December 1918

While the borders of Central Europe may have been settled in the drawing rooms of Paris, the enforcement of these new borders would fall on the nations created by the conference. In the effort to group certain peoples together, inevitably there would be those caught on the wrong side of borders drawn by far away diplomats. Thus it was in Slovakia, or what had been known as Upper Hungary. The Czechoslovaks had come to claim the state they had gained in Paris, but the native German and Hungarian population was determined to make their displeasure with this new state of affairs known. While the Hungarian Army took great care to withdraw before the advancing Czechoslovaks, civilians provided the bulk of resistance by sabotaging roads, joining mass demonstrations, and trying to slow the Czechoslovaks in whatever way they could. In Pressburg, which was to be renamed Bratislava, the dominant Hungarian and German population tried to prevent annexation of the city to Czechoslovakia by declaring it a free city.

The advance through the countryside is slow. The Czech Italian Legion is encamped outside of Bratislava, and its commanders must decide whether to enter the "free city". The 7th Division has been able to secure Novy Zamky and Nitra but has been slowed by Hungarian resistance in the countryside and has not reached Esztergom and Sahy. The Eastern Army has seen similarly slow progress given the more difficult terrain, securing Bzovik and Divin but falling short of reaching the borders established by the treaty. There are no significant casualties, but there are some injuries that have been caused by the resistance.