Chronica

Preface

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Aspirations politiques françaises en Hongrie après la première guerre (1918-1920)

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In commemoration of the centenary of the First World War, we intend to analyse the aspirations of France in the interest of the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The present essay examines the French politics to encourage their Romanian, Serbian and Czechoslovakian „Little Entente allies” to occupy a great part of the Hungarian national territory and to establish their own nation state. First of all we analyse the situation of the minority in the Dual Monarchy and the history of the French military presence in East Central Europe. Furthermore, we highlight the circumstances of the French military occupation in the South-East of Hungary. Finally, we intend to explain the role of the French army in the preparation of a military offensive against the Hungarian Soviet Republic and its part to prevent the conflicts between the Romanian-Serbian allies.

Komitate Csanád und Csongrád im Wirbel der Zeit zwischen 1918 und 1920

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Local people were in the grips of a military occupation and revolutions. In the wake of the war came poverty and suffering, protesters flocked the streets and some of the ex-soldiers resorted to lootings and robberies spreading terror among the wealthy owners. The revolution was in fact a coup d'etat by an anti -war political group who were unable to keep the atrocities in the countryside under control. Concurrently, the country was being taken over by the winners. Csanad County was taken over by the Romanian army. By overemphasizing their role in the overthrow of the Commune in Csanad County, they prepared the annexation of this land to Romania. Under the pretext of resupplying the army, a systematic act of looting was introduced as requisition. The Commune in defence of its class interest was ready to take up arms against the Romanian army but in Csanad County this intention of self defence was only expressed in a form of declaration. The Romanians with the help of the Triple Entente managed to conquest Mako and its surroundings, introduced the Romanian royal civil services to this land but their excessive nationalistic demands were not supported by the allies, either. Therefore, they had to march out from middle Csanad County.

The Imperium of the Slovaks of the Great Hungarian Plain, 1918–1920

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For the bigger part of the First World War, Slovaks emphasized their loyalty to the Hungarian government. From February 1918 on, the Slovak politicians started to activate themselves in the political life. Slovak political parties gathered to hold a confidential meeting on May 26, 1918, where the Slovak National Party was given a mandate for the central representation of the interests of Slovaks. On the other hand, the political climate only became favorable by the end of October 1918 in order to manifest this intention. Contemplating solutions and brooding no longer tying them up, they had a more pressing task at hand: to decide on the form of independent national life. The Slovaks of the Great Hungarian Plain tried to orient themselves, but the international political situation was changing permanently, and for this reason they could not get important information and decisions from abroad, which could help them to make their choice. Thus, they wavered between approaching Serbia, becoming an “independent republic" (The imperium of the Slovaks of the Great Hungarian Plain), and approaching Romania. Finally, the peace talks left the area of their settlements under Hungarian control, which resulted in the immediate exile of exposed individuals. The phrase “their own Slovak Imperium” provided an opportunity though for the occupying Romanian troops. According to Lajos Hrdlička, the occupying Romanian authorities were accommodating in every sense. They were offered a chance for an independent district, “okolie”, the “Imperium Slovenské” (The Imperium of the Slovaks). The Slovaks of Békés and Csanád counties remained inside the borders of mutilated Hungary. Romanian troops were tasked with the occupation of the areas of Békés and Csanád. They successfully began building their own little “imperium”, as the Romanians called it.

After Trianon. Life near the Hungarian–Czechoslovak Border during the 1920s

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Local consequences of the Trianon Peace Treaty have not been researched thoroughly. This study describes the everyday life of rural people on both sides of the Eastern part of the new border between Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Based on research in Hungarian and Czech archives and with the help of newspaper articles, the author illustrates the difficulties of re-establishing the old familial and economic ties between villages that were separated by the border. Many activities of the borderland people were illegal. The paper discusses how authorities responded to these offences. Besides long and small distance traffic and the problems of dual landowners, illegal crossing, contraband, and border incidents are also part of the analysis. Contrary to all hardships, the border remained permeable in the interwar period.

Die Wirkung des Friedensvertrags von Trianon auf die lutherische Kirche in Ungarn

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Hungary was defeated in World War I. As a consequence of the Peace Treaty of Trianon, signed on June 4, 1920, the country lost two-thirds of its territory and more than half of its population. The end of the war, which was a national tragedy for the Hungarians, caused enormous damage to the Hungarian Lutheran Church as well. 62.9% of the members of the religious community were transferred to foreign countries. Out of 901 congregations only 244 remained within the new borders of Hungary. The Church’s schools and other institutions suffered similar losses. The leaders of the Lutheran community felt deep pain because of the partition of their country and their church. They did everything they could to lessen the detrimental effects of the peace treaty on their parishes. They were supported by all the Lutherans who cared about the future of their church and their country. However, their efforts could not alter the outcome of the international political games. Nevertheless, in spite of the dramatic losses, they could accomplish that the Hungarian Lutheran Church remained viable.

Bethlen’s 1922 Campaign on Questions of Foreign Policy

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Bethlen’s 1922 campaign, especially its treatment of foreign policy questions, has not been investigated by the relevant literature so far, although it is fairly well-known that the Prime Minister, Count István Bethlen, participated in the international conference in Genoa between 8 and 21 April 1922. He returned from there on account of the need to administer the election campaign in Hungary. Convinced by the results of the Genoa Conference, he gave a realistic foreign policy programme: this fitted into the expectations of the winners, but at the same time, made a stand for the country’s independence and full sovereignty. The programme refused the intervention of the Little Entente into the internal affairs of Hungary, but urged to enter into trade treaties with them. What is more, it also made a stand for the interests of the Hungarians living as a minority. All these considerations show that Bethlen urged and supported consolidation in Hungarian foreign policy, too. It was also a contribution to the 1922 election campaign of the Unity Party, and last but not least, to the development of the new foreign policy orientation of the Hungarian state.

Verlust von Territorien und Identitätswandel?

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This paper aims to present an analysis of caricatures published in Hungarian comic papers (Mátyás Diák and Borsszem Jankó) after the First World War showing the motifs of military operations and the symbols of territorial losses. The author intends to demonstrate how the caricaturists represented the North Hungarian campaign (1919) and the rebellion in West Hungary (1921). In the second part of the paper the author presents the symbols of territorial losses in caricatures (e.g. amputation, doctor-patient situations, maps, “eating” of territories). The results of the examination reveal that contemporary Hungarian propaganda presented the Peace Treaty of Trianon as a deep trauma, and according to the caricatures the rejection of the peace treaty would be part of the Hungarian identity between the two world wars.

British Perspectives on the Hungarian Post-war Settlement and the Treaty of Trianon

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British foreign policy examined Hungary’s role with respect to its effect on the European powerbalance: it judged Hungary favourably as long as it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, but, as Hungarian separatist ambitions grew stronger, the country was treated as a threat. The paper looks at how the members of the British delegation at the Paris Peace Conference saw differently the way through which the maintenance of the above mentioned power balance could have been reached. Moreover, it is also scrutinised how various interest groups could exercise considerable impact on the outcome of the negotiations. On the one hand, Arthur Balfour, head of the British Foreign Office, thought that a long-term peace was possible only by strengthening the new, winner nation states, whose tasks were to hinder further German expansion towards the Balkans, and Bolshevism towards Europe. On the other hand, David Lloyd George, head of the British Cabinet, was on the opinion that only the extension of the Wilsonian Principles on the loser states could bring enduring peace in Europe. This study also investigates to what extent utilizing the nationalist movements proved to be effective tactics for the Entente Powers in reaching their war aims. Namely, the Entente proclaimed independence for the nationalities and a just settlement, but at the same time, they tried to comply with the secret covenants concluded during the war. These secret agreements did not take nationalist interests into consideration at all, and they meant specifically unjust arrangement to Hungary. Consequently, the paper argues that the Trianon Treaty was not only the result of political instability in Hungary and the Carpathian Basin in general as well as the validation of the Great Powers’ political interests on the continent, which proposed to impede German expansion and Russian Bolshevism, but also the result of the more effective propaganda activity of the anti-Hungarian group of British political activists and their international network led by Wickham Steed and Seton-Watson.