Keywords: Bessarabia; Moldova; poverty; moral economy; land reform
This article addresses several aspects of the “agrarian question” that have remained unanswered in the historic territory of Bessarabia and the post-socialist Republic of Moldova. Drawing on recent ethnographic fieldwork, national calculations of household poverty levels and consumption patterns, and the legal dimensions of property distribution, I reveal the degree to which “peasant” desires for both social equality and differentiation remain poorly understood by social scientists and policy makers. I conclude with a preliminary sketch of some aspects of the contemporary moral economy in the villages of the southeastern portion of the county.
More...Keywords: Romanian Academy; Ironim Marţian; Năsăud, 150 Years; Aniversary Moment;
This is an anniversary article, dedicated to the 150th aniversation of the Romanian Academy.
More...Keywords: literalization; repetitive use of proverbs; logical relationship; proverbial minimum; interference; proverb; Gáspár Heltai; proverbs in literature;
This essay examines the way Gáspár Heltai, one of the most important Hungarian writers and preachers in the Reformation period in the XVIth century, used proverbs in his works. The author of this article compiled proverbs which were collected from 5 of Heltai’s work. She shows that some of Heltai’s proverbs are used even today as she compares Heltai’s proverbs with the most sophisticated proverbs in the Hungarian language. Then she focuses on the contexts which were typical of Heltai’s proverbs: first, she compares the literal meaning of the proverb with the symbolic meaning. Secondly, she examines the way Heltai collects many proverbs in one tale. Thirdly, she analyzes the way Heltai frames some of his stories with proverbs at the beginning and at the end of his work. Next, she describes the logical relationships between sentences in the text and demonstrates the function of the proverbs in these logical relationships. Finally, by using phraseological examples, the author reveals the linguistical influence of German (Heltai’s native language) on these Hungarian proverbs.
More...Keywords: object-folder; multiethnic village; Vaskút; 1950–1957;
The study analyses on the basis of the so-called „object-folder” of the village called Vaskút (Bács-Kiskun county, Hungary) the basic principles of political surveillance in the village and the Hungarian countryside in general in the early 1950s. As the village itself was of a mixed ethnic character, the analysis focuses on the ethnic features of surveillance and enemy-construction, with a special regard to the local Germans. The author examines the ways in which the aspects of enemy targeting on a class or political basis overlapped with the national question. The study, however, does not deal with shadowers: it leaves out of consideration both the regional and local institutional network and its personnel. Likewise untreated is the network of beagles – confidential informant, agent, social contact – that operated in the village itself. The study comes to the conclusion that in the Rákosi period the mere fact of belonging to an ethnic minority was tantamount in the eyes of the Communist authorities to political untrustworthiness. Nevertheless, the intrinsic „culpability” of such persons was generally underpinned by other stigmata – such as clerical reactionary, right-winger, former member of a fascist party or other organisation, having Western relatives, or maintaining contacts with Yugoslav citizens. This procedure served on the one hand to conceal the national bias, and on the other hand it increased the weight of crime. At the same time, it was also suitable for undermining the ethnic cohesion of the community in case. The argumentation of stigmatization and discrimination was in a constant state of flux, the various aspects confounded or separated again as the need arose. As a result, the targeted person became unable to comprehend what he or she was accused of, and consequently also unable to put on any defense. The reigning power applied the means of distress and fear as forces of social organisation. The ultimate aim was to suppress the autonomy of the community and of the person on target.
More...Keywords: multilateralism; minilateralism; global order; European Union; protectionism;
In a moment of great questions regarding the future of the European Union and the impact of predicted reforms – which happen to overlap the Centenary of the end of World War I, and for the Romanian nation in particular the Centenary of the Great Union – a reflection on the position of Romania in the current European political process is necessary, from the perspective of theories and instruments of the international relations. Both the realist and the liberal approach underline the crucial significations of current evolutions, where the ascension of revisionist, nationalist, protectionist and Eurosceptic currents confront ever more visibly the consecrated paradigm of the postwar European Project and of the global liberal order. Minilateralism becomes, as days go by, a concept with as many opportunities, as challenges and risks. This endeavour proposes to investigate the solidity of Romania’s articulation in the system of the bilateral and multilateral relations within the European Union, related to the dynamic of the relations between the Great European and global Powers and to the regional arrangements in Central Europe.
More...Keywords: War; Diplomacy; Dobrudja; Carol I; Mihail Kogălniceanu; Bessarabia; Russia; Romanian Government;
The Eastern crisis of 1875 to 1878 found Romania in an unhappy position: the events of those years could offer no positive rewards or opportunities equal to the dangers that threatened. Despite the fact that Romanian leaders could hope to gain few advantages from the imminent Russian-Turkish war, on the basis of Russian-Romanian Convention of April 4/16, 1877, finally, they were forced to recognize the realities of the European arrangements made by the stipulations of Treaty of Berlin (1878). The Romanian fears over the loss of southern Bessarabia (Cahul, Bolgrad and Ismail districts) were fully realized, and gain of Dobrudja was not considered an adequate compensation. Although Romania was recognized as an independent state, and received – in change for those three Bessarabian districts – a much more important territory from many point of view, Dobrudja, which meant the first steps on the way of making the Great Romania, the state of spirit among not only their leaders, but also entire political class was rather strange. This paper underlined some public or particular opinions, actions or decisions of Romanian political leaders, beginning with Mihail Kogalniceanu, in his capacity of minister of Foreign Affairs, during the Russian-Turkish war (1877-1878) and after, on Dobrudja subject, including, of course, the state of Romanian-Russian relations in those circumstances.
More...Keywords: Bessarabia; national movement; Russification policy; National Moldavian Party;
This paper presents a general view of the main phases of the national movement of Bessarabian Romanians during 1812-1918. The author relies, for the main part, on his own research, based on unedited documents discovered in archives in the Republic of Moldova, Russia, and Romania. Starting from the “structural phases” that characterize nationalist movements, according to the Czech scholar Miroslav Hroch, the author reviews several stages: 1) 1812 – late 19th century/early 20th century (Phase A); as parts of this long stage, other two periods have qualitative differences: 1) 1812 – late 1850s; 2) early 1860s – late 19th/early 20th century; the union of Romanian Principalities in 1859 and the creation of the national modern Romanian state determined, on one hand, the intensification of the national Romanian feeling among the Bessarabian Moldavian intellectuals and nobles, the apparition of a distinct “Romanianphile” group, and, on the other hand, the paradigm shift in the national policy of the Russian Empire in Bessarabia, the hardening of the Russification policy; 2) late 19th/early 20th century – 1917 (Phase B): the place of activist nobles is taken by middle class national activists, and “cultural noble nationalism” is replaced by “revolutionary” or “national-democratic” nationalism, much more influent and efficient; they request the autonomy of Bessarabia and attempt the creation of political parties; 3) 1917-1918 (Phase C): the fall of Tsarism created the conditions for a nationalist mass movement that led to the creation of national-cultural organizations and of the National Moldavian Party; the autonomy of Bessarabia was declared, later its independence and union with Romania on March 27, 1918.
More...Keywords: Romania; Italy; propaganda; World War I; S. Mândrescu;
This paper focuses on the activity of propaganda carried out by some prominent Romanian personalities and associations abroad in the last phase of WWI in order to make foreign governments and public opinions aware of the Romanian national program, aiming to fulfil a greater Romanian nation, by the inclusion of all the Romanian-speaking populations. Italy was, together with France, the country where the Romanian propaganda was most intense and not by chance, considering that the idea of “Latin brotherhood” was the pivot of this action. A crucial moment of this activity was the Congress of oppressed nationalities, held in Rome in April 1918, and based on the new Wilsonian doctrines affirming the right of self-determination of the peoples. One of the most important results of this congress was the emergence among the most informed part of Italian public opinion and political circles of a new awareness of the need to involve all nationalities fighting against the Hapsburg Empire in the name of the Mazzinian principles of brotherhood and self-determination. This propaganda action led to the creation of the Romanian Legion of Italy, which fought beside the Italian army in the very last part of the war and left traces in the future rhetoric of “Latin brotherhood” of Romania and Italy, even when Mussolini’s foreign policy had torn the two countries apart.
More...Keywords: Romania; occupation; Bulgaria; diplomacy; Petăr Tantilov;
A few days before the fall of Bucharest, General Petăr Tantilov was appointed Bulgarian delegate, attached to the future Imperial Governorate of the occupied Romania. The instructions received from the Bulgarian Prime Minister are vague. “I am sending you to govern the occupied Romania, and on site you will decide on the things and on the relations with the allies”. Along with Tantilov, representatives of several ministries were sent to Bucharest: of Foreign Affairs, of Finances, of Agriculture and Transports. Officially, the defending of Bulgarian interests in the occupied Romania represents the mission of this representative. Practically, a great part of the activity of the Bulgarian royal Representatives comprises solving the conflicts with the allies, related to the distribution of the war bounty and to the economic exploitation of the occupied territory.
More...Keywords: Roger Sarret; Bessarabia; French consulate; Moldavian Democratic Republic;
In the year 1917, in the context of the events in Bessarabia, culminating in the proclamation of the Moldavian Democratic Republic on December 2, France – main representative of the Entente – opened a consulate in Kishinev. To run it, Roger Sarret was appointed, upon the suggestion of the French minister in Iaşi, the count of Saint-Aulaire. The French consulate activated in the period December 1917- May 1918. Sarret’s stay in Kishinev coincided with numerous important events in Bessarabia. We remind, in this respect, the entry of the Romanian army in Bessarabia in January 1918, the proclamation of the independent Moldavian Democratic Republic in January, the unification of Bessarabia with Romania in March. Sarret left the city of Iaşi on December 20 and he went to Kishinev. Sarret enjoyed a warm welcome from the Kishinev authorities: Ion Inculeţ, the mayor A. K. Schmidt, the representatives of the Zemstvo assemblies. The diplomatic reports sent to the count of Saint Aulaire feature the situation of Bessarabia during this significant period. The newspaper “Sfatul Ţării” praised the arrival to the Bessarabian capital of a French representative, which was considered an important event.
More...Keywords: World War I; Italy; Romania; congress of Rome; I. I. C. Brătianu;
Italy and Romania followed a parallel path during the First World War. The two countries decided to be neutral when the conflict broke out, despite the pressures of the Triple Alliance, they both were linked to. Both countries eventually decided to participate to the war by the Triple Alliance side and both underwent severe hardships which, in 1917, led Italy to a disastrous defeat in Caporetto and Romania to being invaded and to make separate peace with its enemies in May 1918. Despite such a common way, Italy had not shown a strong interest towards Romania, considering it as playing in a regional context only indirectly connected with Italian objectives. Paradoxically, a few weeks before Romania got out of the war, new links between the two countries emerged. On the 8th of April 1918 a congress of the oppressed nationalities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was summoned in Rome, giving birth to voluntary groups fighting against the Central Empires, called Legions. The Romanian Legion was therefore created in Italy and its action, despite not being decisive as far as the military operations were concerned, had relevant symbolic implications. Such a background was present when, at the end of 1918, Romania regained the lands that had been occupied by enemies and eventually proclaimed the union between Transylvania and the Old Kingdom. The aim of this presentation is to make use of the sources of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs archive, the National Archives and the Military Archives, in order to understand the position and the interest Italy showed towards the union and how much the presence of the Legion affected the Italian position.
More...Keywords: Iacob Popa; vicar of Făgăraş; memories; Great Union; Greek-Catholic Church;
Over time, the Great Union of 1918 has stirred the interest of numerous specialists. Approached from diverse perspectives, the topic is always of actuality, being completed with new sources. In the comprehensive process of exhaustive reconstruction of the event, which marked the constitution of the Greater Romania, the memoirs and journals of the participants constitute an important historiographic source. Starting from this premise, this paper undertakes to emphasize on the way the 1918 Union was perceived, on the background of a very high horizon of expectations, by the vicar forane of Făgăraş, Iacob Popa (1872-1937). His records are all the more interesting as – due to his favourable attitude towards the Romanian army, considered treason by the Hungarian authorities – the Greek Catholic clergy were forced to seek refuge in Romania, on October 6, 1916. Aware that he was part of a major historical translation, he filled in accurately new information in his journal, on a daily basis. Throughout his journey on the Romanian and the Russian territory (in May 1917, he went to Russia, as part of the commission for recruiting Transylvanian volunteers), Iacob Popa always paid attention to the events occurring on fronts and especially to the situation in Transylvania. Present in Iaşi during the Great Union on December 1, 1918, he marked the episode in his accounts. Though subjective given the personal experience of the author, the journal of the Greek Catholic vicar opens a new window through which we may look at the past from a unique perspective, meant to complete the fresco of the great event in the history of the Romanian nation.
More...Keywords: Bessarabia; Transylvania; University of Cluj; First World War; Onisifor Ghibu;
This text undertakes to investigate the way in which the members of the academia in Transylvania – namely the university professors and students with the Romanian University in Cluj, founded after 1919 – were interested in Bessarabia and in the issues of this province, become in its turn part of the Greater Romania after the First World War. I will try to achieve this on two levels – on one hand, to point out the topics of interest of Cluj-based university members regarding Bessarabia (if there were research projects or other scientific or cultural bilateral contacts), and on the other hand, to analyze the impressions and speeches of Cluj-based intellectuals, related to Bessarabia, about this region. In my endeavour, I will use several types of sources – press, archive documents, memoirs. The purpose was to outline – even only partially – the image of Bessarabia in the mindset of the interwar Transylvanian elite.
More...Keywords: treaty of Paris; Genoa conference; World War I; Bessarabia; Great Britain; Russia;
On April 10, 1922, Genoa began hosting an international conference to discuss the issue of the debts after the First World War, the new financial organization of the world, to provide a plan for the economic reconstruction of Central and Eastern Europe. At the same time, by inviting the representatives of the Bolshevik regime in Moscow, the purpose was to regulate the financial issues with it (the debts made by the Tsarist government during the war and the damages for the goods confiscated by the new power). A solution to this problem would have also allowed the international diplomatic recognition of Soviet Russia. Starting from the negotiations carried out in Warsaw, in the fall of 1921, between the Romanian diplomatic representative to Poland, Constantin Filaliti, and the Soviet plenipotentiary minister Lev Karahan, the British diplomacy identified the issues that the Romanian-Soviet dispute regarding Bessarabia could raise during the future conference in Genoa.The Great Powers had acknowledged the unification of this historical province with the Romanian kingdom during the Peace Conference in Versailles, through the Treaty concluded on October 28, 1920 and signed by Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan. The United States had refused to sign the Treaty. In early 1922, the Treaty had not been ratified by any of the parties and thus it could not enter into force. In this context, the Foreign Office took a set of measures; their purpose was not to block the emergence of the Romanian-Russian dispute on the agenda of the conference, but to limit its effects within the general setting of the discussions. The most important decision was the ratification of the Treaty regarding Bessarabia.
More...Keywords: Jan Romer;Eugeniusz Romer;geopolitics;nationalism;Poland;Ukraine
One of the basic problems facing the circles representing the Polish national interest inthe last years of the partitions was the considerable ethnic diversity of the population inthe area which could potentially become the territory of the reborn Commonwealth.Particular parties wanted to solve this problem differently and, therefore, their visions ofthe reborn Polish state and the policy they were planning to implement in relation to thenon-Polish population were different. The decision that took place was the result ofopposing political options in conditions determined by the prevailing intellectualatmosphere. In the crucial period of 1918-1921, it was influenced by opinions expressedby the Romer brothers, Jan and Eugeniusz. As far as national issues are concerned, theyrepresented views typical of a significant part of Poles. The study presents the positionof Romer in relation to the so-called Ruthenian affairs, that is to say, to aspirations ofthe Ruthenians (usually called Ukrainians nowadays). This was a very important issuefrom the point of view of the shape of the reviving Polish statehood. The attitudetowards the Ruthenians was shown in the context of the worldview, politicalorientation and general attitude of the Romers to nationality issues. The data used forthe analysis come from the documents of the Peace Conference in Paris and from theposthumous editions of the memoirs of Jan and Eugeniusz Romer.
More...Keywords: Croatian-Hungarian dictionary; published in Budapest in 2016; smaller and larger bilingual dictionaries; Croatian and Hungarian language;
A szerző cikkében az 2016-ban Budapesten megjelent középméretű, mintegy 40 ezer szócikket tartalmazó horvát-magyar szótárt veti össze a korábban megjelent kisebb és nagyobb terjedelmű kétnyelvű szótárakkal. A mennyiségi tényező mellett fontosnak tartja kiemelni, hogy a legújabb közép(méretű) szótár döntő mértékben a mai horvát és magyar köznyelvi állapotokat vette figyelembe, de tartalmazza az abba szervesen beépített új szaknyelvi szavakat és kifejezéseket is, ezértez a szótár az élő horvát illetve magyar nyelv keresztmetszetének egyfajta reprezentálását is jelenti.
More...Keywords: somatic phrasemes; structural and semantic study; diachrony; 16th and 17th century Hungarian language
It comes from the anthropomorphic nature of language that names denoting parts of the body are often found as the key-word of phrasemes (somatic phraseologisms), and since this type of phrasemes can be found among the earliest collections of phrases and idioms, their study is also significant from diachronous aspect. The study examines types of meaning change among 17th–18th century somatic phraseologisms. There are a great number and varied wordings of phrasemes containing body parts, and we are making an attempt at defining the phenomena and the types of changes, and also, at describing features beyond certain semantic phenomena generally characteristic of Hungarian phrasemes. Our study encompasses interrelations between structural and semantic changes, e.g. paradigmatic relationships between phraseological units, changes of the key-word and phraseological synonymy and antonymy. The change of valence relationship can also bring about changes of meaning; in the analyzed early texts the process of phraseologization happens parallel to the transition from concrete to abstract, during which metaphorization plays the key role. The basis for the corpus study are texts written by Gáspár Heltai, Péter Bornemisza, István Magyari and Péter Pázmány.
More...Keywords: The Great War; The Peace Conference 1919–1920; diplomacy; negotiations; armistices; peace treaties;
The Paris Peace Conference of 1919–1920 ended the Great War. The subject of the Peace Conference has been opened to multidisciplinary research, which can highlight, from subtle angles, the depth of this great clash of interests and opinions. The research of the Peace Conference is for some specialists like the opening of Pandora’s Box, i.e. a reunification of the contradictory national positions related to this subject! For some historiographies the Conference was beneficial, for others – an injustice and a form of disillusionment. The Paris Conference was a time of tension, as political solutions were contradictory and the peace treaties disappointed both the vanquished and the victors. If the war appeared initially as a dispute over different and antagonistic national interests, it gradually turned into a crusade for freedom, unity and national integrity. That is why, even during the war, certain principles of negotiation and peace were adopted. Pope Benedict XV considered the war “a needless slaughter”, but the Vatican’s peace diplomacy failed. The President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, saw himself from the beginning as a potential mediator of the war. He proposed the 14 points which were to serve as principles for organizing peace after the Great War. By inaugurating the concept of “exiting the war” to study the stages of the “slow decline of the war” after 1918, the historians emphasized the existence of a “war after the war”, which requires a rethinking of the chronology, the spatial framework of the war conflict, the truce and peace attempts. The Paris Peace Conference of 1919–1920 reshaped the map of Europe and of the world. In the years following the conclusion of the peace treaties, a widespread feeling that peace had not really been achieved became widespread in public opinion and political circles.
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