This chapter outlines the two central missions of the Hungarian Geographical Society (HGS) between its founding in 1872 and the peace negotiations following World War I in 1919–1920: the building and defence of the Hungarian nation-state, and the enhancement of Hungarian influence in Southeastern Europe. A national identity was to be strengthened and international prestige to be acquired after Hungary had become semi-independent from Austria within the Habsburg Empire in 1867. At the turn of the century, the HGS turned to empire-building in the Balkans. Here, the HGS insisted that Hungarian interests should take precedence over Austrian and Austro-Hungarian ones, regarding the Balkans as Hungary’s “own Orient”. At the end of World War I, the borders of now independent but defeated Hungary were to be determined by the victorious allied Western powers in the Paris Peace Conference in 1919–1920. The HGS prepared geographical arguments for the Hungarian delegation to defend the integrity of Hungary’s territory, to no avail. The chapter also analyses the HGS in comparison with other geographical societies internationally. Statistics show that it was at most medium-sized in terms of membership, revenue, and state subsidies. On the one hand, this corresponded to Hungary’s semi-peripheral status, and the HGS sought prestige by appointing honorary members from the West. On the other, it was the leading geographical society in East Central Europe, although its membership remained heavily concentrated in the city of Budapest.