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Banat and Baka: Geography, History and Ethnographic
Cartography
The present thesis sets out to examine the ways in which areas of complex
populations are illustrated by thematic, or ethnographic, maps, and to draw
attention to some of the techniques by which these maps achieve their effects. It
focuses primarily on ethnic cartography as practised in two adjacent territories
on the northern edge of the Balkans the Banat and Ba!ka.
It will trace the gradual improvement in technique until the mid "#th century,
and argue that some of these advances have been forgotten, so that the recent
revival of the discipline has been characterised by maps of a technically inferior
standard to some of those produced more than half a century ago.
It is felt however, that an appreciation of the ethnic cartography of the regions
will be impossible without a good grounding in their geographical and historical
background. The scene is therefore first set by a discussion of the geographical
and climactic characteristics of the two territories, and a summary of the history
that has been played out here, from the medieval $ungarian kingdom to recent
days. This is intended to create a rich backdrop against which some of the
disputes may be more clearly understood.
The next section examines the development of ethnographic thematic
cartography within general cartography and its growth, particularly within
%entral and &astern &urope as a political tool. The main methodologies will be
described and evaluated in turn. 'n examination of the application of the various
methodologies to the Banat and Ba!ka follows. ' representative selection of
mainly (erman, $ungarian and )omanian maps of various scales are referred to
and examined for evidence of tendentiousness in their design.
*
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There follows a discussion of local toponymy and an introduction to the
substantial +lace ame )egister, which forms a supplement to this work. The
(I-, which has been developed as a part of this research, and is the source formany of the maps herein, is not included in this presentation, but its nature,
limitations and future potential are discussed.
GEOGRAPHICAL AN ECONO!IC IN"L#ENCE$ ON
$E%%LE!EN% IN %HE BANA% AN BA&'A(
)*nction and o+erap
The Banat and and Ba!ka $ungarian, Bnt, Bcska/ (erman, Banat,
Batschka) are two adjoining but separate territories on the fringe of
south0central &urope which have, for most of the twentieth century, been
shared by )omania, 1ugoslavia and $ungary. Their geographical
boundaries are almost entirely natural, comprising principally of rivers,
but have frequently been in conflict with their administrative boundaries.
%onsequently, a range of territorial configurations and alternative names
are recognised, reflecting the historical ebb and flow of political power in
the region. Indeed, the interest of the Banat and Ba!ka resides
substantially in their being located at the junction and overlap of a
medley of different types of frontiers a fact, which has contributed to
their fluid and colourful histories. It has been conventional to treat the"
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Banat and and Ba!ka before *2"# as discrete units in their own right.
however, much of the literature passes over or obscures the point that
these territories have but rarely corresponded to political units, even
when entirely within the frontiers of a single state. Between *34" and
*2*2, for instance, when both regions were wholly inside $ungary, there
was indeed an exact correspondence between the megye county5 of
B6cs0Bodrog and the B6cska. There was also an exact match between
Toront6l, Temes and 7rass80-9:r;ny megyekpl.5 and the geographical
Banat, but the three did not have any special collective status see map
"5. Both the Banat and Ba!ka have more usually been broken up
between smaller units, or been incorporated into larger wholes. &ach
territory, however, has a particular history, and the sourcesconventionally identify each of the pair as discrete units and distinct
from each other.
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Na-ing Con+entions in the %e.t
Banat, Baka
$ereinafter, except where specified, the term Banatshall be understood
to be coterminous with the whole territory of Temes, Toront6l and
7rass80-9:r;ny vrmegyek counties5, as defined in *2*#. +ost0Trianon,
the three parts shall be referred to as the Romanian Banat, Yugoslav
Banat, and Hungarian Banatrespectively. The term Baka-erbo0%roat
atin5 spelling5 is used in this dissertation as a general, non0political
term for the southern termination of the Canube 0 Tisa corridor. Dith
$ungarian spelling Bcska5 it will be used to refer to the historical$ungarian counties of B6cs and Bodrog, and their combination, B6cs0
Bodrog, until Trianon/ and the reconstituted county of *2@*0@@. The
Hungarian Bcskashall mean the part of the B6cska that remained with
$ungary after Trianon. The Yugoslav Baka will be used to refer to the
section of the B6cska detached from $ungary by the Treaty of Trianon
i.e. that portion of the Vojvodinalocated between the Canube and Tisa.
/o0+odina
The term Vojvodina, except where specifically noted, will be used to
cover the 1ugoslav Ba!kaand the 1ugoslav Banat jointly, but should not
be taken automatically to include the Sremdistrict -rijem, -9er;ms;g,
-yrmien, -irmium5, which has since the -econd Dorld Dar formed a part
of the 1ugoslav political unit, nor the Baranya triangle, which was only
associated with the Banat and Ba!ka between the world wars.
Pace1na-es+lace names will, as far as possible, be rendered in the administrative
language of the day, unless a standard form exists in the &nglish
language. The capital of the Banat, whose multiple name forms barelyE
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differ, will be referred to by a compromise standard, Temesvar.
>therwise we would have to refer to it as Temesv6r until the >ttoman
conquest, TimiFvar under Turkish administration, Temeswar between
*4*E and the incorporation of the Banat into $ungary *4E35. De would
then revert to Temesv6r until *2"# except during the existence of the
Wojodscha!t Ser"iens und #emeser Banat Temeswar5. 'fter Trianon
*2"#5 the )omanian version, TimiFoara, would prevail. In other cases
and where appropriate, a name will be accompanied by other0language
forms on its first appearance.
Dhere -tandard &nglish forms are available, river names will appearwithout diacritics. I shall refer throughout to the Canube Cunav G5,
Cunarea )5, Cuna =5, Conau C55/ the -ava -96va =5, -au C55 and
Crava Cr6va =5, Crau C55/ the Tisa Tis9a =5, TheiH C55, the =aros
=ure )5, =ariJ G5, =arosch C55, the Temes Timi )5, TimiJ G5,
Temesch C55/ and the Bega Begej 15 B;ga $55. =ore minor rivers, and
other physical geographical features mountains, marshes etc.5 shall be
referred to, so far as this is appropriate, in the majority language of the
country in which the feature is located today.
Basic Physica Geography
Bo*nds and Area
The Banat is a conventional label for a territorial entity whose existence,despite a remarkably chequered administrative history, is acknowledged
by -erb, )omanian, (erman and $ungarian, and there is close
agreement on its geographical bounds. The Canube, Tisa and =aros
embrace the Banat on three sides. Civided from the Ba!ka on the west
by the southward flow of the Tisa $ungarian, Tis9a5, the Banat is
separated KnaturallyL from -rem and -erbia, and Dallachia by the broad
stripe of the Canube as far as >rFova. Mrom here, the BanatLs boundary
runs north0eastward along the %erna valley, then among the +oiana04
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)usca mountains towards the Transylvanian Iron (ates +ass near Bistra
and thereafter northwards to +ojoga on the =aros. The BanatLs northern
border follows the river =aros from +ojoga downstream to 'rad and on
to its confluence with the Tisa by -9eged. Thus defined by Tisa, Canube,
%erna and =aros rivers, and +oiana0)usca =ountains, the Banat covers
"3,A## km", an area slightly smaller than Belgium
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indeed, never been so, as we shall see, and represent just one of many
historical territorial configurations. They also overlook the BanatLs
conflicting KnaturalL internal division into riparian lowland, heathland and
mountain, each of which tracts are distinct and have their corresponding
continuations beyond the historical Banat.
%he DlvidkConceptIn addition to the terms Banat, Ba!ka and Pojvodina in their various
spellings, there exists the regional $ungarian appellation (lvidk
-outhern )egion5, with a unique string of associations and a long,
complex history. In the =ediaeval $ungarian kingdom, the C;lvid;k,sometimes also referred to as the *lvidk or Vgvidk, included the
$ungarian counties of 7eve 7ovin5, Toront6l, B6cs Ba!5, -9er;m -rem5,
Palk8 Pukovar5, +o9sega +oQega5, and four KbanatesL of northern Bosnia
'ocsis, 23345. The $ungarian defeat at =oh6cs *A"E5 was succeeded
by the break0up of the kingdom, and until the +eace of +assarowit9
*4*35, imperial Turkish and $absburg frontiers would ebb and flow
across the centre and south of the country. 'fter its capture, the Banat
was held as a $absburg %rown territory until the late *3 thcentury. &ven
after this point, a $ungarian civil administration would not reach south to
the Canube until *34"0
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B6cska, and -9er;ms;g +o9sega, Per:ce and -9er;m counties5 until the
latter was transferred by act of +arliament in *3E3 to %roatia. o
mention is made of %san6d and 'rad. Mrom *3E3 until *2"#, there was
therefore a brief correspondence between C;lmagyarors96g and
TemesyLs narrow C;lvid;k 0 both comprised of just the B6n6t and
B6cska.
'fter Trianon, C;lmagyarors96g shifted northwards to within the new
borders, while C;lvid;k entered more common circulation as a general
label for the territories detached from $ungary to the 7ingdom of -erbs,
%roats and -lovenes 1ugoslav Banat, 1ugoslav Ba!ka, Baranja Triangle,=edjimurje, +rekmurje =urak:9, =uravid;k5. The )omanian Banat
dropped out of the frame, becoming absorbed into an Kexpanded
TransylvaniaL concept, which embraces all the territory acquired by
)omania from $ungary Transylvania, the )omanian Banat and the
%riFana 9one5.
Curing the -econd Dorld Dar, the 1ugoslav Banat 0 under (ermanoccupation 0 apparently also dropped out of the definition, which
concentrated for the duration on the territories actually recovered from
1ugoslavia Nyigri, ed.5 - viss+atrt (lvidk nem+etisgi k.e,
Budapest, *2@*. $a0ti(lvidk /01/2/0113Budapest, *2345. K(lvidkL,
like its northern equivalent K4elvidkL, became explicitly associated with
revisionist, expansionist policies NI II
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aftermath of the -econd Dorld Dar. The +aris peace treaties had
quashed $ungarian border revision, and %ommunist internationalist
sentiment theoretically rendered the whole question obsolete. In the
interests of co0operation, $ungarian sources therefore used the official
1ugoslav term, Pojvodina sometimes using the old $ungarian spelling,
Pajdas6g 7ocsis, *23
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'lthough they have been divided between three states since *2*2, the
traditional view of the Banat and to a lesser extent, that of the Ba!ka, as
discrete units has survived. Mor reasons that will become apparent, the
Banat has a strong tradition of particularism. &vidence that this has
survived until today is provided by the existence of a collaborative Study
:rou. !or the Banat Region between the Nniversities of TimiFoara
)omania5, ovi -ad M) 1ugoslavia5, -9eged $ungary5 and TRbingen
(ermany5, of which the present author is an associate member. The
presence of four main national groups each with distinguishable ethnic
territories has nevertheless fostered the emergence of divergent views of
history. The interest of these four groupsL respective specialists often
wanes beyond the geographical bounds of their own ethnic group. It is inan effort to bypass these limitations that we have chosen to treat the
Banat and Ba!ka in tandem. +airingBanat and Ba!ka also goes against
1ugoslav and )omanian visions of the regional community, as neither of
these visions includes all of both territories. 's detailed elsewhere, the
pairing of Banat and Ba!ka also does not correspond to a particular
$ungarian tradition. 'lthough all four nations recognise the terms and
agree on the territories they indicate, there is no nationalist viewpoint
that binds the two territories. 'cademics from any nationality can agree,however, that what links them is an extraordinary complexity of
populations, unsurpassed perhaps anywhere else in &urope. &ach of the
four main ethnic groups $ungarian, )omanian, -erb and (erman5 which
are represented in the Banat and Ba!ka has, or has had, near0absolute
dominance over certain parts of the regions. The extent of these areas,
the degree of group concentration, and of local ethnic dominance varies
both over the landscape and over time. The (ermans, for example, who
in the early decades of the twentieth century, accounted for
approximately a quarter of the population of the Banat and Ba!ka and
were highly concentrated in four main 9ones, are now reduced to a mere
sprinkling, even in the largest settlements of the )omanian Banat.
Landscape i+isions in the Banat and Baka
Banat
*"
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The Banat comprises several sub0units, each with their own
distinguishing features, and which are in some instances sharply
differentiated from one another. =any of these sub0units embrace parts
of the Banat and continue beyond its borders into neighbouring regions.
Topographically, the Banat may be divided into five basic land0types the
ower +lain, the Npper +lain, the &(eli"latska $e;ara'sand 9one, a hilly
9one and, lastly, the Banat $ighlands.
The lower plain about 3# to *## metres above sea level5, which runs mainly
alongside the =aros, Tisa and Canube, also extends inland along and
outward from the Temes and Bega rivers as far as MageO and %aransebeFrespectively. =ost of the lower plain was formerly a confusion of marshes
and choked watercourses. The majority of the land is extraordinarily
featureless S 7ohl, a nineteenth0century traveller remarked that &all is
smooth, unru!!led, and !lat as the ocean during a dead calm'. ' small
KbubbleL in this landscape just south of renjanin Be!kerek5, lies in the path
of the Temes and Bega rivers and, before effective canalisation, used to
form a significant barrier to drainage, a further cause of inundation in times
past.
Mrom north of renjanin, a barely perceptible rise to an altitude of ca. 2# 0
*"# metres5 brings one to the beginning of the Npper +lain, known in
(erman as theBanater Heideheathland5. This 9one, which runs in a broad
crescent north0eastwards via 7ikinda towards ugoj is almost equally
featureless, but is famed for the great fertility of its black soil, which permits
of several harvests a year, and commands a high price per hectare. =ost of
this land ended up in the hands of (erman colonist0farmers. -uccessive$absburg regulations reserved much of this region for (erman colonists,
whose loyalty to the crown was not in doubt, and who were deemed likely to
bring the best return from the high fertility of the land. >ften a pre0existing
non0(erman population was resettled to make room for the colonists, which
did little for harmony among the nationalities.
Gust west of PrJac in the southwest Banat is the only distinctly elevated part
of the western Banat. The (eli"latska $e;ara, a thinly inhabited region of*
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sandy desert formed during *3thcentury by Kirrational e
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andscape Civisions =ap
*A
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' narrow hilly belt in the central Banat, with its own distinct settlement0
pattern, is succeeded by densely wooded low mountains, rising quickly
towards the southeast. The slopes around the southern towns of PrJac and
Bela %rkva 1ugoslavia5 are cultivated with vines and herald the fringe of the
higher ground to the east.
The mineral0rich Banat $ighlands Banater Bergland5 climb to their highest
point *@@E m.5 at -emenic, near (VrWna Dolfsberg5, Brebu ou
Deidenthal5 and PVliug Mran9dorf5. The valleys of the Temes and %erna
rivers separate the Banat highlands from the -outhern %arpathians proper.
>n the borders of the Banat and Transylvania, the latter approach ","## m
in height.
%onsiderable precipitation is generated here, the runoff rapidly gathering in
the plain, but draining only slowly onward. The combination of high
precipitation in the mountain0districts and the broad inland extent of the
lower plain, with its very gradual gradient, expose wide areas to the
constant danger of inundation.
Baka
The Ba!ka consists geographically of two principal parts. The uplands
comprise the southernmost extremity of the sandy Canube0Tisa
interfluve, and extend from Baja 2# m above sea level, the nearby
>lomhegy being the highest point in the Ba!ka at *4@ m5 to -ubotica,
the principal town of the north Ba!ka, **@ m5 and south to the lineBe!ej0Prbas0-ivac. Below this line, the average elevation drops to 2#
metres, and as low as 3@ m in the southeast. The only higher ground
here is a small plateau around Titel *
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%he In5*ence o5 the Ri+ersIn any territory, the possibilities for locating new settlements are defined
by the quantity and quality of local water resources. Nnless
supplemented by more distant sources, local water resources also limit
the potential for population growth, for agriculture and for industry.either the Banat nor the Ba!ka can be described as arid, but both
territories suffer from great fluctuations in the spatial and seasonal
distribution of water, as well as major variations in water quality.
-ettlement along the major rivers has long been constrained by
extensive and regular flooding, while inhospitable mountains in the
eastern Banat have limited settlement there. The coincidence of the
historical borders of Banat and Ba!ka with of the Canube and Tisa has its
origin in the formerly untamed nature of those rivers and of their main
local tributaries Crava, -ava, =aros, Temes, Bega, Ber9ava etc.5. These
rivers were prone to rising regularly out of their beds and wandering over
wide and hence sparsely inhabited 0 but potentially extremely fertile 0
areas. 1et, while major rivers define their boundaries, their interiors are
criss0crossed by relatively weak rivers, prone to stagnation. arge areas
of both territories have only been made habitable by virtue of centuries
of works along these watercourses. owadays, the long0term viability ofsettlement is threatened by pollution of the rivers and of the shallow
phreatic5 aquifer, and by rapid depletion of the artesian aquifer.
The massive Canube and Tisa and their main tributaries have had a
particularly decisive effect upon the settlement0patterns in the Banat
and Ba!ka. 'pproaching -9eged from the north, the once tyrannically
meandering Tisa already carries almost the entire runoff from the -lovak
and -ub0%arpathian Nkrainian valleys, and has subsumed the -omeF
-9amos, -amosch5 from northern Transylvania and the %riF 7:r:s,
7reisch5 rivers from the Bihar =ountains. Its watershed extends over
*A4,*3E km", the fringe being defined by %arpathian, Tatra, =atra and
Bihar =ountains and the spine by some of the flattest country in &urope.
The river is therefore extremely susceptible to seasonal variations in its
flow, presenting the most serious problems in spring, when the alpine
*4
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snows melt. ' few minutes before it marches through the centre of
-9eged, it links arms with the =aros, which drains all -outhern
Transylvania except the >lt valley5.
The seasonal threat these two rivers posed to -9eged was greatly
exacerbated until the later *2th century by the fact that at their
confluence, the waters of the =aros and Tisa converged head0on.
&specially at times of high water, the smaller =aros, deprived of an
outlet, was forced back up its channel and had to find alternative routes.
The extent of the resulting marshland in *4
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)iver et
*2
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Before it subsumes the Tisa near Titel, the Canube has already been
swelled by the Crava and the great -ava and smaller Temes soon join in
at Belgrade. Thus within the space of a few do9ens of miles, between
'patin and Belgrade, the Canube gathers into itself the precipitation
from %roatia, -lovenia and almost the entire %arpathian Basin. The
valley of the Canube lies at an altitude of 32m at Baja in the Ba!ka, 4Am
at its junction with the Tisa, and before the building of the Iron (ates
Cam, the river at -viniOa was still at a level of EE metres. >nly here did
the gradient began to drop more markedly. The width of the river 0
again, before the Iron (ates construction 0 expanded and contracted
substantially over this distance, from *A# metres at the 7a9an (orge to
",*A# at (reben. Its path carries it over a number of shallows andnarrows 0 most noticeably in the 7a9an 0 Iron (ates (orge Nico6esc*1
Pop7or et a, The Iron (ate %omplex 'tlas, p. *A*5. The storage
capacity of the Canube valley down to the Iron (ates substantially
exceeds its capacity for discharge downstream. In ancient times, before
the Canube cut its way through, the +annonian +lain was one vast inland
sea 0 so at times of high water, it acts as a giant reservoir until the flood
can pass through the rapids. The very considerable potential for energy
generation offered by this natural phenomenon was exploited by thejoint 1ugoslav0)omanian Iron (ate project.
)eturning upstream, the average level of the Tis9a falls only @ metres
from 42 m to 4A m5 over the *A# km from =artonoJ to the Canube
8Petersen et a,*2
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historically congregated as close as considerations of safety allow to the
banks of the rivers. =artonoJ and Be!ej for example, were built within
tight meanders of the Tisa.
'round TimiFoara, between -9eged and 7ikinda, and between PrJac and
'libunar, there had been extensive permanent marshes since ancient
times. Curing the latter years of the Turkish occupation in the *3th
century, war damage and population decline resulted in wide expanses
of fertile land being simply abandoned. Dhen the $absburg armies
captured Temesvar in *4*E, the imperial administration extended to the
Banat a policy of colonisation and economic development already begunin the Ba!ka. Between *4*3 and *4"#, the modernisation of the fortress
of Temesv6r was the first priority. 's a means to this end, the choked
rivers of the surrounding area, which had degenerated into an incoherent
amalgam of marshland and watercourse and flowed along many shallow,
contorted channels, were separated, controlled and canalised. %hannels
flowing in and around Temesv6r were gathered northward to become the
Bega, while those to the south of the city were gathered yet further
south, to form the Temes. The Bega now flowed through Temesvar/ theTemischel, whose name had applied to the whole waterlogged valley,
disappeared, while several miles to the south, a new river, the Temes,
was created. ' second stage followed in *4"30
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flood plains continued to be fraught with danger until at least the late
nineteenth century and these remained more thinly inhabited than the
interiors of the regions. The problem of the entire Tisa watershed was
finally at last subjected to an overall strategy ith the !oundation o! the
&Society !or the Regulation o! the #isa' in /81?3 >ver the period *3A# to
*34A, under the auspices of %ount Istv6n -9;cheny, regulation shortened
the riverXs course by @E< kilometres
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another, between the Banat and Ba!ka on the Tisa. Important fortresses
were located at Belgrade, -emlin and +etrovaradin Banatska and Ba!ki
+alanka and >rsova. 7arlowit9 and +assarowit9, which commanded the
opening of the =orava valley, one of the principal historical routes to and
from the Balkan interior5, were venues for treaties of great significance
in *E22 and *4*3 respectively. Both were south of the Canube and thus
symbolised that control of major crossing0points had passed into the
hands of the $absburgs. 'fter defeat in the war of *4
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already been swept away. 'lbrechtsdorf, (yurgyevo, &lisenheim and
(iselahein were also all abandoned. =ariendorf had already had to be
abandoned in 'pril *3E2 due to flooding, and remained under water for
most of the year. )enewed flooding in =ay *34# decided the community
to apply to Pienna for a transfer to a higher location. This was eventually
accepted, but it was only in *34E that the last houses were abandoned
to the waters A*ssch*< der Ge-einde =oio;it>, 23?2@.
"@
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+ancevo
"A
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Gohannisfeld at 3* metres5, founded on some of the lowest0lying lands in
*3#E between Temesvar and Be!kerek., was situated in the narrow
corridor between the Temes and Bega rivers and, &like all other
communities in the Banat, has had to struggle against natural
catastro.hes and e.idemics'. In *3A@, the Bega overflowed its banks and
inundated all the fields. *3E
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Bodrogul ou, was \completely cut off from the outside world\.
&stimates of the total cost of the inundations in GudeOul 'rad where
**,@A" hectares "3,"3E acres5 were flooded5 ran to
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%hree $carce Reso*rces in the Lo;er Banat 1 $tone, =ood and"resh =ater
>ne of the peculiarities of the lower Banat and Ba!ka 0 and here thedistinction between lower lying ground and the Banat highlands must be
emphasised 0 is a great scarcity of stone. %elebi states that all streets
and lanes in Turkish Temesvar were built from wood, as &in this !ertile 333
land there as not a stone to "e !ound, not even the si+e o! a "eanE L
>nly the old $unyadi citadel 0 the tortoiseLs KheadL 0 was built of stone.
The rest of the fortress and city, including the streets, were built entirely
of wood F&vliya, - e y h ] a t n k m e P
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around was &one thick .udding o! mud'and 7ohl regretted the complete
absence of any stones one could use instead. $e reproduces an
anonymous otherLs characterisation of roads in the Banat as &stri.s o!
"og enclosed "eteen to ditches'3 $e then noted, however, that &the
tough slime o! a Banat .lain soon dries, and then "ecomes hard as
stone''oh,
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installed in the *2th century, these had to be pulled by hand. They
remained the principal source of water until _tuica was linked to the
main water supply in *24# Banater Post, Ath>ctober *22E5. Nntil this
century, the bad water was a constant source of cholera epidemics were
a regular occurrence, often arising as a consequence of floods.
Gohannisfeld *,E@E inhabitants in *3A* Hand"uch der Wojodscha!t
Ser"ien und des #emeser Banats*[email protected], lying between the Temes and
Bega rivers downstream from Temesvar, suffered both inundation and
cholera in *3
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A !ost Insa*9rio*s Ci-ateThe combination of regular, devastating floods, the marshes and the
shortage of solid building materials locally to the consequent detriment
of the quality of housing5, with the poor quality of drinking0water,induced a poor general standard of health among the population, amply
reflected by the widely0quoted colonist saying &dem Crsten den #od,
dem Jeiten die Kot, dem (ritten das Brot'. 7ohl reported that he
stench o! the stagnating aters, com"ined ith the sultry, heavy air o! a
hot Banat summer F&!or eeks together there is sometimes a .er!ect
calm333') could "ecome over.oering,particularly in Temesvar. Curing
his visit to the city in about *3@#, &the inner !ortress o! the ton !elt like
a "aker's oven333 there as not a "reath o! air to "e had3 A! the tothousand soldiers o! the garrison, nine hundred ere in hos.ital in one
eek333'7ohl, "435.
In the wake of the disastrous Turkish war of *4rsova in the *3@#s. &Kohere had @ heard the su"ject o! health so
constantly discussed as at Arsova, and indeed throughout the Banat'3 By*3A
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The Banat and Ba!ka have remained difficult environments, however. '
series of villages the 4ran+is+eische Waldsiedlungen Mran9dorf,
Dolfsberg, Dolfswiese, Deidental, indenfeld, Bu9iasch5 founded in the
*3"#s in the -emenic =ountains of the -outhern Banat, where timber
and fresh water did not present problems were soon abandoned and,
when re0established, barely survived, because of harsh winters and an
exceedingly short growing season $ch-idt, *22*5. >ne of the villages
indenfeld5 presently has a population of one. =ontenegrin colonists to
the 1ugoslav Ba!ka after the end of the -econd Dorld Dar experienced
the harsher side of that region. 'mong all the post0war colonists, they
suffered the most heavily from contagious diseases, tuberculosis and
gastric ailments. This was brought on by a Msura"ondance dMeau etdMhumiditMcombined with Xchangements e
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municipal.
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Bega are extremely polluted when they reach the CTC canal, and are
again subjected to heavy pollution by the renjanin area. The Temes,
dammed at its source Trei 'pe5 suffers from pollution on a similar scale
to the Bega. Mrom being an anglerLs paradise, it degraded badly between
*23A and *22#, and this degradation has accelerated since then. The
latica 'ranca5, which follows an old course of the =aros, by which it is
still influenced via subterranean streams, has a low volume of water
passing along a very wide bed at a very gradual gradient. ' couple of
canals have been built linking it to the =aros, and pumping is necessary
when the Tisa is high. The BWr9ava is in many ways typical for a Banat
river. Its swift upper course, steep and narrow, and dammed at several
points. gives way to a slower alluvial breadth in the plain. The %erna inthe south0east5 has been dammed twice for hydroelectric power.
Canas
In the 1ugoslav Banat, the KCTC Dater =anagement %o.L is responsible
for the maintenance of the major canals. Their remit covers drainage,irrigation, dilution of polluted streams and the supply of water for
industry and settlements. In several places, ox0bow lakes left behind by
the meandering rivers have been retained for fishing and tourism. Their
principal concern is the CTC canal, but also the 7ikinda %anal, controlled
sections of the 1ugoslav Banat rivers and related canals, along with
pumping stations, locks and dams. But many communes also maintain
extensive networks of dykes and canals +landiJte looks after A#* km
and ovi Be!ej, @24.A km.
The brackish nature of the rivers of the plains, combined with their high
levels of pollution, causes water for irrigation and domestic use to be
drawn principally from the ground waters. In the 1ugoslav Banat, the
best quality water is to be found in the extensive artesian aquifer which
is to be found at depths of between A# and A## metres. The quality of
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water is not uniform throughout, and often contains methane and free
hydrogen sulphide, which gives it Kan unpleasant smell and odourX. Dater
from greater depths is warmer and shows a higher degree of
mineralisation.
Nntil the *24#s, the majority of wells deeper than *## metres had
sufficient natural pressure to bring water to the surface unaided. There
has been widespread drilling of artesian wells due the fact that the water
can usually be used without purification, and the majority of settlements
in the 1ugoslav Banat have A 0 *# or more artesian wells for water supply
and irrigation. This level of exploitation has led to a negative waterbalance in the aquifer, and it is currently dropping at an average rate of
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%he Nat*ra Bessings o5 the Banat
The Banat does, however, have some redeeming features, and these are
of such magnitude as to have encouraged large0scale state programmesof colonisation and a constant stream of fortune0hunters. The fertility of
the lower0lying land is such that two or even three harvests a year can
be made without recourse to fertiliser, and an occasional disaster due to
storm, flood, drought or frost can thus be more readily borne. The
production0level of Banat and Ba!ka wheat became gradually more
significant during the *2thcentury and was priced highly due to having
had a higher gluten content than that grown in (ermany. Its importance
was undermined by the opening of the %anadian and N- prairies,although a high yield meant that it still remained competitive. The
region also supported significant oats, mai9e and pork production in
addition to the traditionally important raising of horses and cattle.
Dhile the Ba!ka and the lower Banat suffered from an almost total lack
of mineral ores, the Banat mountains, in contrast, were a veritable
treasure0house. =ining had been done in these mountains since the
time of the )omans 0 perhaps the Cacians. Bavarian and -tyrian miners
were operating in the XBanater BerglandX of the $ungarian kingdom as
early as the *
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abandonment of mining in the Banat, the discovery of massive hard0coal
deposits later in the century again boosted the regionXs importance. By
the nineteenth century, the 'ustro0$ungarian
Staatseisen"ahngesellscha!t-T&(5 had acquired from the crown virtual
monopoly in area of "A square miles, stretching from Bogschan BocFa5
in the north to eu0=oldova =oldova ou5 by the Canube. Dhile
(ermans were the chief beneficiaries of the $absburg policies, acquiring
along the way the richest lands and the greatest capital assets, the
Banat was not colonised by (ermans alone. Indeed, without the
contributions of -erbs and )omanians, among others, the (ermansL
remarkable feats of river control and economic organisation would
certainly have been far harder to achieve.
The overwhelming majority of the population was )omanian the capital
and profit however, were firmly in (erman hands. By the Mirst Dorld
Dar, the Banater Bergland had become the most significant heavy
industry 9one in south0east &urope, with important centres at )esica
)eFiOa5, >ravica >raviOa5, -teierdorf, and jmold8va =oldova ou5.
The most important mineral deposits locally were coal, iron, sulphur,copper, and lead, gold and silver. ' late *2thcentury -T&( document lists
"A other minerals that were extracted commercially Beschrei"ung der
Banater (omLne O).
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-T&(
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+opulation growth in the industrial towns was powerfully stimulated by
the discovery of new deposits, and by advances in technology which it
possible to extract known deposits profitably. >raviOa boomed early in
the eighteenth century but was soon overtaken by )eFiOa, and
subsequently by -teierdorf in the mountains, once a tortuous mountain
railway had been built there and it became possible to exploit and
transport its enormous hard coal deposits.
The settlement geography of the Banat is dominated by water, mainly
because there is too much of it. Nntil the mid eighteenth century, about
a third of the western Banat was permanently flooded, due to thecoincidence of very gentle gradients and the confluence of many of
&uropeLs major rivers within a few miles of the BanatLs borders.
-ettlement near the rivers has thus historically been extremely
ha9ardous. Temesvar, the capital of the Banat, grew up at a convenient
and well0protected river0crossing, but being surrounded by marshes and
suffering from a dearth of fresh water and solid building materials, was
home to a sickly population. These conditions were widespread
throughout the lower Banat and reached even into the mountains.
In sum, characteristics of the physical environment have historically
determined the location, si9e, and rate of growth of settlements in Ba!ka
and Banat. Cespite several large waves of colonists, with the exception
of the (erman0)omanian mining towns, few onetime villages have
consequently been able to develop into significant poles of attraction.
=ost of the *3th century foundations have remained essentially rural
farming communities. Mew have even expanded much beyond the
bounds established at the time of their foundation. The earlier stages of
the planned settlement of the western Banat and the lower Ba!ka
resulted in a patchwork environment, with a number of large villages
usually generously spaced, but sometimes abutting an older
settlement5, each locally significant but none so regionally. 's the Banat
and Ba!ka were predominantly agricultural regions, later colonists 0
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needing ready access to their allotted land 0 were mainly funnelled
towards new foundations which tended to be much smaller, and
squee9ed into lesser0used corners. Cespite the region being a
destination for hundreds of thousands of colonists since the beginning of
the eighteenth century, the net natural increase of the population has
remained low.< 'fter an initial burst associated with the first couple of
generations of the $absburg colonists, equilibrium was soon reached, set
by the limitations of the physical environment in combination with the
si9e of the original land holdings and by personal economic expectations.
-urplus population from the more populous villages migrated to newer
foundations, to the towns or abroad, southern )ussian being a common
destination. Indeed, by the late nineteenth century, the generallyprosperous (erman rural population in many of the larger villages was
facing a long0term decline, due to shortage of land and the prevalence of
a Xone0child0systemX. Nntil the later *2thcentury, the development of an
urban way of life was limited to the few old towns that had survived into
the $absburg period, and to the industrial 9one in the mountains.
. #ransylvania and the Banat3ondon, *2"#.@#
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A!INI$%RA%I/E HI$%ORD
In an area of conflicting territorial claims, the definition of where any
territory actually begins or ends is itself often a matter of dispute. >ne
need mention only =acedonia, where the rivalries of (reek, -erb and
Bulgar have served to cancel each other out and propagate the growth,
within an indeterminate territory, of a native =acedonian identity which
is neither (reek, nor -erb, nor yet Bulgar, and certainly not Turkish. The
present inquiry looks at a territory at the other end of 1ugoslavia, and
includes its historical extensions into )omania and $ungary. Dhile thereis little evidence of a specifically KPojvodinanL identity, the area is
another classic frontier 9one, and has historically been subject to
repeated changes of frontier and population. &ach successive change of
rule has brought in its train disastrous results for one part or another of
the population. PWe !ind ourselves here in a classic territory !or don!all
and ne starts3 Gonstruction and destruction succeed each other as
naturally as the seasonsP.@ipich, *2A"5 The area under consideration,
a battlefield for $ungarians, >ttomans, $absburgs and -lavs for two anda half centuries has, since *2*2, been an apple of discord between
1ugoslavia, )omania, $ungary and (ermany.
The ebb and flow of various administrations over the territory has given
rise to a number of conflicting viewpoints among the main protagonists
on what constitutes the regional KcommunityL. These include the
concepts of K-outhern $istorical $ungaryL that of Budapest5, Pojvodina
that of Belgrade5, K&xtended TransylvaniaL shared by $ungarians and
)omanians5 and that of the Canube -wabians. There are, of course, not
simply four main schools of thought, with minor ones representing the
viewpoints of the less numerous national groups. There is rather a great
&-Ja, hier sind wir im lassischen !ande der "nterg#nge und neuen $nf#nge% $uf&au und 'erstrungwechseln in nat)rlicher *olge wie die Jahres+eiten%QTranslation by Bru'e (it'hell .
@*
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range of writing from the balanced to the outrageous and differing in
ethnic viewpoint, period and enlightenment. -ome differences in opinion
arise naturally between the various language0groups due to imperfect
communication, and to their witnessing similar chains of events from
different perspectives.
's the present author has no family involvement with any of the regionXs
national groups, whatever biases may be detected in the following can
safely be said to have arisen during the process of research itself. These
will have been nourished in proportion with the balance of the sources he
has been able to consult and understand, which, limited by availabilityand language knowledge, are proportionately first in (erman, then
$ungarian, with some in &nglish or Mrench and a very few in )omanian.
anguage difficulties unfortunately prevent the author from commenting
on -erbo0%roat and )omanian literature, except such as has been
published in &nglish or other translation. $istorians are always products
of their cultural environment, and this is true also of the present author.
But he may be able to avoid some of the pitfalls into which the authors
of some of his sources have plunged 0 whether wilfully or innocently, orin the blind service of the state. Dhere embittered territorial disputes are
concerned, it seems that few historians have been really able to
overcome or completely ignore the inherited romanticised traditions of
historical myth, or the pressures of patriotism, and emotions of conquest
or defeat confound objectivity and detachment.
P-s a rule, the victor had conNuered the Banat "ut recently and sought
to justi!y, or at least disguise, this act o! !orce through historical P!actsP3
#he de!eated, in contrast, had not yet overcome the .ain, and sought to
justi!y or !urther their e!!orts to recover the lost territory "y a similar use
o! historical P!actsP3 #he truth is o!ten miday "eteen these P!actsP,
ignored, as "eing Pjust not askedP FRieser *22", @A5
Translation y Bruce Mitchell. Taken in conte!t" This #uotation refers to the $ungarian %Romanian disputes" ut can e just as easily applied to any other situation.@"
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!edie+a H*ngary
In the mediaeval $ungarian kingdom, two regions covered the territory
understood today as the Banat. The K#emesvidkL or K#emesk+L was an
ill0defined territory bounded by the Temes, Bega, =aros, 7:r:s and lower
Tis9a rivers, and comprised the counties Toront6l, Temes, 7rass8 and
7eve. Np until *
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base of %harles )obert until he was able to impose his rule over the
rebellious nobility. 'fter %harles )obert transferred his entourage to
Pisegrad, Temesvar and southern $ungary remained heavily militarised.
(radually increasing Turkish pressure in the southern Balkans stimulated
a northward flow of the Balkan peoples, especially after the collapse of
-tefan CuJanXs -erbian 7ingdom in *
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took Belgrade. By *A"E, the kingdom was in turmoil again. 7ing udwig II
was unable to assemble an army sufficient to meet the threat posed by
the ambitious -ultan, and both he and the majority of his army were
killed at the Battle of =oh6cs. The two southernmost counties of
$ungary, -9er;m and Palk8, with the fortresses of -lankamen,
+etrovaradin, Ilok, >sijek and Pukovar, were annexed to the >ttoman
&mpire. The $ungarian disaster at =oh6cs left two rival claimants to the
crown, 6polya on the one hand and Merdinand of $absburg, 'rchduke of
'ustria on the other. This left $ungary at the mercy of both $absburgs
and >ttomans and by *A@*, the country was effectively divided between
them, with Transylvania playing an uncomfortable balancing act off to
the side.
Ha9s9*rg Otto-an Ri+ary
Dithin the Turkish territory, %entral $ungary was transformed into a
+ashalik, under a Beglerbeg. Transylvania became a -andjak under a
nominally independent prince, while the Banat was translated into a-andjak of TimiFvar. The Ba!ka was transformed into a -andjak of
-eged. 'll retained some independence, and while considerable military
forces were retained in the Banat, recruited substantially among -erb
refugees, support for the -ultanXs planned *A@@0A expeditions was
limited to logistics Berindei, /einstein, "@0A5. In *A@20A*, efforts to
unite the former $ungarian territories under the $absburg crown
provoked >ttoman military action. In *AA", having been repulsed the
previous year, the Turks returned in larger numbers, *E#,### men and
*E# guns arriving before Temesv6r in Gune. The garrison, of ","*# men,
consisting mainly of $ungarians, with the rest made up of -paniards,
(ermans and Bohemians Preyer, @@5 held on for a month before finally
succumbing on "2th Guly. The fortresses of ippa, %san6d, -9ent0=ikl8s,
and %sakov6r subsequently fell swiftly into Turkish hands. It is claimed
that whatever sedentary $ungarian population still remained in the
Banat at this date had disappeared by the end of the *AA#s 'ocsis*232
@A
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"#5. 't some point before the end of the *Eth century, a ugoji0
%aransebeFi Banat, with own Ban, was detached from the -anQak of
TimiFvar and subordinated to the rulers of Transylvania, thus being
placed under indirect Turkish authorityPreyer, Attoman influence prevailed over most of $ungary and throughoutTransylvania, and would continue to do so to a diminishing degree until
*E22. $ungarians nevertheless persevered in their attempts to break
free from both them and the $absburgs. Mrom *A2@03, for example,
B6thory sigmond, +rince of Transylvania, pursued the struggle for
independence substantially in the Banat. $e incited the Ban of ugos to
invade the TimiFvar Banat in *A2@ and raise local Bulgars, -erbs and
Plachs against the Beglerbeg. %apturing Becskerek, he repelled four
attacks before being overwhelmed. The next year, sigmond himselfinvaded the Banat and captured Bogs6n and Persec, Macset, 'rad, ippa
and %san6d. In both *A2E and *A24, he unsuccessfully besieged
TimiFvar, on the second occasion being frustrated by floods. In the
following year, he held %san6d against a Turkish siege and won a
significant victory before ugos.
Though the Beglerbeg of TimiFvar was always a senior official, the
(overnor -tadholder5 seems to have been of a different mettle, and in
*E#@ and *E#4, two unpopular (overnors were driven out by the cityXs
exasperated population 8Preyer, AE5.either was reinstated by the +orte,
which raises interesting questions about the relationship between the
rulers and the ruled. ' new series of wars, between various leading
$ungarian nobles, raged fitfully in and around the Banat from *E#" to
*E#3.@E
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Though recurrent devastation of parts of the Banat and Ba!ka was
wrought by all of the various combatants 0 including $ungarians 0 the
Turks took good care at least of TimiFvar. The city was a crucial staging0post for Turkish campaigns against Pienna and Transylvania, and
profited from trade with the several >ttoman armies which passed
through. It was the TurksX most secure possession in $ungary and their
most pivotal, as illustrated by their saying Kthey who capture Buda
acquire a city, but they who capture TimiFvar win a country Rieser, p. @@,
quoting from T. Trpcea/ #imivar 2 :hid #uristic, BucureFti *24A5. It served as
jumping0off point for any campaign against the +artium or Transylvania,
and protected communications with Buda. The garrison consisted of *#0
*",### men, with "## cannon, and the fortifications were constantly
modernised. Information on the condition of TimiFvar in the later
decades of the >ttoman administration rests substantially on the report
of &vlija %elebi, who stayed in TimiFvar between *EE# and *EE@.
'ccording to his report, the Ktortoise in the swampL was built entirely of
wood, with whitewashed oaken walls fifty to sixty feet thick whose
maintenance was entrusted to seventy villages. The circuit of walls could
be walked in an hour, so the city itself cannot have been very large,
however #imioara ?DD, TimiFoara, *2E2. 's reported by )ieser, @2. 'lso
excerpt printed in "asse, HorstF $ch-idt, )ose5:-n (onau und #hei>
Banater Tese"uch3 andsmannschaft der Banater -chwaben5 *E5. %elebiXs
report is confirmed by a description by $. >ttendorf from *EE4 A(P( Petri,
*2EE. 's reported by Rieser, @25)ieser quotes, without offering a date, an
assertion in KTimiFoara 4##X, that in the fortified part of the city, *,"##
houses were located in four quarters, along with baths, cafes, schools,mosques, monasteries, and over @## shops. Dood0clad streets linked the
city to ten suburbs with a further *A## houses #imioara ?DD, quoted in
Rieser, A#5.The same source describes TimiFvar as a Kcorner of +aradiseL
Rieser A#5. ' late >ttoman text describes the +rovince of TimiFvar,
before the KPienna 1earL *E3
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and villages.4The $ayducks, who inhabited some of them, were famous
for the quality and si9e of the herds they would drive to western
markets. It may also be pertinent to point out that fiscal records relating
to fishing on the Canube only begin during the Turkish period, with the
revenue going directly to the -ultan or -anQak0Beg iro0e+i, )eFiOa,
*22A5.
The reign of eopold I *EA30*4#A5 of $absburg saw the tide turn
decisively against the >ttoman &mpire The first major defeat of Turkish
land forces was inflicted at -9entgottard in *EE@, and in *E3ttomansL grand effort against Pienna ended in catastrophe. The siege,led by the (rand Pi9ier 7ara =ustafa, brought about an otherwise
unlikely coalition of %hristian princes an international relief army led by
the +olish king Gan -obiewski descended on Pienna. -hortly before
joining battle at the 7ahlenberg, 'hmedpasha, Beglerbeg of TimiFvar,
made himself infamous and his -ultan hated by leading the merciless
slaughter of ld -erbiaL i.e. 7osovo5. with the
retreating $absburg armies. Traditionally, he was accompanied by
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@#,### families, but some authorities cast doubt on this figure
8$ch-idt, )ose5 23 J2@-erbs were accepted within the expanded
bounds of the $absburg &mpire and granted extensive liberties in return
for forming the &mpireLs first line of defence against the >ttomans.
)enewed hostilities resulted in a $absburg victory at the Battle of
-lankamen *2.3.*E2*5, where the (rand Pi9ier was killed, and another
further south, at iJ. The first (erman colonists, artisans, were settled in
+eterwardein fortress by *E2@ Die Donauschwaben.335. *E24 saw a
temporary conquest of -arajevo and, after initial Turkish successes in the
Banat, their crushing defeat at enta on the Tis9a5 by +rince &ugne of
-avoy +rin9 &ugen5, despite the $absburg armies being hampered by
limited revolts and even defections of whole units to the Turks. The+eace of 7arlowit9 now -remski 7arlovci5 of "Eth Ganuary *E22
formalised a still unstable situation, wherein the $absburgs were
confirmed in possession of the Ba!ka and central $ungary, Transylvania
and -lavonia, along with the peripheral towns of the Banat Petersen et
a(, *2
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nevertheless re0established, and the 'rchbishop of 7alocsa reinstalled as
>bergespann $un. Misp6n eqv. ord ieutenant55 Petersen et a(
nly a few descendants of the original
$ungarian landowners were able to realise their claims, and most of the
land was in consequence taken over by the state, and distributed as
estates to loyal servants. The Tis9a and Canube banks were allocated to
various -lav0dominated =ilitary Mrontier units, facing -lavonia, -rem
-yrmia, -9er;ms;g5 and the Banat. The interior towns of -ombor and
-ubotica were considered exclaves of the military frontier in the county
lands. The development of the two countiesL civil administration wasthus hampered by denial of appropriate civic centres, proximity to the
border and the defining voice of the military authorities. Murthermore,
they were also dominated by the Pienna Ho!kriegsratand the privileges
of the -erb militia. Minally, the absence of a $ungarian nobility with local
tradition weakened the possibilities for a fully developed civil
administration. -erb militia were also established along the line of the
=aros, the northern limit of the Banat, partly to frustrate $ungarian 0
Turkish co0operation against the $absburgs. ' powerful fortress was builtat 'rad and garrisoned by (ermans. &fforts to introduce a new
administration for the parts of the Banat still under $absburg control
after the +eace of 7arlowit9 *E225 were frustrated by the continuing
Turkish hold over TimiFvar. evertheless, %atholic Bulgars were settled
in Pinga during the reign of eopold I d. *4#A5, some -erbs from
+atriarch IpekLs following were settled temporarily in the south. There
was additionally some settlement from across the Tisa, and a small
number of ex0military (erman invalids were also settled in Pinga.
The formerly flourishing economy of TimiFvar and its dependent villages
-ee K(er Te von #emeschar') collapsed during this period, due to
the heavy demands of the Turkish military for supplies, the depredations
of the various armies and militias disputing possession of the land, and
the flight of population. The campaigns of *E34024 were foughtA#
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substantially over the possession of the Banat and, consequently, the
population of the province virtually disappeared. The $absburg armies
applied K-corched &arthL tactics, particularly around TimiFvar, which they
had isolated between -eptember *E33 and >ctober *E2#. >sman 'ga,
an >ttoman interpreter from TimiFvar captured in -ummer *E33,
described the environs of the city thus Kabout three hours short of
TimiFvar we camped in a forest, as most of the )aXy non0=uslim
population5 of the province of TimiFvar had even at this early date fled in
all directions, and their villages lay there abandoned. The whole area
was as though extinct and also most unsafeL (er :e!angene der
:iauren.,
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The recurrent warfare led to a gradual concentration of the population in
a few, fair0si9ed settlements, while the smaller, more vulnerable,
outlying settlements were progressively abandoned. &xtensive territories
thus came to be extremely thinly inhabited, and acquired over time the
$ungarian epithet Kpus9taL desolation5. andowners apparently initially
retained both title to and occasional use of their vulnerable lands, and
exercised these from the relative safety of the towns. -urviving
settlements thus became associated with pus9tas. In *4"#, for example,
Baja included twelve pus9tas within its bounds, of which only four were
cultivated =a>: 5. The limits (er., :emarkungen5 of these pus9tas,
while originating in a lost past, being set during the mediaeval period by
royal gift and purchase retained an influence over the later colonisations.Curing the *3thcentury process of colonisation, (emarkungen were often
amalgamated, as new the villages were larger than their mediaeval
forebears, but served nevertheless as a guide. >nly in the -chwbische
$eide in the north0west Banat5, where much land became available only
after the *3th century drainage0schemes, does one find regularised
bounds see Billed, -6ndorh69a5.
The end of the 7urut9 rising brought the full incorporation of
Transylvania into $absburg $ungary *4*ttoman successes against )ussia *4**5 and Penice
*4*A5, the -ultan refused to acquiesce in a $absburg demand to restore
the status quo ante. The war that followed ended disastrously for the
Turks. In early 'ugust *4*E, &ugne won a great victory at +eterwardein
and marched straight for TimiFvar. The siege began in mid0'ugust. It was
defended by *3,### men, including A,### $ungarians under the
command of Imre Th:k:ly, onetime leader of the 7urut9 rebels and the
TurksX increasingly unfortunate candidate for the +rincipality of
Transylvania Rieser, A*5. Initially, Kwhen requested to surrender, the
+asha who was defending the place replied that he knew perfectly well
that he couldnXt win, but that he felt it his duty to contribute to theA"
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)enown of +rince &ugne by making his victory more arduous and
gloriousL. !agris:
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Temesvar in *4*E
A@
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reduced to matchwood.Rieser, A*5. Mive days later, the Turks were
permitted to leave the city. The ew 1ear saw a further $absburg victory
at Belgrade. The +eace of +assarowit9 +oQarevac5 that followed on "*
Guly *4*4 confirmed earlier $absburg gains and additionally detached
the whole of the Banat from the >ttoman &mpire. Mive districts of
northern -erbia and ittle Dallachia >ltenia5, also came under the
$absburg &mpire.
Nnlike the Ba!ka, the new province was extremely rich in minerals and
its key strategic position across several passes made its immediate re0
attachment to the restive $ungarian territory undesirable. >n Banat im Eahre #%2C)7BriffautTheatre "e la guerre "ans le Bannat "e Temesvar, #%C)AA
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districts which would remain largely intact for the duration of the
%ameral Banat. ' KBanater BergenrichtungskommissionL was also set up
to further the exploitation of the mineral0rich highlands and was, in its
turn, replaced in *4"< by the Banater >berbergamt, based in >rawit9.
>n the instructions of the Pienna $ofkammer, =ercy was to repopulate
and cultivate the new province and stimulate manufacturing and mining.
$e was chiefly responsible for the first of the Scha"en+Ugeimmigrant
waves of (erman5, and thus for the introduction of about *"0*A,###
colonists between *4"" and *4"E. =any (erman settlements were
founded in the south of Banat see below5, and substantial progress was
made towards the drainage of the Banat through the building of the
Bega K-hipping %analL between *4"3 and *4
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had persuaded most to desert. ' Turkish army broke into the Banat from
the south0west the Kdisaster of >rsova and =ehadiaL5, but declined to
venture forth in strength much beyond 7ar6nsebes, despite a brief foray
along the Canube towards +ancsova. 's the (erman villages founded
thus far had been so located as to secure the principal lines of
communications, denuded of defence, these were ravaged by Turkish
and associated principally Plach5 forces. 'lmost the entire (erman
population fled from the south most who did not were killed or enslaved.
' mild outbreak of plague further terrified all sections of the population.
Dhen the war was brought to an end with the +eace of Belgrade *4
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'aroinische Ansied*ng
A3
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-ubsequent to the disastrous Turkish war and with the accession of
=aria Theresa *4@# 0 *43#5, the $absburg military frontier was
reorganised. The west and south of the Ba!ka, being covered by the
continued 'ustrian possession of -lavonia and -rem, remained under
$ungarian county administration. 't the Tisa0Canube confluence, a -erb0
dominated military district the K#schaikistendistriktL5 was allocated to
the Canube flotilla. The dissolution of the obsolete Tis9a0=aros military
frontier, rendered obsolete already by +assarowit9, was begun in *4@*.
This stimulated a major -erb migration, partly into expanded military
districts along the Banat Canube frontier, where a large number of -erb
villages were founded, and partly to )ussia. 'gents of the %9ars,
recruiting for the colonisation of Kew )ussiaL, were particularlysuccessful competitors for the footloose frontiersmen. The migration of
the -erbs meant that the lower Tisa valley had to be substantially
re0settled.
*4A* brought the establishment of civil administration in the K%ameralL
Banat excluding the military 9ones along the Canube5 and the raising of
-ombor and jvid;k ovi -ad5 in the Ba!ka to the status of )oyal Mree%ities. -9abadka -ubotica5 under the name =aria0Theresiopel, acquired
a similar privilege only in *442. The last vestiges of the =aros military
frontier were dissolved in *4A", but it was not until *4E@03 that a new
-erb military frontier was formalised along the Canube. The mining
estates were still administered separately within the districts, and their
inhabitants referred to as 5ontanisten in contradistinction to the
=ameralistenelsewhere these labels had no bearing on nationality or
language. ' new -dministrations.rLsident, the -panish0%roat Pillana0
+erlas, was appointed in *4A
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=aria Theresa reigned alone Goseph II was appointed co0regent in *4EA5,
the $ofburg was unable to exert much influence in the Banat.
>ne result of the -ilesian Dar of *4A3 had been the mortgaging of the
%ameral province to the Diener -tadtbanco and the bank resisted any
longer0term initiative that might imperil the provinceLs present revenues.
's a great part of those revenues derived from the -erbsL extensive
pastoral economy, upon which the food economy of the $absburg
&mpire was coming to depend, the bank opposed colonisation on the
almost uninhabited praedien similar to the pus9tas of the Ba!ka and
inner $ungary5 where most of the cattle0rearing was practised. +raedienwere mainly located in the waterlogged western part of the Banat, and
included completely abandoned and derelict settlements from the pre0
$absburg period, settlements devastated during the more recent
fighting, and partly inhabited villages, as well as dairies, waterlogged
meadows and marshes. The reasons for abandonment of a settlement
might be varied and included the direct impact of war/ epidemic/ tax
evasion, or desertion. The bankLs insistence that the extensive cattle
pastures remain untouched by colonisation underlined the urgency ofcanalisation and drainage of the BanatLs substantial marshes completed
*4E4025, which increased the amount of land actually available. The
(erman colonisation of the -econd K-chwaben9ugL *4E
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%heresianische Ansied*ng
E*
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administration was dissolved and replaced by a &Gommissio Regia
@ncor.oratia'. Its function was to oversee the transfer of the cameral
Banat, excluding the Banat military frontier districts set up between
*4E@ and *4E3, to $ungarian county administration, guide its political
and legal integration and manage the sale of the %ameral estates. The
counties of Temes, Toront6l, and 7rass8 were resurrected in *442. The
reign of Gosef II *43#0*42#5 was characteised by the so0called
KIose.hinismus', which coloured and sought to strengthen the hand of
central authority against that of provincial administrators. This included
Goseph first elevating Temesv6r to the status of )oyal Mree %ity *43*5,
and then abrogating the counties and unifying the Banat and Ba!ka in a
KTemeswarer 7reisL *43A5 so as to benefit the %ameral colonisationmechanism. Gosef II is reported to have made several incognito tours
through the Banat $ch-idt&(as Banat und die Banater Scha"en'in
"asse, $ch-idt:-n (onau und #hei> *4A5. The new administration was
very unpopular with the $ungarian nobility and repealed in *42#, the
previous KTheresianL system being reintroduced. GosephLs reign also
brought the third and final K-chwaben9ugL *43"0*4335. Dhile the first
K-chwaben9ugL stimulated mining and industry and the second
concentrated on increasing the physical population, the main objective ofthis colonisation was the improvement of agriculture by introducing
colonists from areas where the most modern methods prevailed.
GosephLs centralist innovations so irritated the $ungarian nobility that
almost all had to be reversed during his reign, and his successor,
eopold II *42#0*42"5 abandoned the policy altogether and declared
$ungary to be a Kfree and independent kingdom under its own lawsL
NIII ""5.
In *434, a new 'ustro0)ussian war with the >ttoman &mpire broke out
and a rising organised among the northern -erbs. ' $absburg army was,
however, defeated at -latina in the eastern Banat. Turkish forces
advanced to near Temesv6r and *@< settlements were ravaged,
including the most important mining centres. The Turkish booty included
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evacuated in time, so a repeat of *4ttoman &mpire was increasingly caught up in
the -erbian struggle for independence, and gradually lost its hold over
the Canube frontier. >nly the preoccupation of )ussia with the
apoleonic invasion of *3*" permitted the -ultan to suppress the
7araore rising of *3#@0*3*brenoviU
rising may be attributed in part to the final defeat of apoleon *3*A5
liberating the %9arLs hand in dealings with the >ttoman &mpire. Dith theretreat of the Turks, the military frontier became less of a necessity, but
the SanitLtskordon,which had supplemented it along its length from
*44#, remained in place
)osephinische Ansied*ng
E
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despite its restrictive effect on trade. ' glimpse of the SanitLtskordonin
action at >rsova, and the real fear of the plague on both sides of the
frontier, may be grasped from the detailed description in 7ohl. Cespite
its effect, however, imports to the $absburg &mpire from the Balkans
exceeded imports by a factor of five to one ampe,
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imperatives, had themselves issued invitations of varying generosity for
colonists. The embroidered versions of these invitations broadcast by the
7aisersL agents, coupled with misery at home and supposedly greater
opportunities for land, farming and trade, had persuaded would0be
colonists to leave home in their thousands. It is worth noting that the
greater part of the *3thcentury (erman emigration came not from the
smaller kingdoms and the petty principalities of the central (erman
space, but from the medium0si9ed territories of Baden, DRrttemberg and
the )hineland +alatinate, where life was continually threatened by the
encroaching Mrench 7ingdom. This was particularly true during the
predatory reign of ouis ?IP 0 and from Bavaria, which had been a major
victim of the Thirty 1earsX Dar. The impossible confusion of ThRringen,which might be expected to have produced
eopoldinsche'nsiedlung
EA
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great numbers of colonists due to the impotence of the numerous petty
princes, barely figures in the list of source territories for Banat colonists.
The colonisation of the Banat was however far from mono0ethnic in
nature although $ungarians were initially held at armXs length for
political and partly confessional reasons, )omanians and -erbs were
major beneficiaries of $absburg policy besides the (ermans and both
played central roles in the Banat economy. Bulgars, (ypsies and other
more minor groups were also welcomed. This does not mean that there
were not frictions between the various ethnic groups. In (erman
literature, one often comes across recriminations against the major
population0groups 0 principally the -erbs and )omanians 0 for a lack of
enthusiasm for the major construction and mining works. But the$absburg way of life was in conflict with their pastoral ways, so they
could not be realistically expected to contribute to their own demise.
Mriction between (erman and -erb would strongly influence the process
of colonisation throughout the *3thand *2thcenturies.
The patchwork quality of the $absburg lands was accentuated by the
nationalisms stimulated by the Mrench )evolution. 'ustriaLspreoccupation with the )evolutionary Dars and her numerous defeats at
the hands of apoleon, permitted her constituent nationalities more
freedom to observe their own particularities. The short0lived Illyrian
+rovinces *3#20*"5, for example, stirred previously dormant awareness
of a common -outh -lav heritage and proclaimed the possibility of a
common political future.
The $ungarians had also benefited from the humbling of Pienna, and
$ungarian anguage aw of *3"4 served notice that this was henceforth
to be the official language of +arliament. 'fter decades of pressure on
Pienna, the $ungarian language finally replaced atin as the official
medium of communication in *3@# for all offices of state. 1et the
=agyars resisted any other national groupLs political aspirations, even
those of the %roats, their longest0serving allies. It was made a crime toEE
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mention Illyria in public and, in *3@rsova to Zmoldova along the
7a9an stretch of the Canube valley Hro-adka @A, Ba*-ann @*5. '
(erman civil guard was raised in )esica after its occupation by the
$ungarian honv;ds and sought vainly to resist )omanian counter0
insurgents. The (ermans of the plain, and particularly of Temesvar,
however, remained loyal to the $absburg crown, and the city withstood aE4
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*##0day siege before being relieved. The $ungarian KinsurgentsLK final
defeat was at eu0Beschenowa, a few kilometres distant. >n *" th'ugust
*3@2, the $ungarian surrender was signed at Pil6gos $ellburg5, just
outside 'rad. 7ossuth began his exile from $ungary on *E th 'ugust,
crossing the Canube near >rsova after concealing the crown of -t.
-tephen in the riverbank.
%he =o0;odscha5t $er9iens *nd %e-eser Banat'fter the $ungarian defeat, the new emperor Mran9 Goseph II in
ovember *3@2 acknowledged the services of the -erbs and %roats by
uniting Banat and Ba!ka with part of -irmium in a Dojodscha!tSer"iens und #emeser Banatsee map5. The =ilitary Mrontier, and thus a
large proportion of the &mpireLs -erb population, was still excluded, and
(erman was made the official language of administration. The large
)omanian population of the eastern Banat further diluted the -erbsL
influence within the Dojwodschaft. 'n enumeration of the population
was made in *3A@. The published data reveals the total population by
settlement, but not the linguistic or national breakdown. The closest
language0data was from *3@#, which reported linguistic majorities
M;nyes5. The two datasets may be compared on the following map, but
a note of caution is necessary. The two datasets, firstly, are fourteen
years apart and, secondly, are either side of the *3@302 revolution, which
brought great destruction and disruption to the population. There are
bound to have been great differences in the populations on which the
two surveys reported.
E3
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*3@# *3A@
E2
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The autonomy of the Dojwodschaft was severely restricted by Pienna
and even members of the local (erman communities were kept away
from positions of responsibility. The -erbsL political ambitions were in no
way satisfied by this political fiction, which served only to make the rule
of Pienna more direct La-pe, @E5. 'n imperial diploma of >ctober *3E#
abolished the Dojwodschaft -erbiens und Temeser Banat, restoring the
$ungarian county administrations of Temes, Toront6l, and 7rass8 in
*3E*, although they retained a K(ermanL administration until the
'usgleich of *3E4. (y:9 *2@", A35 terms the lifetime of the
Dojwodschaft as a period of Kforeign occupationL.
Cue in part to increasing defections of :ren+er, or :ranicari
frontiersmen5 to -erbia, the military frontier was abolished in *34*, with
the exception of the K#schaikistendistrikt', which was retained until *34"0
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0 i.e. within Balkan -erbia 0 ged+a =agris, (anu"e, "235, while they
themselves were known in the south as.reani0 Kthose from across the
riverL ampe @35. evertheless, more united the Pojvodina and Balkan
-erbs than divided them and many.reanimoved south and engaged
themselves in the construction of -erbia. There was, therefore,
considerable dismay among the -erbs as a whole when 'lexander
7araoreviU *3@"0A25 was compelled by the fears of both 'ustria and
)ussia to adopt a policy of neutrality in the 'ustro0$ungarian conflict of
*3@302. (rowing distrust between the 'ustro0$ungarian &mpire and
-erbia stemmed in great part from the relationship between the
Pojvodina and the Balkan -erbs, the intellectuals of the former
encouraging the martial exploits of the latter. $absburg efforts to impose%atholicism or the Nniate creed during periods of occupation, and
rapacious economic exploitation when Pienna had the upper hand e.g.
the =aidanpek copper mining complex5 undermined any trust the -erbs
may have had for the $absburgs. Irritation over the long failure to
provide the promised Pojvoda and the contrived fiction of the Wojodina
Ser"iens und #emeser Banatwas compounded by $absburg economic
domination of -erbia. The occupation of Bosnia0$er9egovina after the
%ongress of Berlin *3435 and its outright annexation in *2#3, togetherwith 'ustrian occupation of the -anQak of ovi +a9ar until *2#2
intensified these feelings. $absburg and -erbian economic needs ran
across each other, -erbia seeking access to the 'driatic because of a
crippling dependence on the $absburg market for her products mainly
cattle and pigs5, 'ustria the route to the deep Balkans. The outstanding
-erbian and =ontenegrin successes in the Mirst and -econd Balkan Dars
*2*"0
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military age ampe, *#45. The initial success of the Brusilov offensive in
Gune *2*E had persuaded )omania, despite the defeat of -erbia, and the
danger of Bulgaria, to throw in her lot with the 'llies and on *4 th'ugust
*2*E signed a secret treaty with the &ntente powers. The catastrophe of
the -omme had just begun, and the British and Mrench were desperate to
secure some relief from the deadlock on the Destern Mront by any
available means. In recognition of )omaniaLs desertion of the Triple
'lliance and declaration of war against the %entral +owers, the &ntente,
come the peace negotiations, would support their allyLs claim to
)omanian0inhabited territories of the $absburg &mpire. This was held to
include the whole of the Banat. )omania was required not to sign any
separate peace with the %entral +owers. Maced with total defeat andoccupation of )omania, however, Brtianu +rime =inister of )omania5
did just that in =ay *2*3. Ceclaring renewed war on the %entral +owers
ovember 2th5 on the grounds of their violation of this Treaty of
Bucharest unfortunately acknowledged that this was a valid instrument
of international law Nichoson, *2
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ampe, *#30**#5. The creation of the 7ingdom of -erbs, %roats and
-lovenes was declared on @thCecember *2*3, but federalist hopes were
soon dashed in the face of -erb centralism encouraged in part by border
disputes with Italy. The disintegration of the $absburg &mpire left
$ungary particularly vulnerable to territorial claims, as about half of the
population of Khistorical $ungaryL was non0=agyar. 's the first $ungarian
government was supplanted by a revolutionary %ommunist cabinet
under B;la 7un, at a time when the entente powers were involved in
intervention against Bolshevik )ussia, the chances of a fair hearing for
the $ungarians were diminished. 's it was, $ungary lost approximately
half its population and two0thirds of its territory to the Ksuccessor0statesL
0 %9echoslovakia, the 7ingdom of -erbs, %roats and -lovenes, and)omania. &ven 'ustria was rewarded with $ungarian territory. These
losses were to create of $ungary a nation0state, but considerable
$ungarian minorities would be left within her new neighbours.
-erbian forces reached Temesv6r on *2thovember *2*3, and had soon
occupied the entire Banat and begun to install a -erbian administration.
Mrench protests resulted in a -erbian withdrawal from the eastern Banat,which was then occupied Ganuary *2*25 by Mrench troops pending the
decision of the peace conference. 'lthough the )omanian case in +aris
was done no favours by the abrasive Brtianu, Tak; Inoescu leader of
the )omanian %onservative Cemocrats5 had met with +asiU, the 1ugoslav
+rime =inister, and negotiated a division of the Banat between the two
countries. BrtianuLs antipathy towards Inoescu, however he was not
included in the +aris delegation5, ensured that )omanian01ugoslav rivalry
over the Banat would continue, and even led to threats of renewed
hostilities. The Banat border with )omania was nevertheless one of
1ugoslaviaLs least problematic. -ubsequent condemnation of the +aris
+eace Treaties stemmed in part from dissatisfaction among the victors
about the new borders and how these were arrived at. Dhile the
defeated nations had no reason at all to cheer their new territorial
bounds, disputes between the victors 0 Italy and 1ugoslavia for example 0
showed up the pressures under which the Persailles diplomats were4
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working. icholson, a young diplomat at +aris, decries the conferencesL
&a..alling dis.ersal o! energy' Nichoson, A5, its &ama+ing
inconseNuence Fand) com.lete a"sence o! any consecutive method o!
negotiation or even im.osition'. In a letter to his father "A th Mebruary
*2*25, he also speaks of &the im.ossi"ility o! e9o9 'a. ,)4@
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Nltimately, the four counties, except for small remnants of B6cs0Bodrog
and Toront6l, were detached from $ungary. >f B6cs0Bodrog, twelve
settlements from Bajai j6r6s and ten from B6csalm6si j6r6s remained
with $ungary. %hief among these was the town of Baja Mrankenstadt5,
%s6talja and G6noshalma. The rest of the Ba!ka, including jvid;k ovi
-ad5, -9abadka -ubotica5 and ombor -ombor5, was transferred to the
7ingdom of -erbs, %roats and -lovenes 1ugoslavia5. ' small slice of the
Banat *Y5, comprising a compressed hinterland to the city of -9eged
Ces9k, 7Rbekh69a, Tis9as9iget, js9entiv6n, et al.5, was allowed to
$ungary. =ost of this territory was divided between )omania and the
7ingdom of -erbs, %roats and -lovenes *#,A## km ", rsova >rFova5, and the Banat uplands in
their entirety with the vital mining areas of )esica )eFiOa5 and >ravica
>raviOa5. )omania also acquired the whole of Transylvania and the
K+artiumL 'rad, Bihar and -9il6gy counties5 from $ungary. In total,
)omania acquired *#
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and, together with the settlements of 'rad v6rmegye, is excluded from
consideration in the present work. The satellite town of jarad 'radul
ou5, on the other hand, had developed more recently on the southern
bank, and formed the centre for an KjaradijrsL district5 within Temes
v6rmegye. In *2"A, this became $lasa district5 'radul0ou in GudeOul
'rad, with the addition of several settlements from the adjacent former
$ungarian lippai j6r6s, and was thus administratively detached from the
)omanian Banat. Mor the purposes this study, the border of the Banat
shall, however, continue to be viewed as the line of the =aros and, for
the period *2"A 0 *22", so far as possible, data for the settlements of
GudeOul 'rad south of the =aros shall be included and, of those in GudeOul
'rad, for these alone.
Dithin the 7ingdom of -erbs, %roats and -lovenes, the Banat, Ba!ka and
KBaranja TriangleL were informally considered as one unit the KBBBL5.
Though suggested by common political traditions, the poor
communications between the Baranya Triangle and the Ba!ka hindered
an integration of the territories. The wildly meandering and practically
uncontrolled Canube was unbridged and without even a ferry along thisstretch. (ermans from the port of 'patin fleeing the Ba!ka in *2@@ had
to pass northward and cross at Baja Mrankenstadt5, nearly @# km inside
Trianon $ungary.
't the time of the 1ugoslav census of *2"*, the 1ugoslav Banat was
divided into eleven sre+ovi districts5, plus the )oyal Mree Towns of
+an!evo and PrJac. The Ba!ka meanwhile fell into twelve districts and
three )oyal Mree Towns ovi -ad, -ombor and -ubotica5. ' decree of "E
'pril *2"" effective from *2"@5 divided the 1ugoslav Banat between
Belgrade oblast district5 and +adunavlje oblast 0 south of the Canube
and based on -mederevo. Petersen et aascribes this p. "3*5 simply
to a desire to place the (erman population of the 1ugoslav Banat within
an >rthodox -erb majority. The 1ugoslav Ba!ka was united with the
Baranja Triangle to form ovi -ad >blast. 'dministrative reforms4E
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accompanying the introduction of the )oyal Cictatorship in *2"2
established grand regions based on the major rivers of the 7ingdom in
place of the earlier KnationalL divisions i.e. -erbia, %roatia etc.5. This
arrangement was intended to