Abstract
AbstractThis article investigates the potential influence of the newly formed Imperial Germany on Transylvanian Saxon politics. The Saxons were German-speaking settlers with long traditions of local autonomy and political privileges within the kingdom of Hungary. From the early eighteenth century, Saxon politics had been defined by its relations to Hungary and to the Habsburg monarchy as a whole. Under the dualist system set up in the 1867 Compromise, the Hungarian government exerted control over Transylvania. The unification of Germany in 1871 introduced a new factor into Saxon politics since there was a clear territorial subject for the indistinct notions of pan-German cultural, religious (Lutheran), and historical affinities. The issue of Saxon administrative and political autonomy, eventually removed by the Hungarian government in 1876, forms a case-study of Saxon politics and the place of Germany within it. There was a spectrum of responses, not simply increased German nationalism amongst Saxons, and the article traces the careers of Georg Daniel Teutsch, Jakob Rannicher, and Guido Baussnern to highlight the diversity within the Saxon camp. From the perspective of Imperial Germany, diplomatic considerations such as regional stability outweighed any possible intervention in Hungarian domestic matters. Moreover, the German public remained largely indifferent to appeals for support.
Highlights
I will personally say a few words in the December edition of the Preussische Jahrbücher.’[5]
Despite Treitschke’s attempts and the various publications on the Saxons appearing in Germany around this time, there was no significant response from the German public or government
Saxons since study at the Protestant Universities of Heidelberg, Göttingen, Tübingen, Leipzig, Jena, Halle and Berlin was a common route for the Saxon elite, especially the priests.[47]
Summary
Saxons since study at the Protestant Universities of Heidelberg, Göttingen, Tübingen, Leipzig, Jena, Halle and Berlin was a common route for the Saxon elite, especially the priests.[47]. Neither the German public nor official opinion wanted any intervention in internal Hungarian affairs.[59] These three themes of cultural affinity, diplomatic considerations and general indifference influenced Saxon attitudes towards the new Imperial Germany. The 19 December 1873 petition, in particular, stressed that any changes should be negotiated through the Universitas and the municipalities.[82] In an open letter dated 23 May 1874 Baussnern wrote of ‘the almost unbearable conditions ...that have generated the feeling of bitter disappointment’.83 These strong sentiments placed considerable pressure on the Saxon parliamentary representatives in Budapest to leave the fracturing Deák Party and enter into official opposition. Hungary and the Habsburg Monarchy would be more stable, he reasoned, and this was of primary importance for Germany, rather than the plight of fellow German-speakers in faraway south-eastern Europe.[114]
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