In early 19th century, serfdom had been reintroduced as
\nagriculture converted from pastoral farming to export oriented farming. This
\nfeudal formula, binding the peasants to the landowners, was abolished by the
\nagrarian reform of 1864, which turned land definitively into private property.
\nAlmost 59% of the total arable surface owned by large landowners was rented.
\nThe renter paid a fixed amount for the land they were managing, trying then to
\nmaximize profits by exploiting the peasants. This is one of the main causes for
\nthe widespread discontent among the rural inhabitants. Here with details is
\nhistorian Alin Ciupala.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Alin Ciupala: The 1907 Peasant
\nRevolt produced a real shock in Romanian society, not only by the size of the
\nevent, but also because it brought to the surface, in a violent form, the
\nfailure of that society, the failure to modernize. Let us not forget that less
\nthan a year before the revolt, an exhibition opened in Carol Park in Bucharest
\nwanted to show the Romanians, but also the rest of Europe, the achievements of
\nRomanian society during King Carol’s reign, between 1866-1906. In other words,
\nwe have two moments, which, set next to each other – the jubilee exhibition and
\nthe 1907 revolt – showcase both the achievements of Romanian society, but also
\nthe discrepancies, contradictions, failures.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The bloody peasant revolt started on 21 February 1907, in the
\nvillage of Flamanzi, in Botosani county, northeastern Romania, and quickly
\nspread all over the country. The government cracked down on the revolt using
\narmed force. At that time, the peasant uprising, violently repressed by the
\nauthorities, gained an anti-Semitic component, in the idea that it was the
\nJewish land managers that exploited the Romanian peasant. Alin Ciupala believes
\nthis to be a simplistic vision.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Alin Ciupala: If we look at the
\nevent as a whole, we notice that its causes were much more nuanced, we cannot
\ntalk about the excesses of Jewish land managers as being the main reason for
\nthe revolt. In fact, if we make an analysis of statistical data at our
\ndisposal, we notice that the Jews were by no means the predominant group among
\nland managers. We can see just as many Romanians, we find westerners who came
\nhere for business, for getting rich. And land management was a capitalist means
\nof exploiting the land, as Romanian society was mainly agrarian.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The 1907 revolt is an important event also because it shows how
\nwidespread anti-Semitism was in Romanian society. Alin Ciupala again.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Alin Ciupala: It was, I could say,
\nsome sort of Dreyfus affair. Just as a few decades before that the Dreyfus affair
\nhad brought to light anti-Semitism in the French society, the same thing
\nhappened in Romania with the 1907 Revolt. The revolt is very important for
\nunderstanding the size of the agrarian problem in Romania, probably the most
\nimportant in Romanian society, but also an opportunity to evaluate the
\ndimensions of Romanian society, and also an element helping us to understand
\nRomanian anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There have been voices doubting the exclusively peasant dimension of
\nthe 1907 Revolt, and historian Alin Ciupala explains.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Alin Ciupala: This interpretation
\nwas favored by the communist regime, in the wish to present this event as a
\ngeneral protest of the exploited against the exploiters. Not at all! It is a
\nmostly agrarian event. It is also very important to notice that it was not the
\npoorest of peasants that revolted, as one may believe, but first and foremost
\nthe middle class of peasants, which owned land, to a certain extent. This shows
\nus that the revolt was not caused by ownership relations, so the main cause was
\nnot the lack of land.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Between 21 February and 29 March 1907, 140,000 soldiers were
\nmobilized to smother the revolt. According to some western sources, 11,000
\npeople lost their lives, even though there are indications that the real figure
\nwas not as high as that. Historian Alin Ciupala believes that the number of
\nvictims is not that important, but rather the inappropriate reaction of the
\nauthorities, in a 20th century conflict reminiscent of the Middle
\nAges.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Alin Ciupala: We can say that the peasants
\nwere the main actors of this event, the others being the authorities. The
\nposition of the authorities, at least in the first weeks, was very tough
\nbecause of the panic. As I said, Romanian society was unprepared. The revolt
\nspread all of a sudden and the phenomenon was ample, especially in Moldavia.
\nThere was general panic, a real psychosis, which explains the authorities’
\nextreme measures. Ionel Bratianu, minister of the interior, wanted to temper
\nthese excesses, appointing new prefects in the counties affected by the revolt,
\namong them Constantin Stere, who had a very important role in Moldavia, in
\norder to calm spirits and end this forceful intervention.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The main cause of the 1907 revolt remains, therefore, the
\ndysfunctional local administration system, which was quite corrupt. The Liberal
\ngovernment at the time initiated inquests that established the fact that it was
\nnot Jewish land managers’ excesses that caused the revolt, which had widespread
\ncoverage in 20th century European press. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Considered to be the last large scale popular revolt in Europe, the Peasant Revolt of 1907 started in northeastern Romania.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":129404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41141],"tags":[42625,42623,42624],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-129403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-history-show","tag-agrarian","tag-antisemitism","tag-feudal"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n