The Hungarian War 1919

Bela Kun, a Bolshevik sent to Hungary by Vladimir I. Lenin to foment a Communist revolution, established the Hungarian Communist Party on December 20, 1918. The party was part of a coalition government formed in March 1919 with Kun as its leader – after the previous government resigned on March 21st in protest to further Entente demands for territorial concessions – which was rapidly transformed into a Bolshevik-Communist dictatorship headed by Kun. However, Kun and his followers primarily appealed to Hungarian nationalism in his effort to raise a Hungarian Red Army and he promised this army would recover the lost territories of Slovakia and Transylvania for Hungary, with aid from the Bolsheviks in Russia.

On March 28, 1919, the Hungarian Red Army marched northward; it invaded and occupied a part of the Slovak territory of Czechoslovakia. This initial military success led to a Romanian intervention. Seeking to preempt Hungary from launching a similar invasion of Romanian-held Transylvania, as Kun had already threatened to do, Romania then invaded Hungary on April 16th. The Hungarian Red Army held the Romanians. Meanwhile, despite initial military success, Kun withdrew his troops from Slovakia about three weeks later when the French threatened to intervene. This concession shook his popular support. Kun then unsuccessfully turned the Hungarian Red Army on the Romanians. However, the army was demoralized and the Romanian army broke through the Hungarian lines on July 30th.

With Romanian forces nearing Budapest and counter-revolutionary forces threatening the regime, Kun fled to Vienna on August 1st; on August 4, 1919, the Romanians occupied Budapest, which they pillaged. The occupation ended on November 14, 1919. The leader of the counter-revolutionaries, Admiral Nicholas Horthy de Nagybanya entered the city and was appointed regent and head of state. The Treaty of Trianon, signed on June 4, 1920, confirmed Hungarian acceptance of the Versailles-St. Germain settlements. In the meantime, Kun fled to the Soviet Union, where he was ultimately executed during the purge of foreign communists (circa 1939) under the regime of Stalin.

References

Clodfelter, 620; COW112; Dupuy and Dupuy, 1091; Hungary - A Country Study; Kohn, 264.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

Eastern Europe

Belligerents

Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania

Dispute

Governance, Territory

Initiation Date

March 28, 1919

Termination Date

August 4, 1919

Duration

129 days

Outcome

Imposed Settlement
(Romanian victory)

Fatalities

Total: 11,000
Czechoslovakia: 2,000
Hungary: 6,000
Romania: 3,000

Magnitude

4.0