|
Showing 1 - 4 of
4 matches in All Departments
Spanning a period of 2000 years from the Roman conquest of Dacia to
the present day, A Concise History of Romania traces the
development of a unique nation situated on the border between East
and West. In this illuminating new history, Keith Hitchins explores
Romania's struggle to find its place amidst two diverse societies:
one governed by Eastern orthodox tradition, spirituality and
agriculture and the other by Western rationalism, experimentation
and capitalism. The book charts Romania's advancement through five
significant phases of its history: medieval, early modern, modern
and finally the nation's 'return to Europe'; evaluating all the
while Romania's part in European politics, economic and social
change, intellectual and cultural renewals and international
entanglements. This is a fascinating history of an East European
nation; one which sheds new light on the complex evolution of the
Romanians and the identity they have successfully crafted from a
unique synthesis of traditions.
From the mid-nineteenth century until the Second World War, the
energies of Rumanian political and intellectual elites were
absorbed by the building of their nation. In this comprehensive and
scholarly study Keith Hitchins traces these complex processes and
explores how Rumania's leaders attempted to transform the ideology
of modern nationhood into strong political, economic, and social
institutions and to find ways of preserving independence in an
international political and economic order dominated by the great
powers. As the new Rumania took shape, the threads of historical
continuity remained strikingly evident: in government a strong
administrative centralization prevailed, despite the maturing of
parliamentary institutions and the diversity of political
expression; the national economy remained beholden to agriculture,
despite the steady growth of industry; and in cultural life
traditional values persisted, despite the adoption of modern forms.
In foreign relations the most pressing aim was to unite all
Rumanians in a single state and to defend its sovereignty within an
uncertain international order. In all these endeavours, the measure
of achievement was the West. After the Second World War, when the
Communist Party came to power, this historical continuity was
broken. The experiment in nation-building gave way to a new
ideology, and Rumania now turned to the Soviet political and
economic model.
At the beginning of 1918 the British War Cabinet endorsed the view
of the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, that after the war
Austria-Hungary should be in a position to exercise a powerful
influence in south-east Europe. These reassuring professions were
the essence of hypocrisy, since the Allies had already given away,
at least on paper, large chunks of Austro-Hungarian territory as
bribes to potential allies. In 1916 Romania was promised the whole
of Transylvania, the Banat both components of historic Hungary and
the Bukovina in return for her entry into the war. These promises
persuaded the Romanian Prime Minister Ion Bratianu (1864-1927) to
intervene in the war on the side of the Allies in 1916. He lead the
Romanian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, where he
insisted on those promises to be fulfilled. His often-strained
relations with the Big Four and the Supreme Council were further
eroded when Romania invaded Hungary. Romania, however, in the end
signed and adhered to the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye with
Austria, Neuilly-sur-Seine with Bulgaria, the Treaty of Paris
(1920), the Treaty of Trianon with Hungary, and the minorities
treaty.
Spanning a period of 2000 years from the Roman conquest of Dacia to
the present day, A Concise History of Romania traces the
development of a unique nation situated on the border between East
and West. In this illuminating new history, Keith Hitchins explores
Romania's struggle to find its place amidst two diverse societies:
one governed by Eastern orthodox tradition, spirituality and
agriculture and the other by Western rationalism, experimentation
and capitalism. The book charts Romania's advancement through five
significant phases of its history: medieval, early modern, modern
and finally the nation's 'return to Europe'; evaluating all the
while Romania's part in European politics, economic and social
change, intellectual and cultural renewals and international
entanglements. This is a fascinating history of an East European
nation; one which sheds new light on the complex evolution of the
Romanians and the identity they have successfully crafted from a
unique synthesis of traditions.
|
|