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

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his co-nationals in the Vend region. Tkálecz proclaimed the Vend region<br />

country to make use <strong>of</strong> it for his personal ends and to avoid the looming<br />

reckoning with the leadership <strong>of</strong> the Hungarian Soviet Republic. Thus, there<br />

can be no doubt that the Mura Republic did not, in fact, reflect a yearning for<br />

independence by the Vends living along the Mura River or express their wish to<br />

join the Kingdom <strong>of</strong> Serbs-Croats-Slovenes, as some Slovenian historians and<br />

other researchers fondly suggest.<br />

Regarding the assistance expected from Austria mentioned in his telegram to<br />

Béla Kun, Tkálecz got in touch with Austrian circles the following day, May<br />

30. He told them that he was expecting the promised aid. With it, he prepared<br />

his escape route because he was barely involved with subsequent events. He<br />

sent his wife and easily portable valuables to Graz. 153 He simply abandoned the<br />

Mura Republic to its fate.<br />

<strong>The</strong> main armed force <strong>of</strong> this new ‘country’ was a unit that consisted <strong>of</strong><br />

about 300 men, with a few machine guns, stationed in Muraszombat and<br />

commanded by Captain Jenő Perneczky. <strong>The</strong> captain was known for leading the<br />

‘Battle <strong>of</strong> Muraszombat’ five months earlier, on January 3, 1919 when his<br />

soldiers expelled the Serb forces from the center <strong>of</strong> the Vend region. Perneczky<br />

also assumed command <strong>of</strong> the armed forces stationed in the region. Tkálecz<br />

was able to secure the loyalty <strong>of</strong> the Muraszombat garrison, <strong>of</strong>ficers and men,<br />

by his promise that, through the mediation <strong>of</strong> Count Szapáry, he would obtain<br />

significant monies from the anti-revolutionary Anti-Bolshevista Comité <strong>of</strong><br />

Vienna, and military support from the Graz arm <strong>of</strong> the Austrian Christian<br />

Democratic Party. 154 However, due to the expected overwhelming force, the<br />

army <strong>of</strong> the Mura Republic was expected to hold out for only two days. Tkálecz<br />

attempted to obtain the good-will <strong>of</strong> the commanders <strong>of</strong> the Serb-Croat military<br />

forces camped on the far side <strong>of</strong> the Mura River but was turned away.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Revolutionary Governing Council <strong>of</strong> Budapest and the Military<br />

Commissariat ordered Red Army units to the Vend region from Zalaegerszeg<br />

and Győr to, as they called it, restore order. <strong>The</strong> clashes began on May 31 at the<br />

settlement <strong>of</strong> Mátyásdomb, approx. 15 kms. North <strong>of</strong> Muraszombat. Another<br />

Red unit advanced from Alsólendva toward the center <strong>of</strong> the Vend region,<br />

while the third unit <strong>of</strong> the commune forces started moving against the Mura<br />

Republic from the Gyanafalva/Jennersdorf area, close to the border. <strong>The</strong> forces<br />

under Captain Perneczky were, by this time, retreating toward the Hungarian-<br />

Styrian border. Not long afterwards, they merged into the Hungarian unit being<br />

organized under Colonel Lehár in the Styrian town <strong>of</strong> Feldbach.<br />

<strong>The</strong> units <strong>of</strong> the Proletarian Dictatorship entered Muraszombat on the<br />

morning <strong>of</strong> June 3, where they met no opposition. Thus, the existence <strong>of</strong> the<br />

153 Göncz, op. cit., p. 59.<br />

154 Fogarassy, László: A magyar–délszláv kapcsolatok katonai története <strong>1918</strong>–<strong>1921</strong><br />

[<strong>The</strong> military history <strong>of</strong> Hungarian-South Slav relations]. In: Baranyai Helytörténetírás<br />

1985–1986. Pécs, 1986, pp. 537–574. (Baranyai Levéltári Füzetek 71. Szám / Baranya<br />

Archives pamphlet #71)<br />

67

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