Transylvania

   

For other uses, see Transylvania (disambiguation).

Transylvania (Transilvania or Ardeal in Romanian, Erdély in Hungarian, Siebenbürgen in German, Urdul in Turkish, Sedmohradsko in Slovak, Siedmiogród in Polish) is a historic region that forms the western and the central parts of Romania.

Geography

Map of Romania with Transylvania in yellow
Map of Romania with Transylvania in yellow

A high plateau, Transylvania is separated in the South from Walachia by the Transylvanian Alps and in the East from Moldavia and Bukovina by the Carpathian Mountains (of which the Transylvanian Alps are a continuation). The northern and the western regions of Transylvania (Crişana-Maramureş/Körösvidék-Máramaros/Kreischgebiet-Maramuresch) border Hungary and the southwestern region (Banat) borders Serbia.

The Transylvanian plateau, 1,000 to 1,600 feet (305-488 m) high, is drained by the Mureş River, the Someş River and other tributaries of the Danube. Cluj-Napoca is the chief city; other major urban centers are Timişoara, Braşov, Oradea, Sibiu and Târgu-Mureş.

Economy

Economically one of the most advanced regions of Romania, Transylvania is rich in mineral resources, notably lignite, iron, lead, manganese, gold, copper, natural gas, salt, and sulphur. There are large iron and steel, chemical, and textile industries. Stock raising, agriculture, wine production, and fruit growing are important occupations. Timber is another valuable resource.

Transylvania accounts for around 35% of Romania's GDP, and has a GDP per capita (PPP) of around $7,400, around 7% higher than the Romanian average.

Population

The province has a population of 7,300,000 persons, with a large Romanian majority. In addition, sizable Hungarian (1,437,000), Gypsy and German communities live in Transylvania.

Etymology

The first document in which the term "Ultra siluam" is used referring to the area dates from 1075, its meaning is "beyond the forest". The terms "Partes Transsylvanć" ("parts beyond the forest") dates from the same century (in Legenda Sancti Gerhardi) and after that becomes the term used in the Latin documents of the Hungarian Kingdom (as "Transsilvania"). Ultrasilvania, "the land beyond the forest", had the connotation of "not yet in the Hungarians' possession".

Later, instead of the Latin name, the Hungarian Erdőelve (area beyond the forest), which means the same as the Latin, was popularly used. (The Hungarian word "Erdő" on the other hand could have been borrowed from Indo-European languages, or originated from the Finno-Ugric word "Ered" which means to orginate or to grow.) We can first read this in the form "Erdeuelu" in the 12th century Chronicles of Anonymus (Gesta Hungarorum). This form changed to "Erdély" in the centuries.

"Ardeal", which is a common Romanian name, is first known to occur in a document dated 1432, as "Ardeliu". It has an Indo-European etymology, as "Arde" meant "forest" (akin to Forest of Arden, England and Belgian Ardennes Woods) + "deal" meaning "hill" (in Romanian).

Siebenbürgen, the German name for Transylvania, first appeared in a document dated 1296. Translated from German, Siebenbürgen means "seven cities" or "seven boroughs", after the seven German cities founded or settled by the German Saxons in Transylvania: Klausenburg (Cluj), Kronstadt (Braşov), Hermannstadt (Sibiu), Schässburg (Sighişoara), Mediasch (Mediaş), Mühlbach (Sebeş), and Bistritz (Bistriţa).

Other possible theories listed below, as science and history cannot provide "rock hard evidence" on etymologies.

Transylvania

From Transilvania, the Latin name meaning "beyond the forest" ("trans" = beyond and "silva" = forest).

Ardeal

There are several variants:

  • from the name of the Gepid king Ardarich
  • an Indo-European etymology, as "Arde" meant "forest" (akin to Forest of Arden, England and Belgian Ardennes Woods) + "deal" meaning "hill" (in Romanian).
  • from Hungarian "Erdély"

Erdély

From Hungarian "Erdő tul" ("beyond the forest"), from Hungarian "Erdő" ("forest"), which is from Finno-Ugric word "Ered" ("to originate", "to grow") or from other Indo-European sources (Celtic or Thracic).

Siebenbürgen

From German "seven cities", named after the seven German cities located in Transylvania.

History

Early History: From Dacia to the Great Migrations

The area now constituting Transylvania was the political center of the Dacian state. In the wars of 101-102 and 106-107 A.D. the Roman Emperor Trajan conquered Dacia. However, in 271, the Roman Emperor Aurelian evacuated the imperial administration, and the province was subsequently ruled by the Goths until they were in turn subdued by the European Huns in 376. The Huns, under the leadership of Attila, established a base in the Carpathian Basin which lasted through to Attila's death in 453.

The history of Transylvania during the early Middle Ages is difficult to ascertain due to the scarcity of reliable written or archeological evidence. Hence there are sometimes conflicting theories about this period.

After the disintegration of Attila's military conquests, Transylvania was ruled by the remnants of various confederates (Alans, Longobards, Rukhs-As) of Attila's huns, and the Gepids. No major power was able to exert control over the region for any great length of time, until the Avars, who came from Scythia, established their military leadership.

At the very end of the 9th Century seven Magyar (Hungarian) tribes, under the leadership of Árpád, are believed to have conquered the Carpathian Basin, including (by 934 A.D) Transylvania (although some recent research suggests that the Bulgars retained nominal control of parts of the Carpathian Basin until around 1000 A.D). In addition to the Magyars, the Szeklers (Székely in Hungarian) may have entered Transylvania during this period. An alternative theory is that they were later brought into the area to act as border guards. Certainly by the 12th Century, the valleys in the east and southeast of Transylvania had been settled by the Szeklers.

There are two different theories, concerning whether or not Vlachs (ethnic Romanians) were present in Transylvania at the time of the great migrations. For more about this debate, see: Origin of Romanians.

Late Medieval Era: Transylvania as part of the Kingdom of Hungary

Hungarian authority over Transylvania was consolidated in the 10th and 11th Centuries, at which time Christianity was adopted as official religion. In 953 the gyula (leader), whose name was probably Zsombor, was baptised in Constantinople and on his return he built the first church in the region. Christianity was further promoted in Transylvania following the baptisement of Vajk as King Stephen of Hungary. In 1003, Stephen defeated the gyula Koppany, his mother’s brother, who was opposed to centralisation and missionary work. This made possible the organisation of the Transylvanian episcopacy which was finished in 1009 when the bishop of Ostia as the legate of the Pope paid a visit to St. Stephen and they approved the division of the dioceses and their boundaries.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the areas in the south and northeast were settled by German colonists called (then and now) Saxons, with the purpose of securing the borders. Siebenbürgen, the German name for Transylvania, derives from the seven principal fortified towns founded there by the Saxons. The German influence became more marked when, early in the 13th century, King Andrew II of Hungary called on the Teutonic Knights to protect Transylvania from the Cumans, who were followed (1241) by the Mongol invaders.

The administration of Transylvania was in the hands of a royal governor (a voivod or fejedelem), who by the mid-13th century controlled the whole region. After the suppression (1437) of a peasant revolt (the "Bobâlna revolt"), the political system was based on Unio Trium Natiorum (The Unity of the Three Nations), in which the ethnic Romanians were implicitly excluded. Society was divided into three privileged nations, the Magyars, the Szeklers, and the Saxons. These nations, however, corresponded to social rather than strictly ethnic divisions. Although the nonprivileged class of serfs consisted mostly of Romanians, it also included people of Saxon, Szekler, and Magyar origin. On the other hand, a small number of ethnic Romanians, by converting to Catholicism, succeeded in entering the ranks of the nobility.

A key figure to emerge in Transylvania in the first half of the 15th Century was John Hunyadi. From humble origins, he was awarded numerous estates and a seat in the royal council for his services to King Sigismund. After supporting the candidature of Ladislaus III of Poland to the throne of Hungary, he was rewarded in 1440 with the captaincy of the fortress of Belgrade and the voivodship of Transylvania. His subsequent military exploits against the Ottomans brought him further status as governor of Hungary, from 1446, and papal recognition as Prince of Transylvania (1448).

Principate Transylvania

When the main Hungarian army and King Louis II Jagiello were slain by the Ottomans in the Battle of Mohács (1526), John Zapolya, governor of Transylvania, took advantage of his military strength and put himself at the head of the nationalist Hungarian party, which opposed the succession of Ferdinand of Austria (later Emperor Ferdinand I) to the Hungarian throne. As John I he was elected king of Hungary, while another party recognized Ferdinand. In the ensuing struggle Zapolya received the support of Sultan Sulayman I, who after Zapolya's death (1540) overran central Hungary on the pretext of protecting Zapolya's son, John II. Hungary was now divided into three sections: West Hungary, under Austrian rule; central Hungary, under Turkish rule; and semi-independent Transylvania, where Austrian and Turkish influences vied for supremacy for nearly two centuries.

The Báthory family, which came to power on the death (1571) of John II, ruled Transylvania as princes under the Turks, and briefly under Hapsburg suzerainty, until 1602. The latter period of their rule saw a four-sided conflict in Transylvania involving the Austrians, the Turks and Michael the Brave, Voivod of Wallachia. Michael gained control of Transylvania in 1599, after the battle of Selimbar in which he defeated Báthory's army. In May 1600 he gained control of Moldavia also, uniting for the first time the three principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania. However, Michael was assassinated on the orders of Habsburg General George Basta in August 1601. The latter finally subdued Transylvania in 1604, and initiated a reign of terror in which he was authorised to Germanize and Catholicize the principality and appropriate the land of noblemen.

Stephen Bocskay (right) and Gabriel Bethlen (left), Princes of Transylvania
Enlarge
Stephen Bocskay (right) and Gabriel Bethlen (left), Princes of Transylvania

In reaction to the depredations of Basta, Transylvanian nobleman Stephen Bocskay led a successful rebellion against Austrian rule. The two great achievements of his brief reign (he was elected prince of Transylvania on the 5th of April 1603, and died on the 29th of December 1606) were the peace of Vienna (June 23, 1606) and the truce of Zsitvatorok (November 1606). By the peace of Vienna, Bocskay obtained religious liberty and political autonomy, the restoration of all confiscated estates, the repeal of all unrighteous judgments and a complete retrospective amnesty for all the Hungarians in royal Hungary, besides his own recognition as independent sovereign prince of an enlarged Transylvania. Almost equally important was the twenty years truce of Zsitvatorok, negotiated by Bocskay between the emperor and the sultan.

Under Bocskay's successors - especially Gabriel Bethlen and George I Rákóczi - Transylvania had its golden age. Gabriel Bethlen, who reigned from 1613 to 1629, perpetually thwarted all the efforts of the emperor to oppress or circumvent his subjects, and won some reputation abroad by championing the Protestant cause. Three times he waged war on the emperor, twice he was proclaimed king of Hungary and by the peace of Nikolsburg (Dec. 31, 1621) he obtained for the Protestants a confirmation of the treaty of Vienna, and for himself seven additional counties in northern Hungary. Bethlen's successor, George I Rákóczi, was equally successful. His principal achievement was the peace of Linz (Sept. 16, 1645), the last political triumph of Hungarian Protestantism, in which the emperor was forced to confirm once more the articles of the peace of Vienna. Gabriel Bethlen and George I Rákóczi also did much for education and culture, and their era has justly been called the golden era of Transylvania. They lavished money on the embellishment of their capital, Alba Iulia (Gyulafehervár), which became the main bulwark of Protestantism in Eastern Europe. During their reign Transylvania was also one of the very few European countries where Roman Catholics, Calvinists, Lutherans, and Unitarians lived in mutual tolerance. Orthodox Romanians, however, were denied equal rights. Despite the efforts of Inochentie Micu-Klein, a Romanian Greek Catholic bishop, the nation status promised to those Romanians who converted to Catholicism was also not granted.

Austrian Rule and the Austro-Hungarian Empire

After the defeat of the Ottomans by the Austrians at Vienna in 1683, the Habsburgs gradually began to impose their rule on the formerly autonomous Transylvania. Apart from strengthening the central government and administration, the Habsburgs also promoted the Roman Catholic Church, both as a uniting force and also as an instrument to reduce the influence of the protestant nobility and weaken the estates by creating a conflict between protestant and catholic elements. In addition, they tried to persuade Orthodox clergymen to join the Uniate (Greek Catholic) Church, which retained Orthodox rituals and customs but accepted four key points of Catholic doctrine and acknowledged papal authority. In 1699 and 1701, Emperor Leopold I decreed Transylvania's Orthodox Church to be one with the Roman Catholic Church. Many, but not all, priests converted although it was not clear to them what was the difference between the two denominations.

From 1711, Austrian control over Transylvania was consolidated, and the princes of Transylvania were replaced by Austrian governors. The proclamation (1765) of Transylvania as a grand principality was a mere formality. The pressure of Austrian bureaucratic rule gradually eroded the traditional independence of Transylvania. In 1791 the Romanians petitioned Emperor Leopold II for recognition as the fourth "nation" of Transylvania and for religious equality, but the Transylvanian Diet rejected their demands, restoring the Romanians to their old status.

In early 1848, the Hungarian Diet seized the opportunity presented by the revolution to enact a comprehensive legislative program of reforms, referred to as the April Laws, which also included provision for the union of Transylvania and Hungary. The Romanians of Transylvania initially welcomed the revolution believing that they would benefit from the liberal reforms. However, their position changed due to the opposition of Transylvanian nobles to reforms such as emancipation of the serfs, and the failure of the Hungarian revolutionary leaders to recognise Romanian national interests. A Romanian national assembly at Blaj in the middle of May, produced its own revolutionary program calling for proportionate representation of Romanians in the Transylvanian Diet and an end to ethnic oppression. The Saxons were worried from the start about the idea of union with Hungary, fearing the loss of their traditional privileges. When the Transylvanian Diet met on 29th May the vote for union was pushed through despite the objection of many Saxon deputies. On June 10, the Emperor sanctioned the union vote of the Diet. Military executions, the arrest of revolutionary leaders and other activities which followed the union, hardened the position of the Saxons. In September 1848, another Romanian assembly in Blaj denounced union with Hungary and called for an armed rising in Transylvania. Warfare erupted in November with both Romanian and Saxon troops, under Austrian command, battling the Hungarians led by Polish General Józef Zachariasz Bem. Within four months, Bem had ousted the Austrians from Transylvania. However, in June 1849, tsar Nicholas I of Russia responded to an appeal from Emperor Franz Joseph and sent Russian troops into Transylvania. After initial successes against the Russians, Bem's army was defeated decisively at the Battles of Timisoara on 9th August. The surrender of the Hungarians followed.

After quashing the revolution, Austria imposed a repressive regime on Hungary and ruled Transylvania directly through a military governor. German again became the official language. Austria abolished the Union of Three Nations and granted citizenship to the Romanians. Although the former serfs were given land by the Austrian authorities, it was often barely sufficient for subsistence living. Their poor conditions obliged many Romanian families to cross into Wallachia and Moldavia searching for better lives.

However, in the compromise (Ausgleich) of 1867, which established the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the special status of Transylvania ended and it became a province under Hungarian control.

Transylvania During and After the World Wars: 1916-1947

Although Romania was ruled by a German king, it refused to join the Central Powers and stayed neutral when the First World War began. However Russian successes in 1916, Allied promises of territory (including Transylvania), and fear of Germany convinced Romania to join the Allied Powers. Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary on the 27th August 1916. Confident of victory, Romanian troops crossed into Transylvania. An Austro-German counter offensive began the following month, driving the Romanian army back into Romania by mid-October and eventually leading to the capture of Bucharest. Following the Russian-German Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, Romania surrendered to the Central Powers in May 1918. However, the resulting Treaty of Bucharest never completed ratification in Romania and was denounced in October 1918 by the Romanian government, which then re-entered the war on the Allied side.

By mid-1918 the tide of the war had turned against the Central Powers and Austria-Hungary began to disintegrate. Many of the various ethnic groups living inside Austria-Hungary proclaimed their independence during September and October 1918, and it became politically expedient for the allied victors to break up the empire into various national components in accordance with Woodrow Wilson's 14 points. The leaders of Transylvania's National Party met and drafted a resolution invoking the right of self-determination, and proclaimed the unification of Transylvania with Romania. In November, the Romanian National Central Council, which represented all the Romanians of Transylvania, notified the Budapest government that it had assumed control of twenty-three Transylvanian counties and parts of three others. A mass assembly on 1st of December 1918 in Alba Iulia passed a resolution calling for unification of all Romanians in a single state. When the Communist Party of Hungary, led by Béla Kun, came to power in March 1919 it proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic and promised that Hungary would regain the lands it had lost. During the war between Romania and the Soviet Republic of Hungary, the latter initially halted the Romanian advance in the East, but in July the Romanian army broke through Hungarian lines and marched into Budapest.

The Treaty of Versailles, formally signed on June 1919, recognised Transylvania as belonging to Romania. The Treaties of St. Germain (1919) and Trianon (signed on June 1920) further elaborated the status of Transylvania and defined the new border between the states of Hungary and Romania.

In August 1940, during the Second World War, Hitler awarded the northern part of Transylvania to Hungary by the second Vienna Award (Vienna Arbitration Award or Vienna Diktat). After the Second World War the teritory of northern Transylvania returned to Romania. The post-WWII borders with Hungary, agreed on at the Treaty of Paris in 1947, were identical with those set out in the 1920 Treaty of Trianon.


See also:

References for History of Transylvania:

  • Romania (http://countrystudies.us/romania/), Country Studies/Area Handbook Series (1986-1998). Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopćdia Britannica.

Tourist attractions

Culture

External links


Romanian historical regions:
Dobrogea : Cadrilater

Moldavia : Bessarabia | Bugeac | Bukovina

Transylvania : Banat | Crişana | Maramureş

Wallachia : Muntenia | Oltenia




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