Page - 347 - in Österreich-Ungarns imperiale Herausforderungen - Nationalismen und Rivalitäten im Habsburgerreich um 1900

© 2020, V&R unipress GmbH, Göttingen ISBN Print: 9783847110606 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737010603 difference. The roles of the center and periphery were reversed as far as the periphery was portrayed as the authentic region in national terms, while the regional elites claimed toact as the spearheadof thenationagainst theminor- ities.45Asthisconflictwaspositedastheonedecidingthefateofthenation,they could invoke unconditional support from the center, without its intervention, duetotheir farsuperiorknowledgeoftheenemy.Inthissense, itwasnotsimply regionalism, but also a variety of nationalism: theirs was a subsidiaristic na- tionalismthatupheldtheunityofthenation,butstilldemandedtherelocationof the decisions from the center to the periphery, and it attributed themost im- portantnational roles to the regionalelite.46 TheTransylvanianAlliancewasnotsimplyanoppositionorganization.After Tisza’s fall in 1917, itsmembers suddenly gained influence in the central gov- ernment, with some of them becomingministers (G#bor Ugron, minister of interior), while others became influential lobbyists within the new governing parties.Henceforth,theirideasstartedtoshapegovernmentpoliciesthatledtoa morediscriminatoryactionagainstRomanians.47Butevenbeforetheregionalist came to power, it was already a serious challenge to the central government, especially after theopposition, alignedwithregionalism, regained itspositions in important county and city congregations, in Cluj and T.rguMures‚.While Tiszawas not ready for formal concessions, he still appliedmethods familiar fromimperialpracticestostrikeabalance.Hesentayoungpoliticianfilledwith aspirations toserveasan interlocutor. György Bern#dywas an atypical figure in county political life.48Hewas a pharmacist andnota lawyer, anddidnotbelong to the typical gentryenviron- ment of the county politics. After serving as a liberalMember of Parliament between1896and1901,hewasselectedfortheroleofmayorofT.rguMures‚ that he held between 1902 and 1912. The county and the city were among the strongest bastions of the opposition, and in 1913 Bern#dy seemed to be the suitable person tomediate between central government and local opposition. The city was in a phase of rapid modernization during Bern#dy’s tenure as mayor, andthis couldnothappenwithout financialhelp fromthegovernment. This decade coincidedwith the electoral terms of pro- and anti-Tisza govern- 45 AnssiPaasi,The institutionalizationofregions: a theoretical framework forunderstanding theemergenceofregionsandtheconstitutionofregional identity, in:Fennia. International Journal of Geography 1 (1986), p. 105–146; Miroslav Hroch, Reflections on the Role of History in (Re)constructing Regional Identity, in: Steven G. Ellis/Raingard Esser/Jean- FranÅoisBerdah/MilosˇRezn&k(ed.),Frontiers,RegionsandIdentities inEurope,Pisa2009, p. 1–14. 46 Moreonthis seeEgry,Regionalizmus(seenote39),p. 25–28. 47 Fordetails seeEgry,Regionalizmus(seenote39). 48 For Bern#dy’s biography see: J#nos Fodor, Bern#dy György. Politikai 8letrajz. Ma- rosv#s#rhely–Kolozsv#r2017.Thispart isbasedonFodor’s elaboratework. RegionalElites,NationalistPolitics, LocalAccommodations 347