Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-18
MAGYAR MINORITY ISSUE
KEEPS EUROPE In TURMOIL
Barbed Wire Fences on Frontiers IN
crease Troubles Blamed Upon
Hungarians.

ras unfortunate. since It constitute =
natural unit, but the actual wholesale
mutilation was equally inconsistent
with the principle of self-determination
professed in the fourteen points and the
ordinary requirements Of a common
sense economic adjustment. All along the
new frontier, but Just across 1t, were
the considerable cities of the old king
dom, cities which like Komaron, al
though wholly Magyar in population,
were cut in half by the new frontier
and isolated by barbed wire entangle-
ments. Not infrequently men desiring
to go from their home to their places
Of work were obliged to have passports
and subjected to endless delay. The re-
suit has been double, great suffering
among all and eventual emigration by
many. which has raised a serious prob
lem within Hungary.
Extent of BIunder.
Slowly the western nations have be-
come aware of the extent of the Hun
garian blunder. This process of educa-
ton has been hampered and delayed by
the intransigeance Of the extreme ma
tionalist in Hungary itself and by the
clear perception in all capitals that for
the present at least no revision of from
tiers was possible save as a consequence
d
ravage the whole Danubian area and
might extend west and north. Even
the possibility that the Czechs might
make concessions in accordance with
the known wish of Masaryk were de-
Stroyed when a Slovak spokesman,
Osusky, the Czechoslovak Minister at
Paris, pronounced against the sur-en-
der of a single inch of territory.
1t is clear. however. that Europe
cannot afford to have Hungary become
a permanent peril to peace and the
Europe. Nor is it less plain that at the
bottom there is no question as to the
justice of a portion of the Magyar de-
mands and a total unlikelihood that
this proud people will permanently &C
cept its present status. Already the
temporary success of MuSsolini, IN
making Budapest a stepping stone in
his anti-French system in the Danubian
and Balkan areas, has awakened anxi-
ETY. in Paris, while in London there sur
wives the old pre-war sympathy for
people which has always admired, liked
and initiated British customs.
Again it is becoming more and more
clear that Germany purposes both in
the League and out to champion the
cause of the minorities, as it plans
eventually to achieve the union of
Austria with the Reich. Thus, while
the Hungarians have never liked the
Germans and today hold them respon-
sible for the present misfortunes Of
Hungary, the German association may
again appear to Magyar craftsmanship
the sole means of escape from a sitila-
ton at once intolerable and beyond the
resources of Hungary alone to modify.
Effect Of New Alliance.
But a new alliance of Germany, Aus
tria and Hungary, with the practical
certainty that such an alliance would
again enlist the support of the Bull
garians. equally determined to obtain
revision of their frontiers, would
mean the restoration of the old con-
dition in Central Europe and would In
fact threaten the revival of the peril
of Mitteleuropa, conjured only by allied
victory.
Relatively small as Hungary II, It
nevertheless occupies a strategic posi-
ton and must command a hearing in
Europe. That q considerable part of
its program is founded on justice and
can be maintained in reason, however
inconvenient and even dangerous, adds
TO the gravity of the situation. Like
Germany, Hungary Is today powerlesS.
and, unlike Germany, 1t can never hope
to achieve its ends by its own resources.
But until it is reconciled to some sys.
tenn of order, 1t can, as it now does,
block any def1nitive pacif1cation of the
Danube area and any restoration of
economic as we'll as political peace.
And while Hungarian patriots have
in the past been VIGOROUSLY unreason-
able, there are clear signs of the de-
velopment of more reasonable spirit.
There is a mounting feeling of hope.
based on an exaggerated conviction
that the world is beginning to see the
justice of the Magyar case. Unhap-
PLY, while there is a growing appre-
citation Of the Hungarian facts and
similarly increasing perception of the
need of modification of the Treaty Of
Trianon among all the great powers.
the determination of all the states that
hold Hungarian minorities to resist
change is also hardening. And these
states are not only closely allied but
are possessed Of great military re.
sources and strengthened by the fact
that their support is necessary to the
success of French policy in Europe and
the maintenance of French influence in
the League of Nations.
Copyright. 1927