Supremacy and Self-Determination Ambitions: Hungarian Proposals, Plans, and Documents for Solving the Transylvanian Problem (1918–1940)

This paper presents some Hungarian perspectives on the Transylvanian question between the two world wars. The core issue of the Transylvanian question lies in the challenge of integrating the region amidst parallel nation-building efforts and the administration of a multi-ethnic territory. The proposed plans can be broadly categorized based on whether they require border adjustments. The documents under consideration encompass plans for border modifications, proposals for Transylvanian independence or autonomy within another state, minority protection acts, and proposals for national (Hungarian, Szekler) territorial or cultural autonomy. Around 1920, plans related to border changes were created, and then between 1928 and 1931, following the decentralization efforts of the National Peasant Party, various ideas of minority autonomy came to light. In the latter half of the 1930s, there was a simultaneous emergence of ideas for border revisions and strategies to address minority concerns within the existing state structure. The paper will begin by categorizing the various options and delineating the objectives. Subsequently, it will examine the pre-1916 plans and those formulated during the transition of power. It will then analyze distinctively the perspectives of the Budapest governments and the Hungarian elite in Romania.