National Insecurity – Forgotten History: Bratislava’s Bridgehead (The Lost Lands #39)

I find myself repeatedly going down the rabbit holes of history while developing my itinerary for the lost lands beyond Hungary’s borders. While researching one place, I discover another, and that leads me to still another. Then I look back and can barely remember where I started. That is not a bad thing. Getting lost can lead to new adventures. This is what happened with my choice to visit Rusovce in Slovakia. I did not realize that it was so close to the Austria-Hungary-Slovakia tripoint. This led me to research the nearby villages of Deutsch Jahrndorf (Austria), Jarovce (Slovakia) and Rajka (Hungary). As I plunged deeper into each village’s history, I forgot what brought me to Rusovce in the first place. That is until now. Rusovce, Jarovce, and the village of Cunovo were taken from Hungary at the post-World War II Paris Peace Conference and given to Czechoslovakia. None of the villages seemed to hold much value except for their location near the Danube. The reason they ended up on the other side of Hungary’s border says a lot about the fear and insecurity that was pervasive in Czechoslovakia after the war.

Bridging the divide – Danube River at Bratislava (Credit: Rios)

Buffer Zone – Territorial Ambitions
Forgetting history is often seen as a negative. The main reason why is summed up by the famous quote, “those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” Yet sometimes forgetting history can be a sign of success rather than failure. This occurs when problems that were once acute have either been solved or faded away. One example of this phenomenon in the lost lands is especially instructive. Most people in Slovakia and Hungary are unaware that a sixty-two square kilometer piece of land on the fringes of Bratislava was given to Czechoslovakia after World War II. That land included the villages of Rusovce, Jarovce, and Cunovo. This was done to expand the Bratislava bridgehead, a military necessity at the time that is no longer needed today. Furthermore, the bridgehead is unlikely to ever be needed in the near or distant future because Slovakia and Hungary are now both members of the European Union. Border control between the two countries has been dismantled.

Despite periodic upticks in tensions between Slovakia and Hungary the chance they will have an armed conflict is virtually nil. There is also very little threat to Bratislava from the other countries that border Slovakia. Austria is peaceful and prosperous. Poland has no designs on Slovakian territory. Neither does Ukraine. The war between Ukraine and Russia has damaged Slovakia’s relations with both, but it is highly unlikely to ever have any effect on its territorial integrity. The upshot of all these developments is that the Bratislava bridgehead has faded into obscurity. That was not the case at the Paris Peace Paris Conference in 1946-47. Europe in the aftermath of World War II was a mess. Fear and insecurity were rampant. Considering the context, it is easy to understand why. Czechoslovakia had been dismembered in 1938 at the behest of Nazi Germany. The Hungarian government had joined in to get southern Slovakia back under its control. Nazi Germany took what was known as the Bratislava bridgehead for themselves. 

Displacement – Old manor house in Cunovo (Credit: Izzino25)

Strategic Imperatives – Protecting Bratislava
In military terminology, a bridgehead is a position on an enemy’s territory separated from one’s own territory by a body of water. It offers tactical and strategic advantages to the holder. They can move soldiers and supplies over the water to enhance military operations. The Bratislava bridgehead had allowed the German military to control a vital transport artery across the Danube. After World War II ended, the Czechoslovaks wanted to ensure they had an expanded bridgehead to protect Bratislava in case of another war. The city was vulnerable because of its proximity to the Hungarian border which was just across the Danube. Moving Hungary’s border further away from what was the largest city in the Slovak half of Czechoslovakia was a top priority during treaty negotiations in Paris.

The Czechoslovak delegation asked for five villages in Hungary to create a larger buffer zone between Bratislava and Hungary’s borders. Those who negotiated in support of the bridgehead felt it was vital for national security. The military ramifications of the bridgehead were obvious. There were also economic implications. Czechoslovakia’s largest port was on the Danube at Bratislava. With the bridgehead, the port would be protected. It could also be expanded. This would help drive badly needed postwar economic development. The victorious powers agreed with the Czechoslovak arguments. The result was that Czechoslovakia received three of the five villages they asked for in the negotiations.

The Hungarian villages of Oroszvar, Horvathjarfalu, and Dunascun became Rusovce, Jarovce, and Cunovo in Czechoslovakia. Most of the Hungarian inhabitants of these villages were displaced. Large numbers of Slovaks would soon move into them. The territorial adjustment was small but effective. Czechoslovakia’s border with Hungary had been stabilized. The only change to the area since then was after the Velvet Divorce occurred in 1993 as the Czech Republic and Slovakia became separate nations. Slovakia inherited the bridgehead. By then its military importance had waned. The three villages are now part of the larger Bratislava area. They are valued real estate for those who want to live in a more rural environment and commute to work in the city.

Out of the way – Abandoned border crossing at Jarovce (Credit: Bratislavcan85)

Shared Interests – Beyond The Bridgehead
Today, the Bratislava bridgehead is a historical footnote. A 2007 article in the Slovakian newspaper SME detailed how younger generations of Slovakians knew nothing about the bridgehead. The concept can be hard to grasp for anyone who did not suffer through World War II. The bridgehead was a matter of national insecurity following the war, The Czechoslovaks did not trust the Hungarians, and the feeling was mutual. Trust could only be built after decades of peaceful relations. By then, the Bratislava bridgehead was forgotten. except by the elderly and history buffs. Slovakia’s frontiers were no longer vulnerable. The Bratislava bridgehead had lost much of its reason for being. This was the best possible outcome for all involved. Economic affairs rather than military ones are now central to relations between Hungary and Slovakia. Both sides have a shared interest in moving beyond the past. Forgetting the Bratislava bridgehead is a step in the right direction.

Click here for: Unexpected Guests – The Croatians of Jarovce (The Lost Lands #40)

One Side of the Equation – Blurring The Lines In Deutsch Jahrndorf (The Lost Lands #38)

The lost lands beyond Hungary’s borders as they existed prior to World War I are a world rendered in black and white. This is conspicuous in historic photographs. The lack of color creates a barrier. An invisible force field that keeps the viewer at a distance. The people and structures are less vivid. This makes them seem less than real. The same effect can be found in history books covering the period. The words are black, and the background is white. Stark, austere, and lacking in atmospherics. While reading I feel far removed from both time and place. The only cure I have found for this is travel which shrinks the distance. Paradoxically, it allows me to get closer to the past through the present. This is what I plan to do at my next destination, Deutsch Jahrndorf in eastern Austria. I want to see in living color the village that was in the eye of multiple historical hurricanes. Its German inhabitants managed to weather these storms intact.

Deutsch Jahrndorf is an outlier that occupies a unique place on the Austrian frontier and German world. The village is the easternmost municipality in Austria. Since the end of World War II, it has also been the eastern extent of ethnic Germans living together in a common place. All the other German communities that had existed further to the east – many of them since the Middle Ages – were destroyed during the war or the inhabitants expelled afterward. Deutsch Jahrndorf was lucky to survive, but it did not escape the war without harm. Evidence of the combat that occurred in and around the village can be found at its Soviet war cemetery. There is little doubt that unspeakable acts of depravity were committed against the populace by marauding soldiers. The Red Army was eager to avenge the atrocities that had been committed by Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front.  Deutsch Jahrndorf could just as easily have become part of Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) or Hungary. The border between Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia was set within spitting distance of the village. Deutsch Jahrndorf spent forty years in the Iron Curtain’s shadow. This was one of many ethnically related problems that had been ongoing since the late 20^th century.

A small world – Aerial view of Deutsch Jahrndorf (Credit: Kathrin Santha)

Superficiality – A Magyar Makeover
The name looks odd to anyone other than an ethnic German. Deutsch Jarhndorf does nothing to endear me to the German language. It sounds like a provincial Teutonic delicacy. A mouthful of which would have to be washed down by copious amounts of guttural spirits. In any case, the village of 600 people has been called worse, such as its Hungarian derivation. In 1898, the Kingdom of Hungary’s Magyarization policy was in full effect. The idea was to make Transleithania’s non-Hungarians into Magyars (what Hungarians call themselves). An impossible task when it comes to language. Nonetheless, the official names of villages, towns, and cities were Magyarized. This took Deutsch Jarhndrof to a whole new level of linguistic absurdity.

Nemetjarfalu became the village’s name due to the Magyarization policy of the Hungarian government. This was one of many instances where superficial name changes occurred in the effort to make Hungarians a larger proportion of Transleithania’s population. From 1880 – 1910 they increased from 45% to 54%. Unfortunately, for Hungarian nationalists this did not alter the ethnic composition on the empire’s fringes. These areas would get taken away from Hungary by Trianon. In truth, a place like Deutsch Jarhndorf never really was Hungarian except from an administrative standpoint. The village was one of countless ethnic outliers. Non-Hungarian majority towns and villages could be found throughout Transleithania. 

Memories of war – Soviet military cemetery in Deutsch Jahrndorf (Credit: Guenther)

Ways of Life – All Mixed Up
Trying to imagine what Deutsch Jarhndorf was like in the early 20^th century is a fascinating thought experiment. I envision thrifty ethnic Germans working the land well enough to earn a living above the subsistence level. Their lives were wedded to traditions that had been passed down through the generations. Life was not easy, but with a strong work ethic and a bit of luck, they made it tolerable. The rate of change in Austria-Hungary was speeding up, but in villages it came more slowly, Technology was remaking rural life. Agriculture was becoming more efficient, and railroads could carry what was produced on the land to market quicker than in the past. The ethnic Germans of Deutsch Jahrndorf interacted daily with other ethnic groups in the nearby villages of Oroszvar (Rusovce) and Rajka. The region was a mix of Hungarians, Slovaks, Croats, and Jews.

The people identified by ethnicity and religion. What bound them together was that they were all citizens of the Austro-Hungarian empire for better or worse. Nationalism was causing conflicted feelings throughout the empire. Differences in ethnicity decided each group’s place in the economic pecking order. Nationalism threatened to upend the existing social order. The ethnic Germans in Deutsch Jahrndorf already lived in a German world that just so happened to be under the administration of Hungarians. Magyarization would have been an irritation to them, but not nearly as menacing as it must have been for Slovaks who had been under Hungarian rule for a thousand years. Each ethnic group was living in their own world, as well as a larger Hungarian administered part of the empire which infringed upon it on occasion. The Germans from Deutsch Jahrndorf were not insulated from Magyarization, but they were in a better position because ethnic Germans were still ultimately the empire’s most powerful ruling class and royalty. Deutsch Jahrndorf might have been in the Hungarian administered part of the empire, but Vienna and the Habsburgs were not far away.

Looking forward, looking back – Mother and daughter in Deutsch Jahrndorf 1933

Future Shock – Ignorance Is Bliss
In retrospect, the early 20^th century in Deutsch Jahrndorf was a golden age compared to the series of catastrophes that were soon to come. It is hard to imagine what the people there would go through after 1914. The region had been visited by wars on many occasions, but those were mainly military affairs. The coming wars consumed civilians as much as soldiers. None of Deutsch Jahrndorf’s inhabitants had the slightest idea that history was about to have its way with them. Of course, they could not see the future. Their ignorance was bliss. I guess we could all say that.

Click here for: National Insecurity – Forgotten History: Bratislava’s Bridgehead (The Lost Lands #39)

Opening The Prison – The Road To Deutsch Jahrndorf (The Lost Lands #37)

I start to feel depressed when studying the early 20^th century demographic statistics for cities, towns, and villages in the lost lands beyond Hungary’s borders. Those statistics make me realize how much ethnic diversity has been lost. The frontiers of Historic Hungary were home to a wide array of people, languages, and religions. Those same places today are for the most part ethnically homogenous. While multiculturalism has been all the rage in the European Union for several decades, this is nothing compared to pre-World War I eastern and Central Europe. The early 20^th century was the peak of diversity in Eastern Europe. Villages often had two, three or four sizable ethnic groups. That is no longer the norm. As part of my itinerary for visiting the lost lands, I plan on visiting villages which were once highly diverse. In a few of these, such as Rusovce and Jarovce in Slovakia, and Rajka in Hungary, a semblance of that diversity still exists today. In others, such as Deutsch Jahrndorf in the easternmost tip of Austria, the villages are even more German than they were over a century ago. Before I go there, a lesson in class hierarchy and ethnicity is in order.

In the good old days – At a guesthouse in Deutsch Jahrndorf 1908

Class Consciousness – Together & Unequal
The Austro-Hungarian Empire was called the prison of nations because of all the different ethnic groups subsumed within the empire. These groups lived in close proximity to one another in both urban and rural areas. Each had their own way of life with unique customs and traditions. They had also developed ways of interacting with each other. Coexistence was based upon hierarchy. Aristocracy played a role in the class system, but the defining factors were ethnicity and language. The two were synonymous with one another. They separated the haves and have nots. As might be expected in the Hungarian administered portion of the empire (Transleithania – east of the Leitha River) Hungarians were on top. This was followed by ethnic Germans (Swabians and Saxons), Croats, Slovaks, Serbs, Romanians, and Rusyns. Of course, these are generalizations. A more nuanced view does show some of the complexities. For instance, many Hungarians were still at the level of serfdom. Aristocrats thought they were better than non-nobles though many of them were living on the edge of poverty.

Ethnic Germans in Transleithania were usually more prosperous than other ethnic groups, including Hungarians. Jews, who had been given equal rights in 1867, were the most upwardly mobile. They were skyrocketing into the professional classes. This left the previously all-powerful nobility angry. This would later lead to catastrophic consequences for Jews. Differences in equality caused tensions that threatened to explode and upset the ruling order. Nationalism aligned with ethnicity was incendiary. Hungarians were able to push policies that furthered their status. Every other ethnic group was left seething and striving – often both – for their own nations. This would prove to be an existential threat to the empire. Keeping a lid of nationalism meant the Hungarian ruling class imposed their preferences with a heavy hand. The backlash to this was kept under tight control because Hungarian leaders realized this could lead to the empire’s destruction and the end of their leading role across a large swath of Eastern Europe. They were right to worry because that is exactly what happened at the end of World War I. The ultimate outcome was Hungary losing all but its core lands in the Treaty of Trianon.

A not-so-distant memory – Austro-Hungarian era building in Rajka (Credit: Attila Terbocs)

Escape Valve – The Distant Shore
Another element that threatened to upend Austria-Hungary was technological change. It was becoming harder and harder to keep the peasants down on the farm. Technology was leading to rapid changes in the economy, transport and living standards. Those who could not get ahead due to the strictures of class and ethnicity, could try their luck by moving to the cities for jobs in factories. If this option did not work out, advances in transport allowed them to emigrate across the Atlantic. Emigration abroad was an escape valve that saved the empire from having hundreds of thousands of malcontents. The critical masses needed for a revolt dispersed to distant shores. Those who stayed behind enjoyed less competition and in some cases, greater opportunities. Others sat and stewed, eventually turning to radical ideologies that held out hope for the world to be remade for the benefit of working classes.

Industrialization added to the tinder box as the downtrodden came together to toil in undesirable conditions with few labor protections. This led to the push for worker’s rights and the pushback from conservative forces. If all this sounds like a recipe for revolution, the powers that be could see it coming. That is why they were more than happy to see the lower classes fleeing the empire. The ethnic balance was delicate. Anything that might upset it could lead to a death spiral. There simply were not enough Hungarians in the empire to establish complete dominance over all the other ethnic groups. Furthermore, great masses of Hungarians also emigrated in search of the prosperity that had for so long eluded them at home. A potential solution to all these troubles would be to share political power among all the ethnic groups. Easier said than done in societies that were marked by centuries of inequality. The Hungarians had ruled over Slovaks, Romanians, Rusyns, and to a lesser extent Croats and Serbs for so long that this seemed like the normal course of affairs to them.

Parting ways – Border crossing between Hungary and Austria at Jarovce in 1936
(Credit: Fortepan)

Magyarization – A Negligible Result
The less equal ethnic groups were finding their voice, but the Hungarian government was determined they would only have a minimal say at best. Instead, they tried Magyarization by encouraging, imposing, or trying to force all the other ethnic groups to speak, act, and think like Hungarians, This did not work very well because learning the Hungarian language was too difficult. Many a peasant would say impossible. Plus, all the non-Hungarians already had languages of their own that defined their identity. Trying to force the other ethnic groups to become Hungarians, more often led to the opposite. This goes a long way in explaining how the lost lands of Hungary were lost long before Trianon. The upshot was bitterness, vindictiveness and/or indifference. The latter sums up the experience of Deutsch Jahrndorf where Magyarization. The result was negligible. 

Click here for: One Side of the Equation – Blurring The Lines In Deutsch Jahrndorf (The Lost Lands #38)

Mystifying & Miraculous – The Austria-Hungary-Slovakia Tripoint (The Lost Lands #36)

One of the worst aspects of American tourism is the urge to make a fortune by turning a tourist attraction into kitsch. Such vacation hotspots as Gatlinburg, Las Vegas, and Niagara Falls offer copious examples of what can happen when pursuit of the almighty dollar trumps everything else. Soulless high-rise hotels and condominiums, saltwater taffy shops on steroids, overpriced restaurants with artery clogging food, entertainment as a substitute for intellect, and the use of artifice to loosen wallets. When this trend manifests itself at historic attractions it can be doubly distasteful. Last year I had the displeasure of going into what was reputedly Old St. Augustine in Florida. Tacky, touristy, and ahistorical sums up that enervating experience. I never felt further from history than there. If Ponce De Leon had visited, he could have found the fountain of uncouth.

One place of great interest to me that suffers from such abominations is the Four Corners Monument where the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet. I have never visited the monument though I have been through the area before. That is because to visit the spot I would have to pay an entry fee and find the equivalent of a flea market. The bastardization of Four Corners is a shame because geographically there is no other spot like it in the United States and a rarity in other parts of the world. To satisfy my cartographical curiosity, I will have to go international and settle for a tripoint. I am adding one as the next stop on my itinerary for the lost lands of Hungary. This one is as improbable as it is anonymous to foreigners. There are monuments and markers, but no sales stalls. I inadvertently missed it seven years ago. That is a mistake I plan to rectify. 

Another side of the story – Austria-Hungary-Slovakia Tripoint as seen from the Hungarian side of the border (Credit: Crocodyl)

The Convergence – Peaceful Coexistence
I guess if you follow in your own footsteps long enough the opportunity will eventually arise to avenge regrets. One regret that I have concerns missing out on visiting the Austria-Hungary-Slovakia tripoint. I was mere minutes away while visiting the area with a friend in 2017. The tripoint was in our line of sight, and we were looking the other way. My friend and I were so laser focused on visiting the Roman ruins at Gerulata in Slovakia and Carnuntum in Austria that we never knew how close we were to the point where the three national borders converge. The tripoint is relatively new. It is also a miracle of peaceful coexistence between three peoples that have been at odds numerous times. The borders between the three were either nonexistent or unsettled for centuries, Austria’s current border was not set until after World War I. Hungary’s after World War II, and Slovakia’s only after the Velvet Divorce with the Czech Republic in 1994. The tripoint is open to all today. That has not always been the case.

When the 21^st century began, the tripoint was part of three controlled borders. Relations between Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia had improved, but there were still issues to overcome. Decades of communism had created suspicions that were not easily forgotten. There were major differences in political and economic development. Hungary and Slovakia joined the European Union in 2004 which put them on the path to greater prosperity. Then in 2008 Hungary and Slovakia joined Austria in the Schengen Zone which opened their borders to one another. This was an event of historic proportions. Borders that had been fought over and adjusted within living memory were now permanent and they also allowed free movement. Gone were the days of warfare and ethnic upheaval that created the current borders. The tripoint was now a symbol of unity.

Situation stable – Map showing location of the Austria-Hungary-Slovakia Tripoint
(Credit: Barry’s Borderpoints)

Going The Other Way – Beyond History
The lost lands beyond Hungary’s borders are usually fraught with historical tensions. Fortunately, there are exceptions. The Austria-Slovakia-Hungary tripoint is one of them. It is a measuring stick to see how far those countries have come. While Hungarians lament losing lands they had ruled for centuries, less is said about recent successes. A look back at the past makes apparent just how much has changed. Austrians and Hungarians were either rivals or enemies for a millennium. The onset of modernity did not seem to make the situation much better, The Austrians crushed Hungary’s hopes of independence multiple times. The most recent occurred in 1848-49, which resulted in thousands of Hungarians killed, imprisoned, or fleeing into exile. When Hungarians gained an equal role in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the tensions with the Austrians continued to simmer. The aftermath of World War I finally led to a parting of the ways.

Hungarians and Slovaks had their own conflicted history. Following the First World War, the short-lived communist government in Hungary attacked Czechoslovakia. They ended up retreating. Hungarians took back southern Slovakia from 1938 – 44 with the help of Nazi Germany. That would not last either. The Czechoslovak government then carried out a series of anti-Hungarian measures after the war. In 1968, Hungary sent troops into Czechoslovakia along with other Eastern Bloc nations to help crush the Prague Spring. After Slovakia gained its independence in 1994, the government propagated toxic nationalism with malign intent under the fervent anti-Hungarian Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar. The above examples are enough to make anyone believe that Hungarians, Slovaks, and Austrians would always be at each other’s throats. There was very little historical basis for more positive outcomes. Then a funny thing happened on the way to further problems. A sense of unity was achieved within the European Union.

No longer needed – Pre-Schengen passport exit stamp from Rajka, Hungary border crossing to Slovakia (Credit: Slleong)

Making Progress – From War To Peace
The physical and psychological barriers between Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia have eroded to a considerable degree. Dividing lines are much less visible. While hard borders between the three peoples were non-existent during the Habsburg and Austro-Hungarian Empires, they were not equals by any stretch of the imagination. Now they have been brought closer together than ever before. This just goes to show that geopolitical miracles are still possible when based upon trust, the rule of law, and shared interest in prosperity. This makes the tripoint a symbol of each nation’s progress from war to peace.

Click here for: Opening The Prison – The Road To Deutsch Jahrndorf (The Lost Lands #37)