thumb|250px|Map of the Voivodeship

The Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar, or Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat (, , , ), was a crownland of the Austrian Empire that existed between 1849 and 1861, centered in Temeschwar. It was created by reorganization of administrative structures in regions of Serbian Vojvodina and Banat of Temeschwar. Its former area is now divided between Serbia, Romania and Hungary. In 1860-1861, it was reincorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary. The Voivodeship gave its name to the present Serbian Vojvodina.

Names

In contemporary German, the crown land was officially known as ('Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat'; when definite). The forms ('the Serbian Voivodeship and the Temes Banat') and ('the Serbian Voivodeship with the Temes Banat'; the -e on is a now mostly obsolete dative ending) also appeared frequently in official documents. Other variations also appear as a result of grammatical inflection (see German grammar), such as and (). In Hungarian it was known as , and in Romanian as .

As in German, in Serbian sources there are two somewhat different variants of the name of the voivodeship; one could be translated into English as Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat and another as Serbian Voivodeship and Temes Banat.

Also in modern English use, the term Temes Banat or Banat of Temes is sometimes incorrectly replaced with term Banat of Temeschwar or Temeschwar Banat. In the original name in all native languages, there is no mention of the city of Temeschwar (Timișoara) in the title of Voivodeship. As shown above, the reference to the Temes region is always used, and should be translated into English as Temes Banat or Banat of Temes.

History

The Serbs had previously been granted a number of privileges by the Habsburg emperor, starting in 1691, followed by the 1779 Declaratory Rescript of the Illyrian Nation. During the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire, a self-proclaimed autonomous province of Serbian Vojvodina was created in 1848.

In 1849, the Imperial Patent of 4th March, known as the March Constitution, imposed constitutional reorganization of the Austrian Empire, and provided (in article 72) a formal base for the creation of an official administrative unit under the name: Voivodeship of Serbia (), also allowing the possibility for future association of that province with other crown lands.

The Voivodeship was officially formed by a decision of the Austrian emperor in November 1849.

It consisted of the regions of Banat, Bačka and northern Syrmian municipalities of Ilok and Ruma. An Austrian governor seated in Temeschwar ruled the area, and the title of Voivode belonged to the emperor himself. The full title of the emperor was "Grand Voivod of the Voivodeship of Serbia" (). Even after the Voivodeship was abolished, the emperor kept this title until the end of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918.

thumb|280px|Map from 1853

In 1860, the Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat was abolished and most of its territory (Banat and Bačka) was incorporated into the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary, although direct Hungarian rule began only in 1867, after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise.

Unlike Banat and Bačka, Syrmia was incorporated into the Kingdom of Slavonia in 1860, another separate Habsburg crown land. The Kingdom of Slavonia subsequently merged with the Kingdom of Croatia, forming the new Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, which concluded an agreement with the Kingdom of Hungary in 1868, becoming an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Hungary within Austria-Hungary.

Languages

The two official languages of the Voivodeship were German and "Illyrian" (what would come to be known as Serbian).

Demographics

The Voivodeship was ethnically very mixed, since the southern parts of Syrmia, Banat and Bačka with compact Serbian settlements were not included in it, while eastern Banat, with a Romanian majority was added to it.

thumbnail|250px|right|The Palace and Cathedral of [[Serbian Orthodox Church eparchy in Timișoara, capital of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar]]

1846

According to the 1846 census, the territory that in 1849 formed the voivodeship included:

  • Vlachs (Romanians) = 417,000
  • Serbs = 402,000
  • Germans = 352,000
  • Hungarians = 233,000
  • Slovaks = 27,000
  • Bulgarians = 24,000
  • Jews = 16,000
  • Romani = 12,000
  • Rusyns = 7,000
  • Croats = 3,000
  • Greeks = 3,000

1857

In 1857, population of the voivodeship numbered 1,526,105 inhabitants, including:

  • Romanians = 347,459
  • Germans = 335,080
  • Serbs = 321,110 (*)
  • Hungarians = 221,845
  • Bunjevci and Šokci = 62,936 (*)
  • Rusins = 39,914
  • Slovaks = 25,607
  • Bulgarians = 22,780
  • Jews = 15,507
  • Gypsies/Romani = 11,440
  • Czechs = 7,530
  • Croats = 2,860 (*)
  • Greeks and Cincars = 2,820

(*) Total number of "Illyrian Slavs" (Serbs, Bunjevci, Šokci, and Croats) was 386,906.

According to another source, in 1850/1851, the population of the voivodeship numbered 1,426,221 inhabitants, including:

  • 397,459 (27.87%) Romanians
  • 335,080 (23.49%) Germans
  • 321,110 (22.52%) Serbs
  • 221,845 (15.56%) Hungarians
  • others.

By religious makeup:

In 1851, population of the voivodeship numbered 1,426,221 inhabitants, including:

  • Eastern Orthodox Christians = 694,029 (48.66%)
  • Roman Catholics = 624,839 (43.81%)
  • Evangelic-Lutherans = 51,724 (3.63%)
  • Evangelic-Reformists = 26,621 (1.87%)
  • Jews = 16,252 (1.14%)
  • Greek Catholics and Armenian Catholics = 12,756 (0.89%)

1860

In 1860, population of the voivodeship numbered 1,525,523 inhabitants, including:

  • 432,523 Serbs
  • 414,490 Romanians
  • 396,156 Germans
  • 256,164 Hungarians

Administrative divisions

At first, the crown land was divided into two districts:

  1. Batschka-Torontal (Bačka-Torontal)
  2. Temeschwar-Karasch (Timișoara-Caraș)

Later, it was divided into five districts From 1851 they were subdivided into political districts ().

Governors

  • Ferdinand Mayerhofer, (1849–1851)
  • Johann Coronini-Cronberg, (1851–1859)
  • Josip Šokčević, (1859–1860)
  • Karl Bigot de Saint-Quentin, (1860)

See also

  • Serbian Vojvodina
  • May Assembly
  • History of Vojvodina
  • History of Serbia
  • Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867)

References

Sources

  • Bahovo doba - Vojvodstvo Srbija i Tamiški Banat (in Serbian)