Southern Transylvania

Southern Transylvania was a region of the Kingdom of Romania between 1940 and 1944, during World War II. The region of Transylvania, belonging entirely to Romania when the war started in 1939, was split in 1940 between Romania and Hungary, with the latter taking Northern Transylvania in the aftermath of the Second Vienna Award.

Overview

Timișoara was the largest city in Southern Transylvania, with a population of 116,878 as of April 1941. However, this city was located in the Banat sub-region. The largest city in Southern Transylvania-proper was Brașov, with a population of 84,557 as of April 1941. Southern Transylvania-proper had a population of just over 1.74 million people.[1]

Southern Transylvania (including its adjacent regions to its West) had a total area of 59,000 square kilometers.[2] Subtracting from this area the areas of the five counties to its West: Timiș-Torontal (7,600 square km), Caraș (4,693), Severin (6,422 square km), Arad (6,248 square km) and the half of Bihor (~3,700 square km) which remained in Romania after the Second Vienna Award, the area of Southern Transylvania-proper amounted to just over 30,000 square km.

  • German map of Southern Transylvania, showing the ethnic German population
    German map of Southern Transylvania, showing the ethnic German population
  • Romanian counties as of 1942: Southern Transylvania had a total of 13, 8 belonging to Southern Transylvania-proper
    Romanian counties as of 1942: Southern Transylvania had a total of 13, 8 belonging to Southern Transylvania-proper
  • This map depicts the Jewish population in Romania by county, but it also shows how the Vienna Award split Bihor County (dark blue, West)
    This map depicts the Jewish population in Romania by county, but it also shows how the Vienna Award split Bihor County (dark blue, West)

Armaments industry
Demographic map of Romania according to the 1941 census; in the top-left corner the mini-map shows Southern Transylvania-proper (Transilvania de Sud)
Orița M1941 submachine gun
37 mm Astra anti-aircraft gun
75 mm Reșița anti-tank gun
IAR-80 fighter aircraft

The following is a list of weapons produced during World War II and the years prior throughout the Romanian (Southern) part of Transylvania-proper.

Weapons

Transylvanian monthly armament production (October 1942)[12]

Model Production capacity Actual production Percentage of production
capacity achieved
Orița M1941 submachine gun1,08066662.35%
ZB vz. 30 machine gun50025050%
Brandt 81 mm mortar903033.33%
Rheinmetall 37 mm AA gun16637.5%
Vickers 75 mm AA gun8562.50%

Aircraft (armed)

Ammunition

There were factories for the assembly and filling of artillery shells at Orăștie, Avrig and Copșa Mică. The one at Avrig was the largest, accounting for up to 40% of the total Romanian production of artillery shells.[20] In 1942, the Nitramonia plant in Făgăraș started producing explosives.[21]

Armored fighting vehicle components

Two Transylvanian factories, Industria Sârmei in Turda and IAR in Brașov, along with one factory outside Transylvania (Concordia in Ploiești), were responsible for the production of the torsion bars and wheels used in the manufacturing of the TACAM T-60 tank destroyers. The Astra Works in Brașov, together with the Lemaitre Works in Bucharest, were responsible for the finishing of the gun carriages used by the TACAM T-60 tank destroyers (the carriages were designed and cast at Concordia).[22] For Romania's Renault R35 tanks, IAR in Brașov finished the cylinder heads and drive shafts which were cast at the Basarab Works in Bucharest.[23]

Artillery components

The Astra Works produced gun barrels for Romania's Skoda 150 mm and 100 mm howitzers.[24]

References
  1. Sabin Manuilă, 1941, Data of the general census from 6 April 1941 (in Romanian)
  2. Stefano Bottoni, Lexington Books, 2018, Stalin's Legacy in Romania: The Hungarian Autonomous Region, 1952–1960, p. 18
  3. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 75
  4. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 149
  5. John Walter, Greenhill Books, 2004, Guns of the Third Reich, p. 86
  6. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 75
  7. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 29-30 and 75
  8. Great Britain. Foreign Office, Ministry of Economic Warfare, 1944, Rumania Basic Handbook, p. 27
  9. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 30 and 75
  10. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 30 and 75 and page 5 of the photo album between pages 96 and 97
  11. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 149 and 235-237
  12. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 75
  13. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 265
  14. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 243-245
  15. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 267-270
  16. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 239
  17. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 266
  18. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 251
  19. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 251
  20. Great Britain. Foreign Office, Ministry of Economic Warfare, 1944, Rumania Basic Handbook, p. 27
  21. David Turnock, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2013, Aspects of Independent Romania's Economic History with Particular Reference to Transition for EU Accession, p. 28
  22. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 222-223
  23. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 225-227
  24. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 29
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