The Saxons in the Dualist System

The intellectuals and civil servants who formed the leading stratum among the 200,000 Saxons of Transylvania feared that Dualism might undermine their relatively privileged situation. They settled into the new system more readily than the Romanians, but the process was not free of conflict.

When the national assembly met a Kolozsvár to ratify unification, Saxon deputies received assurances regarding the maintenance of the Királyföld, which consisted of nine széks and two districts, and of the legal status of the Saxon Universitas. The more conservative Saxons, who opposed any modernization of their autonomous structures and regarded Dualism as a transitional device, had to be marginalized in the interest of getting the new system adopted; the government accomplished this task with the help of the so-called New Saxons, middle-class intellectuals who favoured accommodation, and by resorting to administrative measures. In February 1867, the government dismissed Konrad Schmidt and named Moritz Conrad as the Saxons' new count (comes), then blocked the convening of the predominantly anti-union Universitas. The 1868 Act of Union confirmed the right of the Saxons to self-government but anticipated changes in the status of the Királyföld. The integration of that region into the restructured state got under way. In 1869, some villages in Talmácsszék and Szelistyeszék were annexed to Szebenszék, and the Hétfalu was shifted administratively from Törcsvár to Brassó; the measures {3-662.} changed the ethnic configuration of these districts. Decrees in 1869 modified the rules for election to representative bodies and leading posts; the broadening of the franchise favoured the Romanians, who accounted for a majority of the population. That same year, a reform of judicial administration eliminated the Saxons' highest court and assigned its functions to the appeals court in Marosvásárhely. On the advice of the Kolozsvár bar association, Justice Minister Boldizsár Horváth ruled that the villages of Törcsvár, Szelistye, and Talmács could take full possession of their lands without paying compensation to the Universitas — although eventually the latter managed to reclaim its ownership rights.

When the recomposed Universitas assembled in 1869, a coalition of eighteen New Saxons, four Romanians, and one Hungarian managed to prevail over the twenty-one Old Saxons in developing a proposal — acceptable to the government — for adapting the Szászföld to the county system. In 1872, the two Saxon groups formally merged. On May 11, at a meeting in Medgyes, they issued a 'Saxon National Program' that endorsed Dualism, the Hungarian union (if it did not accentuate centralism), the principle of a Hungarian national state (if the use of minority languages was enhanced), and a more modern system of representation (if it did not lead to dominance by the 'immature masses'). The price of this already qualified consent was preservation of the Királyföld as a strongly autonomous county and no change in traditional power relations: only the old 'co-proprietors' could have a say in matters of public finance. The Medgyes program accurately reflected the political and social attitudes of middle-class Saxons. The latter saw that their political autonomy and feudal privileges were threatened both from above, by the centralizing state, and from below, by the Szászföld's Romanians, who in their new-found, equal status would want to participate in local politics. Thus the old Saxon institutions were caught between two millstones. The Saxon elite's first priority was to forge a good — or at least tolerable — relationship with the {3-663.} government. To this end, their deputies joined the Deák party, although in 1870 Andrássy warned the influential Bishop Teutsch that his fellow ministers were irritated by the Saxons' privileges.

The government's reluctance to preserve the Saxons' territorial autonomy made cooperation difficult. The Romanians, for their part, felt that their rights could not be secured in an autonomous Királyföld. In 1875, after a long series of consultations, Kálmán Tisza's government announced that the region's autonomous status would be terminated. There were protests, but the New Saxons Wächter and Fabritius endorsed the act (XII of 1876) by which the Királyföld was dismembered for the third, and, as it turned out, the last time. Francis Joseph paid a visit to Nagyszeben but refused to rescind the decision. Shorn of its political and economic powers, the Universitas became a foundation that managed its own wealth along with the vast assets of the seven jurisdictions (hétbírák) and gave assistance to Saxon schools; the title of comes (count) was assumed by the government-appointed lord lieutenant of Szeben. The loss of an autonomy that had lasted close to seven hundred years was a severe blow to the Saxon middle classes, although it did not precipitate the catastrophe feared by Old Saxons, namely, 'elimination of the Saxon nation from the ranks of the living.'[27]27. Quoted in F. Teutsch, Die Siebenbürger Sachsen in den letzten fünf-zig Jahren, 1868-1919 (Hermannstadt, 1926), p. 77. Public administration remained largely in Saxon hands, and the Universitas continued to be influential despite the fact that its president, the lord lieutenant of Nagyszeben, was a represenative of the government. The Dualist state showed great liberalism with regard to financial matters; it only required that, in keeping with the principle of equal rights, resources be allocated to serve the cultural needs not only of Saxons but also of the rest of the population, that is, of the Romanians. In pamphlets, and at meetings of the Universitas, the Saxons fought a protracted rear-guard action to protects their rights from government intervention. They went so far as to seek the advice of prominent German lawyers. The Lutheran Church, a bulwark of the Saxon culture, preserved its {3-664.} influence and autonomy. Although the Saxons lost some of their privileges, they continued to exercise considerable political power at the local level.

In the newly-formed counties, the office of lord lieutenant was filled by New Saxons and Transylvanian aristocrats. In Szeben County, Friedrich Wächter was constantly at odds with his council. In Nagy-Küküllő and Kis-Küküllő counties, Count Gábor Bethlen tried to restrict the use of German. In Beszterce County, Baron Dezső Bánffy systematically promoted Magyarization; a noted Old Saxon newspaper, the Siebenbürgisch–Deutsches Tageblatt, recorded that, in this district, 'no Saxon peasant ever received an official document — not even from the county offices or the sheriff — in any language but Hungarian.'[28]28. Ibid., p. 21. Conditions were better in Brassó County; the New Saxons were well-entrenched in the county seat, which had always nurtured progressive movements, and there was a greater readiness to support government policies.

Nevertheless, the Tisza era was marked by much conflict between the government and the Saxons. The Education Act of 1879, which made the teaching of Hungarian obligatory in elementary schools, provoked protests from Saxon deputies as well as from the Lutheran Church; the opposition forces managed to have the hours reserved for this subject reduced to a minimum. In the early 1880s, they fought against the impending reform of secondary education, which not only aimed to make the teaching of Hungarian compulsory but also prescribed that eventually all teacher-candidates take their final exams in Hungarian. Their fears were not confirmed by the Education Act of 1883. The Saxon gymnasium system was made more uniform, and there was a certain shift in emphasis from the humanities to the sciences. The teacher trainees were scarcely harmed by having to spend a year at a Hungarian university. And the state's supervision of secondary schools followed purely professional guidelines.

When, in 1885, the common jury at Nagyszeben brought down a series of acquittals in cases against the press, the court was {3-665.} suspended by the government. In 1887, the government closed down Nagyszeben's German-language law school. When Hungarian Lutherans in ten Csángó villages near Brassó seceded from the Saxon Church to affiliate with the Hungarian Church authority of the Tisza district, the government imposed a proportional cut in the subsidy to the Saxon Church; the Saxons took offense at the measure.

In defending their interests, the Saxon middle classes drew significant moral support from Germany's intelligentsia as well as from the German press, which deplored the Hungarian government's measures to reduce local autonomy and promote Magyarization. German universities played an important role in replenishing the ranks of educated people and of the clergy in the Saxon lands. The Franco–Prussian war strengthened the Saxons' sense affinity with the Germans. {3-666.} As a result, there was a growing tendency among Saxons to forsake their separate identity and identify themselves with a great German nation. This trend was not without cultural and ideological significance, but it brought few immediate political benefits. Chancellor Bismarck took a clear stand against the nationalistic endeavours of Hungary's German population: 'We attribute such political importance to Hungary's consolidation and unity that we must repress our emotional preferences.'[29]29. Bismarck's instructions of 2 March 1883 to the German consul in Budapest, PA AA Bonn, Österreich 104. Bd. 8. A 3866. Support for the Saxons came mainly from various associations in Germany.

Over time, the composition of the Saxon middle classes underwent a significant change. There was a steady decline in the number of traditional craftsmen, although quite a few of them became owners of medium-sized enterprises. The merchant stratum, which became progressively more differentiated in terms of wealth, expanded considerably. Meanwhile, a new pattern of social change became manifest: the traditional stratum of civil servants and town and county officials became impoverished and lost some of its significance and power, while a newer, upwardly-mobile stratum that included lawyers, teachers, and doctors gained size and influence. As a result, the tendency to preserve feudal distinctions gave way to activities promoting cultural and economic development. The Saxon People's party, founded in 1876, had lined up with the parliamentary opposition, and, in the 1880s, its deputies consistently opposed the government party. Yet social change induced by the shift to a market economy would lead the party to make several attempts at reaching a compromise with Prime Minister Kálmán Tisza. Eventually the party came to recognize that Dualism would endure, and that the Saxons would have to find their place in this system and not in some new and illusory Austria.

The development of institutions designed to maintain and strengthen national identity required great financial and intellectual effort. It also depended on the government's goodwill, which the Saxons could earn only by alleviating the chronic tensions that marked their relationship. In 1886, Count András Bethlen, a politician known for his tolerance, became lord lieutenant of Szeben County, and he joined forces with the scientist–politician Oskar Meltzl to call for a compromise. There was no chance of peace as long as Tisza, the very symbol of confrontation, remained in power. However, when Tisza left office, an agreement was concluded in June 1890 on the basis of proposals set out by Karl Wolff, a progressive Saxon politician whose views were similar to those of the agrarian Sándor Károlyi but who was a better organizer. New lords lieutenant were appointed in the so-called Saxon counties. Bánffy and Gábor Bethlen were relieved of office, and Gustav Thälmann, a veteran defender of rights, became lord lieutenant of Szeben County. The Saxon intelligentsia gained greater access to administrative positions, including those in joint Austro–Hungarian agencies, and this without having to surrender their national identity. There was growth in the number of Saxon and pro-Saxon officials in county administration. Small and medium-sized industrial plants received a significant share of state support. In testimony to the Saxons' political pragmatism and to the changed historical {3-667.} circumstances, a compromise agreement was reached with the prime minister, Count Gyula Szapáry — the same man whom Saxon leaders had wanted to take to court when, in his capacity as interior minister, he had abolished their local administrative autonomy.

On 17 June 1890, the 700-member Sachsentag (Saxon assembly) at Nagyszeben endorsed the reorientation of its political program. The assembly endorsed not only Dualism but also the idea of the unified Hungarian nation-state. It allowed that the nationalities law met minimum requirements and invited the Saxon intelligentsia to participate actively in the implementation of government policies. With regard to the economy, the assembly stressed the need to foster development in both the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. On the basis of the new program, the Saxon deputies rallied as a group to the government party. Their new relationship with the government would not be entirely free of conflict; when, at the turn of the century, the government enacted some new measures aiming at Magyarization, the Saxon deputies left the governing party and sat for several years with the opposition. Yet, on the whole, the Saxon deputies would back the government during the remaining period of Dualism, and the government would show great moderation and permissiveness in applying nationality policies to their community.

Thus, over time, there emerged a fundamental community of interest between the state and the Saxons. This was scarcely altered by the 'Green Saxon' movement, which unfurled its banner at a conference in Medgyes on 20 October 1893, at a time when battle raged over policy regarding the Churches. The movement told Saxons that their national duty was not to compromise with the government, but to forge closer links with the German empire and to organize and lead political action by the large German-speaking community in Hungary proper, who were known as the Swabians. The movement took significant steps in this direction, establishing financial links with the Swabians in the Banat and giving some {3-668.} financial and moral support to the emerging national movement of Germans in southern Hungary. The Green Saxon movement was unable to exert decisive influence over the Saxons, most of whom feared that their community's political influence would be jeopardized by cooperation with the Swabians. The movement's leaders — Lutz Korodi, Rudolf Brandsch, and Traugott Copony — won greater recognition outside Transylvania. Among Saxons, the dominant political orientation was the one formulated by the so-called Black Saxons, who supported the government and sought sensible compromise. The government rewarded this group's loyalty by continuing to subsidize their Church; thanks to such support, five Saxon secondary schools were reconstructed in the prewar years.

The integration of Saxons into the Dualist system gave a measure of the scope and limitations of the succeeding governments' policies toward national minorities. As soon as the leaders of an ethnic group accepted (and persuaded their people to accept) Dualism and the necessity of strengthening the Hungarian state, as soon as they accommodated themselves to the largely superficial measures of Magyarization, the government would respond with support for their religious and cultural institutions; admit them to key posts at the middle and lower levels of administration; let them develop towns and districts according to local traditions and preferences; and allow them nationality to play a distinctive role in the state. However, such a policy of accommodation could only be pursued by the established leaders of a nationality that already had its own network of institutions. The more backward and less organized ethnic groups, even those larger in number than the Saxons, had a long way to go before the government would engage in serious negotiation with their leaders.