REGIMUL EXCEPȚIONAL ÎN DOBROGEA (1878-1909). REFLECȚII PRIVIND PROCESUL INTEGRĂRII LA STATUL ROMÂN
THE EXCEPTIONAL REGIME IN DOBROGEA (1878-1909). REFLECTIONS ON THE INTEGRATION PROCESS IN THE ROMANIAN STATE

Summary/Abstract: The present paper goal is to analyse the motivations behind the exceptional regime in Dobrudja, after the Berlin Treaty (1878) and integration to Romania. After a two year transitory governance, Romanian legislators adopted so-called Dobrudja Constitution, a law which established the rules by which the new province was to be governed. This law included many exceptions from the normal social and administrative life from the rest of Romania, including those regarding political rights. Almost 30 years, until 1909, people from Dobrudja cannot exert those rights and the local governance was assured by governmental decisions, the prefect being an almost absolute authority. This long time of discrimination was justified by the very different - social, judiciary, religious, cultural, ethnic – character of the province, after four and a half centuries of inclusion in the Ottoman Empire. Romanian authorities decided, in view of this reality, that a complete integration cannot be made until the people of the province become aware of their new situation, rights and obligations. It was the best solution at that time, which assured a smooth integration, without social or ethnic conflicts. Despite of some voices from the political opposition, the law from 1880 was generally accepted and the public opinion from Romania agreed that an immediate and total integration was not the best decision. Romanian decidents found the ways through which integration of Dobrudja become permanent, even if exceptional measures was needed.

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