The Other Romania
Because in Argentina there are around 10,000 people of Romanian origin, including, most having a high professional education, such as engineers, professors, historians, businessmen, people who hold prominent positions in economic life and politics of Argentina, we decided to dedicate a series of articles to the Romanians who have decided to build a future in a faraway land, but that their heart still beats for their mother country, Romania.
"The Week of the Romanian diaspora in Argentina" offers a journey full of interesting content about the historical background, the reasons for emigration to Argentina, the Romanians who have achieved the success and also the cultural and economic trade relationship between the two states.
A warm greeting to all those in which beats a Romanian heart!
The historical background During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Romania underwent significant changes in its economic and social structure that drove migration to different countries of the world. In those years, Ottoman political power was growing and expanding, along with corruption and economic exploitation. At the same time, Romania was a battlefield of the three surrounding empires (Austrian, Russian and Ottoman empires). Many of its territories were taken and annexed to other countries, leaving the Romanian population subject to foreign domination, looting, evictions and, obviously, the loss of its territories. Austria took Oltenia from 1718 to 1793 and Bucovina (north of Moldavia) from 1775 to 1918. For its part, Russia took the eastern part of Moldavia which was later called Bessarabia after the Russian-Turkish war (1806-1812). In 1812 broke out the Romanian Revolution led by Tudor Vladimirescu, which led to the overthrow of the Fanariota regime.
This could be considered the beginning of a distancing from the Eastern Ottoman world. By 1848 the revolution was led by the great Romanian intellectuals, such as Nicolae Bălcescu. The space for new ideas, modern structures and a growing process of westernization began to open up. In turn there was a growing awareness that united the Romanians in a Nation, an independent State.
In 1848-1849 the democratic ideas of the Romanian intellectuals triumphed. In 1859 the union of the two principalities that integrated the Romanian territory was resolved, establishing Colonel Alexandru Ioan Cuza as unique prince. In 1862 the name Romania was adopted and Bucharest was settled as capital city. From this moment society began to modernize through structural reforms ranging from agrarian reform laws to the creation of universities.
In 1866 the New Constitution was proclaimed, which recognized Romania as a constitutional monarchy, which remained in force until 1923. Once gained independence, all Romanians living in territory under foreign domination began their struggle against local policies that sought to assimilate them. Transylvania was one of the provinces most hit by this situation, being under Austrian dominion, incorporated to Hungary.
For this reason, many people of Transylvania left their ancestral lands to immigrate to Argentina.
Photo: dilemaveche.ro/sectiune/dileme-on-line/articol/despre-romanii-din-argentina-interviu-cu-sena-latif
Source: http://www.buenosaires.gob.ar/derechoshumanos/observatorio/colectividad-rumana
Judit Neuberger
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