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

Austria’s request for prior evacuation, which was a precondition to Hungarian-
Austrian talks.” 413 In all likelihood, Austria raised an objection because it felt
tacit support from Prague. In a report sent from Prague on the following day,
the 4 th , there were two Czechoslovak divisions stationed in and around the city.
“In the Austrian Reichswehr units on the border of Western Hungary are a large
number of Czech soldiers in Austrian uniform who were transported over from
[the former] Northern Hungary.” 414 With the handing over of the territory to be
annexed by the signing of the pro forma agreement, the long drawn out
Western Hungary question seemed to be solved. The protocol permitted
Hungary to continue to exercise control over Sopron and its surroundings by
Gyula Ostenburg’s battalion as the “Sopron Territorial Police” force.
As we have written previously, the morning telegraph exchange of
September 3 between PM Bethlen and Deputy Commissioner Villani, the latter
also reported: “The rebels have most recently issued stamps with the
overprinting of ‘Rebel Occupied Hungary’.” 415 There were several reasons for
this. When Hungarian authorities evacuated zone ‘A’, the Royal Hungarian
Mail also took with it its supply of postage stamps. The postal service which
arrived in the territory with the advancing Austrian gendarmes also fled after
the outbreak of the insurrection and the once-again Hungarian post offices were
without stamps. Thus, until the arrival of official supplies from Hungary, the
rebels were forced to look after stamps for their own letter writing needs.
Hence, the representatives of the free-forces made use of the stocks of
Hungarian stamps with various overprinting. The stamps were then carried by
the rebel patrols to those village post offices which ran out of stamps. The
overprinting not only served as value distinctions but also as a warning to the
Austrian invaders. The rebel forces censored mail and post card traffic in their
areas of control, stamping the cleared items with their seals. It also served to
authenticate and legitimize their overprinted postal stamps. Due to the
campaign situation, military camp postcards were also issued.
Those issued by the 1 st Rebel Army were printed on September 2 but were
released into circulation on the 5 th when an order covering them took effect.
The stamp series featured a black overprint with the text: Rebel Occupied Part
of Hungary, Aug.-Sep. 1921. On September 18, the 5 th Rebel Army (Gyula
Ostenburg’s detachment) issued the Mining and Forestry Academy’s rebels’
stamp series, overprinted with a black skull and crossbones and the text: Rebels
of Western Hungary, Sept. 1921, zone ‘A’. The Officer Company of the Sopron
students made an inspection round of the local civil militias on September 20
and visited the post offices in several villages in the Nagymarton and
Kismarton districts. They removed the yellow mail boxes left behind by the
retreating Austrian authorities and replaced the Royal Hungarian Mail’s boxes.
413 Zsiga, 1989, op. cit., pp. 127–128.
414 MOL. K 26. 1264. csomó. 1921–XLII–6959. szám, p. 16. The correct name of the
Austrian force in question was Bundesheer [Allied military force].
415 Ibid, 1388. csomó. 1920–„H” tétel, p. 364.
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