A case of historiographical contradiction: Communist Romania’s 1975 anniversary of Michael the Brave’s Unification
A case of historiographical contradiction: Communist Romania’s 1975 anniversary of Michael the Brave’s Unification

Summary/Abstract: Anniversaries dedicated to historical events from Romania’s history were a regular phenomenon during the years Nicolae Ceaușescu was in power. This was a particularity due to the fact that the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) wanted to gain national legitimacy, which it lacked due to its seizing of power with Soviet aid. One of these celebrated events was the 375 years anniversary of the Unification of 1600, which took place in 1975. It was organized due to the fact that the Communist regime deemed Michael the Brave as the most important figure of its cult of heroes. He gained such an image because of his accomplishment of national unification. This accomplishment was in line with party policy, which promoted the “national unity myth” which stated that throughout history, the Romanians from Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania were aware that they were the same people and their struggle against foreign invaders was done in the name of national independence. Therefore, PCR stressed the importance of “honoring the memory of the ancestors” as a component of its policy. The aim of this paper is to present the historical discourse used by preeminent historians in the papers published on the occasion of the anniversary. We shall observe how some historians presented the Unification using a term that didn’t toe with the party line. Their interpretations of this historical event were somewhat different from the official canon. We shall also present the event’s celebration from May 20th 1975, when a gathering took place at Alba Iulia in honor of the Unification and of the city’s 2000 years anniversary. Thus, we shall see what the party’s predominantly biased perspective stated. Consequently, we shall have a better picture of how it differed from the one used by historians.

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