Beyond Experience – Trianon’s Living Legacy (The Lost Cities #11)

One of the most important and overlooked moments in history occurs when the last person with direct experience of an historical event dies. One of the more memorable recent examples was when Florence Green, the last veteran of the First World War died. That meant there was no one left with living memory of a war that launched the 20^th century on its violent trajectory and changed the world forever. While the war officially ended 94 years before Ms. Green died, the living memory of it lasted up to her death in 2012. Only then, had the war truly become history in the past tense. There was no one left with military experience of the war. At some undetermined point not far into the future, the last civilian who had personal experience of the war would also have died. After that, everything about World War I comes to us second hand. The greatest primary historical sources known to us are gone forever. That also holds true for other events surrounding the war such as the Paris Peace Conference. That seminal event radically altered the borders of Eastern Europe. That legacy lives on today.

Border control – Austria-Hungary border in 1914 & 1920 (Credit: Richard Andree)

Living Link – A Lasting Legacy
You don’t know what you got until it’s gone. That is one cliché that has the ring of truth. My mentor, who was also a university history professor, told me that one of his former colleagues had been at the Paris Peace Conference as an advisor to the negotiators. He spoke of this colleague several times, always bringing up their attendance at the conference. There were no specific stories relating to his colleague’s work in Paris, but that was not really the point. Just knowing someone who had been in attendance was a source of fascination. Hearing about a living connection to such an important world historical event made the peace conference seem much closer. The usual black and white photographs found in history books communicate distance. A personal connection brings the past closer. Everything that happened in Paris seems more intriguing.

I was only indirectly linked to my mentor’s colleague, but I wanted to ask him many questions. What and who did he see at the peace conference? Did he have any idea at the time of what troubles would result from the treaties? Those questions cannot be answered because the man passed away long ago. A living link has been broken forever. Other legacies of the Paris Peace Conference are as alive today as when the treaties that resulted from the negotiations went into effect. Specifically, the Treaty of Trianon which partitioned the Kingdom of Hungary’s territory.  More than any of the other treaties negotiated at the peace conference, Trianon is the one that is still controversial. I have felt the tension of that controversy when traveling throughout the parts of Eastern Europe affected by Trianon. The legacy of Trianon was the reason I planned my itinerary for the lost cities beyond Hungary’s borders.

A sense of finality – Treaty of Trianon (Credit: C. Stadler/Bwag)

Obstacle Courses – Trapped by Trianon
We are not trapped within the past, as much as we are trapped by it. That is because history hems us in. We are wedded to the past and it is difficult, if not impossible, to find grounds for divorce. All the history that has ever happened created the world in which we now live. And in my case, the world in which I want to travel. This includes my itinerary for visiting the lost cities. The Treaty of Trianon’s legacy is written all over my itinerary because of borders and railway networks. For instance, planning a journey from Timisoara to Subotica turned into a logistical nightmare. One that I suffered from the comfort of an armchair in a climate-controlled home. I can only imagine how tiring the actual trip might be. In the 21^st century, all the obstacles of borders, different national railway networks, and schedules that lead to increasingly lengthy travel times feel unnecessary. I have read quite a few books and articles which cover the treaty making that led to the Austro-Hungarian Empire being carved up by the victors of World War I. Very little of that reading prepared me for just how much the Treaty of Trianon’s legacy still affects travel throughout the region.

Planning a trip to visit the lost cities should have been relatively simple. Well, it was at the turn of the 20^th century. Back then the lost cities were all connected with Budapest. That would not last as the nations that inherited the lost cities after Trianon hit the kill switch on parts of the Hungarian Railway Network which ran into their territories. The lines that still ran were at the mercy of border control which meant mind numbing delays. This not only hurt people, but it also dealt a terrible blow to the economies of Hungary and all the successor states as economic connections were severed. People, transport, and commodities had to be rerouted. Subotica would now look to Belgrade, instead of Budapest. The same was true for Timisoara, whose overlords were now in Bucharest. The list goes on. None of the successor states trusted Hungary and Hungary seethed with resentment. This was fertile ground for radical ideologies to take hold. 

Monumental memory – Trianon memorial in a Hungarian town (Credit: Laslovarga)

Opening The Border – An Uneasy Peace
Whether the changes wrought by Trianon made any sense or not, they would have staying power. The Second World War altered them momentarily, but afterwards the borders snapped shut with a vengeance. The changes have been permanent ever since then. Only membership in the European Union has slowly pried some of them back open again. That is still not the case with Hungary and Serbia, or Romania and Serbia. Even the Hungary-Romania border still has border control. Seventeen years after Romania became an EU member state it is due to finally be allowed in the Schengen Zone. That might help make following my itinerary to the lost cities a bit easier. One thing that will not is the continuing legacy of Trianon. I sometimes wonder what my mentor’s colleague saw at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, perhaps the end of one world, and the beginning of a more insular one.

Click here for: Magic Act – Subotica’s Starring Role (The Lost Cities #12)

Delayed Gratification – Finding The Way To Subotica (The Lost Cities #10)

Four years ago, I woke up on a snowless winter morning in Belgrade with one thing on my mind, catching a bus to Novi Sad in northern Serbia. The gentleman who drove me to the bus station owned the hotel in which I had stayed the previous night. He was a talkative, bombastic man who regaled me with stories about his family, respect for Tito, the state of the Serbian economy, and corruption in Serbia as compared to Romania. While discussing the latter, he also mentioned that when flying abroad for vacation he preferred to use Timisoara’s airport. I imagined what it must be like driving to another country for a flight. Border crossings tend to be slow and prone to unexpected delays. The way the man talked, this was not a problem for him and his wife. I assumed they had done it so many times that it was second nature. Familiarity can make a challenging situation easier to endure. That is especially when it comes to travel logistics.

Rolling stock – Train from Timisoara arriving at Jimbolia (Credit: Phil Richards)

Behind The Times – A Lack of Coordination
This was not the first time I had heard about travel between Belgrade and Timisoara. One of the first people I befriended while traveling in Bulgaria was an American who fell in love with the Balkans. He also happened to be a rail travel enthusiast. He looked for every opportunity to take trains. A year after we first met, he wrote to tell me about a recent journey back to the Balkans. After visiting Belgrade, his next destination was Timisoara. He wanted to see the city where the Romanian Revolution started in 1989. He assumed that it would be relatively easy to catch a train between the two cities since Belgrade is the Serbian capital and Timisoara a major transport hub only 150 kilometers to the northeast. It did not take him long to be disabused of that notion.

The fastest train between Timisoara and Belgrade takes four and a half hours. Delays at the border can make the journey even longer. Buses are not much faster. The Issue is exacerbated by Serbia not being in the European Union, while Romania is a member state. The possibility of smuggling prolongs wait times at the border. My friend decided to take a minibus that travels the route each day. I now wonder if the Serb I met in Belgrade does the same thing when he flies out of Timisoara. The minibus saves time and trouble.

The difficulty of traveling from Belgrade to Timisoara illustrates just how much borders delay travelers. They are a surmountable obstacle, but still a detriment to anyone unprepared for a prolonged journey. National borders make rail services less prolific because each country has their own national railways. Coordination is never easy. Some of the difficulties have been smoothed out since the Iron Curtain collapsed, but the issue is still there, and will be into the foreseeable future until Serbia becomes a member of the European Union. No one is holding their breath.

My friend’s trip from Belgrade to Timisoara comes to mind as I plan to travel in the opposite direction. My next port of call after Timisoara is the last lost city on my itinerary, Subotica, Serbia. My affinity for railway travel means I want to find a route that will get me there in a timely manner while enjoying a relaxing ride from the historical regions of the Banat and Vojvodina. I know from experience that this will not be easy. I had my own travel issues in Serbia four years ago when I wanted to make the journey from Belgrade to Novi Sad by train. Due to ongoing maintenance work on the line, I took a bus packed with university students. I would rather not repeat that experience because the only thing worse than a bus, is a crowded bus.

On the lighter side – Szeged Railway Station

Fringe Possibilities – On The Edge
Timisoara is on the western edge of Romania, Subotica is on the northern edge of Serbia. One similarity both cities share historically is that they were in the Hungarian administered half (Transleithania) of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the turn of the 20^th century traveling from Timisoara to Subotica would not have involved a journey to Belgrade. That was because the latter was part of the Kingdom of Serbia, the arch enemy of Austria-Hungary. Travelers from Timisoara would have made the journey to Subotica via Szeged. Now all three cities are in different countries rather than a single empire. Taking the same journey today requires two border crossings. The only thing more irritating than one border crossing is having to make two on the same day. Nevertheless, I decided to research a trip from Timisoara via Szeged to Subotica.  

The first leg of the trip takes a whopping six hours by train because there is no direct connection between Timisoara and Szeged. I would need to change trains in the small Hungarian city of Bekescsaba. Once in Szeged, the train to Subotica is direct and takes a much more merciful hour and a half. Another intriguing option is to take a three-hour bus journey between Timisoara and Szeged, then hop on another bus or switch to a train in Szeged. I did the bus journey between Subotica and Szeged four years ago in an hour. If all these logistical details seem confusing, welcome to the world that emerged from the collapse of Austria-Hungary. Efficient railway routes were one of the postwar World War I world’s greatest casualties in Eastern Europe.

Going back in time – Subotica’s Town Hall in 1912 (Credit: Fortepan)

Buried Treasures – Provincial Potential
I finally decided on a train from Timisoara to Subotica that does not go through Szeged. This requires a couple of transfers and hiring a taxi for the thirty-minute ride between Jimbolia and Kinkinda which are on opposite sides of the Romania-Serbia border. This will take me deep into the provincial heart of northern Serbia. As an added incentive, some believe the treasure of Attila the Hun is buried somewhere in this area. There are always new discoveries to be made off the beaten path. The best, and sometimes only way to make them, is by taking an inefficient route through backwaters in the northern Balkans.  

Click here for: Beyond Experience – Trianon’s Living Legacy (The Lost Cities #11)