Rusia şi Principatele Române în epoca regulamentară. O perspectivă culturală
Russia and the Romanian Principalities During the Regime of Regulamente Organice. A Cultural Perspective

Summary/Abstract: During the third and fifth decades of the 19th century, the presence of Russia in the Romanian Principalities (Wallachia and Moldavia) was not only military and diplomatic, but also political and cultural. The present paper examines the cultural consequences of the Russian political control on three different levels: the general attitude of the public, the education and the media. 1. „Public opinion”. If at the beginning of the regime of Regulamente Organice Russia’s protectorship on the Romanian Principalities was accepted as a liberalization of the Ancien Régime, in the 1830’s Russia’s image deteriorated. 2. Education. Russia and the related authorities attempted to persuade the potential Romanian students, traditionally westward-oriented (France, Germany), to focus their interest on Russian universities. 3. Media. The media was also a means of Russian cultural pressure. The first daily newspapers published in Wallachia and Moldavia (Curierul românesc and Albina românească, 1829) were important not only as cultural innovations, but also as a mirror of the official discourse of the regime. The present paper focuses on Gheorghe Asachi and Ion Heliade-Rădulescu, two representatives of the regime and scholars with important careers, and attempts to shed more light on their contribution to the development of local media. Asachi remains all the time close to the authorities and is regarded by the liberal intelligentsia as a conservative. Heliade-Rădulescu also starts his career as a familiar of the regime, but in the 1830-1840s defines himself as an enemy of Russia.

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