A variety of countries, particularly Romania, were driving their way into Hungary taking whatever land they wanted. The president of the first Hungarian Democracy, Mihály Károlyi was attempting to negotiate with the Allies how much of Hungary would remain Hungarian. There was an armistice treaty signed on November 13, 1918 in Belgrade which settled the borders of Hungary:
Demarcation line (thick red line): The area to the south of this line was to be abandoned by the Hungarian Army and occupied by Serbia (west) and Romania (east), under supervision of the French Army.
After this agreement was signed the Romanians totally ignored it, and with support from the Allies, particularly the French, they continued their advance into the heart of the Hungarian nation. Eventually the Republic fell to Communism for a brief few months. On March 2nd 1919, Károlyi addressing Hungarian soldiers in Transylvania said:
I will never accept the dismemberment of Hungary! The world must understand that if the Paris Peace Conference decides against the right of popular self-determination based on mutual agreements, then as an extreme necessity we will liberate our country with arms in our hands.
Mihály Károlyi, President of the Hungarian Republic 1918-1919. Quoted in: Peter Pastor, Hungary Between Wilson and Lenin: The Hungarian Revolution of 1918-1919 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1976), Pp. 128.
All of this got me thinking about the plight of Germany up until September 1st 1939. In the case of Hungary we see the Allied disregard for the autonomy of a defeated nation. We see the Hungarian president attempt by peaceful methods to deal with the crisis and get ignored, we see the Allies violate their own peace treaties and had they not done so, Hungary might've been saved from Communist savagery. Yet nobody talks about it, and what's worse, nobody cares. The sentiment in the above quote by Károlyi could also be attributed to Adolf Hitler, yet such words if uttered by the latter would be used as evidence for his determination on war and his aggressive posturing against 'peaceful' neighbouring states like Czechoslovakia, even though that country helped dismantle Hungary, and in 1939 when Hacha requested a meeting with Hitler he expressed his fear over a Hungarian invasion. This is what prompted Hitler to demand that the Czechs either side with Germany and sign over Czechia as a protectorate, or be consumed by the Hungarians.
I think many people can sympathise with Károlyi, and wouldn't find anything inherently wrong with his determination on war because it was for a noble cause. At least, I don't think anyone would be offended by his statement, most people I think would read it and not think much else about it, understanding that it was a specific time in world history where nations did those sort of things. But in the case of Hitler and Germany's plight, the case is entirely different. People defend countries like Poland, Austria and Czechoslovakia, not because they actually give a damn about those countries or their history, but because it gives them a justification to reprimand Hitler, even though Hitler's grievances are similar to that of Hungary's and are (if anything) more sympathetic. Had the allies stuck to their policies of self-determination, then there needn't have been a war between Germany and Poland over Danzig which was indisputably German, even having an elected National Socialist government.
In my view Hitler had every right to liberate German lands by force of arms if need be, this wouldn't have been immoral, and certainly not in the context of world history, or even European history at that time. Hitler himself stated quite frankly:
‘I’m not here to ensure peace in Europe; I’m here to make Germany great again. If that can be done peacefully, well and good. If not, we’ll have to do it differently.’
Adolf Hitler. Quoted in: David Irving, Hitler's War and the War Path (Focal Point Publications, Millennium Edition 2002), Pp. 89.
The world has gotten so caught up over the issue of 'Nazis' that they have failed to contextualize the National Socialists, and make any concessions about their legitimate grievances. The double standards are rife, and I think this comparison with Hungary serves as just one example.
Hopefully others find this interesting as well.
