ThePannonian Basin, with the termCarpathian Basin being sometimes preferred in Hungarian literature,[1][2][3] is a large, mainly lowland area in southeasternCentral Europe,[where?] briefly described as asedimentary basin. Under the geopolitically changed conditions created byWorld War I and the ensuingTreaty of Trianon, thegeomorphological termPannonian Plain was also used[citation needed] for roughly the same region, referring to thelowlands in the area occupied by thePannonian Sea during thePliocene. However, Hungarian geographers consider the term "Pannonian Plain" not only unhistorical[dubious –discuss] but also topographically[how?] highly erroneous. Regarding the name as such, they are arguing in terms of ancient history, namely that the northern and eastern boundary line of the namesakeRoman province of Pannonia was formed by the RiverDanube,[4][5][6][7] thus theGreat Hungarian Plain was not part of the original Pannonia province.[8][9][10]
The topography of the Pannonian Basin and the surrounding mountains according to one definition: including wider territories, such as the Transylvanian Plain.
In terms of modern state boundaries, this definition of the Pannonian Basin centres it on the territory ofHungary, which lies entirely within the basin, but it also covers parts of southernSlovakia, southeastPoland, western-southwestUkraine, parts of westernRomania, depends on one's approach), northernSerbia, northeastCroatia, northeastSlovenia, and easternAustria.[citation needed]
The termPannonian Plain refers to the lowland parts of the Pannonian Basin as well as those of some adjoining regions likeLower Austria,Moravia, andSilesia (Czech Republic andPoland). The lands adjoining the plain proper are sometimes also calledperi-Pannonian.[citation needed]
In English language, the terms "Pannonian Basin" and "Carpathian Basin" may sometimes be used synonymously, although the latter holds anirredentist Hungarian connotation.[1]
The name "Pannonian" is taken from that ofPannonia, a province of theRoman Empire. The historical province overlapped but was not coterminous with the geographical plain or basin, as only the western part of the territory (known asTransdanubia) of modern Hungary formed part of the ancient Pannonia, while theGreat Hungarian Plain was not part of it:[citation needed]
Hungarian literature often gives preference to the term Carpathian Basin, not least due to the irredentist concept of the historicalKingdom of Hungary being the organic result of a landscape-determinedethnogenesis in a region defined by its natural, mountainous boundaries, the corollary being that the current national borders are not natural and defy historical and economic logic.[1]
Hungarian arguments in favour of "Carpathian Basin"
The territory of present-day Hungary only overlaps with the ancient Roman province ofPannonia only inTransdanubia (a traditional Hungarian term for the area bordered by the Danube River to the north and east, theDrava and Mura rivers to the south, and the foothills of the Alps toward Austria to the west); however theGreat Hungarian Plain was not part of Pannonia province. Transdanubia comprises less than 29% of modern Hungary, therefore Hungarian geographers avoid the terms "Pannonian Basin", and especially the "Pannonian Plain", due to them being considered not only unhistorical but also topographically erroneous. Because the term "Pannonian" has historically not applied to 80% of the basin's territory, Hungarian geographers and historians use what they consider to be the more accurate term "Carpathian Basin". The topographical problem with the Pannonian "Plain" term is that with the exception of theLittle Hungarian Plain (which is only around 15% of the territory of ancient Pannonian Transdanubia), hills and mountains dominate the landscape, so real plains are very rare on that territory. The largest plain of the Roman Pannonia province is located inSlavonia in Croatia and Voivodine in modern Serbia.[citation needed]
The eastern half of the basin was not conquered by the Romans and was considered part ofSarmatia, inhabited by theIazyges. Likewise, the parts north of the Danube (now in western Slovakia) were not in the empire; they were considered part ofGermania, inhabited by theQuadi.[citation needed]
The name "Carpates" is highly associated with the old Dacian tribes called "Carpes" or "Carpi" who lived in a large area from the east, northeast of theBlack Sea to theTransylvanian Plain in present day Romania and Moldova. The nameCarpates may ultimately be from theProto Indo-European root*sker-/*ker-, which meant mountain, rock, or rugged (cf. Germanic root*skerp-, Old Norseharfr "harrow", Gothicskarpo, Middle Low Germanscharf "potsherd", and Modern High GermanScherbe "shard", Old Englishscearp and Englishsharp, Lithuaniankar~pas "cut, hack, notch", Latviancìrpt "to shear, clip").[12]
The archaic Polish wordkarpa meant 'rugged irregularities, underwater obstacles/rocks, rugged roots, or trunks'. The more common wordskarpa means a sharp cliff or other vertical terrain. The name may instead come from Indo-European *kwerp 'to turn', akin to Old Englishhweorfan 'to turn, change' (Englishwarp) and Greekκαρπόςkarpós 'wrist', perhaps referring to the way the mountain range bends or veers in an L-shape.[12]
The approximate extent of the Pannonian Sea during theMiocene Epoch
The Pannonian Basin has its geological origins in the shallowPannonian Sea, which reached its greatest extent during thePliocene, when three to four kilometres of sediments were deposited.[citation needed]
Although rain is not plentiful, the plain is a major agricultural area. It is sometimes said that these fields of richloamyloess soil could feed the whole of Europe. However, there has been an increase in extreme precipitation events that cause soilerosion in recent years. Knowledge of areas affected by severe soil erosion can lead to the implementation of effective measures to reduce it.[13]
For the scarcity of natural resources encountered by the early settlers, see also#Prehistory.
The Pannonian plain is divided into two parts along theTransdanubian Mountains (Hungarian:Dunántúli-középhegység). The northwestern part is calledWestern Pannonian plain (orprovince) and the southeastern partEastern Pannonian plain (orprovince). They comprise the following sections:[citation needed]
Note: The Transylvanian Plateau and theLučenec-Košice Depression (both parts of the Carpathians) and some other lowlands are sometimes also considered part of the Pannonian Plain in non-geomorphological or older divisions.[citation needed]
For its early settlers, the plain offered few sources of metals or stone. When archaeologists come upon objects ofobsidian orchert, copper or gold, they have almost unparalleled opportunities to interpret ancient pathways of trade.[citation needed]
Various different peoples inhabited the plain during its history. In the first century BC, the eastern parts of the plain belonged to theDacian state, and in the first century AD its western parts were subsumed into theRoman Empire. The Roman province namedPannonia was established in the area, and the city ofSirmium, todaySremska Mitrovica,Serbia, became one of the four capital cities of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century.[citation needed]
The Kingdom of Hungary by the 11th century comprised the entire Pannonian Basin,[clarification needed] but the changing fates of this part of Europe during theOttoman wars of the 14th to 17th centuries left the Pannonian basin divided between numerous political entities. After theBattle of Mohács in 1526, the central and eastern regions of the kingdom and the plain on which they lay were incorporated into theOttoman Empire, while the remainder to the north-west was subsumed into the holdings of theHabsburg monarchy and retitledRoyal Hungary. Under Ottoman administration, the plain was reorganised into theEyalet of Budim, theEyalet of Egri, the Eyalet of Sigetvar and theEyalet of Temeşvar.[citation needed]
The Habsburg Monarchy was subsequently transformed into theAustrian Empire (in 1804) and later becameAustria-Hungary (in 1867). Most of the plain was located within the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary, since all other Habsburg possessions in the plain were integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary until 1882.[dubious –discuss] The autonomousKingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, which was one of theLands of the Crown of St. Stephen, comprised the south-western portion of the plain.[citation needed]
^abcdBalogh, Péter (January 2021). "The concept of the Carpathian Basin: its evolution, counternarratives, and geopolitical implications".Journal of Historical Geography.71:51–62.doi:10.1016/j.jhg.2020.12.003.hdl:10831/58707.
^Adami Jordan; Peter Jordan; Milan Orožen Adamič (2007).Exonyms and the International Standardisation of Geographical Names: Approaches Towards the Resolution of an Apparent Contradiction. LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster. p. 240.ISBN978-3-8258-0035-2.
^George Walter Hoffman; Christopher Shane Davies (1983).A Geography of Europe: Problems and Prospects. Wiley. p. 647.ISBN978-0-471-89708-8.
^Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, Book III, 146–147.
^Fitz, Jenő. The Great Plain in the Roman Period. In: Visy, Zsolt (ed.), Hungary in Roman Times. Pécs: University Press, 2003, pp. 45–52. Fitz explains that the Roman frontier along the Danube left the Great Hungarian Plain outside provincial Pannonia.
^Visy, Zsolt. A Római Limes Magyarországon (The Roman Limes in Hungary). Budapest: Tertia, 2003, pp. 18–25. Visy notes that Pannonia’s territory extended only to the Danube, excluding the Great Plain east of the river.
^Radnóti, Aladár. Pannonia a római korban. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1960, pp. 12–15. Radnóti’s provincial maps clearly show that the Alföld lay beyond the Pannonian provincial borders.
Parkinson, William Arthur (1999).The social organization of Early Copper Age tribes on the Great Hungarian Plain (Thesis).hdl:2027.42/132220.ProQuest304518117.
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