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Romanian Perspectives Regarding the Inter-war Plans of Creating a “Danubian Confederation”

We are pleased to announce you that the latest issue of the micro-studies (Working Papers) series is now available.

The purpose of the bilingual work (Romanian and English) Romanian Perspectives Regarding the Inter-war Plans of Creating a “Danubian Confederation”. Toward a European Danube Strategy avant la lettre,  by Mihai Sebe, expert, European Studies and Training Unit,  is to undergo a synthetic examination of the evolution of the Danube issue in inter-war Romania and to realize a brief presentation of the plans for a Danubian organization created in the inter-war political and intellectual environment. The paper highlights the preoccupation of the Romanian elites concerning the evolutions on the European scene, by offering solutions and analyzing from a scholarly perspective the envisaged propositions.

The Romanian conception on the Danube area is characterized by the importance granted to the political aspect – equality of the riparian states, regulation of the regime of navigation, etc. We are dealing with a qualitative evolution that goes from a purely defensive reaction, of denial of the initial plans of Danubian regulation, towards a proactive attitude, based upon solving issues and offering plans for organization. 

You may check the whole paper in pdf format here: http://www.ier.ro/documente/working_papers/wp_31.pdf  or at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1975888

 - Excerpt -

CONCLUSIONS

The inter-war Romanian elites will often pay a remarkable attention to the regional   integration process. We are dealing with a careful analysis, which often uses a critical tone, of   these proposals, analysis which is often motivated by the desire of eliminating any weaknesses   and sore points that would affect the construction of the Danube Confederation. In a context of   profound changes in the internal structure of Romanian society, the idea of regional unity has   found a fertile ground for debates.

The first inter-war decade was defined by resistance to the French proposals of regional unity,   which were often suspected of an accentuated subjectivism. Things would change by mid 1920s   with the promoting of the Maniu Plan for regional construction, an original and at the same   time ambitious proposal.

The Tardieu Plan will recall the French proposals of regional unity, helped this time by a   favorable media and a growing interest from the Romanian authorities.

Things would change around the Second World War. Under the pressure of totalitarian   regimes, the plans for regional organization will be frozen, many of their initiators were forced   to leave the country or incarcerated for their opinions. Talks regarding the regional integration   on a democratic basis would end shortly with the communist and dictatorship regimes during   1945-1947.