The number of Hungarians has decreased shockingly since the Peace Treaty of Trianon
Today marks the 103rd anniversary of the Peace Treaty of Trianon, which followed the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in WWI. Since Hungary was part of the empire and had been multiethnic for hundreds of years, it lost 2/3rd of its territory. However, despite President Wilson’s majestic principles, 3.3 million Hungarians became citizens of the hostile successor states like Romania, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Ever since, the rate of Hungarians has been decreasing in every region separated from the motherland.
Hungary was not even invited to the peace conference of Versailles. The first time Count Albert Apponyi could express the serious errors resulting in the separation of millions of Hungarians was in January 1920, when the treaty was ready. Even though he held his speech in English, Italian and French, he could not modify the the victors’ will. Since the US delegation went home and London allowed Paris to define the European order, nobody helped Hungary despite their sympathy.
As a result, Hungary lost 2/3rd of its former territories with more than 3.3 million Hungarians, 1/3rd of the nation. On paper, these communities were granted individual and collective rights. However, in practice, the successor states wanted to assimilate them.
Trianon made hundreds of thousands of Hungarians flee the land of their ancestors, and the Paris Peace Treaties following WWII made that even worse. For example, Yugoslavia committed mass murders among the Hungarians of Délvidék, while Czechoslovakia tried everything to deport all Hungarians who they considered a national threat and rejected even citizenship. Thankfully, they were only partly successful. But even between 1985 and 2011, 319 thousand Hungarians living in Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, and Slovakia moved to Hungary.
In the last 103 years, the number of Romanians, Slovaks, Serbs, Ukrainians increased drastically in the former Hungarian territories. Meanwhile, the number of Hungarians stagnated or even fell, which clearly marks shocking population decline.
During the Communist era, nobody could talk about the Hungarians living abroad. Thus, many Hungarians living in Hungary forgot about them. Some even believed the Communist propaganda: the Hungarians living abroad are only Yugoslavians, Romanians, and Slovaks speaking Hungarian. Since 1989/1990, many things have changed. The Orbán government unified the nation by granting Hungarians living abroad double citizenship, the right to vote and giving them a lot of money for development, education, and culture annually.
However, the number of Hungarians is continuously falling in the Carpathian Basin, including the territory of Hungary. József Antall, the first freely elected Hungarian prime minister after the fall of Communism, spoke about himself as the prime minister of 15 million Hungarians. In 1990, the number of Hungarians living in the Carpathian Basin was 13 million. More than three decades later, the number of Hungarians living in the Carpathian Basin does not reach 11.5 million. That is a 1.5 million decline, mostly concerning the Hungarian communities abroad since Hungary’s population decline was “only” around 600,000 between 1990 and 2023 (from 10.3 million to 9.7 million).
Because of the negative discrimination and the difficulties they face due to using their language or getting high-level education in their mother-tongue, the outflow of the Hungarians continues. But they no longer come to Hungary: they move abroad. In most cases, two or three generations later, the Hungarian heritage is just a memory of the grandparents and great-grandparents.
Are the birth rates going to rise enough in Hungary, or will the population continue to decline until it is too late?
The population is becoming so low it could become a concern for national security.
And now, disinvesting in education, the government is ensuring that even fewer Hungarians will be around in the 2030s. It will be interesting to hear how that government will spin recruiting foreigners who won’t be able to speak Hungarian to fill professional positions. Probably it will also be called a “status” law (or perhaps “stubbed us” law).
Igazan NAGYON szomorú / Really VERY sad!!!
Trianon was a criminal act against us, but going back to our former state of big Hungary would also be ethnic and cultural suicide. Only revision of the borders according to majority Hungarian ethnic lines would be an option.
The government is attracting more and more big foreign companies who are in need of a workforce. Now we know there are not enough native Hungarians around to fill all these positions. These big foreign companies are demanding foreign “guest” workers, or they will leave. This will be a never ending demand and migration into Hungary. Our ancestors made a similar mistake in Transylvania by allowing Romanians to move in.
It means, those foreign companies and the EU are a threat to “Hungary for the Hungarians”. If this will not be stopped we will be replaced in present Hungary as is happening in the lost territories and Western Europe.
@GézaHegedűs – Trianon happened because we were part of the Central Powers who lost WW1 . Uh. And we obviously joined the Axis Powers for good measure during WW2 (lest we forget) – Vienna awards and all.
Winners dictate the terms. Losers … Well. Lose.
Besides – the Treaty of Trianon brought peace. And that’s exactly what our Politicians always want, right?
If the Orban government is spending tax payers money on services for ethnic Hungarians outside of Hungary what revenue are those Hungarians contributing to the national treasury? They are citizens of Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia and receive services provided by the state they live in and also by Hungary. Meanwhile Hungarians can’t feed their families in Hungary under the Orban government. It’s been over a 100 years and nothing positive will ever be achieved by reopening the wound of Trianon to make it fester longer but this is what the Orban government does to Hungarians to make them bitter and resentful towards their neighbours. You can promote Hungarian culture but money for development and education needs to be spent in Hungary. There are no teachers for schools right now and the education system in Hungary is in total crisis.
Hungarian leave Hungary every year because they WANT to leave, for better education for their children, better health care options, better employment opportunities, To keep blaming this on a treaty signed over 100 years ago is beyond stupid. A lot of “Hungarians” that were cut out by the border changes 100 years ago have assimilated into their new countries, just like any other peoples in countries with border changes in the last centuries. Do you think there are still those who are loyal to England in France? Are the Ottoman who stayed behind clammering for language rights here? What about the Serbs? Or the Polish? Or the Russians for that matter? Why to the million or so Ukrainians who came across the border last year continue on to the west? Because the conditions for them in Hungary are WORSE than the conditions for them in Ukraine and they are fleeing for a better life!
Trianon was a crime against Hungary and the hungarian people, and both are suffering the consequences until today.
Displaced hungarian people was not simple “assimilated” by their new countries and their new “landlords”, were discriminated, denied right to express their cultural heritage, hostilized or even worse.
Today they are having the rare opportunity of be part of something that recall their roots, not only in “Trianon countries” but many other places.
Many people also fled Hungary due to WWII and the communist regime.
Romanians denied the rights of Hungarians and they still do, it’s sad but Romanians are losers.