Notes on the Romanian Civil Servants from Beszterce-Naszód/Bistrița-Năsăud County during World War I and its Aftermath (1914-1921)
The paper is focused on the situation of the Romanian civil servants from Beszterce-Naszód/Bistrița-Năsăud County during World War I and its aftermath, with emphasis on their integration into the Romanian society of the time, the part played during the revolutionary events of late 1918 and their place in the new administration of the Romanian Kingdom. Romanian historical writing experienced a tendency of shadowing those political representatives and civil servants perceived before 1918 as collaborators of the Hungarian state, to the point in which they were presented as somehow estranged from their co-nationals, but following their links with the Romanian financial institutions, cultural associations and charity activities seems to highlight the contrary, at least for the county and period under research. In Beszterce-Naszód/Bistrița-Năsăud they formed a small but active group, well integrated into the Romanian society, and they managed to preserve their status in troubled times, shifting the source of their authority from the Hungarian to the Romanian Kingdom. However, this did not save some of them from the virulent press attacks and allegations of the radical nationalists, which sometimes ended in criminal investigations, especially for those holding the highest county offices.
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