Frenemies on the Border: Hungary and Romania in a Long 20 th Century
Jeffrey Pennington Executive Director Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies University of California, Berkeley Europe in 2015 Europe in 2015 Europe in 2015 Situation in 1914
– Hungary as part of Austria-Hungary • Magyars (ethnic Hungarians) arrived in the Carpathian Basin in 896 • Kingdom of Hungary had been an independent kingdom from 1000 to 1526 • Hungarian kingdom became a Habsburg crown land in 1526 • Compromise of 1867, which created Austria-Hungary • Minorities situation within Hungary Austria-Hungary in 1914 Situation in 1914 – Romania • Dacia and the Romans – Under Emperor Trajan, Romans conquer Dacia in 106 AD – Under Emperor Aurelius, Romans abandon Dacia in 275 AD • Daco-Roman continuity? • Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia – Wallachia (1330 – (1859) – 1866) – Moldavia (1359 – (1859) – 1866) • United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia 1859 – 1866 • Principality of Romania 1866 – (1878) – 1881 • Kingdom of Romania 1881 – 1947 Ethnic map of Austria-Hungary and Romania in 1892 Ethnographic Map of Austria-Hungary in 1910 Ethnographic Map of Austria-Hungary in 1914 Ethnographic map of Kingdom of Hungary according to 1910 census Romania in spring 1918 World War I and its aftermath
– 1914: Austria-Hungary enter the war on the side of the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary, Germany, Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria) – 1916: Romania enters the war on the side of the Entente Powers (France, England, Russia, and Italy) – Defeat of Austria-Hungary, dissolution of Habsburg Empire, dethronement of Habsburgs, dismemberment of Austria-Hungary Dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918 and Successor States Austria-Hungary and Successor States before and after World War I Territorial changes in Romania and Hungary: 1913 – 1920 • Romanian gains – Southern Dobrogea (from Bulgaria in the 1913 Second Balkan War) – Bessarabia (which breaks away from Russia and votes to unite with Romania in spring 1918) – Bukovina (from Austria in the 1919 Treaty of Saint Germain- en-Laye) – Transylvania and the Banat (from Hungary in the 1920 Treaty of Trianon) • Hungarian losses—simply put, Hungary loses 2/3 of its historical territory and 1/3 of its ethnic Hungarian population – To Romania – To Czechoslovakia – To Yugoslavia – To Austria Hungarian losses in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon Hungarian losses in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon Interwar period: status-quo vs. revisionism – Status quo powers • Little Entente – Romania – Czechoslovakia – Yugoslavia • Poland – Revisionist powers • Hungary • Bulgaria • Fascist Italy • Nazi Germany • Soviet Union Greater Romania (1918-1940) Ethnic map of Romania based on the 1930 census 1938 • Anschluss (Annexation) of Austria by Germany on March 12, 1938 • Sudeten Crisis—Munich Agreement of September 30, 1938 cedes Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia to Germany • First Vienna Award, November 2, 1938—parts of southern Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia ceded from Czecho-Slovakia to Hungary Dismemberment of Czecho-Slovakia in 1938-39 and territorial acquisitions by surrounding states 1939 • Slovakia declares independence on March 14, 1939 • German invasion of rump Czecho-Slovakia on March 15, 1939 – Establishment of Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia • Hungary invades and occupies remainder of Subcarpathian Ruthenia on March 15, 1939 • Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact—August 23, 1939 • German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 • Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17, 1939 1940 • Between June 14 – 17, USSR delivers ultimatums to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, leading to their occupation by Soviet troops • June 22: France, Romania’s closest ally, capitulates to Germany • June 26: USSR delivers ultimatum to Romania for Romanian military forces and civilian administration to withdraw from Bessarabia and northern Bukovina within 4 days starting on June 28 th • September 7: Treaty of Craiova signed between Romania and Bulgaria on September 7, ceding Southern Dobrudja from Romania to Bulgaria • August 30: Second Vienna Award cedes northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary • September 6: King Carol II of Romania abdicates
Ethnic map of Northern Transylvania, ceded to Hungary in Second Vienna Award of August 30, 1940 Ethnic map of Hungary in 1941
Communist period – Hungary • Stalinist period: 1949 – 1956 • 1956 Revolution • Goulash Communism • Transition to Democracy – Romania • Stalinist period: 1947 – 1965 • Ceauşescu period • 1989 Revolution Post-1989 period – Hungary • First free elections held in spring 1990 • Hungary becomes member of NATO in 1999 • Hungary becomes member of the European Union in 2004 – Romania • First free elections held in May 1990 • Romania becomes member of NATO in 2004 • Romania becomes member of the European Union in 2007