Books by Philippe Henri Blasen
Casa Cărții de Știință, 2022
Casa Cărții de Știință, 2022
Ein Konsulat für die Tiroler Untertanen untersucht die Etablierung der konsularischen Vertretung ... more Ein Konsulat für die Tiroler Untertanen untersucht die Etablierung der konsularischen Vertretung Österreich-Ungarns in Luxemburg. Es wird ausgeführt, wie sich die Idee einer solchen Vertretung ihren Weg bahnte, wie es erst spät, im Jahr 1910, zur Errichtung eines k.u.k. Honorarkonsulates kam und welche Aufgaben dieses Konsulat während des Ersten Weltkriegs erfüllte. Die Studie präsentiert zudem die numerische Entwicklung und die soziale Lage der österreichischen Gemeinschaft in Esch/Alzette, dem Hauptort der Luxemburger Eisenerzgegend. Im Fokus stehen vor allem die Immigranten aus den südlichen, italienischsprachigen Bezirken der Gefürsteten Grafschaft Tirol, dem späteren Trentin, welche die Mehrheit in der Gemeinschaft bildeten.
Casa Cărții de Știință, 2016
In …une vie singulière, avec de nombreuses bonnes pensées. Henri Werling et la mission catholique... more In …une vie singulière, avec de nombreuses bonnes pensées. Henri Werling et la mission catholique en Estonie […a most singular life, filled with many good thoughts. Henri Werling SJ and the Catholic Mission to Estonia], Philippe Henri Blasen and Antoinette Reuter trace the life of Henri Werling (1879–1961), the eldest son of an upper class family from Luxembourg, who made the unusual choice of becoming a Jesuit priest. Having been trained in the German province of the Society of Jesus, he was sent to East Prussia in 1921, and from there to Estonia in 1923. The Holy See had for a long time contemplated spreading the Catholic faith in Russia. After World War I, when the Russian provinces around the Baltic Sea became independent, it considered Estonia to be a good starting point for such a mission. During the winter 1921/1922 a Jesuit priest, Antonino Zecchini, made an apostolic visitation to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Both the bishop of Riga and the representative of France to Estonia were hoping that a Jesuit mission would be established in Estonia. Zecchini happily transmitted their desire to Rome. It was only in late 1923 that the German province sent Henri Werling as the first Jesuit missionary to Estonia. Werling was stationed in the university town of Tartu. Instead of working, as planned, on converting students, he had to limit his endeavours to the basic parish administration. Problems he had to face were not only bad finances and a huge parish, but also the lack of religious education and the multilingualism among the Catholic population. However, Werling learned the language quite fast and enjoyed travelling through his parish, which stretched from the Western to the Eastern border of the country. Beginning 1924 Werling had to take over the parish of Tallinn, as well. This made his task even harder, but he was able to return to the south of Estonia already in the summer, when another Jesuit priest, Joseph Kartte, was sent to Tallinn. This situation remained almost unchanged until 1930, as no new missionary stayed definitely and as a priested Estonian citizen, Leo Abraitis, died four years after his ordainment. Later, the Society of Jesus and the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin sent more priests to Estonia, and Franciscan and other nuns arrived. Because of an incoherent policy of the Roman institutions, a bad administration and internal conflicts the mission came to a head in 1938/1939. It was dismembered by the successive Soviet and German occupations, when the priests and nuns were called back to their countries of origin, were arrested or deported. Only a few regular and secular priests were allowed to stay as parish administrators. At the end of World War II, Werling was deported to the Urals, from where he returned to the Estonian SSR in 1954. Here he died in 1961.
Mega, 2011
L’étude présente s’intéresse aux relations entre l'Eglise orthodoxe roumaine et l'Eglise gréco-ca... more L’étude présente s’intéresse aux relations entre l'Eglise orthodoxe roumaine et l'Eglise gréco-catholique roumaine en Roumanie en général et en Transylvanie en particulier. Son but est de contribuer à faire connaître les Eglises orthodoxe et gréco-catholique roumaines et leurs interactions. Au centre de la recherche se trouve le lieu de pèlerinage de Nicula, le sanctuaire transylvanien qui peut être considéré comme l’exemple d’un endroit par rapport auquel les orthodoxes et les gréco-catholiques prennent régulièrement position, ne serait-ce que chaque année le 15 août, lors des immenses pèlerinages de ces deux Eglises roumaines à Nicula. L’auteur analyse les discours oraux et écrits à caractère historique, qui ont vu le jour de part et d’autre entre les années 1918 et 2011, et en souligne les différences. Il constate ainsi qu’alors qu’avant le communisme, les discours orthodoxes et gréco-catholiques étaient tous les deux plutôt mythologiques et non-documentées, après la chute du régime, l’Eglise orthodoxe produit majoritairement des histoires mythologiques et non-documentées alors que l’Eglise gréco-catholique s’appuie en général sur des sources historiques. De même, l’auteur remarque que les Eglises orthodoxe et gréco-catholique s’opposent en ce qui concerne les événements des années 1700, moment de la création de l’Eglise gréco-catholique et de l’année 1948, date à laquelle celle-ci a été interdite par le régime communiste. Lors d’une courte digression, l’auteur montre que l’Eglise orthodoxe a profité des deux dernières décennies du communisme pour aligner son histoire sur l’histoire mythologique “national-communiste” officielle et qu’elle profite aujourd’hui de ce que cette histoire est toujours profondément ancrée dans la mentalité de la majorité des Roumains, ce qui va au détriment de l’histoire plutôt documentée de l’Eglise gréco-catholique. Sur la base de l’étude des historiographies de Nicula, Blasen dévoile l’importance qu’ont les interprétations de l'histoire pour les deux Eglises pour leurs revendications antagoniques dans le cas spécifique de Nicula mais aussi, à une échelle plus large, dans le conflit d'intérêts ou d'idéologie entre les Eglises orthodoxe et gréco-catholique et comment les lectures de l'histoire sont la face extérieure du conditionnement des relations entre ces deux Eglises.
Papers by Philippe Henri Blasen
Marius Chelcu, Dorin Dobrincu, eds., Frânturi din trecut: putere, societate, diplomație, 2024
The article discusses anti-Ukrainian stereotypes in Romanian nationalist literature of the long 1... more The article discusses anti-Ukrainian stereotypes in Romanian nationalist literature of the long 19th century.
History of European Ideas, 2024
The article discusses the self-portrayal of the 'Royal Dictatorship' of Carol II of Romania and a... more The article discusses the self-portrayal of the 'Royal Dictatorship' of Carol II of Romania and analyses four theories of monarchy produced or published under his regime. It shows that the Romanian 'Royal Dictatorship' relied on leitmotifs targeting the multiparty system, territorial revisionism, and the Iron Guard, but that it lacked a coherent official doctrine. The article argues that this void allowed for Romanian theorists of monarchy to draw divergent, Western or (pseudo-)autochthonous genealogies for the regime. To this effect, it examines theories of monarchy by Mihail Fărcășanu, Paul Negulescu, Cezar Petrescu, and Theodor Vlădescu.
The Version of Record of this manuscript has been published and is freely available in History of European Ideas 24 March 2024 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01916599.2024.2332840.
Sorin Radu and Oliver Jens Schmitt, România interbelică. Modernizare politico-instituţională şi discurs naţional , 2023
The paper discusses the corporatist experiment of King Carol II of Romania's personal regime, com... more The paper discusses the corporatist experiment of King Carol II of Romania's personal regime, comparing it to the model of Romanian theoretician Mihail Manoilescu. It shows that King Carol's regime relied on the Romanian, Portuguese, and Italian law and that it developed an original corporatist system, which had only little in common with Manoilescu's.
Archiva Moldaviæ, 2022
Retracing Constantin Zoppa’s biography, this case study highlights the continuity of antisemitism... more Retracing Constantin Zoppa’s biography, this case study highlights the continuity of antisemitism in Bukovina before and after 1918. It contributes to revising the ideas that the various ethnicities and religious groups in Austrian Bukovina were living harmoniously together and that (certain forms of) antisemitism emerged only after 1918 on the territory of Greater Romania. It shows how Zoppa, a Romanian nationalist and antisemite from Bukovina – who did not adhere to a clear doctrine, but rather followed individuals (Aurel Onciul and, later, Traian Brăileanu) – could easily shift from the antisemitic parties in the Austrian Empire to those in the kingdom of Romania and then switch between the different antisemitic organizations in Greater Romania, especially A.C. Cuza’s League for National Christian Defence and Corneliu Zelea-Codreanu’s Legion of the Archangel Michael / Iron Guard.
Journal of Romanian Studies, 2023
The paper discusses the social, political, and economic situation in the northern Moldavian small... more The paper discusses the social, political, and economic situation in the northern Moldavian small town of Mihăileni, based on interviews recorded by the local police. This extraordinary source provides a unique insight into a variety of local opinions and the daily life of rural residents during 1938, the year when Carol II established a new regime, the so-called "Royal Dictatorship," and when Romania suffered from the impact of the Czechoslovakian crisis. The locals' statements suggest that they embraced the new regime and that they approved of the new 1938 Constitution. However, they also reveal disgruntlement over the authorities' inadequate action regarding the difficult economic situation, and expose the hardships which the peasants, related professionals, and poor people endured.
Andrei Corbea-Hoișie, Rudolf Gräf, eds., Limbă și cultură germană în România (1918-1933). Realități postimperiale, discurs public și câmpuri culturale. Vol. 1 (Iași: Polirom, 2023), 2023
This article discusses the relationship between the Romanian and the Transylvanian Saxon antisemi... more This article discusses the relationship between the Romanian and the Transylvanian Saxon antisemitic movements in the 1920s and 1930s.
Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Historia, 2022
This case study of transnational antisemitism in the 1910s and 1920s argues that the Romanian ant... more This case study of transnational antisemitism in the 1910s and 1920s argues that the Romanian antisemite A.C. Cuza (1857-1947) copied the swastika from the German antisemite Heinrich Kraeger (1870-1945). It examines the evolution of Cuza's political antisemitism from the 1890s until 1923 and discusses the possible origins of Cuza's use of the swastika and his interpretations of the symbol. It highlights that Cuza used various foreign sources to produce vague and contradictory interpretations of the swastika, that he made no effort to give it a coherent racial meaning, and that he opportunistically but inconsistently tried to Christianise it. The study concludes that the swastika in Cuza's view became both a German and a Romanian ethnic symbol, performing the same antisemitic function in each context.
Archiva Moldaviæ, 2021
The article discusses the way in which the personal regime of King Carol II of Romania, known as ... more The article discusses the way in which the personal regime of King Carol II of Romania, known as the Royal Dictatorship, handled the Ukrainians’ demands for education in their own language. It shows that, although the regime promulgated a by-law which provided for private education in the minority languages, the government repressed the Ukrainian movement in favour of Ukrainian-language education and, eventually, only introduced a couple of Ukrainian-language classes in primary schools and teachers’ colleges. The article also attempts to reconstruct the conditions under which the Ukrainians collectively joined the Front of National Rebirth, the single party established by the regime.
Studia Universitatis Moldaviæ, 2021
From June 28, 1940, when Romania ceded Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the U.S.S.R., the inha... more From June 28, 1940, when Romania ceded Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the U.S.S.R., the inhabitants of these territories and part of those of the remaining Romanian territory had to choose between Romania and the U.S.S.R. Using sources from Romanian archives, the article shows how Romania and U.S.S.R. restricted the crossing of the Prut. It examines the ethnic and the professional composition of the people who left for Romania or the U.S.S.R. and formulates hypotheses regarding the motives of their choice. The article emphasises that, during the period for which detailed data is available, ethnic Romanians formed the vast majority both of those who crossed to Romania as well as of those who left for the U.S.S.R. It highlights that tens of Jews attempted to enter Romania. It concludes that the choice between Romania and the U.S.S.R. was not principally due to national or ideological reasons, but that it chiefly was determined by pratical considerations regarding family, personal security, as well as job and studies opportunities.
Forschungen zur Volks- und Landeskunde, 2021
East Central Europe 48, 2021
Andrei Cușco/Flavius Solomon/ Konrad Clewing (ed.), Migration and Population Politics during War(time) and Peace(time). Central and Eastern Europe from the Dawn of Modernity to the Twentieth Century (Cluj-Napoca: Mega), 2021
Revista de istorie a evreilor din România, 2019
The article discusses the origin of the cliché according to which, during the evacuation of the R... more The article discusses the origin of the cliché according to which, during the evacuation of the Romanian troops from Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, in June-July 1940, Jews had perpetrated violent acts against the Romanians, out of hatred. Firstly, the article examines which part of the local population was involved in actions for the benefit of the USSR, against Romania, and who was purely opportunistic. This analysis is based on testimonies which suggest that most ethnic groups, including Jews, Ukrainians, Russians, Bulgarians, Gagauzes, and Bessarabian Romanians, initiated or participated in such actions, although Jews did play a more important part. The testimonies also indicate that the Jews in question belonged in particular to the disadvantaged social classes and/or the younger generation. Secondly, the article provides several possible explanations for these actions. It analyses, among others, the impact of an anti-Semitic regulation dated June 26, 1940. Thirdly, the article argues that the above-mentioned cliché stemmed from a racially-biased article published on June 29, 1940 in the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero and later quoted by the official newspaper România.
Plural, 2021
The article discusses the status of German-language education in Southern Bessarabia in the last ... more The article discusses the status of German-language education in Southern Bessarabia in the last years of Romanian domination, before the Soviet takeover in June 1940 and the subsequent resettlement of the local German population in September 1940. It shows that neither the national-liberal government (1933-1938), nor the regime of King Carol II (1938-1940) complied with the 28 October 1920 treaty between the principal allied powers and Romania respecting Bessarabia, an agreement which granted the Romanian nationals of German ethnicity the right to establish and manage schools, as well as to use the German language in the educational sphere. Both the national-liberal government and the regime of King Carol II obstructed public and confessional German-language education in Southern Bessarabia. They did not restore school buildings confiscated in 1936 and did not authorize the establishment of German-language schools. Only in September 1939 did the regime of King Carol II make some palpable concessions to the Germans of Southern Bessarabia, apparently as a result of the departure of the autonomist leader of the German community in Romania. However, even then, the Romanian state did not return all of the confiscated school buildings and seemingly further pursued the Romanianization of the local Germans.
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Books by Philippe Henri Blasen
Papers by Philippe Henri Blasen
The Version of Record of this manuscript has been published and is freely available in History of European Ideas 24 March 2024 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01916599.2024.2332840.
The Version of Record of this manuscript has been published and is freely available in History of European Ideas 24 March 2024 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01916599.2024.2332840.