Torontál County

Torontál (Hungarian: Torontál, German: Torontal, Serbian: Torontal or Торонтал, Romanian: Torontal) was the name of administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary. Its territory is presently in northern Serbia (eastern Vojvodina, except the small part near Belgrade, which is part of Central Serbia), western Romania and southern Hungary. The capital of the county was Nagybecskerek (Serbian: Veliki Bečkerek, German: Großbetschkerek, Romanian: Bechicherecu Mare), the current Zrenjanin.

Geography

Torontál county was located in the Banat region. It shared borders with the Kingdom of Serbia and the Hungarian counties Syrmia, Bács-Bodrog, Csongrád, Csanád, Arad and Temes (the first county was part of Croatia-Slavonia). The river Danube formed its southern border, the river Tisza its western border, and the river Maros its northern border. Its area was 10,042 km² around 1910.

History

Torontál county was formed before the 15th century and existed until this area was taken by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. During Ottoman administration, this territory was included into the Ottoman Province of Temeşvar. After the Banat was captured by the Habsburg Monarchy in 1718, the area was included into the Banat of Temeswar, a special province, possessed by the Habsburg Emperor. This province was abolished in 1778, and the county of Torontal was restored. It was incorporated into the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary.

In 1848/1849 the area of the county was part of Serbian Voivodship, while between 1849 and 1860 it was part of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar, a separate Austrian province (during this time, the county did not existed since new Austrian province was divided into districts). The county was re-established in the 1860s, when the area was again incorporated into the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary.

In 1918, the county first became part of the newly formed Banat Republic, and then part of Banat, Bačka and Baranja region of the Kingdom of Serbia, which subsequently became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed to Yugoslavia). By the Treaty of Trianon of 1920, the area of the county was divided between the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Romania, and Hungary. Most of the county was assigned to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (which later became Yugoslavia). The north-eastern part of the county was assigned to Romania, and the northernmost part of the county (a small area south of Szeged) was assigned to Hungary and became part of the new county Csanád-Arad-Torontál.

The Yugoslav part of the pre-1918 Torontál county (the western Banat region) is presently part of Serbia (mostly in the autonomous region of Vojvodina, except the small part near Belgrade, which is part of Central Serbia). The Romanian part is now part of Timiş county (called Timiş-Torontal between 1919 and 1950). The Hungarian part is now part of Csongrád county.

Demographics

According to the census of 1910, the county had 615,151 inhabitants.

Population by language (1910 census):

• Serbian = 199,750 (32.47%)
• German = 165,779 (26.95%)
• Hungarian = 128,405 (20.87%)
• Romanian = 86,937 (14.13%)
• Slovak = 16,143
• Croatian = 4,203

Subdivisions

In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Torontál county were: