Banat Republic
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The Banat Republic (Romanian: Republica Bănăţeană, German: Banater Republik, Serbian: Banatska republika or Банатска република, Hungarian: Bánáti köztársaság) was a short-lived state, proclaimed in Timişoara, on October 31, 1918, as the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed. The republic was an attempt to preserve the integrity of the multi-ethnic Banat region in the face of claims from rival nations.
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[edit] History
A Banat National Council was formed, consisting of 5 representatives of each of the following ethnic groups: Romanians, Germans, Serbs, and Hungarians. The civil leader of the Republic was Dr. Otto Roth, while the military commander was Albert Barta. The Government of Hungary recognized the independence of the Banat Republic.
The Banat National Council organized military squads and a civil guard (on November 4), with a goal to establish control over the entire territory of the Banat. However, the Banat Republic was to be a short-lived state. On November 15, 1918, Serbian troops entered the Banat and put an end to the Republic. In 1919 the Banat region was divided primarily between Romania and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed to Yugoslavia).
On April 16, 1920, ethnic Germans from the Banat sent a request to the Paris Peace Conference asking for the re-establishment of the Republic under the name of the Republic of Banatia. According to the request, this new republic would include not only the Banat, but also the neighbouring region of Bačka. The republic would be divided into cantons, each administered by its majority ethnic group. However, the Peace Conference rejected this proposal.
[edit] Population
The population of the Republic was 1,582,133, of which 592,049 (37.42%) were Romanians, 387,545 (24.50%) Germans, 284,329 (17.97%) Serbs, and 242,152 (15.31%) Hungarians, with smaller numbers of other ethnic groups such as the Slovaks, Croats, and Rusins. The religious composition was as follows: 855,852 (54.10%) were Orthodox Christians, 591,447 (37.38%) were Roman Catholics, with a scattering of adherents of other religious groups such as Calvinists, Lutherans and Jews.
[edit] Origins
The Banat is a natural geographical region in the Pannonian plain. From 1552, it was an Ottoman province, named Eyalet of Temeşvar. After the Treaty of Passarowitz of 1718, the region was a Habsburg province named the Banat of Temeswar. This province was abolished in 1778. Between 1849 and 1860, the Banat region, together with the Bačka and Srem, was part of a new Habsburg province, named Voivodship of Serbia and Tamiš Banat. The capital of all these provinces was Timişoara.
[edit] Literature
- Drago Njegovan, Prisajedinjenje Vojvodine Srbiji, Novi Sad, 2004.
- Milojko Brusin, Naša razgraničenja sa susedima 1919-1920, Novi Sad, 1998.
