Mişcarea naţională şi geneza curentelor politice în Basarabia (1905-1907) [Articol]

Abstract

The Romanian national movement in Bessarabia (1905-1907) was a pivotal period, marked by a temporary political “thaw.” A new generation of intellectuals solidified national consciousness, forging connections with various social strata. Two main political currents emerged: the national-democratic one, focused on national-cultural and social reforms (Romanian-language schools and press, autonomy, agrarian reform), supported by activists like Ioan Pelivan and Constantin Stere, and the conservative national boyar (nobility) current, which supported mother-tongue education but opposed radical agrarian reforms, preferring collaboration with Tsarist authorities. The Romanian-language press, especially the newspaper “Basarabia,” played a vital role in disseminating national ideas. Tsarist authorities responded with a “hybrid war,” including repression, propaganda, and media control. Although short-lived, this period laid the essential ideological and organizational foundations for Bessarabia’s future union with Romania in 1918.