The Age of Anniversaries by T. G. Otte

Author:T. G. Otte
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)
Published: 2018-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Bessarabia, 1912: nationalism and mobilization on the imperial periphery

In the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812), eastern territories from the Principality of Moldovia had been ceded by the Ottoman Empire to Russia following the Peace of Bucharest: these lands became known as the Governorate of Bessarabia. A series of festivals were held in Bessarabia during mid-1912 in celebration of this event. Considering first the social context of Bessarabia, according to the most reliable and comprehensive set of data available, the 1897 imperial census, the capital city of Bessarabia of Kishinev (or Chisinau in Romanian) had a total population of 108,500 in 1897, which had grown to 116,500 by 1913.52 Bessarabia’s economy was much more agrarian than that of St. Petersburg, Moscow or other areas to the southwest of the empire, such as Kiev or Odessa. In contrast to an increasing proportion of European Russia’s inhabitants who had become factory workers and tradesmen, Kishinev’s residents were often employed in rural industries such as farming and food production: this was the case even late in the nineteenth century after Sergei Witte’s industrialization projects had transformed large parts of the empire over the previous decade. Heavy industries such as metalworking were increasingly present in Kishinev but still accounted for a relatively small percentage of the total economy of the Bessarabia region.53

In respect to its social and confessional basis, there were significant concentrations of non-Russian nationalities and religious minorities in Bessarabia. Like in Poltava, those Russian by nationality – as the census described them – were in a distinct minority in Kishinev and the surrounding region.54 They were also under-represented in Bessarabia province as a whole. Significantly there was a strong Jewish presence: the census listed nearly half of the townsfolk (45 per cent) as Jewish.55 In Kishinev, scene of a notorious and destructive pogrom in 1903, Jews were disproportionately involved in the town’s mercantile and commercial industries, a feature all the more pronounced given the generally low proportion of townsfolk involved in these occupations.56 In addition to the strong presence of Jewish religion and the economic success of the Jewish community, there was a prominent Romanian population in the area.57 Many Russian Orthodox believers had been incorporated into the enlarged territory following Russia’s victory over Turkey, and this fact would play a central role in the centennial anniversary celebrations.

Bessarabia was an area marked by poverty and social tensions. After the ferocious and destructive anti-Jewish riots of 1903, the radical right established a strong presence in Bessarabia and was active in ceremonials held through May and June 1912.58 This included the local branch of one of the largest right-wing groups in the late imperial period, the Union of the Archangel Mikhail (UAM). By then, some on the radical right had become part of the political establishment that they sought to denigrate. These included the leader of the Bessarabia branch of the UAM and the delegate to the Third and Fourth State Dumas from Bessarabia, Vladimir Purishkevich. One of his most notable associates in the

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