Reflecţii despre „războaiele juste”. Concepţia lui Dimitrie Gusti despre război
Reflections on ”just wars”. Dimitrie Gusti’s conception about war

Summary/Abstract: At the outburst of World War I, Romania, through its liberal government, tried to remain neutral. However, the public opinion was rather in favor of a war that would have made the country “whole” again, in partnership with the Entente (France, Great Britain, Russia), with the objective of obtaining Transylvania from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On the other side, the Romanian conservatives, who were less numerous, were endorsing the Central Powers, just like King Karl I, who believed they owned the biggest military force in Europe. The conservatives supported Germany, in particular, as they were hoping that, with its help, they could annihilate the threats coming from Russia. While Romania was in a complicated international context, situated at the intersection of great empires, and experiencing economic and financial internal crisis, Professor Dimitrie Gusti published “The sociology of war” in 1915, justifying the need of the national war. Although admitting the human horrors and dramas implied by the war, the war was seen as an occasion to fulfill the “national ideal”. Using the method of researching the representative biography, I have studied the intellectual background, the public events, and the social mentalities at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century that could have influenced Dimitrie Gusti’s view on war. The analysis of Gusti’s vision has also provided an opportunity to review the political ideas and the philosophical or juridical arguments that were legitimating the ”just war”. The study shall present Dimitrie Gusti’s sociological position, in favor of the war.

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