OLTENIA ȘI EVOLUȚIA „PROBLEMEI DOBROGENE” (1878-1940). ASPECTE GEOPOLITICE ȘI MILITARE

Abstract

Towards 1900, due to its ethnic homogeneity, its geostrategic position and its role during some events from the previous decades, Oltenia had reached within the Romanian collective perception a specific position: the hardcore of the national identity and the hinterland of resistance. On the contrary, Dobruja, which, after more than four centuries of Ottoman domination, had become, since 1878, the object of a Romanian-Bulgarian dispute, had always been an invasion corridor and an area of extraordinary ethno-cultural mixing. This article briefly presents the link between these two Romanian provinces throughout the period 1878-1940, considering the role of Oltenia in the plans and actions of the Romanian state aimed at defending or consolidating its sovereignty in Dobruja. Thus, Oltenia was a key-area for Romanian military operations planned against Bulgaria, cause of the 'Dobrujan Issue', and the strategic interdependence between the two provinces was highlighted in both the 1913 and 1916 military campaigns. Also, many ethnic Romanians from Oltenia were granted land in Northern Dobruja (after 1878) and in Southern Dobruja (during the interwar period). Lastly, the final settlement of the Romanian-Bulgarian dispute over Dobruja, through the bilateral treaty from 7th of September 1940, is linked to Craiova, the metropolis of Oltenia.