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

face, rather it carried four lines of text: For our beloved / commander / rebels /
of Western Hungary. The gold medallion was presented to Prónay at a gala
dinner by Miklós Budaházy, former commander of the 2 nd Rebel Army, “on
behalf of the insurrectionist camp.”
Prónay did not secure the permission of the authorities for the awarding of
the commemorative medal. The rebel medal was first presented in a ceremony
on August 19, 1929 at the Officers Club in Budapest that was attended by
several hundred former rebels. The medals were pinned on the chests by Prónay
himself. The event was reported the next day by the paper, Magyarság, 456 and
the article drew the attention of the highest circles of authority. The article
informed the reader that, at Prónay’s initiative, the approximately 3,000-strong
veterans association of the Western Hungary insurrection had a medal struck.
The awarding of the medal came unexpectedly, even Governor Horthy was
informed only through the newspaper. Subsequent to the article, the Cabinet
Office ordered an investigation. The Interior Ministry officials found out that
Prónay and associates had already planned in 1921 the release of a similar
medal but lacked the means. This implementation of the medal was not solely
Prónay’s merit but was also helped by Count Antal Sigray, Nándor Urmánczy,
István Friedrich, Iván Héjjas and others. The cost of creating the medals was
borne by Count Sigray. 457 The report of the investigation raised the possibility
that, perhaps, Prónay acted unlawfully in creating the Commemorative Medal.
The president of the Royal Hungarian Mint, Samuel Michaelis, was held
responsible for not notifying the “appropriate authorities” of Prónay’s order.
In the end, the Prime Minister’s Office took the stance that, since the medal
is neither a Hungarian or foreign decoration, nor does it carry the status of a
decorative medallion, therefore no permission is required to wear it. This was
not unintentional; the governing circles felt it best to leave an insulted and
forgotten-by-the-public Prónay in peace. In the meantime, the former
commander had other goals; he travelled the cities and towns of the country. In
his diary, he wrote: “At various events arranged for the awarding of the medals
to the former rebels, I also organized the larger camp of western irredentists.” A
detailed list was maintained of the awardees, counting on them for a later
“nation rescuing action.” In spite of Prónay’s efforts, the former Western
Hungary rebels were still not united into an independent group or organization
by the 1930s. one reason was that the various political parties attempted to draw
them into their ranks for reasons of their own. The usual outcome was that if
anybody attempted to call the former rebels to action, he could count on the
antipathy of not only the media but a segment of the former insurrectionists, as
well. There was but one exception, the founding of the group by Prónay in 1929
to create the commemorative medal.
Between the two wars, there were several memorials erected in and around
Sopron to the Battle of Ágfalva, e.g.- the garden of the Mining and Forestry
456 Magyarság, 1929, August 20.
457 Makai, 1977, op. cit., pp. 335–336.
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