The Economic Dimension of a Decision on a Territorial Exchange: Southern Bessarabia for Northern Dobruja

Abstract

A territorial change could have complex economic consequences for both the country that annexed a province and the country that lost it. This paper approaches the economic aspects of the territorial exchange from 1878, when Romania received the Northern Dobruja as a compensation for losing Southern Bessarabia. The economic potential of Northern Dobruja played a major role in the controversial decision of the Romanian Government to accept, de facto, the territorial exchange.