Transilvania

Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Apuseni Mountains. Broader definitions of Transylvania also include the western and northwestern Romanian regions of Crișana and Maramureș, and occasionally Banat.

Transylvania is known for the scenery of its Carpathian landscape and its rich history. It also contains Romania's second-largest city, Cluj-Napoca, and other iconic cities and towns such as Brașov, Sibiu, Târgu Mureș, Alba Iulia and Sighișoara. It is also the home of some of Romania's UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as the Villages with fortified churches, the Historic Centre of Sighișoara, the Dacian Fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains and the Roșia Montană Mining Cultural Landscape.

It was under the rule of the Agathyrsi, part of the Dacian Kingdom (168 BC–106 AD), Roman Dacia (106–271), the Goths, the Hunnic Empire (4th–5th centuries), the Kingdom of the Gepids (5th–6th centuries), the Avar Khaganate (6th–9th centuries), the Slavs, and the 9th century First Bulgarian Empire. During the late 9th century, Transylvania was reached and conquered by the Hungarian conquerors, and Gyula's family from seven chieftains of the Hungarians ruled it in the 10th century. King Stephen I of Hungary asserted his claim to rule all lands dominated by Hungarian lords. He personally led his army against his maternal uncle Gyula III and Transylvania became part of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1002; it then belonged to the Lands of the Hungarian Crown until 1918.

After the Battle of Mohács in 1526 it belonged to the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom, from which the Principality of Transylvania emerged in 1570 by the Treaty of Speyer. During most of the 16th and 17th centuries, the principality was a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire; however, the principality had dual suzerainty ( Ottoman and Habsburg).

In 1690, the Habsburg monarchy gained possession of Transylvania through the Hungarian crown.Paul Lendvai, Ann Major
''The Hungarians: A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat''
C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2003, page 146; After the failure of Rákóczi's War of Independence in 1711, Habsburg control of Transylvania was consolidated, and Hungarian Transylvanian princes were replaced with Habsburg imperial governors."Transylvania"
(2009). ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved July 7, 2009"Diploma Leopoldinum"
(2009). ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved July 7, 2009 During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian government proclaimed union with Transylvania in the April Laws of 1848. After the failure of the revolution, the March Constitution of Austria decreed that the Principality of Transylvania be a separate crown land entirely independent of Hungary.Austrian Constitution of 4 March 1849
(Section I, Art. I and Section IX., Art. LXXIV) After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the separate status of Transylvania ceased, it was incorporated again into the Kingdom of Hungary (Transleithania) as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After World War I, Transylvania became part of Kingdom of Romania by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920. In 1940, Northern Transylvania reverted to Hungary as a result of the Second Vienna Award, but it was reclaimed by Romania after the end of World War II.

In popular culture, Transylvania is commonly associated with vampires because of the influence of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel ''Dracula'' and the many subsequent books and films that have been inspired by the tale.

Etymology

The earliest known reference to Transylvania appears in a Medieval Latin document of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1075 as , meaning "beyond the forest" ( meaning "beyond" or "on the far side of" and the accusative case of () "woods, forest"). Transylvania, with an alternative Latin prepositional prefix, means "on the other side of the woods". Hungarian historians claim that the Medieval Latin form , later , was a direct translation from the Hungarian form .Engel, Pál (2001). ''Realm of St. Stephen: History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526 (International Library of Historical Studies)'', page 24, London: I.B. Taurus. That also was used as an alternative name in German ("beyond the forest") (13th–14th centuries) and Ukrainian ().
Historical names of Transylvania are:
* bg, Седмиградско, Sedmigradsko,
* hr, Sedmogradska, (hist.),
* german: Siebenbürgen (),
* hu, Erdély ()
* la, Ultrasilvania,
* pl, Siedmiogród,
* rom, Transilvaniya
* ro, Ardeal (), ()
* russian: Трансильвания, Transil'vaniya,
* sr, Ердељ/Erdelj, sr, Трансилванија/Transilvanija
* sk, Ardieľ, Sedmohradsko
* Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen''
* tr, Erdel, Erdelistan
* uk, Семигород, Semyhorod, ,
* yi, זיבנבערגן, Zibnbergn, ,

* The German name means "seven castles", after the seven (ethnic German) Transylvanian Saxons' cities in the region. This is also the origin of the region's name in many other languages, such as the Croatian , the Bulgarian (), Polish , Yiddish (), and Ukrainian ().
* The Hungarian form was first mentioned in the 12th-century as (in modern script ) or . The word means forest in Hungarian, and the word denotes a region in connection with this, similarly to the Hungarian name for Muntenia (, or land lying ahead of the snow-capped mountains). , , are derived from Hungarian .
* An occurrence of the form ''Ardeliu'' in a Church Slavonic document written by a Romanian chancellery is attested in 1432. The Romanian is derived from the Hungarian .

History

The first known civilization to inhabit the territory was the Agathyrsi belonging to the Scythic cultures. From the 4th century BC Celtic La Tène culture came to domination. The indigenous Dacian tribes engaged in politics from the 1st century BC and united under King Burebista forming their kingdom Dacia.

The Roman Empire made heavy efforts to seize the territory from King Decebalus, resulting in the formation of Roman Dacia in 106, after Trajan's costly and bloody wars. During Roman rule, the territory, depleted of its indigenous population, was repopulated with Latin colonists and its rich resource stock was systematically exploited. However, due to the growing threat of East Germanic and Carpic invasions, Emperor Aurelian withdrew his legions and evacuated the citizens south of the Lower Danube in 275, after which the province was occupied by the Goths. In 376, a powerful nomadic people, the Huns, defeated and shattered the Goths, settling down in the area. After the death of King Attila, their empire disintegrated and the Gepids conquered the region in 455, under King Ardaric. For two centuries, the Gepids controlled Transylvania. They waged successful war against the Eastern Roman Empire, and less successful against the Ostrogoths in Pannonia. They were successfully defeated by the Lombards and Avars in 567. In the following years, the Avars took full control over Transylvania, heavily settling the area with Slavic tribes who accepted their suzerainty. The expansion of the Frankish Empire, however imposed a growing threat on them and crushed their khaganate in the Avar Wars. The Avars and Slavs, although decreased seriously, continued to inhabit the Carpathian Basin. The First Bulgarian Empire annexed Southern Transylvania. Smaller Slavic polities were also present, nevertheless they could hardly keep their independence.

In the late 9th century, Transylvania was reached and conquered by the Hungarian conquerors. There is an ongoing scholarly debate over the demographics in Transylvania in this time. According to the theory of Daco-Roman Continuity, Romanians continuously lived on the territory for the past 2500 years. Opponents of this hypothesis point to the lack of written, archaeological and linguistic evidence to support this. Hungarian medieval chronicles claimed that the Székely people descended of the Huns who remained in Transylvania, and later allying with the returning Hungarians conquered together the Carpathian Basin. According to the ''Gesta Hungarorum'', the Vlach (''Blacorum, Blacus'') leader Gelou ruled part of Transylvania before the Hungarians arrived, historians debate whether he was a historical person or an imaginary figure. The gyulas from the seven chieftains of the Hungarians governed Transylvania in the 10th century. King Stephen I of Hungary asserted his claim to rule all lands dominated by Hungarian lords, he personally led his army against his maternal uncle Gyula III and Transylvania became part of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1002. Place names derived from the Hungarian tribes evidence that major Hungarian groups settled in Transylvania from the 950s. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Southeast and Northeast Transylvania was settled by Saxon colonists. After the Battle of Kosovo and Ottoman arrival at the Hungarian border, thousands of Vlach and Serbian refugees came to Transylvania.

Between 1002 and 1526, Transylvania was part of the Kingdom of Hungary, led by a voivode appointed by the King of Hungary. After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Transylvania became part of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom. Later, in 1570, the kingdom transformed into the Principality of Transylvania by the Treaty of Speyer, which was ruled primarily by Calvinist Hungarian princes. The Eastern Hungarian king became the first prince of Transylvania, according to the treaty, the Principality of Transylvania continued to be part of the Kingdom of Hungary in the sense of public law, which stressed in a highly significant way that John Sigismund's possessions belonged to the Holy Crown of Hungary and he was not permitted to alienate them.

The Habsburgs acquired the territory shortly after the Battle of Vienna in 1683. In 1687, the rulers of Transylvania recognized the suzerainty of the Habsburg emperor Leopold I, and the region was officially attached to the Habsburg Empire. The Habsburgs acknowledged Principality of Transylvania as one of the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, but the territory of principality was administratively separated from Habsburg Hungary and subjected to the direct rule of the emperor's governors. In 1699 the Ottomans legally acknowledged their loss of Transylvania in the Treaty of Karlowitz; however, some anti-Habsburg elements within the principality submitted to the emperor only in the 1711 Peace of Szatmár, and Habsburg control over Principality of Transylvania was consolidated. The Grand Principality of Transylvania was reintroduced 54 years later in 1765.

The Hungarian revolution against the Habsburgs started in 1848. The revolution in the Kingdom of Hungary grew into a war for the total independence from the Habsburg dynasty. Julius Jacob von Haynau, the leader of the Austrian army was appointed plenipotentiary to restore order in Hungary after the conflict. He ordered the execution of The 13 Hungarian Martyrs of Arad and Prime Minister Batthyány was executed the same day in Pest. After a series of serious Austrian defeats in 1849, the empire came close to the brink of collapse. Thus, the new young emperor Franz Joseph I had to call for Russian help in the name of the Holy Alliance. Czar Nicholas, I answered, and sent 200,000 men strong army with 80,000 auxiliary forces. Finally, the joint army of Russian and Austrian forces defeated the Hungarian forces. After the restoration of Habsburg power, Hungary was placed under martial law. Following the Hungarian Army's surrender at Világos (now Șiria, Romania) in 1849, their revolutionary banners were taken to Russia by the Tsarist troops and were kept there both under the Tsarist and Communist systems (in 1940 the Soviet Union offered the banners to the Horthy government).

After the Ausgleich of 1867, the Principality of Transylvania was once again abolished. The territory then became part of Transleithania,"Transylvania", Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2008. an addition to the newly established Austro-Hungarian Empire. Romanian intellectuals issued the Blaj Pronouncement in protest.

The region was the site of an important battle during World War I, which caused the replacement of the German Chief of Staff, temporarily ceased German offensives on all the other fronts and created a unified Central Powers command under the German Kaiser. Following defeat in World War I, Austria-Hungary disintegrated. Elected representatives of the ethnic Romanians from Transylvania, Banat, Crișana and Maramureș backed by the mobilization of Romanian troops, proclaimed Union with Romania on 1 December 1918. The ''Proclamation of Union'' of Alba Iulia was adopted by the Deputies of the Romanians from Transylvania and supported one month later by the vote of the Deputies of the Saxons from Transylvania.

The national holiday of Romania, the Great Union Day (also called ''Unification Day'') occurring on December 1, celebrates this event. The holiday was established after the Romanian Revolution, and marks the unification not only of Transylvania but also of the provinces of Banat, Bessarabia and Bukovina with the Romanian Kingdom. These other provinces had all joined with the Kingdom of Romania a few months earlier. In 1920, the Treaty of Trianon established new borders, much of the proclaimed territories became part of Romania. Hungary protested against the new state borders, as they did not follow the real ethnic boundaries, for over 1.3 or 1.6 million Hungarian people, representing 25.5 or 31.6% of the Transylvanian population (depending on statistics used),Varga, E. Árpád
''Hungarians in Transylvania between 1870 and 1995''
Translation by Tamás Sályi, Budapest, March 1999, pp. 30-34 were living on the Romanian side of the border, mainly in the Székely Land of Eastern Transylvania, and along the newly created border.

In August 1940, by the Second Vienna Award, with the arbitration of Germany and Italy, Hungary gained Northern Transylvania (including parts of Crișana and Maramureș) totaling over 40% of the territory lost in 1920. This award did not solve the nationality problem, as over 1.15–1.3 million Romanians (or 48% to more than 50% of the population of the ceded territory) remained in Northern Transylvania while 0.36–0.8 million Hungarians (or 11% to more than 20% of the population) continued to reside in Southern Transylvania. The Second Vienna Award was voided on 12 September 1944 by the Allied Commission throug
the Armistice Agreement with Romania
(Article 19); and the 1947 Treaty of Paris reaffirmed the borders between Romania and Hungary, as originally defined in the Treaty of Trianon, 27 years earlier, thus confirming the return of Northern Transylvania to Romania.

From 1947 to 1989, Transylvania, along with the rest of Romania, was under a communist regime. The ethnic clashes of Târgu Mureș occurred between ethnic Romanians and Hungarians in March 1990 after the fall of the communist regime and became the most notable inter-ethnic incident in the post-communist era.

File:Sarmisegetusa Regia - Templele patrulatere mici - Zona sacra – Gradistea Muntelui, Muntii Sureanu, Hunedoara, Romania 19.JPG, Ruins of Sarmizegetusa Regia
File:Castrum Apulum 2011 - Porta Principalis Dextra-1.jpg, Roman city of Apulum
File:Lanzedelli - Târg în Transilvania 3.jpg, A market scene in Transylvania, 1818
File:Original_Photo_National_Museum_of_Union-Alba_Iulia.jpg, The National Assembly in Alba Iulia (December 1, 1918), declaring the Union of Transylvania with Romania

Geography and ethnography

The Transylvanian Plateau, high, is drained by the Mureș, Someș

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