Nem, nem, Soha!
The History of Loss of Transylvania

Until 1920, Transylvania was the easternmost frontier of the Kingdom of Hungary. With its wide fertile plain, ancient forests and the majestic Carpathian Mountains, Transylvania was beloved throughout the Austro-Hungarian empire. The forced separation of Transylvania from the rest of Hungary after World War I would be the most painful of all the punishments consigned to the defeated Austro-Hungarian empire.

The Austro-Hungarian empire, Germany and Italy formed the Triple Alliance in the late 1800s as protection from attack from rivals Russia and France. When, in response, Russia, France and Britain formed The Triple Entente in 1907, all the alliances were in place for conflict that would become World War I.

The tension between the European nations erupted into war in 1914 when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated in Sarajevo. The war would rage for four years and conclude with the defeat of the Triple Alliance (or the Central Powers as they came to be known).

After the internal dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the Hungarian delegation came alone to Paris to sign the Treaty of Trianon in 1920. Under protest, the delegation signed the treaty that reduced the size of Hungary by two-thirds and reduced its population by one-half. Hungary no longer had access to the sea or its regions rich in natural resources. Awarded to neighboring Romania, who had backed the Russians, was Hungary's beloved province of Transylvania.

Romania quickly sought to eradicate the culture of Transylvania by changing place names, enforcing their language and by brutally suppressing calls by its citizens to be returned to the motherland of Hungary. 'Nem, nem, Soha!' or 'No, no, Never!' was the rallying cry for Hungarians that mourned Transylvania throughout the early 20th Century. Despite peaceful protest, armed insurgency and the hope of Hungarians around the world, Transylvania was never returned.

The forward of the children's novel A Prince From Transylvania opens with a depiction of the chaos in the aftermath of the war and the passion and determination that Transylvania would endure. The novel then opens in the summer of 1927 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where the parents in the Hungarian-American community, driven by their passion for their homeland, have formed a summer vacation school. The school is formed to teach their Americanized children not only about their Hungarian heritage, but about the tragedy of Transylvania, now inseparable from the Hungarian identity.