Transylvania - The Roots of Ethnic Conflict

Part Two

1. The massacre of Székelys at the village of Mádéfalva on January 7, 1764, has not yet been fully explored by historians. It is a dark chapter in the history of the "enlightened" ruler, Maria Theresa. Some important sources of this event include the following: Bálint Hóman and Gyula Szekfû, Magyar történet [Hungarian History] (Budapest, 1936), 5:124--26; László Makkai, Erdély története [History of Transylvania] (Budapest, 1943), pp. 484--93; Lajos Szádeczky, A székely határõrség megszervezése, 1762-1764 [The Establishment of the Székely Border Guards, 1762--1764] (Budapest, 1908); István Balló, A mádéfalvi veszedelem [The Calamity of Madefalva] (Budapest, 1906); Henrik Marczali, Erdély története [History of Transylvania] (Budapest, 1935), pp. 220--25; Domonkos Teleki, A székely határõrség története [The History of the Székely Border Guards] (Budapest, 1877).

2. The literature of this subject is as large as it is controversial, colored no doubt by the ideological biases of the disputants. See, for instance, Rodney H. Hilton, Bond Men Made Free. Peasant Movements and the English Rising of 1381 (London, 1973); Roland Mousnier, Fureurs Paysannes: Les paysannes dans les Révoltes du XVII^e Siécle (Paris, 1967); Barrington Moore, Jr., Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World (Boston, 1966).

3. See, for instance, my earlier study, "The Peasant Revolt of Bábolna, 1437--1438," Slavic Review 36, no. 1 (1977): 25--38. See also Boris Porchnev, Les soulèvements populaires en France de 1623 (Paris, 1963); Leon Bernard, "French Society and Popular Uprisings under Louis XIV," French Historical Studies 3, no. 4 (1964): 454--74.

4. For the English and French jacqueries see Hilton, op. cit.; for the Dózsa rebellion, see László Geréb and György Székely, A magyar parasztháborúk irodalma [The Written Record of the Hungarian Peasant Wars] (Budapest, 1950); for the Austrian revolt see Martin Mayer, "Die inner-österreichiesche Bauernkrieg des Jahres 1515, nach alteren und nemen Quellen," Archiv für Österreichische Geschichte 65 (1884): 17--43; the literature of the German peasant uprising is so large and well-known that it is not necessary to list it here.

5. The religious policies of the Habsburg monarchs in the eighteenth century are discussed in Alfred R. von Arneth, Maria Theresia (Wien, 1879), 10:131--57. Joseph II's decrees of toleration are published in Collectio benignorum normalium Resolutionum caes. reg. materia commissionis ecclesiasticae, 2 vols. (Pest, 1785--96). See also Georg Holzknecht, "Ursprung und Herkunft der Reformideen Kaiser Josefs II auf kirchlichem Gebiete," Forschungen zur inneren Geschichte Österreichs 11 (1914); Karl Ritter, Kaiser Joseph II und seine kirchlichen Reformen 2 vols. (Regensburg, 1867). Antal Meszlényi, A jozefinizmus kora Magyarországon 1780--1846 [The Age of Joseph's Reforms in Hungary, 1780-1846] (Budapest, 1934); for Habsburg policies concerning the Uniate church and Orthodoxy, see Herbert Klima, "Die Union der Siebenbürger Rumänen und der Wiener Staatrat im theresianischen Zeitalter," Südost Forschungen 6 (1941): 249--60.

6. See, for instance, Benedek Jancsó, "Az erdélyi románság legrégibb hiteles statisztikája," [The Oldest Dependable Statistics Concerning the Transylvanian Rumanians] Századok [Centuries] 34 (1900): 41--42; see also Marczali, op. cit., pp. 226--28. In fact, there were some Hungarian and Saxon peasants who joined the rebellion; see Zsigmond Jakó, Adatok a torockói jobbágylázadások történetéhez [Data Concerning the History of the Peasant Revolts in Torockó] (Kolozsvár, 1945).

7. See Paul von Mitrofanov, Joseph II, 2 vols. (Vienna, 1910); Wilhelm Lustkandl, Die josephinischen Ideen und ihr Erfolg (Wien, 1881); W. Bruckner, Die Reformen Kaiser Josefs II (Jena, 1867); Tibor Baráth, L'Absolutisme éclaire en Hongrie (Paris, 1936); Mihály Horváth, Magyarország történelme [History of Hungary] (Budapest, 1873), 7:465--99; Henrik Marczali, Magyarország II József korában [Hungary in the Age of Joseph II] 3 vols. (Budapest, 1882--1888); for the suppression of the revolt, see Ödön Olchváry, "A hóra-lázadás leverésére kivezényelt katonaság magatartása," [The Role of the Military Units Sent to Quell the Horea Rebellion] Hadtörténelmi Közlemények [Annals of Military History] 17 (1916):107--42.

8. For population statistics in Transylvania, see Gusztáv Thirring, "II József magyarországi népszámlálásai," [The Population Censuses in Hungary During the Reign of Joseph II] Magyar Statisztikai Szemle [Hungarian Statistical Review] 9 (1931):112--34; Károly Tagányi, "Az 1787. évi elsõ népszámlálás eredményei," [The Results of the First Population Census of 1787] Magyar Gazdaságtörténeti Szemle [Review of Hungarian Economic History] 3 (1896):281--82; and Gusztáv Thirring, Magyarország népessége II. József korában [The Population of Hungary in the Age of Joseph II] (Budapest, 1938).

9. Josef März, Josef II Kaiser und Siedlungspolitiker (Berlin, 1938), pp. 316--18. See also Nicolae M. Pop, Populatia Banatului in timpul lui Iosif II [The Population of the Banat During the Age of Joseph II] (Timisoara, 1943); Makkai, op. cit.; Jancsó, op. cit.

10. Makkai, op. cit.

11. See Henrik Marczali, "Magyarország adórendszere 1780-ban," [Hungary's Tax System in 1780] Budapesti Szemle [Budapest Review] 26 (1881):370--87. See also Robert Braun, II József közigazgatási reformeszméi [The Administrative Reform Ideals of Joseph II] (Arad, 1900), p. 106.

12. See Gábor Salacz, "Tessedik Sámuel javaslatai a parasztság helyzetének javítására," [The Proposals of Samuel Tessedik Concerning the Improvement of Peasant Conditions] Debreceni Szemle [Debrecen Review] (1928) pp. 418--24; see also the contemporary report, by Pál Spielenburg, Szabad elmélkedések a földeknek kimérése szerént felállítandó adózás systémájának tökéletlenségérõl. [Unrestricted Reflections on the Imperfections of the Proposed System of Measuring Landed Property Taxation] (Kassa, 1790); and Marczali, op. cit., 1:202--13.

13. Makkai, op. cit.; see also Zoltán I. Tóth, Parasztmozgalmak az Erdélyi Érchegységben 1848-ig [Peasant Movements in the Transylvanian Ore Mountains to 1848] (Budapest, 1951).

14. See Friedrich Walter, Die österreichische Zentralverwaltung. Die Zeit Josephs II und Leopold II, 1780--1792 2 vols. (Wien, 1950), 1:1, part 1. See also Marczali, op. cit., 2:30--37.

15. See Johann Zinner, Animadversiones in jus publicum Hungariae, ed., F. R. Grossing (Kassa, 1786). See also László Fürdõs, A II. József-féle kataszteri felmérés Magyarországon [The Cadaster Land Survey of Hungary Under Joseph II] (Szeged, 1931).

16. For the politics of serfdom and Joseph II's attitudes towards it see Horváth, op. cit., 7:578--79. See also Zsigmond Pál Pach, Az eredeti tõkefelhalmozodás Magyarországon [The Earliest Capital Accumulation in Hungary] (Budapest, 1952); Jenõ Berlász, "Az 1784-i erdélyi parasztfelkelés és II. József jobbágypolitikája," [The Transylvanian Peasant Rising of 1784 and the Policies of Joseph II Regarding the Serfs] in Tanulmányok a parasztság történetéhez Magyarországon, 1711-1790 [Studies Concerning the Peasantry in the History of Hungary 1711--1790] (Budapest, 1952).

17. Of contemporary observations of this resistance see Collectia ordinationum imperatoris Josephi II et repraesentatiorum diversorum Hungariae comitatum (Diószeg, 1790); Collectio repraesentatiorum et protocollorum incl. atatuum et ordinum regni Hungariae (Pest, Buda, Kassa, 1790), pp. 252--69. See also Otto Meltzl, "Die Gravaminalvorstellung des Siebenbürgischen Adels an Kaiser Josef II," Archiv des Vereins Siebenbürgische Landeskunde (1887), pp. 177--202; Miklós Forgách, Patriotische Vorstellung an den Monarchen in Betreff der Wiederherstellung der vormaligen Regierungsform in Ungarn (Pozsony, 1788). See also Friedrich Zieglauer, Die politische Reformbewegung in Siebenbürgen zur Zeit Josefs II und Leopold II (Wien, 1881).

18. Robert A. Kann, A History of the Habsburg Empire. 1526-1918 (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, 1975), pp. 195--99. See also Horváth, op. cit.; Marczali, op. cit., 1:22, 265--66.

19. See the urbarial decree of Maria Theresa in Mi, Mária Theresia... Urbáriumokat vagy-is Földes Uraság Robottinak és adózásinak rendét Vármegyékben igazságossan el-intéztetni akarjuk... [We, Maria Theresia... wish to Justly Regulate the System of Taxation in the Counties and the Performance of Socage-Service to the Landlord] (Wien, 1767). See also Ignácz Acsády, A magyar jobbágyság története [The History of Hungarian Serfdom] (Budapest, 1906), pp. 340--52.

20. See note 11 above.

21. See note 2 above.

22. For the literature on this and other issues pertinent to an understanding of peasant grievances, see O. Beu, Bibliografia rascoli lui Horia [Bibliography of the Horea Rising] (Sibiu, 1944).

23. The privileged religions of Transylvania that enjoyed toleration before the stabilization of Habsburg rule in the province were Roman Catholicism, Calvinism, Lutheranism, and Unitarianism. Orthodoxy was not included among these religions, but it was "tolerated." See István Miskolczy, "Az erdélyi felekezeti viszonyok Bajtai püspöksége alatt, 1760--1772," [Religious denominational relations during Bishop Bajtai's tenure] Békefi Emlékkönyv [Békefy Album] (Budapest, 1912), pp. 328--39. See also S. Dragomir, Istoria Desrobirei Religioase a Românilor olim Ardeal in secolul XVIII [The History of the Religious Liberation of Rumanians During the Eighteenth Century] 2 vols. (Sibiu, 1920--30); Benedek Jancsó, "A hazai görög-keleti román metropolia története," [The History of the Rumanian Orthodox Metropolitanate in Our Homeland] Századok [Centuries] 35(1901):609--14.

24. See Marczali, op. cit., 2:1--35.

25. Ibid.

26. See Sándor Márki, "Forray András esete. Adat a Hóra-lázadás történetéhez," [The Case of András Forray. A Datum Concerning the History of the Horea-Rebellion] Hazánk [Homeland] 1(1884): 23--24.

27. Benedek Jancsó, "A Hóra-világ," [The World of Horea] A román nemzetiségi törekvések története [The History of Rumanian National Aspirations] (Budapest, 1899), 1:1--32.

28. Zoltán I. Tóth, op. cit.

29. See Lajos Siess, "Relationem de Tumultu et Insurrectione Gentis Vallachiae in Transylvania contra Nobilitatum et Nationem Hungarum, 1784--1785," in Lajos Merényi, "A Hóra-világ kismartoni krónikája," [The Chronicle of the World of Horea in Kismarton] Történelmi Tár [Historical Depository] (1901), pp. 1--40; Endre Veress, "A Hóra-világ Hunyad megyében," [The World of Horea in Hunyad County] A Hunyad Megyei Történelmi és Régészeti Társaság Évkönyve [The Historical and Archealogical Association's Yearbook of Hunyad County] 13(1903):210--30; it is interesting to note that Keith Hitchins committed a rather elementary error in his The Rumanian National Movement in Transylvania, 1780--1849 (Cambridge, Mass., 1969), pp. 37--38, when he described this nickname as a result of Urs's skill in dancing the hora, a folk dance. See also Nicolae Densusianu, Revolutiunea lui Horea in Transylvania si Ungaria 1784--1785 [Horea's Revolution in Transylvania and Hungary 1784--1785] (Bucharest, 1884), pp. 5--7.

30. See I. Lupas, "Kaiser Josef II und der Bauernaufstand in Siebenbürgen," Südostdeutsche Forschungen 3(1938):674--79. See also Tóth, op. cit.

31. This has been mentioned by most sources, but is a highly questionable point. Even if Horea did go to Vienna four times, it seems difficult to imagine that he was received four times by the emperor. But contemporary sources seem to agree that Horea was a special person favored by Joseph II. See Horja und Kloska Oberhaupt und Rathgeber der Aufrührer in Siebenbürgen (Nagyszeben, 1785) and Kurze Geschichte der Rebellion in Siebenbürgen (Strassburg, 1785).

32. Tóth, op. cit.

33. He was, according to contemporary sources, a man of deep conviction, a good speaker and a charismatic leader. See M. Popescu, "Spicuiri noi despre Horia, Closca si Crisan," [Reflections About Horea, Closca and Crisan] Revista Archivelor [Archival Review] (1926), pp. 411--15. See also Densusianu, op. cit.

34. See Nicolae Edroiu, Horea's Uprising. The 1784 Romanian Peasants' Revolt of Transylvania (Bucharest, 1978), pp. 23--25.

35. See Ferenc Szilágyi, A Hóra-világ Erdélyben [The World of Horea in Transylvania] (Pest, 1871); C. Stoianescu, Revolutia lui Horia [Horea's Revolution] (Timisoara, 1937); Dan Prodan, Rascoala lui Horia in Comitatele Cluj si Turda [The Horea Rebellion in Cluj and Turda] (Bucharest, 1938).

36. See Victor Cucuiu, Moartea eroilor Horia, Closca si Crisan [The Heroic Death of Horea, Closca and Crisan] (Cluj, 1937). See also Nicolae Iorga, "Horia, Closca si Crisan," Revista Istoria [Historical Review] 33(1937):337--59.

37. Tóth, op. cit.

The Rumanian-Hungarian Confrontation, 1840--70

1. There are several excellent summaries of the Hungarian revival and of the Hungarian language reform movement in English: C. A. Macartney, The Habsburg Empire 1790--1918 (New York: Macmillan, 1969), pp. 284--97 presents a balanced assessment. Ervin Pamlényi, ed., A History of Hungary (London and Wellingborough: Collet's, 1975), pp. 209--54 summarizes the Hungarian viewpoint. An excellent scholarly analysis of the Hungarian language policies in the 1840s can be found in Gyula Miskolczy, A horvát kérdés története és irományai a rendi állam korában [The history and sources of the Croatian issue in the feudal period] (Budapest: Magyar Történelmi Társulat, 1927), 1:296--322.

2. The best English-language study of the Rumanian revival is unquestionably Keith Hitchins, The Rumanian National Movement in Transylvania, 1780--1849 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1969). Another indispensable guide is the series of studies on Rumanian-Hungarian relations by the Hungarian historian Zoltán I. Tóth. Some of his essays have been published in Dániel Csatári, ed., Magyarok és Románok [Hungarians and Rumanians] (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1966).

3. C. A. Macartney, op. cit., pp. 292--97.

4. Ibid. A more detailed discussion can be found in Domokos Kosáry, Kossuth Lajos a reformkorban [Louis Kossuth in the Era of Reform] (Budapest: Antiqua, 1946), pp. 206--31.

5. Paul Bõdy, Joseph Eötvös and the Modernization of Hungary, 1840--70, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 62, 2 (1972), pp. 14--16.

6. Zoltán I. Tóth, "Kossuth, Dragos és Papfalvi" [Kossuth, Dragos and Papfalvi], Magyarok és Románok [Hungarians and Rumanians], pp. 330--39.

7. Keith Hitchins, op. cit., pp. 181--218; Zoltán I. Tóth, "A nemzetiségi kérdés Magyarországon 1848--49-ben," [The Nationality Question in Hungary in 1848--49] Magyarok és Románok [Hungarians and Rumanians], pp. 208--19.

8. My analysis of this issue is presented in Paul Bõdy, op. cit., pp. 48--54. See also Ervin Szabó, Társadalmi és pártharcok a 48--49-es magyar forradalomban [Social and factional struggles in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848--49] (Budapest: Szikra, 1949), pp. 167--316.

9. Zoltán I. Tóth, "A magyar-román szövetség kérdése 1848--49-ben." [The Question of the Hungarian-Rumanian Alliance in 1848-49] Magyarok és Románok [Hungarians and Rumanians], pp. 249--87, reviews Hungarian-Rumanian relations. The quotation is from Nicolae Balcescu, Istoria Romînilor sub Mihai-Voda Viteazul [History of the Rumanians under Voivod Michael] (Bucharest, 1937), pp. 297--98.

10. Zoltán I. Tóth, "Az erdélyi és magyarországi románok abszolutizmus korabeli történetéhez," [On the History of the Rumanians of Hungary and Transylvania in the Age of Absolutism], Magyarok és Románok [Hungarians and Rumanians], pp. 376--92.

11. This report can be consulted in Az 1861. évi április 2-án Pesten egybegyült országgyûlés képviselõházának irományai [Papers of the House of Representatives of the Hungarian Parliament Assembled on April 2, 1861] (Pest, 1861) 2:129--31.

12. "Nemzetiség," Fol. Hung. 2999, 7, Manuscript Collection, Széchenyi National Library (Budapest, n.d.).

13. My analysis of these recommendations can be found in Bõdy, op. cit, pp. 83--84.

14. Published in G. Gábor Kemény, Iratok a nemzetiségi kérdés történetéhez Magyarországon a dualizmus korában [Documents relating to the History of the Nationality Question in Hungary in the Age of Dualism] (Budapest: Tankönyvkiadó, 1952), 1:36--39.

15. Ibid., 1:28--35.

16. The minority report is published in ibid., 1:45--48.

17. The full discussion of this interpretation is developed in Bõdy, op. cit., pp. 81--84.

18. Az 1861. évi április 2-án Pesten egybegyült országgyûlés képviselõházának naplója [Records of the House of Representatives of the Hungarian Parliament Assembled on April 2, 1861], Pest, 1861, 2:102--4.

19 Concordia, July 10, 1867.

20. Address of Louis Wlad, November 26, 1868, Az 1865-dik évi december 10-dikére hirdetett országgyûlés képviselõházának naplója [Records of the House of Representatives of the Hungarian Parliament Convoked on December 10, 1865] (Pest, 1868) 11:93.

21. Bõdy, op. cit., pp. 101--8.

22. Ibid., pp. 115--18.

23. Ibid., p. 118.

24. József Eötvös, A XIX. század uralkodó eszméinek befolyása az álladalomra [The Influence of the Ruling Ideas of the Nineteenth Century on the State] (Pest, 1851), 1:74--5.

Transylvania - The Roots of Ethnic Conflict