Slovak-Hungarian War
Encyclopedia
The Slovak–Hungarian War or Little War , was a war fought from March 23 to March 31/April 4, 1939 between the First Slovak Republic
and Hungary in eastern Slovakia
.
, which weakened Czech lands to the west, the Hungarians remained poised threateningly on the Slovak border. They reportedly had artillery
ammunition for only 36 hours of operations, and were clearly engaged in a bluff, but it was a bluff the Germans had encouraged, and one that they would have been obliged to support militarily if the much larger and better equipped Czechoslovak Army chose to fight. The Czechoslovak army had built 2,000 small concrete emplacements along the border wherever there was no major river obstacle.
The Hungarian Minister of the Interior, Miklós Kozma
, had been born in Carpathian Ruthenia
, and in mid-1938 his ministry armed the Rongyos Gárda
('Ragged Guard'), which began to infiltrate guerillas into southern Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine
. The situation was now verging on open war. From the German and Italian
points of view, this would be premature, so they pressured the Czechoslovak government to accept their joint Arbitration of Vienna
. On November 2, 1938, this found largely in favour of the Hungarians and obliged the Prague government to cede 11,833 km² of the mostly Hungarian populated (according to the unrealistic 1910 census) southeastern Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine to Hungary. The partition also cost Slovakia Košice
, its second largest city, and left the capital, Bratislava
, vulnerable to further Hungarian pressure.
The First Vienna Award
did not fully satisfy the Hungarians, however, and there followed twenty-two border clashes between November 2, 1938 and January 12, 1939 alone, during which the Czechoslovaks lost five dead and six wounded.
On the evening of March 13, Jozef Tiso
(The Slovak leader) and Ferdinand Ďurčanský
met Adolf Hitler
, Joachim von Ribbentrop
and Generals Walther von Brauchitsch
and Wilhelm Keitel
in Berlin
. Hitler, made it absolutely clear that either Slovakia would declare independence immediately and associate itself with Nazi Germany
, or he would let the Hungarians, who were reported by Ribbentrop to be massing on the border, take over the country. In fact, encouraged by the Germans, the Hungarians were largely massing on the adjacent Ruthenian border.
During the afternoon and night of March 14, the Slovak people proclaimed their independence from Czecho-Slovakia, and at 5:00 am on March 15, 1939, Hitler declared that the unrest in Czecho-Slovakia was a threat to the German security, sending his troops into Bohemia
and Moravia
, which gave virtually no resistance.
The Slovaks were surprised when the Hungarians recognised their new state as early as March 15. However, Hungarians were not satisfied with their frontier with Slovakia and, according to Slovak sources, weak elements of their 20th Infantry Regiment and frontier Guards had to repulse a Hungarian attempt to seize Hill 212.9 opposite Uzhhorod
. In this, and the subsequent shelling and bombing of the border villages of Nižné Nemecké
and Vyšné Nemecké
, the Slovaks claimed to have suffered 13 dead and they promptly petitioned the Germans, invoking Hitler's promise of protection.
On March 17, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry told the Germans that Hungary wanted to negotiate with the Slovaks over the eastern Slovak boundary on the pretext that the existing line was only an internal Czechoslovak administrative division, not a recognised international boundary, and therefore needed defining now that Carpatho-Ukraine had passed into Hungarian hands. They enclosed a map of their proposal that shifted the frontier some 10 kilometres west of Uzhhorod
, beyond Sobrance
, and then ran almost due north to the Polish border.
The Hungarian claim partly relied on the 1910 census, which stated that Hungarians and Ruthenians
, not Slovaks
, formed the majority in north-eastern Slovakia. In addition to the demographic issue, Hungarians also had another purpose in mind, that they were trying to protect Uzhhorod and the key railway to Poland up the Uzh River
, which was well within view of the current Slovak border. They therefore resolved to push the frontier back a safe distance beyond the western watershed of the Uzh Valley.
Berlin let the Hungarians know that it would acquiesce to such a border revision, and told Bratislava so. On March 18, the Slovak leaders in Vienna
for the signing of the "Treaty of Protection" were grudgingly forced to accept this, and Bratislava ordered Slovak civil and military authorities to pull back. All other potential Hungarian requests were supposed to be illegal in Slovakia.
The Hungarians were aware that Slovakia had signed a treaty guaranteeing Slovakia's borders on March 18 and that it would come into force when Germany countersigned it. They therefore decided to act immediately, so as to not embarrass their German ally later, and to take advantage of the disorganized Slovak army, which had not yet fully consolidated. Thus their forces in western Carpatho-Ukraine began to advance from the River Uzh into eastern Slovakia at dawn on March 23, some six hours before Joachim von Ribbentrop countersigned the "Treaty of Protection" in Berlin.
with instructions being to "proceed as far to the west as possible". Hungary attacked Slovakia without any declaration of war, catching the Slovak army unprepared, because many Slovak soldiers were in transit from the Czech region and had not reached their Slovak units yet. Czech soldiers were leaving newly-established Slovakia, but after the Hungarian attack, many of them decided to support their former units in Slovakia.
In the north, opposite Stakčín, Major Matjka assembled an infantry battalion and two artillery batteries. In the south, around Michalovce
, Štefan Haššik, a reserve officer and a local Slovak People's Party
secretary, gathered a group of about four infantry battalions and several artillery batteries. Further west, opposite the passive, but threatening Košice
-Prešov
front, where the Hungarians maintained an infantry brigade, Major Šivica assembled a third Slovak concentration. To the rear, a cavalry group and some tanks were thrown together at Martin, and artillery detachments readied at Banská Bystrica
, Trenčin
and Bratislava
. However, German interference disrupted or paralysed their movement, especially in the V Corps. The defence was tied down defensively, as the Hungarian annexations the last autumn had delivered the only railway line to Michalovce
and Humenné
into their hands, thereby delaying all Slovak reinforcements.
The Hungarian troops advanced quickly into eastern Slovakia, which surprised both the Slovaks and the Germans. Despite the awful confusion caused by the hurried mobilization and desperate shortage of officers, the Slovak force in Michalovce had coalesced sufficiently to attempt a counterattack by the following day. This was largely due to Major Kubícek, who had taken over command from Haššik and had begun to get a better grip on the situation. Because they were based on a widely-available civilian truck, spares were soon found to repair five of the sabotaged OA vz. 30
armoured cars in Prešov and they reached Michalovce at 05:30 AM on March 24. Their Czech crews had been replaced by scratch teams of Slovak signallers from other technical armed forces. They were immediately sent on a reconnaissance mission to Budkovce
, some 15 km south of Michalovce, but could not find any trace of the Hungarians.
It was therefore decided to counterattack eastwards, where the most advanced Hungarian outpost was known to be some 10 km away at Závadka. The road-bound armoured cars engaged the Hungarian pocket from the front whilst Slovak infantry worked round their flanks. Soon they forced the heavily-outnumbered Hungarians to fall back from Závadka towards their main line on the River Okna / Akna, just in front of Nižná Rybnica.
The armoured cars continued down the road a little past Závadka whilst the Slovak infantry fanned out and began to deploy on a front of some 4 km on either side of them, between the villages of Úbrež
and Vyšné Revištia. The infantry first came under Hungarian artillery fire during the occupation of Ubrež, north of the road. At 11 PM a general attack was launced on the main Hungarian line at Nižná Rybnica. The Hungarian response was fierce and effective. The Slovaks had advanced across open ground to within a kilometre of the Akna River when they began taking fire by Hungarian field and anti-tank artillery.
One armoured car was hit in the engine and had to be withdrawn, while a second was knocked out in the middle of the road by a 37 mm anti-tank cannon. The raw infantry, unfamiliar with their new officers, first went to ground and then began to retreat, which soon turned into a panic that for some could not be stopped before Michalovce
, 15 km to the rear. The armoured cars covered the retreating infantry with their machineguns, in order to forestall any possible Hungarian pursuit.
Late on March 24, four more OA vz. 30 armoured cars and 3 LT vz. 35 light tanks and a 37 mm anti-tank cannon arrived in Michalovce from Martin to find total confusion. Early on March 25, they headed eastwards, sometimes steadying the retreating infantry by firing over their heads, thereby ensuring the reoccupation of everything up to the old Úbrež
– Vyšné Revištia line, which the Hungarians had not occupied. However, the anti-tank section mistakenly drove past the knocked-out armoured car and ran straight into the Hungarian line, where it was captured.
By now, elements of the 41st Infantry Regiment and a battery of 202nd Mountain Artillery Regiment had begun to reach Michalovce
, and Kubícek planned a major counterattack for noon, to be spearheaded by the newly-arrived tanks and armoured cars. However, German pressure brought about a ceasefire before it could go in. On March 26, the rest of 202nd Mountain Artillery Regiment and parts of the 7th and 17th Infantry Regiments began to arrive. There were now some 15,000 Slovak troops milling around Michalovce but, even with these reinforcements, a second counterattack had little better prospect of success than the first, because the more numerous and cohesive Hungarians were well dug-in, and had more than enough 37 mm anti-tank cannons to deal effectively with the 3 modern light tanks that represented the only, slight, advantage possessed by the Slovaks.
Before the 14th of March the Slovak Air Force (Slovenské vzdušné zbrane) had about 1400 members. After the split Czechoslovakia had only 824 left. Returning crews from the new Czech Republic only slowly reinforced the nascent Slovak Air Force. The tactical situation was most critical in eastern Slovakia, at the airport of Spišská Nová Ves. The two fighter squadrons at that airport only had nine pilots, and there were only three officers at the airport headquarters. Additionally, the situation was becoming more and more critical as Hungarian attacks were increasing. Many pilots flying together in those days were collected from different parts of Slovakia and had no time to train together, which put them at a marked disadvantage against the prepared and complete Hungarian squadrons. The best Slovak fighter plane of the time was the Avia B-534
.
Occupation of Spišská Nová Ves airport at 22 March 1938:
Another powers of the 3rd Air Regiment of Milan Rastislav Štefánik were located at airports in Vajnory
, Piešťany
, Nitra
, Žilina
and Tri Duby
. However, there was also a great lack of pilots, so the powerful potential could not be used at full blast. Some crews from Piešťany and Žilina were sent to support Spišská Nová Ves. In this condition the Slovak Air Force had to depend on supporting ground units in fight and interfering Hungarian supplies. To do this, they had to fly low and, as they had no armour, they often become an easy target for Hungarian artillery or even ground unit soldiers.
The best plane of Royal Hungarian Air Force was the Fiat CR.32
fighter. It did not have as powerful an engine as Slovak Avia, so Hungarian pilots were trying to fight at horizontal levels, while Slovaks tried to take the combat into vertical plains. But Fiat could be better handled, especially if Slovaks were flying with bombs under wings, which made them more clumsy. Fiat CR.32 also had better machine guns.
On the mornings of March 22 and 23 two Slovak patrol squadrons operating from Spišská Nová Ves searched for the enemy, but ineffectually, as these missions were not yet coordinated with ground units. Later on March 23, Slovak headquarters gave orders for a complete aerial reconnaissance of all areas. Patrols spotted wide movement of Hungarians on Slovak territory. At 1:00 pm a 3-member squadron of Š-328s was sent to attack the enemy in the area of Ulič, Ubľa, and Veľký Bereznyj. The mission failed when pilots couldn't positively identify the enemy because of fog. It later turned out that they were Hungarians moving from Ubľa to Kolonica.
After that another two fighter squadrons of three B-534s were sent on missions. The first one discovered Hungarian troops at the railway station in Ulič, and destroyed some artillery pieces and other material in an attack. The second, sent to the same place, successfully destroyed a few Hungarian vehicles and damaged more equipment, although one of the planes was shot down and its pilot, Ján Svetlík, killed. Another Slovak squadron was sent to the area, this time to support Slovak ground units. They encountered Hungarian machine gun fire, and another B-534 was shot down. The pilot managed to land, but died a few minutes later. The plane was then destroyed by Slovak soldiers. Two other B-534s attacked Hungarian troops, and, heavily damaged and out of ammunition, returned to Spišská Nová Ves. The last Slovak mission of 23 March consisted of one Š-328, which destroyed an unknown number of Hungarian tanks and vehicles near Sobrance. Its pilot was injured and had to land near Sekčovice. Slovak pilots did not meet the Hungarian Air Force that day.
The first day was not a great success for the Slovak Air Force. Two B-534s had been destroyed, with another four heavily damaged, and two pilots dead; however, they had helped slow the Hungarian advance, and had inflicted significant damage. The next day the situation rapidly changed.
On the morning of March 24 one squadron of three B-534s took off to support Slovak units at Vyšné Remety. After reaching the area they were surprised by three Hungarian Fiat CR.32s, and two of the Slovak planes were shot down, with one of the pilots killed. At 7:00 am six B-534s from Piešťany landed in Spišská Nová Ves; three of them then took off to support infantry near Sobrance. Two were shot down, and one Slovak pilot was captured.
Near Michalovce, nine Hungarian fighters shot down three B-534s, which were covering three Letov Š-328s as they bombed Hungarian infantry. One of the Š-328s was also shot down, and the pilot killed; another had to land because of mechanical problems. From a six-plane squadron, only one returned to Spišská Nová Ves.
On that day the bombing of Spišská Nová Ves was also planned by the Royal Hungarian Air Force.
Although the bombers damaged six planes and several buildings, their mission wasn't fully successful, as the airport continued to operate until the end of the conflict.
On March 27, thirteen victims of the bombing - some of them civilians - were buried, arousing intense anti-Hungarian sentiment.
The sole Hungarian loss of the entire conflict was a Fiat fighter which was accidentally shot down by Hungarian artillery; however, the Hungarian Air Force didn't manage to take control of the skies over eastern Slovakia. Following the bombing of Spišská Nová Ves, Major Ján Ambruš arrived there on March 25 to organize a revenge air strike on Budapest. The war ended before it could be carried out.
By that time however, a truce had been concluded (March 24), although fighting continued until March 31.
Although Slovakia
had signed a "Protection Treaty" with Nazi Germany
, Germany refused to help the country (in direct violation of that treaty) and did not support Slovakia during the Slovak-Hungarian negotiations in early April. As a result, by a treaty signed on April 4 in Budapest, Slovakia was forced to cede to Hungary a strip of eastern Slovak territory (1,697 km², 69,930 inhabitants, 78 municipalities), corresponding today to the area around the towns of Stakčín
and Sobrance
. 36 Slovak citizens died in the war.
The claims on both sides were contradictory. At the time the Hungarians announced the capture of four light tanks and an armoured car. However, no Slovak light tanks had ever entered action and a medal was awarded to the man who recovered the one knocked-out armoured car from no man's land during the night. On the other hand there is no doubt that the Hungarians did come into possession of at least one LT vz. 35 light tank and one OA vz. 27 armoured car during March. The contradictions are attributable to a combination of the fog of war, propaganda and confusion between Hungarian captures in Carpatho-Ukraine and eastern Slovakia.
The Slovak casualties are officially recorded as 22 dead – all were named and so this total is probably accurate. On March 25 the Hungarians announced their own losses as 8 dead and 30 wounded. Two days later they gave out a figure of 23 dead and 55 wounded – a total that may include their earlier losses occupying Carpatho-Ukraine
. They also reported they were holding 360 Slovak and 311 Czech prisoners. Many of the Slovaks presumably belonged to the two companies reportedly surprised asleep in the barracks in the first minutes of the invasion. The Czechs were stragglers from the garrison of Carpatho-Ukraine.
Slovak Republic (1939-1945)
The Slovak Republic , also known as the First Slovak Republic or the Slovak State , was a fascist state which existed from 14 March 1939 to 8 May 1945 as a puppet state of Nazi Germany. It existed on roughly the same territory as present-day Slovakia...
and Hungary in eastern Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
.
Prelude
After the Munich PactMunich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
, which weakened Czech lands to the west, the Hungarians remained poised threateningly on the Slovak border. They reportedly had artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
ammunition for only 36 hours of operations, and were clearly engaged in a bluff, but it was a bluff the Germans had encouraged, and one that they would have been obliged to support militarily if the much larger and better equipped Czechoslovak Army chose to fight. The Czechoslovak army had built 2,000 small concrete emplacements along the border wherever there was no major river obstacle.
The Hungarian Minister of the Interior, Miklós Kozma
Miklós Kozma
Vitéz Miklós Kozma de Leveld was a Hungarian politician, who served as Interior Minister between 1935 and 1937. He was also Minister of Defence for a short time in the cabinet of Gyula Gömbös. He attended the Ludovika Academy and fought in World War I. He was the supporter of Miklós Horthy from...
, had been born in Carpathian Ruthenia
Carpathian Ruthenia
Carpathian Ruthenia is a region in Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast , with smaller parts in easternmost Slovakia , Poland's Lemkovyna and Romanian Maramureş.It is...
, and in mid-1938 his ministry armed the Rongyos Gárda
Rongyos Gárda
The "Rongyos Gárda" were a non-regular paramilitary unit in Hungary, active in 1921 then reestablished in 1938.The Treaty of Trianon which concluded the First World War, awarded a stretch of land with mixed Hungarian and ethnic German population to Austria...
('Ragged Guard'), which began to infiltrate guerillas into southern Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine
Carpatho-Ukraine
Carpatho-Ukraine was an autonomous region within Czechoslovakia from late 1938 to March 15, 1939. It declared itself an independent republic on March 15, 1939, but was occupied by Hungary between March 15 and March 18, 1939, remaining under Hungarian control until the Nazi occupation of Hungary in...
. The situation was now verging on open war. From the German and Italian
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
points of view, this would be premature, so they pressured the Czechoslovak government to accept their joint Arbitration of Vienna
First Vienna Award
The First Vienna Award was the result of the First Vienna Arbitration, which took place at Vienna's Belvedere Palace on November 2, 1938. The Arbitration and Award were direct consequences of the Munich Agreement...
. On November 2, 1938, this found largely in favour of the Hungarians and obliged the Prague government to cede 11,833 km² of the mostly Hungarian populated (according to the unrealistic 1910 census) southeastern Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine to Hungary. The partition also cost Slovakia Košice
Košice
Košice is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary...
, its second largest city, and left the capital, Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, vulnerable to further Hungarian pressure.
The First Vienna Award
First Vienna Award
The First Vienna Award was the result of the First Vienna Arbitration, which took place at Vienna's Belvedere Palace on November 2, 1938. The Arbitration and Award were direct consequences of the Munich Agreement...
did not fully satisfy the Hungarians, however, and there followed twenty-two border clashes between November 2, 1938 and January 12, 1939 alone, during which the Czechoslovaks lost five dead and six wounded.
On the evening of March 13, Jozef Tiso
Jozef Tiso
Jozef Tiso was a Slovak Roman Catholic priest, politician of the Slovak People's Party, and Nazi collaborator. Between 1939 and 1945, Tiso was the head of the Slovak State, a satellite state of Nazi Germany...
(The Slovak leader) and Ferdinand Ďurčanský
Ferdinand Durcanský
Doctor Ferdinand Ďurčanský was a Slovak nationalist leader who for a time served with the collaborationist government of Jozef Tiso.-Nationalism:...
met Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, Joachim von Ribbentrop
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...
and Generals Walther von Brauchitsch
Walther von Brauchitsch
Heinrich Alfred Hermann Walther von Brauchitsch was a German field marshal and the Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres in the early years of World War II.-Biography:...
and Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Bodewin Gustav Keitel was a German field marshal . As head of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and de facto war minister, he was one of Germany's most senior military leaders during World War II...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Hitler, made it absolutely clear that either Slovakia would declare independence immediately and associate itself with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, or he would let the Hungarians, who were reported by Ribbentrop to be massing on the border, take over the country. In fact, encouraged by the Germans, the Hungarians were largely massing on the adjacent Ruthenian border.
During the afternoon and night of March 14, the Slovak people proclaimed their independence from Czecho-Slovakia, and at 5:00 am on March 15, 1939, Hitler declared that the unrest in Czecho-Slovakia was a threat to the German security, sending his troops into Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
and Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
, which gave virtually no resistance.
The Slovaks were surprised when the Hungarians recognised their new state as early as March 15. However, Hungarians were not satisfied with their frontier with Slovakia and, according to Slovak sources, weak elements of their 20th Infantry Regiment and frontier Guards had to repulse a Hungarian attempt to seize Hill 212.9 opposite Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod or Uzhgorod is a city located in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. It is the administrative center of the Zakarpattia Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Uzhhorodskyi Raion within the oblast...
. In this, and the subsequent shelling and bombing of the border villages of Nižné Nemecké
Nižné Nemecké
Nižné Nemecké is a village and municipality in the Sobrance District in the Košice Region of east Slovakia.The name of the village literally means "Low Germany" or "Lower Germans".-History:In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1353...
and Vyšné Nemecké
Vyšné Nemecké
Vyšné Nemecké is a small village in the Sobrance District, Košice Region, right on Slovakian side of the main international road border with Ukraine, opposite the city of Uzhorod. As of 2003 it had 249 inhabitants....
, the Slovaks claimed to have suffered 13 dead and they promptly petitioned the Germans, invoking Hitler's promise of protection.
On March 17, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry told the Germans that Hungary wanted to negotiate with the Slovaks over the eastern Slovak boundary on the pretext that the existing line was only an internal Czechoslovak administrative division, not a recognised international boundary, and therefore needed defining now that Carpatho-Ukraine had passed into Hungarian hands. They enclosed a map of their proposal that shifted the frontier some 10 kilometres west of Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod or Uzhgorod is a city located in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. It is the administrative center of the Zakarpattia Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Uzhhorodskyi Raion within the oblast...
, beyond Sobrance
Sobrance
Sobrance is a town in Košice Region, Slovakia, around 15 km from Uzhhorod, Ukraine, and 22 km east of Michalovce. Located in the Eastern Slovak Lowland not far from the Vihorlat Mountains, it is the easternmost town in Slovakia.-History:...
, and then ran almost due north to the Polish border.
The Hungarian claim partly relied on the 1910 census, which stated that Hungarians and Ruthenians
Ruthenians
The name Ruthenian |Rus']]) is a culturally loaded term and has different meanings according to the context in which it is used. Initially, it was the ethnonym used for the East Slavic peoples who lived in Rus'. Later it was used predominantly for Ukrainians...
, not Slovaks
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
, formed the majority in north-eastern Slovakia. In addition to the demographic issue, Hungarians also had another purpose in mind, that they were trying to protect Uzhhorod and the key railway to Poland up the Uzh River
Uzh River
The Uzh is a river in Ukraine and Slovakia. Its name comes from the ancient west slavic dialect word už, meaning "Snake", ....
, which was well within view of the current Slovak border. They therefore resolved to push the frontier back a safe distance beyond the western watershed of the Uzh Valley.
Berlin let the Hungarians know that it would acquiesce to such a border revision, and told Bratislava so. On March 18, the Slovak leaders in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
for the signing of the "Treaty of Protection" were grudgingly forced to accept this, and Bratislava ordered Slovak civil and military authorities to pull back. All other potential Hungarian requests were supposed to be illegal in Slovakia.
The Hungarians were aware that Slovakia had signed a treaty guaranteeing Slovakia's borders on March 18 and that it would come into force when Germany countersigned it. They therefore decided to act immediately, so as to not embarrass their German ally later, and to take advantage of the disorganized Slovak army, which had not yet fully consolidated. Thus their forces in western Carpatho-Ukraine began to advance from the River Uzh into eastern Slovakia at dawn on March 23, some six hours before Joachim von Ribbentrop countersigned the "Treaty of Protection" in Berlin.
Order of battle
- Slovak Order of battleSlovak Order of Battle in 1939-Overview:The Slovak Army was newly born from the disorganized remnants of the former and well-equipped Czechoslovak Army and Air Force. Such was Slovakia's lack of preparedness, that the motorised Hungarian columns initially met almost no resistance, reportedly surprising two companies of Slovaks...
- Hungarian Order of battleHungarian Order of Battle in 1939-Overview:The condition of the Hungarian Armed Forces was in stark contrast to that of the Slovaks. Because of the small army imposed on them after World War I, the Hungarians had had to concentrate on raising the quality rather than the number of their troops, resulting in a small, but highly...
- Weapons employed in the Slovak-Hungarian WarWeapons employed in the Slovak-Hungarian WarThe following are weapons employed by the military forces of Slovakia and Hungary during the brief Slovak-Hungarian War.-Slovakia:Infantry weapons* ČZ vz. 24 pistol* ZB vz. 24 rifle* ZB vz. 26 light machinegun* ZB vz. 30 light machinegun...
War
At dawn on March 23, 1939, Hungary suddenly attacked Slovakia from Carpatho-UkraineCarpatho-Ukraine
Carpatho-Ukraine was an autonomous region within Czechoslovakia from late 1938 to March 15, 1939. It declared itself an independent republic on March 15, 1939, but was occupied by Hungary between March 15 and March 18, 1939, remaining under Hungarian control until the Nazi occupation of Hungary in...
with instructions being to "proceed as far to the west as possible". Hungary attacked Slovakia without any declaration of war, catching the Slovak army unprepared, because many Slovak soldiers were in transit from the Czech region and had not reached their Slovak units yet. Czech soldiers were leaving newly-established Slovakia, but after the Hungarian attack, many of them decided to support their former units in Slovakia.
In the north, opposite Stakčín, Major Matjka assembled an infantry battalion and two artillery batteries. In the south, around Michalovce
Michalovce
Michalovce is a town on the Laborec river in eastern Slovakia, with a population around 40,000. It is the biggest town of the Michalovce District in the Košice Region.-Geography:...
, Štefan Haššik, a reserve officer and a local Slovak People's Party
Slovak People's Party
The Slovak People's Party was a Slovak right-wing party and was described as a fascist and...
secretary, gathered a group of about four infantry battalions and several artillery batteries. Further west, opposite the passive, but threatening Košice
Košice
Košice is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary...
-Prešov
Prešov
Prešov Historically, the city has been known in German as Eperies , Eperjes in Hungarian, Fragopolis in Latin, Preszów in Polish, Peryeshis in Romany, Пряшев in Russian and Пряшів in Rusyn and Ukrainian.-Characteristics:The city is a showcase of Baroque, Rococo and Gothic...
front, where the Hungarians maintained an infantry brigade, Major Šivica assembled a third Slovak concentration. To the rear, a cavalry group and some tanks were thrown together at Martin, and artillery detachments readied at Banská Bystrica
Banská Bystrica
Banská Bystrica is a key city in central Slovakia located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mountains. With 81,281 inhabitants, Banská Bystrica is the sixth most populous municipality in Slovakia...
, Trenčin
Trencín
Trenčín is a city in western Slovakia of the central Váh River valley near the Czech border, around from Bratislava. It has a population of more than 56,000, which makes it the ninth largest municipality of the country and is the seat of the Trenčín Region and the Trenčín District...
and Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
. However, German interference disrupted or paralysed their movement, especially in the V Corps. The defence was tied down defensively, as the Hungarian annexations the last autumn had delivered the only railway line to Michalovce
Michalovce
Michalovce is a town on the Laborec river in eastern Slovakia, with a population around 40,000. It is the biggest town of the Michalovce District in the Košice Region.-Geography:...
and Humenné
Humenné
Humenné is a town in the Prešov Region in eastern Slovakia and the second largest town of the historic Zemplín region. It lies at the volcanic Vihorlat mountains and at the confluence of the Laborec and Cirocha Rivers.-Characteristics:...
into their hands, thereby delaying all Slovak reinforcements.
The Hungarian troops advanced quickly into eastern Slovakia, which surprised both the Slovaks and the Germans. Despite the awful confusion caused by the hurried mobilization and desperate shortage of officers, the Slovak force in Michalovce had coalesced sufficiently to attempt a counterattack by the following day. This was largely due to Major Kubícek, who had taken over command from Haššik and had begun to get a better grip on the situation. Because they were based on a widely-available civilian truck, spares were soon found to repair five of the sabotaged OA vz. 30
OA vz. 30
The OA vz. 30 was a Czechoslovak-designed armored car used by Nazi Germany, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary during World War II. Fifty-one were built, of which the Germans seized twenty-four when they occupied Bohemia-Moravia in March 1939 and the Slovaks captured eighteen when they declared...
armoured cars in Prešov and they reached Michalovce at 05:30 AM on March 24. Their Czech crews had been replaced by scratch teams of Slovak signallers from other technical armed forces. They were immediately sent on a reconnaissance mission to Budkovce
Budkovce
Budkovce a village and municipality in Michalovce District in the Kosice Region of eastern Slovakia.-Geography:The village lies at an altitude of 102 metres and covers an area of 19.836 km².It has a population of about 1500 people.-Government:...
, some 15 km south of Michalovce, but could not find any trace of the Hungarians.
It was therefore decided to counterattack eastwards, where the most advanced Hungarian outpost was known to be some 10 km away at Závadka. The road-bound armoured cars engaged the Hungarian pocket from the front whilst Slovak infantry worked round their flanks. Soon they forced the heavily-outnumbered Hungarians to fall back from Závadka towards their main line on the River Okna / Akna, just in front of Nižná Rybnica.
The armoured cars continued down the road a little past Závadka whilst the Slovak infantry fanned out and began to deploy on a front of some 4 km on either side of them, between the villages of Úbrež
Úbrež
Úbrež is a village and municipality in the Sobrance District in the Košice Region of east Slovakia. In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1337. The village lies at an altitude of 130 metres and covers an area of 17.418 km². It has a population of 645 people...
and Vyšné Revištia. The infantry first came under Hungarian artillery fire during the occupation of Ubrež, north of the road. At 11 PM a general attack was launced on the main Hungarian line at Nižná Rybnica. The Hungarian response was fierce and effective. The Slovaks had advanced across open ground to within a kilometre of the Akna River when they began taking fire by Hungarian field and anti-tank artillery.
One armoured car was hit in the engine and had to be withdrawn, while a second was knocked out in the middle of the road by a 37 mm anti-tank cannon. The raw infantry, unfamiliar with their new officers, first went to ground and then began to retreat, which soon turned into a panic that for some could not be stopped before Michalovce
Michalovce
Michalovce is a town on the Laborec river in eastern Slovakia, with a population around 40,000. It is the biggest town of the Michalovce District in the Košice Region.-Geography:...
, 15 km to the rear. The armoured cars covered the retreating infantry with their machineguns, in order to forestall any possible Hungarian pursuit.
Late on March 24, four more OA vz. 30 armoured cars and 3 LT vz. 35 light tanks and a 37 mm anti-tank cannon arrived in Michalovce from Martin to find total confusion. Early on March 25, they headed eastwards, sometimes steadying the retreating infantry by firing over their heads, thereby ensuring the reoccupation of everything up to the old Úbrež
Úbrež
Úbrež is a village and municipality in the Sobrance District in the Košice Region of east Slovakia. In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1337. The village lies at an altitude of 130 metres and covers an area of 17.418 km². It has a population of 645 people...
– Vyšné Revištia line, which the Hungarians had not occupied. However, the anti-tank section mistakenly drove past the knocked-out armoured car and ran straight into the Hungarian line, where it was captured.
By now, elements of the 41st Infantry Regiment and a battery of 202nd Mountain Artillery Regiment had begun to reach Michalovce
Michalovce
Michalovce is a town on the Laborec river in eastern Slovakia, with a population around 40,000. It is the biggest town of the Michalovce District in the Košice Region.-Geography:...
, and Kubícek planned a major counterattack for noon, to be spearheaded by the newly-arrived tanks and armoured cars. However, German pressure brought about a ceasefire before it could go in. On March 26, the rest of 202nd Mountain Artillery Regiment and parts of the 7th and 17th Infantry Regiments began to arrive. There were now some 15,000 Slovak troops milling around Michalovce but, even with these reinforcements, a second counterattack had little better prospect of success than the first, because the more numerous and cohesive Hungarians were well dug-in, and had more than enough 37 mm anti-tank cannons to deal effectively with the 3 modern light tanks that represented the only, slight, advantage possessed by the Slovaks.
Slovak Air Force
After the splitting of Czechoslovakia, the six regiments of the former Czechoslovak Air Force were also disintegrated. The core of this Air Force on Slovak territory was the 3rd air regiment of Milan Rastislav Štefánik, which came under the Slovak Ministry of defence control. However, most of the officers, experienced pilots and aviation experts were Czechs.Before the 14th of March the Slovak Air Force (Slovenské vzdušné zbrane) had about 1400 members. After the split Czechoslovakia had only 824 left. Returning crews from the new Czech Republic only slowly reinforced the nascent Slovak Air Force. The tactical situation was most critical in eastern Slovakia, at the airport of Spišská Nová Ves. The two fighter squadrons at that airport only had nine pilots, and there were only three officers at the airport headquarters. Additionally, the situation was becoming more and more critical as Hungarian attacks were increasing. Many pilots flying together in those days were collected from different parts of Slovakia and had no time to train together, which put them at a marked disadvantage against the prepared and complete Hungarian squadrons. The best Slovak fighter plane of the time was the Avia B-534
Avia B-534
The Avia B-534 is a Czechoslovak biplane produced during the period between the Great War and World War II. The B-534 is considered one of the last aircraft built with a classic biplane design.-Design and development:...
.
Occupation of Spišská Nová Ves airport at 22 March 1938:
| Squadron | Planes | Crew |
|---|---|---|
| 49. (fighters), part of II/3 wing | 10 x Avia B-534 | 5 pilots |
| 12. (patrols), part of II/3 wing | 5 x Aero Ap-32, 5 x Letov Š-328 | 9 pilots, 6 sentries |
| 13. (patrols), part of II/3 wing | 10 x Letov Š-328 | |
| 45. (fighters), part of III/3 wing | 10 x Avia B-534 | 7 pilots |
Another powers of the 3rd Air Regiment of Milan Rastislav Štefánik were located at airports in Vajnory
Vajnory
Vajnory is a small borough in the northeast of Bratislava, Slovakia.Milan Rastislav Štefánik international airport is located near Vajnory. Another airport - Vajnory Airport, which was the first airport in Slovakia - closed in 2006.-History:...
, Piešťany
Pieštany
Piešťany is a town in Slovakia. It is located in the western part of the country within the Trnava Region and is the seat of its own district. It is the biggest and best known spa town in Slovakia and has around 30,000 inhabitants.-History:...
, Nitra
Nitra
Nitra is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra. With a population of about 83,572, it is the fifth largest city in Slovakia. Nitra is also one of the oldest cities in Slovakia and the country's earliest political and cultural center...
, Žilina
Žilina
Žilina is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Slovakia with a population of approximately 85,000, an important industrial center, the largest city on the Váh river, and the seat of a...
and Tri Duby
Sliac Airport
Sliač Airport , historically Letisko Tri Duby - is an international airport in central Slovakia, between Zvolen and Banská Bystrica, near the spa town of Sliač. The airport has one runway, which is 2,340 m long...
. However, there was also a great lack of pilots, so the powerful potential could not be used at full blast. Some crews from Piešťany and Žilina were sent to support Spišská Nová Ves. In this condition the Slovak Air Force had to depend on supporting ground units in fight and interfering Hungarian supplies. To do this, they had to fly low and, as they had no armour, they often become an easy target for Hungarian artillery or even ground unit soldiers.
Royal Hungarian Air Force
Hungarians concentrated its aerial assets on targets in eastern Slovakia:| Unit | Planes | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1/1 vadászszázad (fighters) | 9 x CR.32 | Ungvár - Uzhhorod |
| 1/2 vadászszázad (fighters) | 9 x CR.32 | Miskolc |
| 1/3 vadászszázad (fighters) | 9 x CR.32 | Csop - Chop |
| 3/3 bombázószázad (bombers) | 6 x Ju-86K-2 | Debrecen |
| 3/4 bombázószázad (bombers) | 6 x Ju-86K-2 | Debrecen |
| 3/5 bombázószázad (bombers) | 6 x Ju-86K-2 | Debrecen |
| VII felderítőszázad (patrols) | 9 x WM-21 | Miskolc |
| VI felderítőszázad (patrols) | 9 x WM-21 | Debrecen |
The best plane of Royal Hungarian Air Force was the Fiat CR.32
Fiat CR.32
The Fiat CR.32 was an Italian biplane fighter used in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. This nimble little Fiat was compact, robust and highly manoeuvrable and gave impressive displays all over Europe in the hands of the Pattuglie Acrobatiche. The CR.32 fought in North and East Africa, in...
fighter. It did not have as powerful an engine as Slovak Avia, so Hungarian pilots were trying to fight at horizontal levels, while Slovaks tried to take the combat into vertical plains. But Fiat could be better handled, especially if Slovaks were flying with bombs under wings, which made them more clumsy. Fiat CR.32 also had better machine guns.
Combat
On March 15 the Royal Hungarian Air Force did a thorough reconnaissance of eastern Slovakia. The following day Hungarian squadrons were moved to airports closer to the borders of Slovakia and put on alert.On the mornings of March 22 and 23 two Slovak patrol squadrons operating from Spišská Nová Ves searched for the enemy, but ineffectually, as these missions were not yet coordinated with ground units. Later on March 23, Slovak headquarters gave orders for a complete aerial reconnaissance of all areas. Patrols spotted wide movement of Hungarians on Slovak territory. At 1:00 pm a 3-member squadron of Š-328s was sent to attack the enemy in the area of Ulič, Ubľa, and Veľký Bereznyj. The mission failed when pilots couldn't positively identify the enemy because of fog. It later turned out that they were Hungarians moving from Ubľa to Kolonica.
After that another two fighter squadrons of three B-534s were sent on missions. The first one discovered Hungarian troops at the railway station in Ulič, and destroyed some artillery pieces and other material in an attack. The second, sent to the same place, successfully destroyed a few Hungarian vehicles and damaged more equipment, although one of the planes was shot down and its pilot, Ján Svetlík, killed. Another Slovak squadron was sent to the area, this time to support Slovak ground units. They encountered Hungarian machine gun fire, and another B-534 was shot down. The pilot managed to land, but died a few minutes later. The plane was then destroyed by Slovak soldiers. Two other B-534s attacked Hungarian troops, and, heavily damaged and out of ammunition, returned to Spišská Nová Ves. The last Slovak mission of 23 March consisted of one Š-328, which destroyed an unknown number of Hungarian tanks and vehicles near Sobrance. Its pilot was injured and had to land near Sekčovice. Slovak pilots did not meet the Hungarian Air Force that day.
The first day was not a great success for the Slovak Air Force. Two B-534s had been destroyed, with another four heavily damaged, and two pilots dead; however, they had helped slow the Hungarian advance, and had inflicted significant damage. The next day the situation rapidly changed.
On the morning of March 24 one squadron of three B-534s took off to support Slovak units at Vyšné Remety. After reaching the area they were surprised by three Hungarian Fiat CR.32s, and two of the Slovak planes were shot down, with one of the pilots killed. At 7:00 am six B-534s from Piešťany landed in Spišská Nová Ves; three of them then took off to support infantry near Sobrance. Two were shot down, and one Slovak pilot was captured.
Near Michalovce, nine Hungarian fighters shot down three B-534s, which were covering three Letov Š-328s as they bombed Hungarian infantry. One of the Š-328s was also shot down, and the pilot killed; another had to land because of mechanical problems. From a six-plane squadron, only one returned to Spišská Nová Ves.
On that day the bombing of Spišská Nová Ves was also planned by the Royal Hungarian Air Force.
Bombing of Spišská Nová Ves
Since the base of all Slovak air operations was at Spišská Nová Ves, the Hungarians planned an attack on the airport for March 24. 36 bombers supported by 27 fighters were assigned to the mission, but due to poor organization, faulty navigation, mechanical problems, and last-minute changes, only about 10 bombers actually participated in the attack. Because Slovakia lacked an early-warning system, the Hungarians found the airport's defences unprepared. Anti-aircraft guns were without crews and ammunition. Most of the Hungarian bombs missed the air operations base, but several hit the airport, a storage facility, a hangar, a brickworks, and a barracks-yard. Many of the bombs landed in mud and failed to explode.Although the bombers damaged six planes and several buildings, their mission wasn't fully successful, as the airport continued to operate until the end of the conflict.
On March 27, thirteen victims of the bombing - some of them civilians - were buried, arousing intense anti-Hungarian sentiment.
The sole Hungarian loss of the entire conflict was a Fiat fighter which was accidentally shot down by Hungarian artillery; however, the Hungarian Air Force didn't manage to take control of the skies over eastern Slovakia. Following the bombing of Spišská Nová Ves, Major Ján Ambruš arrived there on March 25 to organize a revenge air strike on Budapest. The war ended before it could be carried out.
Total losses of the Little war
- Hungarians: 8 military, 15 civilian dead, 55 injured, no POW's
- Slovaks: 22 military and 36 civilian dead, unknown injured, 360 military POWs + 211 POWs of Czech and Moravian origin.
By that time however, a truce had been concluded (March 24), although fighting continued until March 31.
Aftermath
Slovak Republic (1939-1945)
The Slovak Republic , also known as the First Slovak Republic or the Slovak State , was a fascist state which existed from 14 March 1939 to 8 May 1945 as a puppet state of Nazi Germany. It existed on roughly the same territory as present-day Slovakia...
had signed a "Protection Treaty" with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, Germany refused to help the country (in direct violation of that treaty) and did not support Slovakia during the Slovak-Hungarian negotiations in early April. As a result, by a treaty signed on April 4 in Budapest, Slovakia was forced to cede to Hungary a strip of eastern Slovak territory (1,697 km², 69,930 inhabitants, 78 municipalities), corresponding today to the area around the towns of Stakčín
Stakcín
Stakčín is a large village and very large municipality in Snina District in the Prešov Region of north-eastern Slovakia.-Geography:The municipality lies in the Cirocha river valley, at an altitude of 257 metres and with a total area of 167.742 km² it is perhaps the largest municipality in the...
and Sobrance
Sobrance
Sobrance is a town in Košice Region, Slovakia, around 15 km from Uzhhorod, Ukraine, and 22 km east of Michalovce. Located in the Eastern Slovak Lowland not far from the Vihorlat Mountains, it is the easternmost town in Slovakia.-History:...
. 36 Slovak citizens died in the war.
The claims on both sides were contradictory. At the time the Hungarians announced the capture of four light tanks and an armoured car. However, no Slovak light tanks had ever entered action and a medal was awarded to the man who recovered the one knocked-out armoured car from no man's land during the night. On the other hand there is no doubt that the Hungarians did come into possession of at least one LT vz. 35 light tank and one OA vz. 27 armoured car during March. The contradictions are attributable to a combination of the fog of war, propaganda and confusion between Hungarian captures in Carpatho-Ukraine and eastern Slovakia.
The Slovak casualties are officially recorded as 22 dead – all were named and so this total is probably accurate. On March 25 the Hungarians announced their own losses as 8 dead and 30 wounded. Two days later they gave out a figure of 23 dead and 55 wounded – a total that may include their earlier losses occupying Carpatho-Ukraine
Carpatho-Ukraine
Carpatho-Ukraine was an autonomous region within Czechoslovakia from late 1938 to March 15, 1939. It declared itself an independent republic on March 15, 1939, but was occupied by Hungary between March 15 and March 18, 1939, remaining under Hungarian control until the Nazi occupation of Hungary in...
. They also reported they were holding 360 Slovak and 311 Czech prisoners. Many of the Slovaks presumably belonged to the two companies reportedly surprised asleep in the barracks in the first minutes of the invasion. The Czechs were stragglers from the garrison of Carpatho-Ukraine.
External links
- Short overview of the historical context
- Military details of the conflict: 1, 2 (in Slovak)