EAST-EUROPEAN PROBLEMS N°10. The Historical Right of the Hungarian Nation to its Territorial Integrity BY Dr JOHN KARACSONYI Member of the Hungarian Academy of Science. LONDON 1920 NEW-YORK LOW, W. DAWSON & SONS STEIGER & COM P. BUDAPEST FERDINAND PFEIFER (ZEIDLER BROTHERS) 1 Id The Historical Right of theHungarian Dation to its Territorial Integrity. The united attacks qf the Bulgars and Pet- . chenechs compelled the Magyars in 896 a. D. to emigrate from the lower Danube, the present terri tory of Roumania,. to Hungary, where along, the shores of the rivers Duna and Tisza, the state of Hungary was founded more than a thousand years ago. No rights of other nations have beep violated 'by this occupancy for at that .time no other organised states existed in this territory, it was an unin habited bare land as proved by' the king of England, Alfred the Great. "¦ ' Ten years later the Hungarians conquered the so-called Moravian and Pannonian Slavs-extending thereby the borders of their land up to the rivers Morva and Lajta. However the . Hungarians did not exter minate these Moravian and Pannonian Slavs, on the contrary they became their fellow citizens, their brothers, who were — on the other hand — eagerly- seeking their friendship and their assistance against the Germany. Thus in the X — XII. centuries the Pa,nnonian Slavs became leaders, members, of the Hungarian nobility, soldiers. In time these Slavs have been entirely absorbed by the Magyars through this close .connection and the Hungarian language has taken oyer many Slav words." , 10. sz. i John KardcsoHyi These ancient Moravian and Parinonian Slavs have nothing to do with the present Czechs, Slovaks and Upper-Moravians. The old Slav words incorporated into the Hungarian language clearly prove that these Moravian and Pannoniart Slavs .spoke an entirely different language from that of the Czechs or Slovaks. They did not' even live on the same territory where' Upper- Moravians and the Slovaks of to day reside, for their realm was situated on theplains bordered by the present. Lower- Austria and by the rivers Morva and Garam. Either Deveny or Pozsony was their capital. During the reign of St. Stephen the Hungarian nation was drawn into the sphere of Western culture. He introduced the Christian Catholic religion and transplanted Western administration and justice. Hungary became a centrally organised kingdom, acknowledged by the great Western Christian states; not only by Germany, but by France and England toti,. Political and commercial treaties were concluded with Hungary and family ties were formed with the family of the Hungarian king. The powerful Hungarian state, erected on Wes tern culture, then started to colonise those parts of Hungary left uninhabited by the migration, of the nations. The north western mountainous parts of Hun gary were in the IX— XI. centuries the' dividing territory between Hungary and Poland and begin ning with 1009 between Hungary and the Moravian . and Polish dukedoms.' The Czechs have never had . any right to this territory for as far back a» 996 the Czech dukedom reached only as far as Koniggratz iand Pardubitz. and the new Moravian dukedom created in the years 1003— 09 belonged to the king of Poland. Even the demands (not just claims) filed by the then crowned king Vratiszlav in 1086 pertained to the valleys of Upper-Odera and' Upper- The Historical Right of the Hungarian Nation .§ Morva only. The fact that in the XV. century the Czech Hussites invaded our territory for. the pure -love of plundering, and later on the mercenary Giskra ordered by the Habsburg dynasty, do not consti tute any just claim to the land. In the time of St. Ladislaus when the Moravian and Polish dukes, were bound by family ties to the king of Hungary there was no further reason for the existence of a bare territory dividing the two realms and so colonisation started. First the members of the royal household were moving fronvNyitra to Trencsen, from Bars 'to Zolyom, fromHont to Lipto and Gomor counties, but as these were only few in numbers and the clearing- of forests not to their liking, Germans were settled there and later on the ancestors of the Slovaks of "to.- day were permitted to emigrate from the upper valleys of the Morva- Gdera and Visztuja. These ancestors of the Slovaks while living in the northern part of the Carpathians' were called in the X — XL centuries the White- Croatians. , This goes to show that even then they differed and, as to their tongue differ even now to a very great extent from . the Czechs and Poles. Documents are still existing showing that this territory 'hag been colonised mostly by the so-called /"soltesz", a sort of contractor who brought people from foreign lands in order to clear the forests. Besides these documents all names of cities or townships ending with '"Hau" or "vagas" r (cut) prove -that this territory- was colonised at a later date and from authentic documents it can be shown that all colonisation has been started by the Hunga rian kings, noblemen or the clergy. Especially the clergy- of Esztergom and the one of Nyitra (founded around fl 16) has taken^care of the imigrant Slovaks; built churches and schools for them. Peter Pazmsiny provided t^em even with priests speaking their own language and since 1,790 they have an extented John Kardcsonyi literature of their own, by meansofwhicb they were able to hold on to their nationality to such anextent that even the famous Czech ethnographer- Konla had to admit that not only their language but also their dress, their architecture, a. s. o. is entirely. different from that of. the Czechs and the other 'Slovaks. Schools and offices were always open to them and many .of those who did nbt attempt the destruction of Hungary attained without opposition the foremost positions. In the north-eastern part of our country the Carpathian Mountains and valleys were also unin habited in the X — XIII. centuries for these parts served as a division between Hungary and Red -Russia. Docu ments, of 1243, 1263, 1270, 1272, 1278 and 128.4 bear witness to the fact how far the hunting grounds (loco venationis regum) reached, which were abundant in game but scarce in population. Red-Russia came in 1349 under the rule, of Kazmer, king of Poland, an uncle of the ' king of Hungary and later on in. 1370 under the rule of the king of Hungary himself. In these times there* came Ruthenians from ""Red-Russia to pasture their cattle in this uninhabited territory, first — according to a ' law enacted in 1426 — only temporarily, but as it soon became known that the forests yielded much larger revenues when inhabited, the king- and some other noblemen settled many Ruthenians in , this territory, in which especially the two" contractors Soltesz and Kenez assisted him. In the northern part of the county of Zemplen no less than 136 such "Soltesz" settlements were in existence, show ing Ihat the. colonisation there has .started not so very long ago. The Ruthenians have been exempted by the Hungarians from paying tithes. They were permitted around 1410 to1 have an ecclesiastical head in the' person of the Bishop of Munkacs, who was The Historical Right of the Hungarian Nation compelled by Gabriel . Bethlen in 1627 to found a Gymnasium (highschool). After 1647 many a Ruthe- nian youth has been educated in Hungarian schools and the Ruthenian literature started in Hungary as early, as 1§98. , At the. time of the Hungarian immigratiori' the* greatest territory left, uninhabited was in the south eastern part of the country. Thts^ territory being situated beyond great forests has been called Tran sylvania or Erdely. It was left uninhabited in 89,6 for the only reason that" next to this territory in Roumania of to-day their most cruel but also the strongest enemies .of the Hungarians, -the Beskides {Besseny6k) lived. This has been attested to by the Greek emperor Cortstantinus PorphyrogenitUs in 950. , » _¦ The, allegation therefore that the Olahs or Roumanians of to-day have inhabited this territory continuously since the colonisation inaugurated by emperor Trajan is false. We have the statements Of three authors Flavius Vopiscus, Eutropius and Rofus Lextus that the Roman emperors removed all the inhabitans from.Dacia to the left shore of the Danube. There did not remain a single Roman, hence: no Roumanian or Olah could descend ' from him.;- ¦ „ : ' " ' •'; ¦ ' . •; The falsehood that the , Olahs or Roumanians originate from Dacia. is proved by their own language too. Philology has shown without doubt that the Olah or Roumanian language originated in the VII — X. centuries only. ' It originated . from the language of those herdsmen, who were trans planted from southern Italy to Albania, and Thessalia. On the other hand it\is also proved without doubt that Transylvania and Roumania , of to-day was occupied by the Western G6ths from' 260 — 376, by .the Eastern Goths, from 376 — 452 (under the rule of the Kuns) by the Gepids from 452—568, John Kardcsonyi later on by the, Slavs under the ruIS'of the Avares. In the VII. century this territory was called Slavonia by the Greek. After the downfall of. the Avares and the retreat of the Slavs, Transylvania and the mountainous counties Krasso-SzoreTf^have- been left uninhabited and only Roumania with her fertile pastures has been occupied by the Bulgars, Magyars, and Besseny'6s, During the reign of St. Stephen vigorous Hun gary started gradually to occupy and to colonise Transylvania. He occupied in 10ld the valley of the river Szamos situated in' northwesfenj* Transsylvania, built cities and townships and-pdpH- lated them with Magyars. In 1092 St. Ladisjauf" linked the valleys of the Maros and the Kisktikttllfj . to Hungary, and populated' them with. Magyars and Szekelys. King Geza II. permitted the, Wallori-.' Italians and Saxons emigrating. Frtfm Burich and Tachen to settle' in the territory of Segesvar and Nagyszeben. Finally in 1211 the German Order of Knights started the colonisation of thejerritory of Brasso with the permission of King AndrewIL- In 1,245 the number of the Magyars, S#^^S and SaxonS was diminished by the murderous^ attacks of the Tartars to such extent that their. expansion ceased though the higher located mdun- tainous parts of this territory were still bare. For this reason the kings of Hungary permitted shepherd^ of Roumania. and Bulgaria to settle there/ They were used partly as frontier-guard partly as soldier^ arid stood under the jurisdiction of special aUthori-^. ties, the so called "Vajdak". The rest was colo^ nised By contractors so called "Kenez" who acted for a long time as their judges also. Not counting therefore that littl& fraction trans planted by King Bela III in 1183 from the territory of Sofia— Nish to Kerc2 (in order to act as bor* derguarjd) the Olahs (Roumanians) immigrateaVinto The Historical Right of- the H'ungarian Nation 7 our country only after 1245, In ,1293 their number was still so small thaf there would have been plenty Of room for all of them in the valley of Szekos, east of Gyulafehervar, an area of no more than 25 square miles. Their number increased however to a large extent in the XIV. century when extended settlements were in progress. Most of the settlers came into the mountainous counties' of Krasso-Szoreny, Hunyad — Alsofehervar, Zarand, Bihar, Szatmar and Maramaros. From these the large landowners derived some income too as most of the settlers raised liogs and cattle. In order to give an asylum to the. aforementioned "Vajda's" from Roumania, the Hungarian kings ceded the forts of Fogaras and Omlas to them. Vajaa Vlajko settled these new, Roumanians in the county of Fogaras, which territory has even in 1372 still been called "nova plantatio", new settlement. From at -least 229 Olah" or Roumanian townsnips we caa "prove with authentic documents that they were founded after 1 241 and for about more than 500 town- ship¦ country, to Servia. This is acknowledged by the most famous historian of the Serbs, by Hilarian BUvaracz.and by their foremost leader Szava Tokoly. Besides this The Historical Right of the Hungarian Nation in 1792 even this unjust claim to special territory and special rights was renounced by all the Serbs inhabiting Hungary, in consideration of which they received a form of self government and such, special • rights in regard to schools and churches that shortly after their literature was started and schools were built, the students of which became the first wor kers for the national .culture in Servia after, it was freed from the oppression of the Turks in 1864. Would it not be peculiar if the" Hungarians would loose their own home procured and defended " with their own lifeblood just because they gave' shelter to the poor immigrating Serbs*! The parts beyond the Drava were not the~ dwellingplaces of some one unified' nation but can be divided into three sections according to history, geography and ethnography. The eastern part of the Bulgarian' territory located between the ( Drava an d Szava has been occupied- by the Hungarians in 897. The Bulgars had neither geographical nor historical rights to this territory. POrphyrogeneta Constantin is witness to it that this part, has been in possession of Hunga rians as early as 950 wherefore the Hungarian kings St. Stephen and St. Ladislaus subordinated its po pulation to the Bishop of P6cs and Katocsa". Then' entirely Hungarian counties with ' Hungarian juris diction have been organised... - After the bloody battle of Rjgomezo in 1389 the Serbs joined the Turks till 1406' and together devastated this territory.^ The Turks continued this from 1458—1526. By- and by this territory became depopulated. Later on, but especially after 1526, so called Racz (Serbs) settled down , in great numbers _ so that in the XVII. and at the beginning of the XVIII. century this territory Was called Little^Raczia. In 1746 it has been linked partly -with "trie military borderguard territory 10 . John KardcsonyH partly it became subordinated' to the Banus of Croatia and Slavonia under the name of Lower- Slavonia, but as to taxes and representation they still were subordinated directly to the Hungarian government. Since 1848 viz. since 1871 it is entirely a part of the Banate of Croatia-Slavonia. The population of the western part of the territory located between the T)rava and Szava is not Croatian but Slavonian and has a special (Kojkavci) dialect. Only in 1443 and after ,1528 did real Croatians settle there. This territory , belonged from 843—1083 to •the German Empire. In 896 it was governed, by the duke of Braszlav. In 901 it came to Bavaria, in 976 to Carinthia. "St. Ladislaus making war upon the Germans, in 1082 — 83 in order to compel the German emperor Henry IV. to abandon the storming of Rome, occupied this territory and connected it with Hungary to which the German emperor agreed, according to the peace treaty of 1092- . The Croatian kings, themselves never laid any claims to this territory and never possessed it. They did not build ^a single fort, a single church. It is a mistake to assert that one of the Bishops, territory — mentioned in the proceedings of the Council of SpalatO in 926 — was located here for the territorry between the Drava and Szava always belonged to Pannonia. This archbishop of^ Dalmatia and the bishops subordinated to hirri could therefore have no jurisdiction. On the con trary, the memories of the German rule were still noticable even in the. XIII — XV. centuries partly in the' taxes similar to .those in Carinthia, partly in the names of official boards. St. Ladislaus in -order to elevate the neglected Slavon people in the territory situated between the Drava and Szava established a bishopric seat in The Historical' Right of the Hungariau Nation \l Zagreb and by dividing this territory into three counties, introduced Hungarian jurisdiction. Only in 1190 did king Adalbert III. join the three coun ties Koros, Zagreb and Varasd to the dukedom of Croatia loL which his son was -the ruler. And as , the Croatian' dukedom was also called the Slay- dukedom, the name of Slavonia was applied to these three counties too, and from 1241 to 1746 this territory has been constantly called Slavonia. It is clear therefore that also the western part of the territory situated between the Drava and Szava has been civilised by the Hungarians. The Hungarians defended it against the spreading of the Turks, but they never suppressed the mother- tongue of its population " and always helped to develop their • selfgovernment. The population. appreciating this clung to the Hungarians faithfully up to the XVII. century.' Under Hungarian influence. its Catholic literature (the Protestant literature stood under the influence of the German and Slovenian clergy) was started, their jurisdiction especially pri vate law was the same as in Hungary, so that the famous Tripartitum of Verboczy has been translated -and published by Pergosid in the Slavon language in 1574. *./,-'' . Old Croatia was located south of the river Kulpa and the mountain Gozd_ in the valleys of the Urria, Koka and Cetina. It was from 800—1059 a Separate dukedom. In 1059 — 1090 a separate kingdom. Around 1063: Geza I. king of Hungary- married the sister of Peter Krekimir, king of Croatia. In 1090 the male line of the Croatian king being, extinct, Croatia by right of female lineage became transferred to the sons of Geza I. king of Hungary. For this reason Almos, the second son df Geza I. and with the help of his Uncle St. Ladislaus has been made; king of Croatia in 1091. " \% - John KardcsOny In 1095, however, 'Almos resigned from the Kingdom of Croatia in order to* secure for himself the, Hungarian dukedom of the territory located beyond the Tisza~ and transferred the Croatian Kingdom to his, brother Coloman, king of Hun gary. Coloman after suppressing Croatian insurrec-. tions in 1096 united Croatia with Hungary as his inheritance—from his mother's side. Later on in . 1104 Coloman made an agreement, with the em peror of Greece, the then ruler of the cities of Dalmatia and, linked these cities to Hungary also. . To the Croatians and Italians Jiving in these Dalmatian cities selfgovernment was granted. The Croatiarfe were-able to' go to, war under the ruler- ship of their Bans, speciaLjiidges passed senteh^ ces on them and they could even maintain their old letter's. . The citizens of Dalmatia too /elected their own officials and kept strictly to their habi tual rights. Thus the Hungarian nation did not become an oppressor of -the Croatians but on the contrary its saviour. If the ¦ Croatians would not have come into such a close contact with the Hungarians, the pressing Serbs would have assimilated them enti rely in the XIII. century, depriving them Of their language and culture. Besides this in 1493 and 1501 — 2 the Hungarians defended them against-the Turks, as far as this could be done/ and when the Croatians had , to flee from their old' country in 1528 the Hungarians received them _ cordially, granting them special rights. -;¦ Anything published by Croatian historians con trary to thesfe facts is based either on error or untruth. ' - , . It is untrue that the Croatians submitted them*' selves to . the king of Hungary by an international agreement in 1102. A canon of Spalato has writyen' something to this effect in 1330 but his report the Historical Right of the Hungarian Nation 13 shows such great ignorance that in the face ,oi authentic data the assertions of so illiterate a person can be accepted by ignorant or prejudiced people only. ¦ . ¦ It is untrue furthermore that Cbloman has been crowned Croatian king in Tenger-Belgrad in 1 102. The charter of Zara" referring to this is a fraud committed by the solicitor of the nuns of Zara 90 years later. But' this solicitor made, so many diplo matic "errors in preparing^ this forgery; that only those can be misled by it, who want to be misled. However, even he. did not dare to report that king Cploman has been crowned "regem Croatiae", so that just the decisive proof is missing. Granting even that the crowning has taken place in Tenger- Belgrad this could have been only the usual, intro ductory crowning. Bosnia and Herzegovina also fell as an inheri tance to the royal Hungarian family. King Adalbert II. married the daughter of the first duke of Bosnia, whose dowry Bosnia or otherwise called Rama he bestowed upon his son Ladislaus -in 1138. It is true that this Bosnia became an independent king dom but true is also that this independent kingdom had been utterly destroyed by the Turks in 1463. One; year later king , Mathews I. reconquered the northertly part of Bosnia from the Turks and from the Bosniaks, renewing the rights of the Hunga rian kings. The dukes of Herzegovina' on the other hand have themselves taken refuge with the kings of Hungary when in 1482 "Herzegovina was occu pied by the Turks, Bosnia >&&. well as Herzegovina remained under-' the jurisdiction of their, own bans and dukes and adhered to their customes because Hungary never annihilated any other nationality and never tried to abolish customs not in contradiction with the public "safety. Both countries were flourishing 14 J. Kardcsonyi: The Historical Right of the Hungarian Ndtion most when they were under the rulershiip and' protection of the king of Hungary. . Among all the other nationalities of Hungary the Germans excel in culture and prosperity. Their immigration on a larger scale started in 1150, 1170 and 1242. After the Turks were driven away, the. Germans have been colonised in great masses again in 1711, 1716, 1763 and 1783. For the simple reason that they came at widely re mote times from different territories arid settled in almost all regions of our country from west' to east, from south to north, they had to accomo date themselves to the already existing Hungarian institutions and did so freely. Only the order of German knights tried, to curtail the rights of the ¦Hungarian kingdom and wanted to., organise a special state, but this order has been driven . out of the country 13 years later.' Their charter given to some" German cities and territories provided for the free use of their language and customs. Their never was any violent magyarization, It is a clear and Undubitable historical fact therefore that in Hungary the state-maintaining nation is the Hungarian one. All the other nationa lities, are only foreigners who immigrated at least two centuries later. The fact that Hungary has received unfortunate, hungry tribes, has given them rights and land to live on, can not be misconstrued^ as .ground sufficient to deprive her of her historical rights,- to tear her into pieces. HORNVAHUItV. VIKT9H, ¦UDAPIST. EXPLANATION / ///Hungarians ZZZ Slovenes Croats /// Slovaks it Slavs J Bulgt • '• Thracians /: Pannonian iSZarr 1 I Avars V Petchenegs A Gepidts -rV Slav* *ninhabtUd ETHNOGRAPHICAL MAP OF HUNGARY AT THE TIME OF THE HUNGARIAN CONQUEST END OF THE DC. CENTURY. ETHNOGRAPHICAL MAP OF HUNGARY AT THE END OF THE XII. CENTURY. EXPLANATION} YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 08954 2576 If you want to keep abreast of events in East Europe read the following publications: East European Problems The Peace-Treaty Proposed to Hun gary. By Count Albert Apponyi. Establishment of Three States in the Place of One. By A. Kovdcs. The Solution of the Fiume Question. By D. Ddrday. The Geographical Impossibility of the Czech State. By Dr. Francis Fodor. Can Roumanian Rule in East-Hun gary Last? By A. Kovdcs. West-Hungary. By Gustav Thirring. The Martyrdom of Croatia. By C Battorich. The Hungarians of Moldavia. By John Tatrosi. The Hungarian-Polish Frontier Question. The Historical Right of the Hungarian Nation to its Territorial Integrity. By John Kardcsonyi. No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. No. 5. No. 6. No. 7. No. 8. No. 9. No. 10. For specimen copy please apply to Low, W. Dawsons & Sons, London E. C. St. Dunstan's House, Fleet Street. Steiger & Comp. New- York E. 49 Murray Street. Ferd. Pfeifer (Zeidler Brothers), Budapest IV. 7 Kossuth Lajos Street. fi'bflHYANSZKY VIKTOR". BUDAPEST