Lajtabánság

Banate of Leitha
Lajtabánság
October 4 – November 10, 1921
Flag
Coat of arms
Austrian territorial claims in West-Hungary,
the region where the short-lived Hungarian occupied and governed Lajtabánság existed.
StatusUnrecognized state
CapitalOberwart
GovernmentProvisional government
Leaders 
Historical eraInterwar period
 Established
4 October 1921
 Disestablished
10 November 1921
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)
First Austrian Republic
Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)

Lajtabánság (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈlaɪtɒbaːnʃaːɡ]; German: Leitha-Banschaft), or the Banate of Leitha, was a short-lived western Hungarian state in the region where the Austrian federal state of Burgenland now exists. It existed between 4 October and 10 November 1921, following the Treaty of Trianon and the departure of the rump Kingdom of Hungary's army and after the Sopron plebiscite was held in the area according to the Venice protocol.

The principal leaders of the state were Pál Prónay, Count Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek and former Hungarian prime minister István Friedrich. Its military was the Rongyos Gárda ("Ragged Guards" or "Scrubby Guards"), recruited from former army soldiers, peasants and students devoted to retaining the region rather than surrender it to Austria.