Torontál County

Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox Former Subdivision Torontál (Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now divided between Serbia and Romania, except for a small area which is part of Hungary. The capital of the county was Nagybecskerek (Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx), the current Zrenjanin.

Geography

File:Torontal county map.jpg

Torontál county in 1891

Torontál county was located in the Banat region. From its recreation in 1779 until its partition in 1920 it shared borders with the Hungarian counties of Bács-Bodrog, Csongrád, Csanád, Arad and Temes.

The Banat Military Frontier lay along its southern border until it was abolished in 1873, after which the river Danube formed its southern border, which it shared with the Principality of Serbia (Kingdom of Serbia after 1882), and the Slavonian Military Frontier (Croatian-Slavonian county of Syrmia after 1881).

The river Tisza formed its western border and the river Maros (Mureș) its northern border. The rivers Aranca, Bega, Timiș and Bârzava flowed through the county. Its area was Template:Convert around 1910.

History

File:Koh administrative 1370 01.png

Torontál county in 1370

Torontál county was formed before the 15th century, within the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. Initially, the capital was at Aracs/Vranjevo (now a part of the town of Novi Bečej), and the county existed until this area was taken by the Ottoman Empire in 1552. During Ottoman administration, this territory was included into the Ottoman Temeşvar Eyalet. In 1594, the region was affected by the anti-Ottoman Banat uprising of local Christians, mainly Serbs and Romanians.Template:Sfn

File:Zastava Torontalske županije.jpg

Torontál county flag, late 18th century

During the Great Turkish War (1683-1699), much of the region was temporarily liberated, but under the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) it was returned to the Ottoman rule.Template:Sfn The region finally was captured by the Habsburg monarchy during the next Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718). Under the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718) it became a Habsburg possession, and was included into the Banat of Temeswar.Template:Sfn

This province was abolished in 1778 and it was incorporated into the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. Torontal county was restored in 1779, with significantly different borders than in medieval times. Its center was moved temporarily to Nagyszentmiklós (present-day Sânnicolau Mare) between 1807 and 1820 due to a great fire in Nagybecskerek (present-day Zrenjanin).

File:Vojvodina10.png

Bács-Bodrog, Syrmia, Torontál, Temes and Krassó-Szörény counties after 1881, the five counties which were formed in the territory of the former Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat

In 1848/1849 the area of the county was claimed by the self-proclaimed Serbian Vojvodina, while between 1849 and 1860 it was part of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat, a separate Austrian crownland. After 1853, the county did not exist since the voivodeship was divided into districts. After the voivodeship was abolished in 1860, the area was reincorporated into the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary and the county was recreated in January 1861. In 1876, when the administrative structure of the Kingdom of Hungary was changed, the borders of Torontal County were modified to include the District of Velika Kikinda. A few years prior, parts of the territory of the former Banat Military Frontier (including Pancsova/Pančevo, formerly the seat of the so-called German Regiment) had also been annexed to it.

In the autumn of 1918, at the end of the First World War, the ephemeral Banat Republic was proclaimed in Timișoara, and also claimed Torontál county, but the attempt to create a Banatian state failed. Under the Armistice of Belgrade (13 November), armed forces of Austria-Hungary were obligated to retreated from the territory of Bács-Bodrog county, and the region was possessed by the Allied Army of the Orient, thus allowing the Serbian Royal Army to establish effective control south of the Baja-Szeged-Mureș line line.Template:Sfn

By that time, the process of political dissolution of Austria-Hungary already entered its final stages, and on 16 November the First Hungarian Republic was proclaimed. In the same time, local Serbian and other Slavic leaders organized the Great People's Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs in Banat, Bačka and Baranja, that was held on 25 November in Novi Sad, and proclaimed the unification of those regions (Banat, Bačka and Baranja, including the Torontál county), into the Kingdom of Serbia. Several days later, on 1 December 1918, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was proclaimed, encompassing Serbia with Montenegro, and South Slavic provinces of the former Austria-Hungary. Thus, two countries laid claims on the Torontál county, the Hungarian Republic and the Yugoslav Kingdom.Template:Sfn

File:Csanád, Arad és Torontál.PNG

Csanád, Arad and Torontál counties after the Treaty of Trianon. In 1923, the three counties were merged to form Csanád-Arad-Torontál County

The question was finally settled by the Treaty of Trianon of 1920, and the area of the county was divided between the Yugoslav Kingdom, Romania, and Hungary. Most of the county was assigned to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (which was later renamed to Yugoslavia). The north-eastern part of the county was assigned to Romania, and the northernmost part of the county (a small area south of Szeged, comprising Kiszombor and 8 surrounding villages) was assigned to Hungary and became part of the newly formed county of Csanád-Arad-Torontál in 1923.

The Yugoslav part of the pre-1920 Torontál county (the western Banat region) is now part of Serbia (mostly in the autonomous region of Vojvodina, except the small part near Belgrade, which is part of Belgrade Region). The Romanian part is now part of Timiș county (called Timiș-Torontal between 1919 and 1950). The Hungarian part is now part of Csongrád County.

Demographics

File:Torontál ethnic map.png

Ethnic map of the county with data of the 1910 census (see the key in the description).

Population by mother tongueTemplate:Efn

Census	Total	Serbian	German	Hungarian	Romanian	Slovak	Other or unknown
1880	530,988	169,006 (33.31%)Template:Efn	158,077 (31.15%)	78,278 (15.43%)	78,102 (15.39%)	12,213 (2.41%)	11,743 (2.31%)
1890	588,750	186,231 (31.63%)	184,827 (31.39%)	98,129 (16.67%)	87,445 (14.85%)	14,031 (2.38%)	18,087 (3.07%)
1900	609,362	191,857 (31.48%)	184,016 (30.20%)	114,760 (18.83%)	88,044 (14.45%)	14,969 (2.46%)	15,716 (2.58%)
1910	615,151	199,750 (32.47%)	165,779 (26.95%)	128,405 (20.87%)	86,937 (14.13%)	16,143 (2.62%)	18,137 (2.95%)

Population by religionTemplate:Efn

Census	Total	Eastern Orthodox	Roman Catholic	Lutheran	Calvinist	Jewish	Other or unknown
1880	530,988	251,414 (47.35%)	242,457 (45.66%)	18,657 (3.51%)	8,111 (1.53%)	6,672 (1.26%)	3,677 (0.69%)
1890	588,750	271,263 (46.07%)	273,610 (46.47%)	20,848 (3.54%)	10,504 (1.78%)	7,139 (1.21%)	5,386 (0.91%)
1900	609,362	277,558 (45.55%)	284,704 (46.72%)	22,524 (3.70%)	12,195 (2.00%)	6,750 (1.11%)	5,631 (0.92%)
1910	615,151	286,642 (46.60%)	279,793 (45.48%)	24,905 (4.05%)	12,549 (2.04%)	6,114 (0.99%)	5,148 (0.84%)

Subdivisions

File:Torontál county administrative map.jpg

In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Torontál county were:

Districts (járás)
District	Capital
Template:Color box Alibunári járás	Alibunár (now Alibunar, Serbia)
Template:Color box Antalfalvai járás	Antalfalva (now Kovačica, Serbia)
Template:Color box Bánlaki járás	Bánlak (now Banloc, Romania)
Template:Color box Csenei járás	Csene (now Cenei, Romania)
Template:Color box Módosi járás	Módos (now Jaša Tomić, Serbia)
Template:Color box Nagybecskereki járás	Nagy-Becskerek (now Zrenjanin, Serbia)
Template:Color box Nagykikindai járás	Nagy-Kikinda (now Kikinda, Serbia)
Template:Color box Nagyszentmiklósi járás	Nagyszentmiklós (now Sânnicolau Mare, Romania)
Template:Color box Pancsovai járás	Pancsova (now Pančevo, Serbia)
Template:Color box Párdányi járás	Párdány (now Međa, Serbia)
Template:Color box Perjámosi járás	Perjámos (now Periam, Romania)
Template:Color box Törökbecsei járás	Törökbecse (now Novi Bečej, Serbia)
Template:Color box Törökkanizsai járás	Törökkanizsa (now Novi Kneževac, Serbia)
Template:Color box Zsombolyai járás	Zsombolya (now Jimbolia, Romania)
Template:Color box Urban counties (törvényhatósági jogú város)
Pancsova (now Pančevo, Serbia)
Template:Color box Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város)
Nagybecskerek (now Zrenjanin, Serbia)
Nagykikinda (now Kikinda, Serbia)

See also

• Current North, Central and South Banat districts of Serbia.