Seara (newspaper)
Encyclopedia
Seara (ˈse̯ara, meaning "The Evening") was a daily newspaper published in Bucharest
, Romania
, before and during World War I
. Owned by politician Grigore Gheorghe Cantacuzino and, through most of its existence, managed by the controversial Alexandru Bogdan-Piteşti
, it was an unofficial and unorthodox tribune for the Conservative Party. Its involvement in politics sparked numerous scandals, the longest of which came during the neutrality period (1914–1916). Strongly anti-Slavic
, Seara stood out in that context for supporting the German Empire
and Central Powers
, and was widely alleged of having been financed by a German propaganda
machine. In 1914, it was purchased by German businessmen, but continued to register mediocre success in comparison with its pro-Entente
competitors. In late 1916, after Romania decided in favor of the Entente, Seara was disestablished.
Noted for publishing the biting satirical
pieces and art chronicles of Tudor Arghezi
, Seara was closely associated with the Romanian Symbolist movement
. Through Arghezi, Bogdan-Piteşti and other contributors, it campaigned in favor Symbolism and, after 1913, popularized modern art
. Although paying tribute to political conservatism
throughout its existence, Seara was also home to anti-establishment
contributors, allies in the anti-Entente cause. The newspaper sympathized with the Romanian Social Democratic Party
, regularly hosting opinion pieces by socialists
of various backgrounds.
, refrained from attaching his name to Seara, later entrusting Bogdan-Piteşti with the position of manager. Early in its existence, Seara reported on various events agitating public opinion, such as the Romanian Orthodox Church
division between the traditionalists and those who supported communion with Rome. In 1909, it hosted a disclaimer by Roman Catholic
chanoine
Joseph Baud, who calmed enraged Orthodox believers by assuring them that their Metropolitan Bishop
Iosif Gheorghian had not died a Catholic. Later, Seara gave significant coverage to what it called "scandals in the Vatican
", particularly so in the 1911 controversy surrounding Father Verdesi's conversion to Methodism
; this prompted the Romanian Catholic press to list Seara among those newspapers "at odds with Christian ideas".
At that stage in its history, Seara was also sympathetic to the cause of ethnic Romanians
living abroad, in Transylvania and other regions of Austria-Hungary
: in August 1911, it sent special correspondents to cover the congress of Romanian activist groups in Blußendref (Blaj)
. The newspaper also reported with disapproval on the growth of nationalism
among the Hungarians, covering for a Romanian public the division of Hungarian Socialists
along pro- and anti-nationalist politics, and accusing the Károly Khuen-Héderváry
administration of subverting the Romanian National Party
(PNR). Searas articles gave exposure to the PNR's official reaction, as voiced by that party's speaker Alexandru Vaida-Voevod
. It called Vaida-Voevod "one of the [PNR's] brilliant leaders", responsible "to a great extent for the rescue of party discipline and national solidarity".
In March of the next year, Seara published an homage to journalist and ideologue Constantin Stere
, noted for having brought back together the two factions of the PNR, and concluded: "Mr. C. Stere, although involved in our country's partisan politics, [...] has transmitted to our quarrelsome brothers a peace message from all of us, proving that the foremost preoccupation of our minds is and will be national solidarity, the pure love for the holy cause of Romaniandom." It later discussed the conflict between PNR politicians and Khuen-Héderváry's successor, László Lukács
. In his reply to the PNR (paraphrased by Seara), Lukács equated the Romanians' political emancipation in Transylvania with militant irredentism
, and prophesied that Transylvania was in real danger of being invaded by the Kingdom of Romania
. Seara retorted by accusing Lukács of supporting "preemptive" Magyarization
in "the multilingual Kingdom of Hungary
".
The paper was also taking an interest in the political affairs of the Balkans
. Shortly before the Balkan Wars
, it published the appeal of Simion, a Greek Romanian
politician and editor of Bucharest's Patris gazette, who gathered support for a Greco–Romanian alliance against the South Slavs
. Simion posited that Romania and the Kingdom of Greece
would eventually reach an understanding over the litigious issue of Aromanian
nationhood, and blamed the conflict on "shrewd" Slavic meddling.
Seara also made known its artistic credo, placing itself in the margin of Romanian Symbolism. According to art historian Dan Grigorescu, its awareness of European literature
and its cultural effervescence, like those of Facla, Viitorul and other Romanian periodicals with special cultural pages, was impressive. Later a political commentator for Seara, poet Dumitru Karnabatt chronicled the stage work of Henry Bataille
(Issue 271/1910) and the Aestheticism
of Oscar Wilde
(editorial piece, Issue 52, 1910). Elsewhere (Issue 425/1911), Seara covered the supposed discovery of an unknown novel by Honoré de Balzac
. The newspaper's traditional conservatism was reflected in its artistic choices: during late 1910, Karnabatt gave poor reviews to the more rebellious Symbolist painters to emerge from the Tinerimea Artistică salon, and deemed the primitivist
sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi
a madman. In 1911, the same author used the newspaper to publicize his dislike of Futurism
, a modern art
and anti-establishment
current originating in Italy
. Reviewing the Futurist Manifesto
, he called for "demented" author Filippo Tommaso Marinetti
to be "tied down". Around that time, Karnabatt's own literary contributions for Seara were samples of Symbolist and Impressionist travel writing
, sometimes written together with his novelist wife Lucrezzia.
, with whom the Conservative Premier
Titu Maiorescu
had formed a coalition (one resented by Cantacuzino and Bogdan-Piteşti). In this context, critic Ion Vianu
notes, Seara became "an aggressive publication, with a history of base attacks and blackmail
."
The anti-Ionescu discourse was notably outlined in an Arghezi article of September 11, 1913. It collectively and disparagingly identified the Conservative-Democrats (or Takists) as ciocoi ("upstarts"), accusing them of having repressed in blood the 1907 peasant revolt
: "They are the symbol of 1907, when, his arms, chest, shoulders and back loaded with ravens, with ciocoi, the peasant tore himself away from his field, split himself, fought to chase them away and [...] fell down murdered by the claws that clutched down, tore down into his flesh and reached inside to his soul and killed it as well. These ciocoi, we will eradicate." In a 1913 issue, Romanian Land Forces
General Ştefan Stoica referred to Ionescu's men as craii de Curtea-Veche ("the Old Court
rakes"), another colloquialism for "upstarts".
One of Searas prime targets was Public Works Minister Alexandru Bădărău, called "filthy con man", accused of taking massive bribes from American
investors in Romanian oil and of employing in his staff some 150 women in exchange for sexual favors. Nicolae Titulescu
, the young Conservative Democrat politician and bureaucrat, was ridiculed for having acquired, through his foreign connections, an original tapestry from the Gobelins Manufactory
. Notably, senior politician Nicolae Fleva
lent his pen to these allegations, writing in Seara that Bădărău had serious psychiatric problems.
According to literary critics such as Barbu Cioculescu and Vianu, these stories exaggerated the rumors Seara may have received from Mateiu Caragiale
—a writer close to Bogdan-Piteşti, who was at the time chief of staff for Bădărău. In diaries he kept after his split with Bogdan-Piteşti, Caragiale himself alleged that Searas publisher was being paid to harass "without pity, in biting manner, all those whom Cantacuzino would grace with his unfriendliness or antipathy", in particular the Conservative-Democrats. Although he never signed articles for Seara, Caragiale was by then receiving regular payments from its patrons.
At the peak of Cantacuzino's negative campaign against the Conservative-Democrats, Seara also attacked businessman Aristide Blank and his Marmorosch Blank Bank. According to the notes kept by Caragiale, Blank set a "trap" for his rival with the cooperation of Romanian Police
, and Bogdan-Piteşti was sentenced to nine months in prison for blackmail. Seara fared badly during the period, and was out of print by autumn 1913.
, and playing a part in the transition from Romanian Symbolism to 20th century avant-garde
. Its art chronicles celebrated the international success of modern artists Constantin Brâncuşi
and Pascin
, both of whom, Seara argued, were culturally tied to Romania. They also promoted the work of young artist Theodor Pallady
, most notably with a series of articles in which Arghezi spoke about Pallady paintings in the Bogdan-Piteşti collection. The magazine's staff was later joined by Marcel Janco
, known later for his work as a Dada
and Constructivist
artist.
During those years, Seara was joined by two poets formerly affiliated with Simbolul
review: the Imagist
Adrian Maniu and the experimental Symbolist Ion Vinea. By summer 1914, the latter's articles included jibes against the moderate Symbolist figure Ovid Densusianu
, ridiculing his disciples at Versuri şi Proză magazine (the beginning of a dispute which Vinea would continue during his time at Chemarea magazine). In addition to poetry and prose fragments, Vinea was assigned a regular column about life in Bucharest
. Also published by Seara was the Symbolist George Bacovia
, with poetry pieces such as "Winter Lead", "Autumn Nerves" and "Poem in the Mirror"—generally second editions, previously published in Noua Revistă Română and other reviews, they were later included in Bacovia's lionized collection Plumb.
Himself a literary chronicler, Tudor Arghezi analyzed Wilde's comedy An Ideal Husband
(Issue 1/1914) and, unusually, ridiculed the Symbolist poetry of Mateiu Caragiale. His main focus was on satire
, which he often directed at traditionalists and ethnic nationalists
, particularly those arriving from Transylvania
. One such text attacked the poet laureate
Octavian Goga
, arguing that his credo as a Transylvanian refugee was a comfortable state job in the Kingdom of Romania. In a 1913 piece, Arghezi targeted scholar Ion Bianu for allegedly mismanaging the Romanian Academy
Library: "From his longjohns and his cleated boots, Mr. Bianu has jumped straight into the aristocracy and [...] turned our library [...] into his own, Transylvanian, empire. [...] An impertinent voice submits one to a detailed interrogation. It is Mr. Bianu, a jaundice
d liver with a moustache, with the evil gaze of a man who collects many salaries but is aware of his own voidness and dullness". Under Arghezi, Seara popularized international modern art
, notably by publishing the Fauvist
drawings of André Derain
.
As part of its cultural agenda, Seara endorsed the emancipation
of Romanian Jews
, and, in contrast to the antisemitism of more traditionalist reviews, opened itself to Jewish writers. In October 1913, Seara obtained and published a confidential order which gave Romanian Land Forces
officers a free hand to discriminate against Jewish recruits. In September 1914, it hosted the journalistic debut of Jewish avant-garde author Jacques G. Costin, who was, with Vinea, caretaker of the cultural pages. Like Arghezi and Vinea, Costin experimented with satirical genres, his sketch story
techniques borrowed from 19th century classic Ion Luca Caragiale
(Mateiu's father). Seara was also receiving contributions from Grigore Goilav, the Armenian Romanian ethnographer and art historian.
and Romania's neutrality period. As public opinion divided itself between supporters of the Entente Powers
and those who favored the Central Powers
, Seara and Minerva stood for the latter group, the "Germanophile
s". The two papers reputedly entered this competition for the public eye with a handicap. An Ententist daily, Adevărul
, claimed that, together, Seara and Minerva had consumed 481 ton
s of paper in printing from January 1 to August 31, 1914 (for itself and Dimineaţa, it claimed a figure of 1,284 tons).
Like other samples of Germanophile media, Seara is widely alleged to have been the recipient of special propaganda
funds from the German Empire
and Austria-Hungary
. According to historian Lucian Boia
, Germanophile newspapers had little room for maneuver, given their unpopular agenda: "of little interest, boycotted and with their offices once in a while assaulted by the 'indignant' public, [they] could never have supported themselves without an infusion of German money." Similarly, researcher Carmen Patricia Reneti argues: "Seara would [never] have been the paper most useful to German propaganda. [...] Minerva and Seara were read by just about no one." Claims of German payments focus on Bogdan-Piteşti's shady political dealings, the target of controversy since 1915. Boia notes that the patron, who had no reason for refusing German bribes, may have been genuinely committed to the Germanophile cause, regardless of such additional benefits. Boia also claims that, keeping in with a Romanian tradition of the "baksheesh
", the Francophile
press may also have received funds from the Entente. Contrarily, historian Ion Bulei argues that "fraudulent wheeler-dealer" Bogdan-Piteşti and his "money obsessed" patron were merely directing their support toward the highest bidder. According to various accounts, Bogdan-Piteşti was diverting much of his own political payments into increasing his prestigious art collection or supporting his retinue.
In contrast to other Germanophile mouthpieces, Seara stated its support for the Central Powers early on, before such financing could occur—even before its patron Cantacuzino decided which side he supported. In the months of strife which preceded the actual war, the Romanian daily published telegrams and concerned commentary about the effects of nationalism in Central Europe
and the Balkans
. These accused the Greek Kingdom
and Northern Epirote militias
of decimating the Aromanian
community in Korçë
during April 1914, and urged Romanians to express their indignation. A month later, Seara was taking a stand against Romanian irredentism over Transylvania, as analyzed by the Transylvanian Germanophile Ioan Slavici
. Slavici's texts scandalized the nationalist press for supporting Vasile Mangra, the pro-Hungarian priest an suspected agent of influence
. However, the newspaper was also criticizing the Hungarian authorities for demanding the extradition
of university student Măndăchescu. The latter, Seara reported, was wrongly accused of a bomb attack on the Diocese of Hajdúdorog
, when the act was more likely attributable to the revolutionist Ilie Cătărău
.
During June, Seara also circulated a rumor about secret talks between King
Carol I
and Nicholas II
of the Russian Empire
, in Constanţa
. Seara claimed that the two royals agreed to a arbiter a shift of power, forcing a union between the Serbian
and Montenegrin
kingdoms against the Central Powers' express wishes. In the weeks and months following the Sarajevo Assassination
, Arghezi was contributing articles which blamed the push toward war
on Serbian nationalism
and the Balkans at large: "Until such time as when Europe shall incorporate and enslave the Balkans, they will endure as the nest where all of Europe's assassinations are being organized"; "the Serbs
have staged an attempt on Austria[-Hungary]'s existence, in dastardly manner." Arghezi had set his mind on continued neutrality, arguing that it could turn Romania into an arbiter and broker of peace. A similar position was held by Karnabatt.
In autumn 1914, Seara and Minerva were both purchased by a German consortium, although Bogdan-Piteşti was probably still the former's (uncredited) manager. Their acquisition, which reputedly followed an increase in German propaganda and espionage all over Romania, was described as scandalous by Acţiunea, an Ententist newspaper owned by Take Ionescu
. In a September 24 piece called La mezat ("On Public Sale"), it claimed that Minerva cost the Germans 3 million lei
, and Seara only 400,000 lei. Bogdan-Piteşti (and German funds) were probably involved in financing a new platform, Cronica, launched by Arghezi and Gala Galaction
in February 1915. In October of that year, with probable German support, Bogdan-Piteşti, Arghezi and Galaction set up another Germanophile newspaper, Libertatea ("Freedom"), presided for a while by the Conservative politico Nicolae Fleva
. According to one account, Fleva had earlier been approached to take over as Seara manager by German envoys Josef B. Brociner and Hilmar von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen, but, realizing the implications, had refused.
's version of conservatism and geopolitics
. Conservative in outlook, the Russophobic
and anti-Slavic
Karnabatt outlined his political vision in some detail, discussing the Entente's imminent "banktruptcy". Ilie Bărbulescu, a Slavist and Marghiloman Conservative who advocated pro-German neutralism, also published articles in Seara during 1915. Beyond this conservative core, Seara colored its pages in various shades of left-wing advocacies, from socialism
and social democracy
to anarchism
. According to literary historian Paul Cernat, the ideological ambiguity and conjectural alliances between socialists and conservatives was motivated by a common enemy, the pro-Entente and "plutocratic
" National Liberal Party
.
The independent socialist Felix Aderca
, later known as a novelist, expanded on his earlier theoretical articles for Noua Revistă Română, depicting the German Empire as the "progressive
" actor in the war. Through the voice of another contributor, the old anarchist scholar Zamfir Arbore
, Seara was focusing its criticism on Russia's Tsarist autocracy
, against whom Arbore had been fighting for decades. Similar ideals inspired Alexis Nour, who arrived to Seara from the home-grown leftist current, Poporanism
. Bogdan-Piteşti, whose background was in French anarchism
, wrote with noted passion about his socialist allies, using the pseudonym Al. Dodan. On October 6, 1914, Dodan saluted the Romanian Social Democratic Party
for organizing internationalist
peace rallies, as "emerging from the mind and soul of the entire Romanian people".
Avram Steuerman-Rodion
, a socialist based in Iaşi
, contributed a special series of articles documenting the growth of Germanophila in that city, and throughout Moldavia
region. Titled Scrisori din Iaşi ("Letters from Iaşi"), it notably chronicled the conflicts between the enthusiastically Ententist University of Bucharest
professors and their more skeptical University of Iaşi colleagues. Seara also enlisted contributions from Ottoi Călin, a member of the PSDR Executive Committee and author of its Zimmerwald pacifist
manifesto. Despite this agenda, Ottoi was not employed as a political panelist, but, as a practicing physician, held Searas advice column
.
during the neutrality period was not just a choice of sides, but also one of irredenta: while the National Liberal overtures toward the Entente were supposed to grant Romania the Transylvania
and other Romanian-inhabited regions of Austria-Hungary, the Conservatives wished to recover Bessarabia
, occupied by the Russian Empire—in 1916, the two options seemed mutually exclusive. Seara and Minerva followed the principles of Marghiloman, who had reached the conclusion that the Entente did not in fact support the disestablishment of Austria-Hungary, and who postulated that Russification
in Bessarabia was more serious than Magyarization
in Transylvania. Ilie Bărbulescu's Seara articles, deemed "erudite and indigestible" by Boia, focused on the supposed indestructibility of Austria-Hungary, and consoled Transylvanian Romanians with the option of greater devolution
(see United States of Greater Austria
). Writer Ion Gorun, who hailed from an anti-Hungarian community but was also a Habsburg loyalist
, was a distinct presence at Seara. His articles favored the term "Austria" instead of "Austria-Hungary", and claimed that Romania could only find "triumph" as an Austrian ally. Gorun spoke of any alliance with Russia as dangerous and absurd; the implication of such a move, he argued, caught Transylvanian Romanians in a pincer and also meant Romania's subjugation to the Russian Empire.
The cause of Bessarabia was championed by Arbore, who at the time rejected all notion that the region could ever witness a Russian devolution, and expressed distress that Romanian intellectuals were more interested in the fate of France than in the freedoms of Bessarabian Romanians. Bogdan-Piteşti's various articles also show his interest in the cause of Bessarabia. In this context, expressing his regret that "most civilized" France had fallen into an alliance with the world's "most savage, most ignorant and bloodiest oligarchy [...] the Russia of pogrom
s and assassinations", he spoke of an alliance with the Tsarist regime as a "national crime". "Dodan" suggested that Austria-Hungary was preferable as a friend, being Romania's only defence against the "Slavic deluge
". Later, he argued that the cause of Transylvania was settled within Austria-Hungary, and mapped out a strategy for Romania: neutral until the end of the war, the country could then march its troops into Bessarabia. In October 1915, Aderca wrote that the Transylvanian cause was doomed, and, since the Germans were poised to win the war, "a union of the losers"; instead, he urged Romania to invade Bessarabia. Karnabatt's articles began by stating a minimal objective in "the reincorporation of Bessarabia", but later advocated the extension of Romanian territory eastward, into Transnistria
and down to the Dnieper River
(as a counter-measure to a Greater Bulgaria
).
An unusually vast and, according to Boia, naïve project was outlined by the Bessarabian-born Nour, who claimed that, even if granted a military victory, Austria-Hungary would still devolve into "developed nations", leaving Romania with an option to annex Transylvania, Bukovina
, the Banat
, Crişana
and Maramureş
. He speculated that a late entry into the war could bring Romania possession of Bessarabia, large swathes of the Ukraine
, and Odessa
, and even that victory against the Entente would bring her an extra-European colonial empire
.
. Karnabatt publicized his impressions about German order and the coming victory with a series of letters, published by Seara in June 1916. The newspaper's wrong bet on a German victory on the Western Front
was strained by Alexis Nour who, in April 1916, wrote that a French capitulation would inevitably follow the Battle of Verdun
.
Seara disappeared, together with Minerva, Libertatea, Steagul and most other Germanophile papers, in late summer 1916, shortly after Romania declared war on the Central Powers. When the German and Austrian troops invaded southern Romania, forcing the Ententist government to flee for Iaşi
, some of Searas former staff remained in Bucharest and chose the path of collaborationism
. This was notably pursued by Arghezi, Galaction, Bărbulescu and Karnabatt, all of whom wrote for the propaganda tribune Gazeta Bucureştilor. In contrast, several former Seara contributors silenced their criticism of the Entente throughout the rest of the war. Avram Steuerman-Rodion
was drafted into the Romanian Land Forces
as a medic, earning distinction, but returned to Germanophile journalism after Romania sealed the separate peace of 1918; the victim of clinical depression
, he committed suicide in autumn. Also a military physician, received into the Order of the Star of Romania
, Ottoi Călin died of typhus
in early 1917. Aderca too saw action on the front, and preserved his socialist-inspired neutralism—it later surfaced in his various fiction writings.
After the November 1918 Armistice with Germany changed Romania's fortunes, leading to the creation of Greater Romania
, several former Seara journalists were prosecuted for treason
. In March 1919, a military tribunal
sentenced Karnabatt to ten, Arghezi to five years imprisonment. They were however pardoned by King
Ferdinand I
, in winter 1920. Bogdan-Piteşti had joined them in prison: according to some accounts, he was also held for collaborationism, while others record, in more detail, that he was serving an earlier sentence for fraud.
Arghezi's texts for Seara were largely unknown to later generations. They again saw print in 2003, in a critical edition co-edited by daughter Mitzura Arghezi (Domnica Theodorescu) and Traian Radu. According to philogist Gheorghe Pienescu, who collected and reedited the texts for printing in the 1960s, the copies were taken from him under false pretense by Mitzura Arghezi, and never returned. As an additional contribution to Romanian literature, Searas popularization of the expression craii de Curtea-Veche may have inspired Mateiu Caragiale in writing his celebrated 1929 novel
.
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, before and during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Owned by politician Grigore Gheorghe Cantacuzino and, through most of its existence, managed by the controversial Alexandru Bogdan-Piteşti
Alexandru Bogdan-Pitesti
Alexandru Bogdan-Piteşti was a Romanian Symbolist poet, essayist, and art and literary critic, who was also known as a journalist and left-wing political agitator. A wealthy landowner, he invested his fortune in patronage and art collecting, becoming one of the main local promoters of modern art,...
, it was an unofficial and unorthodox tribune for the Conservative Party. Its involvement in politics sparked numerous scandals, the longest of which came during the neutrality period (1914–1916). Strongly anti-Slavic
Anti-Slavism
Anti-Slavism, also known as Slavophobia, a form of racism or xenophobia, refers to various negative attitudes towards Slavic peoples, most common manifestation being claims of inferiority of Slavic nations with respect to other ethnic groups...
, Seara stood out in that context for supporting the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
and Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
, and was widely alleged of having been financed by a German propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
machine. In 1914, it was purchased by German businessmen, but continued to register mediocre success in comparison with its pro-Entente
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
competitors. In late 1916, after Romania decided in favor of the Entente, Seara was disestablished.
Noted for publishing the biting satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
pieces and art chronicles of Tudor Arghezi
Tudor Arghezi
Tudor Arghezi was a Romanian writer, best known for his contribution to poetry and children's literature. Born Ion N. Theodorescu in Bucharest , he explained that his pen name was related to Argesis, the Latin name for the Argeş River.-Early life:Along with Mihai Eminescu, Mateiu Caragiale, and...
, Seara was closely associated with the Romanian Symbolist movement
Symbolist movement in Romania
The Symbolist movement in Romania, active during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, marked the development of Romanian culture in both literature and visual arts...
. Through Arghezi, Bogdan-Piteşti and other contributors, it campaigned in favor Symbolism and, after 1913, popularized modern art
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
. Although paying tribute to political conservatism
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
throughout its existence, Seara was also home to anti-establishment
Anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda...
contributors, allies in the anti-Entente cause. The newspaper sympathized with the Romanian Social Democratic Party
Romanian Social Democratic Party (defunct)
The Romanian Social Democratic Party was a social-democratic political party in Romania. It published the magazine România Muncitoare, and later Socialismul, Lumea Nouă, and Libertatea.-Early party:...
, regularly hosting opinion pieces by socialists
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
of various backgrounds.
Early years
Like the daily Minerva, Seara was originally a creation of G. G. Cantacuzino, the Romanian magnate. Cantacuzino, who supported the Conservative Party inner faction of Alexandru MarghilomanAlexandru Marghiloman
Alexandru Marghiloman was a Romanian conservative statesman who served for a short time in 1918 as Prime Minister of Romania, and had a decisive role during World War I.-Early career:...
, refrained from attaching his name to Seara, later entrusting Bogdan-Piteşti with the position of manager. Early in its existence, Seara reported on various events agitating public opinion, such as the Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
division between the traditionalists and those who supported communion with Rome. In 1909, it hosted a disclaimer by Roman Catholic
Roman Catholicism in Romania
The Roman Catholic Church in Romania is a Latin Rite Christian church, part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and Curia in Rome. Its administration is centered in Bucharest, and comprises two archdioceses and four other dioceses...
chanoine
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
Joseph Baud, who calmed enraged Orthodox believers by assuring them that their Metropolitan Bishop
Patriarch of All Romania
The Patriarch of All Romania is the title of the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church. As of September 12, 2007, the chair is occupied by Daniel Ciobotea.-Metropolitans of Ungro-Wallachia:* Maxim * Macarie II * Ilarion II...
Iosif Gheorghian had not died a Catholic. Later, Seara gave significant coverage to what it called "scandals in the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
", particularly so in the 1911 controversy surrounding Father Verdesi's conversion to Methodism
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
; this prompted the Romanian Catholic press to list Seara among those newspapers "at odds with Christian ideas".
At that stage in its history, Seara was also sympathetic to the cause of ethnic Romanians
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
living abroad, in Transylvania and other regions of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
: in August 1911, it sent special correspondents to cover the congress of Romanian activist groups in Blußendref (Blaj)
Blaj
Blaj is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 20,758 inhabitants.The landmark of the city is the fact that it was the principal religious and cultural center of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church in Transylvania....
. The newspaper also reported with disapproval on the growth of nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
among the Hungarians, covering for a Romanian public the division of Hungarian Socialists
Hungarian Social Democratic Party
The Hungarian Social Democratic Party is a political party in Hungary. Both the MSZDP and SZDP lay claim to the same heritage: the Social Democratic Party which was part of a governing coalition in Hungary between 1945 and 1948, and a short period in 1956, which itself was renamed from the...
along pro- and anti-nationalist politics, and accusing the Károly Khuen-Héderváry
Károly Khuen-Héderváry
Dragutin Károly Khuen-Héderváry, also known as Károly Count Khuen-Héderváry de Hédervár , was a Hungarian politician, the ban of Croatia in the late nineteenth century. He succeeded the temporary reign of Ban Hermann Ramberg in 1883. Khuen's reign was marked by a strong magyarization...
administration of subverting the Romanian National Party
Romanian National Party
The Romanian National Party , initially known as the Romanian National Party in Transylvania and Banat , was a political party which was initially designed to offer ethnic representation to Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, the Transleithanian half of Austria-Hungary, and especially to those in...
(PNR). Searas articles gave exposure to the PNR's official reaction, as voiced by that party's speaker Alexandru Vaida-Voevod
Alexandru Vaida-Voevod
Alexandru Vaida-Voevod or Vaida-Voievod was a Romanian politician who was a supporter and promoter of the union of Transylvania with the Romanian Old Kingdom; he later served three terms as a Prime Minister of Greater Romania.-Transylvanian politics:He was born to a Greek-Catholic family in the...
. It called Vaida-Voevod "one of the [PNR's] brilliant leaders", responsible "to a great extent for the rescue of party discipline and national solidarity".
In March of the next year, Seara published an homage to journalist and ideologue Constantin Stere
Constantin Stere
Constantin G. Stere or Constantin Sterea was a Romanian writer, jurist, politician, ideologue of the Poporanist trend, and, in March 1906, co-founder Constantin G. Stere or Constantin Sterea (Romanian; , Konstantin Yegorovich Stere or Константин Георгиевич Стере, Konstantin Georgiyevich Stere;...
, noted for having brought back together the two factions of the PNR, and concluded: "Mr. C. Stere, although involved in our country's partisan politics, [...] has transmitted to our quarrelsome brothers a peace message from all of us, proving that the foremost preoccupation of our minds is and will be national solidarity, the pure love for the holy cause of Romaniandom." It later discussed the conflict between PNR politicians and Khuen-Héderváry's successor, László Lukács
László Lukács
László Lukács de Erzsébetváros was a Hungarian politician who served as prime minister from 1912 to 1913....
. In his reply to the PNR (paraphrased by Seara), Lukács equated the Romanians' political emancipation in Transylvania with militant irredentism
Irredentism
Irredentism is any position advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. Some of these movements are also called pan-nationalist movements. It is a feature of identity politics and cultural...
, and prophesied that Transylvania was in real danger of being invaded by the Kingdom of Romania
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
. Seara retorted by accusing Lukács of supporting "preemptive" Magyarization
Magyarization
Magyarization is a kind of assimilation or acculturation, a process by which non-Magyar elements came to adopt Magyar culture and language due to social pressure .Defiance or appeals to the Nationalities Law, met...
in "the multilingual Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
".
The paper was also taking an interest in the political affairs of the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. Shortly before the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
, it published the appeal of Simion, a Greek Romanian
Greeks in Romania
There has been a Greek presence in Romania for at least 27 centuries. At times, as during the Phanariote era, this presence has amounted to hegemony; at other times , the Greeks have simply been one among the many ethnic minorities in Romania.-Ancient and Medieval Period:The Greek presence in what...
politician and editor of Bucharest's Patris gazette, who gathered support for a Greco–Romanian alliance against the South Slavs
South Slavs
The South Slavs are the southern branch of the Slavic peoples and speak South Slavic languages. Geographically, the South Slavs are native to the Balkan peninsula, the southern Pannonian Plain and the eastern Alps...
. Simion posited that Romania and the Kingdom of Greece
Kingdom of Greece
The Kingdom of Greece was a state established in 1832 in the Convention of London by the Great Powers...
would eventually reach an understanding over the litigious issue of Aromanian
Aromanians
Aromanians are a Latin people native throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Serbia and Romania . An older term is Macedo-Romanians...
nationhood, and blamed the conflict on "shrewd" Slavic meddling.
Seara also made known its artistic credo, placing itself in the margin of Romanian Symbolism. According to art historian Dan Grigorescu, its awareness of European literature
European literature
European literature refers to the literature of Europe.European literature includes literature in many languages; among the most important of the modern written works are those in English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Polish, German, Italian, Modern Greek, Czech and Russian and works by the...
and its cultural effervescence, like those of Facla, Viitorul and other Romanian periodicals with special cultural pages, was impressive. Later a political commentator for Seara, poet Dumitru Karnabatt chronicled the stage work of Henry Bataille
Henry Bataille
Félix-Henri Bataille was a French dramatist and poet. His works were extremely popular between 1900 and the start of World War I....
(Issue 271/1910) and the Aestheticism
Aestheticism
Aestheticism was a 19th century European art movement that emphasized aesthetic values more than socio-political themes for literature, fine art, the decorative arts, and interior design...
of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
(editorial piece, Issue 52, 1910). Elsewhere (Issue 425/1911), Seara covered the supposed discovery of an unknown novel by Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
. The newspaper's traditional conservatism was reflected in its artistic choices: during late 1910, Karnabatt gave poor reviews to the more rebellious Symbolist painters to emerge from the Tinerimea Artistică salon, and deemed the primitivist
Primitivism
Primitivism is a Western art movement that borrows visual forms from non-Western or prehistoric peoples, such as Paul Gauguin's inclusion of Tahitian motifs in paintings and ceramics...
sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi
Constantin Brancusi
Constantin Brâncuşi was a Romanian-born sculptor who made his career in France. As a child he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. Formal studies took him first to Bucharest, then to Munich, then to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris...
a madman. In 1911, the same author used the newspaper to publicize his dislike of Futurism
Futurism
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
, a modern art
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
and anti-establishment
Anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda...
current originating in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Reviewing the Futurist Manifesto
Futurist Manifesto
The Futurist Manifesto, written by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, was published in the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dell'Emilia in Bologna on 5 February 1909, then in French as "Manifeste du futurisme" in the newspaper Le Figaro on 20 February 1909...
, he called for "demented" author Filippo Tommaso Marinetti
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti
Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti was an Italian poet and editor, the founder of the Futurist movement, and a fascist ideologue.-Childhood and adolescence:...
to be "tied down". Around that time, Karnabatt's own literary contributions for Seara were samples of Symbolist and Impressionist travel writing
Travel writing
Travel writing is a genre that has, as its focus, accounts of real or imaginary places. The genre encompasses a number of styles that may range from the documentary to the evocative, from literary to journalistic, and from the humorous to the serious....
, sometimes written together with his novelist wife Lucrezzia.
Blackmail scandals
Beginning in March 1913, Seara was joined by one of its most fervent contributors, poet and lampoonist Arghezi. Although supporting the Conservative Party before and after that moment, it was focusing its efforts on attacking the Conservative-Democratic Party of Take IonescuTake Ionescu
Take or Tache Ionescu was a Romanian centrist politician, journalist, lawyer and diplomat, who also enjoyed reputation as a short story author. Starting his political career as a radical member of the National Liberal Party , he joined the Conservative Party in 1891, and became noted as a social...
, with whom the Conservative Premier
Prime Minister of Romania
The Prime Minister of Romania is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was styled President of the Council of Ministers , when the term "Government" included more than the Cabinet, and the Cabinet was called The Council of Ministers...
Titu Maiorescu
Titu Maiorescu
Titu Liviu Maiorescu was a Romanian literary critic and politician, founder of the Junimea Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Romanian culture in the second half of the 19th century....
had formed a coalition (one resented by Cantacuzino and Bogdan-Piteşti). In this context, critic Ion Vianu
Ion Vianu
Ion Vianu is a Romanian writer and psychiatrist, who was exiled to Switzerland in 1977. He is the son of literary critic Tudor Vianu and his wife Elena....
notes, Seara became "an aggressive publication, with a history of base attacks and blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
."
The anti-Ionescu discourse was notably outlined in an Arghezi article of September 11, 1913. It collectively and disparagingly identified the Conservative-Democrats (or Takists) as ciocoi ("upstarts"), accusing them of having repressed in blood the 1907 peasant revolt
1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt
The 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt took place in March 1907 in Moldavia and it quickly spread, reaching Wallachia. The main cause was the discontent of the peasants about the inequity of land ownership, which was in the hands of just a few large landowners....
: "They are the symbol of 1907, when, his arms, chest, shoulders and back loaded with ravens, with ciocoi, the peasant tore himself away from his field, split himself, fought to chase them away and [...] fell down murdered by the claws that clutched down, tore down into his flesh and reached inside to his soul and killed it as well. These ciocoi, we will eradicate." In a 1913 issue, Romanian Land Forces
Romanian Land Forces
The Romanian Land Forces is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the force.The Romanian Land Forces were founded on...
General Ştefan Stoica referred to Ionescu's men as craii de Curtea-Veche ("the Old Court
Curtea Veche
Curtea Veche , built as a place or residence during the rule of Vlad III Dracula in the 15th century, now operates as a museum in the centre of Bucharest, Romania. The residence was moved under the rule of Radu cel Frumos, who moved the princely residence and the Wallachian capital to Bucharest...
rakes"), another colloquialism for "upstarts".
One of Searas prime targets was Public Works Minister Alexandru Bădărău, called "filthy con man", accused of taking massive bribes from American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
investors in Romanian oil and of employing in his staff some 150 women in exchange for sexual favors. Nicolae Titulescu
Nicolae Titulescu
Nicolae Titulescu was a well-known Romanian diplomat, at various times government minister, finance and foreign minister, and for two terms President of the General Assembly of the League of Nations . He was a member of the Freemasonry.-Early years:...
, the young Conservative Democrat politician and bureaucrat, was ridiculed for having acquired, through his foreign connections, an original tapestry from the Gobelins Manufactory
Gobelins manufactory
The Manufacture des Gobelins is a tapestry factory located in Paris, France, at 42 avenue des Gobelins, near the Les Gobelins métro station in the XIIIe arrondissement...
. Notably, senior politician Nicolae Fleva
Nicolae Fleva
Nicolae Fleva was a Wallachian-born Romanian politician, political journalist and lawyer. Known especially for his involvement in political incidents, and for a stated patriotism bordering on demagogy, he tested all political formulas that Romania's two-party system would allow...
lent his pen to these allegations, writing in Seara that Bădărău had serious psychiatric problems.
According to literary critics such as Barbu Cioculescu and Vianu, these stories exaggerated the rumors Seara may have received from Mateiu Caragiale
Mateiu Caragiale
Mateiu Ion Caragiale was a Romanian poet and prose writer, best known for his novel Craii de Curtea-Veche, which portrays the milieu of boyar descendants before and after World War I. Caragiale's style, associated with Symbolism, the Decadent movement of the fin de siècle, and early modernism, was...
—a writer close to Bogdan-Piteşti, who was at the time chief of staff for Bădărău. In diaries he kept after his split with Bogdan-Piteşti, Caragiale himself alleged that Searas publisher was being paid to harass "without pity, in biting manner, all those whom Cantacuzino would grace with his unfriendliness or antipathy", in particular the Conservative-Democrats. Although he never signed articles for Seara, Caragiale was by then receiving regular payments from its patrons.
At the peak of Cantacuzino's negative campaign against the Conservative-Democrats, Seara also attacked businessman Aristide Blank and his Marmorosch Blank Bank. According to the notes kept by Caragiale, Blank set a "trap" for his rival with the cooperation of Romanian Police
Romanian Police
The Romanian Police is the national police force and main civil law enforcement agency in Romania. It is subordinated to the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform.-Duties:The Romanian Police are responsible for:...
, and Bogdan-Piteşti was sentenced to nine months in prison for blackmail. Seara fared badly during the period, and was out of print by autumn 1913.
Modernist platform
Before and after the 1913 hiatus, with Bogdan-Piteşti and Arghezi at its helm, Seara expanded its range, encouraging the development of modernist literatureModernist literature
Modernist literature is sub-genre of Modernism, a predominantly European movement beginning in the early 20th century that was characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional aesthetic forms...
, and playing a part in the transition from Romanian Symbolism to 20th century avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
. Its art chronicles celebrated the international success of modern artists Constantin Brâncuşi
Constantin Brancusi
Constantin Brâncuşi was a Romanian-born sculptor who made his career in France. As a child he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. Formal studies took him first to Bucharest, then to Munich, then to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris...
and Pascin
Pascin
Julius Mordecai Pincas, known as Pascin, Jules Pascin, or the "Prince of Montparnasse", was born in Bulgaria to parents of four ethnicities. During World War I, he worked in the United States. He is best known as a painter in Paris, where he was strongly identified with the Modernist movement and...
, both of whom, Seara argued, were culturally tied to Romania. They also promoted the work of young artist Theodor Pallady
Theodor Pallady
Theodor Pallady was a Romanian painter.-Biography:Pallady was born in Iaşi, but at a young age, his family moved to Dresden, where he studied engineering at the Dresden University of Technology between 1887 and 1889. At the same time, he studied art with Erwin Oehme, who, recognising his artistic...
, most notably with a series of articles in which Arghezi spoke about Pallady paintings in the Bogdan-Piteşti collection. The magazine's staff was later joined by Marcel Janco
Marcel Janco
Marcel Janco was a Romanian and Israeli visual artist, architect, art theorist and cultural promoter, known as the co-inventor of Dadaism and a leading exponent of Constructivism in Eastern Europe. His first contribution came in the 1910s, when he joined up with poets Tristan Tzara and Ion Vinea...
, known later for his work as a Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
and Constructivist
Constructivism (art)
Constructivism was an artistic and architectural philosophy that originated in Russia beginning in 1919, which was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes. Constructivism had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th...
artist.
During those years, Seara was joined by two poets formerly affiliated with Simbolul
Simbolul
Simbolul was a Romanian literary and art magazine, published in Bucharest between October and December 1912. Co-founded by writers Tristan Tzara and Ion Vinea, together with visual artist Marcel Janco, while they were all high school students, the journal was a late representative of international...
review: the Imagist
Imagism
Imagism was a movement in early 20th-century Anglo-American poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. The Imagists rejected the sentiment and discursiveness typical of much Romantic and Victorian poetry. This was in contrast to their contemporaries, the Georgian poets,...
Adrian Maniu and the experimental Symbolist Ion Vinea. By summer 1914, the latter's articles included jibes against the moderate Symbolist figure Ovid Densusianu
Ovid Densusianu
Ovid Densusianu was a Romanian poet, philologist, linguist and folklorist. He is known for introducing new trends of European modernism into Romanian literature.He was a professor at the University of Bucharest, and a member of the Romanian Academy....
, ridiculing his disciples at Versuri şi Proză magazine (the beginning of a dispute which Vinea would continue during his time at Chemarea magazine). In addition to poetry and prose fragments, Vinea was assigned a regular column about life in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
. Also published by Seara was the Symbolist George Bacovia
George Bacovia
George Bacovia was a Romanian symbolist poet. While he initially belonged to the local Symbolist movement, his poetry came to be seen as a precursor of Romanian Modernism and eventually established him in critical esteem alongside Tudor Arghezi, Lucian Blaga and Ion Barbu as one of the most...
, with poetry pieces such as "Winter Lead", "Autumn Nerves" and "Poem in the Mirror"—generally second editions, previously published in Noua Revistă Română and other reviews, they were later included in Bacovia's lionized collection Plumb.
Himself a literary chronicler, Tudor Arghezi analyzed Wilde's comedy An Ideal Husband
An Ideal Husband
An Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedic stage play by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour...
(Issue 1/1914) and, unusually, ridiculed the Symbolist poetry of Mateiu Caragiale. His main focus was on satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
, which he often directed at traditionalists and ethnic nationalists
Ethnic nationalism
Ethnic nationalism is a form of nationalism wherein the "nation" is defined in terms of ethnicity. Whatever specific ethnicity is involved, ethnic nationalism always includes some element of descent from previous generations and the implied claim of ethnic essentialism, i.e...
, particularly those arriving from Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. One such text attacked the poet laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
Octavian Goga
Octavian Goga
Octavian Goga was a Romanian politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator.-Life:Born in Răşinari, nearby Sibiu, he was an active member in the Romanian nationalistic movement in Transylvania and of its leading group, the Romanian National Party in Austria-Hungary. Before World War I,...
, arguing that his credo as a Transylvanian refugee was a comfortable state job in the Kingdom of Romania. In a 1913 piece, Arghezi targeted scholar Ion Bianu for allegedly mismanaging the Romanian Academy
Romanian Academy
The Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 acting members who are elected for life....
Library: "From his longjohns and his cleated boots, Mr. Bianu has jumped straight into the aristocracy and [...] turned our library [...] into his own, Transylvanian, empire. [...] An impertinent voice submits one to a detailed interrogation. It is Mr. Bianu, a jaundice
Jaundice
Jaundice is a yellowish pigmentation of the skin, the conjunctival membranes over the sclerae , and other mucous membranes caused by hyperbilirubinemia . This hyperbilirubinemia subsequently causes increased levels of bilirubin in the extracellular fluid...
d liver with a moustache, with the evil gaze of a man who collects many salaries but is aware of his own voidness and dullness". Under Arghezi, Seara popularized international modern art
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
, notably by publishing the Fauvist
Fauvism
Fauvism is the style of les Fauves , a short-lived and loose group of early twentieth-century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism...
drawings of André Derain
André Derain
André Derain was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse.-Early years:...
.
As part of its cultural agenda, Seara endorsed the emancipation
Jewish Emancipation
Jewish emancipation was the external and internal process of freeing the Jewish people of Europe, including recognition of their rights as equal citizens, and the formal granting of citizenship as individuals; it occurred gradually between the late 18th century and the early 20th century...
of Romanian Jews
History of the Jews in Romania
The history of Jews in Romania concerns the Jews of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is nowadays Romanian territory....
, and, in contrast to the antisemitism of more traditionalist reviews, opened itself to Jewish writers. In October 1913, Seara obtained and published a confidential order which gave Romanian Land Forces
Romanian Land Forces
The Romanian Land Forces is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the force.The Romanian Land Forces were founded on...
officers a free hand to discriminate against Jewish recruits. In September 1914, it hosted the journalistic debut of Jewish avant-garde author Jacques G. Costin, who was, with Vinea, caretaker of the cultural pages. Like Arghezi and Vinea, Costin experimented with satirical genres, his sketch story
Sketch story
A sketch story, or sketch, is a piece of writing that is generally shorter than a short story, and contains very little, if any, plot. The term was most popularly-used in the late nineteenth century. As a literary work, it is also often referred to simply as the sketch.-Style:A sketch is mainly...
techniques borrowed from 19th century classic Ion Luca Caragiale
Ion Luca Caragiale
Ion Luca Caragiale was a Wallachian-born Romanian playwright, short story writer, poet, theater manager, political commentator and journalist...
(Mateiu's father). Seara was also receiving contributions from Grigore Goilav, the Armenian Romanian ethnographer and art historian.
Germanophilia and propaganda
A final period in Searas history coincided with the start of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and Romania's neutrality period. As public opinion divided itself between supporters of the Entente Powers
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
and those who favored the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
, Seara and Minerva stood for the latter group, the "Germanophile
Germanophile
A Germanophile is a person who is fond of German culture, German people, and Germany in general, exhibiting as it were German nationalism in spite of not being an ethnic German or a German citizen. Its opposite is Germanophobia...
s". The two papers reputedly entered this competition for the public eye with a handicap. An Ententist daily, Adevărul
Adevarul
Adevărul is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in 1871 and reestablished in 1888, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published during the Romanian Kingdom's existence, adopting an independent pro-democratic position, advocating land reform and universal suffrage...
, claimed that, together, Seara and Minerva had consumed 481 ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s of paper in printing from January 1 to August 31, 1914 (for itself and Dimineaţa, it claimed a figure of 1,284 tons).
Like other samples of Germanophile media, Seara is widely alleged to have been the recipient of special propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
funds from the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
and Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. According to historian Lucian Boia
Lucian Boia
Lucian Boia is a Romanian historian, known especially for his works debunking Romanian nationalism and Communism.-Bibliography:* Eugen Brote: Litera, 1974...
, Germanophile newspapers had little room for maneuver, given their unpopular agenda: "of little interest, boycotted and with their offices once in a while assaulted by the 'indignant' public, [they] could never have supported themselves without an infusion of German money." Similarly, researcher Carmen Patricia Reneti argues: "Seara would [never] have been the paper most useful to German propaganda. [...] Minerva and Seara were read by just about no one." Claims of German payments focus on Bogdan-Piteşti's shady political dealings, the target of controversy since 1915. Boia notes that the patron, who had no reason for refusing German bribes, may have been genuinely committed to the Germanophile cause, regardless of such additional benefits. Boia also claims that, keeping in with a Romanian tradition of the "baksheesh
Baksheesh
Baksheesh is a term used to describe tipping, charitable giving, and certain forms of political corruption and bribery in the Middle East and South Asia...
", the Francophile
Francophile
Is a person with a positive predisposition or interest toward the government, culture, history, or people of France. This could include France itself and its history, the French language, French cuisine, literature, etc...
press may also have received funds from the Entente. Contrarily, historian Ion Bulei argues that "fraudulent wheeler-dealer" Bogdan-Piteşti and his "money obsessed" patron were merely directing their support toward the highest bidder. According to various accounts, Bogdan-Piteşti was diverting much of his own political payments into increasing his prestigious art collection or supporting his retinue.
In contrast to other Germanophile mouthpieces, Seara stated its support for the Central Powers early on, before such financing could occur—even before its patron Cantacuzino decided which side he supported. In the months of strife which preceded the actual war, the Romanian daily published telegrams and concerned commentary about the effects of nationalism in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
and the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. These accused the Greek Kingdom
Kingdom of Greece
The Kingdom of Greece was a state established in 1832 in the Convention of London by the Great Powers...
and Northern Epirote militias
Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus
The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded on February 28, 1914, in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars, by the Greeks living in southern Albania ....
of decimating the Aromanian
Aromanians
Aromanians are a Latin people native throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Serbia and Romania . An older term is Macedo-Romanians...
community in Korçë
Korçë
Korçë is a city in southeastern Albania and the capital of the Korçë District. It has a population of around 105,000 people , making it the sixth largest city in Albania...
during April 1914, and urged Romanians to express their indignation. A month later, Seara was taking a stand against Romanian irredentism over Transylvania, as analyzed by the Transylvanian Germanophile Ioan Slavici
Ioan Slavici
Ioan Slavici was a Transylvanian-born Romanian writer and journalist. He made his debut in Convorbiri literare , with the comedy Fata de birău...
. Slavici's texts scandalized the nationalist press for supporting Vasile Mangra, the pro-Hungarian priest an suspected agent of influence
Agent of influence
An agent of influence is a person whose political actions and arguments are alleged to serve the interests of a foreign power, and to be directed or manipulated by the intelligence agency of that power...
. However, the newspaper was also criticizing the Hungarian authorities for demanding the extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
of university student Măndăchescu. The latter, Seara reported, was wrongly accused of a bomb attack on the Diocese of Hajdúdorog
Roman Catholic Diocese of Hajdúdorog
The Diocese of Hajdúdorog is a diocese of the Byzantine Rite of the Catholic church in Hungary The diocese is located in the city of Hajdúdorog in the Ecclesiastical province of Esztergom-Budapest.-History:* June 8, 1912: Established as Diocese of Hajdúdorog...
, when the act was more likely attributable to the revolutionist Ilie Cătărău
Ilie Cătărău
Ilie Cătărău was a Bessarabian-born political adventurer, soldier and spy, who spent parts of his life in Romania. Leading a secretive life, he is widely held to have been the main perpetrator of two bomb attacks, which sought to exacerbate tensions between Romania and Austria-Hungary in...
.
During June, Seara also circulated a rumor about secret talks between King
King of Romania
King of the Romanians , rather than King of Romania , was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when Romania was proclaimed a republic....
Carol I
Carol I of Romania
Carol I , born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was reigning prince and then King of Romania from 1866 to 1914. He was elected prince of Romania on 20 April 1866 following the overthrow of Alexandru Ioan Cuza by a palace coup...
and Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, in Constanţa
Constanta
Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
. Seara claimed that the two royals agreed to a arbiter a shift of power, forcing a union between the Serbian
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...
and Montenegrin
Kingdom of Montenegro
The Kingdom of Montenegro was a monarchy in southeastern Europe during the tumultuous years on the Balkan Peninsula leading up to and during World War I. Legally it was a constitutional monarchy, but absolutist in practice...
kingdoms against the Central Powers' express wishes. In the weeks and months following the Sarajevo Assassination
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were shot dead in Sarajevo, by Gavrilo Princip, one of a group of six Bosnian Serb assassins coordinated by Danilo Ilić...
, Arghezi was contributing articles which blamed the push toward war
Causes of World War I
The causes of World War I, which began in central Europe in July 1914, included many intertwined factors, such as the conflicts and hostility of the four decades leading up to the war. Militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism played major roles in the conflict as well...
on Serbian nationalism
Serbian nationalism
Serbian nationalism refers to the ethnic nationalism of Serbs. Originally arising in the context of the general rise of nationalism in the Balkans under Ottoman rule, under the influence of Serbian linguist Vuk Stefanović Karadžić and Ilija Garašanin....
and the Balkans at large: "Until such time as when Europe shall incorporate and enslave the Balkans, they will endure as the nest where all of Europe's assassinations are being organized"; "the Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
have staged an attempt on Austria[-Hungary]'s existence, in dastardly manner." Arghezi had set his mind on continued neutrality, arguing that it could turn Romania into an arbiter and broker of peace. A similar position was held by Karnabatt.
In autumn 1914, Seara and Minerva were both purchased by a German consortium, although Bogdan-Piteşti was probably still the former's (uncredited) manager. Their acquisition, which reputedly followed an increase in German propaganda and espionage all over Romania, was described as scandalous by Acţiunea, an Ententist newspaper owned by Take Ionescu
Take Ionescu
Take or Tache Ionescu was a Romanian centrist politician, journalist, lawyer and diplomat, who also enjoyed reputation as a short story author. Starting his political career as a radical member of the National Liberal Party , he joined the Conservative Party in 1891, and became noted as a social...
. In a September 24 piece called La mezat ("On Public Sale"), it claimed that Minerva cost the Germans 3 million lei
Romanian leu
The leu is the currency of Romania. It is subdivided into 100 bani . The name of the currency means "lion". On 1 July 2005, Romania underwent a currency reform, switching from the previous leu to a new leu . 1 RON is equal to 10,000 ROL...
, and Seara only 400,000 lei. Bogdan-Piteşti (and German funds) were probably involved in financing a new platform, Cronica, launched by Arghezi and Gala Galaction
Gala Galaction
Gala Galaction was a Romanian Orthodox clergyman and theologian, writer, journalist, left-wing activist, as well as a political figure of the People's Republic of Romania...
in February 1915. In October of that year, with probable German support, Bogdan-Piteşti, Arghezi and Galaction set up another Germanophile newspaper, Libertatea ("Freedom"), presided for a while by the Conservative politico Nicolae Fleva
Nicolae Fleva
Nicolae Fleva was a Wallachian-born Romanian politician, political journalist and lawyer. Known especially for his involvement in political incidents, and for a stated patriotism bordering on demagogy, he tested all political formulas that Romania's two-party system would allow...
. According to one account, Fleva had earlier been approached to take over as Seara manager by German envoys Josef B. Brociner and Hilmar von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen, but, realizing the implications, had refused.
Conservatives and socialists
With many of its articles, Seara popularized Alexandru MarghilomanAlexandru Marghiloman
Alexandru Marghiloman was a Romanian conservative statesman who served for a short time in 1918 as Prime Minister of Romania, and had a decisive role during World War I.-Early career:...
's version of conservatism and geopolitics
Geopolitics
Geopolitics, from Greek Γη and Πολιτική in broad terms, is a theory that describes the relation between politics and territory whether on local or international scale....
. Conservative in outlook, the Russophobic
Russophobia
Russophobia refers to a diverse spectrum of prejudices, dislikes or fears of Russia, Russians, or Russian culture. Its opposite is Russophilia....
and anti-Slavic
Anti-Slavism
Anti-Slavism, also known as Slavophobia, a form of racism or xenophobia, refers to various negative attitudes towards Slavic peoples, most common manifestation being claims of inferiority of Slavic nations with respect to other ethnic groups...
Karnabatt outlined his political vision in some detail, discussing the Entente's imminent "banktruptcy". Ilie Bărbulescu, a Slavist and Marghiloman Conservative who advocated pro-German neutralism, also published articles in Seara during 1915. Beyond this conservative core, Seara colored its pages in various shades of left-wing advocacies, from socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and social democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
to anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
. According to literary historian Paul Cernat, the ideological ambiguity and conjectural alliances between socialists and conservatives was motivated by a common enemy, the pro-Entente and "plutocratic
Plutocracy
Plutocracy is rule by the wealthy, or power provided by wealth. The combination of both plutocracy and oligarchy is called plutarchy. The word plutocracy is derived from the Ancient Greek root ploutos, meaning wealth and kratos, meaning to rule or to govern.-Usage:The term plutocracy is generally...
" National Liberal Party
National Liberal Party (Romania)
The National Liberal Party , abbreviated to PNL, is a centre-right liberal party in Romania. It is the third-largest party in the Romanian Parliament, with 53 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 22 in the Senate: behind the centre-right Democratic Liberal Party and the centre-left Social...
.
The independent socialist Felix Aderca
Felix Aderca
Felix Aderca or F. Aderca Aderca, also known as Zelicu Froim Adercu or Froim Aderca; March 13, 1891 – December 12, 1962) was a Romanian novelist, playwright, poet, journalist and critic, noted as a representative of rebellious modernism in the context of Romanian literature...
, later known as a novelist, expanded on his earlier theoretical articles for Noua Revistă Română, depicting the German Empire as the "progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
" actor in the war. Through the voice of another contributor, the old anarchist scholar Zamfir Arbore
Zamfir Arbore
Zamfir Constantin Arbore was a Bukovinan-born Romanian political activist originally active in the Russian Empire, also known for his work as an amateur historian, geographer and ethnographer. Arbore debuted in left-wing politics from early in life, gained an intimate knowledge of the Russian...
, Seara was focusing its criticism on Russia's Tsarist autocracy
Tsarist autocracy
The Tsarist autocracy |transcr.]] tsarskoye samoderzhaviye) refers to a form of autocracy specific to the Grand Duchy of Muscovy . In a tsarist autocracy, all power and wealth is controlled by the tsar...
, against whom Arbore had been fighting for decades. Similar ideals inspired Alexis Nour, who arrived to Seara from the home-grown leftist current, Poporanism
Poporanism
The word “poporanism” is derived from “popor”, meaning “people” in the Romanian language. The ideology of Romanian Populism and poporanism are interchangeable. Founded by Constantin Stere in the early 1890s, populism is distinguished by its opposition to socialism, promotion of voting rights for...
. Bogdan-Piteşti, whose background was in French anarchism
Anarchism in France
Thinker Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who grew up during the Restoration was the first self-described anarchist. French anarchists fought in the Spanish Civil War as volunteers in the International Brigades. French anarchism reached its height in the late 19th century...
, wrote with noted passion about his socialist allies, using the pseudonym Al. Dodan. On October 6, 1914, Dodan saluted the Romanian Social Democratic Party
Romanian Social Democratic Party (defunct)
The Romanian Social Democratic Party was a social-democratic political party in Romania. It published the magazine România Muncitoare, and later Socialismul, Lumea Nouă, and Libertatea.-Early party:...
for organizing internationalist
Proletarian internationalism
Proletarian internationalism, sometimes referred to as international socialism, is a Marxist social class concept based on the view that capitalism is now a global system, and therefore the working class must act as a global class if it is to defeat it...
peace rallies, as "emerging from the mind and soul of the entire Romanian people".
Avram Steuerman-Rodion
Avram Steuerman-Rodion
Avram Steuerman-Rodion, born Adolf Steuerman or Steuermann and often referred to as just Rodion , was a Romanian poet, anthologist, physician and socialist journalist...
, a socialist based in Iaşi
Iasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
, contributed a special series of articles documenting the growth of Germanophila in that city, and throughout Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
region. Titled Scrisori din Iaşi ("Letters from Iaşi"), it notably chronicled the conflicts between the enthusiastically Ententist University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
professors and their more skeptical University of Iaşi colleagues. Seara also enlisted contributions from Ottoi Călin, a member of the PSDR Executive Committee and author of its Zimmerwald pacifist
Zimmerwald Conference
The Zimmerwald Conference was held in Zimmerwald, Switzerland, from September 5 through September 8, 1915. It was an international socialist conference, which saw the beginning of the end of the coalition between revolutionary socialists and reformist socialists in the Second International.-...
manifesto. Despite this agenda, Ottoi was not employed as a political panelist, but, as a practicing physician, held Searas advice column
Advice column
An advice column is a column in a magazine or newspaper written by an advice columnist . The image presented was originally of an older woman providing comforting advice and maternal wisdom, hence the name "aunt"...
.
Bessarabia vs. Transylvania
The national dilemma confronting RomaniansRomanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
during the neutrality period was not just a choice of sides, but also one of irredenta: while the National Liberal overtures toward the Entente were supposed to grant Romania the Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
and other Romanian-inhabited regions of Austria-Hungary, the Conservatives wished to recover Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
, occupied by the Russian Empire—in 1916, the two options seemed mutually exclusive. Seara and Minerva followed the principles of Marghiloman, who had reached the conclusion that the Entente did not in fact support the disestablishment of Austria-Hungary, and who postulated that Russification
Russification
Russification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes by non-Russian communities...
in Bessarabia was more serious than Magyarization
Magyarization
Magyarization is a kind of assimilation or acculturation, a process by which non-Magyar elements came to adopt Magyar culture and language due to social pressure .Defiance or appeals to the Nationalities Law, met...
in Transylvania. Ilie Bărbulescu's Seara articles, deemed "erudite and indigestible" by Boia, focused on the supposed indestructibility of Austria-Hungary, and consoled Transylvanian Romanians with the option of greater devolution
Devolution
Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...
(see United States of Greater Austria
United States of Greater Austria
The United States of Greater Austria was an idea created by a group of scholars surrounding the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand that never came to pass...
). Writer Ion Gorun, who hailed from an anti-Hungarian community but was also a Habsburg loyalist
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
, was a distinct presence at Seara. His articles favored the term "Austria" instead of "Austria-Hungary", and claimed that Romania could only find "triumph" as an Austrian ally. Gorun spoke of any alliance with Russia as dangerous and absurd; the implication of such a move, he argued, caught Transylvanian Romanians in a pincer and also meant Romania's subjugation to the Russian Empire.
The cause of Bessarabia was championed by Arbore, who at the time rejected all notion that the region could ever witness a Russian devolution, and expressed distress that Romanian intellectuals were more interested in the fate of France than in the freedoms of Bessarabian Romanians. Bogdan-Piteşti's various articles also show his interest in the cause of Bessarabia. In this context, expressing his regret that "most civilized" France had fallen into an alliance with the world's "most savage, most ignorant and bloodiest oligarchy [...] the Russia of pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
s and assassinations", he spoke of an alliance with the Tsarist regime as a "national crime". "Dodan" suggested that Austria-Hungary was preferable as a friend, being Romania's only defence against the "Slavic deluge
Pan-Slavism
Pan-Slavism was a movement in the mid-19th century aimed at unity of all the Slavic peoples. The main focus was in the Balkans where the South Slavs had been ruled for centuries by other empires, Byzantine Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Venice...
". Later, he argued that the cause of Transylvania was settled within Austria-Hungary, and mapped out a strategy for Romania: neutral until the end of the war, the country could then march its troops into Bessarabia. In October 1915, Aderca wrote that the Transylvanian cause was doomed, and, since the Germans were poised to win the war, "a union of the losers"; instead, he urged Romania to invade Bessarabia. Karnabatt's articles began by stating a minimal objective in "the reincorporation of Bessarabia", but later advocated the extension of Romanian territory eastward, into Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
and down to the Dnieper River
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
(as a counter-measure to a Greater Bulgaria
Greater Bulgaria
Greater Bulgaria is term to identify the territory associated with a historical national state and a modern Bulgarian irredentist nationalist movement which would include most of Macedonia, Thrace and Moesia...
).
An unusually vast and, according to Boia, naïve project was outlined by the Bessarabian-born Nour, who claimed that, even if granted a military victory, Austria-Hungary would still devolve into "developed nations", leaving Romania with an option to annex Transylvania, Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
, the Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
, Crişana
Crisana
Crișana is a geographical and historical region divided today between Romania and Hungary, named after the Criș River and its three tributaries: the Crișul Alb, Crișul Negru and Crișul Repede....
and Maramureş
Maramures
Maramureș may refer to the following:*Maramureș, a geographical, historical, and ethno-cultural region in present-day Romania and Ukraine, that occupies the Maramureș Depression and Maramureș Mountains, a mountain range in North East Carpathians...
. He speculated that a late entry into the war could bring Romania possession of Bessarabia, large swathes of the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, and Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, and even that victory against the Entente would bring her an extra-European colonial empire
Colonial empire
The Colonial empires were a product of the European Age of Exploration that began with a race of exploration between the then most advanced maritime powers, Portugal and Spain, in the 15th century...
.
Disestablishment and legacy
On separate occasions in 1916, Bogdan-Piteşti and Karnabatt toured the German Empire. Bogdan-Piteşti was the first, being accompanied by concubine Domnica and Mateiu CaragialeMateiu Caragiale
Mateiu Ion Caragiale was a Romanian poet and prose writer, best known for his novel Craii de Curtea-Veche, which portrays the milieu of boyar descendants before and after World War I. Caragiale's style, associated with Symbolism, the Decadent movement of the fin de siècle, and early modernism, was...
. Karnabatt publicized his impressions about German order and the coming victory with a series of letters, published by Seara in June 1916. The newspaper's wrong bet on a German victory on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
was strained by Alexis Nour who, in April 1916, wrote that a French capitulation would inevitably follow the Battle of Verdun
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was one of the major battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February – 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France...
.
Seara disappeared, together with Minerva, Libertatea, Steagul and most other Germanophile papers, in late summer 1916, shortly after Romania declared war on the Central Powers. When the German and Austrian troops invaded southern Romania, forcing the Ententist government to flee for Iaşi
Iasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
, some of Searas former staff remained in Bucharest and chose the path of collaborationism
Collaborationism
Collaborationism is cooperation with enemy forces against one's country. Legally, it may be considered as a form of treason. Collaborationism may be associated with criminal deeds in the service of the occupying power, which may include complicity with the occupying power in murder, persecutions,...
. This was notably pursued by Arghezi, Galaction, Bărbulescu and Karnabatt, all of whom wrote for the propaganda tribune Gazeta Bucureştilor. In contrast, several former Seara contributors silenced their criticism of the Entente throughout the rest of the war. Avram Steuerman-Rodion
Avram Steuerman-Rodion
Avram Steuerman-Rodion, born Adolf Steuerman or Steuermann and often referred to as just Rodion , was a Romanian poet, anthologist, physician and socialist journalist...
was drafted into the Romanian Land Forces
Romanian Land Forces
The Romanian Land Forces is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the force.The Romanian Land Forces were founded on...
as a medic, earning distinction, but returned to Germanophile journalism after Romania sealed the separate peace of 1918; the victim of clinical depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
, he committed suicide in autumn. Also a military physician, received into the Order of the Star of Romania
Order of the Star of Romania
The Order of the Star of Romania is Romania's highest civil order. It is awarded by the President of Romania...
, Ottoi Călin died of typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
in early 1917. Aderca too saw action on the front, and preserved his socialist-inspired neutralism—it later surfaced in his various fiction writings.
After the November 1918 Armistice with Germany changed Romania's fortunes, leading to the creation of Greater Romania
Greater Romania
The Greater Romania generally refers to the territory of Romania in the years between the First World War and the Second World War, the largest geographical extent of Romania up to that time and its largest peacetime extent ever ; more precisely, it refers to the territory of the Kingdom of...
, several former Seara journalists were prosecuted for treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
. In March 1919, a military tribunal
Military tribunal
A military tribunal is a kind of military court designed to try members of enemy forces during wartime, operating outside the scope of conventional criminal and civil proceedings. The judges are military officers and fulfill the role of jurors...
sentenced Karnabatt to ten, Arghezi to five years imprisonment. They were however pardoned by King
King of Romania
King of the Romanians , rather than King of Romania , was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when Romania was proclaimed a republic....
Ferdinand I
Ferdinand I of Romania
Ferdinand was the King of Romania from 10 October 1914 until his death.-Early life:Born in Sigmaringen in southwestern Germany, the Roman Catholic Prince Ferdinand Viktor Albert Meinrad of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern, was a son of Leopold, Prince of...
, in winter 1920. Bogdan-Piteşti had joined them in prison: according to some accounts, he was also held for collaborationism, while others record, in more detail, that he was serving an earlier sentence for fraud.
Arghezi's texts for Seara were largely unknown to later generations. They again saw print in 2003, in a critical edition co-edited by daughter Mitzura Arghezi (Domnica Theodorescu) and Traian Radu. According to philogist Gheorghe Pienescu, who collected and reedited the texts for printing in the 1960s, the copies were taken from him under false pretense by Mitzura Arghezi, and never returned. As an additional contribution to Romanian literature, Searas popularization of the expression craii de Curtea-Veche may have inspired Mateiu Caragiale in writing his celebrated 1929 novel
Craii de Curtea-Veche
Craii de Curtea-Veche is a novel by the inter-war Romanian author Mateiu Caragiale...
.