From the mid-nineteenth century until the Second World War, the energies of Rumanian political and intellectual elites were absorbed by the building of their nation. In this comprehensive and scholarly study Keith Hitchins traces these complex processes and explores how Rumania's leaders attempted to transform the ideology of modern nationhood into strong political, economic, and social institutions and to find ways of preserving independence in an international political and economic order dominated by the great powers.
As the new Rumania took shape, the threads of historical continuity remained strikingly evident: in government a strong administrative centralization prevailed, despite the maturing of parliamentary institutions and the diversity of political expression; the national economy remained beholden to agriculture, despite the steady growth of industry; and in cultural life traditional values persisted, despite the adoption of modern forms.
In foreign relations the most pressing aim was to unite all Rumanians in a single state and to defend its sovereignty within an uncertain international order. In all these endeavours, the measure of achievement was the West. After the Second World War, when the Communist Party came to power, this historical continuity was broken.
The experiment in nation-building gave way to a new ideology, and Rumania now turned to the Soviet political and economic model. Review: Keith Hitchins examines the Balkan nation in a detailed, almost surgical manner. Little, if anything, escapes the author's scrutiny in his portrayal of an emerging nation.
Hitchins has produced not only the definitive work on the development of the modern, precommunist Romanian state but also an outstanding case study of nation-building in general. Rich in detail and clearly presented and argued, this is a study that painstakingly chronicles the history of an often overlooked country ...
It is impossible to imagine how a work of this scope could be more complete ... future bibliographic esaays on modern Romanian history will have to begin with this remarkable volume. * Richard Frucht, Northwest Missouri State University, American Historical Review, February 1996 * There is no work that compares to Hitchins's detailed and comprehensive account of nation-building in Rumania.
His book will likely become a standard reference work for historians and college students with particular interest in Rumania, the Balkans, or the process of modernization in underdeveloped regions. * Paul Lensink, University of Dayton, History * the most significant contribution to the history of modern Romania to have appeared in the English language since the war.
No comparable study exists in Romanian, and one hopes that this work will be translated into that language * English Historical Review * This important volume in The Oxford History of Modern Europe must be read by specialists and students focusing on Romania of Eastern Europe, but it will also interest the general reader.
No previous work has covered this topic with such competence, clarity, and intellectual breadth. The crucial point about this volume is that anyone working in the history of modern Romania from now on will have to begin with Hitchin's views. * The Historian * 'Hitchins's history, based on years of familiarity with primary and secondary sources of the period, will long stand as a work of reference.
It is meticulously researched and has invaluable chapters on the social and economic, as well as the political, history of the Romanians.' Times Literary Supplement
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