The Shape of Interwar Romanian History

Clark, Roland ORCID: 0000-0003-3292-282X (2021) The Shape of Interwar Romanian History. Journal of Romanian Studies, 3 (1). pp. 11-42.

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Abstract

This article reviews some of the major frameworks that historians use to tell the stories of interwar Romania, asking why they became popular and how useful they are in the twenty-first century. It examines the problems of periodization and of placing the nation-state at the center of Romanian history, then traces the evolution of four major frames: (1) the problems of a small state; (2) the collapse of democracy; (3) the march of progress; and (4) the consequences of state-building and centralization. Such approaches give the impression that interwar Romania was an intolerant, chauvinistic society that marginalized anyone who was not male, Orthodox, and ethnically Romanian. The best new histories, however, not only uncover alternative, suppressed narratives but also reveal how people were able to live and sometimes thrive in a society as diverse as interwar Romania undeniably was.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Romanian History, Historiography
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	20 Apr 2021 08:55
Last Modified:	18 Jan 2023 22:52
Related URLs:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3119815