| The Apostolic Empire |
| Hungary's War Aims During World War I, 1914-1918 |
| Part I: The Apostolic Kingdom in Jeopardy-1914 The Apostolic Kingdom of Hungary celebrated 1,000 years of existence in 1896. It was a turbulent history, complete with both triumph and conquest on the one hand and subjugation and partition on the other. Hungary can be said to have reached the zenith of prosperity and security following the formation of the Dual Monarchy in 1867, and maintaining this privileged position was the key to every minister's job from then on. This prevented ministers from changing Hungary's feudalistic government in a time when a social revolution was threatening to overwhelm the system. The problem of Hungary's policy was it's coronation clause: the king of Hungary was bound by oath to preserve and, wherever possible, increase the territory of the Apostolic Kingdom. In the minds of its ministers, where the Magyar foot tread was candidate for inclusion into the Apostolic Kingdom. As the years of war passed, the claims of Hungary increased, until most of eastern Europe lay at the foot of the Throne of Hungary. But, were these fantastic claims feasible? Would the other members of the Quadruple Alliance accept such claims? Would there be any chance of negotiated peace while the Hungarian ministers pushed these claims relentlessly? Following the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the dual governments of Austria-Hungary agreed that some solution to the Serbian question had to be accomplished; however, each government had a different solution in mind. Austria's chancellor, Graf von Stürgkh, agreed with the Imperial cabinet to wage a war of annihilation against Serbia, while Hungary's premier, Istvan Tisza, was completely alone in advocating a diplomatic isolation to pressure Serbia into cleaning its own house. Tisza was opposed to annexing any Serbian territory for fear that the population of the Empire would become too unbalanced in the Slavs' favour. For example, the very suggestion by Foreign Minister Leopold von Berchtold that the Sanjak of Novi Pazar should be annexed brought heated discussion even after war had been agreed upon by Tisza. Though the Sanjak was thinly populated and mountainous, its strategic location separating Serbia from Montenegro was potential dynamite--if Russia was good enough to sit by and allow the Austrians to wage war against Serbia, they certainly would not sit by and allow them to gain such an obvious strategic advantage with future repercussions on the region. [Novi Pazar was the Foreign Minister's suggestion, but there were others; Chief of Staff Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf thought the whole of Serbia should be annexed to "end the problem once and for all," while lesser figures in the army merely thought the Macva region in the extreme northeastern part of Serbia would suffice; no matter which wasy Serbia was to be sliced, the portion was going to be too Slavic for Hungary to swallow.] By July 31, all that was mooted with the Russian mobilisation. War had come and with it a dramatic shift in Hungary's war aims. Originally, the Magyar [meaning Tisza's] intention was to leave Serbia whole in order to appease the Russians in any separate settlement. Following the Battles of the Carpathians [Russia's big push to invade the plains and conquer Hungary], however, Hungarian hostility grew to such proportions as to make any settlement difficult, if not impossible. Therefore: Defense of the Apostolic Kingdom was uppermost in the minds of the Hungarian ministers. Bosnia-Herzegovina and Austrian crownlands of Galicia-Lodomeria and Bukowina were subject to invasion and destruction by foreign armies, and naturally there was support in Budapest for their expulsion, as any occupation of these lands immediately threatened Hungary. However, there was never so great a cry as that from Budapest whenever an enemy skirmished into Hungary itself. Part II. The Apostolic Kingdom is Threatened When Serbia's General Putnik launched his brief, daring [and subsequently disastrous] invasion of Syrmia in the first week of September 1914, Premier Tisza brought great pressure on Chief of Staff Conrad von Hötzendorf to repel the invasion with all due haste. Tisza's worry was that the Serbs of the Vojvodina would rebel and open the whole of Southern Hungary to Serbian invasion. It was not an unreasonable assertion--however, the demand came at a critical time when Conrad was trying to turn the Russian invasion of western Galicia. Przemysl was under siege; Conrad wanted to relieve the fortress and prevent the Russians from seizing the Carpathian passes. Tisza managed to get enough troops diverted from the critical front and the Serbians were flung back across the river Save. But Conrad had to wait until November to launch a counteroffensive, and lost a month of warm [if rainy] weather in which to try to turn the Russian steamroller. During the fearsome Battles of the Carpathians during the winter of 1914-1915, the Hungarians managed to spread a certain propaganda--among the military and civilians alike--that, should the Russians seize the passes and reach the Hungarian plain, there would be no stopping them and the war would be lost. Considering the shape of the battles raging across the flat plains of Poland, this was a fabrication. Conrad attempted to alleviate Magyar worries by suggesting that any invasion of Hungary over the passes could be halted at any of the great rivers, such as the Theiss. Tisza shot back that any invasion of Hungary would cause the Roumanians to declare war in order to seize Transylvania, and then what rivers would stop a Russian-Roumanian pincer? By March 1915, Przemysl had surrendered and all the Carpathian passes had fallen into Russian hands, but at such a cost, that the Russians had no strength to launch an offensive into Hungary itself. General August von Mackensen began the great Eastern offensive on the Dunajec in May 1915, and ended all Russian threat to Hungary itself. Once the Russians had been rolled back over the passes and Serbia had been bled white in recapturing Belgrade, Hungary's anxiety over its territorial integrity abated, and the Magyars focused more on augmenting their kingdom with the spoils of war. Part III. Reclaiming Medieval Glory The Quadruple Alliance had occupied Serbia by the end of 1915. A partition scheme was laid out, whereby Bulgaria annexed not only all of Serbian Macedonia but also all of Serbia east of the river Morava. This gave the Bulgars a common frontier with Hungary. The remainder of Serbia was placed under a military government, and included Serbia west of the Morava, as well as the Sanjak of Novi Pazar and Kossovo. The occupying powers were particularly ruthless culturally, as the Bulgarians forced all Serbs in their zone to "Bulgarise" their surnames and to speak and read Bulgarian in public and in schools. In the rest of Serbia, the cultural terms were more lax, but until 1917 all of the schools taught students to read and speak German. Thereafter, a remarkable change occurred in K.u.K.-occupied Serbia. Hungarian was made the official language not only in schools but also in public. This was a radical change in the official military policy, since it dictated that German be the formal language, at least in military affairs. It would appear that the Hungarian government was urging a settlement of the Serbian question sooner rather than later. Bulgaria's Tsar Ferdinand laid claim in early 1917 to both Vranje "triangle" in southern Serbia and Kossovo. Foreign Minister Istvan Burian no doubt wished to end the Serbian question by another partition of Serbia, but between Bulgaria and Hungary. Hungary's claim dated to the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, when the defeated Turks surrendered rump Serbia to the victorious Habsburgs. This annexation lasted only twenty years [until the Turks defeated both Habsburgs AND Romanovs] and was primarily a military frontier and not attached to Hungary per se. However, the Magyars considered it sufficient to invoke historical destiny and annex Serbia to the Apostolic Kingdom as a means of solving a perplexing problem. Part IIII. Trading Lands as in a Chess Game The Question of Serbia's disposal raised the issue of Bosnia-Herzegovina and its future. From the time of its occupation in 1878 through the annexation from 1908, Bosnia and Herzegovina were officially held--in the feudal sense of the word--by both Austria and Hungary. The Imperial Finance Minister was responsible for civil administration even though the army enforced the laws. However, by May 1916 the issue of Bosnia-Herzegovina's disposal came up in Hungary and never quite went away. At the very end of that month, Conrad launched his much-anticipated invasion of Italy from the Tirol. As this event unfolded, the Magyars asked about what would happen if Austria-Hungary received a favourable peace from the Italians? Ever since 1859 and then 1866, Kaiser Franz Josef had longed to restore the lost kingdoms of Lombardy-Venezia to the Empire. This dream was not merely his own: most Austrian leaders considered this an inevitability, and even Franz Ferdinand, who sought to reorganise the Empire, confided in Conrad that war with Italy would be necessary and that "we must return Lombardy-Venezia to Austria-Hungary!" The Magyars therefore wondered whether it was possible that, upon the defeat of Italy, Hungary should annex Bosnia-Herzegovina while Austria annexed Lombardy-Venezia? Unfortunately for them, Conrad's offensive petered out on the edge of the Asiago Plateau under fierce Italian resistance, and Russia's General Alexei Brussilow launched his great offensive at Lutsk. No conquest of Lombardy-Venezia was possible that year, and the issue remained on the back-burner for some time. The interesting thing was, from this point on the Magyars started courting prominent Croatian leaders with a view of jointly ruling these various South Slav peoples and provinces under the Crown of the Apostolic Kingdom. A year earlier, this would have been impossible, but the apparent forthcoming expansion of Hungary into South Slav territory would have made it impossible for the Magyars to rule it alone. They reinforced the 900 year-old union of the crowns of Croatia and Hungary, and expressed hope that such a union would never be broken. To strengthen this claim, the Magyars promised to solve the Dalmatian question in the Croatians' favour. Dalmatia, Austria's long, coastal crownland, was claimed by the Diet of Croatia-Slavonia. If the Austrians surrendered Dalmatia to them, it would naturally fall to the Hungarians. Furthermore, the Magyars claimed Dalmatia as being part of the Apostolic Kingdom, for in XI. and XII. centuries, Dalmatia was a part of Croatia and thus under Hungary's Crown [key coastal areas were taken from King Bela III by Venice before the Fourth Crusade]. Historical destiny dictated Hungary's claims again. The Magyars promised that the Croatians would have their unified kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia in exchange for coöperation in maintaining the other parts of the future expanded Apostolic Kingdom. These questions lay on the side, however, as the battles raged all along the edges of the Empire. Part V. Peril Renewed through an Ancient Feudatory The Brussilow Offensive had an effect on the Roumanians' attitudes. In 1916, old King Carol had died, and with him the last vestiges of fidelity to the Central Powers also died. His son, Ferdinand, considered the Secret Alliance worthless as compared to the potential riches of Hungary's provinces. All King Ferdinand and his premier Ion Bratianu needed was an opportune moment to attack Hungary--that and sufficient Russian manpower and material aid. Finally, Roumania entered the war in late August once Bucharest had gotten its promises from an increasingly frustrated Petrograd, but it was too late to benefit from Brussilow's offensive. The Austro-German and Turkish forces were already driving the Russians back to their original points when the Roumanians crossed the passes of the Transylvanian Alps. The Hungarians panicked as they had never panicked before! Even the Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany proclaimed "The War is Lost!" Tisza pounded the tables in Budapest, shouting that the counteroffensive in Galicia stop so as to drive the Roumanians out of Transylvania. When Conrad dithered, Tisza pointed out that the whole harvest was in danger of falling into the enemy's hands, and the whole Empire would starve. The Germans were not slow to respond to this new threat. Indeed, when it had been learned that King Ferdinand had pronounced: "Once I conquered the Hohenzollern inside me, I knew no more fear!" the Germans were propelled into defeating this upstart invader. They dispatched Mackensen to Bulgaria and Erich von Falkenhayn to the Banat, where German troops gleaned from Verdun were assembled to help the Austrians expel the Roumanians. Since the Russians did not send troops or ordnance as they had promised, the numerous but badly equipped Roumanians were halted and then pushed not only out of Transylvania, but out of their own principality of Wallachia, which made up two-thirds of Roumania. By the end of December 1916, a stable front had been established, and the Hungarians began inquiring as to the fate of Wallachia. The Germans were not interested in Austria-Hungary's designs on Roumania. They wanted a stable Roumania which could be a member of the Central Powers as it was before the war. However, the Hungarians invoked historical destiny, and claimed Wallachia as a lost province. In this case, they had two occasions to refer back to: the first was that Wallachia was a long-time feudatory to the medieval Hungary, from the XI. century until conquest by the Turks. The second was once again the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, which gave the Habsburgs that part of Wallachia west of the River Olt, the Transoltenia. In claiming Wallachia as historical territory of the Apostolic Kingdom, the Magyars ran afoul not only of the Germans, but also the Bulgarians. Roumania's coastal province of northern Dobruja was claimed by the tsar Ferdinand, while the Magyars demanded a Black Sea border. Tiring of this, Mackensen managed to keep northern Dobruja under his military government, suggesting that the solution to the problem lay at the peace table, not on the blackened field of battle. The disposal of Roumania was to play significantly in Austria-Hungary's planned settlement with Russia in the winter of 1916. This settlement would be jeopardised by Hungary historical claims in more ways than one. Part VI. Origin of a Grand Spiritual Entity: The Angevin Empire In the winter of 1916, the Quadruple Alliance dispatched a series of peace notes urging an end to the war. Russia would be called on to make some sacrifices. This generally killed the whole peace note process, but the Austrians were prepared to make sacrifices of their own. It was suggested on more than one occasion that in exchange for Poland, the Russians should be ceded Eastern Galicia and at least northern Bukowina. After the conquest of Wallachia, the Austrians went so far as to suggest the Russians annex Moldavia, the other part of Roumania that had not been conquered by the Quadruple Alliance by was now under Russian occupation. This plan fell afoul of many different groups. The Germans did not like the plan because it partitioned Roumania beyond repair and it suggested that Austria should annex Poland. The Poles didn't like the idea of the loss of Eastern Galicia, and many others complained of surrendering it after millions of soldiers had been killed, wounded, or captured for it. Most surprisingly of all, the Hungarians opposed it because it conflicted with their historical destiny--they had a claim to Galicia, one far better than the Russians. With that, the Magyars vetoed any attempt by the Austrians to trade Galicia for some other Polish land, and reminded newly-crowned King Karl of his duty to preserve and where possible increase the lands of Apostolic Hungary. With that, Hungary had "first dibs" to Galicia, ahead of the Russians! Where did Hungary's claim to Galicia come from? In the late middle ages, the great Piast line of Kings in Poland beginning with Mieszko I came to an end, and an Angevin was elected to the thone. This same ruler happened to become King of Hungary as well. For a short period, both lands were one gigantic Empire in the heart of Europe. Furthermore, an Angevin had been King of Bohemia only a few years before, and the Angevin Charles Robert laid a 700 year claim for all three thrones by whomever happened to hold one or another. Two centuries later, the Habsburgs picked up Bohemia and Hungary while Poland went its own way. It is feasible that "the Angevin Theory" was the basis of Hungary's attempts to meddle in all the affairs of Austria, and an excuse to keep the status quo for Apostolic Hungary itself. In fact, by this historical claim, Hungary could veto any attempt by Austria to reform Bohemia and Moravia, which tended to be their most important crownlands. At the beginning of the war, there was a rumour circulating that when Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany visited Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Konopischt two weeks before the latter's assassination at Sarajevo, it was not to tour the Archduke's famous rose garden, but to plan the future of the Dual Monarchy. It was suggested that the Kaiser wanted to wage a war against Russia, seize Poland, and unify it to Bohemia and Hungary, which Franz Ferdinand would then rule. The Kaiser would get the German provinces of Austria for himself. A rumour further circulated that Habsburg agents were responsible for assassinating the Archduke to prevent this plan from ever occurring. The rumour is false [Franz Ferdinand was extremely anti-Magyar], but it suggested the resurrection of the ephemeral Angevin Empire. What is interesting is how the Hungarians failed to realise that their "Angevin Empire" claim could conceivably work against them. Kaiser Karl, as the king of Bohemia, could veto any Hungarian demands; however, it was unlikely to happen, as the Hungarians could create a severe crisis any time they wished, while the Bohemian kingdom was a suppressed entity in the Austrian Empire. The upshot: politically speaking, Austria needed Hungary, but Hungary did not need Austria. Part VII. The Road of Bitterness Uncoils Before Them By mid-1917, the Hungarians felt strong enough to push for at least a partial realisation of their "Angevin Empire" dream. That summer, the 10-year customs union between Austria and Hungary was up for renewal, as was the 50-year union of the two monarchies. Kaiser Karl attempted to open the Austrian parliament in preparation for the intense and often crisis-provoking negotiations that happened during the last few customs-union negotiations. The "delegations," as they were called, were intended by Franz Ferdinand to become a future unified parliament for whatever shape the Empire would take. However, the opening of the Austrian parliament was a farce as the various nationals demanded autonomy and brought any hope of a unified stand against the Hungarians to an end. Karl closed the parliament and asked the Hungarians for a suspension on all negotiations between the two parts until the war ended. For this price, the Magyars demanded quite a lot. For one, they demanded that no occupied territories should be disposed by the military or the Foreign Office without the express approval from the Hungarian parliament! This was a direct invasion into the affairs of the Imperial cabinet. The Finance Minister, Alexander von Spitzmüller demanded that customs union negotiations occur only every twenty years instead of ten, but for this the Hungarians expected the Austrians to pay an even higher percentage into the annual budget than expected, as well as guarantee loans to strengthen Hungarian industry and reduce manufactured goods imported from Austria. Effectively, Hungary was trying to win its independence from Austria at Austria's expense. All the while these arguments were passing back and forth, the war dragged on with a toll being taken on the patience of the soldiers and the tempers of the nationalist leaders. The Peace of Bucharest, finally signed in May 1918 by the humbled Ion Bratianu, gave Hungary neither the Dobruja and its coastline, nor historical Wallachia, nor even Transoltenia. The peace gave a more realistic strip about 12 km deep all along the Hungarian-Roumanian frontier, guaranteeing that Hungary would have the best defensive positions in the future [though they already had before the war]. By mid-1918, the Quadruple Alliance was at the height of its conquests, but the bitter end was close at hand. As the Western Front strained under the counteroffensives of the Entente, it was quite apparent to the Hungarians that their dreams of an "Apostolic Empire" stretching from the Vistula to the Dniester to the Vardar to the Leitha rivers was in serious jeopardy. The territorial status quo had been maintained in both halves of the Empire because the continual shifts in war diplomacy never gave them a chance to make good on their ambitions. Perhaps the administration of the schools in Serbia were the only advance made by the Apostolic Kingdom in this period. In October of 1918, Kaiser Karl made a weak attempt to hold his Empire together by proclaiming that Austria should be a federal Empire with autonomy for each of the crownlands. This did not include Hungary. In fact, the Hungarians actually threatened to secede from the Empire and make a separate peace if Karl pushed his programme forward. It was a moot point, however. While Kaiser Karl was pushing his "Federal Austria," Tisza, no longer Premier, was dispatched to speak with the various South Slav leaders in Croatia-Slavonia and other lands. He offered them a Hungarian solution to the problem. Apparently, it was the old formula of a unified Croatian state under the Crown of Hungary. Presumably, he also offered a widening of the narrow electoral franchise, which might actually have allowed non-Magyars to sit in the parliament at Budapest. Tisza's offers were met with blank refusal. None of the Croatians or Bosnians patronised his offers, and with the advance of the Serbian Army up the Vardar river from Salonika, there was no chance of any settlement with the Serbs short of evacuating occupied Serbia. Thus, on November 1, the Hungarians sought a separate peace with the Entente, and so began the systematic partition of the Apostalic Kingdom of Hungary. There was no king in Budapest to try to preserve or where possible increase the territories of the Kingdom. The "Angevin Empire" or "Apostalic Empire," whichever the case may be, was a dream never to be dreamt again. GWS, 4/00 [Rev. 1/05] |