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

CONSTANTIN IORDACHIcolonization substantially altered the relationship between the threemajor ethnic groups in the province. The Romanian population skyrocketedfrom 31,177 in 1879, to 43,671 in 1880, to 119,562 in 1900 and to216,425 in 1913. In only 25 years, the ratio of ethnic Romanians in NorthernDobrogea thus grew from a relative to an absolute majority (from36.3% in 1880 to 52.5% in 1905). The territorial distribution of Romanianschanged as well, since they penetrated areas previously inhabited byTurks and Tartars, or by Bulgarians, especially in the north, around Tulceaand Babadag, and in the south, at the border with Bulgaria. The Romanianpopulation in Dobrogea was very heterogeneous, being composed ofnative Dicieni (24.2% of the total Romanian population), WallachianCojani (39.5%), Moldavians (8.0%), Bessarabians (5.6%), Mocani fromTransylvania and the Banat (21.8%), Bukovinians (0.1%), and from otherforeign countries (0.8%). 61 These groups retained strong regional identities,which disappeared only gradually through pan-Romanian inter-marriagesand integration into the wider Romanian national community.The major changes that occurred in the ethnic composition ofDobrogea also affected the pattern of land property in the province.In 1882, Dobrogea had 175,075 hectares of arable land. Consideredtogether, Turks and Tartars were the leading landowning ethnic group inthe province, with almost 50% of the arable land, followed by Romaniansand Bulgarians, both with shares of approximately 23% of the total land. 62The colonization process radically altered these proportions. By 1905, thecultivated land increased to 685,449 hectares. Significantly, Romaniansbecame the dominant landowners, possessing a share of about 63% ofDobrogea’s land. By contrast, the portion possessed by Turks and Tartarsdramatically decreased to only 7.0% of the land. The share owned by Bulgarians,while increasing in surface from 38,038 to 129,231 hectares,decreased nevertheless in proportion to 19% of the total arable land.Thus, by 1905 the Romanians had already managed to acquire approximatelytwo-thirds of Dobrogea’s landed property.2.6 POLITICS OF IDENTITY IN A BORDER REGION: CULTURAL HOMOGE-NIZATION, RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION AND EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMIN NORTHERN DOBROGEAEthnic assimilation in Dobrogea was accompanied by a cultural offensive ofthe Romanian state, based on two main pillars: church and school. Thus,Romanian authorities pursued a determined religious policy in the regionthat subjected the Dobrogean churches to the authority of the RomanianOrthodox Church, and built numerous religious edifices. The Romanianstate also organized a comprehensive network of schools in order to spread136