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

Chapter 2: The annexing of the western parts of
Moson, Sopron and Vas counties to Austria
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, October, 1918 – September 10, 1919
The Austrian forces attacking Western Hungary, especially around Sopron,
were defeated and the Heanzenland Republic, in existence for all of one day,
was abolished in early December of 1918. The main reason was Austria’s weak
military position. In spite of it, aspirations for secession / detachment from
Hungary continued to grow, primarily inflamed by Austrian circles embracing
the idea of Greater Germany. Since October, the civic officials in the counties
of Moson, Sopron and Vas saw its prevention as their most important task. It is
a fact, though, that separation from Hungary was fuelled by serious economic
difficulties. As an example, confidential reports sent to the High Constable of
Vas County in the latter half of 1918 reported, among other things, that due to
lack of food, the German-speaking population was becoming insolent towards
the Hungarian authorities. For some time, it was impossible to obtain basic
necessities in the villages, such as petroleum for lighting, along with salt and
sugar. Hence, the people of some border villages threatened that, if the
Hungarian government did not provide adequate supplies, then they would join
Austria.
At the November 25, 1918 meeting of the Vas County Municipal Committee
declared that “the Austrian annexation attempt was an attack fuelled by greed
and categorically rejected it.” The minutes of the same meeting went on to
record: “The municipality is open to the populace of the named areas exercising
their unique national culture. (…) It is not opposed to the idea that the
population receives education and public administration in their language.” The
administrators of Vas County, in effect, laid out a third option as a solution to
the German question: secession/annexation, or autonomy. The German
demands could be satisfied by increasing their linguistic and cultural rights,
within the framework of existing administrative constraints. 56
56 Soós, Katalin. A nyugat-magyarországi kérdés 1918–1919 [The question of Western
Hungary]. Budapest, 1962, p. 10. Regarding sources: For two decades following the
March 1938 annexation of Austria by Germany (Anschluss), no Hungarian-language
publication was published treating the territorial change of Őrvidék / Burgenland. At
the beginning of WWII, several pamphlets were published: Követeljük Burgenlandot
[We demand Burgenland]. (Egyesült Magyar Nemzeti Szocialista Párt, Budapest,
1938.); Pálosy, I.: Nem sértjük a magyar–német barátságot. Követeljük Burgenlandot a
magyar haza szent testéhez [We will not violate the Hungarian-German friendship. We
demand Burgenland as part of the nation’s sacred body.]. Budapest, around 1939.
After the 1956 Revolution and Freedom Fight, the quoted author was among the first to
address the question under the name G. Soós, Katalin: Adalékok a Magyar
Tanácsköztársaság és az Osztrák Köztársaság kapcsolatainak történetéhez. A nyugatmagyarországi
kérdés 1919. március–augusztus [Addenda to the history of relations
between the Hungarian Soviet Republic and the Austrian Republic. The Western
Hungarian question, March-August, 1919]. In: Soproni Szemle, 1959, issue 4, pp. 289–
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