Author : Aliaksandr Piahanau
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 23,35 MB
Release : 2018
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ISBN :
The replacement of Austria-Hungary by series of new nations in 1918 is a key event in the historical reflections in Central Europe. This thesis deals with the bilateral relations between two "new born" states - Hungary and Czechoslovakia.This thesis pays special attention the topic of the foreign policy of Hungary, by exploring the perceptions, motives, and the decisions that the government of Budapest and its different political bodies expressed in regard to the Czechoslovak Republic. This thesis aims to challenge the mainstream historiography which portrays the Budapest-Prague relations between the two World Wars through the prism of the territorial dispute over Slovakia and Ruthenia, two Hungarian provinces that were annexed by Czechoslovakia in 1918-1919. This research confirms that the Hungarian elites and the governmental circles were indeed unsatisfied with the loss of these two regions. However, the historiography has over-estimated the impact of territorial dispute on the practical and every day political attitudes and the decision making process in Budapest. This thesis claims that the Hungarian government tended to avoid open conflicts with Prague, considering that Czechoslovakia was more populous, industrialized, militarized and had more international alliances than Hungary. Analyzing primary sources mainly in Hungarian, and Czech, but also in Slovak, French and English, found both in the archives in Budapest and Prague and in published versions, this thesis argues that the government of Hungary seriously considered developing political, economic and international cooperation with Prague in the middle years of the Interwar. This thesis is organized into five parts. The opening part deals with the sources and the historiography. Part 2 examines the Hungarian policy on Czechoslovakia in 1918-1921. Part 3 tackles the Budapest-Prague relations between 1922 and 1930. Part 4 portrays the connections of the Hungarian democratic opposition with Prague in 1919-1932. Part 5 uncovers the changes of the foreign policy of Hungary towards Czechoslovakia in 1931-1936.