Vilmos Nagy de Nagybaczon

Vilmos Nagy
Born	(1884-05-30)30 May 1884 Parajd,Austria-Hungary(nowPraid,Romania)
Died	21 June 1976(1976-06-21)(aged 92) Piliscsaba,People's Republic of Hungary
Allegiance	Austria-Hungary Hungarian Soviet Republic Kingdom of Hungary
Years of service	1909–1944
Rank	Colonel General
Unit	Hungarian Army
Commands	Hungarian First Army
Battles/wars	World War I World War II

The native form of thispersonal nameisNagybaczoni Nagy Vilmos.This article usesWestern name orderwhen mentioning individuals.

Vilmos Nagy de Nagybaczon(30 May 1884 – 21 June 1976) was a commanding general of theRoyal Hungarian Army(1920–1945),Minister of Defence,a military theorist and historian.

Career highlights

• Commissioned lieutenant in 1905 after graduating from theBudapestLudovica Military Academy.
• Graduated in 1912 from theImperial War College(German:KriegsschuleinVienna,Austria(1909–1912).
• Promoted to major in 1914 and assigned to the AustrianImperial General Staff.
• During World War I, served with various military units and at theMinistry of Warof Austro-Hungary.
• Served on theGeneral Staffof theHungarian Soviet Republicwith the rank of major.
• After the collapse of the Republic in August 1919, reinstated as major and assigned to the reorganizedRoyal Hungarian ArmyGeneral Staff.
• Between 1927 and 1931, served as the Colonel in chief of the 1st mounted infantry brigade.
• Between 1931 and 1933 served as the adjutant to the Commander in Chief of the Royal Hungarian Army.
• Promoted tobrigadier generalin 1934.
• Between 1935 and 1936 served as theQuartermaster Generalat the Ministry of Defense.
• Promoted tomajor generalin 1937.
• Between 1938 and 1939 served as the commanding officer of the1st Army Corps.
• Between 1939 and 1940 served as the Inspector General of the Infantry.
• Between 1940 and 1941, unexpectedly placed in retirement, then recalled and appointed as thecommanding officerof the 1st Hungarian Army.
• From 24 September 1942 to 12 June 1943 served as the Minister of Defense in the government ofMiklós Kállay.
• Arrested and imprisoned upon the accession of theSzálasigovernment.
• Named in 1965 as aRighteous among the Nationsby theYad Vashem Institute,being the first among Hungarians to be so honoured.

Early life and education

Vilmos Nagy was born into a family of country nobility ofSzékelyancestry. His ancestors received theirpatent of nobilityin 1676 fromApafi Mihály I,a ruling prince ofTransylvania,and the title ofNagybaczoni(Transl:ofNagybaczon) refers to his ancestral home inCovasna County,Transylvania.

He lost his father,Nagy Zsigmond(Sigmund Nagy), a mining engineer of little means at an early age, and his widowed mother could not provide for the children's education. Thus, with no other options, together with his brother Béla he decided to pursue a military career.

In 1902, he graduated with honours from the Kun Kollégium high school inSzászváros,and his exemplary record gained him tuition free admittance, with continuing financial support, to the prestigiousLudovica Military Academy.

Military career

After his graduation in 1905, he elected to serve with theRoyal Hungarian Armyrather than joining the ImperialAustro-Hungarian Army.This was considered to be a career limiting choice, since there were fewer possibilities for advancement.

His outstanding service surpassed that of his fellow officers and four years after receiving his first commission, he completed theImperial War Collegein Vienna (1909–1912). Thus, in his thirtieth year, he was appointed to the Imperial General Staff with the rank of major.

World War I and its aftermath

As a young Staff officer in World War I, he participated in operations againstSerbia,in the battles of theCarpathianfront, thebreakthrough at Gorlice,and operations inVolhynia.

In 1919, after the end of the war and collapse of theAustro-Hungarian Empire, his extensive military experience and expertise was utilized by theHungarian Red Armyof theHungarian Soviet Republicand he was again assigned to the General Staff with the rank of major.

Between World Wars

The career of Major Vilmos Nagy continued its uninterrupted rise following the collapse of the short lived Socialist Republic, as he was reassigned to the general staff of the newly formed Royal Hungarian Army.

Vilmos Nagy marches toMarosvásárhelyon 10 September 1940

Between 1927 and 1931, he served as the commanding officer of the 1st Mounted Infantry. This was followed by his appointment as chief adjutant to thecommander in chiefof the military forces. On 1 May 1934, he was promoted tocolonel,and assigned command of theQuartermaster Corps.Then, on 1 May 1937 he was promoted tobrigadier general,and in the following year, was assigned the command of the 1st Mounted Infantry Corps.

Following theFirst Vienna AwardconcerningSlovakia,he commanded the forces occupying the city ofKošice (Hungarian:Kassa).Within a short while and on a temporary basis, he was assigned to be the Inspector General of the Infantry. Within a year, in March 1940, he was appointed as the commanding officer of the 1st Hungarian Army, and two months later, he was promoted to the rank ofmajor general.

Following theSecond Vienna Award,in September 1940, he led the 1st Hungarian Army into the city ofMarosvásárhely(Târgu Mureş). His responsibilities included strengthening the borders of the re-conquered territory, and overseeing the distribution of food supplies to the population at large.

In a completely unexpected move on 31 March 1941, the High Command retired him with the rank oflieutenant general,and at this point it seemed that the military career of Vilmos Nagy of Nagybaczon had ended.

World War II

On 21 September 1942 theRegent,Miklós Horthy,offered General Nagy the portfolio of the Minister of Defense. In this position, and true to his convictions, Nagy did everything to keep the military out of politics, and struggled to modernize and preserve the remaining Hungarian military stationed at home to prevent the repeat of another debacle which followed the collapse of theAustro-Hungarian Empirein 1918.

Prior to his appointment, the government committed the 2nd Hungarian Army to theEastern Front,where they eventually met a tragic end by their complete annihilation atVoronezh.While Nagy couldn't bring back the troops from the front, he made every effort to preserve and safeguard the troops back home and ameliorate the conditions of theforced labour battalions.He issued numerous orders for the improvement of their conditions.

These actions met with opposition from the officers' corps at the ministry and politicians of the extreme right. His political effectiveness diminished as he sought to curb the military's culture ofAntisemitismand the inhumane treatment of the forced labourers. He strenuously objected to the German request of sending 10,000 Jewish forced labourers to the copper mines atBor, Serbia,and in February 1943, he opposed acquiescing to the German request of sending Hungarian troops to theBalkans.

Due to his position on these issues, he was viewed as increasingly dangerous by his enemies. He was ridiculed, accused of being a 'Jewish lackey' (Zsidóbérenc), of being anti-Axis,and was under constant attack by the extreme political right. Seeing that neither Regent Horthy, nor the Prime MinisterKállaywere able or willing to defend him, on 8 June 1943, he submitted his resignation.

He was succeeded by Colonel-In-ChiefLajos Csatay,and the daily press praised the person of the departing minister. On 16 June, thesocial democraticdailyNépszava (Voice of the People)published an exceptionally warm appraisal.Endre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky,in his memoirs on government related matters, he wrote that in his 10 June submission to the Regent, he praised the service of the departing minister. The city ofMarosvásárhelynamed him an honorary citizen but, due to 19 March 1944 occupation of Hungary by the Germans, the ceremony was cancelled.

The war's end

From behind the scenes, Vilmos Nagy continued to support the efforts of those who wished to achieve a separate peace with the Allies.Hungarylay in the direct path of theNaziarmies retreating from the onslaught of theRed Armyand, based on past experience, he foresaw the utter destruction to be visited upon the land and the people as the fighting moved ever closer to the borders of Hungary.

The extreme right was not satisfied with distancing him from a position of power and authority, and after the government's takeover by the fascistArrow Cross,on 16 November 1944, thegendarmerie(csendőrök) arrested him at hisPiliscsabahome. After being held for two days at Hotel Lomnic onSvábhegy,which served as a prison facility of the Arrow Cross, together with his brother Béla and other prisoners, he was transferred to the prison inSopronköhida.

As the Red Army approached, the prisoners, under the command of lieutenant colonelÁrpád Barcsayof the gendarmes, were transported toPassauBavaria,then toPfarrkirchen,and finally force marched toGschaid.The Ministry of Defense discovered the constantly moving prisoners inSimbach,and their intervention forced the prisoners' transport to the ministry compound inTannwhere they were released. From Tann, on Sunday 28 April 1945, together with his brother, he moved toZimmernwhere he found accommodations on a Bavarian farm until the US forces reached them on 1 May.

Later life

He managed to return to Hungary in 1946, and in the initial period of the governing coalition of the various political factions, he participated as a committee member for the assessment of military pensions.

After theCommunist takeoverof 1948, together with many of his peers, he was unjustly attacked, his apartment confiscated, and his pension revoked. He found employment as a gardener and caretaker at the tree nursery ofPilisi Parkerdő gazdaság(hu),where he tended to the planting and care of seedlings and, later, he found employment as a metalsmith.

At the beginning of 1950s a singularly unexpected event transpired. He received an invitation to the fiftieth graduation reunion of his high school. The invitation came from his former classmate and fellow graduate, Dr.Petru Groza,who at the time was thePresident of Romania.Nagy replied that he could not participate due to his lack of funds and a passport. The President then used his influence with the Hungarian government, and the Secretary of theHungarian Communist Party,Mátyás Rákosi,was obliged to provide the means to attend the reunion. Further intervention by the President saw the general's pension reinstated.

He gained a measure of comfort and fulfillment when he was selected in 1965 as the first HungarianRighteous Among the Nationsby theYad VashemInstitute ofJerusalem.The aging general remained mentally active until his death by spending his time writing, editing, and reading. In 1964, he re-edited his work,Végzetes esztendök( "Fateful Years" ), which was originally published in 1947. The long-lived soldier died inPiliscsabaon 21 June 1976, shortly after his ninety-second birthday.

Works

In addition to his military expertise, Vilmos Nagy of Nagybaczon was also a military theorist and a historian.

His contributions based on his personal and extensive battlefield and General Staff experience, have provided valuable knowledge about the times. His works include:

• The Campaign Against Romania (A Románia elleni hadjárat), Budapest, 1923.
• The Attack (A támadás), Budapest, 1926.
• Conquest of Serbia (Szerbia meghódítása), Budapest, 1929
• The Fateful Years 1938–1945. (Végzetes esztendök 1938–1945), memoirs (emlékirat) Budapest, 1947). The Fateful Years 1938-1945 English language edition translator Thomas Cooper. Introduction by MEP George Schöpflin. Helena History Press, Reno, 2019

The reform church inPiliscsaba(Klotildliget), which was built in 1939 at Vilmos Nagy' initiative and plans.

In memoriam

• In retirement, Vilmos Nagy lived under very modest circumstances and recognition was denied until the 1990s, when changes in the political landscape made this possible.
• As part of Hungary'smillenniumcelebrations on 9 September 2000, his hometown organizedThe first World Meet of Piliscsaba,during which he was posthumously honoured as an 'Honorary citizen of Piliscsaba', an act that pleased his old neighbours and fellow townsmen. The honour was accepted by his grandchildren, Mrs. András Fáy and Mrs. Károly Nagy.
• On 18 June 2003, with the active promotion of theFederation of Jewish Communities in Hungary,in hand with theHungarian Federation of Forced Laborers,and theNational Memorial and Reconciliation Commissionof Hungary, dedicated a memorial plaque in honour of the former Minister of Defense.
• On the 120th anniversary of his birth in 2004,Nagybaczonin Transylvania also dedicated a memorial plaque in his honour.
• On 9 September 2006, with a military guard of honour present, his burial place was declared a part of theNational Cemeteryof Hungary.

The grave of Vilmos Nagy of Nagybaczoni in Piliscsaba

Publications

• József Károlyfalvi: The Presbyiterian General: The Military and Political career of Vilmos Nagy of Nagybaczon (A református tábornok: Nagybaczoni-Nagy Vilmos katonai-politikai pályája)
• Sándor Szakály: The Hungarian Military Elite 1938–1945. Osiris Publishers (A magyar katonai elit)