In: Analele Universității București: Annals of the University of Bucharest = Les Annales de l'Université de Bucarest. Științe politice = Political science series = Série Sciences politiques, Band 6, S. 47-59
The study "Population and habitat on the feudal domain Şiria at the beginning of the XVIth century" is based on a statistical document developed in 1525. We have many and very important information on the people's one of the largest feudal domain in Transylvania in the middle Ages. The 8152 inhabitants, where nearly 90% for them is represented by serfs, live in 121 villages scattered over an area large enough in the old county of Zarand. The predominantly landform is mountain. The majority of the 121 villages, 76% more accurate, have up to 80`s inhabitants, so they are relative small villages. Yet some localities are also somewhat larger – market towns - which have between 184 and 460 inhabitants. Finally, we can see that the old type of habitat is preserved up to the present day with few changes and 70 villages from them exist in our days on the territory of the counties Arad and Hunedoara.
The trans-ethnic voting ant the current cooperation between the Saxon and the Romanian communities in Sibiu/Hermannstadt could easily make believe in a perennial peaceful cohabitation. But the ethnic relations at the beginning of the XXth century are rather dissimilar, since they are marked by the strong affirmation of the Romanian community - especially by its political and cultural values - in the cadre of a multi-ethnic state - as Austria-Hungary - and of a Saxon dominated city - as Sibiu/Hermannstadt. The conflict between elites is pointed out by the prejudices enounced and by the symbolic weight of the disputes. More deeply, there is a conflict between two diverging political projects: the preservation of autonomy and of collective rights by the Saxon community, and the political, economic and cultural integration of the city into the recently made Romanian National state, in the aftermath of the Paris Peace Treaties. The two political projects originate -in fact- into distinctive models of citizenship: an exclusive citizenship, promoted by the Saxon community as a heritage from the Middle Ages; an integrative citizenship, preferred by the Romanian state in order to obtain a full allegiance from the new citizens. Since Romania has unexpectedly become a multi-ethnic state and minorities were more educated, urbanized and politically active, supporting the Romanian element became vital. The unsuccessful political strategies of Romanian elites, before 1920 -and of Saxon elites afterwards- lead to external sources of power: the Romanian National state and Nazi Germany. Whether Romanian authority proves to be quite successful, the German influence has disastrous consequences for the Saxon community. The persecutions and vexations following the German defeat in 1945 mark out the beginning of the great migration for the German community in Transylvania, following eight hundred years of coexistence.