Battle of Budaörs
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| Battle of Budaörs Budaörsi csata | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Charles I of Austria's attempts to retake the throne of Hungary | |||||||
 University students on the battlefield | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Loyalist volunteer militias | Regentist forces | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Charles IV of Hungary Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek Antal Lehár |
Miklós Horthy Pál Nagy Gyula Gömbös | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 2,000, mainly loyalist soldiers of Ostenburg-Moravek and some local garrison forces | 6,000, initially volunteer forces including some 400 university students | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown, at least 14?[1] | 19 dead, 62 wounded | ||||||
The Battle of Budaörs was a minor armed clash on 23–24 October 1921 between the governmental forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and the loyalist forces of Charles IV of Hungary, who tried to reclaim the throne of Hungary[2] after his resignation in 1918.
In the first section of the fight, the loyalist forces led by Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek captured the city as well as the near village of Budafok, but later in the late evening, the governmental forces' counterattack successfully surrounded the attackers, and disarmed them, later capturing Charles himself on 25 October in Tata, forcing him to give up his claims. Following the victory, the government led by István Bethlen officially stated the dethroning of the Habsburg dynasty.
After the Treaty of Trianon, seeing the political instability in both Hungary and Austria, Charles wanted to restore his reign on his former subject countries. Without warning his supporters, he appeared in Hungary on 27 March 1921. Being a peaceful politician, he wanted to discuss his return with the actual leaders of Hungary, Prime Minister Pál Teleki - a loyalist himself - and Regent Miklós Horthy. This time, Horthy was able to convince Charles that the Little Entente wouldn't tolerate the restoration of the Habsburg dynasty and that the country would end up in a military intervention. Charles left the country on 5 April, when Horthy ordered Antal Lehár to bring him back on the border.
After this, Charles' trust in Horthy was gone, and he started to plan a military coup to regain his former position. He returned in mid-October, when, as a result of the Uprising in West Hungary, a large amount of loyalist military person was shown up in the western part of the country, but after the Referendum of Sopron, he had to hurry up before the disbanding and homecoming of these people. On 20 October, he crossed the border, and started to recruit soldiers. On 22 October, a train full of soldiers departed towards Budapest. After the warning of the Little Entente states of an upcoming military intervention if Charles won't be stopped, Horthy ordered armed resistance. Charles' slowness significantly helped him: he stopped in every major city, taking the greetings, and the soldiers' oath. It is believed that Charles' only goal with the military was to make pressure on Horthy, but he wanted to avoid any kind of fight.
When arriving at midnight in Tata, Charles sent Lt. General Pál Hegedűs to Budapest, to convince the city commander, Pál Nagy of changing sides, that way he could have avoided any bloodshed, and could have marched easily in the city. Hegedűs was sent to Horthy first, then to the new Prime Minister, István Bethlen. Finally, High Representative of the United Kingdom, Thomas Hohler told him that Hungary doesn't recognize Charles as the legitimate ruler of Hungary. After that, Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek, leader of the troops decided to fight. They marched under Budaörs, where they arrived in the early hours.