One of the key factors behind the autonomous region was the desire of the communist Romanian government to win over the Hungarian population in Transylvania.

[6][7] According to the 1956 census, the total population of the region was 731,361, distributed among the ethnic groups as follows: Hungarians (77.3%), Romanians (20.1%), Roma (1.5%), Germans (0.4%) and Jews (0.4%).

[9] The creation of the autonomous region, although it had practically no autonomy, shocked Romanian political circles because of the widespread anti-Hungarian sentiment.

Despite the severely limited scope of this autonomy, the creation of the region fostered a golden era of Hungarian cultural life - many Hungarian-language operas and theatres became active in Transylvanian cities, and numerous Hungarian universities were also established during this period, including a medical school in Marosvásárhely and a university in Kolozsvár.

A young Jewish worker is reported to have said that Transylvanian autonomy "offered a real basis for equality, while the previous regime had built gas chambers for his ancestors".

[3] The population of the region reacted with an outpouring of sympathy for the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, triggering mass protests by local students.

Earlier this year some eight thousand were released amid fanfare on the strength of a general amnesty announced by the Romanian government.

[3] In 1968, the Great National Assembly put an end to the soviet style administrative division of the country into regions and re-introduced the historical judeţ (county) system, still used today.