Greater Romania
The term Greater Romania (Romanian: România Mare) usually refers to the borders of the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period,[1] achieved after the Great Union. It also refers to a pan-nationalist[2][3] idea.
For other uses, see România Mare.
As a concept, its main goal is the creation of a nation-state which would incorporate all Romanian speakers.[4][5][6][7][8] In 1920, after the incorporation of Transylvania, Bukovina, Bessarabia and parts of Banat, Crișana, and Maramureș, the Romanian state reached its largest peacetime geographical extent ever (295,049 km2). Today, the concept serves as a guiding principle for the unification of Moldova and Romania.
The idea is comparable to other similar conceptions such as the Greater Bulgaria, Megali Idea, Greater Yugoslavia, Greater Hungary and Greater Italy.[9][10]
Ideology[edit]
The theme of national identity had been always a key concern for Romanian culture and politics.[11] The Romanian national ideology in the first decades of the twentieth century was a typical example of ethnocentric nationalism.[12] The concept of "Greater Romania" shows similarities to the idea of national state.[13] The Romanian territorial claims were based on "primordial racial modalities", the essential goal of them was to unify the biologically defined Romanians.[14] The nation-building based on the French model of a unitary nation-state became an all time priority especially in the interwar and the Communist periods.[15]