Battle of Pákozd

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Battle of Pákozd
Part of Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Date September 29, 1848 Location Pákozd, Sukoró, Pátka, Hungary in county Fejér Result Hungarian victory
Belligerents
Austria Croatia	Revolutionary Hungarian Army
Commanders
Josip Jelačić croatian ban	János Móga lieutenant-general
Strength
35,000 Austrians, Croatians and Serbs 99 gun	27,000 men 82 gun

The Battle of Pákozd happened on September 29, 1848 during the Revolution of 1848, near Pákozd in central Hungary, where the Hungarian troops halted the forces of Croatian Ban Josip Jelačić.

When Jelačić's troops entered Hungary following the September 11 declaration of war in the name of the Habsburg Empire, many of the Hungarian generals were not willing to attack the imperial troops to which they had sworn allegiance (notably general Ádám Teleki, commander of the forces on the Drava).

The battle is a landmark of loyalty: the ban of Croatia, Josip Jelačić, who led the Croatian army, was sent to deal with the rebellious Hungarians, which he promptly did, despite the fact that, had he sided with them, and against the Emperor, Croatia very well could have won its independence from the Habsburgs within a new Hungarian state. The ban's choice to obey the Empire by attacking Hungary is a pivotal moment in the history of the Habsburg monarchy; the Empire owed a great debt to him. He fought against Hungary because in Hungary Croatia would have been given even less autonomy than it had in Austria and because Hungarian independence would mean separation of Croatia from Dalmatia and Istria which would remain in Austria. His judgment was vindicated after 1867 when Croatia was made a part of the Hungarian half of Austro-Hungary and Hungarians launched a state sponsored campaign of language assimilation.

After the battle of Pákozd, the halted Croatian armies were forced to retreat towards Austria, where they were given new orders from the Austrian government, but no reinforcements as they were promised.

From a Hungarian aspect the battle was a success, and its day (September 29) later became "the day of the army" ("a honvédség napja") in Hungary. After 1991 that day was changed to May 21 (recapture of Buda in 1849).

[edit] References

• Josip_Jelačić
• About Jelacic in the Hungarian Wikipedia

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