Why are a million Hungarians in Romania? Szekely

Transylvania is more than a land of vampire legend, it is an entire space with its own peoples, from Hungarians, to Eurasian Nomads, Saxon colonists and Romanian rebels. In this video we look at the Szekely of Transylvania, Hungarian speakers who number over a million within Romania's borders. This not only enriches Romania as a country, but causes tensions and has a deep history. Why are these people here?

00:00 Beginning
01:12 Where from?
06:02 Four ways
07:62 A bit of History
17:05 The Situation
23:04 Orbán
24:40 What to do

[Retrogamer]

Fascinating history of Hungary and Romania. Thank you Mr. Llywelyn. Particularly as it arrived at the contemporary situation from the perspective of Hungary.

[ProjectMirai]

Nice video! I am a half Hungarian from Transylvania and I love the history, culture and diversity of our country Romania!

[chronozormu]

Being a székely myself, the word probably comes from the word "székelj" or "szék" meaning "to throne" or simply "throne/chair". But that's just a speculation among here. Also there is a saying here in Székelyföld that goes: "Minden székely magyar, de nem minden magyar székely" meaning "All székely are hungarian, but not all hungarian are székely". The tension between the romanians and the székelys really did fire up during the communist regime of Nicolae Ceaucescu where, as you state, the romanisation began. The ripples of this are still in notion this day, as many people from both sides like to cause conflict and uproar about pointless things and reject the reality we live in today. But thankfully that's not the majority. We share many customs and traditions and our history is entwined, now more so than ever perhaps. And most importantly; we share the same homeland and I am sure that people prefer peace and compromises in their homes more than bitterness and conflict.

[victorradu]

Locals know that authentic Romanian doughnuts don't have holes in the middle

[UlpianHeritor]

This issue hits me personally as a Romanian from Transylvania with Magyar-Romanian family members and friends. I just want to note that the issue is a Romanian one, and has little to do with Hungary. The Szekely and Transylvanian Saxons are part of our family, and I believe that we Romanians have demonstrated our tolerance towards our minorities, as we even elected a Transylvanian Saxon as our president. The thing with 'federalization' of the country for the sake of preserving Szekely rights, well, I simply don't see why that would be necessary. Szekely rights, culture and language are already protected and preserved under current minority laws. Moreover, Romania and Hungary are part of the EU, and the border between them will disappear as soon as Romania joins Schengen. Therefore, there is no solution to a problem that doesn't exist. I don't see how federalizing Romania practically changes anything for the Szekely. If Romania federalizes it should be for its own reasons, not to give Orban's Hungary a symbolic victory.

[DanTheCaptain]

“You cannot have a country that looks like a donut”… South Africa would like to have a word.

In all seriousness, I’m Hungarian and have a lot of friends from Transylvania. Most of the problems nowadays are purely political and people have come to terms with each other. Things get boisterous when sports is involved but in general people live in harmony. Romanians are nice people in a quite frankly stunning country! I can’t wait to explore it myself!

[TruthWillMakeYouFree]

*"There is not an acre of ground on the globe that is in the possession of the rightfull owner, or that has not been taken away, from owner after owner, cycle after cycle, by FORCE and bloodshed"* Mark Twain

[balak]

First comment. One in favour of peace and understanding. Not all Hungarians want to unite with Hungary and I hope in the future to find solutions to feel both at home in Romania
🇷🇴🤝🇭🇺❤️

[VBSile]

Many of them are not even Székelys or Hungarians. A significant percentage of them are Magyarized Romanians who embraced the Hungarian language and culture in exchange for rights and freedoms that Romanians did not have in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The process of magyarization of Romanians in Transylvania was a brutal and unjust one. Starting from the 19th century, the policy of magyarization was implemented by the Hungarian government with the aim of assimilating the national minorities in the region. This included encouraging the use of the Hungarian language, restricting the cultural, political, and religious rights of Romanians, and even changing the names of some individuals to Hungarianize them.
There were severe restrictions on the Romanian language, with Romanians being forced to speak and learn Hungarian more, and Romanian schools and churches were discouraged or closed. In addition, public domains and administration were largely controlled by ethnic Hungarians, limiting the chances of Romanians to advance in the social and political hierarchy.
Furthermore, there was a policy of colonizing Romanians from other regions of Transylvania with ethnic Hungarians, in order to change the demographic balance in favor of the Hungarians.
These actions had a significant impact on the identity and culture of Romanians in Transylvania.

[AMOGLES]

My teacher told me that Székely comes from the Hungarian word szék meaning chair or seat. In this case this would be metaphoric representing a seat of government. In other words, the Székelys were organised into a state or province. This would not be the only instance of a province actually calling itself province (the French Provence comes to mind). The German word for Transylvania is Siebenbürgen (seven castles), and the historic Transylvanian shield also has seven castles.

[claudiubut]

It is impressive to hear a version so far from reality. In Transylvania, the most rights are granted to ethnic minorities, and I say ethnic because they are Romanians as a nationality. Check what are the rights of ethnic Romanians in Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine, after which you can say that there is a need for a solution to the situation of the Szeklers.
They have schools where they teach in their language, theaters, festivals, sports clubs, no one prevents them from keeping their traditions and then where is their problem!
The problem is not with the Szeklers in Romania, it is with the Hungarian government, where the rhetoric leaves the impression that there is a problem and many take it for granted.

[MSC]

Moldova gave the autonomy to the gagauz and now the heads of this region make a lot of trouble to entire country.

[luanh]

Hi Ben, I admire your desire to grow your audience interested in the Romanian language and/or history. I would be, however, a bit more cautious when launching opinions or recommendations, such as the federalisation, you may find then lots of unhappy audiences, especially in the current geopolitical climate. The rights of minorities are formally addressed in the country as in all EU MS.

[walkandcamera]

Saying they want to join Hungary is very simplistic... What most Romanian commentators don't understand about the Székelys is that they were just as exclusivist in the 1000 years of the Kingdom of Hungary as they are today in Romania. Székelys were essentially an exception to the rule. They enjoyed collective rights of the nobility, while not being noble. Meaning they were poor as a peasant, but like the nobility they only answered to the king, and provided military service in return. Essentially they were peasants with the rights of counts. Needless to say they guarded these special rights very jealously, and often rose up against Hungary when their rights were threatened. In a hypothetical scenario where Transylvania would be part of Hungary, they would be just as exclusivist as in Romania today. By the way there is no historic parallel to this anywhere.
As to their ethnicity they are the closest thing to an actual Hungarian, related to Avars and Chechens. It's not that they are a separate people, but rather that "mainstream" Hungarians (ie. those who didn't enjoy Székely privileges) mixed with various people, most notably Slavs. So the average Hungarian doesn't look like a Hungarian 1000 years ago, while Székelys still do.

[nannunbgd]

No! Federalization will bring war, and as a Romanian i dont agree to split a country of 20 milion Romanians for 700.000 szekely.

[aleluia]

Whilst I can understand Hungarians feel that Treaty of Trianon hurt them, I would not agree that it was wrong to them. Yes, they have ruled over Transylvania for a long time. However that territory was not theirs, just as Wales does not belong to England (though Wales is in GB). Hungarians just ruled over it, and quite brutally many time. Romanians have always been a majority there, just like Welsh people in Wales.
An Empire disappeared, this is what happened. Just like the Roman Empire, just like the Ottoman Empire, just like the British Empire, etc.

[zsoltbereczki]

"Székelylike" population can be found in Hungary, next to the border of Hungary with Austria in the "Őrség" region too... So the "frontier troops" version seems to me the most likely one....

[corpi]

You could have focused a bit more on the role that Hungarian Nationalism & Quest for Independence played in 1848 and how the Hungarian's struggle for their own rights including their own Kingdom within the Austrian Empire also meant the powerlessness & subjugation of the Romanian population in Transsylvania....
The Romanian-Hungarian enmity's roots stem from this struggle for political & national identity.

[redskytitan]

There will never be a federal Romania. Romanians are the vast majority and we’ll never go for that. Hungarians are welcome to live among us and contribute to the country’s economy and well being, however this talk of privileged rights and self determination are out of place. We are now in the EU - if they don’t like it here, they’re welcome to move to Hungary or any other EU country. Let’s also not forget there is a not so insignificant Romanian minority in Hungary, who has no special rights or Romanian language schools.

[mihaiilie]

Battle of Giurgiu and no mention of Michael the Brave but instead Bathory? 😂