The Fate of Western Hungary 1918-1921 - Corvinus Library ...

into two to the village of Fertőmeggyes on the far bank, from where the
boundary would skirt Sopron in a semicircle. From there, it is to run in a
southern direction, parallel about 5-6 km. West of the indicated Trianon line,
from the hill of the Keresztúr forest near Sopronkeresztúr to meet the line at the
village of Pinkamindszent near Körmend. The Hungarian side also indicated
that it is willing to discuss the affiliation of the Hungarian-populated
settlements along the upper Pinka River – Felsőőr/Oberwart, Alsóőr/Unterwart,
Őrisziget/Siget in der Wart, etc. – based on ethnography and some manner of
territorial trade-off. 255 If accepted, about one third of the Borderland area
proposed to be annexed to Austria would have remained with Hungary. This
new development was debated at the August 1 session of the Hungarian
Cabinet. 256 The only agreement reached by the two parties was that new,
official meetings regarding Western Hungary would commence in three weeks.
The “Sopron semi-circle,” proposed in July, was finally decided by the
plebiscite held six months later as a result of the Western Hungary insurrection.
It finally remained with Hungary.
The Hungarian National Assembly ratified the Trianon Peace Decree (Law
XXXIII) on July 26, 1921, which went into effect at 6PM on the same day.
Also on the same day, Jules Cambon, president of the Council of Ambassadors,
notified Hungary in a strongly worded memorandum that Hungary is to hand
over officially by August 27 territories awarded to Austria. Still on the same
day, South Slav forces vacated the occupied southern Hungarian regions,
primarily the city of Pécs and Baranya County. The rotating president-of-theday
of the Entente Mission in Budapest, French General Jules Hamelin, also
called on PM Bethlen on July 28 for the vacating of Western Hungary, citing
the Paris memorandum of two days previous. 257 In Graz, also on the same day,
the first meeting of a commission convened to determine the new Austrian-
Hungarian border, comprised of a British, a French, an Italian and a Japanese
military officer, plus an Austrian and a Hungarian delegate. Hungary was
represented by Col. Artur Keresztes.
On the following day, on July 29, Deputy Foreign Minister Kálmán Kánya
sent a “Strictly Confidential” report to the prime minister, advising him that the
Council of Ambassadors have assigned the task of the handing over to Austria
of Western Hungary to the Inter-Allied Military Mission in Budapest, based on
their earlier memorandum of June 29. In the interest of issuing all necessary
Hungarian instructions “without attracting undue attention,” he also informed
the PM that the Entente Mission has prepared a hand-over plan. The meeting to
deal with its execution is slated to take place on August 6 in Sopron and that 30
Entente officers are due to arrive there on the 17 th . Hungarian forces are to
withdraw between the 21 st and the 26 th from the Western Hungary territory to
255 Soós, 1971, op. cit., p. 131.
256 MOL. K 27. Minisztertanácsi jegyzőkönyvek, 1921. augusztus 1.
257 Ibid, K 26. 1388. csomó. 1922–„H”-tétel, p. 70.
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