Objectives of the work

The task assumed by the Hungarian historians was to produce a comprehensive scholarly history of Transylvania from the earliest times to the present century. It must be emphasized that their goal was to exercise "maximum possible objectivity," and to clarify contentious issues by drawing on hard historical evidence. In the interest of "maximum objectivity," they adopted a comparative approach, presenting Transylvania's history in a European context and with due attention to Transylvania's links with Hungary, the Habsburg Empire, the Romanian principalities, Turkey, and other states of Europe. The comparative approach was also applied to Transylvania's internal affairs: the authors investigated the history — demographic, economic, social, political, and cultural — of all three major national groups in Transylvania. This was a notable departure from the practice of earlier historical works, which tended to focus on only one or the other of the ethnic components. Due attention was paid to one of Transylvania's distinctive features, inter-ethnic cooperation, without neglecting the elements of conflict that obtained in feudal times and in the age of nationalism.

It followed from this approach that the focus would lie not on ethnic continuity but on the role played by the various ethnic groups in a succession of political structures: the vajdaság (voivodeship) that formed part of medieval Hungary, the {1-7.} Principality of Transylvania founded on the "union of three nations," the abortive union in 1848–49, Habsburg absolutism, the dualistic system that prevailed from 1867 to 1918, and, in more summary fashion, the period marked by the incorporation of Transylvania into Romania. By taking political structures as their organizing principle, the editors and authors allowed for a chronological and thorough investigation of the patterns of change in political life as well as in the economic, social, and cultural spheres.

Particular attention was paid to the common and distinctive features of the several ethnic groups' cultures. In the context of Central Europe, Transylvania was distinguished by the fact that it harboured two civilisations: on the one hand, the Roman Catholic and Protestant, and on the other, the Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic, which reflected both Eastern and Western influences in its value system, literature, art, and science.

The account of Transylvania's earliest history, covering the Dacian and Roman periods and the Great Migrations, draws primarily on archaeological sources. Archaeological findings, together with toponymic and documentary evidence, indicate that when the Hungarians arrived in the 9th century, they encountered Slavs and Bulgaro-Turks in the region; the first evidence of the presence of Romanians dates from the early 13th century. The authors remained divided over the question whether the Hungarians entered Transylvania directly from the east, across the Carpathians, or from the west. What is clear is that the Transylvanian voivodeship was an integral part of the Kingdom of Hungary, the voivodes being appointed by Hungary's monarch.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Principality of Transylvania came under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Turks, but it maintained close relations with the West and enjoyed a degree of economic and cultural development. The nobility ruled over Hungarian and Romanian villeins; Calvinism and Lutheranism contributed to the development of Romanian language and culture. In the Rákóczi-led {1-8.} rebellion against Habsburg rule, Hungarians, Slovaks, and Romanians formed a united front, setting an example of multi-ethnic cooperation in an era still untouched by the ideology of nationalism.

The work traces the emergence in the 18th century of the theory of Daco-Roman continuity and the demands voiced in the Romanian uprising led by Horea (1784). It investigates, in the context of political, social, and cultural history, the rise of Hungarian, Romanian, and Saxon nationalism in the early 19th century. The Hungarian liberals, who in 1848 championed Transylvania's reunification with Hungary, advocated reform of the prevailing neo-feudal system in the region, and thereby contributed to the eventual emancipation of villeins and the entrenchment of civil rights. To be sure, during the War of Independence, Hungarian leaders underestimated the significance of inter-ethnic animosities and were late in seeking to cooperate with Romanian politicians.

With regard to the post-1867 period, the work investigates the profound impact of liberalism on the economic, social, and cultural development of Transylvania, without neglecting to register the more repressive policies aimed at the Romanians. Responsibility for the Treaty of Trianon is clearly attributable to the victorious Entente powers, but note is taken of the Transylvanian Romanians' Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia) Declaration (1 December 1918) as well as of the fact that Transylvanian Hungarians were not consulted in the matter.

The three volumes of Erdély története, complete with maps, illustrations, and bibliographies, were published by the Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, in November 1986, and the several printings totalled 160,000 copies. In the Hungarian edition, the last section surveyed the fate of the region in the context of the Romanian state. The political constraints that prevailed at the time of publication allowed for only a brief survey of the interwar and post-1945 period, and this section is therefore omitted from the present, Englishlanguage edition.

{1-9.} The contributing authors followed the rules of their various academic disciplines, free of any official guideline. Thus the reader will encounter certain differences of opinion as well as hypotheses that are not fully developed. The authors have nevertheless succeeded in producing a cohesive work of scholarship, one that gives a comprehensive account of the history of Transylvania.