The Romanian Press in the Austro–Hungarian Empire (1867–1914): A Comparative Study Case of the Most Significant Magazines and Newspapers

Abstract

Thanks to the accelerated worldwide literacy process and technical innovations in the printing field, the written press reached its maximum development potential at the turn of the twentieth century. Because of their widespread availability, magazines and newspapers were used by the time's elites to disseminate new knowledge and technical innovations. Considering these aspects of the press, this study traces the thematic evolution of the educational and informational articles published by the most influential magazines and newspapers of the Romanians in the Austro–Hungarian Empire from 1867 to 1914. Significant personalities wrote the selected periodicals of the Romanians from Transylvania, where most Romanians lived during the Dual Monarchy. They were also appreciated by the Romanians who lived in the Kingdom of Romania. Hence, they generated fruitful debates of ideas that helped to develop the various Romanian cultures, societies, politics and economies. This study, which focused on the comparative analysis of the messages conveyed in the articles, found that newspapers and magazines had similar educational messages despite having diverse purposes. The dissemination of general information was approached differently by the two types of studied press. Based on this first comparative analysis of the most representative publications of Romanians from Transylvania, I conclude that their editors put forth well-thought-out educational messages, and the informational articles had the same characteristics as the European press of the period.