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

and consultation of the affected population.” 122 The reality was that, in
opposition to the memorandum, the Entente Powers at the Paris Peace
Conference only supported the unencumbered right to self-determination of the
Czechs, Slovaks, Romanians, Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and others, but not
the Hungarians. That is why plebiscites were not held in areas with significant
majority Hungarian populations (Csallóköz/Žitný ostrov, Mátyusföld/
Mat'úšové žemé, Bodrogköz/between the Bodrog and Tisza Rivers,
Tiszahát/upper reach of the Tisza River, Partium/North and West of
Transylvania, Székelyföld/Szeklerland, Bácska/Bačka and other places).
The memorandum goes on to state that Western Hungary “has been part of
Hungary for a thousand years,” which “the Hungarians often protected and
defended with their blood.” The German settlers were never subordinated to the
Hungarians, rather, they received protection and privileges. “The border zone of
Western Hungary is the richest, most advanced in industry and culture,
factories located here are among the most significant in the country
([Lajta]Újfalu, [Pozsony]Ligetfalu, etc.).” Of these, the most important were: in
Sopron – metallurgy, carpet weaving, plastics, food processing, brewery, two
tobacco factories and several brick works; in Királyhida – meat canning, grain
husking; in Lajtaújfalú – jute and weaving works, two chemical plants; in
Szarvkő and Vimpác – one each of ribbon factory; in Pinkafő – carpet and
blanket manufacture; in Nagycenk, Cinfalva and Félszerfalva – sugar and sugar
refineries. Losing these factories “means the decline of trade and
manufacturing.” 123 Of these, let us look at the expected future of the sugar
refineries: with their loss, these factories lose access to the Hungarian raw
materials, meaning the sugar beet growing areas of eastern Sopron and Vas
counties. The factory in Nagycenk, as an example, has 18 beet growing estates,
of which only three would be transferred.
It is, however, important to note that the majority of the factories on the
territory earmarked for annexation were branch plants of Austrian companies,
opened in the second half of the 19 th c., with sizable Hungarian government
assistance, to produce for the Hungarian market. As but one example, Ede
Kühne (1839–1903), opened a factory in the village of Moson in 1869, which
became one of the largest farm implement factories, making 90 different
machines by 1885. There was also a significant arms and ammunition factory in
the village. In the village of Szentgotthárd, also on Austria’s wish list, there was
a Europe-wide known scythe works, clock making manufacture, silk weaving
and tobacco factories, as well as smaller workshops. 124 At the end of the 1910s,
of the 365,000 population of Western Hungary, 102,000 made their living in
manufacturing and trade, or 28%, while the country’s average, including
Budapest, was only 20%. In the affected territory, there existed at the time 84
plants employing between 10 and 20 employees, and a further 61 that provided
122 Ibid, p. 470.
123 Ibid, pp. 470–471.
124 Kiss, Mária, 1981, op. cit., pp. 241–248.
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