The Reflection of the Union of Transylvania with Romania in History Textbooks from the Interwar Period

The present paper argues that the history textbooks (re)produce the collective memory of a series of key events to which they assign importance, thereby making them official. In-depth revisions of Romanian history have taken place regularly. The most significant historical events have been rewritten and subjected to interpretation through an ideological lens, in accordance with the imperatives of a certain period. The foundation for how a crucial moment, such as the 1918 Union, is interpreted and remains present in collective memory to this day is rooted in its representation in the history textbooks from the interwar period. The textbooks establish and reproduce hierarchical values and legitimise events in the national memory registers. Below, I will analyse the historical narratives that recount the 1918 Union which can be found in the history textbooks authored by Ioan Lupaș, Th. Aguletti and Marian Petrescu. I consider them representative given that they were reprinted numerous times, as they act as the primary conveyors of the official history in schools. The premise is that the basic means whereby the mainstream national memory was embedded are found in these history textbooks. Despite the successive rewritings of history, the way in which the 1918 Union was interpreted has a solid starting point in different versions of the historical narrative from the interwar period.

Full Text