Why Are There So Many Hungarians In Slovakia & Romania?

▶ In this video, I try to explain why there are so many Hungarian people in Romania and Slovakia (and also Serbia). Understanding the historical context of the region and how Hungary was once much bigger; being forced to reduce its size and the reach of its borders due to their defeat in WW1, with the Treaty of Triannon. But also learning how the terms of this territory loss went again many of the principles that the winning powers wanted to implement as well and how, arguably, France's desire for their own Entente in Central and Eastern Europe was at fault for this.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
01:17 Where & How Many Hungarians Are There Outside Hungary?
01:48 Hungarian Heritage Diaspora Worldwide
02:02 Difference Between These Hungarians & Hungarian Heritage
02:11 Magyar Arrival Into Europe
02:42 Establishment Of The Hungarian Kingdom
03:01 Why These Regions Have Hungarians In Them
03:29 Unification With Austria / Habsburg Rule
03:41 World War 1
04:10 Defeat In WW1
04.53 The Treaty Of Trianon
05:20 Hungarian Land & Population Losses In The Treaty
06:19 The Issue Of Self Determination
06:28 US President Wilson's 14 Points
07:17 Wilson's Points Influence On The Peace Treaties
08:22 Inconsistencies In The Points VS The Treaty Of Trianon
09:27 French Influence & Diplomacy
10:29 Lost Lands & Who They Lost Them To
10:47 Hungarian Protests Against This
11:34 Temporary Land Recovery & World War 2
12:03 Defeat In WW2
12:13 A Return To Reduced Borders
12:39 Disputes With Neighbours & Attempts At Recovery
13:40 Summary

▶ A special thank you to my Patrons: Sebastian Karlo, Señor Valasco, Yasin Chaykh, Stuart Tunstead, Chaim laser, Robinhio84, Rogaine Ablar, The Wanton Dogfish, Yeti, Elizabeth Per, Juan Rodriguez Forero, Lastmatix, Kalvin Saccal, Ahmed Alkooheji, Steve the Goat, KR, Ryan Keith, Ryan McMurry, Richard Hartzell.

▶ Thanks for watching, remember to subscribe to catch future videos!

[nildzrecastellanos]

I can already tell that the comments will be very civilized and polite.

[stevejohnson]

I've had conversations with 2 Hungarian individuals decades apart and they both used the phrase 'My little country' as in 'I'm impressed that you know so much about my little country.' I don't think they meant that it was like Luxenberg. They meant it was smaller than it should be. This feeling has been passed down through the generations.

[barnabasvincze]

As a Hungarian, living in Slovakia, thank you for this video! Not many people know about this sadly

[mrstrangekind]

Bosniak and Bosnian are not the same. It`s not only Bosniak diaspora when you talk about Bosnia at 0:59, but also Serbian and Croatian. About 50% of Bosnian population is comprised of Serbs and Croats, and 50% of Bosniaks.

[Lucas_Ficz]

Hungarian-Brazilian here. (Part of) My family left Hungary because of Trianon, as they were living in Trieste at the time and the end of the war got them kicked not to Hungary but to Yugoslavia (???). In 1926, they arrived to Brazil and started out fresh, but the trauma of war and post-war persecution made them completely hide their identities (and language) as Hungarians. I claimed Hungarian citizenship based on descent and now strive to rebuild what we have lost: our language and customs, but never our country.

[Counterfactualy_no]

We going back to the 9th century with this one

[PKNN]

“It is a bad plan that cannot be altered.”
- Publilius Syrus
I raise my glass for my Hungarian friends love from Finland.

[marcellkiss-redey]

Most of it is correct.

A comment on the end: the Hungarian-Romanian relationship is (apart from provocative web comments) relatively friendly. On the other hand, the Hungarian-Ukrainian relationship soured a lot after Ukraine introduced a language law in 2017 that would have prohibited ethnic Hungarian children from learning in their native language in schools. (The law was mainly aimed at ethnic Russians, the impact on Hungarians was a byproduct.) The law was abolished in 2023, but things are not yet back to normal.

"What do you think? Should Hungary have kept some of this territory?" It's not like we didn't try to...

[raresremetan]

As a History enthusiastic Romanian studying Politics and International Relations in the UK, I have dedicated many years of my life better understanding this dispute concerning our two countries.

I was born and lived all my life almost in the city of Arad, very close to the Hungarian border, a city shrouded in deep multicultural history, a reference point for both the Hungarian and the Romanian nations in the making of their recent histories. Living in a multicultural environment and having many friends of Hungarian descent, but also having travelled to Hungary at some point for 2-3 years almost weekly, helped me gather the similarities between our two peoples. I personally find Hungarians extremely kind and friendly, with a very rich culture, beautiful language (that I am myself trying to learn out of respect for my region’s unique multiculturalism - Transylvania and Banat), with some of the tastiest food on the continent, and their country having an absolutely gorgeous architecture overall.

Being in close contact with Hungarians in Romania and with Hungarians from Hungary made me better understand what 1920 meant to them, and I am very glad I got the chance to view the other side of the same story as well! What I can say is that yes, the empire could not further survive in the form it used to be at that time, given the constant push from all sides to form or reunite their nations in the age of solidifying one entity’s cultural and linguistic identities.

I personally think that Romanians did deserve taking a big chunk of Transylvania, given the demographic figures at that time supporting a Romanian majority living on that territory, but the way this took place should have been different. I completely acknowledge that Northern Transylvania was, and still is to some extent, more Hungarian, while the southern bit of the territory more Romanian. Therefore, cities on the border such as Oradea (Nagyvárad), Satu Mare (Szatmárnémeti), Salonta (Nagyszalonta), even my city Arad perhaps, should have stayed within Hungary, given the immediate proximity to the border and the overall Hungarian ethnic and linguistic majority there. On top of that, I assume few people in Hungary today may be aware that when the Romanian elite and people in Transylvania gathered in Alba Iulia (Gyulafehérvár) to proclaim the unity of the territory with the Kingdom of Romania in 1918, that proclamation of unification addressed to Bucharest also entailed equal linguistic and religious rights for all nations comprising the territory, not just for the majority, demanding even their autonomy, a fact that only goes to show how visionary the Transylvanian Romanian elite at the time was, mainly thanks to living in such a diverse empire beforehand. Sadly, Bucharest took too little notice of our endeavours, and pursued a policy centred solely around the further consolidation of the most numerous ethnicity.

It is hard and almost impossible to redraw borders today, given that demographics changed for the most part, but what the Romanian state could do would be to grant more rights to the ethnic Szeklers. My personal idea is that granting them autonomy in Transylvania could be a bit risky in light of Victor Orbán’s constant revisionism today, but my solution would the decentralisation in administration and the creation of 9 historic and autonomous regions (based on the Spanish model), where each region minds its own internal affairs without too much intervention from Bucharest. Therefore, Hungarian could become co-official in Banat (Bánság), Transylvania (Erdély), Crișana (Körösvidék), and Maramureș (Máramaros), leading to a long-term peace prospect. And this could happen, as it is already a reality in the Serbian autonomous province of Vojvodina (Vajdaság), where 6 languages are official, this example also being an important reference point to the topic discussed.

I am as well asking the Hungarian part to also acknowledge the struggles of the Romanian people under the Kingdom of Hungary and their neglect from education and political and administrative lives. The policy of magyarisation for example was one of the worst to all ethnic groups living withing Greater Hungary, and I wish more Hungarians shed light on the importance of this to us, and what led to the ultimate breakaway of the empire as well. I mean this in the least nationalistic manner, but it is paramount for both sides to acknoweldge their wrongdoings in building a better future.

All in all, I will personally do everything in my power and ability as an aspiring politician home to ensure that the rights of all ethnic groups in Romania are fully respected, and I truly and wholeheartedly hope that one day our two countries will learn the art of compromise and reconciliation, based on the post-World War 2 Franco-German model of deep cooperation and brotherly relations in a broader European Union.

Nagyon szeretek a magyarokat, a magyar kultúrátokat és a magyar nyelveteket, és remélem a jövőben minden jobb, békés és barátságos két országunk között az EU-ban lesz! Éljen a román-magyar egység!

🇭🇺❤️🇷🇴

[alexiel]

Forgot to mention the Communist Revolution that occurred in Hungary, this massively impacted the treaty of Trianon

[AdamBurianek]

Fun fact... as a reaction to Woodrow Wilson's 14 points program, there was a proposal in Czechoslovakia to rename Prešporok (historical name of Bratislava, which is a Slovak capital) to Wilson City... but it was decided to pick Bratislava instead

[dec-vt]

i just have to say i'm actually pleasantly surprised that so far there were very few and not very severe fights in the comments between romanians and hungarians, keep it up guys!!!

[prolarka]

It is a big topic with long history.
I want to add 3 important points:
1. The Mongol invasion killed 1/3 of Hungary's population.
2. The 150+ years of fights with the Ottomans depopulated most of the Hungarian Kingdom leading to more diverse nationalities settling in.
3. There were also multiple failed revolutions against Austrian rule and for the re-establishment of independent Hungary. Think of the results of failed revolutions and the increased oppression, atrocities afterwards...

Diversity without any mainstream uniting principles didnt prove to be the strength of the kingdom in the end.

[stratiakademia]

Guys, with respect, the problem with Trianon is not that Hungary loosed a X amount of land and population, it was nearly inevitable in the age of nationalism in a multiethical state. The problem started with the borders. Huge part of the remaining 3.3 million hungarians live in homogeneous ethnically separate part of South-Slovakia (for hungarian fanboys on the south part of Felvidék), in Partium (FFB: Párcium) and in Vojvodina (Vajdasàg). These borders was draw by strategic interest, like in the Middle East. Rivers, railway lines, etc... and i didn't mention the situation with the Székelys (FFB:Székelyek)

[NarodowyPolski]

Im pretty sure it's not Nicholas Horthy but Miklos Horthy.

[franciskafayeszter]

As a Hungarian I think, that the Treaty of Trianon should've been more fair, mainly because this whole thing brought a lot of suffering for both sides. However I also think, that changing it back today would create just as many problems. Treating each other fairly, respecting each other's culture and language and try to find a way to live peacefully together - I think, that's the way forward.

[crimsonghost]

Hungary was divided completely unfairly after the First World War.

[MihaiRUdeRO]

Everybody expects Romanians and Hungarians to have terrible relations, meanwhile me, a Romanian, is out drinking every weekend with my Hungarian best friend from Romania

[Defensor]

A few details not mentioned:
- Apparently the Hungarian delegation was arrested when they arrived, and were only allowed to make their case as a formality, after the treaty was finalized, but before it was signed. The documents the Hungarian delegation presented were acknowledged, but ignored.
- The Hungarian army completely disbanded after WW1, the leadership hoped that this will give the peace negotiations more favorable terms. With no army to defend the country, the Romanians and Serbs started pushing and looting during the time of the negotiations, and no one cared to stop them.

I think it would be really funny if an expert of international law would look at the circumstances of how this treaty was created.

[scottmarquardt]

My aunt ran away from hungry in 1956 and she's very rich and happy in San Diego😊