Vagyonosodás és nemzetépítés. Az erdélyi román elit gazdasági törekvései a 19. század második felében
Enrichment and Nation-Building: The Economic Efforts of the Romanian Elite in Transylvania in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Summary/Abstract: The study deals with the embourgeoisement of Romanians living in Transylvania between the 1860s and the First World War, a process characterised by the rising of a new elite who chose pragmatic careers (doctors, lawyers, bank employees) and usually acquired land estates as well. The author examines how these professionals pursued the idea (and a rather utopian one at that) of an independent national economy that would develop through its own efforts. This they imagined to achieve by simulating the modernization of their Saxon compatriots, but maintaining the least contact possible with the Establishment, which they considered oppressive and predominantly ethnic Hungarian. The author makes use of magazine articles (mainly from Familia, Revista Orăştiei and Revista Economică ), public lectures, and pamphlets, which all suggest that it is possible to build a modern civilized society without a strong manufacturing industry. They maintain that this can happen exclusively through cooperation and solidarity (saving banks, rural co-operatives). The proposed way to achieve their goals also include the revival of handicrafts, which allows villagers to make money in the winter, commercial banks, individual and common foundations, as well as well-equipped schools, which emphasise the importance of a national spirit and teach practical agricultural and industrial skills in Romanian, and so on. Following the overview of the shortcomings and strategies of agriculture, domestic industry, commerce and finance, the study is concluded with special chapters on the role of comprehensive national exhibitions and general propaganda in creating a virtual Romanian community of consumption, financial affairs, legal and health services.

• Details
• Contents