WI: Hungary and Romania united?

[qazse]

I haven't been able to find much information regarding these proposals, but the concept of uniting Hungary and Romania is a real one. It was most active just after the Treaty of Trianon, presumably as a way for Hungary to retain some control over Transylvania.

So what if the concept had somehow managed to succeed? For the union's capital, I was thinking the Transylvanian capital of Cluj-Napoca would do nicely.

 

[Bunnyrich]

I don’t see it, Hungarian revanchist would’ve been too high for this to occur.

 

[Nephi]

I think Hungarians are more likely to reunify with Austria.

 

[Aghasverov]

I had never heard of this before I joined this forum. The info on Wiki is pretty sparse, but this Quora article sums up pretty much everything I know about it:

Could a Romanian-Hungarian dual monarchy (similar to Austria-Hungary) have worked after 1919?

Answer (1 of 6): Possibly for a time. The wave of nationalism that sweeping the world after WWI was changing how people and political figures were looking at their world and at their countries’ place in that world. Many countries were bitter and weary of other countries/empires deciding their way...

www.quora.com

I think Regent Joseph August (who was quite fond of the Hungarian people) only considered it as he was under considerable duress, with Romanian troops occupying over half the country. The only way it could possibly be palatable to the Hungarians would be if it took the form of a real union similar to Austria-Hungary, or better yet a personal union... however, with the size differences between the respective populations, and the fact that Romania, being in a stronger position, would be effectively calling the shots, to me it would de facto be an annexation of what was left of Hungary by Romania... I don't think it could ever be made acceptable to the Magyars, and would only lead to further conflict down the road...

 

[Fehérvári]

I had never heard of this before I joined this forum. The info on Wiki is pretty sparse, but this Quora article sums up pretty much everything I know about it:

Could a Romanian-Hungarian dual monarchy (similar to Austria-Hungary) have worked after 1919?

Answer (1 of 6): Possibly for a time. The wave of nationalism that sweeping the world after WWI was changing how people and political figures were looking at their world and at their countries’ place in that world. Many countries were bitter and weary of other countries/empires deciding their way...

www.quora.com

I think Regent Joseph August (who was quite fond of the Hungarian people) only considered it as he was under considerable duress, with Romanian troops occupying over half the country. The only way it could possibly be palatable to the Hungarians would be if it took the form of a real union similar to Austria-Hungary, or better yet a personal union... however, with the size differences between the respective populations, and the fact that Romania, being in a stronger position, would be effectively calling the shots, to me it would de facto be an annexation of what was left of Hungary by Romania... I don't think it could ever be made acceptable to the Magyars, and would only lead to further conflict down the road...

Perhaps if the planned-to-be-ceded area would become a third entity, that could solve the issue? Maybe add a little more territory to it to make its Romanian and Hungarian populations roughly equal. OTL rump-Hungary's population was around 7,6 million, pre-war Romania's was 7,5 million, while the ceded area had almost 5,3 million. Sure, the addition of Bessarabia and Bucovina would add another ~3 million to Romania, and the border between Hungary and this "Transylvania" might shift a bit West compared to OTL, but this still could serve as a great equaliser that could make the proposal more attractive to the Hungarians. What do you think?

 

[Pelranius]

Why not add in the Bulgarians as well? Can't make the proposed Union anymore cumbersome.

 

[Aghasverov]

Perhaps if the planned-to-be-ceded area would become a third entity, that could solve the issue? Maybe add a little more territory to it to make its Romanian and Hungarian populations roughly equal. OTL rump-Hungary's population was around 7,6 million, pre-war Romania's was 7,5 million, while the ceded area had almost 5,3 million. Sure, the addition of Bessarabia and Bucovina would add another ~3 million to Romania, and the border between Hungary and this "Transylvania" might shift a bit West compared to OTL, but this still could serve as a great equaliser that could make the proposal more attractive to the Hungarians. What do you think?

Hmm... so a Kingdom of Hungary in the majority-Hungarian areas of Hungary "proper", a Kingdom of Romania in the "Old Kingdom", Wallachia and Moldavia, and an expanded Transylvania including perhaps portions of the Banat, Crisana and Maramures in between?
Could work, I suppose... the devil would be in the details....