Railway Changes and Its Effects along the Austrian–Hungarian Border after the First World War

After the First World War, Hungary was on the losing side. As a result of the crisis caused by the war, several political changes took place: the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the revolution, the proclamation of the Republic, the left-wing political turn, the dictatorship of the proletariat, then the right-wing political turn, the kingless kingdom, while defending the country against the invading Czech, Romanian and Serbian armies. As a result of the peace treaties after the First World War, Hungary lost its western borderlands. The Austrian province of Burgenland was created on 1 January 1922. In protest against the Austrian annexation, the western Hungarian Uprising broke out between 28 August and 13 October 1921. The publication shows how these political changes affected the Austro-Hungarian border region, its railway system and especially the most important railway centre region, Szombathely, as well as the life of the local people. This study is original in the sense that the known literature on the subject focuses mainly on the history of construction and rarely mentions the period and aspects studied. The international car number plates used today help to identify the countries in which the villages mentioned can be found today.