Béla Linder ( Majs, 10 February 1876 –

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, 15 April 1962), Hungarian

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

of Mihály Károlyi government,

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

of Dénes Berinkey government,

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

of Hungarian Soviet Republic based in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, finally the mayor of

Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...

during the period of Serb occupation.

Secretary of War for nine days

The father of Béla Linder was of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

origin, and was "part of the inner circle of Franz Ferdinand, and when the heir to the throne was assassinated, Linder was (…) kicked out of the military leadership staff". Presumably after this incident he was actively looking for contact with people who were seeking change. In 1918, during the so-called " Aster Revolution" his career suddenly rocketed from

status to Secretary of War on 31 October 1918. He swore to the government of Mihály Károlyi in front of the Hungarian Parliament on 2 November 1918. During the swearing-in ceremony (wearing a red tie) he spoke the infamous words: " aditions of a thousand years and slavery of a thousand years had to be demolished. Five years of war were needed, thousands and thousands of deaths were needed so that a new victorious life could emerge from it. This new victorious life is born under

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...

. (…) No need for armies anymore! I do not want to see any soldiers anymore! (…) Make an oath that you will bring up your children in such a way that the possibility of war is shut out!" The Hungarian Royal Honvéd army still had more than 1.400.000 soldiers when Mihály Károlyi was announced as prime minister of Hungary. Károlyi yielded to U.S. President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

's demand for

by ordering the unilateral self-disarmament of the Hungarian army. This occurred under Linder's direction as minister of war in the Károlyi government.Dixon J. C
''Defeat and Disarmament, Allied Diplomacy and Politics of Military Affairs in Austria, 1918–1922''
Associated University Presses 1986. p. 34.Sharp A
''The Versailles Settlement: Peacemaking after the First World War, 1919–1923''
Palgrave Macmillan 2008. p. 156. . Due to the full disarmament of its army, Hungary was to remain without a national defence at a time of particular vulnerability. Military and political events drastically and rapidly changed after the Hungarian disarmament. On 5 November 1918, the Serbian army, with the help of the French army, crossed southern borders. On 8 November, the Czechoslovak Army crossed the northern borders, and on 13 November, the Romanian army crossed the eastern borders of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. On 13 November, Károlyi signed an

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

with the Allied nations in

. It limited the size of the Hungarian army to six infantry and two cavalry divisions. Demarcation lines defining the territory to remain under Hungarian control were made. The lines would apply until definitive borders could be established. Under the terms of the armistice, Serbian and French troops advanced from the south, taking control of the

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

and Croatia. Czechoslovakia took control of

Upper Hungary Upper Hungary (, "Upland"), is the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia. The region has also been called ''Felső-Magyarország'' ( literally: "Upper Hungary"; ). During the ...

and

Carpathian Ruthenia Transcarpathia (, ) is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast. From the Hungarian Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, conquest of the Carpathian Basin ...

. Romanian forces were permitted to advance to the River Maros (Mureș) . However, on 14 November, Serbia occupied

.Breit J. ''Hungarian Revolutionary Movements of 1918–19 and the History of the Red War'' in ''Main Events of the Károlyi Era'' Budapest 1929. pp. 115–116. Referring to the negotiations with the

Entente Cordiale The Entente Cordiale (; ) comprised a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and the French Third Republic, French Republic which saw a significant improvement in Fr ...

, the Ministry of Military led by Linder sent a

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

to the Foreign Office on 6 November 1918 to order the German troops onto the banks of

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

and

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

, which they refused. Later the complete ''honvéds'' of the ex-Austrian-Hungarian army were asked to return and to hand over all weapons. This led to Hungary being totally defenseless. During the rule of Károlyi's pacifist cabinet, Hungary lost the control over approx. 75% of its former pre-WW1 territories (325 411 km²) without fight and was subject to foreign occupation.

Minister without portfolio

Criticised for his dilettantism, he resigned as Secretary of War on 9 November, but he kept his membership in the government. His task was to lead the negotiations for the preparations of the

peace treaty A peace treaty is an treaty, agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually country, countries or governments, which formally ends a declaration of war, state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an ag ...

. On 7 November there were already negotiations in

between the delegation led by Mihály Károlyi and the commander of eastern Entente troops, general Franchet d'Esperey. On 13 November, Linder signed the Armistice of Belgrade together with General Henrys (commander of French Eastern Army) and

voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

Živojin Mišić (commander general of the Serb army). During the period of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, he was engaged in numerous diplomatic moves as the

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

of the Ministry of Military in

(2 May – 5 August 1919).

Establishment of Serbian–Hungarian Baranya–Baja Republic, fleeing abroad

After the collapse of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, he joined the Socialist Party, and on 23 September 1920 he became the mayor of

. At this time Pécs was still occupied by the Serb army, even though there was a valid border agreement with Entente. Later he was the leader of the Pécs-Baranya Republic and on 14 August 1921 of the Baranya–Baja Serbian–Hungarian Republic. The latter republic was upheld for eight days, and its president was painter Petar Dobrović. When the Serb troops left the Baranya region for

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

on 14 August 1921, Linder joined them.

His remembrance

Linder lived in Yugoslavia till his death. The

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

and

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

's Yugoslavia honoured him for his activities in the unilateral self-disarmament of the Hungarian WW1 Honvéd army and for his role in the foundation of the Baranya–Baja Serbian–Hungarian Republic between 1918 and 1919, and he received state funeral and an honorary tomb in Belgrade. However, Hungarians condemn him as he had a significant part in the borders of the Republic of Hungary being set disadvantageously at the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...

and Hungary had no armies to counter the inordinate demands of the

Little Entente The Little Entente was an alliance formed in 1920 and 1921 by Czechoslovakia, Romania and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia from 1929 on) with the purpose of common defense against Hungarian revisionism and the prospect of ...

References

* Árpád Hornyák: "Nem akarok több katonát látni" : Linder Béla – Egy politikai kalandor portréja, ubicon 16. évf. 9. sz.
Romsics Ignác: Dalmáciai levelek
* Aladár Lászlóffy: "Linder Béla azt üzente" poem, A Hét, 1998/45. pp. 5. {{DEFAULTSORT:Linder, Bela 1876 births 1962 deaths People from Baranya County Jewish Hungarian politicians Hungarian soldiers Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Ministers of defence of Hungary Hungarian expatriates in Austria Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to Yugoslavia Military attachés