Bács-Bodrog County (Hungarian: Bács-Bodrog vármegye, German: Komitat Batsch-Bodrog, Serbian: Bačko-bodroška županija) was the administrative county (comitatus) of the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary from the 18th century to 1918. Its territory is currently in northern Serbia (western Vojvodina) and southern Hungary. The capital of the county was Zombor (Serbian: Sombor).

The county was named after two older counties: Bács (Serbian: Bač) and Bodrog (Serbian: Bodrog). Bács county was named after a town of Bács (Serbian: Bač) and the Bodrog county was named after a historical town of Bodrog (which was located near present-day Bački Monoštor), which itself was named after a Slavic tribe Abodrites (or Bodrići in Slavic) that inhabited this area in the Middle Ages. The Abodrites were originally from northwest Germany, but after their homeland fell to the Germans, some had moved to Pannonia.

Bács-Bodrog county shared borders with several other counties of the Kingdom of Hungary: Baranya, Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun, Csongrád, Torontál, Syrmia, and Virovitica (the latter two counties were part of autonomous Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia). The river Danube formed its western and southern border. The river Tisza formed its eastern border, down to its confluence with the Danube. Its area was 10,362 km² around 1910. History Bach and Bodrogh counties in the 14th century

Bács county arose as one of the first[citation needed] comitatus of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, in the 11th century. Bodrog county was also formed in the 11th century.[1] The area was taken by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century [2] and two counties were abolished. During the Ottoman administration, the area of the former counties was part of the Sanjak of Segedin. The Batsch and Bodrog counties were established again after the Batschka region was captured by the Habsburg Monarchy in 1699 [3] (The two counties were joined into single Batsch-Bodrog county in the 18th century). Some (mostly eastern) parts of the Batschka were incorporated into the Theiß-Marosch section of Military Frontier.[3] After this part of Military Frontier was abolished in 1751, these parts of the Batschka were also included into Batsch-Bodrog county. The only part of the Batschka region, which remained within Military Frontier was Šajkaška, but it also came under civil administration in 1873. Bács-Bodrog, Syrmia, Torontál, Temes and Krassó-Szöreny counties after 1881, the five counties, which were formed in the territory of former Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar

In 1848/1849 the area of the county was part of Serbian Voivodeship, while between 1849 and 1860 it was part of Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar, a separate Habsburg province. During this time the county did not existed since area was divided into districts. The county was recreated in the 1860s, when Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar was abolished and area was again incorporated into the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary (since 1867, Kingdom of Hungary is one of two autonomous parts of Austria-Hungary).

In 1918, this area became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (renamed to Yugoslavia in 1929) and county was abolished. By the Treaty of Trianon of 1920, territory of the county was divided between the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and Hungary. Most of the county (including Sombor, Subotica, and Novi Sad) was assigned to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, while the northernmost (approximately 15% of the county), including town of Baja, was assigned to Hungary. Aftermath

Between 1918 and 1922, the southern part of the former Bács-Bodrog county was a county of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes with a seat in Novi Sad. The northern part of the former county had been a county within Hungary since 1921. The capital of this smaller Hungarian county Bács-Bodrog was Baja. After World War II Bács-Bodrog was united with the southern part of former Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun county to form the Bács-Kiskun county.

The Yugoslav part of the pre-1918 Bács-Bodrog county was occupied by Hungary during World War II (see Occupation of Vojvodina, 1941-1944) and the Bács-Bodrog county was recreated in 1941. The border between Yugoslavia and Hungary was restored after 1944 and the county was abolished again. Yugoslav part of former Bács-Bodrog county was later divided into 3 districts and currently is part of Serbia, autonomous region of Vojvodina.

During the 18th century, the Habsburgs carried out an intensive colonisation of the area, which had low population density after the last Ottoman wars. The new settlers were primarily Serbs, Hungarians, and Germans. Because many of the Germans came from Swabia, they were known as Donauschwaben, or Danube Swabians. Some Germans also came from Austria, and some from Bavaria and Alsace. Lutheran Slovaks, Rusyns, and others were also colonized but to a much smaller extent.

According to the Austrian census from 1715, Serbs, Bunjevci, and Šokci comprised 97.6% of the county's population.

The 1720 census recorded 104,569 citizens in the county. Of those, there were 98,000 Serbs (divided into 76,000 Orthodox and 22,000 Roman Catholics or Bunjevci and Šokci), 5,019 Magyars and 750 Germans. The Serbs (73%) and Bunjevci and Šokci (21%) had an overwhelming majority in the county which seems to have been inhabited solely by them.

There was also an emigration of Serbs from the eastern parts of the region, which belonged to Military Frontier until 1751. After the abolishment of the Theiß-Maros section of Military Frontier, many Serbs emigrated from north-eastern parts of Batschka. They moved either to Russia (notably to Nova Serbia and Slavo-Serbia) or to Banat, where Military Frontier was still needed.

By 1820 the county had grown to 387,914 in total population. The Serb (including Bunjevci and Šokci) share had dropped to 44% or 170,942 with the number of Hungarians plummeting at 121,688 and Germans at 91,016 or 31% and 23% respectively.

In 1900, the county had a population of 766,779 people and was composed of the following linguistic communities:[4]

Total:

   Hungarian: 327,108 (42,7%)

   German: 192,267 (25,1%)

   Serbian: 139,412 (18,2%)

   Slovak: 30,068 (3,9%)

   Ruthenian: 10,055 (1,3%)

   Croatian: 927 (0,1%)

   Romanian: 327 (0,0%)

   Other or unknown: 66,615 (8,7%)

According to the census of 1900, the county was composed of the following religious communities:[5]

   Roman Catholic: 498,216 (65,0%)

   Greek Orthodox: 138,344 (18,0%)

   Lutheran: 68,526 (8,9%)

   Calvinist: 29,261 (3,8%)

   Jewish: 18,793 (2,5%)

   Greek Catholic: 10,814 (1,4%)

   Unitarian: 59 (0,0%)

   Other or unknown: 2,766 (0,4%)

In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Bács-Bodrog county were: Districts (járás) Capital Apatin Apatin (Serbian: Apatin) Bácsalmás Bácsalmás Baja Baja Hódság Hódság (Serbian: Odžaci) Kula Kula (Serbian: Kula) Óbecse Óbecse (Serbian: Stari Bečej, today Bečej) Palánka Palánka (Serbian: Stara Palanka, today Bačka Palanka) Titel Titel (Serbian: Titel) Topolya Topolya (Serbian: Topola, today Bačka Topola) Újvidék Újvidék (Serbian: Novi Sad) Zenta Zenta (Serbian: Senta) Zombor Zombor (Serbian: Sombor) Zsablya Zsablya (Serbian: Žabalj) Urban counties (törvényhatósági jogú város) Baja Szabadka (Serbian: Subotica) Újvidék (Serbian: Novi Sad) Zombor (Serbian: Sombor) Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város) Zenta (Serbian: Senta)

The towns Baja and Bácsalmás are now in Hungary; the other towns mentioned are now in Serbia.

H

Bács-Bodrog vármegye (szerbül: Бач-Бодрошка жупанија; horvátul Bačko-Bodroška županija, németül: Komitat Batsch-Bodrog; latinul Bachiensis, Bácsiensis, Bacsiensis et Bodrogiensis) közigazgatási egység volt Magyarország déli részén. A vármegye területének kisebb északi része jelenleg Bács-Kiskun megye, míg nagyobb hányada a szerbiai Vajdaság Autonóm Tartomány része.

Bács-Bodrog vármegyét keleten a Tisza, délen és nyugaton pedig a Duna határolta, határa csak északon nem futott természetes vonalon. Bács-Bodrog vármegye szomszédai északon Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun, északkeleten Csongrád, keleten Torontál, délen Szerém, délnyugaton Verőce, nyugaton pedig Baranya vármegye. Ezeken kívül 1930-tól északnyugaton Tolna vármegyével is határos volt.

A vármegye teljes területe síkság.

Bács-Bodrog vármegyét az 1802. évi VIII. törvénycikk hozta létre Bács és Bodrog vármegyék egyesítésével, melyek már a 13. század elejétől léteztek.

A vármegye területét az Oszmán Birodalom elfoglalta a 16. században és a török uralom idején a Szegedi szandzsák része volt. 1699-től a Habsburg Birodalom által létrehozott Bácska régió részévé vált, 1751–91 között a Tiszai Koronauradalomhoz tartozott. Az 1848–49-es forradalom és szabadságharc idején a vármegye a Szerb Vajdaság része lett, majd 1849–1860 között a Szerb Vajdaság és Temesi Bánság része volt. 1873-ban Bács-Bodrog vármegyéhez csatolták a Sajkásvidéket.

Bács-Bodrog vármegye déli, nagyobbik részét 1918-ban elfoglalta, majd a trianoni békeszerződés alapján megszerezte a Szerb–Horvát–Szlovén Királyság. 1918–1922 között e terület egyike volt a Szerb–Horvát–Szlovén Királyság megyéinek Újvidék székhellyel.

A Magyarországnak meghagyott kisebb rész szintén önálló megyeként működött tovább, melynek székhelye 1941-ig Baja volt. Ez 1941-1944 között kiegészült a déli, elszakított területekkel, székhelye ezekben az években ismét Zombor volt.

A második világháború után visszaálltak a trianoni határok, Bács-Bodrog vármegye déli része újra Jugoszláviához került, az északi rész pedig ismét Baja székhellyel működött tovább.

Bács-Bodrog vármegye megszűnésére az 1950-es megyerendezés során került sor, amikor egyesítették Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun vármegye déli részével Bács-Kiskun megye néven.

A vármegye déli része jelenleg a Vajdaság Autonóm Tartomány része.
Demográfia

   A lakosság száma 1880-ban 638 063 volt. Közülük 234 352 magyar (36,73%), 162 894 német (25,53%), 24 761 szlovák (3,88%), 469 román (0,07%), 7 294 rutén (1,14%), 177 081 szerb és horvát (27,75%), 832 egyéb anyanyelvű volt.

A vármegyének 1910-ben 812 385 lakosa volt, ebből:

   363 518 (44%) magyar

   190 697 (23%) német

   145 063 (17%) szerb

   30 137 szlovák

   10 760 ruszin

   1279 horvát

   386 román

   70 545 egyéb

nemzetiségűnek valotta magát. Közigazgatás

Bács-Bodrog vármegye a 20. század elején tizenhárom járásra volt felosztva:

   Apatini járás, székhelye Apatin

   Bácsalmási járás, székhelye Bácsalmás

   Bajai járás, székhelye Baja

   Hódsági járás, székhelye Hódság

   Kulai járás, székhelye Kula

   Óbecsei járás, székhelye Óbecse

   Palánkai járás, székhelye Palánka

   Titeli járás, székhelye Titel

   Topolyai járás, székhelye Topolya

   Újvidéki járás, székhelye Újvidék

   Zentai járás, székhelye Zenta

   Zombori járás, székhelye Zombor

   Zsablyai járás, székhelye Zsablya

A vármegyéhez ekkor egyetlen rendezett tanácsú város tartozott (Zenta). Ezen kívül a megye területén négy törvényhatósági jogú város volt (Baja, Szabadka, Újvidék, Zombor).

1920-41 között a magyarországi csonka vármegye három járásra oszlott (Bácsalmási, Bajai és Jánoshalmi, az utóbbi Jánoshalma székhellyel) és területén egy törvényhatósági jogú város (Baja) feküdt.

1941-44 között a trianon előtti beosztás lépett ismét érvénybe azzal az eltéréssel, hogy az 1929-es magyarországi közigazgatási változásokkal összhangban rendezett tanácsú helyett megyei város lett Zenta rangja, és megyei város lett Magyarkanizsa is.

1945-től a trianoni határok visszaállításával visszaált a megye két háború közötti járási és városi beosztása is. További információk

   1880-as népszámlálás

   Borovszky Samu: Magyarország vármegyéi és városai. Bács-Bodrog vármegye, 1909