You're right. However, the Treaty of Trianon had already done its work. The peoples who had lived more or less in peace until 1918, now looked at each other as enemies. The Hungarians were scared that if they did not show some involvement, however minimal, in the war effort, Germany would give more lands to the Successor States of Hungary. This was a very real possibility at the time.Sid Guttridge wrote:Hi
Personally, it seems perfectly plausible that the attack on Kassa was done by the USSR, but this does not make it a strong casus belli.
It was clear that on 22 June the USSR had been attacked massively along a thousand mile front and by 26 June its forces had already been pushed back from opposite the new Hungarian border in Ruthenia. It was therefore highly unlikely that the USSR had any immediate intentions to attack Hungary, even if it had so wished. There was certainly no advantage to it.
It seems rather more likely that Kassa was attacked in mistake for nearby Slovak territory, as Slovakia had just declared war on the USSR. Such confusion is even more plausible given that Kassa had been in Slovakia until only two years before.
It strikes me that, had Hungary really been intent on avoiding war, it could easily have put the two pinprick air raids down to the fog of war. However, it appears that early German successes and the prior participation of rival Romania and Slovakia led Hungary to use them as an excuse to join in and claim its share of the expected spoils, or at the very least prevent Romania displacing Hungary as Germany's favoured ally in the region.
Sid.
Cheers,
Chris