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

afternoon. 441
With the agreement of the Entente generals, the Ostenburg battalion was
withdrawn from the plebiscite-intended area of Sopron and its surrounding.
Gyula Ostenburg was arrested a few days earlier, after the unsuccessful clash at
Budaörs, and his unit’s positions were taken over by a battalion of the
Nagykanizsa regiment.
One of the problems arose from the fact that the rebels thought that the
results of the Venice Protocol were not enough. Governor Horthy and the
Hungarian government ordered commander Prónay for consultations to
Budapest on October 31, who arrived with several of the leaders of the
insurrection (military bishop István Zadravecz, father ‘Archangel’ Bónis,
Bacho Bónis, Károly Pröhle and Aurél Héjjas). Horthy attempted to convince
them that further resistance would cause immense international damage to the
country. PM Bethlen tried to reason that a government based on law has no
need for rebels. 442 Finally, in a private meeting with Horthy, Prónay promised
to disarm his forces by November 6 and leave Lajta-Banate. In the meantime,
Viktor Ranzenberger demanded on November 2, in the name of the “rebel
commanders” that: the government notify them in writing to evacuate the area
and assume financial responsibility for it. The government gave its assurances
the following day.
On November 4, infantry Gen. Baron Pál Nagy (1864-1927) already
reported to Bethlen that the southern group of rebels has finished their
withdrawal. Prónay had already issued his order to disarm and withdraw on the
4 th , two days before the date he promised to Horthy, and left his command
center of Nagyszentmihály, departing for Szombathely. “The rebels, who
fought valiantly against the Reds and drove them out of Western Hungary, do
not wish to fight against the mother country and, after a short delay, laid down
their arms in the village of Torony, west of Szombathely, on November 4,
1921, exactly a month after the inauguration [of Lajta-Banate—J.B.].” 443
In the central and northern zones judged for annexation, the free-troops also
began a planned withdrawal. On the following day, the 5 th , the order was
essentially completed and their disarmament was “in progress,” reported Gen.
Nagy to the prime minister. He also reported that a portion of the rebels are of
foreign nationality [i.e., from areas annexed under the Trianon Decree, having
come from Transylvania, Northern Hungary and Vojvodina to fight in Western
Hungary-J.B.] and “being without a livelihood, came to Budapest. (…) Their
discontent is to be prevented.” Gen. Nagy instructed that, within his sphere of
influence, the 40 rebels – “for most part Serb and Croat army deserters” – be
held in the collection camp for prisoners-of-war in the Keleti [Eastern] Train
Station in the Budapest military region “to be fed and housed.” He also
informed that, according to reports, more rebels of similar background can be
441 Békés, 2007, op. cit., pp. 101–102.
442 Zadravecz, 1967, op. cit., pp. 173–176; Prónay, 1986, op. cit., pp. 309–312.
443 Ádám T., 1939, op. cit., p. 82.
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