Nation-Building and Contested Identities: Romanian & Hungarian ...

“The California of the Romanians”tion of the landed property in the province by ethnic Romanians. Organizedunder the close supervision of the Romanian state, the process ofland naturalization occurred in four major ways: 1) the succession of theRomanian state to the property rights of the Ottoman state in Dobrogea;2) the appropriation by the Romanian state of parts of the land possessedby Dobrogeans. 3) the opening of virgin lands for cultivation by ethnicRomanian colonists; and 4) the distribution of the lands of all Dobrogeanswho emigrated from the province to ethnic Romanians. The Romanianstate established thus a virtual monopoly on land redistribution in Dobrogea,assuring the gradual transfer of ownership to ethnic Romanians.The Ottoman legislation had distinguished five juridical categoriesof land property: mülk, miriè, vakf, metrukè, and mevat. 44 Among them,only mülk was compatible with capitalist private ownership. 45 The otherfour types of land were nominally owned by the Ottoman state, and theyhad therefore to be legally harmonized with the stipulation of Art. 23 ofthe Romanian Constitution that defined private property as “sacred andinviolable.” Due to its complex character, this legal transfer of propertygradually occurred from 1878 to 1882. While studying the Ottoman systemof land property and preparing the new property legislation, Romanianauthorities preserved Ottoman laws that were in effect until 11 April 1877.The first Romanian law regulating landed property in Dobrogea wasissued in 1880. The Law stipulated the succession of the Romanian stateto “all the rights and attributions the Ottoman government had had onimmobile property in Dobrogea.” 46 The Romanian state became thus thegreatest landowner in the province, by gaining possession of over1,000,000 hectares of arable land, and over numerous forests, mines, andlakes. The lands outside localities cultivated by the Dobrogeans – calledmiriè – were also considered state property. In the period 1880-1882, theRomanian state conducted a campaign for verification of all Ottomanproperty documents – tapù – and their replacement with new Romaniantitles of property. 47 Upon the completion of this process, the propertyregime in the province was finally regulated by “The Law ConcerningImmobile Property in Dobrogea,” issued on 3 April 1882.The law aimed at transforming the Ottoman conditional propertyover agricultural lands outside localities – miriè – into capitalist ownership.In order to become full owners, peasants had to redeem their annual tithepreviously paid to the Ottoman state, by paying, in successive installments,a financial compensation toward the Romanian state (Art. 11). The value ofthis compensation was established at one-third of the total price of theplot. 48 Since many peasants proved unable to pay their compensation, a regulationfrom 1884 stipulated that the Dobrogeans “who have not paid alltheir installments in three years lose to the state their right to the land, as133