Bessarabia was the only territory representing an object of rivalry and symbolic competition between the Russian Empire and a fully crystallized nation-state: the Kingdom of Romania. This book is an intellectual prehistory of the Bessarabian problem, focusing on the antagonism of the national and imperial visions of this contested periphery. Through a critical reassessment and revision of the traditional historical narratives, the study argues that Bessarabia was claimed not just by two opposing projects of symbolic inclusion, but also by two alternative and theoretically antagonistic models of political legitimacy.

Book Information
ISBN 9789633861592
Author Andrei Cusco
Format Hardback
Page Count 345
Imprint Central European University Press
Publisher Central European University Press