Bernd 10/06/2026 (Tue) 15:07 No.55611 del
Retribution started earlier than the capitulation of 1849 August 13. The rotating commander-in-chiefs of the Imperial army (Windisch-Grätz, Welden, Haynau) executed ~55 captured persons (in theory officers, but Haynau declared anyone could be held responsible) by that time already.
The main act was of course the execution of Count Batthyány and the Martyrs of Arad. There is one overlooked victim of this day, a certain Fekete Imre guerilla corporal (captain in other mentions) who sounds like a really minor character in the grand scheme of things. I tried to look up who he was. I found he was a farmer (I assume freed serf) from some village north of Pest-Buda, he was executed along with Prime Minister Batthyány, he was sentenced to hanging, but was shot instead just like the Count. The reason: he captured an imperial dispatch, took his documents, then released him.
By October 25th fourteen more people were executed. These events created great indignation in contemporary Western Europe, in London and Paris, governments, politicians, diplomats, journalists all expressed their displeasure. This meant enough pressure to halt the execution of capital sentences for the rest of the year. However they restarted in 1850.
The roles of the executed in the 1848-49 events was quite colorful. Soldiers, politicians, guerillas, rebels, etc. Surprisingly the proportion of the elite is relatively low. Most killed were from the lower classes, quite a few pastors and notaries fallen victim of the revenge.
All in all 500 people were sentenced to death, less than half were executed, perhaps as "low" as ~120. Rest were changed to various length of prison.
About 2000 people were incarcerated, some got forced labor. Somewhere around 50-70 thousands were pressed into the service of the Imperial army. Confiscation of assets were applied liberally, they basically plundered the country. It is rarely mentioned but both the Habsburg and the Tsarist troops pillaged and/or burned villages if they were attacked nearby one (ie guerilla style asymmetrical attacks provoked revenge).