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Revolutions and Border Wars in the Former Austro-Hungarian Empire
In the aftermath of the First World a group of newly independent nations were formed, mostly from the collapsed Austro-Hungarian Empire. In addition Romania, which had joined the Entente powers but then been almost totally occupied by the Germans, Poland, which had regained its independence at the cost of Germany, Austro-Hungary and Russia and Serbia, each had their own own share of demands.
The chronology makes clear just how confused this period was. Several of the newly independent states were formed in the last days of the war, before the official Austro-Hungarian armistice. There were civil wars, revolutions and border clashes, and even one major conquest. To confuse things further, the victorious Entente powers had their own idea of what should happen next, and frequently intervened.
Each of the new states formed their armies in different ways. In Austria we see an attempt to form a new militia, using some of the old Imperial army. In Czechoslovakia the core was ‘foreign legions’, Czechoslovaks fighting for Italy, France and Russia, who soon returned to their newly independent homeland. Most old Imperial units based in the area happily joined the Czechoslovak army.
In Hungary a Bolshevik government took power and raised a new Red Army, at first without using officers from the old Imperial army, but this changed after the Romanians invaded. A rival Hungarian National Army was led by Admiral Horthy (Hungarian dictator during the Second World War).
The formation of Yugoslavia was suitably confused, with the Army of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs formed in the former Hapsburg areas, while the Kingdom of Serbia regained its independence. When the two merged they formed the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. As in Hungary the initial aim was to avoid old Imperian officers, but this quickly had to be relaxed.
The Romanians were rebuilding the army that had suffered a crushing defeat after their entry into the war in 1916, but was given some new weapons by the Entente powers.
We then move on to the weapons in use. This section is rather easier, as most of these new armies used equipment from the former Austro-Hungarian Army, so the Mannlicher M1895 rifle, Schwarzlose machine gun, Austro-Hungarian artillery and even armoured trains were common.
The Operations section is the largest part of the book. We start with the Carinthia War, triggered by a Slovenian uprising in south Austria. This evolved into a wider war when Serbia took over the Slovene, Croat and Serb state. Here the outcome was decided externally, when the Entente powers ordered the Serbs out and held a plebiscite where the locals voted to remain with Austria.
Hungary suffered the most chaos. We start with the Hungarian People’s Republic, led by Count Mihaly Karolyi, a pacifist opposed to the formation of any army (this idea didn’t last!). The big problem was that Romania wanted Transylvania, which had a Romanian majority. The Romanians initially advanced as far as the line agreed in the armistice, but then invaded the rest of Transylvania.This helped trigger the fall of Karolyi and the rise of Bela Kun’s Communist regime. The Romanians advanced even further. In the summer of 1919 Bela Kun ordered a counterattack, which went very wrong, and ended with the Romanians occupying Budapest. The fall of Bela Kun led to the rise of Horthy and his right wing forces.
Hungary was also soon involved in a war with Czechoslovakia, which ended with the Hungarians giving in to their demands.
The most famous Polish military exploit of this period was their defeat of a Soviet invasion, but they were also involved in a border conflict with Czechoslovakia.
One unfamiliar part of the story are the attempts by the last Austro-Hungarian Emperor, Charles I of Austria/ Karoly IV of Hungary, to regain power. He made two attempts in 1921, the second of which saw him raise a small army, and even reach the outskirts of Budapest before giving up after a short battle.
This is a handy overview of this very confused period, in which the various nationalist claims to parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire triggered a series of minor conflicts and one potentially major war (Hungary-Romania), before a mix of exhaustion and outside pressure ended most of the conflicts.
Chapters
Chronology
Armies and Uniforms
Weaponry in Central European Armies
Operations
Select Bibliography
Author: Philip Jowett
Edition: Paperback
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Publisher: Osprey
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