The "Rongyos Gárda" (, Scrubby or Ragged Guards) were a non-regular

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

unit in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, active in 1921 then reestablished in 1938. The Treaties of Trianon and Saint-Germain, which concluded the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, awarded a stretch of land (

Burgenland Burgenland (; ; ; Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland''; Slovene language, Slovene: ''Gradiščanska''; ) is the easternmost and least populous Bundesland (Austria), state of Austria. It consists of two statutory city (Austria), statut ...

) with mixed Hungarian but mainly ethnic German population to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. However, during August 1921 when Austrian police and customs officers attempted to occupy the area, their efforts were thwarted by armed resistors organised by the Rongyos Gárda. The Guards were a

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

of Hungarian volunteers, many of them former soldiers of the anti-communist detachments that fought alongside Horthys National Army. They were led by captain

Pál Prónay Pál Prónay de Tótpróna et Blatnicza (November 2, 1874 – 1947 or 1948) was a Hungarian reactionary and paramilitary commander in the years following the First World War. He is considered to have been the most brutal of the Hungarian Nation ...

. The name Scrubby Guards reflected the fact that they were a non-governmental force. The Guards' primary goal was to reduce the land loss after the 1920

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 ...

. First they proclaimed a new country between

and Hungary, the

Lajtabánság Lajtabánság (; ), or the Banate of Leitha, was a short-lived western Magyars, Hungarian state in the region where the Austrian States of Austria, federal state of Burgenland now exists. It existed between 4 October and 10 November 1921, foll ...

, supposedly ruled by their commander, Pál Prónay. At the same time they launched a series of attacks to oust the Austrian forces that entered the area. After the clashes, Sopron's status as part of Hungary (along with that of the surrounding eight villages) was decided by a local

plebiscite A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...

held on December 14, 1921, with 65% voting for Hungary. Since then Sopron has been called ''Civitas Fidelissima'' ("The Most Loyal Town", ), and the anniversary of the plebiscite is a city holiday. The Guards were reorganised in 1938 on the eve of Hungarian-Czechoslovak negotiations, which took place between October 9 and October 13, 1938, in

Komárno Komárno (, , ), colloquially also called ''Révkomárom'', ''Öregkomárom'', ''Észak-Komárom'' in Hungarian language, Hungarian, is a town in Slovakia at the confluence of the Danube and the Váh rivers. Historically it was formed by the "old ...

aiming to resolve the territorial conflict between the two sides. The guerillas began to infiltrate into southern Slovakia and Ruthenia. The military pressure contributed to the decision of the Czechoslovak government to accept an international arbitration to solve the territorial dispute. The historic role of the Scrubby Guards is disputed. Some historians claim they were saviors of Hungarian land, the only ones fighting the Trianon Peace Pact's dictations. During the communist rule they were depicted as savage terrorists, who killed innocent people. Parts from Pál Prónays diary were published during the 1960s in order to disseminate these views. The first books about their activity were only published after 1989. The existence of the Guards was rarely mentioned in Hungarian textbooks before the millennium.

Notable members

References

*Bela Bodo: Paramilitary violence in Hungary after the first world war. East European Quarterly, June, 2004. *Bálint István János: A Rongyos Gárda harcai, 1919-1939, Magyar Ház könyvek, Budapest, 1999. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rongyos Garda Paramilitary organisations based in Hungary Anti-communism in Hungary Anti-communist organizations Military history of Hungary 1921 in Austria Military history of Ukraine 1921 in Hungary 1938 in Hungary 1938 in Slovakia 20th century in Ukraine Defunct paramilitary organizations

Notable members

See also

References