Treaty of Trianon
The Treaty of Trianon is the peace treaty concluded at the end of World War I by the Allies of World War I, on one side, and Hungary, seen as a successor of Austria-Hungary, on the other. It established the borders of Hungary and regulated its international situation. Hungary lost over two-thirds of its territory and about two-thirds of its inhabitants under the treaty.[1]. The principal beneficiaries of territorial adjustment were Romania, Czechoslovakia, and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The treaty was signed on June 4, 1920, at the Grand Trianon Palace in Versailles, France.
Consequences of the treaty
Minorities in post-Trianon Hungary
On the other hand, a considerable number of other nationalities remained within the frontiers of the new Hungary:
According to the 1920 census 10.4 % of the population spoke one of the minority languages as mother language:
- 551,211 German (6.9%)
- 141,882 Slovak (1.8%)
- 23,760 Romanian (0.3%)
- 36,858 Croatian (0.5%)
- 17,131 Serb (0.2%)
- 23,228 other Southern Slavic dialects, mainly Bunjevac and Šokac (0.3%) and some 7,000 Slovenes
The number of bilingual people was much higher, for example 1,398,729 people spoke German (17%), 399,176 people spoke Slovak (5%), 179,928 people spoke Serbo-Croatian (2,2%) and 88,828 people spoke Romanian (1,1%). Magyar was spoken by 96% of the total population and was the mother language of 89%.
The percentage and the absolute number of all non-Magyar nationalities decreased in the next decades, although the total population of the country increased. Bilingualism was also disappearing. The main reasons of this process were spontaneous assimilation and the Magyarization policy of the state. Minorities made up 8% of the total population in 1930 and 7% in 1941 (on the post-Trianon territory).
After WWII about 200,000 Germans were deported to Germany according to the decree of the Potsdam Conference. Under the forced exchange of population between Czechoslovakia and Hungary, approximately 73,000 Slovaks left Hungary. After these population movements Hungary became an ethnically almost homogeneous country except the rapidly growing number of Roma people in the second half of the 20th century.
See also
- Treaty of Versailles
- History of Hungary
- History of Romania
- History of Slovakia
- History of Transylvania
References
For lingering effects of the Treaty on the geo-politics of Hungary and the successor states:
- Ernest A. Rockwell: Trianon Politics, 1994-1995, thesis, Central Missouri State University, 1995.
For minorities in post-Trianon Hungary:
- József Kovacsics: Magyarország történeti demográfiája : Magyarország népessége a honfoglalástól 1949-ig, Budapest : Közgazd. és Jogi Kiadó ; 1963 Budapest Kossuth Ny.
- Lajos Thirring: Az 1869-1980. évi népszámlálások története és jellemzői [kész. a Központi Statisztikai Hivatal Népesedésstatisztikai Főosztályán], Bp. : SKV, 1983
For events preceding the Treaty and for minorities in the post-Trianon successor states:
- Ernő Raffay: Magyar tragédia: Trianon 75 éve. Püski kiadó (1996)
- Vitéz Károly Kollányi: Kárpáti trilógia. Kráter Műhely Egyesület (2002)
- Macartney, Carlile Aylmer October Fifteenth - A History of Modern Hungary 1929-1945. Edinburgh University Press (1956)
- Juhász Gyula: Magyarország Külpolitikája 1919-1945. Kossuth Könyvkiado, Budapest (1969).
External links
- Text of the Treaty
- Hungarian Government Office for Hungarians Abroad
- Map of Hungarian borders in November-December 1918
- Links related to Treaty of Trianon (in Hungarian)
- Murray N. Rothbard: But what about the Hungarians?
