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

claim, partly monetary, in the matter of the 400,000 Florins, which the 1478
Treaty of Olomouc guaranteed it as compensation for the possible loss of the
fringe provinces of the Czech crown after the death of King Mathias. Also,
territories, if any remain on the right bank of the Lajta River, which the 1491
peace was returned to Hungary after Maximilian’s campaign and which are
now under Austrian administration. As well, smaller areas on the Styrian(-
Hungarian) border, where border adjustments have been prevented by Austria
to this day.” 115
The economic justification of the Austrians for the annexation of the
territory was that Western Hungary was Vienna’s larder and vegetable garden.
It is a fact that this area has significantly contributed for centuries to the feeding
of the Austrian capital. For Budapest, early vegetables came from the Banate,
later vegetables from the southern valley of the Vag River, eggs from
Transylvania and meat from eastern Hungary – all now torn from the country.
How can the peace treaty give Vienna what it took away from Budapest? With
regard to food supply, Western Hungary was a transit point to Vienna: milk was
taken there from the western counties (not the German but Hungarian populated
ones), meat from other parts of Trans-Danubia and the Great Plains through the
city of Győr for centuries past. “If indeed, the feeding of Vienna, within Austria,
is to be ensured through moving the current border, then it should be moved far
in, almost to the center of Hungary. If, however, we look at geographic
standpoints and assess territorial cohesion from an economic point-of-view,
then the borders should be moved not as a detriment to Hungary but pushed
toward the West to Austria’s disadvantage. The Graz Basin is, as a matter of
course, a part of Hungary. Politically it was a part of Hungary at one time,
under kings of the House of Árpád. It was not only Hungarian settlements that
wanted union with Austria, but only during the Bolshevik period, but Austrian
settlements wished to join Hungary, such as Aspang Markt, clearly denoting the
direction of economic gravitation. It is true that the industrial centers were fed
by Hungary but Hungary shares no blame in their industrial centers growing
big and not its own, and that its dependence on Austria and the whole of
Austrian economical policies suppressed Hungarian industry.”
The Austrian government hoped that the three annexed sugar factories
(Nagycenk, Cinfalva and Félszerfalva) will cover the sugar needs of Vienna,
which Austrian factories could only supply with 10% of its need. The three
factories were located in areas two-thirds populated by Hungarians, processing
sugar beet grown mainly on the flat lands of northwestern Hungary. After
border adjustment, they would be unable to supply Austria’s sugar needs and
would go bankrupt. Especially the factory in Nagycenk “which is in a purely
Hungarian populated village, right next to the border, and it is probably the
reason why this purely Hungarian village was added to territories claimed by
Austria.” The treaties of Saint-Germain and Trianon gave the estate of Count
115 Ibid, pp. 458–459.
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