Romanianization

Romanianization or Rumanization is the term used to describe a number of ethnic assimilation policies implemented by the Romanian authorities during the 20th century. The term often refers to Romanian government policy in several periods toward the Hungarian minority in Romania and the Ukrainian minority in Bukovina or Bessarabia. Democracy and Governance Assessment of Romania (Microsoft Word document), USAID/Romania, 24 September, 2001. Accessed 11 Feb 2006.István Pávai, "The Folk Music of the Moldavian Hungarians", Hungarian Heritage 2002 Volume 3 Numbers 1-2. Extract online at accessed 11 Feb 2006.James Fuchs, "Averescu: Rumania's Mussolini", The Nation, Vol. 122, no. 3175, May 12, 1926. A relatively early citation for the term "Rumanization" - a policy attributed, among others, to the Romanian government of Ion I. C. Brătianu, one which would have contributed to an alliance between nationalist forces hostile to Brătianu and representatives of ethnic minorities, as the pseudo-fascist People's Party (led by Alexandru Averescu)[http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/bukovina/buk001.html Bukovina - Handbook, part of the Yizkor Book Project on JewishGen.org. In particular, see the section "The Church Question". Accessed 11 Feb 2006.

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.

| rowspan="3" |Loss of
Northern Bukovina,
Bugeac and Bessarabia

	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)	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

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 World War, Romania, favored by an exceptional opportunity, has acquired territories from three states, ^* neighbouring countries would have remained permanent."
Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.

History of Romania | History of Hungary | History of Ukraine | Romanian language | Cultural assimilation

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