Former Imperialists: FinlandSwedes and Hungarians in Romania

1
Former Imperialists Finland-Swedes and
Hungarians in Romania

• Mario Piergallini

2
Finland Demographics

• 300,000 Swedish speakers in Finland (Finland
  Swedes)
  
• Total population of Finland 5.3 million

Areas of Swedish concentration in Finland
3
History of Finland-Swedes

• In the monolingual Åland Islands, Swedes settled
  there at least 800 years ago
  
• Sweden established rule over Finland in the
  mid-13th century, and ruled it for 550 years
  (after which it lost control to Russia)
  
• During this time many Swedes migrated from the
  central area to Finland

4
History of Finland-Swedes

• Immigrants to Finland and social climbing Finns
  often learned Swedish since it was the official
  language, and some changed their names and
  adopted Swedish identities
• In the latter part of the Russian rule, Finnish
  was elevated to an official language, but Swedish
  was still the language of culture and power
  
• Finnish nationalism, however, raised the position
  of Finnish over the next few decades

5
Swedish in Finland

• Finnish and Swedish have been compulsory subjects
  in Finnish schools since 1970
  
• A slim majority of Finland-Swedes live in Swedish
  majority areas, but in areas with small
  populations there is pressure on the language
  from Finnish
• But generally, the situation is good

6
Sweden Demographics

• 200,000 Finnish speakers in Sweden out of
  450,000 Swedish-Finns in Sweden 60-80,000
  speakers of Tornedalian Finnish in Sweden
  
• Total population in Sweden 9.1 million

Finnish speakers in southern Sweden
7
History of Sweden Finns

• Finnish speakers have lived in Sweden for
  centuries because of Swedens rule
  
• Because of the way the Finnish-Swedish border was
  drawn after Russias conquest, there is a
  native Finnish minority in the north
  
• The language of this older group is usually
  called Tornedalian Finnish or Meänkieli
  
• Finns tend to view Meänkieli as a dialect
  classified as a separate language for political
  reasons
  

8
History of Sweden Finns

• Cultural imperialism and fear of Russian
  expansion had led Sweden to try to assimilate
  Finns in Sweden, this continued from the 1800s
  through the 1970s
• Many Finns began immigrating to Sweden after
  World War II, because of economic misfortunes
  linked to being on the losing side of WW2,
  including reparation payments to the USSR

9
Finnish in Sweden

• Since the 70s, attempts have been made to reverse
  the Swedification
  
• Standard Finnish and Tornedalian Finnish are both
  recognized as minority languages, and can be used
  for official purposes and education in some
  municipalities
• Finnish has the highest maintenance rate of all
  immigrant languages in Sweden

10
Hungary Demographics

• 8,000-25,000 Romanian speakers in Hungary
  (government and minority resources differ)
  
• Total population of Hungary 10 million

11
Romanians in Hungary

• The ancestors of the native Romanian speakers in
  Hungary (excluding immigrants) came after the
  Turks were expelled from Hungary
  
• Mostly located near the Romanian border
• The defeat of Hungary in World War I and World
  War II partly explains the low number of
  Romanians in Hungary

12
Romanian Language in Hungary

• Largely since WW2, the Hungarian government
  recognizes the Romanian language and provides it
  with some support in education and the media, and
  in the Romanian villages it is used in
  government
• The language users are aging, but some attempts
  have been made to counteract this with language
  schools and cultural associations
  

13
Romania Demographics

• 1.7-3 million Hungarian speakers in Romania
• Total population of Romania 22.5 million

Geographic distribution of Hungarian speakers
14
Hungarians in Romania

• Hungarians have been present in Transylvania
  possibly as far back as the original migrations
  of Hungarians (Magyars) into central Europe
  
• Historically, Hungarian held a higher position
  than Romanian in Transylvania due to the area
  being ruled by Hungarians, or later the
  Austro-Hungarian Empire

15
Hungarians in Romania

• After WW1, Transylvania became part of Romania,
  and the new regime elevated Romanian and
  suppressed Hungarian
  
• During WW2, Hungary regained Transylvania, but
  afterwards they lost it again
  
• Initially the Communists improved the situation
  of the Hungarian minority
  
• But after Ceausescu came to power, Romanian was
  again emphasized over minority languages

16
Hungarian Language in Romania

• Since the fall of Communism in Romania, relations
  between Hungary and Romania have improved and so
  has the situation for Hungarian in Romania
  
• It receives official support in government,
  education and media in the Hungarian heavy
  regions, but the Hungarian minority still desires
  more rights and autonomy
• Additionally, support from Hungary has helped and
  still helps them economically and culturally
  

17
Parallels

• The language of the former empire has a generally
  stronger position (in policy and/or
  demographics)
  
• A desire to secure the status of their minority
  in the other country or countries has led the
  countries to improve their policies

18
Differences

• Hungary did not experience migration of Romanians
  into Hungary, while Finns migrated into Sweden
  
• Hungary and Romania improved their policies and
  relations (and avoided potential violent
  conflict) due to a desire to join the EU, whereas
  Sweden and Finland had little chance of conflict
  and changed for more internal reasons

19
Bibliography

• Andersson, Håkan and Herberts, Kjell. The Case
  of the Swedish-Speaking Finns. International
  Review of Education. 42.4 (1996) 384-388.
  
• Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue
  Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition.
  Dallas, Tex. SIL International. Accessed Nov.
  26, 2007. .
• Johannesson, Ingvar. Bilingual-Bicultural
  Education of Immigrant Children in Sweden.
  International Review of Education. 21.3 (1975)
  347-355.
• Mead, W. R. Finland in a Changing Europe. The
  Geographical Journal. 157.3 (1991) 307-315.
  
• Paulston, Rolland. Separate Education as an
  Ethnic Survival Strategy The Finlandssvenska
  Case. Anthropology Education Quarterly. 8.3
  (1977) 181-188.
• Romanian in Hungary. EUROPA Education and
  Training. European Commission. Accessed Nov. 26,
  2007. /languages/langmin/euromosaic/hu4_en.html

20
Bibliography

• Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia
  Foundation. .
  
• Finland.
• Finland-Swedes.
• Finnish language.
• Grand Duchy of Finland.
• Hungary.
• Hungarian language.
• Hungarian minority in Romania.
• Romania.
• Romanian language.
• Sweden.
• Sweden-Finns.
• Swedish language.
• Accessed Nov. 26, 2007. g/wiki/
  
• title of article