The history of the diplomatic relations between neighboring countries Hungary and Romania from the end of World War I to the present day.

1. Hungary-Romania relations
By: Viktor Gombocz

2. Background
• Monday, November 11, 1918: World War I ends with
armistice agreement between Germany and the Allies.
• Sunday, December 1, 1918: Transylvania unites with
Romania after incorporation of Bessarabia and Bucovina.
• March-August 1919: Hungarian-Romanian War.
Romanian Army occupies Budapest; Hungarian Soviet
Republic falls.
• March 1920: Romanian Army withdraws from Budapest.
Admiral Miklós Horthy becomes regent of Hungary.
• June 1920: Hungary signs the Treaty of Trianon with the
Allied Powers. 72% of its territory is lost to
Romania, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia.

3. Relations: Interwar years
• June 1920: Hungary and Romania establish diplomatic
relations.
• November 1938: Under provisions of the First Vienna
Award, Hungary annexes southern Slovakia.
• March 1939: Hungary annexes southern Carpathian Rus.

4. Relations: World War II
• Friday, August 30, 1940: Hungary is awarded North
Transylvania from the Second Vienna Award.
• September 1940: Ion Antonescu becomes the Prime
Minister and Conducător of Romania.
• Thursday, April 17, 1941: Hungary is awarded Vojvodina
during the German invasion of Yugoslavia.
• Sunday, June 22, 1941: Hungarian and Romanian troops
participate in Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of
the Soviet Union.
• Monday, December 8, 1941: Hungary and Romania declare
war on the United States after the declaration of war on
Japan.

5. Relations: World War II – cont.
• Sunday, March 19, 1944: Nazi forces invade Hungary.
• Sunday, October 15, 1944: Horthy is deposed from power
and forced to install a puppet government of Germany.
• Friday, December 29, 1944-Tuesday, February 13, 1945:
The Siege of Budapest. Budapest is nearly demolished
when Soviet and Romanian forces occupy Hungary.
• Sunday, December 31, 1944: Hungary declares war on
Germany.
• Tuesday, May 8/Wednesday, May 9, 1945: World War II
ends with Germany’s unconditional surrender.

6. Relations: Cold War – 1940s
• Friday, February 1, 1946: Second Hungarian Republic is
established.
• Monday, February 10, 1947: Under the Treaty of
Peace, the Vienna awards are terminated. Hungary loses
the same territories lost through the Treaty of
Trianon, restoring pre-1938 borders.
• Tuesday, December 3o, 1947: Abolishment of the
monarchy- King Michael is forced to abdicate. The
Communists seize power.
• Saturday, August 20, 1949: Second Hungarian Republic
falls; rise of the People’s Republic of Hungary.

7. Relations: Cold War – 1950s
• Tuesday, May 17, 1955: The Warsaw Pact is created to
guard the Eastern Bloc from the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO).
• Tuesday, October 23, 1956: In Budapest, Hungarian
students initiate an uprising against the Communist
government.
• Saturday, November 10, 1956: The Hungarian uprising is
crushed after the Soviet army sends tanks into Budapest.
The Communists quickly regain power.
• Monday, June 16, 1958: Hungarian Anti-Soviet leader
Imre Nagy is hanged for taking part in the uprising.

8. Relations: Cold War – 1960s
• Wednesday, August 21, 1968: The Prague Spring is put
down by the Warsaw Pact. Hungary participates, but
Romania does not. Romania’s head of state, Nicolae
Ceauşescu, openly condemns the Warsaw Pact’s
intervention.

9. Relations: Cold War – 1980s
• Monday, December 25, 1989: Nicolae Ceauşescu’s
government falls with the execution of him and his wife
by firing squad after they are found guilty of charges of
committing numerous crimes against the state.

10. Post Cold War relations: 1990s
• Friday, March 12, 1999: Hungary, together with
Poland and Czech Republic, joins NATO.

11. Post Cold War relations: 2000s
• Monday, March 29, 2004: Romania joins NATO.
• Saturday, May 1, 2004: Hungary becomes one of ten new
member states of the European Union.
• Monday, January 1, 2007: Romania, together with
Bulgaria, joins the European Union, improving and
strengthening its ties with Hungary with the latter
supporting the former’s bid for membership, which, in
addition to a treaty for laying the foundation for closer
and friendlier relations signed in 1996, keeps ties
between the two neighbors warm.

12. Overall relations beyond 2007
• Hungary-Romania relations, having initially improved
after the ratification of the treaty for closer
relations, remain positive to the present day.
• Between 1996 and 2008, and from 2009, Romania’s
ethnic Hungarian party, Democratic Union of
Hungarians in Romania (Hungarian name: Romániai
Magyar Demokrata Szövetség; Romanian name:
Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România)
participated in every government coalition.
• Both nations are full members of NATO and the
European Union.

13. Symbols of positive Hungary-
Romania relations

14. Symbols of positive Hungary-Romania
relations – cont.

15. Other organizations Hungary and
Romania are in
• Hungary: • Romania:
▫ Finno-Ugric Union ▫ Latin Union
▫ Organisation for ▫ Council of Europe
Economic Co-operation ▫ Union for the
and Development Mediterranean
▫ Council of Europe ▫ Organisation
▫ Schengen Agreement internationale de la
▫ Union for the Francophonie
Mediterranean
▫ Organisation
internationale de la
Francophonie (observer)

16. Hungary and Romania - Statistics
• Hungary • Romania
▫ Capital: Budapest ▫ Capital: Bucharest
▫ Official language(s): ▫ Official language(s):
Hungarian Romanian
▫ Demonym: Hungarian ▫ Demonym: Romanian
▫ Government: ▫ Government: Semi-
Parliamentary republic presidential republic
▫ Currency: Forint ▫ Currency: Romanian
▫ Internet TLD: .hu leu
▫ Internet TLD: .ro

17. Videos about Hungary-Romania
relations
• Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDPshLw0vRQ
• Treaty of Trianon of 1920:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cbe_pOWkGk
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-1aI6FlZmU
• Hungarian Army in North Transylvania in 1940:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kTIPiwi4hw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSxsOmrRI58

18. Languages of Hungary and Romania
Hungary Romania
• Official language: • Official language:
Hungarian Romanian
• Main foreign languages: • Main foreign languages:
▫ German ▫ French
▫ English ▫ English
▫ French ▫ Italian

19. Religion in Hungary and Romania
Hungary Romania
• Roman Catholic 51.9% • Eastern Orthodox
• Calvinist 15.9% (including all sub-
denominations) 86.8%
• Lutheran 3%
• Protestant (various
• Greek Catholic 2.6% denominations including
• Other Christian 1% Reformate and
• Jewish 0.1% Pentecostal) 7.5%
• Other/unspecified 11.1% • Roman Catholic 4.7%
• Unaffiliated 14.5% • Other (mostly Muslim)
and unspecified 0.9%
• None 0.1%