Now you got me REALLY interested. Prónay's gonna be causing trouble in pre-Trianon lands I see.
Well I hope to keep things interesting and wonderfully enough post WW1 Hungary has some really great material to work with that's OTL.
Good show! Jolly good show! Anyway, is it possible that Hungary winds up on the Allies in this TL? Because if WWII happens, Hungary is screwed if they join Axis.
To be honest they were screwed either way, the way the Hungarian government saw it was if they didn't join up for Barbarossa then they could just as easily lose the lands they gained as fast as they had gained them. These land gains being under the Munich Agreement (1938), two Vienna Awards (1938 and 1940), and aggression against Yugoslavia (1941). Luckily for them they initially stayed neutral and the Soviets technically attacked them first by accidentally bombing them so it looked better on them post war.
Though yes Hungary will have to suck up to greater powers than themselves to achieve their desired borders, no I have no intentions on allowing the OTL version of the Axis posers to form up, soooo no worries
A Habsburg Hungary can never join a Nazi German-led Axis. Karl and, later, Otto are the biggest threat to the Anschluss. Hitler recognised that even iOTL where Otto was throne-less.
Exactly this
Woooo
General thoughts I think Hungary have to give German a official status in Burgenland to win the referendum there.
I was really waiting for someone to bring this up and actually I will admit to the serious and egregious sin of omission. Mostly because I couldn't get it to be worded right. So I'll flesh out what else happening ITTL by answering this part by being super long winded, responding to each of your paragraphs with my own
But that also have some benefits, if the Hungarians show they're willing to respect German minority rights and not push a campaign of Magyarsation they could also get the support of the German minority in areas like Backa, Banat and Transylvania. In Banat this would make Hungarians plus German a majority, and with the extra Hungarians in Transylvania, those two groups may also make a majority there. This would also remove some throuble if Hitler gain power, his dislike of the Habsburg make him hostile toward Hungary, but if the local Germans are happy with living in Hungary, there's a good chance he take a Switzerland attitude toward Hungary.
IOTL during the campaign leading up to the plebiscite the Hungarians did offer the German population of Burgenland/West Hungary something akin to a autonomous region where both languages and customs would be at least somewhat equal and protected. Kinda superfluous overall since the Hungarians had a law stashed away that technically provided protections for minorities. Here that protection has some serious teeth to it thanks to this plebiscite success and that the Habsburgs are damn sure going to make sure it's kept and firmly codified. And I had the same thoughts myself for the matter of German autonomy which was more or less the way things had been they were first allowed to settle in the Balkans centuries before.
In general I expect if Hungary want to be more than a "Balkan" Lilliputian state, they have to make the state multiethnic with different minorities part of the power structure and with widespread autonomy. Burgenland could serve as model for this, and from there they could give widespread autonomy to German municipalities and counties.
I totally agree, and even IOTL there were men like Döme Sztójay, a Serb, who proved that minorities still had a place within Hungary and its power structure provided they were loyal. This will of course make the Little Entente nervous which is of course purposely by design.
-------
Overall please keep questions, comments, and concerns coming famalam mostly because I never know if I've left something unanswered and I don't want to leave anyone confused by a post -.-