Századok – 1997

Tanulmányok - Hajdu Tibor: A közös hadsereg magyarországi tisztjeinek nemzeti; vallási; szülőhely szerinti megoszlása a dualizmus korában VI/1223

1264 HAJDÚ TIBOR DISTRIBUTION OF HUNGARIAN OFFICERS IN THE JOINT ARMY ACCORDING TO NATIONALITY, RELIGION AND PLACE OF ORIGIN IN THE DUALIST ERA by Tibor Hajdu (Summary) The analysis indicated in the title is the novelty of the present article. For the sake of comparison data of the total staff of officers of the army of Emperor Francis Joseph are also given. The analysis is representative and is based, among others, on the personal files and officer's qualifications to be found in the Vienna and Budapest War Archives, the registers of military academies, and official statistics of the day The rate of Hungarians in the staff of officers between 1867 and 1914 was only one or two per cent higher than it used to be prior to 1848 (10-12 per cent), but the overwhelming majority of the officers in the Hungarian army (honvédség) set up in 1869 was already Hungarian. About 28 per cent of officers in the imperial (k. (u.) k.) army were born in Hungary. Prior to 1848 most of these were Croats and Serbs but their rate decreased rapidly, while that of Hungarians and those belonging to the German ethnic group of Hungary increased. It is a contradiction in official statistics that there were more Hungarians among the students of military academies than among the actual officers. This was due to the fact that relatively many Hungarian officers left the army at a young age. Religious distribution is an important indicator of the accuracy of official statistics and of the degree of assimilation. Most officers born in Hungary were Catholics but there were 7 to 8 per cent Calvinists and several Greek Catholics as well. The rate of Israelite commmissioned officers was much lower than some historians think, in contrast with reserve officers. In the difficult period of the 1860s and 1870s it was over 2,5 per cent but later it sank below 1 per cent. Finally the territorial distribution of the birthplaces of the officers is analyized. It is interesting to note that there were territories like the Great Plains and the Szeklerland that offered passive resistance. The present article is a chapter of a book under preparation. Other chapters deal also with the social distribution and mobility of the officer corps, both active and reserve.