The Treaty of Trianon: A Hungarian Tragedy: American Hungarian Federation – Founded 1906

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AHF Statements and Trianon Analyses

12/15/2015 – AHF responds to James Traub article, “Hungary’s 500-Year-Old Victim Complex,” that appeared in Foreign Policy: “Hungarians share a collective pathology known as the ‘Trianon syndrome,’ asserts the article. Ever since Trianon, according to the article, Hungarians allegedly have resented the fact that they no longer matter. But what is the real issue?” The overarching argument of the article is that Hungarians falsify the past to use it as an instrument of the present.  The article itself, however, is punctuated with sweeping generalities and omits important historical facts, resulting in a distorted picture of Hungary and the character of its people. A couple of examples will suffice. [read more]

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6/4/2014 – 94th Anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon: AHF issues statement highlighting how shortsighted “peacemakers’” mistakes led to millions of people being cut off from their motherland, caused untold suffering, assured the rise of Hitler, the expansion of Bolshevism, and set the stage for unneccesary conflict still with us today:

• President Wilson: “Bohemia will be part of Czechoslovakia.”
• Ambassador Bullitt: “But Mr. President, there are three million Germans in Bohemia.”
• President Wilson: “President Masaryk never told me that.”

Yes, it gets worse! [read more]

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6/4/2011 – On the 91st Anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon, AHF remembers the ill-advised treaty and publishes essay by Sir Bryan Cartledge who calls the treaty “the greatest catastrophe to have befallen Hungary since the battle of Mohacs in 1526.” Over the course of its more than 100-year history, the American Hungarian Federation has commemorated the Treaty of Trianon, highlighting the gross injustices wrought by that treaty (better described as a diktat) and the entire Versailles so-called peacemaking. The grossly unfair treaty continues to plaque the region. [read more]

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6/3/2010 – The 90th Anniversary of Hungary’s Dismemberment: Hungary declares “National Day of Unity,” AHF issues statement: “Trianon is not only tragic history, it is a lingering tragedy which continues to affect the Hungarian minorities and historical communities living in the states neighboring Hungary even today.” Includes links to article by Amb. Geza Jeszenszky (Gyásznapok után – az elkeseredés ellen) and Letter to the Editor by Geza Cseri. [read more]

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6/4/2009 – The 89th Anniversary of Hungary’s Dismemberment… AHF Remembers Trianon. The statement reads, “Trianon is not a relic of the past to be ignored.  As several recent publications astutely suggest, Trianon, as part of a blunder of a massive scale, had far-reaching consequences that are still with us today and continue to affect both the lives of the Hungarian historical communities found in states neighboring Hungary and the region.”
[read more]

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6/4/2008 – The 88th Anniversary of Trianon. AHF issues Statement entitled, “Overdue Autonomy for Minority Hungarians! Time to Bury Trianon and Resurrect Democracy.” The European order imposed after World War I and then re-imposed following the Second World War collapsed almost within months at the end of the Cold War. One ethnic group after another throughout the region seized the opportunity to realize their own objectives to exercise external self-determination, even as some of them denied internal self-determination to their Hungarian co-nationals.  For example, after Slovakia broke away from Prague’s perceived dominance in the peaceful divorce of 1992, it wasted little time to gerrymander the country’s historic administrative division in 1996 so as to eliminate most of the districts which had a Hungarian majority population. [read more]

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6/4/2007 – “Trianon: Tragedy, Dissolution, and Remedy.” Frank Koszorus, Jr. and the AHF International Relations Committee release essay on treaty’s 87th anniversary. “…Ostensibly in the name of national self-determination, the Treaty dismembered the thousand-year-old Kingdom of Hungary, a self-contained, geographically and economically coherent and durable formation in the Carpathian Basin and boasting the longest lasting historical borders in Europe. It was imposed on Hungary without any negotiation by vengeful leaders who were ignorant or ignored the region’s history, and mercilessly tore that country apart. By drawing artificial borders in gross violation of the ethnic principle, it also transferred overthree million indigenous ethnic Hungarians and over 70% of the country’s territory to foreign rule. Following the war to make the “world safe for democracy,” the Treaty even denied the affected populations the right to choose under whose sovereignty they would live. Only the city of Sopron in western Hungary was allowed a plebiscite to decide its future, and it opted by a large margin to remain in Hungary. Although the peacemakers included provisions for the protection of minorities in various international instruments they insisted the successor states sign, the latter generally ignored their promises and the individual and minority rights of ethnic Hungarians were violated.

The essay includes selected statements relating to some of these issues that shed light on the context, attitudes and practices that affected Hungarians eighty-seven years ago and which still impact and to some extent poison the region, as evidenced by the Successor States’ refusal to grant their Hungarian historical communities the right to autonomy. The last excerpt is another solution for a tragedy that affected the entire region.” [read full text] or [download]

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6/7/2006 – “Trianon Binds No One Except Hungarians,” AHF Issues Statement on the 86th Anniversary of the Trianon Tragedy. Hungarian American communities join in protest. AHF’s Assoc. President Frank Koszorus, Jr., writes, “Two of the new states cobbled together by the victorious Entente “peacemakers” at Versailles ceased to exist years ago, and even part (Moldova) of the third successor state succeeded to gain its independence it never had before. Ironically, the winds of change that swept through the region and rearranged the old Cordon Stalinaire after 1989, left untouched the very people who have suffered the most under a punitive treaty – the thousand plus year old indigenous Hungarian communities living under the rule of states that are mostly different from those stipulated at Trianon 86 years ago…Even as Montenegro declares its independence and Kosovo’s status remains on the front burner, Budapest appears content to sit on the sidelines and conspicuously refrains from espousing the democratically expressed aspirations of autochthonous Hungarian minorities for autonomy in Vojvodina, Transylvania, Slovakia and Karpatalja (Ruthenia).” [read full text] or [download]

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6/7/2005 – Trianon turns 85! Demonstrations in NY, Toronto and elsewhere… Hungarian organizations from New York and Toronto demonstrated to call attention to the unjust Treaty of Trianon in which Hungary lost 2/3 of her territory, half her Hungarian-speaking population and vast natural resources and infrastructure. The New York Polgari Kor demonstrated in front of the U.N. building on June 5, 2005. [read more] The demonstrators drew the world’s attention to the “increasing injustices, atrocities, and physical abuse from which our fellow Hungarians, who were forced to remain outside of the new Hungarian borders, have been suffering as a result of the Treaty.” See more pictures on Gimagine.com and read about the NY Polgari Kor.

For the past 85 years AHF was instrumental in organizing the American Hungarian Community in efforts to influence US policy in order to illuminate the unjust dismemberment of Hungary at Trianon and seek re-unification. Today, AHF is closely monitoring the violence and injustices in Rumania, Vojvodina (Serbia), Slovakia, Transcarpathian Ukraine, and elsewhere.

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2/5/2005 – Banned Trianon Documentary makes it’s way to the Internet for download and viewing! Those interested in viewing Gabor Koltay’s controversial film that was banned by the Rumanian AND the Hungarian governments, can now view the film on the Web. Directed by the renowned Gábor Koltay and with internationally respected historians such as Nemeskürti and Raffai, the film has and will continue to spark critical debate. AHF encourages open debate on Trianon and encourages all to review the film – unfortunately this site offers the film in Hungarian only. [Go to film]
NOTE: The site has the film’s 13 parts out of 14. To view, just LEFT click on any portion. Once there, you can view it from your Browser or save it. To save that portion, RIGHT click the small yellow symbol (100/k) and “Save target as” to your hard drive.

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