CENTRAL EUROPEAN PAPERS 2013 / I / 2 51 Hungarian Attempts at the Annexation of Slovakia in 1938 (Part II) István JANEK Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, Bölcsészettudományi Központ, Történettudományi Intézet Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Úri u. 53, 1014 Budapest, Hungary
[email protected] After the Munich pact The Munich conference took place with the participation of the representatives of England, France, Germany and Italy on 29–30 September 1938. The Hungarian diplomacy tried to make a last effort to have an influence on the Slovak leaders, and therefore Kánya sent the following message to them through the Hungarian consul in Bratislava on 29 September 1938: “They should not ask for autonomy any more but demand the realisation of self-de- termination with all their power, and we shall support them in it. If they do not take our advice, they could blame only themselves.”2 The confidence of the Hungarian leadership was shaken by the fact that the Slovaks showed more and more willingness to turn towards the Germans instead of the Hungarians. As a consequence of the Munich talks, the western powers approved the annexation of the Sudetenland by Germany. Czechoslovakia did not undertake the military defence of the country; without the help of the great powers, it could not seriously think of resisting the German army, and therefore they had to sign the agreement. Ceding the Sudetenland had a catastrophic effect in economic and strategic terms. The Munich Pact sealed the fate of Czechoslovakia. Also Slovakia lost a few settlements: Petržalka,3 a suburb of Bratislava, and Devín4 (an area of 43 square kilometres with a population of 15,566)5 were annexed by Germany.