The Treaty of Trianon

The Treaty of Trianon was signed on 4 June 1920 following World War
One. The treaty reduced the size and population of Hungary by about
two thirds, stripping it of all areas that were not purely Hungarian. It
was made in response to Hungary’s role in the war.

Officially, the treaty was intended to be a confirmation of the concept

of the right for self-determination of nations and of the concept
of nation-states replacing old multinational empires.

The territories owned by Romania were given to other countries.

Romania received Transylvania and part of the Banat. Czechoslovakia
was given possession of Slovakia and Ruthenia, while Yugoslavia took
Croatia, Slavonia and the western section of Barat.

Austria was awarded the Burgenland, but the city of Sopron and its
vicinity were returned to Hungary after a referendum in 1921.

After 1918, Hungary did not have access to the sea, which it had had
directly through the Rijeka coastline and indirectly through the
Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia.

The military conditions were similar to those imposed on Germany by

the Treaty of Versailles; the Hungarian army was to be restricted to
35,000 men and there was to be no conscription. Further provisions
stated that in Hungary, no railway would be built with more than one
track.

The people of Hungary were angry by their treatment in the Treaty of

Trianon. Almost three-fourths of the pre-war kingdom's territory and a
significant number of ethnic Hungarians were assigned to
neighbouring countries triggered considerable bitterness.

Most Hungarians wanted to keep the territorial integrity of the pre-war

kingdom and regarded the treaty as an insult to the nation's honour.
The Hungarian political attitude towards Trianon was summed up in
the phrases Nem, nem, soha! ("No, no, never!") and Mindent vissza!
("Return everything!" or "Everything back!").