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

Bethlen on the afternoon of September 8 that Austrian Inspector General
Hueber expressed his special thanks to Maj. Ostenburg for the Austrian
wounded being taken to the Sopron hospital. The Austrian gendarmes were
“using dum-dum bullets in the battle of Ágfalva so that the three Hungarian
dead have terribly traumatized wounds.” [Bullets with a hollow tip or with an X
shaped incision in the tip have a greater destructive effect on the target than
regular bullets. The use of mushrooming bullets have been forbidden since the
II. Hague Agreement of 1899, yet the Austrian units made use of them against
the rebels.] Count Sigray also informed the PM that Ostenburg collected the
equipment of the fleeing Austrian gendarmes and revenue officers, rifles and
machine guns, and handed them over to the Austrian authorities, including the
unit’s cash box. He had personal effects left behind taken to the judge in
Ágfalva for safekeeping. 367 This certainly brings into question Joannes
Schober’s recent opinion about a ‘savage country’; the chivalry of Maj.
Ostenburg towards the Austrian wounded and their hospitalization, as well as
the return, or safekeeping, of the fleeing gendarmes. It is important to
remember that it was the Austrian gendarmerie who used the internationally
banned dum-dum bullets and not the Hungarian rebels. To top it off, Gyula
Ostenburg had not only the three Hungarians who fell in the battle but also the
Austrian gendarme buried with military pomp. In his evening report on
September 8, Sigray disclosed: “I wish to report to His Excellency that Iván
Héjjas has not left [Western Hungary] (…) his decision he has allegedly
reported in writing directly to a higher authority.” 368
On the next day shortly before noon, the Italian ambassador in Budapest,
Prince Gaetano Castagneto, phoned the Entente Mission in Sopron. The
ambassador informed the Mission that French General Jules Hamelin just
notified him: he just received Johannes Schober’s letter. The chancellor
informed the general that the Austrian government is immediately withdrawing
its gendarmes from Western Hungary because it does not want to risk their
lives needlessly. Hamelin’s opinion was: “we must carry out this wish of the
chancellor, although I admit, from a political perspective it carries a lot of
weight.” The ambassador replied: “I, too, feel that the situation is very grave.”
Then he added, that he will seek out Prime Minister Bethlen at noon in this
matter. Hamelin: “Sir, please make it an especially important consideration
that, if we deny Mr. Schober’s request, the Hungarian rebels will undoubtedly
oust the Austrian gendarmes from the country. If, on the other hand, we accede
to the withdrawal of the gendarmes, we can expect all manner of surprises from
the Hungarian rebels. Fact is, Austria is incapable of pacifying the territory.
Austria is currently working on setting up volunteer free-forces similar to the
Hungarians, so that these can be sent into the fray against the Hungarian
rebels.” 369
367 Ibid, p. 420.
368 Ibid, p. 431–432.
369 Ibid, p. 422.
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