A century of ethnic changes in the Romanian territories united with the Kingdom of Romania in 1918

Authors

  • Ionel Muntele Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Department of Geography, Romania https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3858-3286
  • Costel-Cosmin Sîrbu Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Department of Geography, Romania
  • Raluca-Ioana Horea-Șerban Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Department of Geography, Romania
  • Dorin Lozovanu Institute of Ecology and Geography of Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Moldova; National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History from the Republic of Moldova

Keywords:

ethnic changes, spatial identity, ethnic diversity, ethnic favoritism, spatiotemporal dynamics

Abstract

Abstract. The objective of the study is to clarify to what extent the alienation of a territory and the dynamics of the urbanization process may affect the evolution of the ethnic structure of the population within the timespan of a century. The year 1918 was an essential moment in the territorial evolution of the Romanian state which, in a short time, passed from the imminence of the total occupation by the Central Powers to the resolutions of the 1919-1920 peace treaties that sanctioned the unification of all the regions inhabited predominantly by Romanians. The evolution of the ethnic structure of the population in these territories recorded different tendencies, depending on the political and historical context. The territories that continued to belong to the Romanian state experienced a continuous strengthening of the majority ethnic component, including in urban centres. However, in the territories occupied by the Soviet Union, the territorial fragmentation, the assertion of an artificial national identity (the Moldovan one)  and the favouring of Eastern Slavic communities produced complex effects, from marginalization and isolation in rural communities (the case of the territories assigned to Ukraine) to an identity crisis in the Republic of Moldova. The post-communist period registered the same trends in the territories of north-western Romania while being significantly disturbed in the ex-Soviet territories. The results of the study prove the importance of integrating predominantly Romanian territories into the unitary Romanian state.

Résumé. La présente étude envisage à clarifier dans quelle mesure l’aliénation d’un territoire ainsi que la dynamique du processus d’urbanisation peut affecter l’évolution de la structure ethnique de la population, pendant un siècle. L’année 1918 a été un moment clé dans l’évolution territoriale de l’état roumain, qui a connu un passage rapide de l’imminence de l’occupation totale par les Pouvoirs Centraux aux résolutions des traités de paix de 1919-1920 qui ont sanctionné l’unification de toutes les régions habitées par des roumains. L’évolution de la structure ethnique de la population a suivi différentes tendances, selon le contexte politique et historique. Les territoires qui appartenaient toujours à l’État Roumain ont subi un renforcement continu de la composante ethnique majoritaire, y compris dans les centres urbains.  Pourtant, dans les territoires occupés par l’Union Soviétique, la fragmentation territoriale, la création d’une identité nationale artificielle (l’identité Moldave) et la favorisation des communautés slaves de l’Est ont entrainé des effets complexes, qui varient de la marginalisation et isolation dans les communautés rurales (le cas des territoires annexés à l’Ukraine) à une crise identitaire dans la République de Moldavie. La période post-communiste a gardé les mêmes tendances dans les territoires du Nord-Ouest de la Roumanie, mais a perturbé de manière significative les territoires ex-soviétiques. Les résultats de l’étude montrent l’importance de l’intégration des territoires à prédominance roumaine dans l’État Roumain unitaire.

 

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15551/lsgdc.v47i1.03

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2019-10-31

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