Anti-Romanian sentiment

Anti-Romanian sentiment, also known as Romanophobia (Romanian: antiromânism, românofobie), is an animosity, hostility, hatred, aggression, and behaviour that consists of stereotypes or prejudices against Romanians as an ethnic, linguistic, religious, or perceived ethnic group. It can range from negative personal feelings of hatred to institutionalized, violent persecution.

To varying degrees, anti-Romanian discrimination and sentiment have both been present among the populations and governments of nations that border Romania, either towards Romania itself or towards Romanian ethnic minorities that have resided in these countries. Similar patterns have also existed towards other ethnic groups, both in the region and elsewhere in the world, especially where political borders do not coincide with the patterns of ethnic populations.

Transylvania in the Middle Ages was organized according to the system of Estates, which were privileged groups (universitates) with power and influence in socio-economic and political life, being nonetheless organized according to certain ethnic criteria as well. The first Estate was the lay and ecclesiastic aristocracy, ethnically heterogeneous, but undergoing a process of homogenization around its Hungarian nucleus. The other Estates were Saxons, Székelys, and Romanians (or Vlachs – Universitas Valachorum), all with an ethnic and ethno-linguistic basis (Universis nobilibus, Saxonibus, Syculis et Olachis). The general assembly (congregatio generalis) of the four Estates had mainly supra-legislative powers in Transylvania, but it sometimes took measures regarding order in the country, relationships between the privileged, military issues, etc.

The turning point in the history of the Romanian population in Transylvania was in 1366, when through the Decree of Turda King Louis I Anjou of Hungary redefined nobility in terms of membership in the Roman Catholic Church, thus specifically excluding the Eastern Orthodox Romanians.

Gradually, after 1366, Romanians lost their status as an Estate and were excluded from Transylvania's assemblies. This meant that the Romanian population of Transylvania was never directly represented in the Transylvanian Diet, which consisted of Hungarian nobles, German and Székely nobles (the Unio Trium Nationum).

In the 16th century, Transylvanian laws of justice separated the rights of Hungarians, Saxons, and Székelys from the rights of the Romanians, while Eastern Orthodox became a tolerated religion (opposed to the four privileged religions – Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Unitariasm).

During the Habsburg rule of Transylvania, in order to escape their inferior status, and in correlation with the Austrian interest to strengthen Catholicism, the Romanian Orthodox accepted a proposal for a "church union" (accepting Catholic dogma and retaining Orthodox ritual and calendar), but the other privileged nations objected, and the status of the Romanians remained eventually unchanged.

As a consequence, Romanian peasants would sometimes revolt and demand better treatment. These revolts – even if the initial causes did not have ethnic grounds or shared the fate of the whole peasantry – were firmly suppressed, such as the 1784 Romanian peasant uprising, in which Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, after learning of the escalated situation, ordered the army to intervene. The three leaders were caught by treason in their hiding places and handed over to General Paul Kray. Horea and Cloșca were executed by being broken on the wheel, while Crișan hanged himself in prison before the execution.