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

Aladár Boroviczény – Charles Habsburg’s secretary at the time of the coup –
for 50,000 Swiss Francs from the Ad Astra Aero Co. in Frankfurt. 471
A car was sent for them from the mansion and, after a brief stay, Charles
and his wife, accompanied by Antal Sigray, travelled to Sopron. On the way, in
another car, they were joined by former [and future-ed.] prime minister Pál
Teleki and József Vass (1877-1930), a Catholic priest and Minister of Religious
and Educational portfolios. Of some interest is that the car of the royal couple
was driven by Count László Almásy, reserve Air Force first lieutenant, the later
famous African explorer [of the movie The English Patient-ed.]. 472 In the city
fated for annexation, Charles Habsburg began his next attempt at regaining the
throne the following day. He appointed István Rakovszky as Prime Minister.
The government formed was made up of Ödön Beniczky, Interior portfolio,
Gyula Andrássy, Exterior, Gusztáv Gratz, Finance, and Col. Lehár, Defense,
who was also promoted by Charles to major-general. Pál Hegedűs was named
commander-in-chief of all armed forces, Gyula Ostenburg was promoted to full
colonel and placed in command of a 1,500-strong unit called the Royal Guard
Combat Regiment. The Sopron garrison, under Pál Hegedűs, swore allegiance
to the king, joined by the units of Ostenburg, Lehár and Friedrich. 473 Although
Prónay and his insurrectionist forces did not attack the units that switched sides
to Charles Habsburg, he did not join the royalists. 474 A number of the students’
called royal coup on the pretext of a book]. (Vágvölgyi, Tibor: Junkers F–13.
Közlekedési Dokumentációs Vállalat. Budapest, 1990) In: Soproni Szemle, 1991, issue
4, pp. 320–323.
471 Nemzetgyűlési Napló, XIV. kötet. 1922, p. 84.
472 Krizsán, László: A sivatag titkait kutatta. Almásy Lászlóról [He searched the secrets
of the desert. About László Almásy]. Magyar Nyugat Könyvkiadó. Vasszilvágy, 2005,
p. 10.
473 See, IV. Károly visszatérési kísérletei. Op. cit., vol. I, 1921; also, A nemzetgyűlés
mentelmi bizottságának jelentése gróf Andrássy Gyula, Rakovszky István, gróf Sigray
Antal és Beniczky Ödön nemzetgyűlési képviselők mentelmi ügyében (379. szám). In:
Nemzetgyűlés Irományai. Vol. XII. 1922, pp. 109–114; Zsiga, Tibor: A második
királypuccs és Nyugat-Magyarország (1921) [The second royal coup and Western
Hungary (1921)]. In: Vasi Szemle, 1981, issue 2, pp. 273–292.
474 According to recent opinions, Prónay was not a monarchist and Charles IV supporter
during the insurrection. See secret report by Folkusházy, Lajos – Bengyel, Sándor: Az
1921. évi királylátogatás katonai műveleteinek leírása [The description of the military
maneuvers of the 1921 royal visit] Budapest, 1922, p. 189. It is also a decisive fact that
no court proceedings were started against Prónay. His Diary offers proof that he was a
supporter of Governor Horthy and would have joined the monarchists only after Horthy
had done so. Prónay requested that Horthy set up a court of honor where he can clear
his name of monarchist accusations. His defense documents, see Fogarassy, László:
Legitimista lett-e Prónay Pál a nyugat-magyarországi felkelés folyamán [Did Pál
Prónay become a legitimist during the Western Hungary insurrection]? In: Soproni
Szemle, 1990, issue 1, pp. 12–19. The court handed down its decision on March 11,
1922, finding that Prónay did not commit any acts “contrary to his oath to the Governor
or against the national interests.”
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