Claim:
At the peace conference the victorious countries made a promise to the effect that certain provisions of the peace settlement would be revised after a certain while. Other versions claim the treaty should have expired after 100 years.
Rebuttal:
There’s nothing to substantiate this claim in the peace treaty, the misunderstanding was most probably caused by the so-called Millerand letter. In fact, the Treaty of Trianon has already expired. It was superseded by the the treaties of 1947, which are valid to this day.
In detail:
The final text of the peace settlement was handed over to the Hungarian delegation on 6 May 1920 by the representatives of the great powers. This was accompanied by a letter from freshly elected French prime minister, Alexandre Millerand, in which he refuted all the Hungarian countersuggestions, but, in highly ambiguous terms, flashed the prospect that at a later date Hungary can ask the League of Nations for corrections.
This letter, which was a result of some of the changes in British and French internal politics, kept hope alive in the Hungarian public that the state of affairs after Trianon is but temporary. Some versions even claimed that the entire peace system would have to be brought under revision after 100 years.
Regardless of these aspirations, the 1938 first Vienna Decision and the territorial changes that went with it, really put the Trianon Treaty out of effect. Today it is the 1947 Paris peace treaty that is in effect, whose provisions were actually slightly stricter than those of the 1920 treaty. Apart from a handful of small adjustments, the state borders follow these provisions. Interestingly though, a couple of the provisions of the treaty of Trianon concerning international law are still in effect today, because the League of Nations passed it on to the United Nations. A good example is Hungary’s membership in the International Labour Organisation, as well as numerous hydrographical provisions.
References:
- Ablonczy Balázs: Száz év múlva lejár? Újabb Trianon-legendák. Budapest, 2022, Jaffa.
- Romsics Ignác: A trianoni békeszerződés. Budapest, 2020, Helikon.
Common past: knowledge to dispel historical misconceptions – supporting the work of Slovak and Hungarian history teachers through print and online publications, professional conferences. A project of the Association of History Teachers and the Hungarian-language newspaper of the Denník N news portal. (2023-2-HU01-KA210-SCH-000169882)
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