How to gain minorities loyalty for Hungary? was it possible?

How could have Hungary appeased its minorities after the Ausgleich and before WW1 , so the Slovaks, Romanians and Serbs would have preferred to stay in the Kingdom?

For me as a Slovak, the following conditions would seem reasonable and persuade me to stay in Hungary to Czechoslovakia, although I am not sure if they would be accpetable to the Hungarian political representation:

  • Minority languages become official in districts where linguistic minority forms at least 20% of population. In districts where Hungarians form less than 20% of the population, At least one official must be competent in speaking Hungarian.
  • First (maternal) language becomes language of instruction in areas where at least 20% of the children speak it. For non-Hungarians, Hungarian will be the second language,Hungarians to learn one of the other languages spoken in the kingdom
  • Secondary education: schools or classes with minority, Hungarian and billingual education.
  • Government recognition of cultural institutions such as Matica Slovenská
  • Fixed number of parliamentary seats for each of the counties of Hungary, which would ultimately guarantee at least some Slovak representation in Hungarian parliament
  • any official doctine of a unitary Hungarian nation, speaking several languages, the Lowland Hunagarian (Magyar) and the Highland Hungarian (Slovak) would be okay.
Do you think this would be acceptable to 19th century Hungarain politicians
 
Here's what I think would need to happen.

  1. Give slovaks and Romanians and Croats native Americans style autonomy and classify them as Domestic dependent nations part of Hungary but have a certain amount of self rule
  2. Slovak Croatian and Romanian regonized as national languages not official but national like egypts official language is Arab there national language is Egyptian Arabic
 
Methinks Hungary was largely underwritten by Berlin, just saying. But Vienna-style management from the get go would have helped. That is a throwing money at it, minor compromises, no Magyarization. A challenge obviously is exposed minority/majority territory adjacent to emerging nation state(s). The biggest exposure lies in Transylvania. So, ultimately, autonomy is what is required a la Austrian Galicia or another Croatia type deal. A Transylvania within Hungary and a Szekerland within Transylvania. This would go a long way. The autonomous state would be more stable and prosperous than say, Romania.
 
Keep and execute properly the minority law of 1868, lower the census for voting, and there you go! Most of the people from minorities would be glad with that.
 
Maybe if the Hungarian elites and their nobility weren't as hyper-nationalistic as in OTL?
(But that would change large parts of the Hungarian history in the 19. century)

More nationalistic these elites make any form of compromise or minority legislation far more difficult.
 
Just satisfying the overt demands of minorities won’t cut it if Austria-Hungary still loses WWI. Self-determination was kind of a pretty political goal for the Allies and it gave a good excuse to cut enemies down to size.

It doesn’t matter if you’re just trying to change the political atmosphere in Hungary, though.
 
Just satisfying the overt demands of minorities won’t cut it if Austria-Hungary still loses WWI. Self-determination was kind of a pretty political goal for the Allies and it gave a good excuse to cut enemies down to size.

I don't think self determination was a concern for Allied leadership outside of Wilson. Austria-Hungary was one of the Great Powers. Even if it was the new Sick Man of Europe, there would still be interest in keeping it together.

It's always seemed to me that the Hungarian nobility was the big stumbling block in reforming Austria. They wanted Greater Hungary in a loose association with Austria, and those minorities were a threat to that. Give them more rights, and they'll want to be independent nations within the Hapsburg monarchy.
 
It's always seemed to me that the Hungarian nobility was the big stumbling block in reforming Austria.
I have to disagree there. Firstly, because Hungary had nothing to do with the reforms in Austria. Secondly, ever since the 1820s, the Hungarian nobility was a major driving force behind the reformation and modernisation of the country, it was the Habsburgs, who held back and sabotaged those reforms. That was 1848-49 about as well. Later the Hungarians wanted to further push the development of the country, that's why they always fought for more and more independence, but never for complete independence. The goal was to achieve not just legally, but also economically and militarily the egality with Austria. That's exactly why the Hungarian wanted an own national bank, to control and boost development. That's why the minorities were treated worse and worse after 1890. And also that's why the Hungarian prefered equipping and maning their Honvéd instead of the Common Army, since it was viewed and planed to be used to stomp the Hungarian growth. Maybe if the Austrians wouldn't have been so cocky, than all of these now negatively perceived traits of the Hungarian state wouldn't came to existance. The minorities wouldn't have been felt as that much of a threat, which could have meant better and well enforced minority laws, more tolerant education, and also much lower voting census! The Common army wouldn't have been viewed as threat either, which could have meant a much better financement for it and maybe some competent men in the higher ranks from Transleithania, who wouldn't kill of the entire army in the first half of the war, only to gain nation apart from basically self-willingly subjugate us completely to the Germans!

Fhu, Boys, sorry for the rant, but it was needed.
 
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