Republic of Prekmurje

Murska Republika
Republika Slovenska okroglina
Republika Prekmurje
Mura Köztársaság
Vendvidéki Köztársaság

Unrecognized state

←

1919

→

Capital

Government

President

Historical era

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.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Republic of Prekmurje.

Timeline of Yugoslav statehood
	Pre-1918	1918–1929	1929–1945	1941–1945	1945–1946	1946–1963	1963–1992	1991/1992–2003	2003–2006	2006–2008	2008–
Slovenia	Part of Austria-Hungary including the Bay of Kotor See also Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia 1868–1918 Kingdom of Dalmatia 1815–1918 Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1878–1918	Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918–1929) Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1929–1945) See also State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs 1918 Republic of Prekmurje 1919 Banat, Bačka and Baranja 1918–1919 Free State of Fiume 1920–1924 1924–1945 Italian province of Zadar 1920–1947		Annexed by^a Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany	Democratic Federal Yugoslavia 1945–1946 Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia 1946–1963 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1963–1992 Consisted of the Socialist Republics of Slovenia (1945–1991) Croatia (1945–1991) Bosnia and Herzegovina (1945–1992) Serbia (1945–1992) (included the autonomous provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo) Montenegro (1945–1992) Macedonia (1945–1991) See also Free Territory of Trieste (1947–1954) ^j			Republic of Slovenia Ten-Day War
Dalmatia				Independent State of Croatia 1941–1945 Puppet state of Nazi Germany. Parts annexed by Fascist Italy. Međimurje and Baranja annexed by Hungary.				Republic of Croatia^b Croatian War of Independence
Slavonia
Croatia
Bosnia								Bosnia and Herzegovina^c Bosnian War Consists of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1995–present), Republika Srpska (1995–present) and Brčko District (2000–present).
Herzegovina
Vojvodina	Part of the Délvidék region of Hungary			Autonomous Banat^d (part of the German Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia)				Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Consisted of the Republic of Serbia (1990–2006) and Republic of Montenegro (1992–2006)	State Union of Serbia and Montenegro	Republic of Serbia Included the autonomous provinces of Vojvodina and, under UN administration, Kosovo and Metohija	Republic of Serbia Includes the autonomous province of Vojvodina
Serbia	Kingdom of Serbia 1882–1918			Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia 1941–1944 ^e
Kosovo	Part of the Kingdom of Serbia 1912–1918			Mostly annexed by Albania 1941–1944 along with western Macedonia and south-eastern Montenegro							Republic of Kosovo^g
Metohija	Kingdom of Montenegro 1910–1918 Metohija controlled by Austria-Hungary 1915–1918										Republic of Kosovo^g
Montenegro				Protectorate of Montenegro^f 1941–1944						Montenegro
Macedonia	Part of the Kingdom of Serbia 1912–1918			Annexed by the Kingdom of Bulgaria 1941–1944				Republic of Macedonia^h
^a Prekmurje annexed by Hungary. ^b See also SAO Kninska Krajina (1990) → SAO Krajina (1990–1991); and SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (1990–1991), SAO Western Slavonia (1990–1991) and the Republic of Serbian Krajina (1990–1995), all replaced by the UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (1996–1998). ^c See also Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia; and the Serbian Autonomous Oblasts (SAOs) of Bosanska Krajina, North-Eastern Bosnia, Romanija and Herzegovina (1991–1992), which all combined to form the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992–1995). ^d Bačka was reannexed by Hungary (1941–1944), while Syrmia was annexed by the Independent State of Croatia (1941–1944). ^e See also Republic of Užice. ^f Annexed by Fascist Italy (1941–1943) and Nazi Germany (1943–1944). Smaller part annexed by the Independent State of Croatia (1941–1944).							^g Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the Brussels Agreement. Kosovo has been recognised as an independent state by 108 out of 193 United Nations member states. ^h Macedonia is known in the United Nations as The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia because of a naming dispute with Greece. ^j Free Territory was established in 1947. Its administration was divided into two areas (Zone A) and (Zone B). Free Territory was de facto taken over by Italy and SFRY in 1954.

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