirement after his release in 1922.
287 Péterfy, Károly: A soproni M. Kir. Honvéd Főreáliskola története 1898–1921 [The
history of the Royal Hungarian Military Middle School of Sopron 1898-1921]. Sopron,
1934, p. 106.
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