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A visszatért Erdély, 1940-1944
Ablonczy Balázs, a nagysikerű Trianon-legendák szerzőjének legújabb könyve, a magyar történelem egy hihetetlenül izgalmas újabb fejezetéről!"
A magyar történettudomány egészen a legutóbbi időkig feltűnően szemérmes volt a terület visszacsatolások időszakának bemutatásában. A román történetírást eközben folyamatosan foglalkoztatta az észak-erdélyi magyar fennhatóság kérdése. A román historiográfiában ugyanakkor kevés figyelmet kaptak a korszak társadalmi mozgásai, a menekültkérdés, a csaknem egymillió erdélyi román életkörülményei, a propaganda kérdései, a nagyhatalmak szándékai vagy a magyar-román viszony valós természete.
A magyar történetírásban az elmúlt tíz évben indultak el olyan kutatások, amelyek ennek a négy évnek a történetét igyekeznek feltárni, új megközelítéseket alkalmazva, feldolgozva romániai és magyar levéltárak dokumentumait és más forrásait. Ez a könyv az első kísérlet arra, hogy a korábbi rögzültségektől mentesen, az eddig publikált és nem publikált kutatásokra, valamint a magyar levéltárakban fellelhető szép számú dokumentumra támaszkodva magyarázatot leljünk arra: miképpen lett újra magyar Észak-Erdély, hogyan próbálta a magyar kormányzat átformálni magyar nemzeti térré, megtartani, és végül hogyan veszett el újra.
A magyar történettudomány egészen a legutóbbi időkig feltűnően szemérmes volt a terület visszacsatolások időszakának bemutatásában. A román történetírást eközben folyamatosan foglalkoztatta az észak-erdélyi magyar fennhatóság kérdése. A román historiográfiában ugyanakkor kevés figyelmet kaptak a korszak társadalmi mozgásai, a menekültkérdés, a csaknem egymillió erdélyi román életkörülményei, a propaganda kérdései, a nagyhatalmak szándékai vagy a magyar-román viszony valós természete.
A magyar történetírásban az elmúlt tíz évben indultak el olyan kutatások, amelyek ennek a négy évnek a történetét igyekeznek feltárni, új megközelítéseket alkalmazva, feldolgozva romániai és magyar levéltárak dokumentumait és más forrásait. Ez a könyv az első kísérlet arra, hogy a korábbi rögzültségektől mentesen, az eddig publikált és nem publikált kutatásokra, valamint a magyar levéltárakban fellelhető szép számú dokumentumra támaszkodva magyarázatot leljünk arra: miképpen lett újra magyar Észak-Erdély, hogyan próbálta a magyar kormányzat átformálni magyar nemzeti térré, megtartani, és végül hogyan veszett el újra.
- GenresHistory
286 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
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February 27, 2018
This book is an objective, well-researched and fairly detailed summary of the 50-month period in 1940-1944 during which Northern Transylvania was once again part of Hungary.
August 1940 found the Hungarian and Romanian Armies eyeing each other across the Hungarian-Romanian border. The Hungarian Army took up positions, ready to launch attack and re-conquer Transylvania. The Romanian Army dug in behind fortified lines, prepared to stop and push back the attacking Hungarian forces. WW2 was already progressing at full throttle that time and Germany could not risk the outbreak of a Hungarian-Romanian conflict over Transylvania which could have created an excuse for Russian intervention. By the Second Vienna Award of August 30, 1940, a German-Italian court of arbitration decided to reassign Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary. That was a huge but partial success for post-WW1 Hungarian diplomacy whose primary objective was to achieve territorial revisions. The Romanian delegation's disappointment and shock can best be described through the case of Manoilescu, the Romanian foreign minister, who fainted and collapsed upon hearing the court's decision.
Transylvania used to be and still it is a neurological pain-point in the Hungarian-Romanian relations. Its mixed Hungarian-Jewish-Romanian-Saxon ethnicity, with differing cultural influences and political orientations, had made it a complicated region. The lack of a Hungarian-speaking corridor between the Szekler counties of Eastern Transylvania, and the Hungarian mainland in the west, had made the region less balanced geopolitically. When Hungarian troops marched into Northern Transylvania in September 1940, the Hungarian population were jubilant, while much of the Romanian elite decided to flee into Southern Transylvania. In the same manner, lots of Hungarians who lived in Southern Transylvania and who were utterly disappointed that Southern Transylvania had remained part of Romania, fled into Northern Transylvania.
Following the relatively quick establishment of civil governance in Northern Transylvania, the Hungarian government launched a series of development programs. They spent a sizeable part of the country's budget on developing Northern Transylvania which was, compared with the Hungarian average, underdeveloped in many areas such as train network, industries, electricity grid, school system, healthcare. The funds allocated to Northern Transylvania were clearly disproportionate with the size of the region and reflected the Hungarian government’s goal to expedite Northern Transylvania’s integration. Although there were some surprisingly progressive and democratic inventions by the Hungarian governance (such as the mandatory education of Romanian as a foreign language in every school, including those visited by Hungarians only), it was very evident that the Hungarian government’s top priority had been to quicken the Romanians' assimilation. A series of discriminatory instructions were introduced to weaken and impede the economic influence of Romanians, and to quicken their often reluctant cultural, linguistic and religious integration into the Hungarian state.
WW2 has lots of shameful stories and the events across Transylvania did not make an exception. The Transylvanian chronicles of 1940-1944 showcased plenty of disgraceful acts on both sides: Romanians killed Hungarians upon withdrawing from Northern Transylvania, the arriving Hungarian Army killed Romanians, the Romanian paramilitary units following the invading Soviet Army killed Hungarians in 1944. There were abundant discrimination against Romanians in Northern Transylvania (and the same or even worse discrimination against Hungarians in the Southern Transylvania), pressurized and enforced cultural, linguistic, religious assimilation. In parallel, the continuously increasing discrimination of Jews, culminating in their final deportation in 1944 - the Hungarian authorities were rather effective in deporting Jews in Northern Transylvania, they were worse than, for instance, their Romanian counterparts in Southern Transylvania.
Having read about all these atrocities and conflicts only reinforced me in my belief that the best thing that could have happened to these two countries, and to the rest of European states frequently being at war against each other over centuries, was their entering the European Union. While that does not fully settle the question of Hungarian minority rights within Romania, it at least constitutes good basis for a cooperative dialogue between the two countries.
August 1940 found the Hungarian and Romanian Armies eyeing each other across the Hungarian-Romanian border. The Hungarian Army took up positions, ready to launch attack and re-conquer Transylvania. The Romanian Army dug in behind fortified lines, prepared to stop and push back the attacking Hungarian forces. WW2 was already progressing at full throttle that time and Germany could not risk the outbreak of a Hungarian-Romanian conflict over Transylvania which could have created an excuse for Russian intervention. By the Second Vienna Award of August 30, 1940, a German-Italian court of arbitration decided to reassign Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary. That was a huge but partial success for post-WW1 Hungarian diplomacy whose primary objective was to achieve territorial revisions. The Romanian delegation's disappointment and shock can best be described through the case of Manoilescu, the Romanian foreign minister, who fainted and collapsed upon hearing the court's decision.
Transylvania used to be and still it is a neurological pain-point in the Hungarian-Romanian relations. Its mixed Hungarian-Jewish-Romanian-Saxon ethnicity, with differing cultural influences and political orientations, had made it a complicated region. The lack of a Hungarian-speaking corridor between the Szekler counties of Eastern Transylvania, and the Hungarian mainland in the west, had made the region less balanced geopolitically. When Hungarian troops marched into Northern Transylvania in September 1940, the Hungarian population were jubilant, while much of the Romanian elite decided to flee into Southern Transylvania. In the same manner, lots of Hungarians who lived in Southern Transylvania and who were utterly disappointed that Southern Transylvania had remained part of Romania, fled into Northern Transylvania.
Following the relatively quick establishment of civil governance in Northern Transylvania, the Hungarian government launched a series of development programs. They spent a sizeable part of the country's budget on developing Northern Transylvania which was, compared with the Hungarian average, underdeveloped in many areas such as train network, industries, electricity grid, school system, healthcare. The funds allocated to Northern Transylvania were clearly disproportionate with the size of the region and reflected the Hungarian government’s goal to expedite Northern Transylvania’s integration. Although there were some surprisingly progressive and democratic inventions by the Hungarian governance (such as the mandatory education of Romanian as a foreign language in every school, including those visited by Hungarians only), it was very evident that the Hungarian government’s top priority had been to quicken the Romanians' assimilation. A series of discriminatory instructions were introduced to weaken and impede the economic influence of Romanians, and to quicken their often reluctant cultural, linguistic and religious integration into the Hungarian state.
WW2 has lots of shameful stories and the events across Transylvania did not make an exception. The Transylvanian chronicles of 1940-1944 showcased plenty of disgraceful acts on both sides: Romanians killed Hungarians upon withdrawing from Northern Transylvania, the arriving Hungarian Army killed Romanians, the Romanian paramilitary units following the invading Soviet Army killed Hungarians in 1944. There were abundant discrimination against Romanians in Northern Transylvania (and the same or even worse discrimination against Hungarians in the Southern Transylvania), pressurized and enforced cultural, linguistic, religious assimilation. In parallel, the continuously increasing discrimination of Jews, culminating in their final deportation in 1944 - the Hungarian authorities were rather effective in deporting Jews in Northern Transylvania, they were worse than, for instance, their Romanian counterparts in Southern Transylvania.
Having read about all these atrocities and conflicts only reinforced me in my belief that the best thing that could have happened to these two countries, and to the rest of European states frequently being at war against each other over centuries, was their entering the European Union. While that does not fully settle the question of Hungarian minority rights within Romania, it at least constitutes good basis for a cooperative dialogue between the two countries.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review