Republic of Prekmurje

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Republic of Prekmurje
Murska Republika
Republika Slovenska okroglina
Republika Prekmurje
Mura Köztársaság
Vendvidéki Köztársaság
Unrecognized state
←
1919 →
 
→
Capital Murska Sobota
Government Republic
President Vilmos Tkálecz
Historical era World War I
 -  Established May 29, 1919
 -  Disestablished June 6, 1919
The balcony in Murska Sobota from which Vilmos Tkálecz proclaimed the Republic of Prekmurje.
Curfew for Murska Sobota, signed by József Pusztai.

The Republic of Prekmurje (Hungarian: Vendvidéki Köztársaság, Mura Köztársaság; Slovene: Murska Republika, Republika Prekmurje; Prekmurje Slovene: Reszpublika Szlovenszka okroglina, Mörszka Reszpublika) was an unrecognized state in Prekmurje, an area traditionally known in Hungarian as Vendvidék ("Wendic March"). On June 6, 1919, Prekmurje was incorporated into the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (renamed "Yugoslavia" in 1929).

The state was bordered by Austria to the north, Hungary to the east, and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes to the west and south.

Origins

Slovenian ethnic territory was once more extensive than today, extending from Friuli in northeast Italy to Lake Balaton in Hungary. The Magyars settled the eastern part of this area in the early 10th century, and Prekmurje (along with Croatia and Slovakia) eventually became part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Thus Slovenes living east of the Mura River developed a separate identity from those west of the river under Austrian control as Prekmurje Slovenians. The Prekmurje Slovene language (Hungarian: Vend nyelv) became distinctive. In the 16th and 18th centuries, numerous Slovene families from the Mura and Raba valleys settled in Somogy County.

History

During World War I, the leaders of the Slovene minority in Prekmurje were mostly Catholic priests and Lutheran ministers. After the collapse of Austria-Hungary, together with secular leaders (but with diverging political views), the Catholic Prekmurje clerics sided with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. However, the Lutheran Slovenes still supported Hungarian rule. The Catholic party wished to proclaim an independent state, whereas the Lutheran Slovenes and Hungarians of Prekmurje supported remaining under Hungarian authority.

The (mutinous) Croatian Army annexed Prekmurje in 1918, but the 83rd Hungarian Infantry Regiment recaptured it. Soon, the Truce of Belgrade in 1918 gave Mura and Raba Country to Hungary, but the Serbs had second thoughts and sought to extend their area of control northwards to create a Yugoslav-Czechoslovak border.

On March 21, 1919, the Hungarian communists and Social Democrats created the Hungarian Soviet Republic, which was anti-religious, internationalist, and pro-Soviet. The communists wanted to expropriate the ecclesiastical assets, starting with all the lordships. The Lutherans and the Catholics resisted this. In order to be rid of the communists, the Catholic Party decided to create an autonomous republic. The Hungarian and Slovenian socialists wanted to establish a Soviet system in Prekmurje, but there was little support and few people gave aid to the Soviet Republic. In Međimurje the Serbian and Croatian military aligned themselves against Prekmurje.

In Lendava, the anti-communist military campaign started off well, but soon fell apart. In Murska Sobota the socialist Vilmos Tkálecz, a former schoolmaster and soldier in the first World War, was involved in illegal trade, which the communist statutes forbade. Tkálecz was not a leftist, Yugoslav, or pro-Hungarian. On May 29, Tkálecz and some followers declared independence from Hungary. Tkálecz invoked the Fourteen Points of Woodrow Wilson, which granted autonomy rights for national minorities. The new state recognized Austria in order to receive some weapons, together with those from Hungarian military units. However, Tkálecz frustrated the Catholics; the people of Prekmurje did not support the republic.

The Prekmurje Republic sought to expand its boundaries and received minute pieces of land: In Murska Sobota, the republic received the territory of the districts of Murska Sobota, Lendava, Szentgotthárd, and some villages in the Őrség area, and already possessed the northern, central, and southwestern Mura march districts. The principal settlements of the republic were Murska Sobota, Szentgotthárd, Lendava, Beltinci, and Dobrovnik.

Aftermath

On June 6, 1919, the Hungarian Red Army marched into Prekmurje and dismantled the republic. Tkálecz fled to Austria. A communist militia made up of 50 peasants killed the anti-communists. In addition, a five million crown indemnity was laid upon the people and a harsh Red Terror ensued.

On August 1, 1919, the Hungarian Soviet Republic was overthrown by Romanian forces, and soon the Serbian Army marched into Prekmurje.

In 1920, Tkálecz was living in Hungary in the village of Nagykarácsony in (Fejér County) as a schoolmaster. The 1920 Treaty of Trianon established the present Hungarian borders.

Population

The population of the Prekmurje Republic was approximately 100,000, of which 20,000 to 22,000 were Hungarians; other large minorities included a German minority of 8,000 (especially in the villages of Alsószölnök, Gerlinci, and Fikšinci), and a Croatian minority of 3,000. Other ethnic groups included Jews and Roma. The religious composition was one third Lutheran, over half Catholic, and some Calvinist and Jewish minorities. In a few villages, Roma speak Prekmurje Slovenian or Hungarian as their native languages.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Republic of Prekmurje.

Notes

    References

    In Hungarian
    • László Göncz: The Mura country 1919
    • Republic of Vendvidék
    • Az Őrség és a Vendvidék,kalauz turistáknak és természetbarátoknak, (The Őrség and the Vendvidék, tourist-guide) B.K.L. kiadó (B.K.L. Publisher), Szombathely 2004.
    • Bilkei Irén – Káli Csaba – Petánovics Katalin: Zalavár, Száz Magyar Falu Könyvesháza (Zalavár, Hundred Hungarian Village Book-House) ISBN 963-9287-63-6 ISSN 1586 – 0469
    • Csorba Csaba – Estók János – Salamon Konrád: Magyarország képes története (History of Hungary in Pictures), Magyar Könyvklub (Hungarian Book-Club), Budapest 1999. ISBN 963-548-961-7
    • Hornyák Árpád, "A magyar-jugoszláv határ kialakulása az első világháború után, különös tekintettel a Muravidékre" ("The development of the Hungarian-Yugoslav border in the First World War, with an emphasis on Prekmurje"), in A Mura mente és a trianoni békeszerződés, Lendvai Füzetek (Booklets of Lendava) 17; Magyar Nemzetiségi Művelődési Intézet (Hungarian Institute of Ethnic Culture).
    • Julij Titl, Murska Republika (The Mura Republic) 1919, Pomurska Založba Murska Sobota 1970.
    • Kozár, Mária and Gyurácz, Ferenc: Felsőszölnök, Száz Magyar Falu Könyvesháza (Felsőszölnök Hundred Hungarian Village), ISBN 963-9287-20-2.
    • L. Nagy Zsuzsa: Magyarország története 1848-1945. (History of Hungary 1848-1945) Debrecen, 1995. (Történelmi Figyelő Könyvek/Historical Monitor Books)
    • Mukicsné Kozár, Mária: A Magyarországi Szlovének Néprajzi Szótára (Lexicon of Hungarian Slovene Ethnography), Monošter-Szombathely 1996. ISBN 963-7206-62-0
    • Schopper, Tibor: Őrség, Corvina Kiadó (Corvina Publisher), Budapest 1982. ISBN 963-13-1419-7.
    • Változó Világ: A magyarországi szlovének, (The Changing World: The Hungarian Slovenes) by Mária Mukics, Press Publica 2003. ISBN 963-9001-83-X

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