The Hungarian Community of Transylvania in Its Relations With the Romanian Communist Authorities From the 1950s to the 1980s

Abstract

The historical experience of Hungarian-Romanian relations in previous eras affected the relations of the Hungarian national minority of Transylvania with the Romanian communist authorities from the 1950s to the 1980s. The concept of Romania as a unitary national state excluded the idea of Hungarian territorial autonomy even within its narrowest borders; Transylvanian Hungarians were declared an integral part of the Romanian political nation. This caused growing resistance from the consolidated Hungarian minority with a highly developed national identity and with the intelligentsia, which perceived itself as the guardian of the 1000-year-old Hungarian state and cultural traditions in Transylvania. The reaction of the Transylvanian Hungarian intelligentsia to the growing Romanian nationalist challenge changed as the Ceauşescu regime evolved, giving rise to different behavioral strategies. In the late 1960s, when Romania’s independent policy was internationally recognised the dominant attitude was to influence the situation through dialogue with the authorities. Later, from the end of the 1970s, the participation of Transylvanian Hungarians in the Romanian dissident movement intensified. The policy of the K.d.r regime concerning the Hungarians in Romania also changed depending on the state of Hungary–Romania relations.