Hungarian American Coalition News, 2004 (13. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
2004 / 2. szám
Hungarian American Coalition June 2004___________________________________________________________________________Vol. 13, No. 2 CUTTING THE CHAINS OF TRIANON Will an Expanded European Union Enable a Reunification of the Hungarian Nation? By Miklós Duray With the expansion of the European Union on May 1, the majority of Hungarians in Central Europe begin a new era. These Hungarians include those living as minorities in Slovakia and Slovenia, as well as Hungary. We are entering a state alliance system created in Western Europe - the part of Europe where there was no ravaging by Mongols and no Turkish occupation; where there was no need to act as a buffer zone between East and West; where market conditions and a market economy were free to develop; where Communist one-party rule did not prevail; to which the sphere of the Soviet Union did not extend. The European Union was formed not in the better half of the continent, but certainly in the more fortunate half. Culturally and historically, the Hungarian nation, too, was part of the Latin Christian civilization, which defined Western Europe. Despite the Mongol invasion, the Turkish occupation and our disadvantaged status in the Hapsburg Empire, we too belonged to this part of Europe until 1914. (continued on page 2) THE SHADOW OF TRIANON OVER EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE by János Szekeres As we commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day, it is instructive to look back even further to World War I: a war in which American intervention proved critical for the ultimate victory of the western allies against the Central Powers. The Great War of 1914-18 was a watershed event not only because of the unprecedented bloodletting, but also because, as a result of the war, Europe lost her historic preeminence in conducting world affairs. The punitive peace treaty of Versailles that followed the armistice created bitterness among the defeated nations, particularly Germany. A lesser-known, but even more punitive peace treaty was imposed upon Hungary on June 4, 1920. The Treaty of Trianon, while proclaiming self-determination for the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe, excluded Hungary from that principle. The arbitrary redrawing of the borders of the historic Kingdom of Hungary forced one-third of its Hungarian inhabitants to become citizens of mostly newly created hostile neighboring states: Romania, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. As a result of the treaty, Hungary - a country almost the size of Montana - was reduced to the size of the state of Indiana. The legacy of Trianon, a dictated peace treaty imposed by western democracies, lives on to this day. The fate of ethnic Hungarians in Hungary’s neighboring countries has not been resolved; Hungary’s neighbors largely refuse to grant ethnic Hungarians an institutionalized communal identity. Although the imposed treaty of Trianon of 1920 and subsequent international agreements contemplated observance of the rights of the Hungarian minorities, many of their fundamental rights were and are still ignored. (continued on page 2)
