Ethnic classification and political instrumentalisation in the de-nationalised zone: The case of Satu Mare

Anders Blomqvist

Panel 3 The Hungarian Minorities

Abstract

Satu Mare’s location in the de-nationalised zone in Romania at the Romanian-Hungarian frontier made it strategically important and an extreme case regarding Romanian national re-building as it had 97 % non-Romanians before 1914, according to the Hungarian linguistic definition of nationality. The city was heavily magyarised with a strong Hungarian and Jewish elite who were opposing the Romanisation. The Romanians were in minority, but they were backed up by the state and the international community through the peace conference, even though there was a conflict between the protection of minorities and the Great Power interest in re-nationalising Satu Mare.

This paper will look at the competing definitions of ethnic and national classification in the city which include Romanian, Hungarian, Jewish and Swabian as well as international perspectives. It will also investigate the political instrumentalisation of the nationalisation policies within the city regarding cultural institutions, local administration, social associations and economic organisation. This case study shows how linguistic, racial, ethnic, social and religious categories emerged, competed and overlapped.

Biography

2003 – Present, Doctoral studies in History, Baltic and East European Graduate School
Södertörn University College /Stockholm University.
2008, Junior Fellow, Collegium Budapest.
2007—2008, European Doctorate / Marie Curie Fellow in History, History Department
University College of London.
2005—2006, Doctoral Support Program in History, History Department, Central European University, Budapest.
1996—2004, Master of Education for the Upper Secondary School, History and Civics, Uppsala University.               
1993—2002, Master of Science, Economics and Business, Stockholm School of Economics

Research Interests

Nationalism and modern social and economic history, especially economic nationalism, in Eastern and Central Europe, especially Hungary, Romania and Transylvania.

Related Publications

• “The Journal Korall and Hungarian Social History – Between International and National Contexts”, East Central Europe, 2008 (forthcoming).
• “Ethnic Division and National Narratives among Romanians and Hungarians in Satu Mare / Szatmárnémeti” in Sabine Fischer and Heike Pleines (eds), Crises and Conflicts in Post-Socialist Societies: The Role of Ethnic, Political and Social Identities, (Changing Europe, Vol. 4) Stuttgart, 2008.
• “Competing Stories about Transylvania’s past: National Stories in an International Context?” Egle Rindzeviciute (ed.). Re-approaching East Central Europe: Old Region, New Institutions (Baltic & East European Studies 7) Huddinge: CBEES, 2006: pp.265-358.