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

CONSTANTIN IORDACHIal Law of April 1898, was to invest schools with an increased socio-culturalrole, through an active state intervention. During several visits in theprovince, Haret personally organized the schooling system and encouragedthe development of rural banks. Due also to his sustained efforts, the levelof literacy in Dobrogea rose from 24.8% of the total population in 1899, to45.2 % of the population in 1912, thus a significant growth of 20.4% in 13years. 66 This rate of literacy (45.2 %) was not only much above the nationalaverage of 39.3%, but also superior to any other historical province ofRomania considered separately, namely 39.1% in Moldova, 41,2% inMuntenia Mare, and 33.5% in Oltenia. 67 This situation highlights theimportant role assigned to education in Dobrogea as a means of fosteringassimilation and national integration by the Romanian state.3. Nationalism and Modernization: The EconomicIncorporation of Northern Dobrogea into RomaniaCultural homogenization was accompanied by Dobrogea’s economicmodernization. In the economic organization of Dobrogea, Romanianpolitical leaders were influenced by the protectionist arguments put forwardby the “father” of national economy, Friedrich List, who emphasizedthe role of the sea in fostering economic development. 68 The most importantpromoter of the program of Romania’s commercial expansion on thesea was the economist Petre S. Aurelian, the main artisan of the economicpolicy of the National Liberal Party. Aurelian pointed out the organiclink between the evolution of industry and the development of a comprehensivesystem of naval transportation: “The manufacturing industry isthe fundament of the navigation, the more the manufactures are developing,the more the commercial navigation is growing.” 69As a Prime Minister in the period December 1896-April 1897, Aurelianpleaded for a national program of major investments in Dobrogea inorder to link the province with Romania through a system of railway andnaval communication, to build a major Black Sea port at Constanþa toserve as a commercial outlet for Romania’s exports, and to assemblea commercial maritime fleet. Ion C. Brãtianu, the leader of the NationalLiberal Party, was an enthusiastic supporter of Aurelian’s economic program.Brãtianu suggestively expressed the Liberal strategy on Dobrogea’smodernization:The seaport of Constanþa is the lung of Romania, the mouth throughwhich the country is breathing. Constanþa will also become the fortressfor Romania’s defense; through it we will set contact with the wholeworld, and we will secure the most important communication route for138