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

Kismarton and Ruszt). According to the 1910 census and settlement
boundaries, the to-be-annexed territory had a population of 345,082. The
patriotic resistance of the rebels reclaimed the majority (92%) of this area by a
feat of arms more than a year after the June 4, 1920 Treaty of Trianon. It was
no fault of theirs that the Borderland (Burgenland), or a large part of it, that
Austria wished to amalgamate could not remain a part of Hungary.
The political and literary periodical magazine of the free forces,
Lajtabánság, published numerous new measures regarding the organization of
the new country. The Economy column made known to the public the territorial
divisions of Lajta-Banate, as written previously. It also disclosed that
regulations governing public administration and the administration of justice
were under way. Provisionally, Hungarian laws would remain in force.
Everyone would be able to use their mother tongue, in official business and
private life; laws and measures are to be published in Hungarian, German and
Croatian. Police matters will be handled by the gendarmerie of Lajta-Banate
and local home guards; inside Lajta-Banate, the population has the right of free
travel, travel documents to be issued by the appropriate authorities,
countersigned by the local gendarmerie. People working in Austrian or
Hungarian factories will have permanent documents provided; people of Lajta-
Banate are permitted to ship animals for sale to Hungarian markets, as well as
make purchases there. The column also covered the new customs regulations.
The bottom line was that imports were duty free, while exports to Hungary
were at preferential rates. The Public Food Supply column criticized the Venice
Protocol and promised that the public would be looked after.
The columns containing News reported (as already covered previously) the
minutes of the Constitutional Assembly meeting, the makeup of the provisional
governing council, the description of the boundaries of Lajta-Banate, the draft
constitution, as well as interim notices and decrees. It further reported that the
command center of the armed forces, along with the central offices, have
moved from Felsőőr to Nagyszentmihály, where buildings could house them
more comfortably.
The most interesting column of the ‘rebel newspaper, Review of the Media,
refuted in three articles the charges of the Viennese Neues Wiener Tagblatt
(New Vienna Newspaper) and the falsehoods of one of its articles (The Rule of
the Bands), according to which a Lt. Bocskay has ordered illegal conscription
in Köpcsény. We are clear on the relation of the Austrian press to the Western
Hungary insurrection: in their usage, the Hungarian rebels are always referred
to as ‘bandits.’ However, it is worth noting that the review extended critical
words elsewhere, too. The ‘rebel paper’ pointed the finger at Hungarian media,
which, for unknown reasons of higher instructions, began a smear campaign
against Lajta-Banate, poisoning public opinion and, wherever possible, calling
the heroes of the freedom uprising a ‘band of thieves and compromising their
integrity.’ “We can expect the press that, if they do not publish our
communiqués due to censorship, at least they not compromise their ideals of
integrity by publishing falsehoods. The Governing Council of Lajta-Banate has
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