User:Biruitorul/Sandbox

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[edit] The Moldova issue

That's one side of the story. See Moldovenism for more background. I think the State Department is correct, and expresses a common scholarly view: Moldovans are part of a wider Romanian ethnic group, but in the 2004 census, the great majority declared themselves as Moldovan rather than Romanian, for two reasons: first, Moldovans were taught under half a century of Soviet rule that "Romanian" is a dirty word, associated with fascism; and second, Moldovans do have a distinct regional identity - just like people in various parts of Romania (Transylvanians, Oltenians, etc). Also, the languages are indeed the same in their literary form, but just as with other variants of Romanian, Moldovan people do have a distinct accent when they speak. Now, when the 2% number is tossed about, it only refers to a very technical definition: 2% of Moldovan inhabitants declared themselves Romanian in 2004. But you can't tell apart a Moldovan from a Romanian - the difference is a political one.

Let's try an analogy. Say that at the 1930 US Census, 70% of people from California said they were "American", 20% Mexican and 10% Japanese. Then in 1940, Mexico annexes California, and until 1991, when the independent California Republic is formed, inhabitants are told that America is evil, that they're Californians, and that they speak Californian. Then in 1991 there's talk California might rejoin the US, but LA County is occupied by the Mexican Army and the Republic's government is pro-Mexican, and keeps on telling people they're Californians and speak Californian. So of course by 2004, only 2% of people will identify as Californian, as opposed to 70% in 1930, and 68% will call themselves by the new, purely political designation of Californian. (And yes, this is an analogy and I'm aware there's no "American" ethnicity.)

The situation in Moldova is sort of similar. Not exactly - bits of Bessarabia, the historical region that roughly overlaps Moldova, are now in Ukraine, and the Jews there were mostly either killed or fled during and after WWII, and some Russians and Ukrainians came in during the Soviet period. Nevertheless, 56.2% of people in Bessarabia were Romanian in 1930, and in 2004, 76% were Moldovans and 2% Romanians. Now of course, people can call themselves whatever they please, but we are in fact talking about the same group of people, nearly all of whom happened to adopt a different name. So while technically correct, saying that Moldova is "2% Romanian" rather obscures the issue.

[edit] Pending

Preceded by ?	Minister of Justice 1918	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by ?	Minister of Finance 1920	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by ?	Minister of the Interior 1920-1921	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by ?	Minister of Agriculture 1927	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by Ion Mihalache	Foreign Minister of Romania April 18, 1931 - April 26, 1932 interim	Succeeded by Dimitrie I. Ghica
Preceded by ?	Minister of Industry and Commerce 1938	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by Gheorghe Argeşanu	Prime Minister of Romania September 28, 1939 - November 24, 1939	Succeeded by Gheorghe Tătărescu

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