Hungarian Heritage Review, 1987 (16. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1987-01-01 / 1. szám

== Jjeature of 39Ftarttf| = GEN. HARRY HILL BANDHOLTZ: HUNGARY’S AMERICAN HERO HARRY HILL BANDHOLTZ. In glorious memory of the heroic American General, no­ble champion of Justice, the grateful Hungarian nation. 1919. ‘ 7 simply carried out the instruc­tions of my government as I understood them as an officer and gentleman of the United States Army. ” This inscription appears at the base of a bronze statue in Liberty Square in Budapest. The monument was erected in 1936, eleven years after the death of the American officer whom it honors. But, oddly enough, here is another of the strange quirks of Hungarian history. There are not very many people, Hungarian or American, who know about the statue; perhaps even fewer who know anything about the man it honors and the deeds he per­formed to warrant such recognition. (Perhaps, his statue has disappeared?) General Bandholtz came upon the Hungarian scene on August 11, 1919, as part of the Inter-Allied Military Mission to Hungary, sent by the Supreme Council of the victors of the First World War. The Military Mission was composed of high ranking officers of the prin­cipal Allied Powers: General Reginald St. George Gorton, of the British Army; General G. Graziani, of the French Army; General Mombelli, of the Italian Army; and General Bandholtz, representing the United States Ar­my. The mission of this group was to oversee the reorganization of the Hungarian govern­ment, supervise the restoration of the Hungarian Army, and, particularly, to watch and to report what appeared to be flagrant abuses of Treaty regulations by the Roumanian Government and its army in Hungary itself. From the pages of his splendid and unusual journal - AN UNDIPLOMATIC DIARY - published in 1933, we get a glimpse of the kind of man General Bandholtz was. Telling of his trip from Paris to Budapest in the summer of 1919 — accompanying Herbert Hoover who, at that time was in charge of European relief work — Bandholtz writes: August 8, 1919: This morning we found ourselves just across the Swiss border, where we were held up for five hours. In any event they insisted that we wear civilian clothing. I therefore borrowed a blue coat from Mr. Hoover, a lurid purple tie from his stenographer, and a golf cap from somebody else, completing my demobilization by remov­ing my spurs. Here is a man with a sense of humor and the ability to adapt to any circumstances. These attributes stood the General in good stead dur­ing his time in Hungary. The nature of the task of the Allied Military mission can be seen by looking at the ultimatum received by the Archduke Joseph, temporary President of the Hungarian Republic and shown to General Bandholtz shortly after his arrival in Budapest. This document was to the effect that. . . ‘ Hungary must yield to all Roumanian demands, giving up all of her war material and supplies of whatever nature, agree to back Roumania in taking away the Banat Country from the Jugo-Slavs, and, finally, she must con­sent to political union with Roumania, with the King of Roumania as ruler of Hungary, along the same lines as the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy. General Bandholtz set up the working nature of the Mission... ‘ ‘having daily rotation of chairmanship instead of allowing seniority to govern in the case, thereby securing national equality in the Mission. It was also agreed to make English the official language of the Mis­sion. "Then he threw himself into the arduous task of restoring order from chaos. Among the first things General Bandholtz did, speaking for the Military Mission, was to issue a set of regulations addressed to the Roumanians. Among the stipulations were: 1) To cease at once requisitioning or tak­ing possession of any supplies or property of whatever nature except in zones authorized by this Mission... 2) To return at once to its owners all private property now in the possession of the Rouma­nians, such as automobiles, horses, carriages, or any other property of which the ownership is vested in individuals. 3) To arrange for the gradual return to the Hungarian Government of the railroad, post and telegraph systems. 4) To make no further requisitions of buildings, stores or real property and evacuate as rapidly as possible all schools, colleges and buildings of lie character. Although the Roumanian leaders acknowledged receipt of this directive and also recognized the authority of the Mission in Hungary, it was apparent that they were not really deterred by these regulations. Bandholtz wired his superiors: “.. .in my opinion the Roumanians were do­ing their utmost to delay matters in order to complete the loot of Hungary, and that as far as I could see their progress up to that date in complying with the Supreme Council 's desires was negative rather than positive... ” There were, of course, many other mat­ters of concern to Bandholtz and his Mission. The political situation in Hungary at the time bordered upon chaos. In addition to the attempt of the Archduke Joseph to assert his authority as claimant to the Hungarian throne, the ac­tivities of the Bolshevists under Bela Kun add­ed to the turmoil. This government dismayed and enraged the Hungarian people by its highhanded methods, its cruelty and executions, and its inability to bring peace and order to the realm. The only one who appeared capable of handling the situation, and who was eager to perform, was Admiral Horthy. He was in touch with General Bandholtz and the Mission indicating that he had a small but highly disciplined force under his command. He waited only the call to serve. It must be remembered that while General Bandholtz, seeing what the situation in Hungary actually was, was most eager to set things straight, he was only one member of the Mis­sion, and the Mission itself was under the direct command of the Supreme Council. It was the latter alone that could really direct affairs. But here, differences among the French, Italian, British and American representatives prevented concerted action on the part of the Council itself. On September 8, 1919, General Bandholtz was the guest of the King of Roumania and his Queen, Marie, at a state luncheon. Much of the talk, of course, was about the situation in Hungary. At one point the King stated to Band­holtz that “anyway the Roumanians had taken no foodstuffs." Bandholtz writes in his Diary: As it is bad form to call a King a liar, I simply informed His Majesty that he was badly mistaken, and that I could give him exact facts in regard to thousands of carloads of foods tuffs that had been taken out of Budapest alone... Incidentally, much of the food confiscated by the Roumanians was material specifically earmarked by the Hoover Commission and the —continued next page JANUARY 1987 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 17

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