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The Second Vienna Award was the second of two Vienna Awards.

It was rendered on August 30, 1940. Germany and Italy compelled Romania to return half of Transylvania (an area henceforth known as "North Transylvania") to Hungary.

Prelude and reasons

The regain of southern Highland (now the territory is in Slovakia) and Subcarpathia in 1938 (First Vienna Award) and the subsequent military conquest of the remaining Carpathian Ruthenia in 1939 did not satiate the Hungarian politics, as well as the Hungarian public opinion. These awards allocated only a little of the territories lost by the Treaty of Trianon. The main goal was retrieving Transylvania and the other territories inhabited with Hungarians. Armed action was in view.

In the end of June, 1940 the Soviet Union reclaimed Bessarabia and North-Bukovina, whiches are taken by Romania after World War I. The Government of Romania approved the Soviet pressure, because the resistance was despairing against three belligerent countries:

• Bulgaria, which is claimed southern Dobrudja
• Hungary, which is claimed Transylvania
• Soviet Union, which is claimed Bessarabia and North-Bukovina

The success of Moscow inspired Budapest to urge much determined the solving of the question of Transylvania with Romania. The Axis Powers sugggested the parties concerned to solve their problems by direct negotiations. The interests of the Axis was keeping the peace in the Balkans, because they needed the exports for the war.

The negonations started on August 16, 1940 in Turnu Severin (Hungarian: Szörényvár). The Hungarian delegation submitted notable territorial claims while the Romanians were disposed for only an inconspicuous territorial allowance conflated significant changing of the population. Eventually the negonation fell through.

Finally, both countries had come round an arbitration award about the border-question to avoid the war.

The award

The ministers of foreign affairs of the Axis (Ribbentrop and Ciano) announced the award August 30, 1940 at the Belvedere Palace, Vienna At the result of Second Vienna Award Hungary regained 43,492 km². Romanian statistics, based on the 1930 census data, estimated that the awarded territory had in August 1940 a population of 2,609,007, comprising 968,371 Hungarians (38.13%), 1,304,898 Romanians (49.17%), some 200,000 Jews (7.7%) and smaller numbers of Germans, Gypsies, Slovaks, Ukrainians and Armenians. Some demographers, however, believe that the 1930 Romanian census overstated the percentage of the Romanian population. The evolution of population statistics and the changes following the award are presented in detail in the next section. The rest of (Southern) Transylvania remained Romanian with approximately 400,000 Hungarians, and Romania got guarantee of the borders.

Statistics

The territory in question covered an area of 43,492 km².

The 1930 Romanian census registered for this region a population of 2,393,300. According to native language, 1,007,200 persons spoke Hungarian, 1,165,800 Romanian, 59,700 German, 99,600 Yiddish, and 61,000 other language. According to nationality, 912,500 (38.13%) declared themselves Hungarian, 1,176,900 (49.17%) Romanian, 68,300 German, 138,800 Jewish, and 96,800 declared other nationality.

In 1941 the Hungarian authorities conducted a new census which registered a total population of 2,578,100. According to native language, 1,344,000 persons spoke Hungarian, 1,068,700 Romanian, 47,300 German, 48,500 Yiddish, and 69,600 other language. According to nationality, 1,380,500 (53,5%) declared themselves Hungarian, 1,029,000 (40%) Romanian, 44,600 German, 47,400 Jewish, and 76,600 declared other nationality.

Appart form the natural population growth, the differences between the two censuses are due to some other complex reasons, like migration and assimilation of Jews or bilingual speakers. According to Hungarian registrations, 100 thousand Hungarian refugees had arrived in Hungary from South Transylvania by January 1941. Most of them sought refuge in the north, and almost as many persons arrived from Hungary in the reannexed territory as moved to the Trianon Hungary territory from South Transylvania. As a result of these migrations, North Transylvanian Hungarians increased by almost 100 thousand. In order to "compensate" for this, a great number of Romanians were obliged to leave North Transylvania. Most of them were functionaries, who was called out from Old Romani after 1920. Some 100 thousand had left by February 1941 according to the incomplete registration of North Transylvanian refugees carried out by the Romanian government. Besides this, a fall in the total population suggests that a further 40 to 50 thousand Romanians moved from North to South Transylvania (including refugees who were omitted from the official registration for various reasons). The Hungarian assimilation gain is made up of losses on the part of other groups of native speakers, such as the Jewish people. The changing of language was most typical among bilingual Romanians, nearly 90 thousand of whom were added to the total number of Hungarian speakers. On the other hand, in Máramaros/Maramureş and Szatmár/Satu Mare counties, in dozens of settlements many of those who had declared themselves as Romanian now identified themselves as Hungarian, even though they did not speak Hungarian at all (nor did they in 1910).

Afterwards

Romania had 14 days to evacuate concerned territories and assign to Hungary. The Hungarian troops stepped across the Trianon borders on 5th September. The Regent of Hungary, Miklós Horthy also attend in the entry.

Video about the entry

Generally the population welcomed the troops (as it is visible on the video), and regarded separation from Romania as liberation, although some pitiable event also happened: on 9th September in the village of Ördögkút (Romanian: Treznea) firefight evolved between the Hungarian troops and the local Romanian villagers. The number of the casualties is disputed between the historicans.

(to be written...)

References

• Árpád E Varga. Erdély magyar népessége 1870-1995 között. Magyar Kisebbség 3-4, 1998, pp. 331-407.

External links

• Árpád E Varga, " Essays on Transylvania's Demographic History" (Mainly in Hungarian, but also in English and Romanian.)

• History of Hungary
• History of Romania