Rongyos Gárda

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The "Rongyos Gárda" (Scrubby Guards) were a non-regular paramilitary unit in Hungary, active in 1921 for a few months.

After the Hungarian Communist takeover in 1919, Entente forces invaded Hungary. The Hungarian royalist forces fighting the Communists called themselves Whites, just like in Russia at the same time. White terror detachments raised havoc among Communists, however also tortured and executed a lot of innocent peasants during their quest, commonly referred as "white terror", as opposed to the Communist "Red Terror". After the Entente threatened the Hungarian government in 1921 to either end the activity of these groups or face the consequences, the detachments were officially demobilized, but their members assembled in the West Hungarian counties, and formed a free fighting force called the Rongyos Gárda , or Scrubby Guards. (Actually they were not scrubby at all, but the name somehow fitted the patriotic fighters lacking any support from the state.)

The Guards' primary goal was to reduce the land loss after the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. First they proclaimed a new country between Austria and Hungary, the Duchy of Laitha, supposedly ruled by their commander, Pál Prónay, but this country was never recognized. Later they launched a series of minor offensives to reoccupy secure the lost Hungarian territories that were attached to Austria. Finally their achievements were a major result for the city of Sopron staying in Hungarian territory.

The historic role of the Scrubby Guards is widely disputed. Some historians claim they were saviors of Hungarian land, the only ones fighting the Trianon Peace Pact's dictations. Others remember them as savage terrorists, who killed much more innocent people than Communists. The first books about their activity were only published after 2000. They are generally not even mentioned in most Hungarian dictionaries before the millennium.