Béni L. Balogh

The Hungarian–Romanian Relations and the Question of Transylvania between 1940 and 1944

This study consists of four parts. First the author shows the main attributes of the Hungarian– Romanian relations between 1940 and 1944. He points out that in this period both the Hungarian and Romanian foreign policy focused – besides the prevention of the Soviet threat – on the question of the possession of Transylvania, therefore the reciprocal compromise and reconciliation was almost impossible.

Henceforth, the paper examines how some representative Romanian politicians of this period – Ion Antonescu, Mihai Antonescu and Iuliu Maniu – imagined Romania’s prospective place in Europe, and how they saw the Hungarian–Romanian relations and the question of Transylvania. Afterwards, the author gives a brief overview of the Romanian political elite’s attempts to save Romania and to regain North Transylvania in 1943–1944, after Germany’s victory in the World War II became doubtful Finally, the study tries to answer the question what motivational power influenced the victorious world-powers, especially the Soviet Union to restore the Trianon borders in the 1947 Paris peace-treaty and to return North Transylvania to Romania.

Stefano Bottoni

The Impact of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution on Romania

The essay deals with the impact of the 1956 Hungarian revolution on Romania. In the first part the author compares the main features of the two Communist regimes in the period 1948–1956, arguing that Romanian opposition to any political change after Stalin’s death was due to a deeply-rooted difference between the political culture of the Hungarian and Romanian communist elite. The second part of the paper focuses on Romanian popular reaction to revolutionary events, and describes various attempts to organize mass rallies of solidarity, all blocked by secret police which also started in early 1957 a massive repression wave causing nearly 30.000 arrests in the following years. The last part examines the long-term consequences of 1956, with a special reference to the increasingly restrictive minority policies carried out by the Gheorghiu-Dej regime in Transylvania starting from 1958/59.

József Gagyi

Socialist Modernization in Romania in the ’50-’60’s

The paper deals with the concept of modernization  and the modernization turn noticeable in Romania in the first period of the ’60’s.

This period in East-Europe is the Hruscsov’s era, and in the Soviet Union the period of „doganat i peregnat”–„to run down and to top” countersign, the period of socialist country’s cooperations preception. In Romania the real period of accumulation, the period of socialist modernization in fact starts at the beginning of the ’60’s. The industrial production of the country between 1956 and 1960 was 10,8%, between 1961 and 1965 was 14,4%.

This later period (1961–1965) concures with the Romanian communist leaders’ estrangement from their soviet comrades.

In Romania by the beginning of the ’60’s the efficient political organization and the organization of economy’s potential and routine actually came into existence, which secured the production and application of technical and organizational special knowledges as well as political legitimation.

György Gyarmati

Customs Union – Federation – New Great Power?

Separated Peace Attempts of Small States After World War II on the Danube Basin

This paper considers a regional subvariant of postwar European efforts towards integration, namely ideas about a Central- and East-European federation. Two aspects are described in detail. One explains how Hungarian views entered this regional project owing to foreign policy considerations and domestic interests. The other deals with different conceptions of a postwar Central- and East-European customs union that have scarcely been discussed in the historiography of the subject up to this time.

The paper’s basic points are as follows. While ideas of federation have been supported in the region mainly by intellectual pressure groups – either in opposition or in exile – efforts towards a federation after World War II became an official governmental programme and an issue of foreign policy concern in several countries. The ultimate failure of these efforts came about not by their rejection by a smaller state but by a Soviet veto, which was a reaction to Europe’s division by the Cold War. In conclusion, these regional plans were doomed to fail, and at the same time Central Europe was removed from the map of the continent by establishing the Ostblock forcibly.

Klára Lázok

Nationalized culture?

The opening mechanisms of the mono-polization of cultural life in 1948

1948 was a crucial year in the cultural history of Hungarians from Romania. After the liquidation of political pluralism in 1947, the Romanian Communist Party (RCP) started an intensive campaign to monopolize both economic and cultural lives of the country’s inhabitants. The control of the cultural sphere was a key area in the process of creation of the ‘new society’ – the major goal of the RCP-campaign. Whilst it does have some Hungarian particularities, this process has to be analyzed as part of the overall Romanian cultural policy, since all the political and cultural dis-positions were components of a centralized – i.e., national – campaign.

This study intends to present the first year of this process of ‘new society’ creation (i.e., 1948). Similarly to all other socialist countries, the RCP elaborated its project for monopolizing cultural life by the centra-lization of all areas of culture. This mechanism followed the Soviet model and proclaimed the compulsory renewing of cultural life in the spirit of socialist realism. It not only asked for a ‘new society’, but also for new science, new theatre, new literature, new music, and so on.

First, the study presents the main dispo-sitions of this campaign and the role played by the Hungarian Popular Alliance within it. Second, the analysis also focuses on the ways through which the political leaders of the Hungarian community transmitted these dispositions towards the members of their community. Third, the research presents and analyzes the institutional background of this reorganization, as well as the process of creation of the institutional mechanisms on which this new culture was built on in this very first phase.

Márton László

The Transformation of Rural Society, Economy, and State Property in the Early Part of the 1950’s in Romania

There has never been a period in history when rural society changed as much as during communist regimes. In this paper I present the short description of this transformation. First, I present the ideology and purposes of the communist power. Then, I write about the execution of this “social engineering”, and some of its consequences.

The communist party eliminated the “chiaburi” and landowners considering them enemies. In economic field the land, tractors and other agricultural tools were confiscated from the owners, then placed in common property, but under the state’s control. These lands and shared tools were grouped in collectives. As a consequence, most villagers lost their property over land. Part of them became workers in collective factories; others became employees in factories in urban areas. The newly designed agriculture was inefficient over the long run due to lack of personal interest and responsibility on behalf of workers, a rigidly planned economy, and poor organization.

In addition, the communist party tried to instigate a conflict between different social groups in rural areas. As a consequence, the solidarity between communities’ members decreased significantly. The social mobility of poor and middle category peasants was assisted and encouraged. At the same time, social mobility of “chiaburi” was inhibited. Rural communities suffered a major decline. The disappearance of privately owned land changed values, habits, and mentality.

Mihály Zoltán Nagy

The Institutional Structures of the Hungarian Popular Alliance

The élite which undertook the political leading of the Hungarians in Romania – who got under the authority of a foreign state as a consequence of the peace treaties that put an end to the First World War – adapting themselves to the prevailing political situation formed independent parties on an ethnical basis. These parties aimed in the first place at the protection of ethnic interests. It necessarily resulted from this that they undertook as a role and function the representation and protection of interests in the Hungarian communities – Romanian state relation.

In the present study I propose to examine the institutional structures the Hungarian Popular Alliance – founded in the autumn of 1944 – set up in order to represent and protect the rights of the Hungarian community in Romania. This might serve as a contribution to the settlement of the debate concerning the following question: to what extent can the Hungarian Popular Alliance be considered a mass organization on the one hand, and a satellite organization (of the Romanian Communist Party) on the other hand, and to what extent does it bear marks of an ethnical or ethnical-regional party. Before any further exploration of this problem it has to be made absolutely clear that the Hungarian Popular Alliance, because of its origin and political ally could formulate its minority policy only inside the possibilities offered by “the given state, and by the Hungarian-policy of the majority”.

I shall not present in this paper the Hungarian-policy of the different Romanian governments and parties, and I shall not touch upon the characteristics of the Romanian minority law, either.   However, I feel it necessary to remark that between the autumn of 1944 and the spring of 1953 the Hungarian-policy and the aspects of the legal settlement of the minority problem adopted by the Romanian governments and political parties were determined by the international and internal situation. The overview of the alternatives in minority policy presented by the Hungarian National Committee of the Romanian Social Democratic Party could constitute the subject of another study.

The analysis of the function the Hungarian Popular Alliance fulfilled (that of representation and protection of interests) plainly illustrates that this party cannot be considered simply as a mass organization or a satellite organization of the Romanian Communist Party. It is true that because of its origin the Hungarian Popular Alliance was a political ally of the Romanian Communist Party but, in spite of this, it was still able to represent such Hungarian interests that were opposed to the Romanian Communist Party’s conceptions. The social model concerning minorities represented by the Hungarian Popular Alliance did not fit in the class society model of the Romanian Communist Party. The ongoing changes in the international and internal situation made the institutional repre-sentation of ethnical interests unnecessary, and in the course of time the Hungarian Popular Alliance was degraded to the level of a satellite organization. Beginning with 1947–1948 its role was limited to the supervision and mobilization of all those who were lurking outside the orbit of the Romanian Communist Party and to political socialization and propaganda.

Csaba Zoltán Novák

The Socialist Nation and Minority in the Discussions of the Romanian Communist Party after Ceauşescu`s Rise to Power

Even though the former ideology seemed to wane, Nicolae Ceauşescu, after gaining power continued to use his forerunner`s political strategies in many fields. The national sovereignty and the national aspect received an important role in the reorganization of the internal affairs and the countries international affairs. On the IXth Congress, held in 1965, the Party tried to explain the changed economical, political and cultural events with new concepts and notions. The concept of the „socialist nation” had an important influence on the minorities living in this country. With the introduction of this concept the leading Party actually changed the relation between the ethnic minorities and the Romanian majority. The concept demanded an equal mentality, culture and grain, and only in a few cases, like in the case of the Hungarians, accepted a small proportion of linguistic separation. After this we cannot speak about minority issues, because the cultural inheritance of these small groups were forced into the background.

After the Congress the leading Party and the intellectuals faithful to it started to use these new concepts in their discussions and speeches, tried to make propaganda for them and tried to influence the general public. The following collocations, „socialist nation and patriotism” and „socialist population” hid the intent of the Communist Party to homogenize the minorities with the Romanian majority. The lading Party, with the approval of the Hungarians and Germans, who actively participated in the political issues, decided upon a quick and efficient assimilation of the smaller minorities, with a weaker cultural back-ground. In the case of the Hungarians and Germans, who owned a deeper and stronger cultural, social and political inheritance, the Party decided upon a longer and slower integration.

Ignác Romsics

Hungarian Peace Expectations at the End of the 2^nd World War

From summer 1942 to summer 1943 Axis forces were defeated and began to lose ground in  the three main areas of fighting: Pacific Ocean (Midway Island), North-Afrika (El Alamein) and Eastern Front (Stalingrad). In the new situation many Hungarian politicians and writers expressed their views on Hungary’s future. This essay focuses on five documents of 1943 produced by eminent Hungarians. Two of them were compiled by leading conservative politicians including István Bethlen and Prime Minister Miklós Kállay. They were sent to London in order to inform the Foreign Office on Hungarian peace expectations. The third one was authored by Endre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky, leader of the Smallholder Party and sent to Miklós Kállay in order to try to influence him. The fourth document is a political essay wich was published by Sándor Márai. The fifth is a manuscript written by István Bibó. This manuscript served as a basis for several famous essays of Bibó published after the war.

The first four documents considered Trianon a historic accident and visualized the restoration of historic Hungary as a core state of possible cooperation among states in Eastern Europe. This platform was supported by a variety of arguments. Some of them stressed the geographical and economic unity of historic Hungary. The so-called Saint Stephen State Concept emphasized the peaceful coexistence of the various ethnic groups within Hungary through centuries and projected the reestablishment of this idealized coexistence in the form of a federation in which Hungarians would have enjoyed a status of primus inter pares.

This approach was challenged by the ideas formulated by Bibó. Saint Stephen’s realm as a politicaly possible solution failed for ever, he emphasized. His concept was based on ethnicity and ethnographical characteristics. Consequently, he advocated the concept of ethnic revision instead of an integral one.

None of  the authors of the analyzed documents believed Trianon could be repeated after the war. Therefore, the peace treaty of 1947 astonished not only the old conservative elite but its leftist opposition, including István Bibó, as well.