Die Deutschen im Banat, von der Kolonisation bis zur Integration in den rumänischen Staat Ein kurzer Rückblick

Abstract

In the historical process of expelling the Ottomans from Europe, Habsburg rule spread across Central and Eastern Europe. In the context of the somewhat later dominant views that guided pol itics, such as the Enlightenment or the populationist politics, the settlement of colonists became more and more important, also in Banat, a depopulated area during the Turkish wars, which was mainly used for defense purposes. Here, the new colonists, the new types of settlements and the industrial activities in a highly multicultural environment made Banat one of the most developed and industrialized regions of the Habsburg Monarchy. In the description of the settlement of Ger man population groups that took place in the 18th century, the example of the Transylvanian Sax ons is used first, who were settled very early on by the kings of Hungary on the eastern border of the kingdom in order to protect them and also to farm. Over time they have developed and always defended their own identity and dialect as well as their own laws and constitutional status. The settlement of the Banat Germans, which took place in several waves, is followed along the social, geographical, economic and last but not least demographic coordinates. Later, the constitutional status of Banat also changed, until this multicultural region became part of Greater Romania after the First World War. All these changes always brought new challenges for the Banat Germans, who had their own organizational forms at that time. Political activity in defense of collective rights continued throughout the interwar period, marked by political instability.