Southern Transylvania was a region of the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

between 1940 and 1944, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The region of

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

, belonging entirely to Romania when the war started in 1939, was split in 1940 between Romania and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, with the latter taking

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania ( ro, Transilvania de Nord, hu, Észak-Erdély) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of ...

in the aftermath of the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all ...

Overview

Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...

was the largest city in Southern Transylvania, with a population of 116,878 as of April 1941. However, this city was located in the

Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...

sub-region. The largest city in Southern Transylvania-proper was

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a popu ...

, with a population of 84,557 as of April 1941. Southern Transylvania-proper had a population of just over 1.74 million people. Southern Transylvania (including its adjacent regions to its West) had a total area of 59,000 square kilometers. Subtracting from this area the areas of the five counties to its West: Timiș-Torontal (7,600 square km), Caraș (4,693), Severin (6,422 square km), Arad (6,248 square km) and the half of Bihor (~3,700 square km) which remained in Romania after the Second Vienna Award, the area of Southern Transylvania-proper amounted to just over 30,000 square km. File:Die deutschen Siedlungen in Südsiebenbürgen (1940).jpg, German map of Southern Transylvania, showing the ethnic German population File:ROMANIA MAI 1942.png, Romanian counties as of 1942: Southern Transylvania had a total of 13, 8 belonging to Southern Transylvania-proper File:EvRoMare1930.PNG, This map depicts the Jewish population in Romania by county, but it also shows how the Vienna Award split Bihor County (dark blue, West)

Armaments industry

The following is a list of weapons produced during

and the years prior throughout the Romanian (Southern) part of Transylvania-proper.

Weapons

Transylvanian monthly armament production (October 1942)

Aircraft (armed)

IAR 80 The IAR 80 was a Romanian World War II low-wing monoplane, all-metal monocoque fighter and ground-attack aircraft. When it first flew, in 1939, it was comparable to contemporary designs being deployed by the airforces of the most advanced milita ...

(448 built) *

IAR 37 The IAR 37 was a 1930s Romanian reconnaissance or light bomber aircraft built by Industria Aeronautică Română. Development The IAR 37 prototype was flown for the first time in 1937 to meet a requirement for a tactical bombing and reconnaissan ...

(220 built) *

IAR 79 IAR may refer to: *IAR Systems, an embedded system technology company *The Institute of Asian Research, an institute under the Faculty of Arts in the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada *"Ignore all rules", a policy on Wikipedia *I ...

SM.79 The Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 ''Sparviero'' (Italian for sparrowhawk) was a three-engined Italian medium bomber developed and manufactured by aviation company Savoia-Marchetti. It may be the best-known Italian aeroplane of the Second World War. Th ...

(67 built) *

Potez 25 Potez 25 (also written as Potez XXV) was a French twin-seat, single-engine biplane designed during the 1920s. A multi-purpose fighter-bomber, it was designed as a line aircraft and used in a variety of roles, including fighter and escort mission ...

(184 built) *

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

(17 built) *

PZL P.11 The PZL P.11 was a Polish fighter aircraft, designed and constructed during the early 1930s by Warsaw-based aircraft manufacturer PZL. Possessing an all-metal structure, metal-covering, and high-mounted gull wing, the type held the distinction of ...

(95 built) *

PZL P.24 The PZL P.24 was a Polish fighter aircraft, designed during the mid-1930s in the PZL factory in Warsaw. It was developed as a dedicated export version of the PZL P.11, a gull wing all-metal fighter designed by Polish aeronautical engineer Zygmun ...

(25 built)

Ammunition

There were factories for the assembly and filling of artillery shells at

Orăștie Orăștie (; german: link=no, Broos, hu, Szászváros, la, Saxopolis) is a city in Hunedoara County, south-western Transylvania, central Romania. History 7th–9th century – On the site of an old swamp was a human settlement, now ...

Avrig Avrig (; german: Freck/Fryck, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Freck/Fraek'', hu, Felek) is a town in Sibiu County, Transylvania, central Romania. It has a population of 12,815 and the first documents attesting its existence date to 1346. It officially ...

and

Copșa Mică Copșa Mică (german: Kleinkopisch; hu, Kiskapus) is a town in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania, located north of Sibiu, 33 km east of Blaj, and 12 km southwest of Mediaș. The town's population of 5,201 (as of 2011) is significan ...

. The one at Avrig was the largest, accounting for up to 40% of the total Romanian production of artillery shells. In 1942, the Nitramonia plant in

Făgăraș Făgăraș (; german: Fogarasch, Fugreschmarkt, hu, Fogaras) is a municipiu, city in central Romania, located in Brașov County. It lies on the Olt (river), Olt River and has a population of 28,330 as of 2011. It is situated in the historical regi ...

started producing

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

Armored fighting vehicle components

Two Transylvanian factories, Industria Sârmei in

Turda Turda (; hu, Torda, ; german: link=no, Thorenburg; la, Potaissa) is a city in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, from the county seat, Cluj-Napoca, to which it is connected by the Europe ...

and IAR in Brașov, along with one factory outside Transylvania (Concordia in

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Blejoi commu ...

), were responsible for the production of the

torsion bar A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight-bearing spring. One end of a long metal bar is attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the opposite end termi ...

s and wheels used in the manufacturing of the

TACAM T-60 The TACAM T-60 (''Tun Anticar pe Afet Mobil T-60'' – "Anti-tank gun on T-60 mobile gun carriage") was a Romanian tank destroyer used during World War II. It was built by removing the turret of captured Soviet T-60 light tanks and building a ped ...

tank destroyers. The Astra Works in Brașov, together with the Lemaitre Works in Bucharest, were responsible for the finishing of the gun carriages used by the TACAM T-60 tank destroyers (the carriages were designed and cast at Concordia). For Romania's

Renault R35 The Renault R35, an abbreviation of ''Char léger Modèle 1935 R'' or R 35, was a French light infantry tank of the Second World War. Designed from 1933 onwards and produced from 1936, the type was intended as an infantry support light tank, eq ...

tanks, IAR in Brașov finished the

cylinder head In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head (often abbreviated to simply "head") sits above the cylinders and forms the roof of the combustion chamber. In sidevalve engines, the head is a simple sheet of metal; whereas in more modern ov ...

s and

drive shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power (physics), power and torque and rotation, usually ...

s which were cast at the Basarab Works in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Artillery components

The Astra Works produced

gun barrel A gun barrel is a crucial part of gun-type weapons such as small firearms, artillery pieces, and air guns. It is the straight shooting tube, usually made of rigid high-strength metal, through which a contained rapid expansion of high-pressure ...

s for Romania's Skoda

150 mm Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

and 100 mm howitzers.Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, ''Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945'', pp. 29

References

{{reflist 20th century in Transylvania Historical regions in Romania Romania in World War II