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

November did not exceed 4,000. (…) The situation of the Czech army
improved considerably when units arrived from the Italian and French fronts,
the Czechoslovak Legions made up of soldiers and deserters.” 44 According to
the Dec. 7, 1918 official data of the Czech-Slovak forces, according to Prague
headquarters, the Slovak portion of the force which attacked Northern Hungary
was, in total: 6,788 men, 317 officers, 41 cavalry, 158 engineers (7,304 in
total), 75 machine guns, 4 cannons, 1 armored train, and three airplanes. For the
occupation of Northern Hungary, North of the zone from the Czech/Moravian
border, from Dévény along the Danube through Vác – Gyöngyös –
Mezőkövesd – Miskolc – Tokaj – Sátoraljaújhely – Ungvár – along the Ung
River to the Uzsok Pass and up to the Hungarian-Polish border, an area of
approx. 60,000 km 2 , the Czech-Slovak military order-of-battle counted on
8,300 men and 50 horses. 45
Romania: According to the latest archival sources, the Romanian forces
which made a surprise attack on Transylvania at the end of the first week of
November, 1918 – without a declaration of war – were badly equipped, without
logistical support (thus the starving forces robbed and looted daily) 46 was
estimated at 4-5,000. 47 This datum is partially misleading as the size of the
Royal Romanian forces that attacked Transylvania could, in the following week
or two, swell to double or triple with the addition of disorganized, and of little
military value, local Romanian guards and armed irregulars. The main
objective, initially, was the conquest of about two-thirds of Transylvania (about
38,500 km 2 ) up to the line of demarcation as detailed in the armistice document
signed in Belgrade on Nov. 13, 1918. The line ran along the Maros River up to
the headwaters of the Greater Szamos River. This meant that the Royal
Romanian Army could, with no obstacles, take possession of areas South and
East of the Maros River from Arad, from Marosvásárhely (Tirgu Mureş) North
to the county seat of Beszterce (Bistrița), from there to the headwaters of the
Greater Szamos River, turning East to the eastern Carpathian Radnai Pass. The
Belgrade agreement meant that Romanian forces were free to march into, and
occupy all of, Krassó-Szörény, Szeben, Kis-Küküllő, Fogaras, Nagy-Küküllő,
Brassó, Maros-Torda, Csík, Udvarhely, Háromszék counties, as well as lesser
or greater portions of Hunyad, Alsó-Fehér, Beszterce-Naszód and Kolozs
44 Incze, Kálmán: Háborúk a nagy háború után. A béke háborúi [Wars after the Great
War. The wars of the peace] Vol. I. Budapest, 1938, pp. 27–28.
45 Hronský, Marián: Priebeh vojenského obsadzovania Slovenska československým
vojskom od novembra 1918 do januára 1919 [The occupation of Slovakia by the Czech
military from Nov. 1918 to Jan. 1919]. In: Historický časopis, 1984, iss. 5, pp. 734–
755. Kiad. Honvéd Hagyományőrző Egyesület, Budapest, 1993, p. 21.
46 Raffay, Ernő: Erdély 1918–1919-ben [Transylvania in 1918-1919]. Szeged, 1988, pp.
138, 141, 331, 336, 340, 352, 358–359.
47 Fráter, Olivér: Erdély román megszállása 1918–1919 [Romanian occupation of
Transylvania 1918-1919]. Logos Grafikai Műhely. Tóthfalu (Vajdaság), 1999, p. 47;
Eördögh, István: Erdély román megszállása (1916–1920) [Romanian occupation of
Transylvania (1916-1920]. Szeged, 2000.
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