“Provinzialnachrichten” – relatările unui ziar vienez despre Răscoala lui Horea (1784-1785)
“Provinzialnachrichten” – a journal from Vienna on Horea’s Uprising (1784-1785)

Summary/Abstract: The outbreak of the Romanian uprising in Transylvania in the late autumn of 1784 caused, as might be expected, the interest of the press in the Habsburg Empire as well as abroad. Aside the officious “Wiener Zeitung” published since 1704, the journals from Pressburg/Bratislava (“Pressburger Zeitung”, “Presspurské Nowiny” and “A Magyar Hirmondó”) but especially the “Siebenbürger Zeitung”, issued in Hermannstadt/Sibiu since January 1, 1784, in the neighborhood of the uprisings scene, were the main sources of news for readers in and outside the Habsburg State. Being under a strict surveillance by the state authorities, even though the censorship was officially abolished in 1781, these journals offered only dry reports on the ongoing uprising, without any free expression of their opinions, except “A Magyar Hirmondó”, imbued by an open sympathy towards the Hungarian nobility and a large disregard towards the Romanian population. At the same time, the readers in Vienna had the opportunity to find various reports on the Romanian uprising in the issues of “Provinzialnachrichten”, a journal with two weekly editions (Wednesday and Saturday) published from July 2, 1782 to June 27, 1789 by the official Courtprinter and editor Johann Thomas Edler von Trattner. Since November 1, 1783 “Provinzialnachrichten” was led by Johann Friedrich Schmidt, a free-mason (member of the Illuminati Order), employed until then by the “Wiener Zeitung”. It is to be pointed out that, whereas the “Wiener Zeitung” published only nine reports on Horea’s uprising, “Provinzialnachrichten” offered to its readers no less than 25 pieces of news related to the ongoing events (published in the Appendix). All reports issued by the “Provinzialnachrichten” were taken, word by word, especially from the “Siebenbürger Zeitung” (14, i.e. 56%) and the “Wiener Zeitung” (4, i.e. 16%), while seven reports (i.e. 28%) could not have their sources established. Only in very few situations the “Provinzialnachrichten” added personal comments, this especially to deny various false news published by other journals (e.g. that Horea had managed to escape from prison in Alba Iulia/Karlsburg seeking and finding refuge in Wallachia). Even when such false reports supported official opinions (e.g. that, during the disarmament of the Romanian peasants after the uprising, several Turkish rifles were found in their possession, suggesting a Turkish involvement and support in favor of the uprising in Transylvania), “Provinzialnachrichten” willingly published the news. However, at the same time, “Provinzialnachrichten” offered to the cautious and attentive reader in Vienna the opportunity to seize and understand the actual social and national aims of the Romanians in Transylvania during their uprising in 1784.

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