Chapter 12 Danube Swabian Chronology   Early beginnings up to 1919  1526 Battle at Mohatsch 1526 - 1918 Turkish victory over Hungary. The Imperial House of Habsburg also became Hereditary Kings of Hungary and Croatia. 1526 - 1686 Most of Hungary under Turkish rule. 1683 Imperial and royal Polish forces defeat the Turks at Vienna. 1684 - 1699 Hungary liberated from Turkish rule. Germans recruited to settle in the territory. 1697 Prince Eugen of Savoy defeats the Turks at Senta. 1699 Peace treaty at Karlowitz: Hungary, Syrmia, Slavonia and the Batschka ceded to the Emperor Leopold I. 1712 The first Swabian settlers arrive at Sathmar. 1716 - 1718 Prince Eugen defeats the Turks at Peterwardein, Temeschburg and Belgrade. 1717 - 1779 The liberated Banat becomes imperial crown land with its own administration. 1718 Peace treaty at Passarowitz: the Banat, North Serbia and Belgrade ceded to Austria. 1722 1726 First large-scale Swabian migration trek (Grosser Schwabenzug) during Emperor Karl I's rule. 1723 Settlers granted tax exemption and inheritance rights. 1736 - 1754 Cathedral built at Temeschburg. 1737 - 1739 War with Turkey and peace treaty at Belgrade result in the loss of North Serbia. 1746 - 1780 Empress Maria Theresia settles 50,000 Germans in Hungary. 1763 -1773 Second large-scale Swabian trek. 1779 The Temescher Banat crown land comes under Hungarian administration. 1780 - 1790 Emperor Joseph II abolishes bondage; decrees German as the official language and in school teaching. 1782 - 1787 Third "Grosser Schwabenzug." Protestants included for the first time. 1790 Hungarianizing begins; Hungarian becomes the official language. 1806 End of the "Old Reich," demolished by Napoleon I. 1812 Opening of the German theater at Pest. Ludwig von Beethoven composed the ceremonial music. 1849 - 1861 The imperial crown land "Serbian Wojwodschaft and Temescher Banat" becomes established. 1867 The double monarchy Austria-Hungary is formed. 1868 The Hungarian parliament passes legislation, guaranteeing equal rights for its ethnic minorities, but they were never honored. 1907 Swabian Society (Schwabenverein) founded at Vienna. 1913  Society of the Germans in Croatia and Slavonia founded. 1914 Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand assassinated by Serbian Nationalists at Sarajevo. Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Start of World War I. 1918 End of World War I. US President Wilson promulgates self-determination rights of nationals. The dual monarchy collapses. 1,500,000 Danube Swabians are split up (1/3 given to each of the successor nations Hungary, Yugoslavia and Romania.) 1919 At the Versailles peace negotiations, a peace delegation of the Danube Swabians pleads for keeping the Banat undivided.   The Danube Swabians in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (SHS), Renamed Yugoslavia after 1929  1919 - 1944 In the peace treaties of Versailles, Yugoslavia, Romania and Hungary pledged to provide international guarantees for their ethnic minorities which, however, were never adhered to. 1920 Founding of the Swabian-German Cultural Alliance. 1922 Founding of the German Economic Organization Agraria. Founding of the German Party (Partei der Deutschen). The collective term "Donauschwaben" (Danube Swabians) is becoming widely accepted. 1929 Parliament and political parties in Yugoslavia are dissolved and replaced by a "Royal Dictatorship." 1931 German School Foundation and Private Teachers College founded. 1939 Start of World War II. 1941 German forces occupy Yugoslavia. Disintegration of the Yugoslav state. Splitting up of the Danube Swabians: The Batschka and Baranja-Triangle revert to Hungary; the Banat remains with Serbia under German military occupation; Syrmia and Slavonia are attached to Croatia. With the German attack on Russia, Yugoslav partisans begin raids on ethnic German settlements. 1942 Partisan raids lead to evacuation of ethnic Germans from Bosnia and Serbia. 1942 - 1944 Due to partisan raids all dispersed German settlements in Syrmia and Slavonia are resettled in larger communities. 1943 The anti-Fascist council of the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia (acronym AVNOJ), the highest political body of the partisan movement, declares all persons who opposed the People's Liberation Army "enemies of the people and traitors." They lose all civic rights, are disenfranchised and face the threat of the death penalty. Without formally mentioning any specific persons, ethnic Germans in Yugoslavia are affected and considered disenfranchised. 1944 As of October 1944 over 1,000 ethnic German civilians are killed by the partisans.   The End of the Danube Swabians in Yugoslavia 1944 By October 4, 10,600 Danube Swabians from the West Banat and 2,500 from Serbia manage to escape from the Partisans and the Red (Russian) army. Starting October 3: About 100,000 Danube Swabians from Syrmia, Slavonia and Croatia are evacuated, mainly to Austria. Starting October 8: About 80,000 Danube Swabians in the Batschka and Baranja heed the evacuation call and flee. October 20: Belgrade captured by the Russian Army and partisans. Supported by the Russian army, the Tito-partisans assume control of Serbia and the Wojwodina. Close to 200,000 Danube Swabians come under the rule of the Tito-regime. "Bloody autumn" in the Wojwodina. By the end of November about 7,000 Danube Swabian civiliansin the Banat, Batschka, Baranja and East Syrmia are murdered. Beginning November: camps for civilians and work camps are set up. November 21: AVNOJ deciares, without judicial process, Danube Swabians "enemies of the people and traitors"and thus disenfranchised. All movable and stationary property is confiscated by the government. December 2: The first liquidation camp for Danube Swabians in the South Batschka is established at Jarek/Backi Jarek. 1944 - 1945 About 167,000 civilians are disenfranchised and interned between the beginning of December 4 and the end of August 1945. December 29 - Jan 6, 1945: 8,000 women and 4,000 men, all Danube Swabians from theBatschka and Banat, are selected for slave labor and shipped to Russia. March 12: The liquidation camps Gakowa/Gakovo and Kruschiwl/Krusevlje in the Batschka are set up. May 8: German Armed Forces capitulate. May 15: 150,000 German and over 200,000 Croatian soldiers lay down their weapons and become prisoners of the partisans. May 22: 2,000 Danube Swabian soldiers of the SS Mountain Division Prinz Eugen are butchered by the partisans at Rann/Brazice (Slovenia). May: The death camp Sternthal/Strnisce and Tüchern/Teharje (Slovenia) established. May: Liquidation camp Walpach/Valpovo (Slavonia) established. Liquidation camp Kerndia/Krndija (Slavonia) set up. August: Liquidation camp "Svilara" (silk factory) established in Syrmian Mitrowitz/Sremaka Mitrovica. September: Liquidation camp Molidorf/Molin (Banat) established. October: Liquidation camp Rudolfsgnad/Knicanin (Banat) established. 1945 At the end of the year about 24,000 children, women and elderly starved to death in the liquidation camps. 1945 - 1946 November to April: Additional 20,000 camp inmates die due to starvation and typhus epidemic. Orphaned children are shipped off to Yugoslav children homes. 1946 Late autumn: Begin of mass escapes from the camps to Hungary and Romania - sometimes tolerated by the camp administration, sometimes being at mortal risk. 1947 Additional 4,000 civilians die in the liquidation camps. Autumn: Camp administration stops further escapes. Since autumn 1946 about 30,000-40,000 Danube Swabians escaped to Hungary and Romania. 1947 - 1949 Discharge of most slave labor deportees from Russia, mainly to the former East Germany. 1948 March: Closing of the liquidation and work camps in Yugoslavia. The surviving ethnic Germans were forced to enter three-year work contracts. 1948 - 1959 Search in Yugoslavian children homes for separated children. 1950 - 1959 Repatriation of children to Austria with the help of the Red Cross. 1952 - 1960 Evacuation of the still remaining Germans by paying Yugoslav government for release from their Yugoslav Nationality. 1960 Only about 10,000 ethnic Germans remain in Yugoslavia.   New Homelands in the West 1946 Aid Society of Danube Swabians in the USA founded by Peter Max Wagner. 1948 About 10,000 Danube Swabians settle in France. (Part of the Danube Swabians are descendants of French settlers.) 1949 Umbrella organization of the Danube Swabian state societies in Austria founded. German federal society of the Germans of Yugoslavia founded. Southeast German cultural project established in Munich, Germany. 1950 Charter of the Expellees proclaimed at Stuttgart, Germany. 1951 Council of the ethnic Germans of Southeastern European countries founded at Bonn, Germany. 1952 2,000 Danube Swabians resettle from Austria to Brazil. Today this settlement is called Entre Rios. 1954 German state of Baden-Württemberg assumes the sponsorship of the Danube Swabians. 1964 Cultural Center of the Danube Swabians in Austria completed. The German city Sindelfingen assumes the sponsorship of the Danube Swabians of Yugoslavia. 1970 The cultural center of the Danube Swabians opens at Sindelfingen. 1978 The Danube Swabian Institute, a public corporation for the promulgation of Danube Swabian research, documentation and cultural activities founded at Munich, Germany. 1987 Danube Swabian Institute for history and research at the University of Tübingen, Germany founded. 1996 "Haus der Heimat" (Homeland Center), a cultural convention center for the ethnic German societies in Austria opens at Vienna.   Back to Table of Contents