ERDÉLY NEMZETŐRSÉGÉNEK ÚJJÁSZERVEZÉSE ÉS MŰKÖDÉSE 1849-BEN = Reorganisation and Operation of the National Guard in Transylvania in 1849

Süli, Attila (2014) ERDÉLY NEMZETŐRSÉGÉNEK ÚJJÁSZERVEZÉSE ÉS MŰKÖDÉSE 1849-BEN = Reorganisation and Operation of the National Guard in Transylvania in 1849. HADTÖRTÉNELMI KÖZLEMÉNYEK (2). pp. 395-422. ISSN 0017-6540

Text 2014 2 HK SÜLI.pdf Restricted to Repository staff only Download (768kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

The paper presents the course and results of the reorganisation of the Transylvanian National Guard in 1849. The reorganisation process was very slow and cumbersome in this country part. This fact, naturally, can be explained by many causes. One of them was the lack of arms, and secondly, the Hungarian government considered the organisation and arming of the regular formations as its primary task. In addition, volunteers- and hunters-corps also enjoyed priority because they undertook a permanent (four-month-long) service and they could have been committed outside their municipality, too. National guards were primarily set up in municipalities and towns with Hungarian inhabitants. In counties and Székely municipalities where Romanian population had the majority, only Hungarians were obliged to do military service. Due to their poor armament, the majority of the national guards fulfilled police- and hinterland-duties (for example escorting transports and providing courier- and postal-service). The units in Székelyland are exceptions from the latter task, for they were committed in the fight against the Russian intervention. As the Székely national guards were poorly trained and the majority did not have guns, their efficiency was low. We have gappy information about the officers of each formation. The present state of our knowledge allows us to state the followings: we have much information about 24 of the 47 officers under exploration. With the exception of two, all of them were of Hungarian origin. As to their social status: there were four upper nobles, four landowner nobles, nine noble office-holders and four intellectuals among them, and no data is know about three men. Six persons served previously in the Imperial and Royal Army or in a Honvéd unit. The total number of the Transylvanian national guards is not known, for there are some municipalities from where I could not get information. The above numbers might seem small as compared to the year 1848, but we must not forget that the newly formed Honvéd battalions, frontier guard battalions, hunter regiments and volunteer corps decreased considerably the number of those who could have been conscripted to the national guards in 1849.

Actions (login required)

Edit Item