Papers and Documents relating to the Foreign Relations of Hungary, Volume 2, 1921 (Budapest, 1946)

Documents

1921 747 assuring agricultural production, especially with respect to the sugar industry; the social welfare institutions etc. Should the Chancellor be willing to accept these proposals, it would be very important to have the decision of the Committee for Foreign Affairs at the earliest possible moment, preferably in the next few days, in order to counteract the tremendous excitement in Hungary. It should not be difficult to arrange this since the meeting of the Committee was to take place in any event before August 27. As a last resort, we would agree to a plebiscite in the territory claimed by us. (I should like to remark, for your confidential information, that we could accept a plebiscite only if this territory does not come under Austrian rule before the plebiscite.) We offered the Renner Government a plebiscite as early as February 1920, but it was rejected a limine.

1 However, taking into account the many hardships to which the population has already been exposed, we feel that the people should, as far as possible, be spared further excitement; therefore, we propose this method only in case every other solution should appear impracticable. I should like to point out that the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the National Assembly unreservedly approved the position taken up by this Government. I should like to emphasize again that the Hungarian Government considers the establishment of friendly relations with Austria so important that it is prepafed to make these additional sacrifices in order to enable the Chancellor to make the Austrian parties understand this sincere aspiration of the Hungarian Government and to convince their leaders that the Hungarian Government could not — in view of public opinion — enter into negotiations on the proposed broad basis without tangible guarantees concerning territorial concessions. Should the heretofore intransigent position be maintained by the Austrian Government, we shall be compelled to adopt an equally intransigent position and to request immediately negotiations concerning the problems referred to (exchange of bank notes, securing of tax arrears, allocation of Government debts and war loans, guarantees concerning State properties, etc.) 1 Cf. Vol. I, Docs. Nos. 127 and 139.