Magyarization

As magyarization (debate / ˌmadjarɪziːrʊŋ / from Hungarian magyar [ mɒɟɒr ]), also Magyarization written is the end of the 18th century incipient nationalist policy of the Hungarian kingdom called. Their objective was the legislatively promoted assimilation of the non-Magyar population .

The dissatisfaction of the non-Magyar population of the Kingdom of Hungary resulting from the Magyarization was one of the main causes of the disintegration of the multi-ethnic state after the end of the First World War in 1918 .

Census results in the Kingdom of Hungary 1880

Ethnic Map of Hungary 1880

Hungarian population in the Kingdom of Hungary 1890

terminology

Austria-Hungary 20 kroner banknote, 1913 - obverse (for the Austrian part of the monarchy) in German as well as in the other languages of the Austrian part of the monarchy (Czech, Polish, Ruthenian (Ukrainian), Italian, Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian and Romanian)

Reverse of the same banknote, for the Hungarian part of the monarchy, in Hungarian only

In the Hungarian language , the names for "Ungarin / Ungar" and "Hungarian" are magyar. This word is borrowed from Hungarian in this article and therefore the term Magyar is always used. In the Slovak and Czech language, a clear distinction is made between Hungary before 1918 (e.g. Slovak Uhorsko ) and the ethnic group (ethnic Hungarians) (Slovak Maďari ), since 1918 Hungary has been referred to as Maďarsko in today's borders.

history

The time of the Magyarization belongs to the era of the transformation of the Hungarian feudal state ( multi-ethnic state ) into a nation state between 1790 and the end of Austria-Hungary in 1918. It was a reaction of the Hungarian nobility to the reform attempts of Joseph II between 1780 and 1790, who wanted to push through legislative reforms in the Kingdom of Hungary. The reforms of Josephinism were carried out according to the principles of enlightened absolutism . They included, on the one hand, the introduction of German as the official language in the entire Habsburg Monarchy including the Kingdom of Hungary and, on the other hand, the promotion of the languages of all peoples in the kingdom in order to promote access to education for the population.

The first Magyarization laws were enacted under Leopold II in 1791 (Article 16) and 1792 (Article 7). In the 19th century there was an open discussion about how best to achieve Magyarization. After the revolution of 1848/1849 , which the Magyars lost , it had to be interrupted, but reached a new high point after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 under Prime Minister Gyula Andrássy and his successors.

Under the rule of Kálmán Tisza from 1875 to 1890 the actual Magyarization of Hungary began. The non-Magyar population should adopt the Magyar language and nationality by applying more or less gentle pressure . In several stages, initially hesitant, under Tisza any national expression, for example by the Slovaks, was visibly made impossible. The situation was hardened with Tisza's denial of the existence of the Slovak nation. Between 1880 and 1910 the percentage of citizens of Hungary (excluding Croatia ) who professed to be Magyars rose from 45 to over 54 percent.

Dezső Bánffy , Prime Minister from 1895 to 1899, institutionalized and bureaucratized the nationality policy, combined with reprisals against the minorities in the kingdom . Bánffy raised the idea of the Hungarian nation-state to the government's program: the nation-state was to be realized through the Magyarization of place names, family names and intensive language lessons . For him, the language dispute with the minorities was just a pretext: the question of language is only a means, the real goal is to introduce a federalist policy in Hungary . His government is described in research as intolerant, chauvinist and repressive.

During this time opponents of the Magyarization were arrested, numerous schools of the Slovak population and the Hungarian Germans were closed and replaced by Magyar schools. Adam Müller-Guttenbrunn , a Banat Swabian , felt himself to be a victim of Magyarization and thus became a pioneer of German nationalism in Austria. In 1907, the Lex Apponyi of the then Minister of Education, Albert Apponyi, was introduced, with which state control and teaching in Magyar was extended to the community and denominational schools.

At least in the case of the Cumans or Jazygen , the measures of Magyarization showed success from 1876.

According to the 2001 census, there are 268,935 Greek Catholic Christians in Hungary . Most of them, with the exception of a few thousand Romanians and Ukrainians , indicate their ethnic origin as "Hungarian". Most of them are Magyarized Ukrainians, partly also Romanians, who were linguistically assimilated in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Hungarian Greek-Catholic diocese was founded in Hajdúdorog in 1912 with the aim of replacing the Ukrainian and Romanian languages with Hungarian in church services . The seat of the Hungarian Greek Catholic Church is today in Nyíregyháza .

activities

One of the main tools of Magyarization was the primary school system, which was increasingly being wrested from the non-Hungarian nationalities. Another was to largely prevent minorities from participating in political participation through a census suffrage . In 1913, only 7.7% of the total population were eligible to vote or were allowed to hold public offices.

For the Magyarization see also Austria-Hungary .
For the Magyarization using the example of the Slovaks, see also the section Magyarization in the article on the history of Slovakia.

literature

Viktória Bányai: Hungarian. In: Dan Diner (ed.): Encyclopedia of Jewish history and culture. (EJGK). Volume 6: Ta-Z. Metzler, Stuttgart et al. 2015, ISBN 978-3-476-02506-7 , pp. 219-223.
Hans Joachim Beyer : Umvolkung . Studies on the question of assimilation and amalgamation in East Central Europe and overseas. Rohrer, Brünn 1945 (= Prague studies and documents on the intellectual and moral history of East Central Europe 2), in it, pp. 268–569 deal with Hungary's Magyarization policy, especially in the period after 1866.
Viktor Karády: Aspects of unequal assimilation in liberal Hungary. In: CEU History Department. Yearbook. 1997/1998, ISSN 1218-3679 , pp. 49-68.
Viktor Karády: Symbolic Nation-Building in a Multi-Ethnic Society - The Case of Surname Nationalization in Hungary. In: Moshe Zuckermann (Ed.): Ethnicity, Modernity and Enttraditionalisierung (= Tel Aviver Yearbook for German History. 30). Wallstein, Göttingen 2002, ISBN 3-89244-520-6 , pp. 81-103.

Web links

Commons : Magyarization - collection of images, videos and audio files

Ordinance of May 18, 1784 on the introduction of the use of the German language in all public offices in Hungary . (Pages 931-937)
Nationalities Act of December 6, 1868 (pages 270–278)
Nationalism as the basis of Hungarian politics since 1848 (diploma thesis by Adam Markus, University of Vienna, 2012)
Historical ethno-structure of Hungary 1850-1910

supporting documents

↑ Göttingen Digitization Center : Collection of the Hungarian Reichstag laws from 1791 . Article XVI, p. 35.
^ Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries: A history of Eastern Europe. Crisis and change. Routledge, London et al. 1998, ISBN 0-415-16111-8 , p. 365.
↑ Manfred Alexander , Janko Prunk : "Small people" and political power. Comparing Slovaks and Slovenes in the 19th and 20th centuries. In: Manfred Alexander, Frank fighters , Andreas Kappeler (eds.): Small peoples in the history of Eastern Europe. Festschrift for Günther Stökl on his 75th birthday (= year books for the history of Eastern Europe . Supplements 5). Steiner, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-515-05473-1 , pp. 76-90, here pp. 80 f.
↑ ^a ^b Wolfdieter Bihl : The way to collapse. Austria-Hungary under Charles I (IV.). In: Erika Weinzierl , Kurt Skalnik : Austria 1918–1938. History of the First Republic. Volume 1. Styria, Graz et al. 1983, ISBN 3-222-11456-0 , pp. 27-54, here p. 44.
^ Hungarian electronic library MEK: Adjustment crisis of the Saxon and Romanian national movement. ; and Gerald Volkmer: The Transylvanian Question 1878–1900. The influence of the Romanian national movement on diplomatic relations between Austria-Hungary and Romania (= Studia Transylvanica. 31). Böhlau, Cologne et al. 2004, ISBN 3-412-04704-X , p. 229, (also: Mainz, University, dissertation, 2003/2004).
↑ Ákos Moravánszky: The architecture of the turn of the century in Hungary and its relationship to the Viennese architecture of the time (= dissertations of the Vienna University of Technology. 42). VWGÖ - Association of Austrian Scientific Societies, Vienna 1983, ISBN 3-85369-537-X , p. 48, (At the same time: Vienna, Technical University, dissertation, 1980).
^ Zoltán Horváth: The turn of the century in Hungary. History of the second generation of reforms (1896–1914). Luchterhand et al., Neuwied et al. 1966, p. 55.
^ Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries: A history of Eastern Europe. Crisis and change. Routledge, London et al. 1998, ISBN 0-415-16111-8 , p. 259.
^ Vasile Stoica: The Roumanian Question. Pittsburgh Printing Company, Pittsburgh PA 1919, p. 22 .

[1] Göttingen Digitization Center : Collection of the Hungarian Reichstag laws from 1791 . Article XVI, p. 35.

[2] Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries: A history of Eastern Europe. Crisis and change. Routledge, London et al. 1998, ISBN 0-415-16111-8 , p. 365.

[3] Manfred Alexander , Janko Prunk : "Small people" and political power. Comparing Slovaks and Slovenes in the 19th and 20th centuries. In: Manfred Alexander, Frank fighters , Andreas Kappeler (eds.): Small peoples in the history of Eastern Europe. Festschrift for Günther Stökl on his 75th birthday (= year books for the history of Eastern Europe . Supplements 5). Steiner, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-515-05473-1 , pp. 76-90, here pp. 80 f.

[Bihl-4] Wolfdieter Bihl : The way to collapse. Austria-Hungary under Charles I (IV.). In: Erika Weinzierl , Kurt Skalnik : Austria 1918–1938. History of the First Republic. Volume 1. Styria, Graz et al. 1983, ISBN 3-222-11456-0 , pp. 27-54, here p. 44.

[5] Hungarian electronic library MEK: Adjustment crisis of the Saxon and Romanian national movement. ; and Gerald Volkmer: The Transylvanian Question 1878–1900. The influence of the Romanian national movement on diplomatic relations between Austria-Hungary and Romania (= Studia Transylvanica. 31). Böhlau, Cologne et al. 2004, ISBN 3-412-04704-X , p. 229, (also: Mainz, University, dissertation, 2003/2004).

[6] Ákos Moravánszky: The architecture of the turn of the century in Hungary and its relationship to the Viennese architecture of the time (= dissertations of the Vienna University of Technology. 42). VWGÖ - Association of Austrian Scientific Societies, Vienna 1983, ISBN 3-85369-537-X , p. 48, (At the same time: Vienna, Technical University, dissertation, 1980).

[7] Zoltán Horváth: The turn of the century in Hungary. History of the second generation of reforms (1896–1914). Luchterhand et al., Neuwied et al. 1966, p. 55.

[8] Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries: A history of Eastern Europe. Crisis and change. Routledge, London et al. 1998, ISBN 0-415-16111-8 , p. 259.

[Stoica1-9] Vasile Stoica: The Roumanian Question. Pittsburgh Printing Company, Pittsburgh PA 1919, p. 22 .