TheTreaty of Szatmár (or thePeace of Szatmár) was apeace treaty concluded atSzatmár (present-day Satu Mare,Romania) on 29 April 1711 between theHouse of Habsburg emperorCharles VI, theHungarian estates and theKuruc rebels. It formally endedRákóczi's War of Independence, which had endured since 1703.
In theGreat Turkish War, the forces of theHabsburg monarchy conquered large parts ofOttoman Hungary. However, the new rulers soon met with resistance by the Hungarianmagnates led byFrancis II Rákóczi, culminating in the rebellion led by Rákóczi, which from 1703 onwards spread throughoutUpper Hungary (today mostlySlovakia),Transylvania andCarpathian Ruthenia. The rebels were decisively defeated by a Habsburg army under Field marshalSigbert Heister, backed byRascian forces, in the 1708Battle of Trencsén. As the conflict rumbled on, theHofkriegsrat presidentPrince Eugene of Savoy appointed the loyal Hungarian Field MarshalJános Pálffy chief negotiator. In November 1710, Pálffy contacted the Kuruc commanderSándor Károlyi and achieved a truce on 13 January 1711.
Pálffy and Rákóczi met inVaja on 31 January; however, Rákóczi rejected the provided peace conditions. On 21 February, he left forPoland to seek support from the envoys of TsarPeter the Great, who nevertheless was involved in theGreat Northern War. He appointed Sándor Károlyi commander-in-chief of the remaining Kuruc strongholds and explicitly forbade any further peace negotiations. Károlyi ignored the order and convoked an insurgents' assembly at Szatmár, which on 4 April resolved upon preliminary peace conditions and ordered a ceasefire.
On 17 April, the Habsburg EmperorJoseph I died and was succeeded by his brother Charles VI, who had a vital interest in the cessation of military action in order to obtain the Hungarian crown. His envoys arrived in Szatmár, where Field Marshal János Pálffy and Sándor Károlyi soon reached an agreement. The furious rebel leader Rákóczi himself turned up and refused any concessions; however, he could no longer prevail and returned to Poland.The signing ceremony was held on 1 May 1711 by Pálffy, Károlyi together with numerous Imperial, Hungarian, Kuruc and Transylvanian envoys. They had left Szatmár forPoland. Based on the terms of the accord, Emperor Charles promised to maintain the integrity of bothTransylvanian and Hungarian estates. Moreover, the accord granted the Kuruc insurgents general amnesty. The impact of the treaty was evident on 1 May 1711, when 12,000 former advocates of Rákóczi swore allegiance to the House of Habsburg in the fields outside of Majtény in Szatmár.