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

Points. Emphasizing that the German populated settlement of western
Hungarian areas adjacent to Austria have the same right to self determination as
all the other nationalities whose same right Hungary has already granted.
In the meanwhile, with the tacit approval of the Viennese government, a
large propaganda campaign was begun to win over the western Hungarian
Germans and create a fait accompli whereby the settlements will petition for
their transfer to Austrian hegemony. As one of the first events in this campaign,
in the smallest, by population, ‘free royal city’ in Hungary, Ruszt (Rust), on the
western shore of Lake Fertő, placards appeared on the city streets on November
15, urging the population to join Austria.
Even before this, on November 5, at a session of the interim German-
Austrian National Assembly, Rep. Heilinger demanded that the minority-
German populated counties of Moson, Sopron and Vas, as well as part of
Pozsony county, including the city of Pozsony, be annexed to German-Austria.
The situation became more serious when a proposed law by the National
Council, the November 14 “German-Austria’s territorial extent, borders and
conditions” and a Declaration of State (Staatserklärung) were introduced before
the National Assembly. The fifth item of the latter clearly states: “The blocks of
German populated settlements in the current counties under the Hungarian
Crown that immediately border on German-Austria are to be annex to the state
of German-Austria.” Rep. Heilinger went on to demand immediate military
occupation of the four mentioned counties.
The question was again on the agenda of the National Assembly’s
November 17 session. On the very same day, the National Council, reacting to
media reports from the western Hungarian counties, passed the following
resolution: “1. The National Council assert that the German populated areas of
Pozsony, Moson, Sopron and Vas counties are part of German-Austria
geographically, economically and ethnically, are in the most close economic
and intellectual relationship with German-Austria for centuries past, and are
indispensable for the feeding of Vienna. Hence, the German-Austria will do its
utmost at the peace conference to be able to annex these territories. In this
context, the National Council greets the vigorous national and economic
annexation movement of the Germans of Western Hungary. 2. The Public Food
Distribution Office is directed to send, as soon as possible, buying agents to
western Hungarian counties, to ensure Vienna’s food supply.” 21
In his November 22 speech to the National Assembly, President of the
National Council Karl Renner stressed that they are trying to establish good
relations with the Hungarian government and are desirous of signing an
21 Harrer, Ferenc: Egy magyar polgár élete [The life of a Hungarian citizen]. Vol. I.
Budapest, 1968, pp. 368–369. Ferenc Harrer (1874–1969) was the first ambassador of
the Károlyi government to Austria (Nov.-Dec. 1918), then appointed as head of the
newly constituted Hungarian Foreign Ministry and temporary Deputy Foreign Minister.
In his memoirs, he analyzes the wester Hungary question and the Hungarian-Austrian
relations. (pp. 357–379)
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