Lajos Kazar: Facts against fiction

PORTUGAL ( & BRASIL)

Transylvania's name derives from Hungarian and means 'beyond the forest'. The area was inhabited in old times by the Dacians, for which reason the Romans called it Dacia, conquered by Emperors Trajan and Aurelian. The Romans did not settle down and did not leave notable traces of their occupation. During the Romans' decline the area in question became the coveted aim of barbarian invaders; first the Goths, later the Saxons established themselves there, the latter constituting a part of its present population, which is composed of three ethnic groups: the Hungarians, the Saxons and the Székelys, with opposing interests which have been the source of numerous political conflicts in the course of history. Invaders were the Goths, Gepids, Vandals, Mongols and Turks.

The predominant languages are German, Hungarian and, above all, Wallachian/Rumanian. - In the 13th century the Mongols invaded the land from the east and opened the way for Turkish invasions in the following centuries. Around that time began the dispute between the Christian Austro-Hungarians and the Turks. - The majority of the Christian population are Protestants, Calvinists and Hussites, who at times had the protection of the Austrian Imperial House, at other times of the Turks.

N.B. This article contains several errors of fact. The area of later Dacia was conquered by Emperor Trajan between 101-106, but around 270 Emperor Aurelian ordered the evacuation of its population together with the military stationed there. Colonists from all parts of the Empire settled in Dacia and even built towns there, but deliberately no town, village, mine, aqueduct, barrack, bridge or other construction had been left in usable condition after the evacuation of the populace and the legions. The Saxons did not establish themselves in former Dacia until the middle of the 12th century when they were called in as colonists by Géza II of Hungary. The writer of the article speaks of the Hungarians, Saxons and Székelys as ethnic groupings, probably thinking that the Székelys spoke a language different from Hungarian, and seems to be unaware of the presence in Transylvania of the Wallachians/Rumanians since the 13th century.

However he/she correctly points out that in 1945 the predominant language of Transylvania was Rumanian. - As regards the religious adherence of the people of Transylvania, the article mentions ,,Protestants,,, probably meaning the Lutheran Saxons, further ,,Calvinists", who can only be a part of the Hungarians (the others being mainly Roman Catholics), and ,,Hussites,,, likely meaning Unitarian Protestants; it says nothing about the large number of Rumanian Orthodox people of Slav Rites and the Rumanian Uniates. The term ,,Austro-Hungarian,, did not apply prior to the period 1867-1918.

The Dacians, who had ruled over a large kingdom, were conquered (101-102,105-107) by Emperor Trajan who converted the area in question into a roman province called Dacia Superior. Due to barbarian invasions Emperor Aurelian ordered its evacuation (270-275). Barbarian invaders in the area in question were the Huns, Ostrogoths, Gepids, Lombards and, above all, Avars. After the destruction of the realm of the Avars entered the Slavs who, with the Bulgars and the Székelys, established small settlements scattered throughout the area in question which finally became conquered by the Hungarians in the 10th and 11th centuries. Christianity began to be introduced during the reign of Géza I (970-997) and Hungary as a whole accepted Christianity under King Saint Stephen (997-1038). Geza II. (1141-1152) called in German colonists; between 1211 and 1224 the Order of the Teutonic Knights was also called into Transylvania. In 1241 the Mongols attacked Hungary and devastated it; soon they left the country. King Béla IV (1235-1270) returned after the Mongols' withdrawal and repopulated Transylvania with Wallachian and German settlers.

N.B. The Ostrogoths preceded the Huns in later Transylvania. The Hungarian-speaking Székelys were on the soil of later Transylvania and in various other parts of the Carpathian Basin when Árpád's Magyars/Hungarians arrived there around 895. Christianity began to spread among the Hungarians under Géza (970-997) who was the father of (Saint) Stephen I and blood relation of Géza I (1074-1077). Géza II ruled from 1141 until 1162.

The magyars and the Magyar-speaking Székelys, although decimated, soon recovered in numbers; new German colonists were called in and along with them Wallachians were allowed to settle in Transylvania. Apart from these relatively not serious inaccuracies, the article portrays Transylvania's history fairly.

Emperor Trajan conquered the area in question (101-106) and transformed it into the Roman province Dacia. In the second quarter of the 3rd century the province began to suffer from the invasions of the Goths and during the reign of Emperor Aurelian was finally abandoned (270-275) to the Germanic invaders. The majority of the Dacian inhabitants moved south of the Danube, but many stayed with the Goths and transmitted to them the achievements of roman civilization. The Goths suffered defeat by the Huns, and the region saw a series of barbarian incursions.

The present inhabitants are of quite mixed backgrounds, and they speak a Romance language.

In the 11th century the Turkic-speaking Cumans established themselves in Moldavia. Two centuries later the area came in the possession of the Nogai Tatars. Toward the end of the 13th century the Wallachian or Rumîn principality came into being between the Lower Danube and the Transylvanian Alps. Later another Wallachian principality arose under the name of Moldavia. Both were threatened by the attacks of the Turks who broke into Europe from the southeast beginning about the middle of the 14th century. At the same time the Wallachian principalities had to fight against the kings of Hungary.

N.B. It is nowhere documented that after the withdrawal of the colonists and military personnel from Provincia Dacia to Provincia Aureliana (south of the Danube) many stayed with the Goths. If that had been the case, at least the graves of such people in the vicinity of the former settlements of Dacia would attest the partial continuity there of the Latin language and customs. However, there is absolutely no archaeological evidence to prove such continuity. Also, there should be at least a good number of Germanic Goth loan words in Rumanian, if the Wallachian forebears had lived together with the Goths.

In fact, there is no Germanic loan word in Rumanian from that time, while the majority of the Rumanian vocabulary does consist of loan words. Isn't this odd? Bucharest propagandists can hoodwink some people, but certainly not all. Again, the claim that the present-day inhabitants of Rumania speak a Romance language is wrong. It infers that some 2,5 million Hungarians and a still considerable number of Germans, Serbians, Ruthens, Ukrainans etc. have a Romance mother-tongue which is not true at all, although Bucharest propagandists keep hammering this claim into the heads of everybody.

The writer of the article probably did not know that both Wallachia and Moldavia arose on formerly Cuman territory which was in vassalage to Hungary since 1227. If the two principalities fought against the kings of Hungary, it was because Hungary did not wish to see their Wallachian vassal subjects breaking their oaths of fealty to Hungary.

Rumania represents the eastern Latin vestiges of the Roman Empire, having been the last province occupied by the Romans (101-107). During the reign of Emperor Trajan it became intensely Romanized and formed part of the roman Empire until 275, afterwards constituting part of the Byzantine Empire (6th century). The area enjoyed an economic florescence while a roman province (Dacia Felix). The Goths, Lombards, Avars, but especially the Slavs (6th century) split away the Rumanians of Dacia from the rest of the Empire. - Between the 3rd and the 6th centuries the Rumanian population lived on the territory of former Dacia (between the Danube and the Black Sea, the rivers Dnester and Tisa and the Northern Carpathian Mountains) and in areas south of the Danube. - The Rumanian language was already formed in the 6th century at the time of the Slav invasions. - The first Rumanian state formations with local princes (voivodes) date from the 9th century. Independent medieval Rumanian states date from the 13th and 14th centuries. The Principality of Muntenia or Wallachia was founded by Basarab I in 1290, and the Principality of Moldavia was founded by Dragos in 1359.

In Transylvania, a third Rumanian province, there existed in the 9^th century some Rumanian princes namely ,,Gelu,,, ,,Glad,, and ,,Menumorut,,. The arrival of the Hungarians in the Pannonian Plain (10th century) marked the beginning of the conquest of Transylvania by them. Occupied by force of arms or by means of granting them autonomy, the Rumanian principalities became little by little integrated into Hungary. The occupation of Transylvania continued into the 14th century before it became completed. However, the Principality of Transylvania always maintained an autonomous existence under its voivodes which was the last vestige of its initial independence. The Medieval history of the three Rumanian principalities: Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania saw more or less parallel developments, above all in the case of the first two.

N.B. While it is true that Dacia was last in the line of Roman conquests, it is an unsubstantiated claim that Rumania represents the eastern Latin vestiges of the roman Empire. After 275 A.D. there was no scientifically proven roman continuity there. The expression ,,intensely Romanized,, as relating to Dacia is an ever returning slogan of Bucharest propagandists. Also, the abandoned Provincia Dacia north of the Danube never formed part of the Byzantine Empire. A claim to the contrary is sheer Bucharest propaganda spread with great diligence in many encyclopedias. The further claim that between the 3rd and 6th centuries the Rumanian population of former Dacia lived between the Danube, the Black Sea, the Dnester and Tisa rivers and the Northern Carpathian Mountains is equally a propaganda slogan.

There is no language monument in existence to prove that the Rumanian language was already formed in the 6th century, at the time of the Slav invasions.

There is absolutely no proof of any Rumanian principalities in existence north of the Danube in the 9th century.

Transylvania has never been either a first, second or third Rumanian province. Statements to the contrary are wishful, romantic historiography. The personal names ,,Gelu,,, ,,Glad,, and ,,Menumorut,, are of Slav origin, and not even by chance rooted in the much vaunted Latin base of Rumanian.

The alleged Hungarian conquest or other means of ,,integration" of alleged Rumanian principalities on the soil of Transylvania is staple Bucharest propaganda.

Transylvania's occupation by Hungary did not continue into the 14th century, for Hungarians were already masters of the area in question at the end of the 9th century. The war in 1003 or 1004 by Stephen I was carried out against his own uncle; other wars in Transylvania before the 15th century were either against marauding Pechenegs, Cumans or Mongols, or between Hungarian armies.

That there were no Wallachians/Rumanians in Transylvania prior to the 13th century is clearly stated in earlier editions of the same encyclopedia. If a demonstration of the deleterious effect of Ceausescu's very powerful propaganda machine was needed, here anybody can easily see it.

Lajos Kazar: Facts against fiction