To manage this situation, the Hungarian government proposed to establish a new university either in Pozsony (Bratislava) or Kolozsvár, eventually choosing the latter one.

The negotiations were scheduled for January 1871, however, because of Eötvös' illness and death in early February, shortly before the decision of the parliamentary commission, the issue was postponed.

Considering the slow process, and the uncertain outcome of the coming elections which could have affected badly the initiations, Tivadar Pauler, Eötvös' successor turned to King Franz Joseph who authorised the Hungarian government to set up the university even before the approval of the Parliament.

The 39 member teaching staff was selected from over 120 applicants, on the recommendation of Ágoston Trefort, the Minister of Religion and Education of the new government; King Franz Joseph appointed the 34 ordinary and 5 extraordinary professors on 29 September and 17 October 1872, respectively.

They took their oath to Ministerial Commissioner Imre Mikó on 19 October 1872 in the gala hall of the Roman Catholic Lyceum and subsequently the university authorities were formed.

On 11 November 1872 the university effectively began its operation with 258 students on four faculties (Legal and Political Studies, Medicine, Philosophy and Sciences).

[7] A process of changing in this situation began on 4 January 1881, when, after repeated requests King Franz Joseph issued the deed of foundation.

For the Hungarian Millennium (1896) the Franz Joseph University became a fully developed, internationally recognized higher education institution.

In the autumn of 1918, after the collapse of Austria-Hungary and the proclamation of the union of Transylvania with Romania in the Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia on 1 December 1918, the Romanian forces began to occupy the Hungarian territories.

[13] After gain control over Transylvania, the area was led by the Governing Council under the presidency of Iuliu Maniu, with its seat in Nagyszeben (Sibiu).

Ghibu became the secretary of public education of this body and convinced the council of his point of view, including the president, who was on the moderate side at the beginning.

[13] As the negative answer arrived, on 12 May 1919, Ghibu, together with prefect Valentine Poruřiu, professor Nicolae Drăganu, accompanied by commander Ion Vasiliu went to the rector's office and proclaimed that on behalf the Governing Council they take over the university.

Following the visit of the delegation led by Schneller in January 1920, the council accepted the idea of moving, which eventually realized after the Treaty of Trianon irrevocably sealed the fate of Kolozsvár and the university.

[17] An improvement of the situation started from 1922, when Kuno von Klebelsberg, Minister of Religion and Education and MP of Szeged fought out huge sums to raise buildings and get all the necessaries.

The size of the students of this latter group shows a gradual increase: from the initial 75 their number grew to over 500 for the 1939–40 school year, the last the university spent in Szeged.

[20] The Second Vienna Award, signed on 30 August 1940 in the early period of the World War II, ceded Northern Transylvania, including Kolozsvár back to Hungary.

After the arbitration, the Ministry of Education of Romania decided to move the Romanian university from Kolozsvár to Sibiu and ordered to take along all the equipment and publications that are necessary to their operation.

The institution was formally taken over by the Franz Jopseh University on 12 September 1940, when the keys of the main gate and the rector's office were received.

[22] Governor Horthy signed the professors' commission on 19 October, who took their oath four days later, in the presence of Bálint Hóman, Minister of Religion and Education.

When extremist groups in October–November 1943 called for removal of the Jews from the institution, Rector László Buza ordered to aid the Jewish students and identify their abusers.

On 2 June the Orthopedic Hospital of the university got a direct hit and two months later the Hungarian government commanded the rescuing of the institutes of Kolozsvár.

[25] In such circumstances a group of Hungarian intellectuals in Kolozsvár (bishops, politicians, writers, poets) turned to Rector Dezső Miskolczy on 14 September and asked to still stay in place.

The new school year opened on 17 September, subsequently Iván Rakovszky, Minister of Religion and Education of Hungary approvingly noted the determination of the university.

On the following day a group of Romanian gendarmes, students and professors from Sibiu arrived to claim back the university, which Rector Miskolczy refused.

After the incidents János Demeter, the newly appointed vice-mayor of Kolozsvár applied to the Soviet commander for permission to the further operation and the ejection of the Romanians.

He eventually succeed and Kolozsvár, together with whole Northern Transylvania came into an autonomous status under Soviet suzerainty until 13 March 1945, when the Romanian government gained control over the territory.

The authorities intervened to the autonomy of the university first in January 1945, when in virtue of the report of the "purging committee" 29 professors were declared to be removed from their office because of their "antidemocratic, chauvinist or fascist" behaviour.

For its frame three possibilities came up: the Bucharest government suggested to move the Romanian university of Sibiu back to Kolozsvár with an additional Hungarian and a German department to satisfy the minority claims.

The exams scheduled for June were yet held, subsequently after 73 years of operation the Franz Joseph University was closed without legal successor.

[31] In 1995, Babeș-Bolyai University introduced an educational system backed by the High Commissioner on National Minorities,[32] and based on multiculturalism and multilingualism, with three lines of study (Romanian, Hungarian, and German) at all levels of academic degrees.