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

the infantry regiments of Zala, Sopron and Vas counties (the latter of 2
battalions), the Guard Battalion of Szombathely, the Hussars and an artillery
regiment. 233
On December 23, 1920, the Council of Ambassadors in Paris sent an
unexpected note to the Hungarian government in which it demanded handing
over Westungarn, or Western Hungary, into the control of the Entente Military
Mission in Sopron at the time. The body was to assume control over the area in
question. The gist of the note was that the Hungarian territory to be annexed to
Austria was first symbolically to be handed over to the Entente countries, who
immediately would then hand it over to the Vienna government. This turn of
events was discussed by the Hungarian Cabinet at its January 4 session, where
Prime Minister Teleki raised that the note was only received by the Hungarian
chargé d’affaires in Paris, Iván Praznovszky – still without an official text – but
the new responsibilities of the Hungarian government are to be recognized from
it. After that, Foreign Minister Kálmán Kánya (1869-1945) spoke at the
session, analyzing the newest turn of the Western Hungary question, followed
again by PM Teleki. He deemed that Western Hungary was not to be handed
over to Austria under any circumstance. In the worst case, have the Entente
occupy the area militarily. In the meantime, the matter of the territorial
handover can be tied to matters of extracting warranties for the rights of the
Hungarian minority handed over to Austria, and the withdrawal of Serb troops
occupying Baranya County and the city of Pécs. Also, to point out that the
border adjudication committees have not yet arrived and the parliaments of the
Great Powers have not ratified the Trianon Treaty. Thus, it is clear that the
government was not about to hand over Western Hungary to the Allies. Teleki
closed the session with the statement that they must only yield to armed force.
At the same time, he said, if the area’s population resisted by armed force, it
would be a mistake to prevent it. 234
In its counter-memorandum of January 13, 1921, the government of
Hungary protested against the December 23 decision by Paris. In fact, it stated
that it would not follow the instructions because, according to the May 6, 1920
Millerand letter, 235 the noted lettre d’envoi, the borders of Hungary have not
been finally settled. The task of the border determination committees is to
resolve it, to post the final borders, as well as remedy the injustices committed.
Through the note, the Hungarian government fundamentally shook the legality
of Paris’ December note, since it was the Peace Conference that appended the
Millerand letter to the Trianon decree. In any case, the Council of Ambassadors
notified the Austrian government on January 2, 1921, two days before the
233 Fogarassy, László: Védelmi előkészületek Ausztriával szemben gróf Bethlen István
kormányának hivatalba lépése után [Defensive preparations against Austria after the
government of Count István Bethlen took office]. In: Soproni Szemle, 1994, issue 3, p.
307.
234 MOL. K 27. Minisztertanácsi jegyzőkönyvek. 1921. január 4.
235 The Millerand letter has been covered in detail in the previous chapter.
98