Twentieth Century Romania

The cultural politics of commemorating war.

The studies included in this volume reflect on the history and culture of Romania during the twentieth century, a critical century for the country that saw such realizations as the achievement of national unity, as well as the horrors of two world wars and the installation of a brutal communist dictatorship, ending in the overthrow of the totalitarian regime and the hopes for a freer and more prosperous future. These papers, written in English and Romanian, were presented at the Eighth International Conference of the Center for Romanian Studies, held in Iasi, Romania, on 24-25 June 2002, on the theme "Twentieth Century Romania: A Retrospective." Studies include: Dumitru Sandru, Arestarile Operate În 1945 În RomÂnia Dupa Instaurarea Guvernului Petru Groza; Matthew H. Ciscel, Cei de la Rusi: The linguistic identity of the Bessarabian Romanians in the 20th Century; Dissidents of the Great Unification?; Stelu Serban, About electoral volatility in interwar Romania; Simona Gheorghiu, Nicolae Iorga and the Iron Guard; Florian Banu, Regele Carol al II-lea si emigratia romÂneasca din America În timpul celui de-al doilea razboi mondial; Mihail Rotaru, Sfatul Tarii si autodeterminarea Basarabiei; Basil D. Georgiadis, Life After Ceausescu: The Challenge of Democracy and NATO Membership for Romania; Wally Bacon, Contextualizing Interwar Romanian-Polish Relations; Liviu Groza, Periodicizari ?i Tranzitii În Secolul XX din perspectiva romÂneasca; and many more.

Recounts the history of Romania during the 20th century, from a semblence of democracy in the 1920s, through dictatorship and World War II, and to the 'Golden Age' of Ceausescu. Other topics include the loss of national identity, Stalinism, socialism, Satellitenstaat, social patriotism, and national communism.

There is a considerable difference between real history and discourse history - this book stems from this idea. The author points out that history is constantly reconstructed, adapted and sometimes mythified from the perspective of the present day, of present states of mind and ideologies. Boia closely examines the process of historical culture and conscience in nineteenth and twentieth century Romania, particularly concentrating on the impact of the national ideology on history. Based upon his findings, the author identifies several key mythical configurations and analyses the manner in which Romanians have reconstituted their own highly ideologized history over the last two centuries. The strength of History and Myth in Romanian Consciousness lies in the author's ability to fully deconstruct the entire Romanian historiographic system and demonstrate the increasing acuteness of national problems in general, and in particular the exploitation of history to support national ideology.

Heroes and Victims explores the cultural power of war memorials in 20th-century Romania through two world wars and a succession of radical political changes -- from attempts to create pluralist democratic political institutions after World War I to shifts toward authoritarian rule in the 1930s, to military dictatorships and Nazi occupation, to communist dictatorships, and finally to pluralist democracies with populist tendencies. Examining the interplay of centrally articulated and locally developed commemorations, Maria Bucur's study engages monumental sites of memory, local funerary markers, rituals, and street names as well as autobiographical writings, novels, oral narratives, and film. This book reveals the ways in which a community's religious, ethnic, economic, regional, and gender traditions shaped local efforts at memorializing its war dead.

This updated edition focuses on the communist age in Romania, evaluating earlier democratic and authoritarian-fascist periods as well. It begins by examining essential elements of the historic legacy - nationalism, authoritarianism, economic and social underdevelopment and adverse geopolitical factors - inherited by Romania's rulers after World War I. New chapters have been added on the reign of Nicolae Ceausescu and the political changes currently underway. The author evaluates the difficulties and opportunities Romania faces in the post-communist era, both as a member of the European Community and as a modern democratic state.