Nation-Building and Contested Identities: Romanian & Hungarian ...

The Dislocated Transylvanian Hungarian Student Bodythat the legislation was most severely imposed, it was only after the consolidationof István Bethlen’s conservative regime that the anti-confessionaledge of the admittance regulation was moderated, being eventuallyabolished in 1928. 15Strangely enough, the refugee universities were not among the chiefadvocates of the discriminatory clause (some, as István Schneller, pro-rectorof the Kolozsvár refugee university, even opposed it), despite the factthat the number of refugee students in the academic battalions, motivatedchiefly by regular monthly payment, were not insignificant (930 in 1920,that is, about one-fifth of the refugee students). The presence of about4,500 refugee students in the capital had an additional radicalizing effect,but they were not the chief promoters of the xenophobic policies. Rightwingorganizations and movements mobilized a relatively small number ofstudents, but these were ultra-radical in their means. Throughout the period,such associations comprised only about one-quarter of the entire studentbody: the majority, though many sympathized with their actions, didnot take part in these activities. 16Nevertheless, there occurred a significant change in the universitybasedyouth organizations. By far surpassing the 15 “traditional” organizationsfounded during the liberal era – subordinated to given facultiesand formally subjected to university regulations – the new organizationsthat appeared after the war acquired a global character and transgressedthe boundaries of individual faculties. New – overtly politicized and militantly“Christian” – organizations were formed, such as the academic battalionsor the university fraternities (“Turul,” “Foederatio Emericana,”and “Hungária,” to mention only the most important). Their activitieswere far more related to student penury and rightist radicalism than toacademic issues. The most prominent ones were antechambers for futurepolicy-makers. 17As the distressing effects of the war were keenly felt by the stateboundmiddle class, whose children comprised almost four-fifths of theentire student body in the early twenties, the majority of the students didnot receive adequate financial resources from home. The pre-war systemof tuition-waivers, stipends, and scholarships was dismembered. The differentnon-governmental organizations were unable to provide assistancein the long run. Despite all its efforts, with its meager budget, thegovernment was not capable to substantially improve the situation.In a time of merciless competition for scarce resources, student penurybecame an additional factor in political radicalization. For the ensuinggeneration of intellectuals, loyalty to the official policy of the statemeant the only hope of preserving their privileged social status, let aloneearning an adequate living. 18 183