Rural Residents on King Carol’s New Regime: Voices on the “Royal Dictatorship” from Mihăileni, Northern Moldavia (1938)

Abstract

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 Czechoslovak 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.