Saxons also distanced themselves from Rákóczi in 1703. Although Austrian General Rabutin lost in Transylvania, he retreated into the Saxonland, where the Saxon towns and peasants gave shelter to the Habsburg Army. Clashes between the Kuruc and Habsburg-Saxon army took place throughout Croatia. Danish assistance The Kingdom of Denmark annually provided cavalry and infantry regiments. The Habsburg army stationed these Danish regiments in Hungary and the Danish soldiers fought along with the Habsburg army against the Hungarians (Kurucs) and their allies. The Danish forces fought in Eastern Hungary and Transylvania (Battle of Zsibó). Mercenaries and minorities in the Kuruc army The Rusyn minority in 1703 immediately joined the uprising, but before that between 1690 and 1702 the Rusyns supported the Hungarians against the Austrian soldiers. Also during the conflict all along the Slovaks fought for Rákóczi. In the Kuruc army there were Slovak commanders and a few Kuruc forces were completely Slovak. After the enfranchisement of Transylvania the Romanian minority stood en masse with the Kurucs, and supported the Romanian Kuruc forces. Finally, a few hundred mercenaries from Wallachia and Moldavia fought in Rákóczi's army. Scores of Polish volunteers and mercenaries came from Poland, also many soldiers were Ukrainians and Lipka Tatars, they supported the Kurucs. Several times Rákóczi asked for help from Poland and endeavored to recruit more Polish soldiers. In the Hungarian lands the Germans Spiš Saxons and some German groups (including renegades from the Habsburg Army) joined Rákóczi's war. They were supplemented by German mercenaries. The Kuruc Army also used commands and oaths in both the Slovak and German languages, since there were so many Germans and Slovaks who served in the Kuruc army. The Hungarian Slovenes from the counties of Murska Sobota, Lendava and Szentgotthárd joined the fight against the Habsburg soldiers, since the Styrian forces several times foraged in the Slovene villages. A few hundred Swedish soldiers broke away from the Battle of Poltava, Benderi and Poland in Hungary. In 1710 Rákóczi admitted the Swedes into the demoralized Kuruc army. The Hungarian-Polish-Swedish-French army was close to victory against the Austrians in the Battle of Romhány, but the last of Rákóczi's forces was crushed in the course of the Austrian counterattack. Rákóczi's army also included Bulgarians, Lithuanians, Crimean Tatars and Ottomans. See also Simontornya Castle, used as a stronghold by Kuruc rebels References Conflicts in 1703 Conflicts in 1704 Conflicts in 1705 Conflicts in 1706 Conflicts