First Vienna Award

First Vienna Award. The First Vienna Award was a diplomatic agreement arbitrated by the Axis powers of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on 2 November 1938. It forced the Kingdom of Romania to cede a significant portion of its territory in Transylvania to the Kingdom of Hungary. This decision was a direct result of the Munich Agreement and represented a major revision of the post-World War I borders established by the Treaty of Trianon.

Background

The territorial dispute between Hungary and Romania had deep roots in the aftermath of World War I. The 1920 Treaty of Trianon drastically reduced Hungary's size, transferring the region of Transylvania to the Kingdom of Romania. This created a large Hungarian minority within Romania's new borders. During the 1930s, the revisionist foreign policy of Regent Miklós Horthy and Prime Minister Kálmán Darányi sought to reclaim these "lost territories." The rise of Adolf Hitler and the increasing aggression of Nazi Germany provided an opportunity, as Hitler sought to build a coalition of dependent states in Central Europe. Following the Anschluss and the Munich Agreement, which dismembered Czechoslovakia, the Hungarian government, led by Béla Imrédy, intensified pressure on Romania. The failure of bilateral negotiations at the Komárom talks led both nations to accept arbitration by their powerful Axis powers allies.

The arbitration

The arbitration took place on 2 November 1938 at the Belvedere Palace in Vienna. The proceedings were dominated by the foreign ministers of the two arbitrating powers: Joachim von Ribbentrop of Germany and Galeazzo Ciano of Italy. The Romanian delegation was led by Foreign Minister Nicolae Petrescu-Comnen, while Hungary was represented by Foreign Minister Kálmán Kánya and Minister of Education Pál Teleki. The negotiations were not a true arbitration but a diktat imposed by the Axis powers, who had already coordinated their decision to favor Hungary in order to secure its loyalty. The Romanian government, isolated and threatened by the potential of a joint military invasion by Hungary and other regional rivals, was compelled to accept the foreign ministers' verdict without meaningful negotiation.

Terms of the award

The award mandated that Romania cede to Hungary a strip of territory in northern and eastern Transylvania totaling approximately 11,927 square kilometers. This area, often referred to as "Southern Slovakia" or "Felvidék" by Hungarians, included important cities such as Košice, Uzhhorod, and Mukachevo. The transferred territory had a population of over one million people, comprising a mixed ethnic composition of Hungarians, Romanians, Ruthenians, and other groups. The new border was drawn with strategic and economic considerations, granting Hungary control over key railway lines and industrial assets. The implementation of the transfer was to be managed by a German-Italian-Hungarian-Romanian commission, with the process to be completed by 10 November 1938.

Aftermath

The immediate aftermath saw the swift military occupation of the awarded territories by the Royal Hungarian Army, an event celebrated in Budapest as a national triumph. In Romania, the award caused a profound political crisis, leading to the collapse of the government of Patriarch Miron Cristea and fueling the rise of the ultra-nationalist Iron Guard. The loss shattered Romania's faith in its traditional alliance with France and the United Kingdom, pushing King Carol II closer to the Axis powers in a desperate bid for security. The award also intensified ethnic tensions, leading to population movements and setting the stage for further conflict. It directly contributed to the Second Vienna Award in 1940, which forced an even larger territorial cession to Hungary, and was a prelude to Romania's participation in the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

Legacy

The First Vienna Award was declared null and void by the Allied Powers after World War II. The 1947 Paris Peace Treaties reaffirmed the 1920 Treaty of Trianon borders, returning the territory to Romania, by then the Romanian People's Republic. The award remains a contentious historical memory in both Hungary and Romania, symbolizing the era of Axis powers aggression and the fragility of small states in the face of great power politics. It is studied as a key example of the diplomatic strategy of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini to redraw the map of Europe through intimidation and the threat of force, undermining the League of Nations system and contributing to the outbreak of the Second World War.

Category:1938 in Austria Category:1938 in Hungary Category:1938 in Romania Category:Treaties of Hungary Category:Treaties of Romania Category:World War II treaties