Vol. XXIX, 2016
After gaining political independence in 1878, Romania aimed to strengthen its economic presence on the international markets. The new commercial orientation of the country towards Austria-Hungary, through the provisions of the Customs Convention of 1875, had visible results on the overall trade of Romania during the times of the commercial war (1886–1892) against the Dual Monarchy. Profound changes in the structure of the Danubian ports of Brăila and Galaţi were introduced in 1883. The free-port regime was abolished, and the liberal government in Bucharest started to impose its intention of constructing warehouses at Brăila and Galaţi. Another important measure was the emergence of stock exchanges in the two outlets. This paper aims to present the grain trade carried through the bourses of Brăila and Galaţi, the most representative such institutions from the Danubian hinterland. It aims to show how the flow of information arrived from the European deposit ports and world markets via telegraph, telephone, and media influenced the transactions on the stock exchanges of Brăila and Galaţi.
The split of Europe in two rival camps became a reality long before the creation of the Entente in 1907. Our approach focuses on the place and role played by South-Eastern Europe in the plans of the Entente and Triple Alliance. Both alliances employed different means in order to attract the South-Eastern European states in one camp or another. In this article, we aim to stress upon the main economic and financial aspects of this rivalry, prior to the military confrontation. The financial issues were of peculiar importance, and proved to be very practical, persuasive, and successful.
This paper focuses on the political daily newspapers published between 1914 and 1916 in Romania, considering the press as a central actor in the construction of the public belief and attitudes. We illustrate the ways it shaped the public debate over the political events and military operations in the Balkan countries. Most journalists have argued the need for entering the war with the Entente, to fulfill the national ideal of unification with Transylvania. In these circumstances the Austro-Hungarians and Germans tried to change this position by mass media propaganda. Finally, the study deals with the Balkan minority communities newspapers in Bucharest, Brăila, Constanţa, especially Greek, Aromanian and Albanian.
4. Venera Achim, Ocupaţia germană din 1916–1918 în jurnalele doamnelor române, p. 71-82.
This article explores five feminine diaries and memoirs written under the impact of the German occupation of Bucharest (1916–1918). Descendants from well-established families, daughters and wives of politicians and aristocrats, the authors have described their own war experience, as staff members of different charities and hospitals. The ladies recollected aspects concerning the difficulties of the daily life, the relations with the occupation forces, the lack of popularity of the Romanian politicians, as well as the solidarity of the Bucharest population.
Among several reforms initiated as a result of the establishing of the “Organic Regulation” in Wallachia, was the alignment and systematization of the country’s villages. Like other operations from this age, it left behind an enormous amount of archival material from all levels of administration. We hereby propose for publication only a small part of it, but revealing in terms of the long and difficult application of the envisaged project of ending the scattered appearance of the rural settlements and “bringing the houses to line”. The documents, originating in two of Wallachia’s Sub-prefectures, offer a glimpse of what we might consider a typical course in implementing any reform in this age. The optimistic discourse promoting the Government’s initiative, both to the local authorities and to the population, was unfortunately accompanied by incomplete instructions in key aspects of the operation, such as the amount of authority granted to each actor involved and even technical issues. This resulted in an effort which seemed to have had a permanently delayed ending. Both blame and warnings of sanction were passed along from one administrative level to another. Yet the villagers seemed to have suffered the most unwanted consequences, from unnecessary rebuilding of houses, to forced movement in inadequate surroundings.
L’article présente la relation de voyage faite par l’italien Giuseppe Grabinski en 1888, c’est-à-dire dans une période d’instabilité ministérielle et de crise sociale à cause de l’émeute paysanne qui provoqua la démission du gouvernement Ion C. Brătianu. La relation s’occupe alors de certains problèmes fondamentaux de la société roumaine, voir le caractère plutôt apparent de la modernisation, le décalage matériel et culturel entre les élites et le petit peuple et particulièrement la question juive, conçue à travers la concurrence économique qui opposa les usuriers et les marchands israélites aux grands propriétaires et aux paysans roumains, et non pas sur rapport religieux où racial.
7. Alexandru Mamina, Istoriografia de observanţă neoconservatoare, p. 127-130.
Le texte représente un polémique avec les propos de l’historiographie néo-conservatrice concernant le régime communiste, trop imbue d’un esprit accusateur qui obscurcit la complexité de la réalité au nom d’un faux moralisme «idéologiquement correct». En revanche on propose une approche plutôt fonctionnaliste, concentrée pas sur les accusations de compromis et collaborationnisme, mais sur formes d’adaptation individuelle et de group aux rigueurs du pouvoir, ainsi qu’on distingue les faits par rapport à la rhétorique officielle et aussi les différents degrés de responsabilité au niveau de la société.