To mark the 100th anniversary of the international recognition of the Great Union, Romfilatelia introduces into circulation on Thursday, June 4th, 2020, the postage stamps issue Centenary of the Treaty of Trianon, signed on June 4th, 1920, in the Grand Trianon Palace in Versailles.
The Treaty of Trianon was signed between the Allied Powers victorious in the World War I and Hungary, as the successor state of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a state declared defeated. The provisions of the Treaty aimed at establishing the borders of the new state of Hungary with its neighbours: Austria, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (the future state of Yugoslavia), Romania and Czechoslovakia.
The Treaty of Trianon is part of a series of treaties concluded at the end of the World War I, the others being the peace treaties signed by the powers of the Entente and Germany (Versailles, June 28th, 1919), Austria (Saint-Germain-en-Laye, September 10th, 1919), Bulgaria (Neuilly, November 27th, 1919) and Turkey (Sčvres, signed August 10th, 1920, replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne of July 24th, 1923).
The Treaty of Trianon was structured in 4 parts, the first part including the Covenant of the League of Nations (common content for all peace treaties concluded after the World War I). The second part defined Hungary’s borders with neighbouring states – in principle its current borders. Thus, there where approved the inclusion of the territory of Croatia-Slovenia (northern part of the Republic of Croatia) and Vojvodina (including the western third of Banat) in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the inclusion of Slovakia and Ruthenia (today in Ukraine) in Czechoslovakia, the inclusion of Transylvania and the eastern part of Banat within Romania and the inclusion of Burgenland within the Republic of Austria.
The third part, entitled “Political clauses for Europe”, regulated the bilateral framework of relations between Hungary and neighbouring states, the recognition of some provisions related to certain European states (Belgium, Luxembourg, etc.), provisions on citizenship, and protection of national minorities. The fourth part, entitled “Hungary’s interests outside Europe”, included provisions on Hungary’s waiver of the treaties concluded by the Double Monarchy with Morocco, Egypt, Siam (the current state of Thailand) and China.
An important role in drawing Romania’s borders at the Peace Conference was played by Emmanuel de Martonne, a French scientist from the Sorbonne University, who in his youth elaborated a doctoral thesis on the geographical distribution of the population of the Kingdom of Romania.
He succeeded in imposing, in the debates of the Conference, the principle of border viability. This principle recommended that the new borders took into account not only the ethnic configuration, but also the relief, as well as the territorial infrastructure. The validity of Emmanuel de Martonne’s work is proved by the fact that, a century after the Treaty of Trianon, the borders between Romania, Hungary and Serbia are preserved as he drew them.
The treaty was signed on June 4th, 1920, in the Grand Trianon Palace from Versailles. The representatives who signed this historic deed belonged to France, Great Britain, Italy, the United States, Japan, Romania, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Czechoslovakia and nine other states, on the one hand, and Hungary, on the other hand, represented by Ágost Benárd and Alfréd Drasche-Lázár. On behalf of Romania, the Treaty was signed by Dr. Ion Cantacuzino, Minister of State, and Nicolae Titulescu, Minister of Finance and First Delegate to the Peace Conference.
The treaty was ratified by Great Britain in May 1921 and by France in June 1921. During the debates on the ratification by France, Aristide Briand stated: “By no means, France will ever intervene with allied and friend governments to the detriment of the right of Romania to national sovereignty”.
In Romania, the Treaty was ratified on August 17th and 20th, 1920, respectively, by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, being sanctioned on August 30th, 1920 by King Ferdinand I.
On the stamp of the issue, with the face value of Lei 8.50, is illustrated Nicolae Titulescu, a brilliant politician and diplomat, First Delegate of Romania at the Paris Peace Conference, alongside with the Grand Trianon Palace.
The souvenir sheet of the issue is a composition dedicated to the Centenary of the Treaty of Trianon. On the stamp of the perforated souvenir sheet, with the face value of Lei 29, are illustrated King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie, both looking at the coat of arms of Greater Romania.
The series of personalities on the souvenir sheet is continued with Ion I.C. Bratianu, the leader of the Romanian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference, together with Dr. Ion Cantacuzino and Nicolae Titulescu, both signatories of the Treaty on behalf of Romania. The souvenir sheet also contains the reproduction of the first page
