Romanianization
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Romanianization in Transylvania
In the period between the two World Wars
At the end of WWI, Transylvania, at the time a territory of the Austro-Hungarian empire, was occupied by the Romanian army, then the Romanian National Council (representing a majority of the population), and representatives of the Germans took the decision of unifying the province with Romania. The decision was contested by the Hungarian minority. The Treaty of Trianon established the Romanian border with the new Hungarian state. However, Transylvania had a large Hungarian minority, of about 30% according to the 1910 census. A part of them fled to Hungary after the union, however most part remained in Romania, as in 1930 about 26% of the Transylvanians were Hungarians. While Romania included large national minorities, the 1923 Constitution declared the country to be a nation-state.After the second World War
After 1948, the industrialization of towns made the number of inhabitants in some urban areas to double or even triple, most of the newcomers being ethnic Romanians from the rural areas. The urbanization policy, natural phenomenon as the urbanization being required by the economic development and by the intention of transforming the predominantly agrarian country into an industrialized one, was followed throughout Romania, including in areas inhabited by minorities although much less significant.Results
According to census data, the Hungarian population of Transylvania decreased from 34% in 1910 to 26% in 1930 and 20% in 2002. The sharp decline between 1910 and 1930 can be due to changes in census authority (see Magyarization) and to emigration after World War I. Changes were more significant in cities/larger settlements, where Hungarians used to be in majority, especially in Northern Transylvania such as Oradea (Hungarian: Nagyvárad) and Cluj-Napoca (Hungarian: Kolozsvár).Romanianization also affected c. 300 000 Germans, who chosen to emigrate into Germany. The German state paid to Romania for each of them about 2,500 Deutsch Marks. Also, c. 50,000 Jews, who escaped the Holocaust, emigrated into Israel on similar terms.
Romanianization was less sustained in the compact Szekely areas of south-eastern Transylvania (the Szekelyfold), where even now Hungarians make around 80% of the population, the capital city of the former Hungarian Autonomous Province (covering mostly the Székely areas) being an exception: Romanianization was successful enough there in Târgu Mureş to decrease the ratio of Hungarians to 46%). The rapid change of ethnic setup was one of the reasons for the Ethnic clashes of Târgu Mureş in March 1990. After the 1989 Revolution a confidential document issued by the Targu Mures communist party organization was found and published in the local newspaper Népújság, stating the main objectives for changing the ethnic structure of that town in favor of Romanians.
Policies toward Ukrainian minority in Romania
According to the 1930 census, Ukrainians made up 3.2% of the population of Romania. Ethnic territories of Ukrainians and Romanians populated by both nations for hundred of years are not designated by clear natural divides. In fact their merger is seamless. For a long time, in Bukovina, both nations were sharing the same political formation - Austro-Hungary which pursued a somehow balanced ethnic policies in Bukovina, the Austrian province where both Romanian and Ukrainian (or Ruthenian, as it was called at the time) populations were significant.
In 1918, following the collapse of the Austria-Hungary and Russian empires the control over the entire Bukovina fell under the Kingdom of Romania. The takeover was followed by the policies of Rumanization of ethnic minorities, mostly Ukrainians, being pursued by the Romanian authorities. The policies were built on an increasing sentiment spread in Romanian media and historic works that entire Bukovina were inherently a Romanian ethnic territory. Ion Nistor, a prominent Romanian historian and one of the most vocal proponents of Greater Romanian nationalism was made a rector of the main University of the province (in Chernivtsi) which was changed from Franz-Josefs Universitat to Universitatea Regele Carol I(the actual current full name Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University). Following the years of his rectorship the enrollment of Ukrainians in the University fell from about 20-25 % in 1914 A. Zhukovsky, [Chernivtsi University], Encyclopedia of Ukraine, 2001, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. Accessed 11 Feb 2006. to less than 5% (1933) while Romanian enrollment being in 1914 close to the Ukrainian one increased by 1933 to 60 %.
The Rumanization policies not only brought the closures of the Ukrainian public schools (all such schools were closed until 1928) but also the suppression of most of the Ukrainian (Ruthenian) cultural institutions. The very term "Ukrainians" was prohibited from the official usage and ethnic Ukrainians were rather called the "citizens of Romania who forgot their native language". As such, according to the Romanian census, of the total population of 805 thousand 74% were called Romanians, the number included the Ukrainians and other related ethnic groups referred to as "Romanians who forgot their native-language".
The declines in Ukrainian population between censuses of 1919-1930, and 1992-2002 illustrate the dynamic of assimilation of Ukrainian minority in Romania. (See table below). On the other hand, one should also take into consideration, as a factor contributing to the dramatic disparities in numbers before and after WWII , the fact that the north of Bukovina, ceded to the USSR in 1940, was largely inhabited by ethnic Ukrainians.
| Total number of Ukrainians and % of total population in Romania | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [1919] | '''[1930] | 1941-1947 | [1992] | [2002] | |
| Ukrainians | 763,750 - 4,7% | 576,828 - 3,2% (75,5% of previous) | rowspan="3" |Loss of | 65,764 - 0.3% | 61,353 - 0.3% (93,3% of previous) | |
| Total population | 16,250,000 100% | 18,025,896 111% of previous | 22,810,035 126,5% of previous | 21,698,181 95,8% of previous | |
| Country area | 316,710 km2 | 316,710 km2 | 238,391 km2 | 238,391 km2 | |
Notes and References
See also
External links
- [The Situation of Hungarians in Romania in 2005]
- [The Union of Ukrainians in Romania]
- [Ukrainian deputy in Romanian Parliament]
- [Scrisoarea lui Adolf Hitler către regele Carol al II-lea (Letter from Hitler to Carol II, calling for the revision of Romania's borders according to ethnic criteria)] (in Romanian); note the reference: "After the [First] World War, Romania, favored by an exceptional opportunity, has acquired territories from three states, [territories] which, in my opinion, she cannot maintain for long through a forceful policy. The situation would have been different were Romania to have succeeded in accomplishing the internal, ethnic and political, assimilation of these territories, or if the military weakness of [her] neighbouring countries would have remained permanent."
- [Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies].
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