If anyone had hated the Magyars most before the news of Archduke Stephen's murder spread, if anyone had suffered most at their hands,
it was the peoples of Transylvania. The Transylvanians had suffered the greatest losses of all: since the war began, two-thirds had lost their homes, and more than five hundred thousand had perished.
On average, one person in every four had died in the fighting, or from the hunger and disease it brought.
Because a poll tax was levied during this period, people across the region often underreported their populations. The actual death toll was therefore far higher than the Austrian Empire's official figures.
The Transylvanians' staggering losses were caused not only by the Hungarians' policy of slaughter and the unending warfare, but above all by Transylvania's warlords and bandits.
Many powerful local families in Transylvania were unwilling to join Hungary and become Magyars, but they were just as unwilling to accept the Austrian Empire's offer of amnesty.
Even when they accepted, it was only a show of obedience. In practice, they remained entrenched in their own territories, ignoring orders—and the law.
These petty kings were useless at repelling foreign invaders; they could not even protect their own people. But they were experts at bullying ordinary folk.
They executed Royalists and seized their property in the name of the Hungarian government, then went after Republicans in the name of the Austrian Empire. Anyone who belonged to neither side could be slapped with whatever accusation came to hand. Their whole strategy was to keep draining the pond dry, one catch at a time.
The Saxons—German immigrants—suffered the greatest losses of property. Almost as soon as the war began, they became targets for everyone except the Austrian Empire.
Historically, the Austrian Empire had treated the Saxons of Transylvania very well,