Claim:
The Károlyi government could have used the German Mackensen army, which was withdrawing across Hungary, to defend Hungary’s borders
Rebuttal:
This army was not at their disposal: it would have been a source of conflict with the entente great powers, besides the German high command had ordered the army to return to Germany, and the German soldiers themselves were looking forward to getting home. It is highly unlikely that they could have been motivated to spill their blood for another country.
In detail:
Some have recently floated the idea that the Károlyi government could have used the German army led by August von Mackensen and stationed in Romania, for defending the borders of Hungary. The army was withdrawing to Germany across Hungary in late 1918. This claim, however, is false for several reasons. First of all, the Belgrade agreement had settled the fate of the army: it gave them 10 days to cross Hungary, after that the Hungarian government were to detain them. Contravening these orders would have caused serious diplomatic and potentially military conflicts with the entente, more specifically the French. (Even so there were some diplomatic complications, because the Germans failed to leave Hungary within the deadline and the French began to demand that the Hungarian authorities intern the entire Mackensen army. However, there was neither suitable space nor suitable armed forces to carry out this task, so finally it was only General Mackensen who got detained, the army itself left the country.) Secondly, General Mackensen had been given clear orders from the German high command to withdraw to Germany as fast as possible. The soldiers themselves were also looking forward to finally returning home. All in all, it is extremely unlikely that these people could have been induced to spill their blood on behalf of a country they have nothing to do with, contravening their orders in the meantime.
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