The state was a direct result of the disputes in Central Europe following the First World War on whether the future of Burgenland would be under Austrian or Hungarian control.

Both Austrians and Hungarians found themselves in new countries that sprung out of the demise of Austria-Hungary - importantly, the Germans of Western Hungary.

In November 1918, the Hungarian National Council set up branches in the region, but they quickly realized the problem that Burgenland was to become.

[5]: 17–20  Staatsrat member Raimund Neunteufel and the Verein zur Erhaltung des Deutschtums in Ungarn also played a role in the push for the annexation of the region by Austria.

[5]: 20–1 On December 5, 1918[7] (some sources claim the Republic was actually proclaimed on December 6),[8][5]: 21  two weeks after the Staatsrat demanded the self-determination of German-speaking settlements in Western Hungary, Social Democratic politician Hans Suchard, with the help of workers and local Social Democrats in Mattersburg, proclaimed the Republic of Heinzenland.

[9] However, one day later, an armored train and a machine gun squad sent by the Hungarian military, helped by vigilantes from Sopron, put an end to the Republic, quickly occupying its territory without bloodshed.