The Liminality of Failing Democracy: East Central Europe During the Interwar Slump

Stemming from an initiative of French Prime Minister Aristide Briand, the Commission of Enquiry for European Union, set up by the League of Nations in September 1930, showcases how the Great Depression turned the mood of European politicians against Eastern Europe. Originally designed to promote a closer entanglement of European national economies and thus secure … Continue reading “European Union and European Disintegration”

On the 9th of May 1935 King Carol II of Romania opened the festivities of the newly inaugurated Month of Bucharest (Luna Bucureştilor). The month-long event, which would take place annually until 1940, included festivals, exhibitions and various events meant to showcase urban modernization, cultural heritage, and the achievements of the regime in general. It … Continue reading “An Uncomfortable Book: Bucharest (1935)”

The failures of interwar democracy in Eastern Europe are often ascribed to the lack of experience of the newly enfranchised population. In Romania, while the new voters indeed lacked experience, those who organized elections did not. Already before the war, the existing parties established extensive networks of party agents and civil servants in charge of … Continue reading “An Electoral Experience in Interwar Romania”

In the Second Republic of Poland, the group that was hit the hardest by the Great Economic Crisis but the least recognized in the social welfare system were the farmers. The social group of farmers was not homogenous, and the differences in poverty and wealth among them could not have been bigger. At one end … Continue reading ““Poverty in the [Polish] countryside””

Scholars often identify a ‘delay’ in the coverage of the Great Depression in Romania, both in terms of reporting the evolution of the crisis abroad and its impact at home. Indeed, newspapers, officials, and private individuals frequently referred to the crisis as a phenomenon that took place, or was more severe, elsewhere. The memoirs of … Continue reading “From Far Away to Closer to Home: Early Perceptions of the Great Depression in Romania”

The Second Polish Republic (1918-1939) was considered a rural country with nearly 65% of its population working in agriculture. Life was not easy for these people in general and when the economic crisis of the 1930s hit Poland it became even worse. In 1933 the Institute of Social Economy [Instytut Gospodarstwa Społecznego] advertised a contest … Continue reading “Voices of the Economic Crisis – Farmers in Poland”

Global economic crises like the Great Depression hit countries at different times, with various intensities, and great local and regional disparities. Some social categories are more affected than others, and the impact of crisis in one sector of the economy may have unexpected effects elsewhere. As part of my preliminary research for the project The … Continue reading “Benefits of the Great Depression? The Ambiguous Case of Urban Workers in Romania”

Under the pressures of the Great Depression, the predominantly agricultural states of interwar East Central Europe resorted to economic policies that were particularly protectionist in character. In an era when international relations were increasingly characterised by hostility and territorial revisionism, many feared that economic weakness could easily lead to a loss of sovereignty, if exploited … Continue reading “Economic nationalism in today’s East Central Europe”