Editing Avram Iancu (section)

=== Outbreak ===
The Austrians clearly rejected the October demand that ethnic criteria become the basis for internal borders, with the goal of creating a province for Romanians (Transylvania grouped alongside [[Banat]] and [[Bukovina]]), as they did not want to replace the threat of Hungarian nationalism with the potential of Romanian [[separatism]]. Yet they did not declare themselves hostile to the rapid creation of Romanian administrative offices within Transylvania.

The territory was organized in {{lang|ro|prefecturi}} ("prefectures"), with Iancu and Buteanu as two prefects in the Apuseni. Iancu's prefecture, the ''Auraria Gemina'' (a name charged with [[Latin]] symbolism), became the most important one as it took over from bordering areas that were never fully organized.

In the same month, the administrative efforts were halted, as Hungarians under [[Józef Bem]] carried out a sweeping offensive through Transylvania. With the discreet assistance of [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russian]] troops, the Austrian army (except for the garrisons at [[Alba Iulia]] and [[Deva, Romania|Deva]]) and the Austrian-Romanian administration retreated to [[Wallachia]] and Wallachian [[Oltenia]] (both were, at the time, under Russia's occupation).