View source for Greater Romania

{{Short description|Nation-state for all Romanian speakers}}
{{Other uses|România Mare (disambiguation){{!}}România Mare}}
[[File:Greater Romania.svg|thumbnail|right|Administrative map of Romania in 1930]]
'''Greater Romania''' ({{langx|ro|România Mare}}) is the [[Kingdom of Romania]] during the [[interwar period]],<ref>Cas Mudde. [https://books.google.com/books?id=bNp6CAlMMcUC&dq=%22term+greater+romania%22&pg=PA190 ''Racist Extremism in Central and Eastern Europe'']</ref> within its borders achieved after the [[Great Union]]; or the related [[Pan-nationalism|pan-nationalist]]<ref>Peter Truscott, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2xYGaod3prIC&dq=%22Riding+to+power+on+a+wave+of+pan-Romanianism%22+%22concept+of+a+united+Greater+Romania%22&pg=PA79 Russia First: Breaking with the West], I.B.Tauris, 1997, p. 72</ref><ref name="GOMBOŞ and Mateescu">{{cite web |url=http://kms2.isn.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ESDP/141520/ichaptersection_singledocument/72797071-d4e7-4f9c-bd3a-d34e3ba1b598/en/Article+02.pdf |title=Moldova's Political self and the energy Conundrum in the Context of the European neighbourhood Policy |publisher=ISN ETH Zurich |year=2012 |access-date=2014-05-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000240/http://kms2.isn.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ESDP/141520/ichaptersection_singledocument/72797071-d4e7-4f9c-bd3a-d34e3ba1b598/en/Article+02.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ideal of a [[nation state]] which would incorporate all [[Romanian language|Romanian]]-speakers.<ref name="Holocaust en Genocide Studies">{{cite web|url=http://dare.uva.nl/document/478015 |title=The Romanian Holocaust in Memory and Commemoration, The Jewish fate during World War II in postwar commemoration |publisher=University of Amsterdam |year=2012 |access-date=2014-05-21}}</ref><ref name="Livezeanu">Irina Livezeanu, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5ysbpAyJjoAC&dq=%22concept+of+Greater+Romania%22&pg=PA4 Cultural Politics in Greater Romania: Regionalism, Nation Building & Ethnic Struggle, 1918-1930], Cornell University Press, 2000, p. 4 and p. 302</ref><ref name="Ivan T. Berend" /><ref>Lavinia Stan,  Lucian Turcescu, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NBgXdOqWMN8C&q=Religion+and+Politics+in+Post-Communist+Romania Religion and Politics in Post-Communist Romania], Oxford University Press, 2007 p. 53</ref><ref name="Arbatov" /> 

In 1920, after the incorporation of [[Transylvania]], [[Bukovina]], [[Bessarabia]] and parts of [[Banat]], [[Crișana]], and [[Maramureș]], the Romanian state reached its largest peacetime geographical extent (295,049&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>). Today, the concept serves as a guiding principle for the [[unification of Moldova and Romania]].

The idea is comparable to other similar conceptions such as [[Greater Bulgaria]], [[Megali Idea]], [[Yugoslav irredentism|Greater Yugoslavia]], [[Greater Hungary (political concept)|Greater Hungary]] and [[Italian irredentism|Greater Italy]].<ref>Giuseppe Motta, [http://www.cambridgescholars.com/download/sample/59407 Less than Nations:  Central-Eastern European Minorities after WWI,  Volume 1 ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304185715/http://www.cambridgescholars.com/download/sample/59407 |date=2016-03-04 }}, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013, p. 11</ref><ref>Klaus Roth, Ulf Brunnbauer, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6RveDmHbIv8C&q=Region%2C+Regional+Identity+and+Regionalism+in+Southeastern+Europe%2C+Part+1 Region, Regional Identity and Regionalism in Southeastern Europe, Part 1], LIT Verlag Münster, 2008, p. 52</ref>

==Ideology==
The theme of national identity had been always a key concern for Romanian culture and politics.<ref>Michael D. Kennedy, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2LARJQCOxEoC&q=Envisioning+Eastern+Europe%3A+Postcommunist+Cultural+Studies Envisioning Eastern Europe: Postcommunist Cultural Studies], University of Michigan Press, 1994, p. 121</ref> The Romanian national ideology in the first decades of the twentieth century was a typical example of ethnocentric nationalism.<ref name="icr"/> The concept of "Greater Romania" shows similarities to the idea of national state.<ref name="Berteanu">Petre Berteanu, Romanian nationalism and political communication: Greater Romania Party (Partidul Romania Mare), a case-study, In: Jaroslav Hroch, David Hollan, George F. McLean, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ziOsTiZe_qAC&q=National%2C+Cultural%2C+and+Ethnic+Identities%3A+Harmony+Beyond+Conflict National, Cultural, and Ethnic Identities: Harmony Beyond Conflict], CRVP, 1998, pp. 161-176</ref> The Romanian territorial claims were based on ''"primordial racial modalities"'', the essential goal of them was to unify the biologically defined Romanians.<ref>[[Aristotle Kallis]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=o4rJ3ZiC8x4C&q=Genocide+and+Fascism%3A+The+Eliminationist+Drive+in+Fascist+Europe Genocide and Fascism: The Eliminationist Drive in Fascist Europe], Routledge, 2008, p. 75</ref>

==Evolution==
{{main|Territorial evolution of Romania}}

===Before World War I===
[[Image:Rumânia văzută de Cezar Bolliac.jpg|thumb|250px|Hypothetical map of Romania by [[Cezar Bolliac]] (1855)]]
[[File:Steagul de la Darnița.svg|thumb|right|170px|''"Long Live Greater Romania"'', reconstruction of the ''"Darnița Banner"'', designed in 1917; it was first flown by ethnic Romanian turncoats from the Austro-Hungarian Army, who formed a [[Romanian Volunteer Corps in Russia|Volunteer Corps of the Romanian Army]]]]
{{See also|National awakening of Romania|Unification of Moldavia and Wallachia}}
The union of [[Michael the Brave]], who ruled over the three principalities with Romanian population ([[Wallachia]], [[Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711)|Transylvania]] and [[Moldavia]]) for a short period of time,<ref name="Juliana Geran Pilon"/> was viewed in later periods as the precursor of a modern [[Romania]], a thesis which was argued by [[Nicolae Bălcescu]]. This theory became a point of reference for [[Romantic nationalism|nationalists]], as well as a catalyst for various Romanian forces to achieve a single Romanian state.<ref>{{cite book | last = Giurescu | first = Constantin C. | author-link = Constantin C. Giurescu | title = Istoria Românilor | orig-year = 1935 | year = 2007 | location = Bucharest | publisher = Editura All }}, p. 211–13.</ref>

The [[Wallachian Revolution of 1848|Romanian revolution]] in 1848 already carried the seeds of the national dream of a unified and united Romania,<ref name="Ivan T. Berend"/> though the "idea of unification" had been known from earlier works of Naum Ramniceanu (1802) and [[Ion Budai-Deleanu]] (1804).<ref name="Juliana Geran Pilon">Juliana Geran Pilon, [[iarchive:bloodyflagpostco00pilo/page/56|<!-- quote="Greater Romania" concept. --> The Bloody Flag: Post-Communist Nationalism in Eastern Europe : Spotlight on Romania]], Transaction Publishers, 1982, p. 56</ref> The concept owes its life to [[Dimitrie Brătianu]], who introduced the term "Greater Romania" in 1852.<ref name="Juliana Geran Pilon"/> The first step in unifying Romanians was to establish the [[United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia|United Principalities]] by [[Unification of Moldavia and Wallachia|uniting Moldavia and Wallachia]] in 1859,<ref>Pablo Cardona, Michael J. Morley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=gLI-jWm2lRsC&q=Manager-Subordinate+Trust+in+Different+Cultures Manager-Subordinate Trust in Different Cultures], Routledge, 2013, p. 119</ref> which became known as Romania since the [[1866 Constitution of Romania|1866 Constitution]] and turned into a [[Kingdom of Romania|Kingdom]] in 1881, after gaining [[Romanian War of Independence|independence]] from the [[Ottoman Empire]]. However, before the [[Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867|Austro-Hungarian Compromise]], the elite of the Transylvanian Romanians did not support the concept of "Greater Romania", instead they wanted only equality with the other nations in Transylvania.<ref name="Ivan T. Berend">[[Iván T. Berend]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=a9csmhIT_BQC&q=History+Derailed%3A+Central+and+Eastern+Europe+in+the+Long+Nineteenth+Century History Derailed: Central and Eastern Europe in the Long Nineteenth Century], University of California Press, 2013, p. 112 and p. 252</ref> The concept became a political reality when, in 1881, the Romanian National Party of Transylvania gathered Romanians on a common political platform to fight together for Transylvania's autonomy.<ref name="Juliana Geran Pilon"/> According to Livezeanu the creation of Greater Romania with ''"a unifying concept of nationhood"'' started to evolve in the late 1910s.<ref name="divided nations">Tristan James Mabry, John McGarry, Margaret Moore, Brendan O'Leary, [https://books.google.com/books?id=PFCbBW18yU4C&q=Divided+Nations+and+European+Integration Divided Nations and European Integration], University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013, p. 113 and p. 117</ref> World War I played a crucial part in the development of Romanian national consciousness.

===World War I===
The [[Treaty of Bucharest (1916)]] was signed between [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]] and the [[Allies of World War I|Entente Powers]] on 4 ([[Old Style]])/17 ([[New Style]]) August 1916 in [[Bucharest]].<ref name=Kiritescu>[[Constantin Kirițescu]], "''Istoria războiului pentru întregirea României: 1916-1919''", 1922, p. 179</ref> The treaty stipulated the conditions under which Romania agreed to join the war on the side of the Entente, particularly territorial promises in [[Austria-Hungary]]. The signatories bound themselves to keep secret the contents of the treaty until a general peace was concluded.

{{Blockquote| 
''Romanians!''

''The war which for the last two years has been encircling our frontiers more and more closely has shaken the ancient foundations of Europe to their depths.''

''It has brought the day which has been awaited for centuries by the national conscience, by the founders of the Romanian State, by those who united the principalities in the war of independence, by those responsible for the national renaissance.''

''It is the day of the union of all branches of our nation.  Today we are able to complete the task of our forefathers and to establish forever that which Michael the Great was only able to establish for a moment, namely, a Romanian union on both slopes of the Carpathians.''

''For us the mountains and plains of Bukowina, where Stephen the Great has slept for centuries.  In our moral energy and our valour lie the means of giving him back his birthright of a great and free Rumania from the Tisza to the Black Sea, and to prosper in peace in accordance with our customs and our hopes and dreams.''
(...)

Part of the proclamation by King Ferdinand, 28 August 1916<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/romania_ferdinandproc1.htm|title=Primary Documents - King Ferdinand's Proclamation to the Romanian People, 28 August 1916|website=firstworldwar.com|access-date=22 March 2018}}</ref>
}}

Lucian Boia summarised the territorial extent of the nationalist dream as following:

:''The phrase "De la Nistru pana la Tisa" (From Dniester to Tisza) is well known to Romanians, it defines the limits of an ideal Romania, though we should note that the Romanian population extends in the east beyond the Dniester, while both banks of the Tisza are completely Hungarian for most of the river's length. To the south, the Danube completes the symbolic geography of Romania: an enclosed space between 3 rivers, with an area of 300.000 sq km, comparable to that of Italy or the British Isles. Rivers then are perceived as natural borders, separating Romanians from Others.''<ref>Lucian Boia, "Romania: Borderlands of Europe", Reaktion Books Publishing, 2001, p. 59</ref>

===Interwar Romania===
{{See also|Little Entente|Polish–Romanian alliance}}
[[File:GreaterRomaniaHistoricRegions.png|thumb|right|250px|Regions of the Kingdom of Romania (1918–1940)]]
[[File:Greater Romania, physical map.JPG|thumb|250px|Physical map of Greater Romania (1933)]]
The concept of ''"Greater Romania"'' materialized as a geopolitical reality after the [[First World War]].<ref name="Berteanu"/> Romania gained control over [[Bessarabia]], [[Bukovina]] and [[Transylvania]]. The borders established by the treaties concluding the war did not change until 1940. The resulting state, often referred to as "România Mare" or, alternatively, as {{langx|ro|România Întregită}} (roughly translated in English as "Romania Made Whole," or "Entire Romania"), was seen as the 'true', ''whole'' Romanian state, or, as Tom Gallagher states, the "[[Holy Grail]] of Romanian nationalism".<ref name="Gallagher" >{{cite book |author=Gallagher, Tom | title= Modern Romania: the end of communism, the failure of democratic reform, and the theft of a nation | publisher= [[New York University Press]] | location=New York |year= 2005 | page= 28 | isbn= 0-8147-3172-4 }}</ref> Its constitution, proclaimed in 1923, "largely ignored the new ethnic and cultural realities".<ref name="Hitchins">[[Keith Hitchins]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=j1ytAgAAQBAJ&q=A+Concise+History+of+Romania++By+Keith+Hitchins A Concise History of Romania], Cambridge University Press, 2014, p. 183, {{ISBN|9781107782709}}</ref>

The Romanian ideology changed due to the demographic, cultural and social alterations, however the nationalist desire for a homogeneous Romanian state conflicted with the multiethnic, multicultural truth of Greater Romania.<ref name="Livezeanu"/> The ideological rewriting of the role of ''"spiritual victimization"'', turning it into ''"spiritual police''", was a radical and challenging task for the Romanian intellectuals because they had to entirely revise the national identity and the destiny of the Romanian nation.<ref name="icr">{{cite web|url=http://www.icr.ro/bucharest/identity-and-destiny-ideas-and-ideology-in-interwar-romania-29-2007/ideas-and-ideology-in-interwar-romania.html |title=Ideas And Ideology In Interwar Romania|publisher=www.icr.ro |year=2007 |access-date=2014-05-11}}</ref> In accordance with this view, Livezeanu states that the [[Great Union]] created a ''"deeply fragmented"'' interwar Romania where the determination of national identity met with great difficulties mainly because of the effects of the hundred years of political separation.<ref name="Conflicted Memories">Konrad Hugo Jarausch, Thomas Lindenberger, Annelie Ramsbrock, [https://books.google.com/books?id=k6rwRi-5UqQC&q=Conflicted+Memories%3A+Europeanizing+Contemporary+Histories Conflicted Memories: Europeanizing Contemporary Histories], Berghahn Books, 2007, pp. 39-42</ref> Due to the inability of the government to solve the problems of the Transylvanian Romanians' integration and the effects of the [[Great Depression|worldwide and national economic depression]], "the population gradually lost its faith in the democratic conception of Greater Romania".<ref name="Kührer-Wielach, Florian">{{cite web|url=http://othes.univie.ac.at/28458/ |title=Siebenbürgen ohne Siebenbürger? |publisher=University of Vienna |year=2013 |access-date=2014-05-11}}</ref>

The [[Great Depression in Romania]], which started in 1929, destabilised the country. The early 1930s were marked by social unrest, high unemployment, and strikes. In several instances, the Romanian government violently repressed strikes and riots, notably the 1929 miners' strike in [[Jiu Valley|Valea Jiului]] and the [[Grivița strike of 1933|strike in the Grivița railroad workshops]]. In the mid-1930s, the Romanian economy recovered and the industry grew significantly, although about 80% of Romanians were still employed in agriculture. French economic and political influence was predominant in the early 1920s but then Germany became more dominant, especially in the 1930s.<ref>William A. Hoisington Jr,  "The Struggle for Economic Influence in Southeastern Europe: The French Failure in Romania, 1940." ''Journal of Modern History'' 43.3 (1971): 468-482.</ref>

==== Territorial changes ====
[[Image:Romania territory during 20th century.gif|thumb|250px|Extension of Romanian Kingdom after the First World War]]

=====Bessarabia=====
{{Main|Treaty of Paris (1920)|Union of Bessarabia with Romania}}
{{See also|Tatarbunary Uprising}}
Bessarabia declared its sovereignty as the [[Moldavian Democratic Republic]] in 1917 by the newly formed "Council of the Country" ("[[Sfatul Țării]]"). The state was faced with the disorderly retreat through its territory of [[Russia]]n troops from disbanded units. In January 1918, the "Sfatul Țării" called on Romanian troops to protect the province from the [[Bolshevik]]s who were spreading the [[Russian Revolution of 1917|Russian Revolution]].<ref>[[Ion Nistor]], ''Istoria Basarabiei'', Cernăuți, 1923, reprinted Chișinău, Cartea Moldovenească, 1991 and [[Humanitas publishing house|Humanitas]], Bucharest, 1991. {{ISBN|973-28-0283-9}}</ref><ref>Charles Upson Clark, [http://depts.washington.edu/cartah/text_archive/clark/toc_pag.shtml Bessarabia: Russia and Roumania on the Black Sea] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112222907/http://depts.washington.edu/cartah/text_archive/clark/toc_pag.shtml |date=2009-01-12 }}</ref><ref>Pantelimon Halippa, Anatolie Moraru, ''Testament pentru urmași'', Munich, 1967, reprinted Chișinău, Hyperion, 1991, p. 143</ref> After declaring independence from Russia on 24 January 1918, the "Sfatul Țării" voted for union with Romania on 9 April 1918.  Of the 138 deputies in the council, 86 voted for union, 3 against, 36 abstained (mostly the deputies representing minorities, 52% of the population at the time)<ref>[http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_lan_97.php?reg=31 Results of the 1897 Russian Census at demoscope.ru: Молдавский и румынский:  469,852; 451067; total population--"Moldavian and Romanian: 920,919 people"], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530135948/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_lan_97.php?reg=31 |date=2016-05-30 }}</ref> and 13 were not present. The [[United Kingdom]], [[France]], [[Italy]] and [[Japan]] recognized the incorporation of Bessarabia through the [[Treaty of Paris (1920)|Treaty of Paris]]. The [[United States]] and the [[Soviet Union]] however refused to do so, the latter maintaining a claim to the territory for the whole interwar period. Furthermore, Japan failed to ratify the treaty, which therefore never entered into force.

=====Bukovina=====
{{Main|Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919)|Union of Bukovina with Romania}}
In [[Bukovina]], after being occupied by the Romanian Army,<ref>Volodymyr Kubijovyč, Arkadii Zhukovsky, [http://encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\B\U\Bukovyna.htm Bukovyna], in "Encyclopedia of Ukraine", Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, 2001</ref><ref>Sherman David Spector, "Rumania at the Paris Peace Conference: A Study of the Diplomacy of Ioan I. C. Brătianu", Bookman Associates, 1962, p. 70</ref> a National Council voted for union with Romania. While the Romanian, German, and Polish deputies unanimously voted for union,<ref name="Livezeanu2000"/> the Ukrainian deputies (representing 38% of the population according to the 1910 Austrian census)<ref>Donald Peckham, Christina Bratt Paulston, "Linguistic Minorities in Central and Eastern Europe", Multilingual Matters, 1998, p. 190</ref> and Jewish deputies did not attend the council.<ref name="Livezeanu2000">{{cite book|author=Irina Livezeanu|title=Cultural Politics in Greater Romania: Regionalism, Nation Building, and Ethnic Struggle, 1918–1930|year=2000|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-8688-3|page=59|author-link=Irina Livezeanu}}</ref> The unification was ratified in the [[Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919)|Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye]].

=====Transylvania=====
{{Main|Treaty of Trianon|Union of Transylvania with Romania}}{{See also|Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919}}

On 1 December 1918, the [[Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia]] proclaimed the union of Transylvania and other territories with Romania in [[Alba Iulia]], adopted by the Deputies of the Romanians of Transylvania, and supported one month later by the vote of the Deputies of the [[Transylvanian Saxons|Saxons of Transylvania]].<ref name="Hupchick1995">{{cite book|author=Dennis P. Hupchick|title=Conflict and chaos in Eastern Europe|year=1995|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-312-12116-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/conflictchaosine00hupc/page/83 83]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conflictchaosine00hupc/page/83}}</ref> The Hungarians of Transylvania, about 32% at the time (including the [[History of the Jews in Hungary|Hungarian-speaking Jewish]] community), and the Germans of [[Banat]] did not elect deputies upon the dissolution of [[Austria-Hungary]], since they were considered represented by the [[Budapest]] government of Hungary, nevertheless on 22 December 1918 the Hungarian General Assembly in [[Cluj-Napoca|Cluj]] (Kolozsvár) reaffirmed the loyalty of Hungarians from Transylvania to Hungary. In the 1920 [[Treaty of Trianon]], Hungary was forced to give up all claims over Transylvania and the treaty set the new borders between the two countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Treaty_of_Trianon|title=Text of the Treaty of Trianon|publisher=World War I Document Archive|access-date=31 August 2008}}</ref>

===World War II losses===
[[File:Romania 1930 ethnic map EN.png|thumb|250px|Ethnic map of interwar Romania ([[1930 Romanian census]])]]
{{Main|Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina|Second Vienna Award|Treaty of Craiova|Romania during World War II}}
In 1940, the Romanian state agreed to cede Bessarabia to the [[Soviet Union]], as provided for by the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop pact|Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] between the Soviet Union and [[Germany]]. It also lost [[Northern Bukovina]] and the [[Hertsa region]], which were not mentioned in the pact, to the Soviet Union. It lost [[Northern Transylvania]] to Hungary, through the [[Second Vienna Award]], and the [[Southern Dobruja]] to Bulgaria by the [[Treaty of Craiova]]. In the course of World War II, Romania, which was allied with the [[Axis powers]], not only re-annexed Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, but also took under administrative control lands to the east of Dniester (parts of recently formed [[Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic|Moldavian SSR]], and of [[Odessa Oblast|Odessa]] and [[Vinnytsia Oblast|Vinnytsia]] oblasts of [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]]), creating [[Transnistria (World War II)|Transnistria Governorate]]. [[File:RECENSAMANT 1941 JUDETE.png|thumb|250px|Population structure in Romania (Transnistria Governorate included) according to the [[1941 Romanian census]].]]Despite clear Ukrainian majority in the governorate's ethnic composition, demonstrated by [[1941 Romanian census|a census conducted in December 1941]], Romanian government hoped to annex it eventually as a "compensation" for [[Northern Transylvania]] lost to [[Hungary]].{{cn|date=November 2024}}

These territories were lost again when the tide of the war turned. After the war, Romania regained the Transylvanian territories lost to Hungary, but not territory lost to Bulgaria or the Soviet Union. In 1948 a treaty between the Soviet Union and Soviet-occupied [[Communist Romania]] also provided for the transfer of four uninhabited islands to the Soviet Union, three in the [[Danube Delta]] and [[Snake Island (Black Sea)|Snake Island]] in the [[Black Sea]].{{cn|date=November 2024}}

===After World War II===
{{See also|National Communism in Romania}}
After the war, the concept was interpreted as "obsolete" because of the Romanian defeat.<ref>Bernard A. Cook, [https://books.google.com/books?id=hafLHZgZtt4C&q=Europe+Since+1945%3A+An+Encyclopedia%2C+Volume+2 Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia, Volume 2], Taylor & Francis, 2001, p. 1074</ref> However, even the Communist politicians between 1944 and 1947 plainly supported the re-establishment of Greater Romania.<ref name="Roe"/> [[Gheorghe Apostol]]'s reminiscence strengthens the view for the nationalist argument of the Communists at the negotiations with Stalin about the future of Northern Transylvania.<ref name="Conflicted Memories"/> In contrast with this view, Romsics quotes [[Valter Roman]], one of the heads of the Romanian Communist Party, as writing in his memo of April 1944: ''"the two parts of Transylvania should be reunited as an independent state."''<ref>Ignác Romsics, The Paris Peace Treaty of 1947, In: [http://www.bv.ipzs.it/bv-pdf/0061/MOD-VP-13-01-017_1924_1.pdf Storia & Diplomazia Rassegna dell’Archivio Storico del Ministero degli Affari Esteri], 2013, p. 18</ref>

The Romanian Communist politicians' behavior were depicted{{By whom|date=August 2015}} as nationalist, and this circumstance brought about the concept of [[National Communism in Romania|National Communism]],<ref name="Roe"/> which amalgamated elements of [[Stalinism]] and [[Fascism]].<ref>Costica Bradatan, Serguei Oushakine, [https://books.google.com/books?id=cK9H35gDSz4C&q=In+Marx%27s+Shadow%3A+Knowledge%2C+Power%2C+and+Intellectuals+in+Eastern+Europe+and+Russia In Marx's Shadow: Knowledge, Power, and Intellectuals in Eastern Europe and Russia], Lexington Books, 2010, p. 225</ref> According to Trond Gilberg the regime needed the strongly nationalist attitude because of the social, economic and political challenges.<ref name="Roe">Paul Roe, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rxGAAgAAQBAJ&dq=Ethnic+Violence+and+the+Societal+Security+Dilemma&pg=PR1 Ethnic Violence and the Societal Security Dilemma], Routledge, 2004, p. 128</ref> After the retreat of the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] troops from Romania in 1958, the national ideology was reborn, however it raises questions about its reconcilability with [[World communism|internationalist communism]].<ref name="Conflicted Memories"/> [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]] fancied the idea that the creation of Greater Romania was the fruit of the end of the nation-formation process.{{Blockquote|''The setting up of the (Romanian) unitary national state six and a half decades ago was a brilliant historic victory of the long heroic struggle of the masses for creating the Romanian nation and the coming true of the age old dream of all Romanians to live in unity within the borders of the same country, in one free and independent state.''|Ceaușescu, 1983<ref name="Conflicted Memories"/> }}

===Recent developments===
{{See also|Unification of Moldova and Romania|Bessarabia, Romanian land}}
[[File:Great Romania Graffiti Moldova.JPG|thumb|Graffiti with shapes of Greater Romania near [[Briceni]], Moldova]]
The fall of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union and the economic downturn accompanying it led to a resurgence of nationalism in the region. Romania and Moldova, state comprising the bulk of Bessarabia which had become independent after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, confronted with their eastern neighbor, [[Ukraine]]. Bucharest and [[Chișinău]] announced territorial claims on Ukrainian lands (on parts of [[Chernivtsi Oblast|Chernivtsi]] and [[Odessa Oblast|Odessa]] regions).<ref>Bohdan Nahaylo, [https://archive.org/details/ukrainianresurge0000naha <!-- quote=The Ukrainian Resurgence. --> The Ukrainian Resurgence], C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1999, pp. 408-409</ref> [[Bulgaria]] surmised that the concept of Greater Romania stood behind Romanian foreign policy toward Moldova therefore expressed concerns about possible developments on [[Dobruja]].<ref name="Arbatov"/>

In 1992, the issue on unification of [[Moldova]] and Romania was negotiated between the Romanian and Moldovan governments and they wanted to achieve it by the end of the year.<ref name="Moldova - Narrative"/> However, the "unionists" lost their dominance in Moldova in the middle of the year.<ref name="Moldova - Narrative">{{cite web|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/ir/cews/database/Moldova/moldova.pdf|title=Ideas And Ideology In Interwar Romania|publisher=University of Southern California|access-date=2014-05-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071905/http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/ir/cews/database/Moldova/moldova.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Bucharest]] admitted the existence of the two Romanian states (Romania and Moldova) and defined priorities in reference to this matter: ''"the creation of a common cultural space; the creation of an economically integrated zone; and gradual political integration"''.<ref name="Arbatov">Alekseĭ Georgievich Arbatov, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ArKtx7XsMHAC&q=Managing+Conflict+in+the+Former+Soviet+Union%3A+Russian+and+American+Perspectives Managing Conflict in the Former Soviet Union: Russian and American Perspectives], MIT Press, 1997, pp. 202-204</ref> The Moldovan [[Mircea Snegur|Snegur]] government became more pragmatic and realized that the nationalist propaganda from Bucharest did not help their aims especially on [[Bessarabian question|the problem of "Soviet annexed Bessarabia"]].<ref name="Arbatov"/> The Romanian organizations ignored the result of the [[1994 Moldovan referendum|Moldovan referendum on independence]] because the referendum did not ask Romanians in Romania.<ref name="Arbatov"/> Romanian politicians blamed [[Russia]] and the Moldovan regime that unification became unreal.<ref name="Arbatov"/> According to Edward Ozhiganov (Head of the Division for Ethnopolitical Research at the Analytical Center of the Federation Council in Russia), the armed conflict in Moldova was due to the Romanian ethnic nationalism, in other words, ''"the attempt to create a unitary, ethnic state with power concentrated in the hands of ethnic nationalists in what was actually a multiethnic society."''<ref name="Arbatov"/> Furthermore, Bucharest's behavior toward Ukraine did not change until 1997 when Romanian politicians realized that resolving border disputes was a precondition for [[NATO]] membership.<ref>Marta Dyczok, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iTX_AQAAQBAJ&dq=%22ukraine%27s+only+western+neighbour%22&pg=PA108 Ukraine: Movement Without Change, Change Without Movement], Routledge, 2013, p. 108</ref>

Present-day Romanian irredentists (such as members of [[Greater Romania Party|PRM]]) aim to take possession of territories of northern [[Bukovina]] and [[Bessarabia]].<ref name="Miroslav Mares"/><ref name="Radu Cinpoes">{{cite web|url=http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/id-moe/09408.pdf |title=THE EXTREME RIGHT IN CONTEMPORARY ROMANIA|publisher=Bibliothek der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung |year=2012 |access-date=2014-05-11}}</ref>  These regions currently belong to Ukraine and Moldova.<ref name="Miroslav Mares">{{cite web |url=http://www.cepsr.com/clanek.php?ID=367 |title=The Extreme Right in Eastern Europe and Territorial Issues |publisher=www.cepsr.com |year=2009 |access-date=2014-05-11 |archive-date=2021-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214223940/http://www.cepsr.com/clanek.php?ID=367 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Russian presence and the tense political situation in Moldova also inflame their demands.<ref name="Miroslav Mares"/>  Nevertheless, radicals make territorial demands on Hungary too.<ref name="Miroslav Mares"/> The [[Greater Romania Party]] (Partidul România Mare – PRM) is an emblematic representative of the aforesaid concept, though the conception is fostered also by other right-wing groups (e.g. the organisation of the New Right –[[Noua Dreaptă]]).<ref name="Miroslav Mares"/><ref>Uwe Backes, Patrick Moreau, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uMkEZnJQHksC&dq=%22Noua+Dreapt%C4%83%22+%22paramilitary%22&pg=PA276 The Extreme Right in Europe: Current Trends and Perspectives], Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011, p. 276</ref> Today, the phrase "[[Bessarabia, Romanian land]]" ({{lang|ro|Basarabia, pământ românesc}}, with several variations) is commonly used in Romania, and it poses territorial claims over the region of Bessarabia.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The ideological work of the daily visual representations of nations|first=Delia|last=Dumitrica|journal=[[Nations and Nationalism (journal)|Nations and Nationalism]]|volume=25|issue=3|pages=910–934|year=2019|doi=10.1111/nana.12520|s2cid=150661172|doi-access=free|hdl=1765/117796|hdl-access=free}}</ref> It is also used in Moldova.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://infoprut.ro/48761-eleva-din-rep-moldova-a-scolii-de-politie-din-campina-basarabia-e-pamant-romanesc.html|title=Elevă din Rep. Moldova a Școlii de Poliție din Câmpina: "Basarabia e pământ românesc"|first=Liviu G.|last=Stan|newspaper=InfoPrut|date=27 November 2017|language=ro}}</ref>

As of 2024 [[Alliance for the Union of Romanians]] (AUR) supports the [[unification of Moldova and Romania]]. While [[S.O.S. Romania]] leader [[Diana Iovanovici Șoșoacă]] proposed a law in 2023 for a project on the Romanian Parliament for the annexation by Romania of [[Northern Bukovina]], the [[Hertsa region]], [[Budjak]], [[Northern Maramureș]] and [[Snake Island (Ukraine)|Snake Island]] from Ukraine, as they were "historical territories" that belong to Romania as stated in the law project.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Șoșoacă vrea ca România să invadeze Ucraina. A depus un proiect de lege pentru anexarea mai multor teritorii |trans-title=Șoșoacă wants Romania to invade Ukraine. She submitted a bill for the annexation of several territories |url=https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/sosoaca-vrea-ca-romania-sa-invadeze-ucraina-a-depus-un-proiect-de-lege-pentru-anexarea-mai-multor-teritorii-2289605 |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=www.digi24.ro |date=21 March 2023 |language=ro}}</ref> In retaliation, Ukraine announced it would impose sanctions against Iovanovici Șoșoacă, labeling her as a threat to Ukrainian national security.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ucraina anunță sancțiuni împotriva Dianei Șoșoacă. Reacția senatoarei: "Cum își permite?" |url=https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/politica/ucraina-anunta-sanctiuni-impotriva-dianei-sosoaca-reactia-senatoarei-cum-isi-permite-2293511 |access-date=2023-03-30 |work=[[Digi24]] |date=24 March 2023 |language=ro}}</ref>

[[File:Chernivtsi-Cernauti-Czernowitz sticker in Bucharest, Romania 3.jpg|thumb|Sticker in [[Bucharest]], near the [[Palace of the Parliament]], with the following text: "[[Chernivtsi]]. 1940. We will not forget", as a reference to the 1940 [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina]]]]

==See also==
{{Portal|Romania|Moldova}}
*[[List of Romanians who were born outside present-day Romania]]
*[[Moldovenism]]
*[[Greater Moldova]]
*[[Romanianization]]
*[[Little Entente]]
*[[Greater Serbia]]
*[[Hungarian irredentism]]
*[[Greater Bulgaria]]
*[[Greater Ukraine]]
*[[Unification of Moldova and Romania]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Bucur, Maria. ''Eugenics and Modernization in Interwar Romania'', Pittsburg: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010
* Hoisington Jr,  William A. "The Struggle for Economic Influence in Southeastern Europe: The French Failure in Romania, 1940." ''Journal of Modern History'' 43.3 (1971): 468–482. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1878564 online]
* Luetkens, Gerhart. "Roumania To-Day," ''International Affairs''  (Sep. – Oct., 1938), 17#5 pp.&nbsp;682–695 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3020057 in JSTOR]
* {{cite journal
|last = Leustean
|first = Lucian N.
|date=September 2007
|title = "For the Glory of Romanians": Orthodoxy and Nationalism in Greater Romania, 1918–1945
|journal = [[Nationalities Papers]]
|volume = 35
|issue = 4
|pages = 717–742
|doi = 10.1080/00905990701475111
|s2cid = 161907079
}}
* Suveica, Svetlana, Bessarabia in the First Interwar Decade (1918–1928): Modernization by Means of Reforms, Chișinau: Pontos, 2010, 360 p. (Romanian){{ISBN|978-9975-51-070-7}}.
* Thomas, Martin. "To arm an ally: French arms sales to Romania, 1926–1940." ''Journal of Strategic Studies'' 19.2 (1996): 231–259.

{{Irredentism}}
{{Romanian nationalism}}
{{Romania topics}}
{{Moldova topics}}
{{Pan-nationalist concepts}}
{{Great Union}}

[[Category:Greater Romania| ]]
[[Category:Great Union (Romania)]]
[[Category:Political movements|Romania]]
[[Category:Romanian irredentism]]
[[Category:Romanian nationalism]]
[[Category:Romania–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Politics of Romania]]
[[Category:1920s in Romania]]
[[Category:1930s in Romania]]
[[Category:Territorial evolution of Romania]]