Hungarian Pamphlet From 1920 Protesting The Treaty of Trianon

Map found via reddit user poisonborzThe map above was distributed by the Hungarian Government to foreign locals protesting about the “unfairness” of the Treaty of Trianon in 1920.

The Kingdom of Hungary was viewed as one of the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which collapsed following its defeat in the First World War.

The treaty was controversial in Hungary, because the New Kingdom only covered 28% of the land area and had 36% of the population of the pre-war Kingdom of Hungary (the Hungarian half of Austria-Hungary).

It also left 3.3 million Hungarians outside of the new smaller Kingdom.

The map above is an attempt to show what this would translate to if the same thing happened to the United States.

That said the map is very much a product of its time in terms of language use and reflects the very racist attitudes that existed at the time.

Interestingly, despite everything that happened between 1920 and today, Hungary’s borders are almost exactly the same today as those set-up in the Treaty.

Here is another comparison to other states:

Map created by amazing__mapsAnd finally, a user from Trianon öröksége aka Trianon Heritage shared the following two maps with me:

Why did Hungary lose so much territory with Treaty of Trianon?

Hungary lost so much territory under the Treaty of Trianon (1920) because the victorious Allied Powers after World War I wanted to dismantle the Austro-Hungarian Empire and redraw the map of Central Europe along (what they believed were) ethnic and strategic lines.

Several factors explain the severity of the losses:

Collapse of Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary, of which Hungary was one half, ceased to exist after its defeat in WWI.
The Allies treated Hungary as a successor state of a defeated empire rather than a neutral or independent country.
The goal was to prevent any revival of a powerful Habsburg monarchy that could threaten the new order in Europe.

Self-Determination & Ethnic Diversity

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points called for redrawing borders along ethnic lines (“self-determination”).
Prewar Hungary (the “Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen”) was extremely multi-ethnic:
- Hungarians (Magyars) were only about 48% of the population.
- Large populations of Romanians, Slovaks, Croats, Serbs, Ukrainians, and Germans lived in the kingdom.
The Allies gave many of these groups’ lands to new or enlarged states where they formed majorities:
- Transylvania → Romania
- Slovakia & Ruthenia → Czechoslovakia
- Croatia-Slavonia, parts of Banat, Bačka → Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia)

Strategic & Political Goals of the Allies

The Allies wanted to weaken Hungary so it could not dominate its neighbours as it had under the Dual Monarchy.
They sought to create buffer states against both a resurgent Germany and Bolshevik Russia.
Some decisions favoured strategic borders (mountains, rivers) over purely ethnic ones, meaning many Hungarians ended up outside the new Hungarian state.

Military Situation & Hungarian Politics

After the war, Hungary experienced political chaos, including the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic (1919).
Romanian and Czechoslovak troops occupied much of Hungary’s territory during this period, strengthening their bargaining position at the peace talks.
Hungary was weak, isolated, and had little leverage at Trianon.

Resulting Losses

Hungary lost about two-thirds of its territory and over half of its population.
Roughly 3.3 million ethnic Hungarians suddenly became minorities in neighbouring countries.
The treaty left deep resentment in Hungary and became a central issue in its politics for decades.

A final map from Forum Mapping: