Another WWI question

[Burrbee]

In the Bukovyna in WWI, in the northern area near the Dniestr the population consisted of about 38% Ruthenes and 30% Rumanians. They shared the same church (Orthodox) but what would their relationship have been like?

During the war when Rumania (the country) stayed neutral until the latter parts,who would these Rumanians in the northern Bukovina been aligned with? The country of Rumania didn't like the Russians because of previous wars, the Rumanian nobles in northern Bukovyna were educated by the Empire and close to Germany as well. So when Rumania the country sided with the Entente/Allied against the central powers would these Rumanian noble landowners fled to the Roumanian army????? Does anyone have any information about what the consequences of Rumania siding against Germany/Austria would have been?

Because Rumania wanted Transylvania back, would the Hungarian soldier have been particularly harsh on the Rumanian nobles????

Any insights into this?

[Ivan_Mazepa]

You're a curious one, goddamn

Romanians are not even Slavs, so lingustically and culturally they're not that close to Ukrainians. I did get a sense that under Romania Ukrainians were repressed. I don't think Hungarians were in the picture (they were in Transkarpathia)

[Hannia]

Burrbee,

From a historical perspective, the 18th & 19th centuries were revolutionary times in France/Western Europe and it wasn't long before there was a spillover of nationalistic fervor to the ethnic minorities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Cultural identity questions and language issues served as undercurrents for the evolving notion that tyranny was no longer acceptable.
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Bare in mind what your ancestors in Bukovyna experienced during WW1.

From 1915-1917 there was an intermittent Russian occupation of Bukovyna.

First World War.com - Memoirs & Diaries - Austrian Account of the Brusilov Offensive, June 1916
http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries...v_austrian.htm

At the tail end of 1918 Roumanian troops w/their own nationalist desires occupied Bukovyna and Transylvania. There were many serious disturbances where the civilian masses needed to flee for their lives.

W/the Treaty of St. Germain in 1919, Bukovyna passed to Roumanian administration. Although the treaty contained provisions for the protection of ethnic & religious minorities, these were not incorporated into the Romanian constitution.

In 1921-1924 there were agrarian reforms which created further economic hardships for the general peasant populace.

The Great Depression started here in 1930 and continued until 1939.
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After 1918 emigration abroad from Bukovyna was insignificant.

Appx 60,000 emigrants left for the Americas between 1921 and 1930, most of them were Jewish.

The greatest migration was the national minorities returning to their homelands.

In the 1920's about 20,000 Roumanians who emigrated to the USA, before WW1, returned to Bukovyna and Transylvania.

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I suspect that the answer to your questions lies in understanding the concept of ethnic/tribal solidarity, a varant of nationalism.
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PS> Burpee, I have received your E-mails. I now need to locate the info I prepared for you.

[Edited by Hannia on 1st June 2005 at 20:59]