The Trianon Peace Edict, signed on June 4, 1920, which ended the First World Battle, took 71 % of the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary with a complete space of greater than 325,000 sq. kilometers, and greater than half of its inhabitants. Nevertheless, the commemoration of June 4 – regardless of our tragic losses – is just not solely directed to the previous, but additionally to the long run, as it’s also the day of remembrance of the nationwide unity and religious unity of Hungarians trapped within the territory of eight nations as a result of Trianon Dictator.
In keeping with the testimony of the Bible, within the second ebook of Moses, the Lord gave the next command:And inform your sons on that day.”
Sure, that is what we should do: inform from era to era what actually occurred at Trianon.
It have to be stated that the peace decree that ended the First World Battle took away 71 % of the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary with a complete space of 325,411 sq. kilometers, and greater than half of its inhabitants.
As for the financial system:
- 61.4 % of the agricultural land,
- 88 % of the wooden inventory,
- 83.1 % of iron ore deposits,
- 100% of the salt mines,
- 99 % of gold and silver mines,
- 65 % of coal manufacturing,
- 60 % of the iron and metal manufacturing capability,
- 62.2 % of the railway community,
- 64.5 % of constructed roads,
- 55.7 % of commercial estates,
- 67 % of credit score and banking establishments
got here into the possession of the neighboring nations by a dictate disguised as peace.
And because of this, a 3rd of the Hungarian nation, the three.2 million Hungarians residing within the land of our ancestors, additionally crossed the border.
Ethnographic map depicting the ethnic relations of Hungary. The pink colour signifies the realm inhabited by Hungarians (Supply: Wikipedia)
The borders designated by the diktat separated ethnically Hungarian blocs and economically unified areas, reducing off Hungary from lots of its financial assets and cultural facilities, reminiscent of Bratislava, Nagyszombat, Komárom, Kassa, Nagyvárad, Arad, Timisoara, Cluj, Marosvásárhely or Szabadka. The checklist of our taken cities and villages might be lengthy, very lengthy.
After Trianon, solely 38 % of Hungary’s former nationwide wealth remained.
As well as, underneath the phrases of the peace treaty, he was allowed to pay reparations for an additional thirty years, for the conflict harm he triggered, so to talk. With these territorial, ethnic and financial adjustments, Hungary grew to become the most important loser of the post-war settlement. No European nation has been troubled with such peace however us.
How did we get right here? How did the flower of corruption bloom and Hungary’s future fulfilled?
On the outbreak of the First World Battle, our nation couldn’t be thought of an unbiased state within the constitutional sense, because it was a part of the dualistic, i.e. two, roughly unbiased Monarchy by way of its inside authorized system, however externally unified and led by one ruler. It follows not solely that it was not an unbiased belligerent, but additionally that it didn’t have any diplomatic relations with the Entente.
Even the Armistice of Padua, which ended the hostilities on November 3, 1918, was concluded within the identify of the Monarchy and never of Hungary. Ten days later, nevertheless, Mihály Károlyi negotiated with the consultant of the Entente because the prime minister of Hungary, which had change into unbiased by then. The second armistice settlement signed in Belgrade outdated the Padua settlement in lots of respects – to our detriment, after all.
Within the first, the Hungarian military needed to retreat behind the thousand-year border, however within the second, it needed to take up a place a lot additional again, behind the Szamos-Bestzterce-Maros-Baja-Pécs-Dráva line. In Belgrade, no comparable demarcation line was established for the Highlands, at the moment the thousand-year border remained in pressure there. The handful of Hungarian forces later needed to withdraw behind the Danube-Ipoly line primarily based on the demand offered within the checklist of the French common Berthelot Vix. Because of this, the Czechs occupied Northern Hungary.
Mihály Károlyi (Supply: Wikipedia)
The important thing to the scenario is to be discovered within the Belgrade Conference, i.e. the second armistice settlement concluded with the Entente, because it was right here that the nation’s army energy was damaged, limiting it to 6 infantry and two cavalry divisions.
This is essential as a result of after disarming Hungary, it was now not in a position to defend itself from its neighbors, which attacked it from three instructions on the similar time.
Nevertheless, the armistice settlement didn’t imply that bilateral diplomatic relations primarily based on worldwide regulation have been established between our nation and the Entente. The connection between the 2 events happened within the type of army missions, which the Entente despatched to Budapest to hold out a particular activity. After the autumn of the Soviet Republic, the Entente delegation that arrived in Budapest within the fall of 1919, for instance, was entrusted with the duty of making the so-called focus authorities, which the winners would invite to the Paris Peace Convention.
Albert Apponyi arrives on the French Ministry of Overseas Affairs on January 15, 1920 to obtain the draft peace treaty within the well-known lecture corridor of the Ministry of Overseas Affairs (Supply: Wikipedia)
Nevertheless, the query of the borders had already been determined by then, they determined about us, however with out us. The Council of Overseas Ministers accepted it on June 11, 1919, and the next day the Supreme Council permitted the ultimate Czechoslovak-Hungarian and Romanian-Hungarian border traces. The members of the Hungarian authorities weren’t even invited to the substantive a part of the peace negotiations, and the Entente advocated the institution of a focus authorities solely with a purpose to be the one to nominate the delegation that will settle for and signal the peace phrases.
Albert Apponyi was the chief of this delegation.
Among the many members of the sixty-six Hungarian delegation despatched to Paris are two later prime ministers: István Bethlen and Pál Teleki. The Hungarian delegates went to Paris ready. The internationally famend geographer, Pál Teleki, for instance, labored from the autumn of 1918 on his work, later known as the “carte rouge”, which depicted the Kingdom of Hungary primarily based on the nationality knowledge of 1910.
It obtained its identify from the truth that the lodging space of the Hungarian nation was marked in pink. The preparation of the Hungarian delegation was additionally helped by the truth that at first of 1920 the textual content of the German, Austrian and Bulgarian peace was already identified, which was analyzed and it was established that lots of its articles have been an identical. Primarily based on this, it might be guessed that the victors of the conflict would prescribe the identical for us.
“If Hungary have been to be put within the place of getting to decide on between accepting or rejecting this peace, it could really reply the query: is it proper to commit suicide so as to not be killed” (excerpt from Albert Apponyi’s protection speech).
On January 5, 1920, the Hungarians left Budapest’s Keleti railway station. In Paris, nevertheless, the delegation was obtained coldly, they usually have been made to really feel that they have been seen as losers in all the things. They have been assigned lodging in a suburb of the French capital, their actions have been restricted, they might solely go away the backyard of their resort after prior notification and approval, accompanied by a military of detectives.
The victors needed to stop the Hungarians, who have been virtually prisoners, from assembly anybody. The Hungarian delegates handed over their credentials instantly after their arrival, already on January 8, which the Entente didn’t settle for till January 14. That is essential as a result of the winners finalized the textual content of the peace draft whereas the Hungarians have been ready.
The feedback of the delegation led by Apponyi may subsequently not be taken under consideration by the Entente only for formal causes, because the remaining model of the textual content had already been ready. The Hungarian delegation obtained the peace phrases on the fifteenth.
Albert Apponyi needed to put together the thick textual content containing 364 paragraphs in lower than 24 hours so as to have the ability to give his feedback in English and Italian on behalf of Hungary on January 16.
Posterity calls this speech the Trianon protection speech.
On January 15, 1920, Albert Apponyi obtained the textual content of the peace decree on this room. The leaders of the winners sat on the desk in entrance of the hearth (Supply: Wikipedia)
Albert Apponyi’s speech was additionally lined by the worldwide press, so folks on this nation additionally realized about it. Despite the heightened expectations that arose from the truth that British Prime Minister Lloyd George appeared to know the Hungarian place, the textual content adopted on January 15 was modified solely in a number of administrative issues, the amendments didn’t cowl substantive issues.
On June 4, 1920, the Hungarian peace delegation was obtained by the French troopers in entrance of the Trianon Palace with a gun at their toes with out a salute (Supply: Wikipedia)
The Council of Overseas Ministers and Ambassadors final mentioned the difficulty of Hungarian borders at its assembly in London on March 8. Of their letter despatched to Budapest, they wrote: “it’s potential that an on-site investigation will show the need of adjusting the borders within the peace treaty at sure factors. (…) On this case, the Allied and Related Powers agree that the Council of the Confederation might, if one of many events involved so want, supply its good places of work for the peaceable adjustment of the unique boundaries, underneath the identical situations, in these locations the place a Boundary Fee thought of some change fascinating…”
The Budapest authorities decoded the message in such a approach that the correction mirrored within the letter can solely happen after the signing of the peace phrases, because the border institution commissions can solely be arrange after the brand new, official state border is established. This was additionally a powerful argument in favor of the Hungarian authorities accepting the textual content of the peace treaty. The Council of Ambassadors later determined that this a part of the March letter was thought of irrelevant to them. Nevertheless, this was not communicated to Budapest.
The details of the peace treaty: the primary half contained the Constitution of the League of Nations, the second set out Hungary’s new, designated borders, and the third set out its obligations in direction of neighboring nations. The fifth handled army restrictions, the sixth with prisoners of conflict, the seventh with conflict crimes, and the eighth and ninth with reparations.
The Hungarian peace delegation leaves the signing ceremony (Supply: Wikipedia)
The choice on the place and time of the signing was made by the council of ambassadors on Could 22. The subsequent day, they knowledgeable Budapest in a memorandum, which additionally acknowledged that the peace treaty have to be signed by a number of members of the Hungarian authorities, who should arrive at Versailles by June 2 on the newest. The contract was lastly signed on June 4, 1920 by the delegates of the federal government of Sándor Simonyi-Semadam, who have been primarily appointed for this act, extraordinary envoy Alfréd Drasche-Lázár and minister of welfare Ágost Benárd.
In the meanwhile of the signing, the bells of all of the church buildings within the remaining Hungary rang, and the sirens of the factories wailed. Individuals stopped on the road, visitors stopped for ten minutes, work was halted, and outlets have been closed. Hungarians tearfully and silently protested in opposition to the dictate.
If one thing united Hungarian society, it was the thought of rejecting the dictates. No matter political opinion or social scenario, everybody felt {that a} blatant injustice had been performed to the Hungarians.
Gyula Juhász expressed this sense in his poem Trianon:
„You by no means have to speak about it,
However all the time, all the time give it some thought.
As a result of you’ll be able to’t neglect, no, by no means
Till it turns into Hungarian and a reminiscence,
Legislation and justice, honor, hope,
How we had a rustic on this earth
Which the Hungarian pressure received bravely,
And the Hungarian coronary heart and thoughts definitely stored me going.
A thousand years of blood, tears and
It was given by his arduous work
Holy entry to this valuable legacy.”
Featured picture: The day of a thousand Székely women within the Csíksomlyó mountain saddle on July 6, 2019 (Picture: MTI/Nándor Veres).
