Claim: The Trianon treaty was so harsh on Hungarians because the leaders of major world powers, e.g. Georges Clemanceau held a grudge against Hungary.
Rebuttal: The Treaty of Trianon was the result of complex historic processes that can’t be simplified to some anti-Hungarian conspiracy.
In detail:
During the Versailles peace process the victorious powers were guided by geostrategic considerations, there was no place for individual emotions.
It is an often voiced claim for example that French prime minister Georges Clemanceau wanted to punish Hungarians because his son had previously married a Hungarian woman whom he subsequently divorced. As a matter of fact, Clemanceau remained on good terms with his (ex-)daughter-in-law all along and she continued to live in the family castle in France with their sons even after the divorce. Thus Clemanceau’s son’s failed marriage doesn’t explain the prime minister’s conduct at the peace negotiations.
In line with the ideas of nationalism permeating the atmosphere of Europe after the mid-19th century, most nations on the continent imagined their future in a nation state of its own, including the peoples of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. US president Woodrow Wilson therefore declared national self-governance as one of the guiding principles of the peace conference, but he had to realise that this could only be respected if and when it didn’t contravene the interests of any of the great powers.
In addition, during the Great War the propaganda of the entente powers had been consciously fuelling anti-Hungarian sentiments in the region, which were still around at the time of the peace conference. There was an attempt to discredit the head of the Hungarian delegation, Count Albert Apponyi because of the language-use legislation of 1907 that ran under his name (aka ’Lex Apponyi’). Yet his arguments were listened to at the peace conference and even managed to sow the seeds of uncertainty in the British delegation, at least for a while. Also, the Americans and the Italians suggested multiple times that the Hungarian proposition be put back on the table and reconsidered. These are clearly not signs of the entente powers hating Hungary.
References:
- Ablonczy Balázs: Trianon-legendák. Budapest, 2010, Jaffa.
- Ablonczy Balázs: Száz év múlva lejár? Újabb Trianon-legendák. Budapest, 2022, Jaffa.
- Ormos Mária: Padovától Trianonig – 1918-1920. Budapest, 2020, Kossuth.
- Margaret Macmillan: Béketeremtők. Az 1919-es párizsi békekonferencia. Budapest, 2005, Gabo.
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