The Ținutul Sării revolt was an armed Székely rebellion in the Praid–Sovata region, a salt mining area near the town of Târgu Mureș corresponding to the Hungarian ethnographic region of ; ). It took place between 29 March and 6 April 1919, in territory held by the Romanian Army on behalf of the , during the period in which Romanian forces were securing the Transylvanian demarcation line.
The rebellion arose from confusion surrounding the loyalty oath to the Romanian state demanded by the new authorities, compounded by the insurgents' mistaken belief that the would provide military support. Participation was however limited, as only a handful of villages joined, fielding, according to Szekeres Lukács Sándor, no more than around 200 armed men. After an initial phase in which the local gendarmerie was overwhelmed, regular Romanian Army units intervened and suppressed the revolt.
The uprising resulted in 7 casualties during the revolt (4 Székely insurgents and 3 Romanian gendarmes), while a further 12 Székely civilians were executed or died in custody in its aftermath. Ferenc Laár, pastor of the Reformed church in Praid, played a significant role both in restraining Székely violence during the revolt and in the subsequent normalization of community life.
Context
Geographic The "Salt Country" is located in the southeastern periphery of the Transylvanian Plateau. It lies in the valley of the Corund River and the upper valley of the Târnava Mică River, mostly in the .Ethnographic map of the Székely region ; eliznik.org.uk; accessed on January 1, 2018 The area includes several localities, such as Sărățeni, Sovata, Praid, and Corund; in its center is Ocna de Sus.A sóvidéki lázádás..., Szekeres, 2011, p. 18
Military and Political In accordance with the Belgrade military convention of November 13, 1918, Székely Land entered the occupation zone of the Romanian Army. During the advance of the Romanian troops, the National Councils from Miercurea Ciuc (Csík County) and Odorheiu Secuiesc (Udvarhely County) did not plan or prepare any armed resistance, prohibiting this very thing.A sóvidéki lázádás..., Szekeres, 2011, p. 19 On December 15, the alignment provided as the demarcation line was reached.Chap. IV The unification and perfection of the unitary national state, ***, 1997, p. 95 PDF Along with the Romanian soldiers, gendarmes were also sent to the area (located in Sovata and Praid in number of 18). Although, in accordance with the armistice provisions, the Hungarian civil administration was supposed to manage the territory taken over by the Romanian troops, in January 1919 the Governing Council, located in Sibiu, began to take over state power, regarding the territories inhabited by the Székelys as part of the Romanian state. There was in January 1919 in Odorheiu Secuiesc an attempt to establish a Székely Republic, which however failed.
The military occupation was at the same time accompanied by the collection of weapons from the population, which was forced to surrender them. For example, in the first half of January, the gendarmes from Praid went to Corund for this, from house to house. However, not all weapons were collected, some of them being hidden by the local people.
According to Dr. Szekeres Lukács Sándor, alongside requisitionsCsíki Zoltán; Az ĉëlų ľomvala és a "sóvidéki lázadás ”- Csíki Zoltán & Horváth István & Ozsváth Pál & Vécsei András; Rapsóné öröksége. Tanulmányok Parajd mútjából.; Corvin Kiadó; Deva; 2006; accessed on December 31, 2018 however, there were also thefts or kidnappings by the Romanian troops, as well as punishments ordered by the military authorities in the form of beatings (some even followed by deaths), applied to some members of the local population. These documents added to the unpleasant memories which, according to the same author, had been left by the Romanian troops on the spot, during the offensive of the Romanian Army in Transylvania in 1916.
Prelude Although the people had been repeatedly asked to surrender their weapons, a number of members of the population did not want to surrender them. They hoped for a national war that would drive out the Romanian troops, considered by the Székelys as invaders. On the other hand, the crossing of the second demarcation line in January 1919 by the Romanian Army determined a situation that could become very complicated,Chap. IV The unification and perfection of the unitary national state, ***, 1997, p. 97 PDF and on , the Hungarian Council of Ministers decided for the first time that no more had another solution than armed resistance.Chap. IV The unification and perfection of the unitary national state, ***, 1997, p. 98 PDF
An appropriate moment to take action seemed to arise in the spring of 1919, when the idea of a local rebellion, coordinated with an attack by the troops of the Székely Division began to be floated. The coordinators of such a revolt, located in Târgu Mureș, would have relied on the military support of the Székely Division, support that it was not able to provide. As such, couriers were sent from the large unit to Târgu Mureș to communicate and clarify this.Barna, Gottfried; Kurucok és internálkat – Székelyek a vörös és a nemzeti isseregben, ill. román fogságban 1919–1920 ; Székelyföld, XII. évf. 1. sz. 2008. I; p. 375; accessed on December 29, 2018
In March 1919, the sabotages multiplied, so that the Romanian military officials became more intransigent. Also, Hungarian-language newspapers and magazines in Transylvania became increasingly difficult to obtain, while during the same period, postal items from Hungary were simply burned in the railway station at Cluj. As a consequence of the lack of accurate information, rumors multiplied, the most frequent theme of which was an alleged offensive by the Hungarian army. There were also rumors predicting a withdrawal of the Romanian troops.A sóvidéki lázádás..., Szekeres, 2011, p. 20 Among those who had effectively hidden their weapons was a group of 40 members led by one Andor Kovács, and his group was alerted by rumors that the Hungarian army would drive the troops away Romanian. Against this background, a telegram sent on to the station Dămieni, in which it was stated that the Romanian authorities no longer require the oath to the Romanian state from the railway workers railways by the Hungarian state, was interpreted as proof of the fact that the occupation of the Romanian troops was to end.
Revolt March 29–30 That same day, Székely railway workers celebrated the news at the pub, announcing that Hungarian troops were coming. In the afternoon, a Romanian gendarme coming from Miercurea Nirajului carrying horses, was attacked near Eremitu by Székelys and wounded with a knife. The injured person was immediately taken to the doctor. At the same time, the news brought by the telegram spread rapidly in the upper valley of the Niraj.
On Nirajului Wednesday, Andor Kovács's group attacked the local gendarme station, they were captured and locked in a cellar. Couriers were later sent to the Nirajul Mare and Nirajul Mic valleys, to request the villagers to join the insurgency. They were given both the erroneous information that there is hope that the Székely Division will attack to free the area from Romanian troops, as well as the information about the wounded Romanian gendarme, whose weapon the rebels had taken. In the oral history of the places, there is also the version of mysterious couriers from Cluj who were supposed to arrive in the area, to inform the locals that the action of the Székely Division had been countermanded. The residents of the area did not react unitedly. Those from Mătrici headed towards Târgu Mureș, but seeing that those from Hodoșa did not join them, they returned to their homes. The villagers from Mărculeni and Candu, along with others, however, headed for the Sovata area.
March 31 On 31 March at Eremitu, rioters stopped the local train coming from Praid, occupying the railway and shooting from the forest with guns. A group of about 100 rebels boarded the train and went to Sovata, where it arrived around 12 o'clock. Here, following a fight in which one of the Romanian gendarmes was killed and more many were injured, the group occupied the local gendarme post. The rebels later took control of the post office and the railway station, also capturing the 25 rifles found in the local weapons depot.
After occupying the public buildings in Sovata, reinforcements came to the Székelys from Sărățeni and a process of organizing the rebellion in the surrounding territory began. A detachment was sent to Praid, including men from Kovács Andor's group, with their weapons hidden in three carts. The group arrived in the locality around 4-5 pm and with the help of the residents managed to disarm the 12 Romanian gendarmes there in a few minutes. The only one who escaped was the lieutenant who commanded them, he fled through the Catholic cemetery. Later, however, he too was captured while moving towards Corund and being brought back to Praid, where the villagers were already organizing for defense. A patrol was organized to catch the Romanian soldiers who might have passed through the village.A sóvidéki lázádás..., Szekeres, 2011, p. 21 George Kovats, a rebel leader from Eremitu, proposed organizing a detachment to go to Târgu Mureș. From Praid, messengers went on horseback to the surrounding villages to raise them to battle, but without success, due to the lack of weapons. At the same time, people from the surrounding villages who had come to Praid began to return to their homes.
At that stage of the rebellion, the insurgents of Praid drew several conclusions, namely that: 1) the revolt covers only a few villages, 2) the peace of the inhabitants of Praid has been disturbed by foreigners, 3) a punitive expedition will surely follow, from Romanian troops. As such, the Romanian gendarmes already captured were to be kept as hostages. Also, armed guards were sent on the roads leading to Praid, so that foreign troops could not enter the village during the night.
Several Romanian gendarmes who were usually stationed in Praid, but had gone to Corund during the events mentioned above, wanted to return to the locality. Being summoned by the Székely guards defending the Pride to stop, they retaliated with their weapons. As a result, three of the defenders were wounded in the battle, and they died during the following morning of April 1.
April 1 The death of the three own guards aroused the anger of the population of Praid, who wanted to execute the already captured Romanian gendarmes in the village square. Only the vigorous action of the pastor Ferenc Laár of the reformed church of Praid,Moldovai Péter-Attila; Fülöp Ferenc lekkipásztor életrajza; Forrás, 02/2012; page 18; accessed at prevented the execution of Romanian gendarmes held hostage. For fear that the attack of the Romanian troops would disturb the funeral ceremony, the three were buried on the same day. The funeral was attended by a large part of the local population, in the context of a general atmosphere of indignation and overexcitement.
On the same day, between Atid and Atia a new incident increased the number of victims. At Atid, a former Székely soldier returned from Russia recognized a former comrade in arms between 2 Romanian gendarmes who had been sent as couriers to Praid. Thus began a fight, as a result of which the two gendarmes were disarmed. As they started to escape towards Atia, those gendarmes were surrounded by the mob and lynched.