1790-1867 1918-1940






Transylvania part of the Kingdom of Hungary, 1867-1920



The incorporation of Transylvania into the Hungarian Kingdom in 1867 significantly altered the ethnic balance. The Rumanian (Vlach) ethny, hitherto the majority within Transylvania, suddenly found itself a marginalized minority within the greater Hungarian Kingdom. The Lutheran Saxons, accustomed to being a minority, now found themselves a much smaller minority in relation to the total population.
Both Transylvania's Romanian and German (Saxon) ethnies resented the policy of Magyarization : Hungarian language was to be used exclusively in administration, jurisdiction and secondary education. This policy aimed at the assimilation of the ethnic minorities. The SiebenbÜrgener LandesuniversitÄt (political organization of the German community in Transylvania) was dissolved in 1876.
The Romanian minority looked across the border to Romania, a state created in 1859/1861 by the merger of Wallachia and Moldavia, and an independent kingdom since 1881; the hopes of the Transylvania Saxons were directed toward Bismarck's German Empire founded in 1871.
In 1868, the Transylvanian Romanians opted for a policy of passivism and abstentionism, maintained until 1905. In 1881 the Romanian National Party in Transylvania first made independence their demand. In 1906, Transylvanian Romanian Aurel Popovici (he had been sentenced to 4 years in prison in 1893 in a politically motivated trial), in his book Die Vereinigten Staaten von Grossösterreich (The United States of Great Austria) suggested the transformation of the Dual Monarchy in a federation consisting of 15 states, in which German should be the official language. Hungary's parliament resented the concept; the book was banned in Hungary. In 1907, the Apponyi law made Hungarian the language of education in all elementary schools.
When World War I broke out in 1914, Hungary's Prime Minister Tisza, well aware of the sentiment in Transylvania, feared that the province might fall to Rumanian troops in case they invaded, as a large part of the population sympathized with Romania. When Romania did declare war in July 1916, his worries became fact, as much of Transylvania was occupied by Romanian forces in August. However, a Central Powers offensive beginning in September resulted in the liberation of Transylvania and the occupation of most of Romania.

On November 11th 1918, Emperor Karl I. abdicated. The Empire disintegrated, as did the ingdom of Hungary; the ethnic minorities refused to negotiate with core-Hungary's prime minister Karolyi. A meeting of Transylvanian Romanians held at Alba Julia on ec. 1st 1918 proclaimed the union of Transylvania with Romania. The Peace of Trianon 1920 awarded Transylvania to Romania; the Romanian and German community of Transylvania, the latter in the Declaration of Mediasch on January 8th 1919, had opted for annexion to Romania, expecting political autonomous status of Transylvania within the Kingdom of Romania.


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EXTERNAL
LINKS 		History of Cluj (Kolozsvar/Klausenburg), from webcluj
The Hungarians of Transylvania, from Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania, timeline
Transylvania, from Catholic Encyclopedia
The Transylvania Saxons, from genealogy.net
The History of Transylvania and the Transylvanian Saxons, by Konrad Gündisch, 114 K (focusses much on the settlement history; ch. 5 : Province of the Habsburg Empire
DOCUMENTS Siebenbürgen (Transylvania), P.1, P.2, P.3, from Meyers Konversationslexikon 1888-1890 edition, in German
Transylvania's Situation in 1918 in Documents, from The Great Union of the Romanians, 1st December 1918, posted by CIMEC
Law regarding the Union of Transilvania, the Banat, Crisana, The atmar and Maramures with the old Kingdom of Romania, 1918, from The Great Union of the Romanians, 1st December 1918, posted by CIMEC
Resolution of the National Assembly in Alba Iulia Dec. 1st 1918, from The Great Union of the Romanians, 1st December 1918, posted by CIMEC
REFERENCE Peter F. Sugar (ed.), A History of Hungary, Indiana Univ. Press 1990, 432 pp.
Isrvan Lazar, Transylvania - a Short History, Safety Harbor : Ingram 1997, 274 pp.
Milton G. Lehrer, Transylvania. History and Reality, Bartleby Press 1986 [G]
Harry Hill Bandholtz, An Undiplomatic Diary, by the American Member of the Inter-Allied Military Mission to Hungary 1919-1920 (2000) posted by Hungarian History, online book
Sandor Biro, The Nationlities Problem in Transylvania, 1867-1940, (1992) posted by Hungarian History, online book
Article : Austria-Hungary - Roumanian Separatists, in : Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events 1894 p.69 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on September 6th 2007

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