Abstract
The study examines the process of linguistic assimilation in the light of two movements for ecclesiastic separation: of the Hungarian Lutherans and Greek Catholics of eastern Hungary. Government support played no small part in the eventual success of these movements, in 1888 and 1913; but statistical and narrative sources support the proposition that magyarization, in the sense of voluntary adoption of the Hungarian language and nationality, truly took place prior to the creation of the new jurisdictions. The article examines the applicability of the theory of Oszkár Jászi, the most sophisticated contemporary writer on ethnic assimilation, which be offered in his 1912 work, National States and the Nationality Question. Jászi correctly noted the importance of environment, cultural contacts, and the motive of economic advancement for the individuals' decision to assimilate. But his emphasis on the urban millieu as the primary site of assimilation does not apply to the Greek Catholics,who were Hungary's least urbanized religious group. Jászi also underestimates religious adherence as a source of identity, whose importance occasionally superceded that of language. Other factors, examined here, include the relationship of the Ruthenians and Romanians and the difficulty of maintaining Romanian schools in isolated, impoverished communities. It is suggested that the chronology of railway construction in eastern Transylvania supports the application of Karl Deutsch's theory of social communication as an additional, partial explanation of the process of assimilation.