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

In total, 402,683 c.a., or 2,317.3 km 2 , containing one town and 184 villages,
with a population of 168,554. Each borough (or district) had a chief district
magistrate. The free royal town of Ruszt (3,477 c.a., 1,402 pop.) close to Lake
Fertő and the Kismarton borough were not mentioned in the administrative
division. Probably because they were, at the time, under the authority of the
Friedrich rebels and Prónay’s authority did not yet extend over the area.
According to the public administrative directive, villages reassigned from
Hungarian boroughs to Lajta-Banate are to be supervised by the nearest
borough. 425 This latter instruction was aimed partly at the boroughs contiguous
with the Hungarian-Austrian border, and ordered to be ceded to a lesser or
greater degree, of the western areas of Sopron (44,708 c.a., 21 vill., 24,580
pop.), Kőszeg (53,432 c.a., 36 vill., 18,692 pop.), Szentgotthárd (43,550 c.a.,
32 vill., 24,645 pop.) and Rajka (39,203 c.a., 7 vill., 11,325 pop.). Partly also at
the parts of the boroughs of Magyaróvár (14,708 c.a., 2 vill., 3,974 pop.),
Szombathely (13,036 c.a., 11 vill., 4,608 pop.) and Körmend (6,469 c.a., 5 vill.,
2,290 pop.) also destined for annexation from Hungary. The totals of these last
were 215,106 c.a., or 1,237.8 km 2 , containing 114 villages, with a population of
90,114.
The area of Lajta-Banate grew in the second half of October 1921 because
the district of Kismarton (75,641 c.a., or 435.3 km 2 , 26 vill., 34,779 pop.),
where the Friedrich units were active (they had their headquarters in
Kismarton), joined the Prónay-led Lajta-Banate. (The Ostenburg rebels of
Nagymarton district, headquartered in Nagymarton, came under the command
of Prónay in September. As noted in the previous chapter, they formed the 5 th
Rebel Army.) After driving out the invading Austrian forces, since September
10 the rebels controlled the parts of zones ‘A’ and ‘B’ from Királyhida in the
north to Gyanafalva in the south to the new border specified in the Trianon
Treaty. This was the territory over which they proclaimed the new country of
Lajta-Banate on October 4. According to the available data, its area in October
of 1921was 3,990 km 2 , consisting of the town of Kismarton (excepting the
town of Ruszt, which, while not mentioned in the public administrative
division, logically belonged there), 298 villages and a population of 258,668. 426
With the addition of the town of Ruszt (20 km 2 , 1,402 pop.), Lajta-Banate
comes to 4,010 km 2 and a population of 260,070. Remember that the Saint-
Germain Treaty signed on September 10, 1919 awarded 4,364 km 2 of Western
Hungary, with 345 settlements, to Austria, along with three towns (Sopron,
425 Lajtabánság, 1921, November 3, issue 1, p. 4.
426 Az 1920. évi népszámlálás. Első rész. A népesség főbb demográfiai adatai községek
és népesebb puszták, telepek szerint [The 1920 census. Part I. Major demographic data
according to villages, settlements and farms.]. In: Magyar Statisztikai Közlemények. Új
sor. Vol. 69. Budapest, 1923, pp. 286–303. Also: A népmozgalom főbb adatai
községenként – Die Grundlegenden Angaben der Bevölkerungsbewegung nach
Gemeinden 1828-1920. Burgenland. Magyar Központi Statisztikai Hivatal /
Ungarisches Statistisches Zentralamt. Budapest, 1981, p. 254. Area conversion
calculation: 1 km 2 (100 hectares) = 173.7726 cadastral acres = 247.1 acres.
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