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

day, August 30, László Endre and his men marched into the border settlement
of Pinkafő and set up camp pickets for the night. The rest of the unit retired for
the night when they were attacked by a Volkswehr unit from Sinnersdorf on the
Austrian side. After a fierce firefight, the attack was repelled. 302
During the period of the insurrection, László Endre and his unit fought in the
villages around Pinkafő against several incursions made by overwhelming
superior forces from Austria. “Of these, the Austrian gendarmes were fairly
disciplined, while the Volkswehr and the Social-Democratic defense force,
made up mainly of Viennese unemployed loafers, presented little of military
value.” 303 Insurrectionist patrols – since the best defense is a good offence, and
to retain the advantage of freedom of action – struck deep into Austrian
territory, mainly at night, to spread fear and unease. A member of the unit was
the commander’s father, Zsigmond Endre, who refused to be left out of any
action due to his age. Later, the Endre-militia was based in southern Vas
County, around Szentelek, defending a stretch of the Hungarian-Austrian
border. An equally important role was played in the insurrection by an armed
unit of the students of the Mining and Forestry Academy. 304
Col. Lehár was, by this time, an officer not on active duty for his action of
having sided with former-King Charles IV in his March 26-April 5, 1921
attempt to regain the throne. Before being retired from the Army, he was sent
on vacation starting July 1, and then officially retired on September 1.
In the midst of all these events, former prime minister István Friedrich was
also actively organizing, having set up his headquarters in the spa-town of Balf,
near Sopron, on August 26. On the following evening, he convened a military
summit in the Pannonia Hotel in Sopron. His plan was to proclaim a separate
and independent state of Lajta-Banate [Lajtabánság], covering the area
earmarked for annexation and evacuated by Hungarian forces but not yet
occupied by Austrian forces. 305 Subsequently – citing the self-determination of
nations – his band of militiamen put up armed opposition to the Austrian forces
marching in. He had the independence proclamation printed up in 8,000 copies,
in Hungarian, German and Croat, and sent copies to Sopron and Szombathely
for distribution. He directed his unit, known as the Friedrich rebels, to the
vicinity of Savanyúkút and Lajtaújfalu close to the Hungarian-Austrian border
on the night of Aug. 27-28, saying arms will be sent after them by trucks. The
lack of equipment, three boxcars at the Győr train station were pushed to a side
spur – as it later turned out at the direction of PM Bethlen – forced the rebels to
return to Sopron. The arms and equipment intended for them were soon in
motion from Győr and was delivered to Iván Héjjas’ unit, who made use of it in
302 Endre, László: Képek a nyugatmagyarországi fölkelésből [Scenes from the Western
Hungary insurrection]. In: A Cél, year XVIII, 1928, Jan-Feb. issue, p. 25.
303 Ádám, István: A nyugat-magyarországi felkelés története [The history of the
Western Hungary insurrection]. Budapest, 1935, p. 75.
304 Missuray-Krúg, Lajos: A nyugatmagyarországi felkelés [The Western Hungary
insurrection]. Sopron, 1935, pp. 63-64. old.
305 Lajtabánság: in German Leitha-Banat, for our purpose Lajta-Banate.
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