CHSP HUNGARIAN STUDIES SERIES NO. 22 EDITORS Peter Pastor Ivan Sanders
THE UNFINISHED PEACE THE COUNCIL OF FOREIGN MINISTERS AND THE HUNGARIAN PEACE TREATY OF 1947 Mihály Fülöp Translated from the Hungarian by THOMAS J. AND HELEN D. DEKORNFELD Social Science Monographs, Boulder, Colorado Center for Hungarian Studies and Publications, Inc. Wayne, New Jersey Distributed by Columbia University Press, New York 2011
EAST EUROPEAN MONOGRAPHS NO. DCCLII Originally published as A befejezetlen béke. A Külügyminiszterek Tanácsa és a magyar békeszerződés (1947) 2008 Fülöp Mihály 2011 Mihály Fülöp 2011 by the Center for Hungarian Studies and Publications, Inc. 47 Cecilia Drive, Wayne, New Jersey 07470 4649 E-mail: pastorp@mail.montclair.edu Library of Congress Control Number 2009939025 ISBN 978 0 88033 649 9 Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS Introduction 1 I. Genesis of the Council of Foreign Ministers and the Potsdam Conference. Start of the Hungarian Preparations for the Peace 7 Genesis of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) 9 British, American, and Soviet Debates about the Preparation of the Peace Treaties with the Former Enemy Countries 15 The Potsdam Conference and the Establishment of the CFM 22 The Potsdam Conference and the Debate about the Beginning of the Peace Negotiations 25 Beginnings of the Hungarian Preparations for Peace, Summer 1945 32 The Great Powers and the Hungarian-Romanian Border Dispute 38 The Issue of the Expulsion of Hungarians from Czechoslovakia and of Germans from Hungary. Cession of Subcarpathia 49 II. First Sessions of the Council of Foreign Ministers in London and the Peace Treaty Plans of the Great Powers with Hungary 61 Hungarian Peace Treaty Projects of the Great Powers 68 The Transylvania Debate at the at the London Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers 79 The Diplomatic Recognition of Romania and Bulgaria. Failure of the London Conference 85
vi CONTENTS Impact of the London Conference on Romania and Hungary 91 III. The Moscow Conference of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Hungarian-Czechoslovak Negotiations in Prague 97 Reevaluation of the American Central and South- East European Policies 99 The Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers 102 The First Prague Negotiations and the Resettlement of the Ethnic Germans from Hungary 105 The Second Prague Negotiations and the So-Called Population Exchange Agreement 113 IV. The London Conference of the Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Transylvania Question 129 The Moscow Visit of the Hungarian Government Government Delegation 129 The Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs Conference in London, January 18 April 20, 1946, and the First Joint Peace Treaty Drafts of the Great Powers 130 The Czechoslovak Memorandum of April 10, 1946, and the Foreign Office 140 Preparation of the Romanian Peace Treaty and the Memorandum of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Territorial Questions 151 Change in the Position of the Great Powers on the Question of Transylvania s Border 158 The Moscow Visit of the Hungarian Government Delegation and the Sebestyén Mission 167 V. The First Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Paris. The Washington, London, and Paris Visit of the Hungarian Government Delegation 179 The First Sessions of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Paris, April 25 May 16, 1946, and the Debate on the Hungarian Peace Treaty 180
CONTENTS vii British-American Policy and Hungarian Peace Aims. Negotiations of Prime Minister Ferenc Nagy in Washington, London, and Paris 187 Second Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Paris, June 15 July 12, 1946, and the Peace Plans of the Great Powers for Hungary 207 VI. The Paris Conference and the Hungarian Peace Delegation 221 Procedural Debates at the Paris Conference and the Audience of the Representatives of the Former Enemy Countries 225 Audience of the Hungarian Peace Delegation and Its Statements about the Draft of the Hungarian Peace Treaty. Amendments Recommended by the Neighboring Countries 233 Conclusion of the Hungarian-Romanian Border Dispute and the Minority Codex 251 The Great Powers and the Hungarian- Czechoslovak Dispute 261 Debate on Economic and Military Regulations. Recommendations of the Paris Conference 293 VII. The New York Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers and the Hungarian Peace Treaty 307 Closing the Debate on the Hungarian Peace Treaty. Reparations and Withdrawal of the Soviet Troops 311 Postscript: The CFM and the Illusions of the Hungarian Preparations for Peace 324 Notes 335 Bibliographic Essay 387 Maps 407 Name Index 413 About the Author 421 Book Published by CHSP 422