Between States: The Transylvanian Question and the European Idea during World War II

Stanford Studies on Central and Eastern Europe

by Holly Case

Winner of the 2010 George Louis Beer Prize of the American Historical Association. The struggle between Hungary and Romania for control of Transylvania seems at first sight a side-show in the story of the Nazi New Order and the Second World War. These allies of the Third Reich spent much of the war arguing bitterly over Transylvania's future, and Germany and Italy were drawn into their dispute to prevent it from spiraling into a regional war. But precisely as a result of this interaction, the story of the Transylvanian Question offers a new way into the history of how state leaders and national elites have interpreted what "Europe" means. Tucked into the folds of the Transylvanian Question's bizarre genealogy is a secret that no one ever tried to keep, but that has remained a secret small states matter. The perspective of small states puts the struggle for mastery among its Great Powers into a new perspective.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Romania, Hungary

376 pages, Hardcover

First published May 5, 2009

Reviews

[FellowBibliophile KvK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superbly endnoted profound examination of Hungary's and Romania's struggle against each other over Erdely/Ardeal/Siebenbürgen/Transylvania, focusing on the years 1940-1944, but including an examination from the 19th century to 1989!

Professor Case correctly points out that the disease of nationalism only came to Erdely/Ardeal/Siebenbürgen/Transylvania in the nineteenth century. The legendary Voivod of Wallachia, Vlad Bassarab III, never made an issue of conquering Erdely/Ardeal/Siebenbürgen/Transylvania per se. Unlike Antonescu and Horthy, he had other priorities.

As well, Professor Case is completely impartial and balanced. She points out how both the Hungarians and Romanians oppressed the minority Romanians and Hungarians in their respective parts of Erdely/Ardeal/Siebenbürgen/Transylvania in almost precisely the same manner that Bernard Drainville, Pauline Marois, Jean-Francois Lisee, Francois Legault and Simon Jolin-Barrette persecute English speakers in Quebec.

Professor Case's point about the centrality of contested regions to the external relations of countries holds true today nearly twenty years after this book was published. Today, Viktor Orban of Hungary and Robert Fico of Slovakia are both staunch allies of Putin. Hungary and Slovakia have territorial disputes with each other in that Slovakia was once part of Hungary and Orban now wants it back. Orban and Fico are both allied to Putin with the aim that Putin will be a lever additional to the EU in mediating their territorial dispute.

[Chris Wares · Rating 4 out of 5]

A denser, more scholarly, book than I usually read but an excellent examination of the subject and illuminated how the Transylvanian Question was played out in the interwar period and how the struggle between Hungary and Romania became part of the wider international conflicts.

The treaty of Trianon tore Hungary apart and handed Transylvania to Romania. The author doesn’t really state an opinion on whether this was fair or not and I am still not sure whether I think Transylvania should be part or Hungary or Romania. I guess the issue stems from the fact that nation states are made up constructs and fitting “ nations” nearly into these boxes was not always achievable.

From what I can make out Transylvania was a land that was closely split between Hungarians and Romanians with a healthy handful of Germans, Jews and others to blur things. The picture gets murkier and murkier with the movement of refugees, government manipulation of censuses and the propaganda offensive of both sides.

The situation after the Second Vienna Arbitration left Transylvania split between Romania and Hungary which left neither side satisfied. Both sides viewed their involvement in the Second World War through the prism of sovereignty over the whole of Transylvania and how they could “win the peace”.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book looks at the conflict between Romania and Hungary for control of Transylvania during World War II. It is very well-researched, and the author does a good job making her case that conflicts between small states were and are an important part of history and international relations. I think the book would have been improved if it had looked at a longer historical period, and maybe looked at the position of Transylvania in contemporary society. The author only makes a fleeting remark that Transylvania is no longer a live conflict, but I think it has been revived to some extent since she wrote the book by the Orban government in Hungary. The book is very detailed, but I think a longer historical sweep would have made it more accessible.

[David Levine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting study on a forgotten area of Europe