Banat of Temeswar

The Banat of Temeswar (German: "Temeswarer Banat", Romanian: "Banatul Timişoarei", Serbian: "Tamiški Banat" or "Тамишки Банат", Hungarian: "Temesi Bánság") was a Habsburg province that existed between 1718 and 1778. It was located in the present day region of Banat, which was named after this province. This was the only part of the kingdom of Hungary which was let in the hands of the Ottoman Empire after the treaty of Karlowitz.

History

Although Before the treaty of Karlowitz most parts of Banat were already controlled by the forces of Prince Eugene of Savoy, the treaty finally recognized the ottoman rule above the region with the fort of Temesvár. Spanish Succession War and the Rákóczi's War for Independence in Hungary caused the Habsburgs to turn their attention elsewhere, so until the 1710s there were no Habsburg attempts to gain the remaining territories of the kingdom of Hungary from the ottomans.In the Austro-Turkish War of 1716-18, Prince Eugene of Savoy conquered Banat from the Ottoman Empire. It received the title of the Banat of Temeswar after the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718), and remained a separate province of the Habsburg Monarchy under military administration until 1751, when Empress Maria Theresa of Austria introduced a civil administration. The capital of the province was Temesvár. The Banat of Temeswár was abolished in 1778, and in 1779 it was incorporated into Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary and it's territory was divided into three counties: Torontál, Temes and Krassó-Szörény. The southern part of the Banat region, which was part of the Banat of Temeswar until 1751, remained part of the Military Frontier (Banat Krajina) until it was abolished in 1871.

Population

The province had to be repopulated after the conquest because due to previous wars it was mostly depopulated. The population density was among the lowest in Europe, some researchers suggest that it was around 1 person / square kilometres. This resulted to a colonization which continued till the early 19th century and had many sources, German families settled there from Austrian and southern German lands, Romanians from Wallachia and Transsylvania, and Serbian refugees from Serbia. The government organized also regimental districts, which had mostly Serbian population as they got special rights in exchange for defending the borders. Hungarians were excluded from this process as the settlement of Hungarians was officially forbidden till the late 18th century. (this was possibly the result of the Rákóczi's War for Independence between 1703-11) The first official census took part during the rule of Joseph II, from the late 18th century. This shows Romanian majority in the east, Serbian in the west, and numerous German population in the whole area.

Governors of the Banat of Temeswar

* Claudius Mercy
* Franz Leopold Engelshofen

See also

* Banat
* Banat Krajina
* Ottoman Province of Temeşvar

External links

* [http://www.zum.de/whkmla/histatlas/eceurope/hun16991739.gifMap]
* [http://www.timisoara-tourism.com Timisoara Tourism]