History in the Service of the Nation: The Role of History in Interwar Transylvania
History in the Service of the Nation: The Role of History in Interwar Transylvania

Summary/Abstract: The achievement of Greater Romania was the beginning of a complex process of unification of territories very different from each other in many respects (administrative, political, legal, etc.). This process took place in an unfavorable geopolitical and economic context, dominated by the consequences of the war and of the Treaty of Trianon. Transylvania’s position was particularly difficult, as a territory claimed by both Romanians and Hungarians. Throughout the interwar period, the Romanian elite had to defend the Romanian rights over Transylvania in response to Hungarian revisionist efforts. The recourse to history provided most of these arguments. This article examines how history was used as a tool both to counteract revisionist attacks and to strengthen the sense of belonging to the Romanian nation. The main source was the Romanian historical journals of the interwar period.

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