First World War 1914-1918

Slatina-Timis belonged to Hungary and fought since the mobilisation in July 1914 with the Axis powers: Germany, Austria, Hungary and Turkey.  In contrast Romania itself remained neutral until 1916 at which point it fought together with the Allied powers.  Due to the withdrawal of the Russians in 1917 due to their revolution Romania was forced to join the Axis powers in 1918.  As the Allied powers gained victory in sight Romania switched sides once more towards the end of the war.  During the war over 5% of the population died on the front.  Following the Armistice in 1918 Spanish flu broke and many more died on the home front.  A large scale popular uprising also broke out across the country and was crushed with further loss of life.

Following the war the Axis powers had to relinquish control over numerous territories.  On 4th June 1920 the Treaty of Trianon effectively doubled the size of Romania as they took control of Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia.  The Romanian speaking Slatina-Timis along with the entire Hungarian Banat and the Banat highlands was first formally integrated into the Romanian nation at this time.  Approximately 1/3 of the now 16 million strong population were Hungarian or German.  Romania became a kingdom, Ferdinand I was crowned.  Industrialisation reforms made good progress and output doubled between 1923 and 1938.  

 Report of the popular uprising in 1918 by Professor Gheorghe Zeicu:

The contact with Russian prisoners of war who spoke of the social struggle of the Russian revolution triggered this revolt.  Germany was defeated.  The Russian revolution targeted capitalism.  The thousands of soldiers of the Imperial army that though defeated and on the way home, for the most part equipped and armed, decided to join the social and national struggle.  Workers and impoverished farmers supported this emancipation.  The retreating troops ran amok.  They attacked (train) stations because they would not or could not purchase tickets.  They also plundered shops along the way for food and provisions.  They had been greatly frustrated by the recent hardships of war and angered by the conditions their families had endured throughout those years.  Once home the immigrants were the first to suffer, also the Germans, Hungarians and Austrians that lived in Slatina-Timis.  Shops were plundered: they broke in with the trader Haasz Ignatius from the post office.  The shop of Eugeen Klein in the Roman Catholic parish was also overturned.  The parish nurse was murdered.  The summer residence of the president of the Supreme Court Ury Louis was demolished and the barracks was robbed.  The three Hungarian guards had deserted their post, therefore the soldiers encountered no resistance.  They were in the act of robbing the saw-mill in Sadova-Veche of the Haas family when on 2nd November 1918 a locomotive and wagon arrived at the station.  The wagon contained 40 Hungro-Austrian soldiers.  Some of the insurgents were able to escape into the forests, 5 were arrested and brought to the town-hall.  The military tribunal in Timisoara ruled these 5 to be sent without process before the firing squad the next day.  They were lined up in front of the school, blindfolded and shot.  Due to the drums used at many villagers witnessed the execution.

Second World War 1940-1945

Initially Romania remained neutral. However the Hitler-Stalin pact and France’s defeat meant that significant areas of its territory were again relinquished to Russian control.  King Carol II renounced the throne on 6th September 1940.  Romania fought alongside Germany against Russia.  It was possible to choose military service under either German or Romanian command. 

The Romanian army was now under control of the military dictator Ion Antonescu.  This battle and the cooperation with Germany ended in a fiasco in the battle of Stalingrad.

King  Mihai imprisoned Antonescu and with what little remained of the Romanian army joined the Allies.  From August 1944 onwards they fought together with the Russians against Germany. 

After the war Bessarabia and Bukovina were retained by the Soviet Union.  Transylvania was returned to Romanian control and the Banat remained Romanian.  The entire country was now occupied by the Red Army.  The Communists had taken control.

The German speaking population in the villages around Slatina-Timis had now in principle lost everything.  In 1945 those German speaking Romanian that could be redeployed (both men and women) were sent to Russian gulags.  6 years later the survivors returned. 

A related phenomena was that some German speaking Slatinese that had been taken prisoner by the Allies didn't return to Romania under the Russian occupation. The brother of Maria Supp was arrested by English troops in Northern Germany.  He continued his life in Great Britain and worked on a farm in Cardiff, Wales.  He started a family there and only much later visited his family twice in Slatina-Timis.

In 1948 King Mihil abdicated and went into exile.  The same day Romania was declared a republic.