The Battle of Zalău was a tactical-level military engagement that took place from February 23rd to 26th, 1919, in the area of the town of Zalău in Szilágy County (now Sălaj County). The conflict involved Hungarian troops from the attacking Romanians from the 13th Infantry Brigade. This battle was part of the broader military operations defending the Great Union during the Romanian Army's efforts to occupy the in Transylvania during the Hungarian–Romanian War. The outcome was favorable to the Romanian troops, whom after initially having to leave the town, managed to regain control.
Representing a gateway of real strategic importance for both armies, the city of Zalău was a key Hungarian outpost. It served as a center for armed resistance and a possible base for an offensive aimed at restoring the Hungary's old borders. The Romanian Army's takeover of Zalău was preceded by various incidents, and complicated by the challenging situation of the civilian population. This occurred in the context of the existing revolutionary climate and the transition of Transylvania to a new administration.
The establishment of the balance of power along the new military demarcation line, set in January 1919, led each side to devise plans to gain additional military advantages beyond the existing situation on the ground. The Romanian command aimed to create a neutral zone by forcing Hungarian troops to withdraw further. Meanwhile, the Hungarian command planned to regain the Zalău–Jibou area.
However, several factors, destabilized the plans of both commands. Central to this destabilization was the difficult context faced by the Hungarian ethnicity civilian population in the area, from which a significant percentage of soldiers and officers of the Hungarian military subunits were drawn. Additionally, one of the Hungarian battalions near Zalău was commanded by Major Mihály Gyurotsik, whose family was immobilized in the city under Romanian troops.
Without an order from his superiors in the Székely Division and without considering the need for superiority of the effectives, adequate technical equipment, and sufficient post-attack supplies, Major Gyurotsik initiated an action on February 23rd, 1919. This led to the initial conquest of Zalău by Hungarian troops and the withdrawal of the Romanian forces to the neighboring areas. However, due to the technical, organizational, and numerical superiority of the Romanian troops, the Hungarians could not consolidate their gains, and the city was regained by the Romanians on February 26th. Romanian artillery played a significant role in this, although it caused considerable destruction to the locality, which was later exploited by Hungarian propaganda.
From a military standpoint, the events in Zalău inflicted significant material and reputational damage on the Romanian troops. However, the wide range of problems—caused both immediately and subsequently for the rest of the civilian population of Zalău and the city itself—meant that given the Hungarian troops' inability to maintain their military gains, the overall outcome was negative for the Hungarian Republican Army.
The geographical, military and political context
Crossing the second alignment of the demarcation line,Chap. IV The unification and completion of the unitary national state, ***, 1997, p. 97 PDF after securing Cluj, the Romanian armed forces continued to slowly press forward. Szász, Zoltán; The Socialist Alternative: A Soviet Republic in Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Science's History of Transylvania, Vol. III – From 1830 to 1919, XIV - Revolutions and national movements after the collapse of the monarchy (1918–1919); Atlantic Research and Publications, Inc.; 2001–2002; pp. 3-753; accessed on July 9, 2018 The French general Louis Franchet d'Espèrey appreciated that, in the context in which the final goal of the Romanians was to occupy territories in accordance with those recorded in the secret treaty from Bucharest, a Romanian-Hungarian war was imminent. Pastor, Peter; Hungary between Wilson and Lenin: The Hungarian Revolution of 1918-1919 and the Big Three (East European Monographs, number 20.); East European Quarterly, Boulder - distributed by Columbia University Press; New York; 1976; Chapter 8: From Hope to defeat (I), accessed June 12, 2018. Although no open conflict has yet been reached as an effect of the fact that, on January 21, 1919, d'Esperey ordered the Romanian military advance to stop, on January 23, however, the Hungarian Council of Ministers decided, for the first time, that it had no other solution than armed resistance. A new order from January 28 of the French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau determined the fixation of the Romanian armies on the new alignment,Chap. IV The unification and perfection of the unitary national state, ***, 1997, p. 98 PDF which, in Sălaj county and at the level of its border with nearby counties, passed around the edge of the localities Băsești – Chilioara – Crișeni – Panic – Aghireș – Șeredei – Pria – Ciucea. On the Romanian side, the winter of 1918–1919 was used to lay the foundations for the establishment of the 16th and 18th divisions (made up of former soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Army) and for the more thorough organization of the other Romanian divisions, as well as for training and equipping the troops.History of the war ..., vol. II, Kirițescu, 1989, p. 414 On the Hungarian side, however, no significant progress was made in the field of military organization. The only tangible results were represented by those of the Székely Division which, despite serious financial and disciplinary problems, had nevertheless constituted troops capable of opposing the Romanian advance.
Considered a "gate" of real strategic importance that was to be "defended from adversaries with desperation", the town of Zalău constituted a real challenge regarding the takeover of the city by the Romanian troops and the Romanian administration. The city was considered a Hungarian center that had everything it needed to develop in this spirit, and as such, there was a favorable framework for a center to be established here with the character of an outpost of both the Hungarian armed resistance and the Hungarian republican military formations determined to continue the offensive with the aim of restoring the old borders of Hungary.
Prelude Situation of the civilian population In the week that followed the Țigani clash (in today's Crișeni) of January 14, 1919, five of the notables of the locality and the county were arrested and taken to Dej, the rumors from the local level crediting the idea that they will be referred to a military tribunal.
According to what was stated by the local newspaper Szilágyság, the Romanian population of the villages around Zalău — under the influence of Bolshevik ideas and encouraged by the presence of troops from the Kingdom — began to loot the shops of the town and the contents of the cellars of the local vineyards. There was also an incident in this context resulting in three victims, including the retired headmaster of the town's elementary school. According to Hungarian historian Miklós Szentpály-Juhász, there was threatening behavior from drunken people and rapes. The same historian mentioned that, according to the documents of the Hungarian Military Command from Transylvania, there was also the active participation of some of the Romanian soldiers of the regiments in the city in these acts.
According to the documents of the Romanian troops, the local Romanian Military Command collaborated with the local police and managed through energetic measures to temper the recalcitrant masses. Harsh measures were taken by the Romanian military administration to curb the various disturbances.Contribution of the Romanian army..., Grad, 2010, p. 72
Through three successive ordinances signed by Major (the local commander in Zalău) the movement of citizens after 11p.m. starting on January 19, 1919, was prohibited, shops were ordered to open and public gatherings in groups were prohibited larger than three people, as well as handing over any weaponry and military material to the Romanian troops within 24 hours. Also, the population was forbidden to leave the villages without the written authorization of the mayor. Failure to comply was to be punished under martial law. Those who were to be caught looting or caught "in other evil deeds" were to be "arrested, threatened, tried, and possibly even punished with death".
Towards the end of January, the situation normalized, although some problems continued to exist, as well as other crimes against public or private property. Also, between January and February, detachments of the "Division 7 Infantry" undertook actions to disarm the localities in their sector of competence.
All the more so as among the Hungarian soldiers of the battalion led by Major Gyurotsik there were some (among whom Gyurotsik himself was) who had family members in the Zalău area and as such they had been subjected to direct threats , the news about the situation in which the civilian population of Zalău had been put in the period following the occupation of the locality by the Romanian troops contributed to the destabilization of the military situation, testing the psyche of the Hungarian soldiers beyond the line of demarcation. In that context, the deterioration of the situation came with the ultimatum later delivered by the Romanian troops to the Hungarians.
The ultimatum The middle of February 1919 was relatively calm in the territory bordering the Romanian zone of the demarcation line, although along it, there were constant vigorous skirmishes by patrols which were answered with artillery fire.
On February 20, 1918, from the Romanian command of the 7th Infantry Division came the express request that the Hungarian troops withdraw ten kilometers behind the demarcation line, thus leaving a neutral zone between them and the respective alignment. In the transmitted document, clarifications were also made regarding what could happen if this withdrawal had not been carried out, namely: it would have followed that the Romanian troops moved beyond the demarcation line to protect the Romanian localities, as well as with the aim avoiding possible incidents that could have taken place between the Romanian National Guards and the Hungarian military. In that request, which had a 24-hour response deadline, retaliatory measures were specified against the families of Hungarian officers (including that of Major Gyurotsik). The answer colonel Károly Kratochvil — at the head of the Hungarian Command of the Transylvanian Military District Barna, Gottfried; "A Székely hadszállás, 1918–1919", I ; hargitakiado.ro; 2007; accessed on July 13, 2018 and commander of the Székely Division — was negative, claiming that the only valid demarcation line is the one established by the Armistice of Belgrade. As a result, from his point of view, those who would have followed to withdraw were only the Romanians. He also specified that, if his troops or the civilian population are attacked, the Hungarian soldiers will defend themselves and the responsibility for what happens next will fall to the Romanians. In the same context, Kratochvil informed the Hungarian government about the exchange of notes and ordered the reading of the Romanian ultimatum and the Hungarian response offered to it.
At the same time, the Hungarian Command of the Transylvanian Military District ordered the General Staff of the Székely Division, through the prism of the Belgrade Military Convention, to set up a plan to recapture the localities of Zalău and Jibou.
Initial Action Plan