Századok – 2013

TANULMÁNYOK - Egry Gábor: Regionaliz mus, erdélyiség, szupremácia. Az Erdélyi Szövetség és Erdély jövője, 1913-1918 I/3

AZ ERDÉLYI SZÖVETSÉG ÉS ERDÉLY JÖVŐJE, 1913-1918 31 seletében utazott Aradra. Ez azonban már egyáltalán nem érdekelte a kedvező pozícióba került román politikusokat, így aztán arra a kérdésre se nagyon keresték a választ, vajon higgyenek-e az Erdélyi Szövetség vezetőjének? REGIONALISM, TRANSYLVANISM, SUPREMACY: THE TRANSYLVANIAN ASSOCIATION AND THE FUTURE OF TRANSYLVANIA, 1913-1918 by Gábor Egry (Sumary) The study examines how the Transylvanian Association, the basis for a regional anti-Tisza alliance, was organised in 1913, and then in 1917, by public personalities mainly connected to the independentist opposition. Beyond its immediate political purpose, the Alliance aimed at elaborating and implementing Transylvanian policies in which the characteristic features and interests of the province would prevail, and which could make possible the solution of the problems presented by the existence of ethnic minorities. With all this in mind a complex Hungarian program of social organisation was put forward, covering the fields of economy, administration and education. Whereas the first program was put on national democratic foundations and offerred legal equality to the Romanians at least as citizens, from 1917 the Association endorsed the sometimes discriminative measures which were destined to secure Hungarian supremacy. Among the leaders of the Association, István Bethlen used it in order to further his political career on the national level, István Apáthy became the centre of a wide Transylvanian network, while others profited from the possibility to displace the Munkapárt locally. The picture of Transylvania which emerges from the program itself and from other documents is one of a province which distances itself from Hungary, emphasising its symbolic independence and particular interests, aiming at a separate administration, and posing as a model of national revival, which can be regarded as a precursor of later Transylvanism.