Plausibility Check: An Austro-Hungaro-Romanian Union?

[WolfBear]

Inspired by a thread from alternatehistory.com:

Austro-Hungarian-Romanian Union?

In his memoirs, In the World War, Ottokar Czernin, the last foreign minister of Austria-Hungary, writes: It is interesting, as well as characteristic of the then situation, that shortly after my taking up office in Rumania, Nikolai Filippescu (known later as a war fanatic) proposed that Rumania...

www.alternatehistory.com

In his memoirs, In the World War, Ottokar Czernin, the last foreign minister of Austria-Hungary, writes:

It is interesting, as well as characteristic of the then situation, that shortly after my taking up office in Rumania, Nikolai Filippescu (known later as a war fanatic) proposed that Rumania should join with Transylvania, and the whole of united Great Rumania enter into relations with the Monarchy similar to the relation of Bavaria to the German Empire. I admit that I welcomed the idea warmly, for if it were launched by a party which justly was held to be antagonistic to the Monarchy there can be no doubt that the moderate element in Rumania would have accepted it with still greater satisfaction. I still believe that had this plan been carried out it would have led to a real linking of Rumania to the Monarchy, that the notification would have met with no opposition, and consequently the outbreak of war would have found us very differently situated.

Unfortunately, the plan failed at its very first stage, owing to Tisza's strong and obstinate resistance. The Emperor Francis Joseph held the same standpoint as Tisza, and it was out of the question to achieve anything by arguing. On the other hand, nobody had any idea then that the great war, and with it the testing of the alliance, was so imminent, and I consoled myself for my unsuccessful efforts in the firm hope that this grand plan, as it seemed to me both then and now, would be realized one day under the Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Assuming there was no Great War, is there actually any chance of such a union ever proceeding under an Emperor Franz II? It seems ridiculously unlikely, even with what little I know about Romanian politics, but might make for an interesting structure -- a single empire, albeit a creaky and fragile one, stretching from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. Certainly, as Franz Ferdinand wanted to break the Magyar hold on Hungary, if this was proposed to him, he might find it an appealing prospect. He certainly had warm feelings towards Romania after he was well-treated on his visit there, and that, balanced against his loathing for the Hungarians, might well tilt him into at least entertaining the concept.

Thoughts from those with better research, particularly on the Romanian side of things?

What do you think about this, @sillygoose? Such a proposal would make universal suffrage in Hungary less effective since it would remove a lot of the non-Magyar voters from Hungary, thus making the remainder of Hungary more Magyar. Though I suppose that Franz Ferdinand ("Franz II" in this TL) can compensated for the loss of Transylvania by giving Hungary Galicia and perhaps northern Bukovina (with at least southern Bukovina going to Romania, which itself will now be a federal unit within Austria-Hungary)? Would that actually work for this? And would Romania itself accept becoming a federal unit within Austria-Hungary in exchange for uniting with both Transylvania and Bukovina?

Any thoughts on all of this?

 

[WolfBear]

Inspired by a thread from alternatehistory.com:

Austro-Hungarian-Romanian Union?

In his memoirs, In the World War, Ottokar Czernin, the last foreign minister of Austria-Hungary, writes: It is interesting, as well as characteristic of the then situation, that shortly after my taking up office in Rumania, Nikolai Filippescu (known later as a war fanatic) proposed that Rumania...

www.alternatehistory.com

What do you think about this, @sillygoose? Such a proposal would make universal suffrage in Hungary less effective since it would remove a lot of the non-Magyar voters from Hungary, thus making the remainder of Hungary more Magyar. Though I suppose that Franz Ferdinand ("Franz II" in this TL) can compensated for the loss of Transylvania by giving Hungary Galicia and perhaps northern Bukovina (with at least southern Bukovina going to Romania, which itself will now be a federal unit within Austria-Hungary)? Would that actually work for this? And would Romania itself accept becoming a federal unit within Austria-Hungary in exchange for uniting with both Transylvania and Bukovina?

Any thoughts on all of this?

FWIW, here is what I am thinking:

*Romania + Transylvania + Szekely Land + Bukovina = Romanian federal unit
*Hungary + Slovakia + Galicia = Hungarian federal unit
*German Austria + Bohemia + Trentino = Austrian federal unit
*Slovenia (Carniola) + Trieste + Croatia + Bosnia + Vojvodina = South Slav federal unit

 

[WolfBear]

@Ricardolindo What do you think about this?

Inspired by a thread from alternatehistory.com:

Austro-Hungarian-Romanian Union?

In his memoirs, In the World War, Ottokar Czernin, the last foreign minister of Austria-Hungary, writes: It is interesting, as well as characteristic of the then situation, that shortly after my taking up office in Rumania, Nikolai Filippescu (known later as a war fanatic) proposed that Rumania...

www.alternatehistory.com

What do you think about this, @sillygoose? Such a proposal would make universal suffrage in Hungary less effective since it would remove a lot of the non-Magyar voters from Hungary, thus making the remainder of Hungary more Magyar. Though I suppose that Franz Ferdinand ("Franz II" in this TL) can compensated for the loss of Transylvania by giving Hungary Galicia and perhaps northern Bukovina (with at least southern Bukovina going to Romania, which itself will now be a federal unit within Austria-Hungary)? Would that actually work for this? And would Romania itself accept becoming a federal unit within Austria-Hungary in exchange for uniting with both Transylvania and Bukovina?

Any thoughts on all of this?

Of course, there is another way to make this happen:

-Restore Transylvania to the same level of autonomy that it enjoyed as a separate crownland before 1868:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Transylvania_(1711%E2%80%931867)

And then, to compensate Hungary for this, give Galicia to Hungary. In such a scenario, Bukovina and Transylvania can be turned into a separate Romanian crown land within A-H, one that Romania would be capable of getting if it ever decided to join Austria-Hungary as its very own separate federal unit.