Battle of Pákozd

The Battle of Pákozd (or Battle of Sukoró) was a battle in the Hungarian war of Independence of 1848-1849, fought on the 29 September 1848 in the Pákozd – Sukoró – Pátka triangle. It was the first and one of the most important major battles of the war of independence, in which the Hungarian revolutionary army led by Lieutenant-General János Móga stopped the troops of the Croatian Ban Josip Jelačić, who, in accordance with the Habsburg plans, was marching towards Pest to occupy it and chase out the Hungarian national government. After the battle Lieutenant General Josip Jelačić concluded an armistice with the Hungarians, but then retreated towards Vienna. Thanks to this victory Hungary repulsed the first attempt of the Habsburg empire to put down the autonomous Hungarian government, and to restore its full control over the country. The Battle of Pákozd is one of the most remembered battles in Hungarian history,
which was undoubtedly due to the fact that between 1951-1991 the anniversary of this battle was the day of the Hungarian Army.

Background

After the Ottoman–Hungarian wars ended and the whole territory of the Kingdom of Hungary in personal union with Croatia was liberated from the Ottoman rule, between 1683-1699 by the coalition led by the Habsburgs Croatian (later Croatian-Slavonian) Ban represented the Habsburg monarch in this area ruling over Croat and Slavonian feudal counties. The Ban, who belonged to the highest ranking barons of the county, possessed his own jurisdiction and the institution of the Croat feudal Sabor..
developed from his judicial meetings. After the anti-Ottoman wars, the Military Border was established on most of the parts of Croat and Slavonian territories under military administration. However, not only did the Ban hold political supremacy over Croatian counties but, but as head of the Zagreb (Hung. Zágráb) Generalkommando, he was also the commander-in-chief of the Military Border of the Ban, and that of Varaždin (Hung. Varasd), and Karlovac (Hung. Károlyváros).

Serious political, religious, and ethnic tensions had strained Hungarian-Croatian relationships even before 1848. The idea of Illyrism influenced an important part of the Croatian public.. These ideas, the Croat version of Pan-Slavism, justly alarmed the Hungarian public which had been struggling with a vision of national death by drowning within a Slavic sea. Croatian public opinion, on the other hand, was irritated by Hungarian ambitions which included extending the use of the Hungarian language over all the major areas of legislation and of public administration. The purely catholic Croatia also protested against the equality of other Christian churches, propagated by the Hungarian liberals, who were in the head of the reform, and revolutionary movements of 1848, which aggravated all the above issues. Finally, Croatia’s representatives at most o f the reform parliamentary sessions supported the conservative government.

After March of 1848 the Croat liberals had two essential demands: to unite Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, the '' Hungarian Littoral'' (Rijeka and Bakar), and the Hungarian and Slavonian Military Frontier into the Triune Kingdom and to establish the right to communicate in Croatian with the Hungarian authorities. The office of the Ban had been empty since 1845, but the Hungarian revolution of 15 March 1848 and the appointment as Hungarian prime minister of the liberal Lajos Batthyány forced the Austrian authorities to appoint a Croatian Ban loyal to them. Baron Franz (Franjo) Kulmer proposed to the newly appointed Austrian Prime Minister that Baron Josip Jelačić, colonel of the 1st Border Guard Regiment of the Ban, be commissioned to this post. Austrian Prime Minister Kollowrat himself considered it important that a forceful, popular person loyal to the Empire should be appointed to this post before the independent Hungarian government, responsible to the parliament, would be appointed. The Emperor appointed Jelačić as Croatian Ban on March 23.. The following day the new Ban was promoted to major-general and head of Zágráb Generalkommando. On April 8 he was promoted to lieutenant general. Because of his paternal nature, Jelačić enjoyed great popularity among his subordinates. His excellent organizing ability and charisma soon won over a major part of the Croat public to his cause.

On April 19 the Hungarian government called Jelačić to Pest to discuss the details of his inauguration and questions about the Croatian provincial assembly; Jelačić declined. What is more, after arriving in Zágráb he severed all the connections between Hungary and Croatia. On April 25 he declared martial law and announced that civilian administration in Croatia, Slavonia, and on the Hungarian Littoral were under his jurisdiction. He tried to turn Croatian public opinion against the ongoing Hungarian socio-political transformation by referring to Croatian national injustices and by using national slogans. He announced the abolition of serfdom under his jurisdiction as if the April Laws of 1848 were not valid in Croatia. The Ban did not respond to Hungarian initiatives to negotiate. When, on the 10th of June the Emperor, at Hungarian demands, suspended him as Ban, Jelačić threw aside the monarch’s decree
saying that it could not have been His Majesty’s act or the Emperor must have done it under duress. The Hungarian government offered Croatia the option of a personal union with Hungary and then even secession, but all in vain since Jelačić demanded the same thing as Vienna—the surrender of independent Hungarian finances, defense, and trade.

Battle

On the morning of September 29, the Hungarian army had taken advantageous positions between the village of Pátka and the town of Velence. Jelačić's plan was to break the Hungarians' right flank at Pátka and then direct a concerted attack on the center, which he hoped would lead to the total annihilation of the enemy army. The battle began with Major General Kempen attacking the Hungarian positions at Pátka with 8,000 men and forcing the defenders to retreat after a brief battle. The Hungarian right wing, however, went on the counterattack and managed to stop the Austrian advance. Jelačić launched his main attack on the Hungarian center, which was repulsed. After consulting with Kempen, Jelačić began negotiations on a ceasefire while the Austrians withdrew from the battlefield, covered by artillery.

Aftermath

Although the battle ended in a Hungarian victory, the success was not used. A truce was concluded shortly afterwards and the Hungarians withdrew to Martonvásár. Jelačić, who was afraid of being surrounded, organized an orderly retreat towards Vienna. Despite the small size of the battle compared to future battles, the victory raised the morale of the Hungarian army that had managed to meet and defeat the emperor's troops.

In Hungary its anniversary (29 September) later became "National Defence Day" ( hu, "a honvédség napja"). In 1991 that day was changed to 21 May (the date of the recapture of Buda at the Battle of Buda (1849)).

References

Sources

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* Nobili, Johann. ''Hungary 1848: The Winter Campaign''. Edited and translated Christopher Pringle. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Ltd., 2021.
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External links

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Video animation about the Battle of Pákozd

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Pakozd
Pakozd 1848
Pakozd 1848
Military history of Hungary
Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Fejér County
Pakozd 1848