Magyarization

Magyarization (UK: US: , also Hungarianization; Hungarian: magyarosítás [ˈmɒɟɒroʃiːtaːʃ]), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in the Kingdom of Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, adopted the Hungarian national identity and language in the period between the Compromise of 1867 and Austria-Hungary's dissolution in 1918. Magyarization occurred both voluntarily and as a result of social pressure, and was mandated in certain respects by specific government policies. Before World War I, only three European countries declared ethnic minority rights, and enacted minority-protecting laws: the first was Hungary (1849 and 1868), the second was Austria (1867), and the third was Belgium (1898). In contrast, the legal systems of other pre-WW1 era European countries did not allow the use of European minority languages in primary schools, in cultural institutions, in offices of public administration and in the courts. Hungarian nation-building in the 19th century was explicitly modeled after contemporary Western examples, viewing the ongoing linguistic integration enforced by the governments of Britain and France as the prime models for state stability. While proponents justified Magyarization by citing these successful Western precedents, they argued that Hungary's progress was less effective because it was hindered by legal protections for minority rights and the autonomy of minority churches — the Hungarian institutional barriers — that were absent in Britain and France, where the lack of similar constraints allowed for more rapid and comprehensive unification. Magyarization was ideologically based on the classical liberal concepts of individualism (civil liberties of the person/citizens of the country rather than of nationalities/ethnic groups as communities) and civic nationalism, which encouraged ethnic minorities' cultural and linguistic assimilation. By emphasizing minority rights and civil and political rights of the citizen/person based on individualism, Hungarian politicians sought to prevent establishment of politically autonomous territories for...