SOCIAL SYSTEM AND VALUES
Since the end of World War II Romanian society and its values have been
in a state of flux. The aim of communist social and economic policies
has been to destroy the old order and replace it with a new one that
will reflect communist ideology. The resulting changes have been
fundamental and far reaching, particularly in the structure of the
society and the place occupied in it by particular individuals. The
effect on values has been less easy to determine.
The extent and the pace of change have been slowing down since the early
1960s, and some aspects of the old social order were beginning to
reemerge, although in different forms. The changes that were continuing
to affect the society in the 1970s were more the result of economic
growth than of conscious efforts to bring them about. This was
particularly true of the changing role of the family, which has come
about as a consequence of increased industrialization and urbanization
as much as by government design.
Least affected by the social upheaval since 1945 have been the ethnic
composition of the country and the relations between the various ethnic
groups. Although the population has always been predominantly Romanian,
Hungarians and Germans constitute a majority in some areas of the
country and remain a source of potential political and social problems.
The Hungarian minority in particular, making up more than 8 percent of
the population in 1966, has always been very sensitive to what it
considers Romanian domination and has at times harbored irredentist
feelings.
ETHNIC COMPOSITION
The population of Romania is basically homogeneous, although it includes
elements of almost every ethnic group in Central and Eastern Europe. At
the time of the 1966 census, Romanians constituted 88 percent of the
population. The largest single minority group were the Magyars, or
Hungarians, constituting 8.4 percent of the population. They were
followed by the Germans with 2 percent of the population. All other
ethnic groups--Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Ukrainians, Russians, Czechs,
Slovaks, Turks, Tatars, Bulgarians, Jews and Gypsies--were simply
listed as "other" and together made up only 1.6 percent of the
population.
The Constitution of 1965 guarantees equal rights to all citizens
regardless of nationality or race and stipulates legal sanctions against
both discrimination and instigation of national or racial animosities.
National minorities are guaranteed the free use of their mother tongue
in education, the communications media, and their dealings with
government authorities and unrestricted perpetuation of their cultural
traditions.
Romanians
The origins of the Romanians and their language have been the subject of
differing interpretations and controversy. Romanians are related to the
Vlachs, a pastoral people speaking a Latin-derived language who are
found in the mountainous regions of northern Greece and southern
Yugoslavia.
According to Romanian tradition, Romanians are the direct descendants of
the Dacians, who inhabited the territory of modern Romania before the
Christian Era. The Dacians were conquered by Roman legions under Emperor
Trajan in A.D. 106 and became romanized during 165 years of Roman
control. When Emperor Aurelian abandoned control of Dacia in 271, in the
face of Gothic invasions, the romanized Dacians sought refuge in the
rugged Carpathian Mountains, where they preserved their Latin language
and culture until more settled conditions allowed them to return to the
plains in the tenth century (see ch. 2).
The period of Roman rule of Dacia is well documented, but the absence of
any firm indication of the presence of a Latin-speaking population in
the territory of contemporary Romania until the tenth century has given
rise to another theory of the origin of Romanians, developed mostly by
Hungarian historians. This theory maintains that the Dacians withdrew
with the Roman legions south of the Danube. There they absorbed elements
of Thracian and Slavic culture, in addition to that of their Roman
rulers. Starting in the tenth century, a people speaking a Romance
language moved northward across the Danube as far as Slovakia and
settled in the area that later became Romania.
The Romanian theory of their origin stresses that a people speaking a
Romance language continuously occupied the territory claimed by the
Romanian state, thus rendering legitimacy to the claim. The other theory
stresses the absence of a Romance-language-speaking people in
Transylvania at the time of the Magyar immigrations into that region,
thus giving legitimacy to the Hungarian claim to Transylvania.
Whatever their origin, Romanians have occupied the territory of their
present state since the Middle Ages. In 1966 they numbered 16.8 million
and formed the majority population in most of the country (see fig. 5).
Romanian, a Romance language, differs sharply from the languages of
neighboring countries which, with the exception of Hungarian, are all
Slavic tongues. The basis for Romanian seems to be the Vulgar Latin of
ancient Rome. Long contact with Slavic-speaking peoples has left its
mark on the vocabulary but has not affected grammar or syntax, which
remain similar to those of other Romance languages. The vocabulary of
literary Romanian is more purely of Latin origin than that of the spoken
dialects. Frequently, parallel words of Latin and Slavic derivation
exist for an object or concept and are used interchangeably. Turkish,
Albanian, Hungarian, and German have also influenced the vocabulary of
the spoken language in various parts of the country.
[Illustration: Source: Adapted from Ian M. Matley, Romania: A
Profile, New York, 1970, p. 276.
_Figure 5. Romania, Distribution of Ethnic Groups, 1966._]
Hungarians
In the 1966 census Hungarians numbered 1.6 million, constituting 8.4
percent of the total population. Since 1947, when Romania acquired its
present borders, the number of Hungarians within its borders has
remained relatively stable, although their percentage in the total
population has been declining.
Hungarians form the majority population in parts of Transylvania and in
pockets along the Hungarian border. They form a significant minority of
the population in the rest of Transylvania and in the Banat region. In
1952 the area of greatest Hungarian concentration in eastern
Transylvania was designated the Hungarian Autonomous Region
(Mures-Magyar) and was given considerable degree of self-government to
deal with complaints of political and cultural oppression by Romanians.
The region was eliminated in the administrative reorganization of 1968
(see ch. 9).
In 1971 it was estimated that slightly more than half of Romania's
Hungarian minority still lived in rural areas. Several Transylvanian
cities--including Cluj, Oradea, Baia-Mare, and Tirgu Mures--also have a
high percentage of Hungarian inhabitants.
Hungarians first moved into the territory occupied by modern Romania in
the ninth century as part of the Magyar invasion of the central European
plain. Their number grew through colonization during the period of
Hungarian rule of Transylvania, which began with the conquest of the
area in the eleventh century and ended in 1918. One group of
colonists--the Szeklers, or Szekelys--were settled in the eastern
borderlands of Transylvania in the first part of the twelfth century to
protect the plains from invaders. The ethnic origin of the Szeklers is
in dispute. Some authorities claim they are Magyars; others claim they
are non-Magyars who absorbed Magyar culture over long years of contact.
During the Middle Ages, Szeklers were distinct from Magyars in political
and social organization. Although the distinction between them and the
Hungarians has disappeared in modern times and Romanian official
statistics do not differentiate, Szekler culture is still considered
more purely Magyar than that of other Hungarians who have absorbed
influences from the West.
With the exception of some Szekler characteristics, the culture and
language of the Hungarian minority in Romania are indistinguishable from
those of their kinsmen in Hungary. They are, however, quite
distinguishable from the Romanians. This distinction is accentuated by
religious differences. Romanians are predominantly Orthodox, whereas
more than half of the Hungarians in the country are Roman Catholic, most
of the remainder are Calvinists, and some are Unitarians.
The culture and language of the Hungarian minority are being preserved
and promoted through schools, newspapers, periodicals, books, theater,
and other cultural activities. Members of the Hungarian minority,
however, frequently complain that the number of schools, books, and
other cultural material available to them in their own language is far
short of the demand and not nearly proportionate to their numbers.
Germans
Approximately 380,000 Germans lived in Romania in 1966. The size of the
German minority was greatly reduced through voluntary repatriation since
the 1930s, when it numbered over 600,000. It has continued to decrease
since 1966 through emigration to the Federal Republic of Germany (West
Germany) supported by the West German government and permitted in
varying volume by the Romanian authorities.
The German population is divided into two groups--the Saxons and the
Swabians. Although more or less equal in size, the groups differ in
origin and, partly, in culture. The origin of the group usually
identified as Saxons is not quite clear, but it was settled by the
Hungarian rulers in the Transylvanian borderlands in the twelfth century
for the same purpose as the Szeklers. The Saxons live mainly in the
cities, such as Sibiu, Brasov, and Sighisoara, which they themselves
founded and which have distinctly German characteristics. Some live in
rural areas surrounding these cities.
Forming the majority population in a small area, the Saxons have lived
in relative isolation until modern times. Their dialect and culture have
retained medieval characteristics long abandoned by Germans elsewhere.
All Saxons have been Lutheran since that denomination was introduced
into Transylvania in the sixteenth century.
The Swabians are Roman Catholics and live in the Banat region. As with
the Saxons, their designation as Swabians does not truly reflect their
origin. They were settled in the Banat during the eighteenth century to
work the land recently vacated by the Turks. Before their arrival there,
the language and culture of the Swabians had undergone various
modifications to which the Saxons had not been exposed. Most Swabians
are peasants farming the rich plain around Timisoara.
Like the Hungarians, the German minority in Romania has resisted
assimilation and maintains its cultural identity through German-language
schools, books and newspapers, radio and television programs, and
theatrical performances and through the perpetuation of their
characteristic dress, dances, and folk art.
Jews
In those censuses in which they are identified (but not including that
of 1966), Jews are listed as an ethnic group or nationality rather than
as members of a religious denomination. In the 1956 census they
represented the third largest minority in the country with a membership
of 146,000. In early 1972 Western observers roughly estimated the number
of Jews still residing in Romania at slightly under 100,000.
The influx of Jews into Romania took place during the first half of the
nineteenth century when large numbers left the unsettled conditions of
Poland and Russia to seek new opportunities in prospering Moldavia and,
later, Walachia. A small number of Jews from various parts of
Austria-Hungary settled in Transylvania at the same time and earlier. By
1900 Jews constituted more than one-half of the urban population of
Romania, most of them engaged in commerce, banking, or industry. Not
allowed to assimilate by various restrictions on their movement and
activities, the Jews remained apart from the rest of the population.
This apartness and their role in the economy engendered distrust and
resentment, which periodically erupted into persecution by some elements
of the population (see ch. 2).
The loss of Bessarabia to the Soviet Union and the deportations and
exterminations during World War II by the Nazis reduced the Jewish
population in Romania to its 1956 size. It has been further reduced
since then through emigration to Israel.
Despite their historic separateness from the rest of the society, most
Jews in the mid-twentieth century tend to think of themselves as
Romanians of the Jewish faith rather than an ethnic minority. All speak
Romanian, and only one-fourth claimed Yiddish as their mother tongue in
the 1950s. They continue to be urban oriented, and one-fourth of them
lived in Bucharest in 1956.
Other Minorities
Eight other ethnic groups were counted in the 1956 census. The largest
was Ukrainian, numbering 60,000. Ukrainians formed the majority
population in the southern part of the Danube delta and in pockets
along the Soviet border. Some 45,000 Yugoslavs, mostly Serbs, lived in
the southern Banat around the Iron Gate. Other Slav minorities included
39,000 Russians in northern Dobruja, near the Bessarabian border; 12,000
Bulgarians, mostly in southern Dobruja; and between 18,000 and 35,000
Czechs and Slovaks in the Banat.
Other ethnic groups of significance were 20,000 Tatars and 12,000 to
14,000 Turks in Dobruja, remnants of the period of Turkish rule.
Gypsies, variously estimated between 50,000 to 100,000, are not
recognized officially as an ethnic minority and not counted separately
in censuses. This, combined with their still largely nomadic life, makes
any reasonably accurate enumeration difficult.
Interethnic Relations
Relations between Romanians and Hungarians, the two largest ethnic
groups, have been less than smooth. During the eight centuries of
Hungarian rule of Transylvania, Romanians, who constituted the poorest
rural elements of the population, occupied a subservient position to the
wealthier, more urbanized, and better educated Hungarians and Germans.
With the joining of Transylvania to Romania in 1918, the Hungarian and
German populations of the region lost much of their favored position
and, through land reform and nationalization since World War II, they
lost their source of wealth. These factors have engendered ill feeling
between the groups and have made Transylvania a continuing source of
potential problems (see ch. 2; ch. 10). Other factors dividing Romanians
and Hungarians have been religious and cultural differences.
Sensitive to the respective nationalist feelings of the Romanians and
Hungarians and to the historical dissensions between them, government
policy since 1947 has been one of promoting unity and cooperation among
all groups for the good of the country as a whole. The theme of equality
of all members of different ethnic groups and their close cooperation
permeates all official documents, reports, and statements. The Romanian
Communist Party, which before World War II had a high percentage from
ethnic minorities, represents itself as the historic protector of
minority populations and their rights. In the late 1960s the party
claimed that over 11 percent of its membership were non-Romanians, in
line with the proportional strength of minorities in the population.
During the first decade of communist rule, the government and the people
were so preoccupied with efforts to restructure society and foster
communist internationalism that ethnic chauvinism and problems of
interethnic relations receded into the background. The 1960s, however,
saw the development of Romanian independence vis-à-vis Soviet domination
and a resurgence of Romanian nationalism, which again raised the
potential for minority problems. As the government and party stressed
Romanian national independence and gave new emphasis to the historic and
cultural heritage of the Romanians, they also emphasized the unity,
equality, and fraternal cooperation between Romanians and minority
groups. National unity became a vital factor in August 1968, and
people's councils were established in the Hungarian, German, and other
minority communities to act as spokesmen for the ethnic minorities in
the Socialist Unity Front (see ch. 9).
The German minority, while anxious to preserve its cultural identity and
rights, seems to have good relations with the Romanians and with other
ethnic groups. Although their historic experience and their religion
give them a cultural affinity with the Hungarians, they have remained
aloof from the Hungarian-Romanian issue in Transylvania. As a whole,
Germans have remained to themselves in their own communities and have
made little effort to integrate into the national society. This has
engendered some resentment on the part of Romanians but no real
hostility.
Historically, the relations between Jews and other Romanians have been
fraught with suspicion and resentment, which found expression in
occasional outbursts of anti-Semitism (see ch. 2). Although the same
emotions undoubtedly still color the attitudes and reactions of some of
the people, they have been less evident since World War II, possibly
because those Jews who survived and remained in the country have
integrated themselves into society and identify with the Romanian
majority.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Family
Traditionally, the family had been the basic social unit that gave
identity and security to the individual and furthered the values of
society. Family cohesion was great, and close relations were maintained
with parents, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, and first cousins.
Increased mobility and changing life-styles have somewhat loosened this
cohesion, particularly among urban families. A growing number of women
work outside the home; many men combine work and study, or they work at
more than one job in order to improve the family standard of living; and
children spend most of their time in school or youth organization
activities. Thus, members of the family spend less time together, and
the emphasis in daily life is to some degree shifting from the family to
the outside world.
In official writing the family is hailed as the cornerstone of socialist
society; and family cohesion, loyalty, and responsibility, as socialist
virtues. Exemplary family life, particularly exemplary motherhood, is
honored with citations and prizes. At the same time, however, all the
factors that tend to undermine traditional family life, such as the
employment of a greater number of women, are encouraged and promoted.
Since World War II families have tended to be small, having one or two
children. Among the German and Hungarian minorities, families have
always tended to be small, but Romanian families in the past were
larger, particularly in rural areas where children were an important
source of labor. The government became so alarmed by the dropping birth
rate that it passed strict new laws in the 1966-67 period to limit
divorce, abortions, and the sale of contraceptives. The following years
showed a sharp upsurge in the birth rate and a dramatic drop in the
divorce rate, but in 1970 the birth rate again began to decline.
The main reasons for the drop in the birth rate and reduction in family
size have been low wages and a shortage of housing. Many wives must work
to help support the family, but published interviews with working wives
indicate that they want few, if any, children because they lack the time
and energy to care for them as they would like. In addition, the
continuing housing shortage in urban areas forces families to live in
crowded and inadequate quarters, which mitigates against having
children.
In the eyes of the state, marriage is a secular matter. Religious
ceremonies are permitted but must be preceded by a civil marriage. The
minimum age for marriage without parental consent is eighteen for men
and sixteen for women. People generally marry young--43 percent of the
men married in 1968 were aged twenty to twenty-four, and another 30
percent were twenty-five to twenty-nine; 46 percent of the women married
that year were aged fifteen to nineteen, and another 32 percent were
twenty to twenty-four. The urban marriage rate was dropping considerably
in the late 1960s, probably owing to the housing shortage, but the rural
marriage rate remained fairly stable during the decade.
The law assigns equal rights and obligations to both marriage partners.
In case of divorce the father is obliged to provide financial support
for his children. After the passage of a stringent new divorce law in
1967, the divorce rate dropped from 1.94 per 1,000 population in 1965 to
0.35 per 1,000 population in 1969, making it the lowest rate in Eastern
Europe.
In most families the husband and wife are partners whose relationship is
based on cooperation and mutual respect. The husband is the titular head
of the family who represents it to the outside world, but within the
family he customarily consults with his wife on almost all matters.
Patriarchal families where the father is the undisputed head are
encountered among some peasants. Ideally, the husband provides for the
family and protects it from the outside world, and the wife concerns
herself with keeping house and raising children.
The diminution of the family's significance in rearing children has,
however, fundamentally affected the role of the family in the second
half of the twentieth century. As a result of the growing number of
working women the roles of the husband and wife are no longer as clearly
differentiated. Almost two-thirds of women aged over fifteen in 1966
were employed. Approximately three-fourths of these were married women
who had assumed some of the husband's role of provider for the family.
At the same time they had relinquished some of their former functions in
the household and with respect to children, some of which have been
taken over by husbands or by outside institutions.
Social Stratification
Patterns of social stratification have undergone a complete change since
World War II. First, land reform immediately after the war eliminated
the agricultural aristocracy and increased the number of small peasants
who owned their own land. Then nationalization of industry and commerce
in the late 1940s eliminated the urban propertied class. Finally,
collectivization of agriculture eliminated most of the newly enlarged
small peasant class. By the early 1950s the old system had been
destroyed, and a new one was in the process of formation.
The period of so-called socialist reconstruction of the 1950s resulted
in a general leveling of social strata through the demotion of formerly
privileged groups and the promotion of formerly underprivileged groups.
Persons of peasant or worker origin received preferential treatment in
the allocation of housing and other necessities of life that were in
short supply, in the appointment to jobs, and in access to higher
education. At the same time persons of middle or upper class background
were deprived of their housing, removed from key jobs, and denied
educational opportunities for their children through a discriminatory
quota system at secondary and higher schools. A policy of equalizing
incomes made little distinction between differing levels of education or
skill, thus eliminating material rewards as a basis for social
stratification. At the same time, however, a small group of party
stalwarts, most of them of lower or middle class background, rose
rapidly into the top positions of administrative and political power and
became the new ruling elite.
As viewed by its own ideologists and sociologists, Romania in 1971 was
in the socialist stage of development heading toward a classless
communist society. This meant that there were distinctions in income,
standard of living, and prestige among different groups in the society;
the distinctions, however, were based on occupation rather than
ownership of property. Members of all groups were employees; the only
employer was society as a whole through its organ, the state. The main
basis for the distinction of classes was the difference between manual
labor and intellectual work. This difference was gradually being
eliminated through the continuous upgrading of the prestige of manual
labor.
Most Romanian writing on social strata or differentiation based on
occupation separates society into three classes: workers,
intelligentsia, and peasants. By most definitions, workers are all those
engaged in productive occupations, including both the unskilled laborer
and the highly skilled technician. Intelligentsia are all those engaged
in nonproductive occupations, such as office work or service jobs,
including both the unqualified clerk and the enterprise manager or
university professor. Sometimes, however, the intelligentsia is defined
as all those with a secondary or higher education without regard to
their occupations. Members of agricultural cooperatives are classified
as peasants, whereas employees of state farms are considered workers.
The small number of peasants still working private agricultural holdings
are considered to be a disappearing remnant of the past and, therefore,
are not included in any segment of the socialist society.
In 1969 workers were reported as constituting 40 percent of the
population; intelligentsia, 12.3 percent; and peasants, 47.7 percent.
Comparable statistics for 1960 divided the population into 28.6 percent
worker, 9.5 percent intellectual, and 61.9 percent peasant. Thus, the
peasant class was growing smaller while the worker and intellectual
classes were expanding. A continuation of this trend was forecast for
the 1970s.
Cutting across this division was one based on skill and education. Thus
the unskilled worker, the unskilled peasant, and the unqualified clerk
were all members of the same stratum but of different classes. It was
not clear whether or not a division into strata would continue after
class distinctions were eliminated.
This view of the social structure seems to be more a statement of
ideology than an analysis of the actual structure. On the basis of
material rewards, social prestige, and political power, the highest
stratum is the ruling communist elite, followed in turn by the
intelligentsia--professional, managerial, and administrative personnel
with a higher education--skilled manual workers, lower level
white-collar personnel, and unskilled workers and peasants.
The ruling elite is composed of the top communist leadership in the
party, government, mass organizations, and various branches of the
economy. The main criterion for membership in that elite is power
derived from approved ideological orientation and political activism.
Most members of the ruling elite in 1971 were of lower class background
and were veterans of the communist movement in the interwar period. The
life-style and privileges enjoyed by the ruling elite do not differ much
from those of the intelligentsia, the next level in the social scale,
but the elite holds a monopoly of power.
The intelligentsia consists of those professionals, managers,
technicians, and middle-level party functionaries whose skill and talent
are needed to run the society. Education and competence are usual
criteria for membership in the group as is ideological orthodoxy. In
1970 the intelligentsia numbered somewhat over 1 million persons,
approximately 22 percent of the working population. The size of the
group has been growing rapidly in line with the manpower demands of the
expanding economy. Most members were relatively young, had advanced
educations, and were loyal to communist principles. Their social origins
represented the entire spectrum of precommunist society, but a high
percentage were of peasant or worker background reflecting the
educational advantages afforded to the former lower classes.
The life-style and aspirations of the intelligentsia are those of an
industrial middle class. Because of their key position in the economy,
they command incomes and special benefits that afford them a standard of
living considerably higher than that of the lower levels of the social
scale. Among the benefits that individual members of the intelligentsia
may enjoy are high-quality housing; the use of official cars; access to
special facilities, such as clubs, restaurants, shops, and vacation
resorts; and travel opportunities at home and abroad. The growing
identification of the intelligentsia with the Romanian Communist Party
has also enhanced its privileged status as a group. On an individual
basis, party membership provides access to a network of informal
contacts within the power and control structure, which can open many
doors and win many favors.
Skilled manual workers constitute the top level of the lower social
strata. A considerable gap exists in the income, prestige, and
commensurate standard of living between the skilled worker and the
intelligentsia. The gap can be breached only by acquiring higher
education. The skilled worker, however, enjoys considerable material
advantages over the lowest levels of society by virtue of his important
position in the economy. His prestige, although higher than that of
unskilled workers, differs little from that of the lower level
white-collar personnel because of the low esteem in which manual work
continues to be held.
The level of gradation in material rewards of peasants, unskilled
workers, and lower level white-collar personnel is very slight. The
difference among these groups is mainly one of prestige and opportunity
for advancement. The first step up the social ladder is to leave
agriculture and join the industrial labor force. Then, through education
and training, one can advance to the various levels of skill and their
respective income levels and benefits. Despite their lack of skill,
lower level white-collar personnel hold a higher position on the social
scale than other unskilled persons, principally because of the prestige
attached to nonmanual work.
The main avenue for upward mobility is education. Political
considerations, however, influence both accessibility to education and
accessibility to jobs that confer higher social status. Admission to
educational facilities beyond the required minimum is strictly
controlled and manipulated to achieve desired political, social, and
economic goals (see ch. 6). The emphasis on educational credentials for
upper level jobs limits the possibility of upward mobility through skill
or competence alone. On-the-job training, however, does provide a means
for mobility within the industrial labor force.
Partly as a result of conscious government effort and partly as a
natural consequence of rapid economic expansion, upward mobility has
been considerable since the end of World War II. In the early years of
communist rule, this upward mobility was accompanied by a significant
downward mobility of members of the former middle and upper classes who
lost their property and their jobs and were forced to take up
occupations at the lower end of the social scale. By the end of the
1960s the social structure seemed to be stabilizing. The restructuring
desired by the communist rulers had been accomplished, and the
intelligentsia had grown to the point where it could satisfy from its
own ranks most of the demand for professional and managerial personnel.
This reduction of openings in the upper strata of society for recruits
from the lower levels was beginning to solidify the social structure
into self-perpetuating groups whose status and privileges, or their
lack, are passed down from one generation to the next. The avenues of
education and skill, however, remained open and, together with political
loyalty, provided the means for social advancement.
SOCIAL VALUES
The differing life-styles of the rural and urban populations are
reflected in somewhat differing values. Rural values are rooted in the
land and in deep religious faith. Individualism, self-reliance, strength
of character, and love of land and God are admired attributes of the
rural population. For the mountain shepherd and the small farmer,
self-reliance and resourcefulness are essential for survival. These
qualities are praised in song and legend and are widely held responsible
for the survival of the Romanian people and their culture during
centuries of foreign domination. Loyalty is also a highly admired
peasant quality--loyalty to the land, to the family, to God, to country,
and even to one's animals.
The strong religious convictions that pervade the life of most peasants
in the form of carefully observed rules of conduct and rituals are
viewed by some sophisticated urbanites and peasant youths as
superstition and as a sign of backwardness (see ch. 5).
The values of urban Romanians are more complex than those of peasants.
They have been influenced by ideas and values from abroad, particularly
by those emanating from France. Educated Romanians have long felt a
kinship with the French emotionally and intellectually and have looked
to French culture as a model to emulate. As a result, Bucharest was
often referred to as the "Paris of the Balkans."
Among the values shared by both urban and rural Romanians are
self-reliance, resourcefulness, and patriotism or loyalty to country.
Having been ruled by Turks and Hungarians for centuries and being almost
surrounded by Slavic peoples, the Romanians are very proud of their
Latin heritage and their connection with ancient Rome. It is the shared
Latin heritage that probably makes Romanians look to France as their
cultural contact in the West.
The emphasis on self-reliance, resourcefulness, and making the best of a
situation has given Romanians the reputation of being shrewd businessmen
and hard bargainers.
The extent to which communist efforts to change the traditional values
of the people have been successful is difficult to determine. Such
values as independence, resourcefulness, and patriotism continue to be
reflected in the international relations of the country, particularly in
its relations with the Soviet Union.