We „ourselves” vs. “Ourselves alone” – a single economic doctrine for all Romanians at the beginning of the 20th century?

Abstract

As several generations of politicians successively acted as leaders of the Romanian National Party (PNR) in Transylvania, particularly the tribunists (1884-1892) and the new activists or “steel-hardened young men” (1903-1914), the economic, cultural, and political life of Romanians in Transylvania became more similar to that of Romanians in the Kingdom of Romania. From an economic perspective, both theorists in Transylvania and Romania were fostering the idea of a liberal “Ourselves alone” doctrine after 1900. Economic policies were established based on the resolutions adopted following the proceedings of the Economic Congresses in Iași, between 1882 and 1884. Fundamental assumptions were derived from banking and financial arguments based on the numerous and meaningful business relationships established between the National Bank of Romania and the Solidaritatea Banking Union in Sibiu, comprising almost all the Romanian banks in Transylvania.