Public Monuments and Identity Politics in Interwar Romania

• In Event: Monuments of and to the Past: The Politics of Heritage in Interwar Balkans, Russia, and Turkey

Abstract

In the context of regime changes and the aftermath of conflict, public monuments have played a significant role in processes of memorialisation and identity formation. Interwar Romania was marked by vivid debates on the nationalisation and modernisation of urban and rural areas following the 1918 unification of historical provinces such as Transylvania, Bessarabia, Banat, and Bukovina with Romania. Despite the unification process, Romania remained a predominantly rural society. Informed by archival documentation, this proposal aims to discuss the institutionalisation of the memorialisation process during the 1930s. It will focus on the role of public monuments, particularly in rural Romania, within a state-controlled narrative of commemoration often subjected to nationalist discourses. Particular emphasis will be placed on hero and war monuments that have emerged especially in the newly integrated territories.

Author

• Laura Demeter, U of Bamberg (Germany)