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

a very sizable piece of Hungarian territory, even without these few square
kilometers.” 504
From the quoted referendum results, it is apparent that a portion of the
German-speaking citizens of Sopron voted for Hungary. A reason was that
nobody clearly defined in the city: who is Austrian and who is German? The
German-speakers held themselves to be Schwabians and were convinced, based
on centuries old traditions that their ancestors emigrated from various parts of
Germany to Sopron or Western Hungary. [They settled along the western
border for the immediate opening their German language gave them in selling
their products in Vienna-ed.] A Hungarian citizen, whose ancestors came from
a distant German province [or state-ed.], most certainly harbors some fraternal
feelings towards Germans but the same cannot necessarily be said towards
Austrians. It was also not coincidental that, at the Sopron victory celebrations
the following day, Mayor Mihály Thurner said: 70 million Germans can be
proud of the Sopron Germans because they are “good Germans and not
scoundrels, Germans who did not betray their country.”
It must be noted here that, precisely during the Sopron plebiscite, a
Czechoslovak-Austria agreement was signed on December 16, 1921 in the
castle of Lány near Prague, the residence of Czechoslovak President Tomáš
Garrigue Masaryk. The first article of the Treaty of Lány, 505 named for the
signing location, stipulated that the signing parties undertake to defend the
status quo as defined by the Saint-Germain and Trianon peace treaties. Article
two: “The two countries mutually guarantee each other’s territory. (…) in the
interest of maintaining peace and the guarantee of the integrity of the noted
territories, they further oblige themselves to extend mutual support in the
political and diplomatic arenas.” Article three: “Both countries undertake the
responsibility that, in the instance that one is attacked, and is forced to defend
itself, will declare itself neutral.”
The treaty was signed by President Masaryk and Foreign Minister Beneš for
Czechoslovakia and President Hainisch and Chancellor Schober for Austria.
The latter two signed as if the two month old Venice Treaty did not exist. They,
however, had an inkling that, with the plebiscite under way, Sopron was
already irretrievably lost for Austria. Thus, as a last attempt to create confusion
among the Great Powers, they brought up the Treaty of Lány, after
unsuccessfully petitioning the Council of Ambassadors for a delay in the
referendum date.
The Treaty of Lány was greeted with great delight by Romania and the
Kingdom of Serbs-Croats-Slovenes because, with its signing, Beneš was able to
encircle and isolate Hungary, i.e., to force his neighbor, who was unwilling to
accept the modifications, to its knees. “The ratification of the Trianon peace,
the creation of the Little Entente, the unsuccessful attempt of Charles convinced
504 Ormos, 1990, op. cit., pp. 196–198.
505 For the text of the Czechoslovak-Austrian political agreement, see: Halmosy, 1983,
op. cit., pp. 186-188. The agreement lapsed on March 15, 1927. It was not renewed.
196