Romanian Interwar Foreign Policy

This paper investigates the correlation between the diplomatic and historiographical activities of Raoul Bossy, one of the most important Romanian diplomats of the 1930s and the Second World War and a well-known figure within the Romanian political diaspora after 1945. Our analysis finds that Bossy was an accomplished diplomat and an equally gifted historian, especially a historian of diplomacy and transnational history. His writings were greatly inspired and facilitated by his diplomatic missions. Yet, his historical writing was not static, as earlier suggested. In the first stage, he refined his methodological and conceptual apparatus until the outbreak of World War II, when he wrote his most impressive historical works. In the subsequent two years, he showed relatively less interest in the discovery of new sources and the opening of new research paths as compared to the 1930s. Following 1941-1944/1945, he initially paid even less attention to historical writings. Only in the early 1950s and especially the 1960s did he begin to produce scientific writings and explore new subjects. By this time the diplomat had lost sight of the historian, and the historian could no longer profit from the diplomat.

Σημείωση: το παρακάτω κείμενο, με κάποιες τροποποιήσεις χάριν συνοχής, αποτελεί μέρος από κεφάλαιο της μεταπτυχιακής διατριβής: "Το ζήτημα της Βεσσαραβίας και η διαδικασία διαμόρφωσης της μολδαβικής ταυτότητας στο πλαίσιο των σοβιετο‑ρουμανικών σχέσεων, 1918‑1990 (Θεσσαλονίκη, 2010)".

Στόχος του αποσπάσματος είναι να αποδώσει το χρονικό των διπλωματικών αντιπαραθέσεων μεταξύ Μόσχας και Βουκουρεστίου την περίοδο 1919-1940 με επίκεντρο το ζήτημα της Βεσσαραβίας και, ταυτόχρονα, να αναδείξει όλες  εκείνες τις εξελίξεις, οι οποίες καθόρισαν ουσιαστικά το πολιτικό πεπρωμένο της περιοχής, μετατρέποντάς την τελικά σε Σοβιετική Σοσιαλιστική Δημοκρατία.

Since Mussolini's Italy wished to counteract French political and cultural influences in the Danube-Balkan region, the dictatorship not only turned to the tools of traditional diplomacy, but also made steady use of cultural propaganda. Aside from resorting to different types of cultural exchanges, one important goal in this respect sought to expand the activities aimed at teaching the Italian language in the region. For this to happen, it was imperative for Italian books to gain access on the Romanian market. This paper uses the 10-step framework of propaganda analysis designed by Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell and applies it to the activity of a small commercial entity founded for propaganda purposes by the Italian Legation in Bucharest in 1931: an Italian Bookshop on Calea Victoriei. This qualitative research examines whether this company was a successful instrument for the dissemination of fascist propaganda in interwar Romania, between 1931 and 1938. The study looks at the Italian Bookshop's undertakings and assesses them in relation to the ten characteristics identified by the two American researchers: 1) ideology and purpose of the propaganda; 2) the context in which the propaganda occured; 3) the identification of the propagandist; 4) the structure of the propaganda organization; 5) target audience; 6) media utilization techniques; 7) the special techniques to maximize effect; 8) audience reaction to various techniques; 9) counterpropaganda; and 10) effects and evaluation. The analysis of this case study indicates that in light of the Bookshop's success, we can infer that it was indeed an efficient tool for fascist Italy's propaganda apparatus in Romania. By 1938, it exceeded expectations in terms of both business revenues and the ammount of books being circulated.
◊◊◊ Rezumat: Dincolo de diplomaţia tradiţională, Italia lui Mussolini a folosit în mod constant strategii de propagandă culturală în regiunea danubiano-balcanică, unde a dorit să contracareze influenţa politică şi culturală a Franţei. Deşi a recurs la diferite tipuri de schimburi culturale, obiectivul major în acest sens a constat în răspândirea predării limbii italiene. În acest sens, pătrunderea cărţii italiene pe piaţa românească era obligatorie. Această lucrare foloseşte cadrul de analiză a propagandei în 10 paşi proiectat de Garth S. Jowett şi Victoria O'Donnell şi îl aplică în vederea analizării activităţii unei mici entităţi comerciale fondate de Legaţia Italiei în Bucureşti, în 1931, în scop de propagandă: o librărie italiană pe Calea Victoriei. Prezenta cercetare de tip calitativ şi-a propus să evalueze dacă această societate pe acţiuni a fost un instrument de succes al propagandei fasciste în România interbelică între 1931 şi 1938. Studiul analizează activitatea librăriei italiene şi o evaluează pe baza celor zece caracteristici identificate de către cei doi cercetători americani: ideologia şi scopul propagandei; 2) contextul în care a avut loc propaganda; 3) identificarea propagandistului; 4) structura organizaţiei de propagandă; 5) publicul-ţintă; 6) tehnicile de utilizare a mijloacelor media; 7) tehnicile speciale de maximizare a efectului propagandei; 8) reacţia audienţei la diferite tehnici; 9) contrapropaganda; şi 10) efectele respectiv evaluarea propagandei. Având în vedere parcursul de succes al librăriei, analiza acestui studiu de caz ne indică faptul că aceasta a fost într-adevăr un instrument eficient al aparatului de propaganda al Italiei fasciste în România: până în 1938, librăria a depăşit aşteptările atât în ceea ce priveşte veniturile din afaceri, cât şi circulaţia cărţilor italiene.

Rarely, if ever, in the twentieth century has a historian been so present in the life of his people as has Nicolae Iorga (1871-1940) in his half-century career in modern Romania, from around 1890 until 1940. He was both feared and praised for his writings and speeches, at the same time in parliament, in the academia and in the press in such measure that, as one Italian diplomat noted in 1929, he seemed „the maximum judge of cultural issues in this countryˮ.  It was no coincidence that it was an Italian representative who remarked that, since Italy (and consequently, Fascist Italy) was for Iorga his most important foreign arena and the Romanian historian was, in return, one of the most common intellectuals discussed by the Italian diplomatic correspondence.
Nicolae Iorga is considered Romania’s major historian of all times and one of its greatest minds, as well as one of the most influential public intellectuals of modern Romania. His heritage is of very great proportions (around 1200 books and 25 000 articles), which led to an extensive scientific literature documenting it. Only to give a sense of the outputs, in a six-year period (2004-2010) there were 381 texts discussing Iorga.  Probably, it is the broadest literature on any Romanian historian. And yet one can still find grey areas in his intellectual biography. Such a case is addressed in this essay, which aims to provide an overall view of Iorga’s understanding of Italian Fascism, as well as some possible explanations for his actions and beliefs, being in part a summary of the findings of our doctoral thesis on this very topic.  What we herein argue is that Iorga, already voluntarily committed before the First World War to promote close cultural ties with Italy, changed course in the interwar period in order to accommodate Mussolini’s regime, and thus embarked on a journey which led him to a political and ultimately ideological commitment. The narrative Iorga constructed about Italian Fascism essentially promoted a categorically favorable image of Il Duce and his dictatorship’s accomplishments.

In the interwar era, Great War veterans from the former Entente countries mobilized together to preserve order and stability across the continent. Romanian veterans played a relevant role within this mobilization. Between the early 1920s and the late 1930s, they helped stabilize Europe’s territorial arrangements and attempted to educate youth according to pacifist and patriotic values.
My proposed contribution will focus on Romanian veterans’ transnational activism. Specifically, I will look at the activities undertaken by these veterans within the international organizations known as the Federation International des Anciens Combattants (FIDAC) and the Confederation International des Associations des Mutilees et Anciens Combattants (CIAMAC).
I will analyze how Romanian veterans lobbied, within FIDAC and CIAMAC, for the preservation of international peace and the development of ties of solidarity between former servicemen from all Europe - especially those in the successor States of Central Europe. I will make the case that, by undertaking these activities, these veterans helped create a pan-European ‘culture of victory,’ which stabilized the continent, to a degree, before 1939. Specifically, due to this culture of victory, European veterans developed new political loyalties which were congruent with the post-war continental order. This culture, in particular, helped integrate veterans in the new nation-States of Central Europe.