ABSTRACT

For most of their history, the Romanian population like the rest of Southeastern Europe was predominantly a rural peasantry. The rural share of the population exceeded 80 percent through the interwar period, and an urban majority appeared only as late as 1981. Given the longstanding peasant majority and the paramount importance of agriculture for the country’s economy, agrarian relations formed the basis of Romania’s social order. The agrarian question – focusing mostly on the issue of land ownership, the relationship between boyar nobles and peasants, the relationship with the emerging industrial sector, and the integration of the peasantry into political life – repeatedly generated heated debates in parliament and society.